Track Your Blog Comments With coComment

Blogs without comments are like Milli without Vanilli - each is dependent on the other in order to create a truly fulfilling experience.

But if you visit numerous blogs on a daily basis it becomes increasingly hard to remember exactly which posts you commented on, and more importantly track any replies to your comments.

A rather handy solution to this problem is coComment which is a graceful and intuitive solution that lets you stay on top of your blog contributions.

coComment offers a handy browser extension that works with either Firefox or Flock. Once installed, every comment you make on a blog is automatically tracked by coComment. As soon as you receive any replies, a small envelope icon appears at the bottom right of your browser to alert you. Click on the icon and you're taken through to your coComment page where you can click through to see your original comment and all the corresponding replies.

Check out the video above for a full walk-through.

Access Your Music From Anywhere With Lala

Every now and again a Web site comes along that's genuinely useful in a "that's something I'd use daily" way. Lala.com is one of those sites.

Lala joins the crowded digital music space but it offers two things that I think really set it apart from the competition.

The first is music management. Once you've signed-up for an account, you can upload your entire music library to Lala. This can take a few hours but it means that you can access and play your music from any computer - which is a really useful feature.

The second is purchasing music. The majority of online music stores (like iTunes for example) charge users a flat fee to download music. The average price is about 99c per track.

Lala handles things a little differently by offering two tiers of purchasing. The first tier lets you download a track and listen to it whenever you're logged-in to your Lala account. However, you're prohibited from downloading the track to your hard-drive or from transferring it to an iPod or other device. This may sound somewhat restrictive but here's the sweetener - these "Web only" tunes only cost 10c per track. If you listen to most of your music at home, that's a great price to buy legal, fully licensed music.

If you prefer to "own" the track and have the freedom to do whatever you want with it (like transfer it to your iPod) you can still buy-it to download at a cost of 89c.

Each song in the Lala store offers both pricing tiers and when you sign-up for an account you'll receive 50 "Web only" songs for free.

One last feature that's also pretty cool. You can play the full version of any song in Lala once. This is a great "try before you buy" feature and runs rings around the 30 second preview you get in iTunes.

Check out the video above for a full walk-through.

Listen To Pandora Radio Through Boxee

Turner and Hooch. Kibbles and Bits. There are some things in life that just belong together.

Another pairing to add to the list is Boxee and Pandora. I reviewed Boxee back in January and was generally impressed with its slick interface and set of tools for managing images, videos and music under a single umbrella.

One notable absence from Boxee was the ability to access Internet radio through Pandora. I also reviewed Pandora in January and it's one of the best ways to discover new music based on your favorite bands and artists.

Well now the two have joined together in matrimonial bliss (although it's somewhat of a polygamous affair because Boxee shares a bed with numerous other partners) with the announcement that the new Boxee release includes Pandora integration.

In addition to Pandora, Boxee users can also access PBS if they need a quick fix of obscure science documentaries and nature shows.

All-in-all, Boxee is starting to mature into the number one media manager for both Mac and PC. From Netflix and YouTube to the BBC and Hulu, the range of content you can access from Boxee is really impressive.

If you want in on the action, check out the Boxee site for more.

Find Cheap Gas With Bill Shrink

Question: What happens when the world's banks decide to organize a 5-year-long poker party using our mortgages as chips?

Answer: The World loses its shirt

With the recession continuing to churn relentlessly like Carnie Wilson's stomach after a midnight trip to Cold Stone, most of us are looking to conserve cash wherever and whenever we can.

BillShrink might just be the site to help you do that. After creating an account, you're asked some questions regarding your credit card usage, commute to work and cell phone usage. BillShrink then works its magic and suggests ways you can make savings.

For credit cards and cell phone plans it's quite simple. After analyzing your answers to a few simple questions you'll be introduced to alternative credit cards or cell phone plans that could help you conserve some cash. In the case of cell phones, you can even upload your most recent cell phone bill to allow BillShrink to perform a highly detailed analysis.

The gas feature is really interesting. Simply enter the start and end points of your daily commute along with your car make, model and year and BillShrink will analyze your route and map-out the cheapest gas stations along the way. Since this data changes frequently, you can also sign-up to receive updates via email.

Check out the video above for a full walk-through.

Create a Personalized Facebook URL

In the unlikely event that a mentally impaired acquaintance or politely small talking colleague wanted to find me on Facebook, they'd simply need to check out the following url:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=721480775

Problem is that the Web address of my personal page is not that easy to remember so unless you hang around with MIT Blackjack card counters you probably won't get many visitors.

"But Hills you lanky streak of piss, not so fast," I hear you cry. "What about the Facebook search feature?". Well that's a fair point, but it really depends on who you're looking for and how common their name is.

A quick search on Facebook for "Jonathan Hills" reveals three pages of people who have all been bestowed with the same name. More common names such as "Paul Smith" bring up pages and pages of results. So in order to find the "Paul Smith" that I'm looking for, I'd need to sift through hundreds of Pauls while squinting at each thumbnail photograph in a vain attempt to recognize somebody I may not have seen for 15 years.

One solution is to try SocialToo. Simply visit the site, create an account and SocialTool will allow you to create a personalized url for your Facebook page. The url takes the form of http://username.socialtoo.com where username is the name you define when creating your SocialToo account.

So, for example, the url to my Facebook page is http://lankybrit76.socialtoo.com
It's short, easy to remember and typing it in to a Web browser takes a user straight to my Facebook page. So think of it as a vanity url for your Facebook profile - something that a lot of people will find attractive.

Aside from the personalized url SocialToo also includes numerous additional features such as automating the following process on Twitter.

So act fast to secure your username on SocialToo and give it a closer look.

Introduction To E-Readers

Every now and again a gadget or device hits the market and turns out to be a complete game changer.

The Walkman did it in 1980s, bringing the concept of portable music to the masses for the first time. Then there was the CD player which dominated the music landscape for so long before its big brother - the DVD player - did the same for movies. And how can we forget the iPod which totally transformed how we purchase and listen to music?

Well over the last few months a new breed of device has been starting to show signs that it could soon be ready to burst into the mainstream and revolutionize our lives. That device is the E-Reader.

That fact that we're still appending "E" to the front of anything makes it seem clunky by default, but this family of devices could completely transform how we as humans digest the written word.

So for today's post, I want to explain exactly what E-Readers are and why we should even care.....

So what exactly is an e-reader?

E-readers are compact electronic devices that allow you to read books, magazines, newspapers and a whole host of other print-based content.

How do I get a book or a magazine onto my device?

E-readers allow you to to purchase books and magazine/newspaper subscriptions online through special e-reader content stores. Once you've made a purchase, your book/magazine/newspaper is transferred onto your e-reader for you to read anytime. Current E-Readers allow you to store multiple pieces of content, so you could carry around a whole library of book purchases on your E-Reader. Think of it as an iPod for books.

Another bonus is that the content is often cheaper than the paper equivalent. You can buy books for around $9.99 each and there are hundreds of thousands of books currently available for E-Readers. Same is true for magazines, where subscriptions tend to be cheaper than signing-up for the hard copy.

Sounds interesting, but reading books on a computer screen is awful.

That's one of the key selling points of today's E-Readers - they're not simply computer screens. Most E-Readers use electronic ink display technology which eliminates glare and replicates the experience of reading from a printed page. That means no eye strain and no annoying reflections on the screen.

How big are these things?

Most are as thin as any magazine and extremely light - around 10.2 oz.

Who are the major E-Reader players?

There are two big-guns right now - Amazon with its Kindle and Sony with its Reader Digital Book. More companies are developing E-Readers and plan to enter the market this year including Hearst (a major magazine publisher) and others.

How much will one of these set me back?

They're not cheap. Around $300-$359 will get you an Amazon or Sony device. Prices will likely come down as the market becomes more competitive and since the price of books are so much cheaper, if you make a lot of regular book purchases you'll eventually re-coup the cost of the device in savings.

Any drawbacks?

Apart from the high-price of entry there are a couple of points to consider. E-Readers are still relatively new and the market will likely change quickly. Some current E-Readers may become obsolete, while new players may emerge. Think Betamax vs VHS or Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD as similar examples from the past.

Consumers will also have to get used to carrying around yet another device. Some believe that the cell-phone will ultimately satisfy consumers' digital reading news and Amazon E-Books are already available on the iPhone.

So What's The Conclusion?

The publishing industry is hurting and the hunt is on for a new business model that can be just as lucrative as paper and ink has been for the last 50 years. The E-Reader is definitely one to watch and as the price drops and the technology is refined, this could well and truly hit the mainstream as we move into 2010.

"Undo" Emails You Wish You'd Never Sent

Email regret. We've all been there and experienced the "What the f*** have I just done?" feeling that comes when we let our uncensored emotions gush-out from our outbox.

But once your twitchy finger hits "send", there ain't no turning back. Until now.

Gmail has rolled-out a brand new feature that lets users "undo" emails they've sent.....but you have to be fast. The undo feature only works for 5 seconds after you hit send, but that can give you a valuable window of opportunity to stop emails you think you might regret sending.

Check out the video above for a full walk-through.

Google Voice: Video Review

I posted earlier this week about Google Voice - a new service from Google that allows people to make cheap and free phone calls and SMS text messages. As a former Grand Central user I've been waiting patiently for Google to upgrade my account, and finally they did it earlier this evening.

Check out my video review of the service above - but in short this is VERY cool and could emerge as a serious challenger to Skype.....

Simplify Your Travel Plans With Tripit

Travel agents. Remember them? With their so-cheery-they're-depressing colored jackets and flickering currency exchange boards in the window, there was something strangely reassuring about them when it came to vacation planning time.

But perhaps one of the best things about travel agents was that they'd take care of everything. Walk-in, read brochure, sit down, and then walk out with flights booked, hotel arranged and fistful of funny-colored bank-notes in hand.

Then the Internet came along and ruined everything. Yes, yes...I know it's cheap and convenient to book your trips online, but there are just so many sites and portals to deal with. In fact it's not uncommon for the average trip to involve three or more merchants - one for the flight, one for the hotel, one for the car rental....you get the picture.

Enter TripIt which helps bring order to the chaos of booking a trip. After creating an account, simply forward all your trip-related confirmation emails to an email address provided by TripIt. From flight confirmations to restaurant reservations, TripIt automatically creates a single, simple itinerary from all the submitted emails.

Once your itinerary has been created, you can view it online or via a mobile device and share it with friends and family.

TripIt is one of those rare start-ups that offers a genuinely useful service and the user experience is beautifully simple. So next time you're planning to take a vacation, give TripIt a shot - it really helps cut down on the email clutter.

Surf The Web With Opera

If you're reading this post, it's highly likely you're currently using either Internet Explorer or Firefox to do so.

A few of you Mac users may be browsing with Safari and an even smaller minority could be on Flock (hopefully based on my earlier review), but for the majority of online users the choice of browser doesn't expand past these four.

I use Flock regularly at work and at home because I like the way it integrates with social networking services such as Facebook and Twitter. But sometimes.....well sometimes I just want to surf the Web as fast as possible and with as few distractions as possible. And for those days, I power-up the relative social outcast in the Web browser field - Opera.

I'll never fully understand why Opera hasn't become a major player in the Web browser market. It's available for both Mac and PC, is extremely stable and solid and most importantly - lightning fast.

Opera has all the features needed to go toe-to-toe with the browser big boys (think tabbed browsing, customizable search bar, a handy quick-launch panel called Speed Dial to gracefully access your favorite sites) but it's speed at loading sites is what really sets its apart.

The browser feels lightweight and trim and on my MacBook it loads pages in a heartbeat. So even though Opera perhaps doesn't enjoy the press it deserves, it's something that's well worth checking out - especially if you're looking for a fast and simple Web browsing experience.

FanSnap: A New Way To Buy Tickets Online

There are certain things that creep up on you in life without any clear warning or advance notice.

My beer-gut is one of them. The real estate bust is another. One more to add to the list is the rise of TicketMaster as the dominant player in online event ticketing. From a concert to a Broadway show, it always seemed like TicketMaster pretty much had a monopoly in this space.

So in the spirit of competition, entrepreneurship and the good old fashioned American dream I'm using today's post to showcase a new ticketing site called FanSnap.

Firstly, before I can even continue with this review there's something I need to get off my chest.....something that could potentially taint every post that emanates from my weary pen. I like simplicity. In fact I don't just like simplicity, I think it's a pre-requisite for any genuinely useful Web experience. From Google and Amazon to Wikipedia and E-Bay, the best performing sites on the Web have always been the simplest.

That's one of the main reasons why I like FanSnap. The homepage is a relatively barren affair - free of all the Ticketmaster bloat and one where the user simply has to enter the name of the event they are searching for.

After performing your search - let's say "Britney Spears" - FanSnap returns a list of dates and venues, putting those that are close to your physical location at the top of the screen (the site is able to automatically detect your location).

Choose a location and FanSnap searches a variety of ticket merchants for availability. Once the search is complete you can view a simple list of all the tickets available, or use a rather spiffy interactive map of the event venue to browse different ticket prices by clicking on the relevant point on the map. This is a great way to see if the box-office seat is really worth 199 bucks more than the mezzanine lower-left and the map really lets you get an interesting perspective on the venue.

Another very useful feature is the ability to refine your search based on minimum and maximum price. If you don't want to pay more than 60 big ones for a ticket to see Celine Dion then simply move the "maximum price" slider to "60" and your search will be refined in real time. After you've made your selection, simply choose your ticket and FanSnap links you out to the source site to make your purchase.

FanSnap's user interface is simple, graceful and intuitive and it's definitely worth checking out as an alternative to TicketMaster - which is my mind is in desperate need of some meaningful competition.

Make Free Phone Calls Through Google

Just last month I posted a video review of Grand Central, a company acquired by Google that gives people the ability to manage multiple phones with a single phone number.

It's a great idea and many observers felt that Google would eventually enhance the service and introduce a host of new features, which is exactly what they did today.

Let's start with the name. Google has decided to hang-up on "Grand Central" and has instead opted for the simpler, no-frills "Google Voice". This fits in nicely with other, similarly named products in the Google stable including Gmail, GTalk and Google Maps.

But beyond the name, Google Voice includes some major enhancements. The concept is similar to the original Grand Central whereby users are assigned a virtual phone number for life which can be associated with real phone lines.....so if somebody called my virtual number my cell phone, desk phone, blackberry (or whatever combination of phones I define in my preferences) would all ring. This was a really great solution for people who use multiple phone lines during the course of the day.

With Google Voice, users can now make calls and also send and receive SMS text messages using their virtual number. All US calls can be placed for free, and international calls are pegged at an extremely low rate. To make a call you simply call your OWN virtual number on your phone, and the recorded message will prompt you to hit "2" before then allowing you to dial the number you want to call. Think Skype, just without being tethered to your computer.

You can also send and receive SMS text messages through Google Voice and a new voicemail transcript feature will actually convert your voice messages into text so that you can read them in your inbox.

There are a host of other bells and whistles too including call screening, personalized greetings, call recording and tele-conferencing. In short, Google has created a service that is a direct challenge to the major telecommunication companies.

But the story doesn't stop there. This latest move from Google speaks to a strategy of aiming to become the only truly centralized communication hub in the marketplace. You can manage your email through Gmail, your appointments through Google Calendar, your documents through G-Docs, your location through Google maps and now your phone calls and contact list through Google Voice.


Existing Grand Central customers will be converted across to Google Voice in the next few days, but new customers will have to wait for a couple of months before they can sign-up. As soon as my Grand Central account is converted, I'll post a full video review.

The New 4GB iPod Shuffle

As a regular reader of The Onion, it's sometimes disconcerting how close some of the stories actually are to the truth.

Take Apple for example. A couple of months ago The Onion released a video that included a spoof story of how Apple was planning to release a new laptop with no keyboard. You can check out the video below:





Think the concept is ridiculous? Well today Apple released a new product which could almost be the subject of a similar Onion story.

It's not a computer, but a new 4GB version of the iPod shuffle that....wait for it.....contains no physical controls. The body of the iPod itself contains only a single switch to turn the device on and off and music playback is taken care of by some buttons that are attached to the headphones.

But the Onion-ness doesn't end there. In addition to having no controls, the new shuffle is also quite a chatterbox. Your shuffle will speak to you.....that's right, speak to you....as you groove away to your favorite tunes. From announcing the name of a track to warning you when your battery is low, Apple has dubbed this new feature VoiceOver.

You can see a demo of it here:





I'll certainly be curious to get my hands on one of these shuffles, but my initial reaction is general bewilderment. In fact I still want to believe that this is some kind of joke and that those little scamps at The Onion have somehow duped the mainstream media and are taking us all for a ride.

Firstly, if you want to use your own headphones then you're out of luck because the controls are on the set that Apple bundles-in with the iPod. It's almost a dead-cert that an adapter will be released to allow people to use their own headphones, but it's also a dead-cert that Apple being Apple will charge a minimum of $20 for it.

As for the VoiceOver, it's something I'm genuinely struggling to see the value in. It smacks of technology for technology's sake, and that really isn't what Apple has ever been about. VoiceOver might be useful for a service like Pandora whereby you're listening to random playlists, but I can't imagine ever needing to have my iPod tell me the name of a song that's playing from my own library. It's my music and I know it well, so where's the value?

It may well be the world's smallest music player and these features might get a few "ooos" and "ahhs" from Apple fanboys (and I count myself as one of them), but ultimately this seems like a somewhat clumsy relesase.

After dominating the music hardware space for for the last 7 years, are the boys and gals from Cupertino getting complacent? Let's hope not.

Watch Netflix Movies On Your TV

If we conducted a poll to find out who are the most hated utility companies in America, my bet is that cell phone operators and cable outfits would come out on top.

There's not much we can do about cell phones unless we choose to return to the era of tin cans connected with pieces of string. But what about the cable companies? Video seems to be everywhere these days so why am I left paying Verizon, Time Warner, Comcast and Co. 120 bucks a month for the privilege of watching Discovery Infections Diseases.....and 400 other nonsense channels that few sane people care about.

The bottom line is that cable companies have had it good for the last 20 years and we - the consumers - have just taken it on the chin and watched as fees have gone up and up.

But the landscape is starting to change and one of the companies leading the revolution is Netflix. First the company released its "Watch Now" service which - for the meager price of $8.99 per month - gave users the ability to watch unlimited streaming movies and TV shows on their computer.

This was a great step forward for the folks who are constantly glued to their laptops, but what about the flat screen TV love? And...ahem......HD?

Enter a small hardware manufacturer called Roku which released a set-top box that connects to users' Netflix accounts and allows them to watch movies directly through their TV.

The model is simple. Pay $99 up-front for the box, connect it to your TV, and simply continue your regular Netflix monthly membership and you're ready to access a library of over 12,000 movies and TV episodes.

Roku quickly added HD streaming for no extra charge and just recently added the ability to purchase and watch Amazon videos on demand.

What this means is that for under $10 a month users can have access to lots of good quality video content that they can watch whenever they want. Compare that to the $100 plus packages offered by cable companies.

Companies like Roku need only add a few extra video services to their platform (think Hulu, YouTube, HBO even) and suddenly it has the ability to transform into a genuine competitor to cable as a standalone pay-per-view service.

The cable companies clearly won't take this lying down as it challenges their underlying business model and ultimately will be forced to respond to the growth of the set-top box market (along with Roku there are other emerging players such as Apple TV and Vudu). All this should be great for the consumer and should lead to more choice, lower costs and ultimate the ability to pay only for programming that you actually want to watch.

Why Twitter Search Will (Maybe) Overtake Google

I have plenty of close friends who simply don't get Twitter. You can see their faces visibly glaze over like a Krispy Kreme doughnut when you explain how incredible it is that people can tell their friends what they're doing in 140 characters or less.

The concept may be hard to grasp, but it's actually another, less publicized feature of Twitter that will really be a game changer. That feature is Twitter Search and it's something that could eventually rise to challenge - albeit indirectly - Google's dominance in the search space.


Search engines - and Google in particular - have become ingrained into the Web surfing consciousness of the online masses. Finding anything from a video clip to a legal document is both quick and easy and the quality and accuracy of search engine results seem to be improving all the time.

Google has gone a step further - adding news content, book and magazine content and e-commerce products. Everything, it seems, is now searchable.

So how could a young upstart like Twitter possibly challenge the dominance of Google? The answer, is two-fold. Time and people.

Let's start with time. In a world that's constantly changing, time plays a critical role in our information consumption. That's why newspaper websites update news headlines throughout the day because if they didn't, they simply couldn't compete.

While Google does attach some importance to time (it's news results update frequently throughout the day), its main emphasis is on quality, authority and relevance. That's why pages on Wikipedia rank so high in many Google searches - such as "recession" for example.

Twitter search is a little different in that it allows you to search all the Twitter conversations that are happening - in real time. That's an extremely powerful concept that offers a whole new value proposition to a Google search.

I can track conversations about breaking news stories on literally a minute-by-minute basis which is something that Google can't deliver on. Brands have the ability to track in real-time what people are saying about them - both good and bad - and that can be incredibly helpful from a reputation management standpoint. I can track new product announcements, or new concert dates, or local news stories, or....well, you get the picture. So as you can see, real-time is important.

The second element is people. Google is incredible, but it's a computer driven algorithm. A mathematical equation that points to web sites created by people, but via a set of results driven by a machine.

With Twitter, you're searching hundreds of thousands of real, human conversations. It's like an incredible array of links, reviews, commentary and recommendations from 100 per cent homo sapiens....from all over the world. This is an incredibly powerful way of finding content through a network of millions of individual editors who are contributing to the twitter community. A human powered search engine.

There's clearly room for both Twitter and Google to co-exist peacefully together because they both offer unique value to consumers. But the rise of Twitter could herald in a new era of social search where people rely more and more on social networks to find content than on computer-driven search engines.

Twitter's problem right now is making money. It needs to find a business model that brings in the bacon, and doesn't alienate its users. Google was in the same position when it was still wearing short trousers and it rolled-out Ad-Sense - its paid-for search product. This turned out to be one of the most brilliant revenue driving models in recent memory, and if Twitter can find an equivalent model.....well it should make for interesting times.

NOTE: Taking a break from video clips this week because I don't want the format to get stale. They will return in the future, so enjoy the silence while you can!

Kindle For iPhone

Scenario: You want the ability to buy and read books on your iPhone
Solution: Amazon has released a lite version of its Kindle e-reader on the iPhone

When Amazon released its Kindle e-book reader to the marketplace it was clearly hoping to bring about the kind of revolution that Apple sparked within the music industry when it launched the iPod.

The concept that anybody can buy and then read a book electronically via a wafer thin portable reader was a controversial one. Old school purists decried the move claiming that books could never be replaced, but early reviews of the Kindle suggested that Amazon was onto something and that the device was impressive.

But Amazon priced the Kindle at just shy of $350, which for many consumers is cost prohibitive. Sure, the books themselves are only $9.99 to buy so if you read a LOT you'll eventually break even, but ultimately will consumers buy a device that is priced at a similar level as some entry level desktop computers?

Eventually the cost of the Kindle will go down, but in the meantime if you own an iPhone you can get in on the action with the recently released iPhone for Kindle application.

In the interests of full disclosure, Amazon is one of my favorite companies. Their customer service is incredible, their marketing is simply awesome and shopping with them has always been nothing but a pleasure. With Kindle for the iPhone, they've once again launched an extremely useful product that has incredible potential to grow over time.

So how does it work? Firstly, you download the Kindle For iPhone app from Apple's App store for free. Once it's installed, you can register your iPhone with Amazon and you're free to browse the entire Amazon Kindle book store catalogue.

You'll need to browse the store and make the purchase using your iPhone's Web browser (Safari) - there's no Kindle store built-in to the Kindle For iPhone app - but the whole process is extremely simple and intuitive.

The vast majority of books are priced at a respectable $9.99 and once you've made your purchase, it's transferred over your phone's 3G network to your device. My test purchase took about 45 seconds to appear on my iPhone. If you want to try before you buy, in most cases you can download a sample chapter to your iPhone for free.

Once the download has finished, you'll see your purchase(s) within a simple menu inside the Kindle For iPhone app. Simply click on the purchase and the book loads.

Two things to note here. Firstly, reading on the iPhone screen is a very pleasant experience. The typeface is crisp and clear and coupled with the bright screen I didn't suffer from a hint of eye-strain as I read my book during a 35 minute train journey. In order to turn a page you simply move your thumb across the screen either left or right and the page flips forward or back. Page turning is both snappy and responsive.

So what are the drawbacks? Well for me, they're all very minor. You can't flip your iPhone and read in landscape mode, but for me that really isn't a deal breaker. The screen is small and you'll find yourself turning pages frequently, but again after the initial few minutes of using it this soon becomes a non-issue.

But the best part is that the app is free and that you only have to carry around one device. I've been wanting to order a Kindle for some time now, but with this release for the iPhone I think I'll wait for a while.

Read Your Favorite Magazines With Google Books

Scenario: You want to browse through past editions of your favorite magazines
Solution: Google Books has archived some magazines going back 50 years





Despite all the doom and gloom predictions surrounding the death of magazines, it's worth remembering that for the last 60 years they've dominated the mass media landscape. From iconic front covers to groundbreaking stories, magazines have helped shape American culture in bold and meaningful ways.

If you visit any magazine web site you're likely to find content from the current issue, and if you're lucky some articles from the last few months or couple of years. But what happens if you want to check out an edition of your favorite read from 1965? Or 1982? Right now that's simply not possible.

The good news is that Google is starting to change this. Working with select magazine publishers, Google has begun digitizing magazine archives and making them available via its Google Books service. Publications such as New York Magazine are available and give readers the chance to browse editions going back as far as 1965. The digital version is an exact replica of the print version, with each page a scanned image of the original.

Check out the video above for a full walk-through.

Embedr: Create Embeddable Video Playlists

Scenario: You want to create and share a video playlist using clips from multiple sites
Solution: Embedr lets you build and embed custom video playlists





Video sites on the Web have multiplied like rabbits over the last 2-3 years. YouTube, Vimeo, Daily Motion, MySpace....the list goes on and on.

Sharing video clips is also something that has grown in popularity. It's quick and easy to shoot a friend an email containing a link to that clip of the squirrel playing the bongos, or even embed something into a blog or social networking page.

But what if you want to share multiple clips from different sites? The obvious - but laborious way - would be to embed each clip from each source individually. Not very efficient.

Embedr lets you create a single video player that contains a playlist of clips, from a wide range of sites on the Web. This ability to aggregate video content lets you easily publish and share your playlist with friends via an email link or by embedding the player into your blog.

This is a really elegant way of sharing video content and does for video what image slideshows have done for pictures.

Check out the video above for a full walk-through.

Extract Audio From Video Files or DVDs

Scenario: You want to extract the audio from a favorite video clip or DVD
Solution: MPEG Streamclip is a free utility that lets you do this






I often stumble across video clips on the Web for which I want to extract just the audio. They could be clips of music performances on TV shows that I want to put on my iPod, all the way through to speeches and interviews.

The same it true for DVDs. If you've got a big DVD collection, there'll probably come a time where you wish you could just grab a piece of the audio track.

Achieving this is actually very simple thanks to a free program called MPEG Streamclip. After installing it on your Mac or PC you can extract audio in a matter of seconds by choosing either a video file or a DVD as your source, and then exporting the audio to your hard drive.

Check out the video above for a full walk-through.

Edit Your Songs in iTunes

Scenario: You want to edit out non-musical dead spots at the beginning and end of your songs
Solution: iTunes has a quick and easy built-in feature to edit songs






Bono might be a great musician, but just because he can hold a tune doesn't make him an expert on global economics. Chris Martin from Coldplay knows a good melody when he sees one, but personally I don't care if he wants us to end world hunger by scrawling messages on our hands.

Unfortunately - if you're a fan of live music and purchase "Live" albums - it's likely that many songs will include long periods of rambling from the singer or band as they talk to the crowd. Some might like this, but others don't - especially if you're working-out and just want to cut to the chase of the music.

iTunes includes a very handy feature to let you edit music on the fly. The best part is that it doesn't permanently change the file so you can always revert back to the original if need be.

Check out the video above for a full walk-through.