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Opera Unite Puts A Media Server In Your Browser
9:30PM Kevin Purdy | Windows/Mac/Linux: A test version of Opera’s formidable alternative browser introduces Unite, a plug-in that lets users share music, pictures, files, notes and chat rooms straight from their desktop. Check out its services and features in a quick screenshot tour. More »
Communicate
12:00PM Angus Kidman | You’d never guess it from the name, but Bluegobo.com is basically YouTube for musical theatre geeks. YouTube itself is not short of the odd tune or two from musicals, but Bluegobo slightly ups the ante by including basic information on each show (even though many of the clips are from TV performances). Got another YouTube alternative you like whiling away the hours with? Share in the comments. More »
Bluegobo Shows Off Musical Theatre Clips
12:00PM Angus Kidman | You’d never guess it from the name, but Bluegobo.com is basically YouTube for musical theatre geeks. YouTube itself is not short of the odd tune or two from musicals, but Bluegobo slightly ups the ante by including basic information on each show (even though many of the clips are from TV performances). Got another YouTube alternative you like whiling away the hours with? Share in the comments. More »
Communicate
1:30PM Angus Kidman | Nick over at our sibling blog Gizmodo reports that Australia will finally be getting the Slingbox — a nifty device that lets you stream content from your home entertainment network across the Internet, so you can view it no matter where you are in the world — in March, about four years after the rest of the world. While that’s potentially interesting gadget news, it’s a device you’ll need to be careful with if your ISP counts uploads as well as downloads (stand up Telstra, stand up Optus). Catching up with your favourite shows on the road will make you mighty unpopular at home if you end up causing the broadband connection to be shaped.
Slingbox Coming To Australia Next Month (About Time!) [Gizmodo AU]
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Slingbox Coming To Oz, Watch Out For Those Uploads
1:30PM Angus Kidman | Nick over at our sibling blog Gizmodo reports that Australia will finally be getting the Slingbox — a nifty device that lets you stream content from your home entertainment network across the Internet, so you can view it no matter where you are in the world — in March, about four years after the rest of the world. While that’s potentially interesting gadget news, it’s a device you’ll need to be careful with if your ISP counts uploads as well as downloads (stand up Telstra, stand up Optus). Catching up with your favourite shows on the road will make you mighty unpopular at home if you end up causing the broadband connection to be shaped.
Slingbox Coming To Australia Next Month (About Time!) [Gizmodo AU]
More »
Communicate
Radio Beta Streams International Stations
10:00AM Jason Fitzpatrick | Radio Beta is a web-based radio station aggregator with a host of features. Rather than simply serving as a search engine a basic playlist-builder, Radio Beta allows you to search radio stations by both region and genre, save your favourite stations, and as an extreme convenience play all the radio stations you find with an embedded player right on the Radio Beta website. If you’d like to visit the website of the station you’re listening, every listing includes the country, language, genre, city, the broadcast frequency and a link back to the source of the audio stream. Radio Beta [via Download Squad] More »
Work
VLC 0.9 Revamps Interface, Playlist Features
11:06PM Kevin Purdy | Windows/Mac/Linux: VLC 0.9.3, the bug-fixed, updated version of our favourite cross-platform, hardly-ever-fails media player, is available for download. New to this version are a revamped interface and reorganised menus, an improved playlist tool for more traditional audio-only file browsing and listening (and native playing of YouTube videos), enhanced album art and metadata tweaking, Last.fm submissions, and much more. If you’ve already grabbed a new copy of VLC from an update, are you liking the new menus and interface, or are you tempted to switch back? Share your take in the comments. VLC Media Player 0.9.3 is a free download for Windows, Mac, and Linux systems (Windows downloads are currently 0.9.2). VLC Media Player [via Linux.com] More »
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Joost Now Offers Online TV With Only A Browser
1:00AM Kevin Purdy | Joost, the web-based provider of on-demand and live television, launched a browser-based version of its offerings this morning. While users of the service’s Mac and Windows software can still get at their channels, Joost’s new model allows anyone with Flash capabilities, and a temporarily-required browser IE or Firefox plug-in, to get at the good stuff. Joost is expected to go no-plugin-required next month—nice for those on Linux or non-standard browsers—but for now, it’s a bit more hassle-free to watch live or canned television at work, or show a friend that old sitcom episode you were referring to. Joost is a free service; requires a sign-up and (for the moment) browser plug-in. Joost [via TechCrunch] More »Stream Music from Ubuntu to an Xbox 360
6:10AM Kevin Purdy | One intrepid Ubuntu hacker has written up a little script that allows your Xbox 360 to locate and stream music from any computer running Ubuntu. Downloading, setting up, and activating the script will require a bit of terminal work, but the commands can be easily copied and pasted from the Ubuntu Forums post linked below. Got a better solution for connecting the two systems that normally would never get along? Share your solutions in the comments. Stream music to your Xbox 360 [Ubuntu Forums] More »
Convert Media Files to Embeddable Flash with Moonk
1:40AM Kevin Purdy | Moonk, a free Flash conversion application, serves as a one-stop shop to turn your photos, videos, or music into slick-looking embeddable boxes. Sure, YouTube and a wealth of other hosting sites can do much the same, but for those who don’t want to add their videos or other media to a search-able site or mess with privacy settings, Moonk lets simply make your media files web-playable. New users get 500 MB of storage—pretty generous, considering the small size of the Flash output. I also like the uncluttered interface and straight-forward conversion tools, compared to similar tools of its kind. Moonk is a free service, but requires a sign-up to use. Moonk [via Red Ferret Journal] More »
Songerize is the “I’m Feeling Lucky” of Online Music
1:30AM Kevin Purdy | Songerize is a dead-simple interface for quickly playing streaming music, and it’s destined to become a quick-fix addiction for music fans. Type in a song name, then the artist you think performs it, and hit “Play.” If Songerize can find the song, it plays it in an embedded Flash device. If not, try another song. Described as the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button for the more full-featured streaming music search site SeeqPod, Songerize is the perfect tool for clarifying misheard lyrics, quickly playing a song for a friend, or just listening to music one track at a time. Songerize found 8 of 10 songs I threw at it this morning, and I mixed it about halfway between big radio hits and indie hip-hop and rock. Nifty. To get even more out of SeeqPod, download-wise, check out Songbeat. Songerize [via MakeUseOf.com] More »