With Video Chatting, It’s a Small World After All

I included the above concerns as well as others, like how video conferencing can work without a computer and how video chats are becoming possible on mobile devices, thanks to front-facing cameras.I list a few examples of services that can be used, but several others exist. If you or someone you know have a Webcam but don’t quite know how to use it, this column could help.

The Right Equipment

Webcams are standard in all-in-one desktops, like the Dell’s Studio One 19 All in One, Hewlett-Packard’s Pavilion All-in-One and Apple’s iMacs. And it’s hard to find a laptop without a Webcam, even cheap netbooks. Computers with Webcams also have the built-in microphones necessary for receiving voices, synchronizing them with the video and sending this to the person on the other end of the chat. If your computer doesn’t have a Webcam or you want to upgrade to a better quality camera, you have several options. Logitech’s Webcams for notebooks range in price from $40 to $100 while desktop Webcams range from $50 to $130; these include two cameras that support widescreen 720p (HD quality). The Webcams available from Microsoft in the past year capture widescreen video at 720p, and prices range from $50 to $80.

Skype Worth the Hype

Skype is a free program that must be downloaded onto your Windows PC (using http://3.ly/sZpm) or Mac (using http://3.ly/wSf3). Users can create accounts with profile details about themselves including a photo and biographical information; these data can be set as visible to anyone or just authorized friends. Skype works for text chatting and voice-only chatting, as well as video chatting. One of the best features in Skype is its ability to let you share whatever is displayed on your computer screen with someone else by selecting a Share option. This comes in handy as a substitute for uploading numerous large files to a third-party service to share them with friends and family, especially if one party is traveling and has a slow connection. My sister and I use this remote access to share photos with each other, narrating as we share slide shows from our computers. Though some images appear a bit pixelated because of her weaker Internet connection, I get the point.

With Skype, users can put one video chat on hold to answer another one, like call waiting. This comes in handy for people who have several friends trying to talk to them at the same time when they’re online.

Video Chat via Google

Google Video Chat can be downloaded (http://3.ly/6flt) if someone has a Gmail account. This video-chatting capability is an add-on for the Google Chat instant-messaging program, which runs in the Gmail home page or in iGoogle, so a Web browser must be opened to access this. Friends who are capable of video chatting (because they have a Webcam) are indicated with a small video-camera icon beside their names, and video chats can be initiated by opening options in the Video and More menu of a chat window.

Google Chat users who have AIM accounts can sign into AIM within the Google Chat program, combining all their friends into one neat list. I started using this feature the first time it was offered and can’t remember the last time I opened AIM as a standalone program.

iChat for Macs

For Mac owners, Apple’s own iChat instant-messaging and video-chatting program comes installed on all desktops and laptops. To use it, people sign in with their MobileMe accounts—Apple’s $99-a-year service—or with an AIM account. An icon beside names of iChat contacts will indicate whether they are using a microphone-only or Webcam computer.

IChat can connect with Facebook friends who are online and using Facebook’s chat service. Once this feature is set up, a list of Facebook friends appears in a panel to the right of the core iChat friends. IChat also has some advanced features, like the ability to include up to four people in multiple places in the same video chat, and allows remote viewing of a computer screen.

Forget the Computer

Video chatting has eliminated the need for expensive videophones, but standalone products made specifically to enable video chats without a computer are still available. Take Asus’s $200 Videophone Touch for Skype (http://3.ly/bIaN), a device with a large touchscreen that connects to the Web using Wi-Fi or an Ethernet cable. It will also work with a PC as an alternate Webcam, but doesn’t need to connect to a computer to work.

The $150 FreeTalk TV Camera for Samsung (http://3.ly/SoYe) enables Skype video chatting using certain Samsung TVs, so people can sit in their living rooms during video chats.

Chat on the Go

Front-facing cameras are starting to show up on mobile devices like Sprint’s HTC EVO 4G, due out this summer, and Motorola’s Backflip, which I tested about a month ago. This feature could potentially enable video chatting right from the phone if an app was developed to take advantage of this capability.

So with all these options, there’s no excuse for not taking advantage of your Webcam and start video chatting with friends—whether they’re across the ocean or in the office down the hall.

Playing Dodgeball With Gawker–And Other Cheap Thrills in the Big Blog Era

Remember when all you had to worry about from blogs was excessive snark? If you overdosed on the acid commentary, you could always just pop a few Tums or spend 10 minutes with the fluffy kittens on Cute Overload. (There–all better.)

Now you might want to bring a flak jacket.

Consider what’s been happening at the Gawker Media network of blogs, for instance. In its recent past, while it certainly enjoyed poking at the Establishment (especially the Establishment media), flagship blog Gawker tended to reserve its most surgical, sustained attacks for the little people–self-promoting 20-something media types.

But now? Gawker Media likes bigger targets–much, much bigger ones.

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The Battle Lines Are Being Drawn Over Fair Use

We mentioned yesterday that Google and Twitter had filed an amicus brief in the Barclays v. TheFlyOnTheWall.com case. That’s the case involving a website’s reporting on stock recommendations from Wall Street firms.

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Gphone vs iPhone, which is better?

As iPhone is the most talked about smart phone on the planet and it has won millions of hearts of users by his multi-touch screen and other powerful/beautiful design. Of course, iPhone has brought so much money for Apple.
On 23rd, Sep 2008 Google released G1 and claimed that they will have a share of the big market of smart phone.
So, which is better about iPhone and G1? That maybe asked by many people who want to buy a new phone. Here I will give some of opinion about G1 and iPhone.
I will compare these two phones in three aspects, hardware, software, and their performance as a media player.

Part 1: Hardware.

1. The price and storage memory
First, the price and storage memory is what I concern most, for iPhone $199 8GB, $299 16GB, for G1 $179 1GB. When you see this you will say G1 is $20 lower than iPhone but G1 is only 1GB and you will pay another $40 for an 8GB SD Card. So I think iPhone win in this round.

2. Appearance
iPhone is 133 grams/4.7 ounces and G1 is 158 grams/5.57 ounces. G1 is taller while iPhone is thinner (G1: 117.7*55.7*17.1, iPhone: 115.5*62.1*12.3).

3. Mobile Network
For mobile Network, they both have Quad Band GSM/EDGE UMTS, but G1 uses T-Mobile-only US 3G and iPhone uses AT&T-only US 3G.

4. Touch screen and input
About touch screen display, iPhone has Multi-touch 3.5 480*320 163 ppi, but G1 does not support mulit-touch. And in input aspect, G1 uses keyboard, Trackball, 6 buttons and touch screen, while iPhone has home button and multi touch screen.

5. Expansion
In expansion ports, G1 uses SD, ExtUSB(USB+audio) but iPhone has headphone, Dock connector (USB+ audio, video, remote). They have the same wireless WiFi 820.11b/g Limited Bluetooth 2.0 EDR.

6. Others
About hardware, the two phones perform almost the same and the only big difference is the iPhone uses multi-touch screen and G1’s camera is better than iPhone. And iPhone has a 1400Ah battery with 300 hours standby time but G1 only has a 1150Ah battery with 5 hours talk time and 130 standby.

Part 2: Software.

iPhone and G1 are both using Webkit as their browser engine. In media playback aspect, iPhone supports music, audiobook, video, streaming, downloads and rental, while for G1, only music playback. G1 has Android Market as its third party software store while iPhone has iPhone app store. G1’s platform is Modified Java development and iPhone uses Cocoa Touch.

Part 3: Their performance as media player.

G1 supports H.264, 3GPP, MPEG4, Codec 3GP video and MP3、AAC、AAC+、WMA、MPEG4、WAV、MIDI、REAL、AUDIO、OGG audio formats.
iPhone supports AAC，Protected AAC，MP3，MP3 VBR，Audible (formats 1, 2, 3), Apple Lossless, AIFF, WAV audio formats and H.264 (up to 1.5Mbps), MPEG-4 (up to 2.5Mbps) 640*480, 30fps, AAC-LC (up to 160 Kbps), 48kHz dimensional sound .m4v, .mp4 and .mov format.

Amazon MP3 Store allows you to download 6 million songs without the DRM protection, 89 cents per song. It is similar with the Apple iPhone, you need to pay for the video and audio sources on the Apple store. But how to get free sources for your G1.

For iPhone and G1 you can buy songs and videos from store, which is really expensive, and you can also make songs and videos for your iPhone and G1 by yourself, you just need to convert your DVDs and videos to mp4 format and then you can put them easily to your iPhone and G1.

Here I recommend you Aiseesoft DVD Converter Suite, it includes Best DVD Ripper, Total Video Converter and iPod to Computer Transfer.
For Mac user, I recommend you Aiseesoft DVD Converter Suite for Mac, it includes DVD Ripper for Mac and Total Video Converter for Mac.

Using iMovie to edit videos on Mac for free

This is a tutorial which explains the process of editing videos on a PC using Windows Movie Maker and editing videos on Mac using iMovie. This tutorial will be a concise explanation of how to editing videos for free. Then share your movie via the Web, e-mail, or CD. Using dvd burner you can even take movies you've made and turn movies into DVDs.
You can also save your movie back to the video tape in your camera to play back on a TV or on the camera itself.

This tutorial includes three parts, this is part two:
Part 1. Using Windows Movie Maker to edit videos on PC for free
Part 2. Using iMovie to edit videos on Mac for free
Part 3. A table that compares free video editors.

iMovie '08 makes viewing and working with video as intuitive as enjoying your photos. A built-in library automatically organizes your video, so all the clips you've captured and movies you've created are just a click away. With its revolutionary interface, iMovie makes it quick and easy to browse your library and create new movies. And iMovie is built for sharing. In just a few steps, you can add movies to your website, publish them on YouTube, and create versions for iPod, iPhone, and Apple TV.



Step 1, Create an iMovie Project
Before doing anything in iMovie, you must create and title a new default folder as well as title and save our new project.
Step 2, Connect DV Camera
Make sure the camera is in PLAY (VCR) mode
Step 3, Add video
When your viewer says "Camera Connected," click the "Import" button. iMovie will play and import your digital video. When you wish to stop importing, click the "Import" button once more. Drag your imported clip(s) from the clips pane to the editable timeline along the bottom of the iMovie interface. iMovie treats deleted files differently that most other programs. If you delete a clip you CANNOT get it back.
iMovie will also allow you to import the following file formats:
3gp, AVI, DAT, MOV, MP4,MPG
If your videos are not the format that is compatible with iMove such as FLV and M4A, AIFF, AAC, you can use the video converter for Mac to convert the video first.
Step 4, Edit video
To Split a Clip: Place the cursor beneath the viewing window at the place in the movie where you want to split the clip into two. Go up to the "Edit" menu at the top, and select "Split Video Clip at Playhead."
To Crop a Clip: Drag the little triangles beneath the viewing window timeline to the desired in and out points. Go to the "Edit" menu at the top and select "Crop."
To add effect: Select "Effects" from the menu below the clips pane. Select a clip from the editing region to add an effect to it. Select an effect. Adjust the parameters of the effect beneath the preview window. The effect should automatically preview in the preview window. If you adjust the parameters of the effect, click "Preview" again to load the new effect settings. Click "Apply," and wait for the effect to render. You can monitor the effect rendering by the red progress bar that occurs within the clip the effect is being added to in the editing region. Save your work.
Step 5, Save your project
From the main menu, go to File > Save Project.
If you want to convert the movies made by iMovie to other video format, you can use this video converter for Mac. If you want to burn the movies made by iMovie to DVD, use DVD Creator for Mac.

Everything to PSP

How to watch YouTube on PSP, convert videos for PSP and put DVD movies on PSP? Many PSP users don’t know that. As a crazy PSP fan, I collect some tips that I think are the main steps to go into the world of PSP and share them with all PSP fans here, hope everyone can fully enjoy the fun of PSP.

It will include the following parts:
1. How to watch Youtube video on PSP directly with wifi internet
2. How to rip DVD and convert video to PSP
3. How to download and convert youtube video to PSP for free
4. How to transfer video to PSP
5. How to downgrade PSP
6. How to download free limewire music and video to PSP
7. Where to download free games to PSP

Part1. How to watch YouTube video on PSP directly with wifi internet?
As PSP's web browser only support the older version of flash while YouTube uses flash 9, if you want to watch YouTube on PSP directly with the wifi, you must upgrade to the newest firmware f and install a flash player on your PSP. A Japanese developer NekoMiMi has achieved that with PSPTube. Here are the steps:
Download the PSPTube from here http://www.PSP-hacks.com/file/1225 and open the zip file. Now before putting it in your PSP open the PSPTube.cfg file and press ctrl + F, and type in "DEV" press until you find Dev id="".
Ok now go to http://www.youtube.com/dev create an account and insert the account in between the arentheses.
Extract the PSPTube from the 200over folder and put it in GAME352 folder (Set the Kernel to the 352) Now open it in the PSP and choose an internet connection with the Circle button, it may say no videos, press circle and you'll be able to search.
Here is the control info:
X: Cancel; O: Accept; L/R: Last/Next Page; Start: Pause;
Select: Change aspect ratio (Original Size, Full screen)

Part2. How to rip DVD and convert video to PSP
PSP can play only MP4 video, DVD movie is MPEG-2 video and has CSS protected, so you have to rip the DVD movie to MP4, and then transfer it to PSP, If you stick with freeware, you can use DVD Shrink to rip the DVD to computer, and then use PSP Video 9 to convert the ripped file to MP4 video. As for me, I’d prefer using Aiseesoft PSP Movie Creator, it can rip protected DVD movie and convert video to MP4 video, more over, you can also trim or crop the DVD movie to enjoy the video on PSP with full screen, that’s really cool. What you have to do just put your DVDs on your DVD drive, and then click start button to begin the conversion. If you want to learn more about it, you can refer to its official site:
http://www.aiseesoft.com/psp-movie-creator.html

Part3. Download free YouTube video to PSP?
YouTube is a place everybody knows for free videos, I often download free videos from it, but the downloaded YouTube video is flv format, so a flv converter is necessary, you can go to this website: http://vixy.net/ .It's a free online FLV converter. Then go to YouTube and find a video that you loved. Copy the URL that in the Red box. Like this format:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdUUx5FdySs

Then Paste your video URL to the input box (figure above), choose the right format you want. If you want to edit the video, AVI is a good choice. And MP4 is fit for iPod, PSP and other MP4 players, click “start” to start the conversion. When the conversion finished, you will get the download link of the output video. Click the download link to download the video and save it in your computer, then copy the MP4 video to the “Video” folder in the PSP memory stick.

Part4. How to transfer video to PSP
You can download this free PSP video manager, it’s totally free, it can help you transfer MP4 video to PSP directly; fully support all firmware versions of PSP. Here is the download link
http://www.youtubetoipod.biz/software/psp-video-manager.html
what you have to do just add your MP4 video files to the software, connect your PSP to computer via the USB model, and then click Move, done.

Part5. How to downgrade PSP
All downgrades have a chance of bricking PSP, so if you want to, you must aware that there is always some level of risk.

Part6. How to download free limewire music and video to PSP
If you like to download free music and video to PSP, limewire is surely your right hand; you can download limewire software free from its official site: http://www.limeware.com, install and run it, then type key words to search the music and video you’re interested in, and then download it.



When you finished download the video, export and located it on your computer. Coz PSP can play only MP4 video, so you have to convert your video, I’d prefer using Aiseesoft PSP Movie Converter to convert video, and help you transfer video to PSP, so you will not be confused by the complicated PSP rule. If you don’t know how to use it, here is a step by step guide about how to use it.
http://www.aiseesoft.com/article/psp-movie-converter.html

Part7. Where to download free games to PSP
I collect some websites to download free PSP games, you can take them for reference, because some just provides a part of free games, please take care of the virus embedded in free games you‘d better install anti-virus software.
http://www.gamespot.com
http://www.PSPblender.com/PSP_games.php
http://www.allPSPgames.com
http://www.bigfishgames.com/
http://www.play4freeonlinegames.com/
http://www.khemer.com/
http://www.gamersenterprise.com
http://www.gamesjax.com/
http://www.playitontheweb.com/
http://www.topstylegames.com/
http://www.playgames2.com/games/Turret-Pong

Free Trial: Download Aiseesoft PSP Movie Creator

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

The U.S. forensic DNA database has expanded rapidly in recent years. While it was originally authorized to store the DNA profiles of only convicted violent felons, the FBI Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) now includes all federal offenders–including arrestees not yet convicted of any crime–as well as convicts from all 50 states and arrestees from many. Such expansions of the database are troubling, but at least they are explicit. More worrisome is the effective inclusion of many innocent individuals in the database, via novel and almost completely unregulated search techniques called “partial matching” and “familial searching.” By adopting one or both of these search techniques, some states are quietly expanding database coverage to “virtually” include the innocent relatives of profiled offenders–nearly always without any legislative oversight.

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Facebook Doesn’t Have Privacy Problems. It Has Positioning Risks.

The recent brouhaha around Facebook’s privacy policies–the complications, the simplifications, the push, and the push-back–is a side-story. The real issue is positioning. And the real cost will be felt if and when a meaningful percentage of Facebook’s users come to see it as a place to share and consume media rather than as a place to communicate with family and friends.

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In China, Labor Movement Enabled by Technology

Wielding cellphones and keyboards, members of China’s emerging labor movement so far seem to be outwitting official censors in an effort to build broad support for what they say is a war against greedy corporations and their local government allies.

And it might not be possible if the Chinese government had not made a concerted effort in the last decade to shrink the country’s digital divide by lowering the cost of mobile phone and Internet service in this country–a modernization campaign that has given China the world’s biggest Internet population (400 million) and allowed even the poorest of the poor to log onto the Internet and air their labor grievances.

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How to sync and put cusomized ringtone on iPhone

Previous part: How to convert DVD, Movie, Music to iPhone ringtone and put ringtone on iPhone/iPhone 3G?

There are also some other ways to convert audio to iPhone ringtone and sync it to iPhone with iTunes, but I think these are a little complicated and users may be at a loss with such ways.

Here I recommend iPhone PC Suite, an almighty iPhone manager that can let you manage phone book, software, media and other files between iPhone and computer without iTunes easily.

But before using this tool, make sure your iTunes installed and has been connected with iPhone once before (Then you will never need not run iTunes when you use iPhone PC Suite to manage your iPhone).And when the first time you connecting iPhone, it will install PhoneDaemon on your iPhone, don’t worry it is green software and will do nothing harm.

Now I will show you how to sync the converted iPhone ringtone to iPhone without iTunes. Connect you iPhone to computer, double click” iPhone PC Suite” to start iPhone PC Suite, the program will scan you iPhone automatically for a short while. Then click button “Personal” on the main menu, select ”ringtone”.



Click “New Ringtone” to locate the converted iPhone ringtone.

Select your target iPhone ringtone, then it will upload the ringtone to iPhone automatically.



Then you can select your favorite audio file and set it as your iPhone ringtone on iPhone. Click “setting”->”Sound”->”Ringtone”, the converted ringtone is listed on column “Customize”. Now you can enjoy the fun of your unique iPhone ringtone!
This free iPhone PC Suite also has other powerful functions, we will share them later.

Previous part: How to convert DVD, Movie, Music to iPhone ringtone and put ringtone on iPhone?

How to clone DVD to DVD folder for Mac

The DVD protection technology makes it dead difficult to clone DVD to DVD folder for Mac, since the protection of DVD must be removed, can you finish the task to clone DVD to DVD folder.

Aiseesoft DVD Copy for Mac is very useful, and simple to use to clone DVD Mac, But this software only suit for the Mac type computer. Go ahead and download this DVD Copy for Mac.

Buy NowFree trial(Intel PPC)

To see how the process of clone DVD to DVD folder for Mac, follows the following steps:

Select clone DVD Mode: Choose “Full Disc ” button or “Main Movie Mode” button according to your needs.

Select souce: Select DVD-video disc here to clone your DVD.

Choose target: Choose DVD folder to continue.

Start clone:Click”Start” to begin your DVD Clone Mac.

learn more on: how to edit DVD file with DVD Copy for Mac.

New Zune2 review (part 2-1) upgrade, hardware, software and Social

When we first caught wind that Microsoft was in fact doing its own portable media player (and then published the first ever photo of the Zune), we hoped it might finally be the play to knock the iPod off its perch. Sure, in mid 2006 there was no shortage of devices more advanced than any given iPod, but then (and now) the iPod enjoyed unchecked dominance of the market in the US and many countries abroad. Steve Jobs knew the day would come that Microsoft would really enter the game.
What we were hoping for was that the portable media world might be in store for another Sony / Nintendo upset. Remember in the 90s how Sony and Nintendo's partnership went awry, and Sony, totally sick of Nintendo completely owning the game console space, brought out the original PlayStation? Before the console's second generation was through Sony had more market share than they knew what to do with. Sony upped Nintendo's game with the PlayStation, then upped their own with the PlayStation 2 -- and took over.
If Sony could do the impossible and topple the infallible Nintendo of old, surely Microsoft, the world's largest technology company, could make at least make a dent in Apple's armor. Yeah, the first-gen product is important, but the second gen product is crucial, because if you can't up your game -- and everyone else's -- you're just another player. This year, Microsoft really had to make the Zune count. Read on to judge for yourself whether they did.
The first generation Zune, as we all know, was little more than a slew of off the shelf hardware and software Microsoft cobbled together in a rush to make a play for the annual holiday gold rush. And the interesting part is, all things considered, it really wasn't bad at all. No one thought it was "done", but it was a lot better than some of the other PMC-based devices we'd seen to date. This year Microsoft brought a slew of new Zune products (and enhancements) to the table, including two new players (flagship 80GB and the flash model), new device software (which runs on all devices), new desktop software, and a new service (Zune Social, a music-oriented social network reminiscent of Xbox Live).



Device software
Yeah, we know Microsoft technically skipped right past device software v2.0 and jumped to 2.2, but the update is the best place to start since it affects the most users and devices. Microsoft won some well-deserved brownie points for ensuring all Zune players new and old can run the new firmware, meaning that for now your old Zune will have feature parity with the new hardware.
So here's the deal with the device software: it adds some crucial bits (many of which we expected the first time), takes away some minor but important things, and leaves the other 90% largely unchanged. First, the stuff Zune 2.0 takes away:
Song flagging
The five star rating system
The language menu The good stuff, though, is very good:
MPEG-4 and H.264 playback support
Podcasting support
Sync over WiFi (which we'll get to later)
In terms of performance, both old and new hardware and firmware were almost identical in testing. A lot of people have been claiming the new firmware is much snappier, but we didn't find that to be true at all. Two Zune 30 devices boot up within a half second between 1.0 and 2.0 series firmwares, and the flash-based Zune 8 we tested booted to home screen less than a second faster. Traversing menus took no more or less time or when syncing and the like. (Note: scrolling through long lists appears to happen slightly faster, but that's likelier an interface tweak, not a performance increase.)

Related theme:
New Zune review part 2-1
New Zune review part 2-2
New Zune review part 2-3
New Zune review part 2-4

Recommended Products:
Aiseesoft DVD to Zune Suite
It can help you convert DVD, IFO and all video formats to Zune, Zune 2 MP4, WMV and Zune supported audio MP3, WMA, and AAC etc.

Whitman and Fiorina: Silicon Valley’s Shabby Side

Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina, who won their primary races to become California’s Republican candidates for governor and U.S. senator, came to great public visibility–and wealth–in the technology world. They represent elements of a Silicon Valley culture that was most evident during the bubble years of the late 1990s.

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AT&T Learns Exactly the Wrong Thing About Data Usage

AT&T (T) says that 65% of its users use less 200 megabytes per month; a whopping 98% use less than 2 gigabytes. AT&T looked at these numbers and concluded it was time for tiered pricing; time to soak these “data pigs”.

I am a data pig.

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Why TV Still Won’t Embrace the Web Quite Yet

What’s the future of TV? For the near future, it’s more TV.

So says TV producer Steve Levitan.

Levitan has made a bunch of money working on hit TV shows like “Just Shoot Me,” and he’s likely to make some more with ABC’s “Modern Family.” So it’s not a huge surprise to hear him make a case for the status quo.

But Levitan is also a self-professed nerd who loves technology and has tried hard to figure out how to incorporate it into his TV show. He has played around with Twitter and has created special clips for Web viewers. Problem is, he says, he can’t figure out how Internet eyeballs do him any good. And that includes the two million viewers he believes watch his show every week on Hulu.

Where to download free iPod Videos

Free iPod Videos, Legal nano Videos, Places to get iPod, iPod nano Videos
1. The Internet Archive is great for old videos and movies. The Archive’s 256Kb MPEG4 Downloads are unfortunately not iPod-ready as previously thought. The format’s correct, but there are audio pops when played back on the iPod. You’re probably better off downloading the MPEG2 videos anyway. The 265Kb files were pretty low-res and it’s a snap to re-encode the MPEG2 files for your iPod with Aiseesoft Video Converter for Mac.
2. The Chronic..What?..cles of Narnia.
3. The iTunes Music Store’s podcast section is loaded with free videos.
4. Channel 101 and Channel 102 offer up some brilliant downloadable videos.
5. PodGuide.tv
6. Channel Frederator offers up some of the best short animations anywhere.

Illegal Places to Get iPod Videos
You’re probably familiar with most of these options, but if you aren’t then they’re new to you!
1. Search the BitTorrent network for iPod.
2. Check Podtropolis
3. The Pirate Bay!
4. Seriously, you should probably stick to LEGAL sources for iPod videos.

Downloading Free Music Without Fear
3hive.com: A great blog-style listing of free iPod-compatible songs offered by record artists and labels in an attempt to entice full-album purchases. Songs are in the MP3 format in a variety of bit-rates generally ranging between 128kbps and 192kbps.



Epitonic.com: Offers highly professional, artist-focused presentation of free digital music downloads in MP3 format, with biographical details and short previews for songs across a narrow collection of genres.



Freekidsmusic.com: Along with its sister site Freechildrensmusic.com, provides a large variety of free MP3 format songs for young listeners.



Garageband.com: Not to be confused with Apple’s music creation application of the same name, Garageband.com collects and provides popularity charts of independent music, featuring over 125,000 bands.



MFiles.co.uk: Provides free downloads of well-known classical music in MP3 format.



MP34U.com: A clean, professionally designed interface to individual free songs sorted by genre, selected by site “sources” who pick and post only music they like.



Music.download.com: The music-dedicated expansion of popular software download site Download.com offers free full-length MP3 songs across all major genres, even including Children’s, Spoken Word, Comedy, Folk and Religious tracks. Most tracks are indie.

PureVolume: Offers over 100,000 free songs for download, and captured many of the best users of what used to be MP3.com (before it was scrapped, sold, and completely changed).



RCRDLBL: An exclusively-online record label which provides free MP3 downloads of exclusive music from emerging artists.
Of course, if you can’t find the song you’re looking for on one of these free sites, you can always visit Apple’s iTunes Store or Amazon’s MP3 Store and make a purchase there. Though these aren’t as cheap as some of the questionable international sites listed in the prior section, they are an entirely safe and legal way to get access to over a million songs.

Free Music with a Catch: Ad-supported Sites
Years ago, the most common source of free music for your listening enjoyment was the radio. Radio stations were able to broadcast music from a wide range of artists at no cost to the listener. Instead they made money through advertising services. The “price” a listener paid to listen to free music in those days was having to endure listening to advertising interspersed with the music.
Recently, some web sites have begun to offer a similar business model: You can download free music, but this is either done through a client or web site with very proactive advertising (as opposed to the standard advertising on most web sites), or the music tracks themselves contain brief advertising spots placed at the beginning of each track.
Unfortunately, most of the sites that offer these types of services, such as SpiralFrog and Ruckus Networks (for U.S. college students) only offer their downloads in a Windows Media Audio DRM-protected format that is incompatible with iTunes or the iPod (or ironically, even the Microsoft Zune). Further, these tracks may not be burned to a CD. These sites are therefore generally of no value to iPod owners.
A notable exception is We7, a UK-based ad-supported site whose founders include Peter Gabriel. We7 provides downloads in a DRM-free 192kbps MP3 format, with the catch being that each track has a 6-12 second advertisement grafted onto the front-end. Ad-free tracks may be purchased outright, and We7 also offers a credit system whereby you can convert some of your tracks to ad-free versions once they have been in your library for 28 days or more. Since these tracks are in an open MP3 format, they can be played on just about any digital media player available.



Although primarily a paid subscription music service, eMusic.com provides a free ad-supported music service as well. In this case, the advertising is directed at the user via the ALOT toolbar which is installed in your web browser (compatible with IE6, IE7 and FireFox 2 only).

Downloading Free Podcasts: Radio for your iPod, iPod nano.
In addition to free music for your iPod, you can also download “Podcasts,” short radio-style programs produced by individuals and companies around the world. Many of these podcasts include music selections, and some are even dedicate to showcasing independent artists and providing music commentary and review.
While podcasts were originally organized in several independent podcast directories out on the Internet, the ITunes Store now includes an extensive catalog of podcasts which you can subscribe to directly via iTunes completely for free. Podcasts available through iTunes include both audio and video podcasts, and cover an extensive range of topics. Basically, anybody who has anything to say on a regular basis can create their own podcast and get “on the air” via iTunes quite easily.
A selection of music-specific podcasts can be found right in iTunes in the Music Podcasts Directory, which includes a comprehensive selection of music-related podcasts from music reviewers, traditional radio stations, and even directly from both small independent and more mainstream artists. So it helps you download your favorite iPod Videos

How to convert and edit video to BlackBerry

This document will show you how to trim, crop, convert video to BlackBerry AVI at length, you can refer to it step by step and take the conversion an easy trip.

This BlackBerry Video Converter includes the following three parts:
1. How to convert video to BlackBerry?
2. How to trim, crop, join and edit video for BlackBerry?

Part 1: How to convert video to BlackBerry?
Step1. Please download Aiseesoft BlackBerry Video Converter; you can free download it from here.
http://www.aiseesoft.com/blackberry-video-converter.html

Step2. Install and run Aiseesoft BlackBerry Video Converter, click the “Add File” button to import your videos. If you experience any problems adding videos by directly clicking the “Add” button, you can click “File -> Add file” to add the video files you want to convert from your computer.



Step3. Then Click the “Profile” drop-down list to select the format you prefer for each added file.



If you want to customize the output quality, click the “Settings” button to open the Settings panel, where you customize resolution, frame rate, video bit rate, audio bit rate, sample, etc.

Free Trial: Free download Aiseesoft BlackBerry Video Converter

Next Part: How to crop, edit, join and trim movie for MP4?

How to Convert RM to MP3

The following will show you a step by step guide to complete RM to MP3 conversion. Before doing this conversion, you need to download trial version or order full version of Aiseesoft Audio Converter and run it on your computer.

Step 1: Load RM files you'd like to convert

Add the RM files you'd like to convert by clicking "Add File" button on the main interface.

Step 2: Choose output format

In "Profile" drop-down menu, you can select output format for your portable player. The software allows setting different output formats according to personal needs. You can choose MP3 to output here.

Step 3: Start converting

Click "Start" button on the bottom of the main interface to start converting RM to MP3. After the successful conversion, you can enjoy it anytime anywhere.

Tip: This RM to MP3 converter is also professional Audio Joiner and Audio Trimmer, which could merge several audios into one and trim any clip of audio.

More detailed converting and editing function, click convert RM to MP3

With 3-D in Newspapers, Is This Tech Trend Overdone?

Is 3-D at risk of jumping the shark?

Already flooded with 3-D movies, 3-D televised sporting events and 3-D scantily clad women, the world now will have a 3-D newspaper section.

The Philadelphia Inquirer said today it will publish part of its newspaper in 3-D next month, showing off photos and 3-D ads, including one from Best Buy (BBY). The technology also will be available on Philly.com, the local Web portal owned by the Inquirer’s parent company.

“Most people associate 3-D with electronic media but the 3-D experience in newspaper revolutionizes the reader’s experience and engages them in yet another way,” Philadelphia Inquirer Publisher Brian Tierney said in a statement.

Fueled by the success of the 3-D movie “Avatar,” companies have been scrambling for their own piece of the 3-D boomlet. Even though almost no one in the country owns a 3-D television set, ESPN is among several TV companies launching 3-D TV networks.

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Foreigners Vie to Upgrade China Grid

China’s plan to upgrade its electricity network has sparked intense competition among General Electric Co. (GE), Siemens AG (SI) and other foreign companies seeking a foothold in what will soon be one of the world’s biggest markets for advanced power transmission and distribution systems.

GE estimates China will spend $60 billion over the next decade to upgrade outdated infrastructure, using digital technology and other advanced equipment to make a “smart grid” that can distribute power more efficiently and flexibly. Other estimates put the spending as high as $100 billion over 10 years. The sums are comparable to estimates of what the U.S. will spend on similar improvements.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao elevated smart-grid construction to a national priority in March, when, for the first time, he mentioned it in his closely watched annual work report to China’s legislature. Officials say they want to finish the renovations by 2020.

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Adopted Children Face Anguish as Birth Parents Stalk Them on Facebook

The natural parents of adopted children are increasingly using Facebook and other social networking sites to track down their offspring, flouting the usual controls and safeguards.

Adoption agencies are reporting huge numbers of calls from “deeply distressed” adoptive parents whose children have been contacted out of the blue.

Jonathan Pearce, chief executive of Adoption UK, said it was having to deal with the consequences of this “intrusive and unplanned communication”, and warned that it was becoming more difficult to guarantee confidentiality to adoptive parents and their children.

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