Scopetech

Fairtilizer is a new music site which wants to allow its users to be able to discover new music, create their own playlists, download free tracks, subscribe to artists and labels and “connect with artists, labels and people that care about music”. Anyone can submit a track into the system and according to the site, submitted tracks will go into a “buffer zone” where the songs can either be approved or dismissed depending on if the uploader has actual rights to the song. The site’s screening process should deal with any songs that may be uploaded illegally. What’s good about the site is that users can get free tracks provided labels offer them for free download but it seems only smaller labels would do such a thing. There is also the option to have songs as stream-only.

Playing with the site I am trying to figure out why people would use it instead of Myspace. One reason might be because of the nice flash player that allows you to take tracks and embed them on a site or blog. With Myspace, tracks are usually stream-only from major labels and users typically cannot embed the songs anywhere outside Myspace, if at all. Myspace users also have the option to sell tracks, something I have not seen with Fairtilizer, though tracks that are available for download will not have any sort of DRM. Sadly, I found the site to be very confusing.

Submitted tracks go to the “Upcoming” section where tracks with the most support go into the “Charting” section. What is unclear is what “support” for a track means, number of listens or the number of “votes” as denoted by a heart button to the right of the “Upcoming” and “Charting” sections of the site? Fairtilizer almost seems like it could be a competitor to Contrastream with the digg-like interface it has but instead of simply underground artists, Fairtilizer wants to involve big record labels which might be able to work provided they get the kinks out and explain why people wouldn’t just use Myspace instead.

The ability to make playlists from music on the site, embed them on a blog and pop out the player is a very nice feature though. The site is still not open to the public so we can assume many changes need to take place but for me it was not as appealing to look at as was the case with Contrastream. Both sites have aspects that could go well together. We will be sure to look out for any updates to Fairtilizer and we have 5 invites to the site. Leave a comment and we’ll hook you up.

If you missed out on the chance to get an invitation code for the Call Of Duty 4 Beta, don’t worry, all hope is not lost. If you happen to have a friend lying around who has the beta and is willing to let you recover their account to your Xbox temporarily, then you’re in luck.

The basic principle here is to sign on to your own Xbox as your friend (who has the beta), visit their download history and re-download it to your HDD. From there on you can use it just like any other demo you happen to have on there. Brilliant! Here’s how;

1) Recover your friends account to your Xbox

2) Go to Marketplace > Account Information > Download History and highlight the beta.

3) Pick up a second controller (assuming you have one), press the guide button and choose to sign in (don’t sign in yet). Now use the first controller to sign in to your original Xbox Live Account.

4) Now that you’re signed in on your original account, you may download the beta.

5) When the download is complete, return to the Dashboard and delete the recovered account. Then load up the beta and enjoy!

It should now work perfectly on your own Xbox Live Account. This very same glitch can be used for many other purposes…use your imagination.

If you have any questions or queries, feel free to leave a comment

Since my french goes no further than saying “I get along well with the cat in the house.” I can’t tell you too much about MyBooo. From what we gather, it’s an entry into the developing WebOS arena and…that’s all we got. It seems to at least function but it is unclear if they are going to even be going after an English audience.

The main site is in English and the blog is in something that could be described as English. Once we can get more information on this product we’ll be sure to report on it. As it is, we’re not sure if this is a serious entry into the Web2.0 world. When we can get our hands on a product such as Jooce we’ll be better positioned to make an assessment.

Yesterday we took a look at Contrastream, a website helping people find new music from bands unsigned and not considered mainstream. Today we got word that the site has decided to launch early. Contrastream is a good example of a site using the Digg-style website where user participation drive the content. It would not be surprising to see Digg implement something similar at some point in time or even do something the company has yet to do: acquire another site considering how well Contrastream seems to work.

As some may have already noticed, Halo 3 has gone gold, which means the game is done and being burned into bazillions of magical discs that will spin glory, or be eaten by the monster under your plasma. (Note: my spell-checker through a fit about bajillions, but apparently bazillions is a respectable substitute.)

Now, those of us who have been waiting on baited breath can rest at ease while these saucers of awesome make their way to our pre-ordering clutches, the carpal tunnel syndrome of grasping at straws making us look like the Wicked Witch of the West, and seriously debilitating said clutches.

Read on for continued story, and words of thanks to people who haven’t seen the light of day since 2002.

Stix.to is a website and Firefox extension allowing users to leave messages on other sites. When users sign up and install the plugin, pressing the button in Firefox pops up two boxes where you can leave messages which can then even be read by anyone else who has the extension installed and visits a site which has comments on it.

Using it I was quite annoyed to see the messages people put as I was hearing the automated voice attempting to read the gibberish people put up. While it’s an interesting concept the interface that you deal with is not very appealing to the eyes and for such a thing to make a real impact a lot more people are going to have install it and find use for it. The site says that it could be of interest even people who want to vandalize sites when in reality this “vandalism” won’t affect people who don’t install the plugin. It seems that for anyone who might be interested in such a thing may be better of checking out Fleck.

After the years of anticipation, Apple have finally added video to the UK iTunes Store. The news comes just a week before their event scheduled for September 5th. No doubt this happy little addition to the store will compliment what ever new product(s) they have lined for release at the event.

With each show costing £1.89 and a variety of channels such as ABC, Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, MTV, Paramount Comedy and even Playhouse Disney, our next-gen iPods will be packed to the brim with new content. Roll on September 5th.

Well, there we have it. The rumors have been confirmed and it seems Apple are going ahead with their event on September 5th. From the invite shown over at Engadget I reckon we’ll be seeing the introduction of that next-gen iPod I mentioned back in July. We’ll follow up on the event in September.

Revision3 has finally launched its new flash player on its website for all to view. The site which offers free technology oriented programming through its site has been in operation since 2005 has gained much popularity because of the people behind the scenes and in front the cameras being mainly from the now defunct TechTV. The previous flash player was shunned by many which was primitive compared to flash video players available now. Users can now change volume and what is sure to make people happy: play videos in full screen.

The site will also be offering a streaming HD version of it’s flagship show Diggnation, available to its paying members as of Friday, August 31st 7PM Eastern time. Streaming HD and downloadable versions of the show go out to from 12:01 on Sunday morning to the public. The change in time should sit well with viewers who have been wanting to get the shows available to all on weekends as opposed to Tuesdays as was the old schedule.

Digg This Story!

Earlier this month we ran an article about the preparation required to stay connected abroad and it just so happened that I was taking off after the article was released. I decided to take Nick’s advice in to account and compile a list of methods that I found worked best to stay connected.

1. WiFi - Usually when you’re on the road these days, a wireless connection is never far away and in this case, Google Maps is your friend. With Google Maps you can find a hotspot in your area with the click of a button and it’s all displayed on a colourful little map. Great! If Google don’t have your area covered then you should probably do some research on the area you’ll be staying in and around. Most shopping centres usually offer a stable WiFi connection for free so don’t hesitate to whip out your laptop and search for a connection. (of course, you can always use one of these)

2. 3G Data Cards - 3G coverage still isn’t as wide as it could be in some places, yet it’s still a great solution when there’s no WiFi in the area. You can pick up a data card from a 3G service provider for a pretty reasonable price. Although be warned, sometimes data plans can be expensive so shop around a bit for one that suits you best. The cards themselves work well with laptops that have a slot specifically for them and some mac users may be feeling left out, but don’t worry, check out our next solution.

3. GPRS - Before you excuse this as a painfully slow method, it’s actually quite efficient. Now, you may be thinking ‘there’s no way I’m going to check my email on my cell phone’ but this isn’t really what I was going to recommend. It’s pretty easy to connect your phone to your computer over a USB cable or use a bluetooth connection to use the phone as a GPRS modem and you can even use this method with EDGE or 3G. Here are some links for you to check out in order to get it set up.
Ross Barkman’s Home Page
Apple Docs.
GSM Tethering with Windows XP

4. Internet Cafes - Even if you don’t mind leaving your laptop behind in exchange for one of the computers at the local internet cafe, you should still find a decent connection to get the job done (assuming you’re just going to check some emails or something.) Be wary though, you don’t want to enter too much personal information (passwords etc.) on these computers as the information is easily retrieved and accessible by anyone else using the computer after you.

5. Your Mobile Phone - Whilst it’s a costly and overtly slow method, if you really do need to check for that one email you’re eagerly anticipating, you can get some great applications for your phone that handle the job well. Of course, due to the cost and speed, this isn’t really a method I’d recommend for a late night browsing session.

If you have any more connection methods or links, feel free to leave them in the comments.