Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Run Your Own Radio Station

Get Your Own Radio Station For Free

I'm listing to some music right now from an online radio station that I own. My play list is not too big at the moment, only 7 songs, but I was just testing how the site worked and those 7 songs only took me 2-3 minutes to find and then add to the play list.

I didn't have to upload anything.

This new site is called Live IPs (
http://www.liveips.com). Unlike other radio stations that you an create, all of your selections must come from YouTube. Yes, these are not just songs, but videos so I guess saying you can have your own MTV (The way it USED to be) would be more accurate than saying it's a radio station, but everyone knows and understands radio. Besides, if you minimize the station player window (it's completely browser-based) you only hear the music just like a radio station.

You can use the station you create in two ways: 1) LIVE is much like a live radio show and you have to keep selecting songs and add them to the station. or 2) you can use a play list and build your list ahead of time and them play them all at once. If you create a play list it will repeat and keep playing as long as you have your DJ window open on your computer.

Registering for an account is easy just like you would find on most other sites. When you register for a station or channel, you also are registered for the site forums which can be accesses from the menu menu of the site. There you can talk to other DJs, learn more about the site, tell others about the station you create, and ask questions if you need help using the system.

To add songs to your play list, select the option for play list. Then you can click on the link for "Search YouTube!". This will open a window that gives you access to Youtube videos. You can also open a new browser window and go to YouTube that way. After you find a video you need to add the information to LiveIPs. Enter in the artist name and title first. Then add the link to the video and you can drag and drop the title into this field. The URL that you want will look like this one: http://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=-DMYDp8y6SU
.

You can describe your video if you want to and then rate it so people know what you think about it. The last thing is to enter in the length of the video you are adding in minutes and seconds. Then click on "insert" and it will be added to your play list. This doesn't take long and you if you add 10 3 minute songs you have programmed about 30 minutes of music in about 3 minutes.

Some may complain that this is not like real radio because you cannot talk live and I admit that is one limitation that the site owners have not addressed yet, but I don't think it's a huge problem given all that you can do with a station. It shouldn't be too hard to create a video of yourself and add it whenever you want to talk to listeners of your station. You could also create ads to play in between songs the same way.

Take a look at
http://www.liveips.com and see what you think. Listen to one of the channels and open an account for your own free radio station. If you have questions they have a community forum where you can get tips and make suggestions. I think you will the site easy to use and a lot of fun.


Product or Service Reviewed: LiveIPs.com
Description: Offers uses free accounts they can use to create online radio stations. The only limitation is that the material must be videos found on YouTube.com. Stations can play 24 hours a day and there are no bandwidth limitations at this time.
URL:
http://www.liveips.com/


Friday, July 24, 2009

Killer iPhone App Offered

First iPhone Spy Call Software Technology Now Available

Groundbreaking iPhone software can remotely control 3G and 3GS models to turn on the microphone and allow users to listen from another phone. The spy software is undetectable and is suitable for use by parents protecting teenagers, or corporations and investigators that need to monitor communications including cell phone GPS location, call log activity, SMS, email, and call intercept.

July 23, 2009 -- FlexiSPY Ltd, has developed and released the only commercially available spy call software for iPhone, and is offering it in new versions of its FlexiSPY iPhone Spy Phone software. FlexiSPY develops cutting-edge solutions for iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, and Nokia-Symbian that are widely used to supervise and protect teenagers and employees, and to investigate infidelity and criminal activity. Adding spycall to smartphone monitoring of SMS text messages, email, call logs, location tracking and cell phone call intercept (phone tap) completes the spy toolkit.

FlexiSPY - When Failure is Not an Option

A spy call is similar to an audio bug; and provides the ability to secretly switch on the iPhone microphone from any other phone, and listen into the immediate surroundings.

FlexiSPY has software packages with various performance levels for all iPhone 2G, 3G, and 3GS models, iPhone Spy - BASIC, LIGHT and PRO. The new spy call technology is offered in the popular PRO package, which also secretly records all SMS messages, Call Records, Emails and GPS locations. The highly anticipated release of FlexiSPY iPhone PRO-X that adds call intercept is expected soon.

FlexiSPY is high quality spy software; it leaves no trace of installation, and is completely undetectable. It offers full remote control of all internal settings plus the unique ability to remotely disable and uninstall itself. FlexiSPY silently uploads data via GPRS or WiFi connection to globally distributed secure servers where all data is accessible from secure user web accounts and includes a map display with control options for historical and real time tracking. Also offered is email relaying, which forwards captured data to a user specified email address.

FlexiSPY iPhone LIGHT is identical to PRO, with the exception of spy call. BASIC lacks remote control and email capture, but starting at only $39.99 per quarter, it offers more features at a lower cost than the best offerings from competitors. Discounted upgrades from BASIC to LIGHT or PRO are also included.

"FlexiSPY has helped thousands of people worldwide protect loved ones and understand the reasons for relationship problems. We are also particularly proud of the modest part we have played in bringing criminals to justice" says Marc Harris, Marketing Manager of FlexiSPY Co Ltd. " Given the success of the iPhone, we will be able to offer these benefits to an even greater audience."

"Our customers continually confirm that FlexiSPY is the most powerful spy phone solution available anywhere today, and that the benefits of its technical sophistication really becomes apparent to them when actually used in real life situations - particularly features such as remote uninstall that protect their confidentiality" says Harris. "We decided to introduce the iPhone BASIC for cost sensitive customers who can now experience a professional grade upgradable product at a price that is much cheaper than the alternative low-quality products that are easily detected and often result in customers getting caught"

Not only is cell phone monitoring software invaluable for concerned spouses, parents, and corporations, but also can be used by law enforcement, financial institutions, mobile backup companies, and others. FlexiSPY is obtainable through online purchase and direct download to supported mobile devices from the FlexiSPY.com website.

About FlexiSPY Ltd
FlexiSPY is the acknowledged leader in the design and development of professional grade cell phone monitoring software; and is the only company offering cross-platform spyphone software solutions for BlackBerry, iPhone, Windows Mobile, and Nokia-Symbian to consumer, corporate and government markets. The company stands behind their products with service including live chat, live phone support with experienced staff, extensive documentation, and an unmatched 10-day, no-quibble unconditional money back guarantee.

First iPhone SpyCall Software Technology Now Available

Contact:
Media Services
Flexispy Ltd.
USA 1-646-240-4063
UK 44 207 979 7126
Hong Kong 85 230 509 021

Thursday, July 23, 2009

People Magazine

People

by William J. McGee , Thursday, July 23, 2009
Most of us undoubtedly think of magazines as year-round reads, not tied to a particular season. But I know quite a few newsstand buyers who equate People, Us, and other frothy entertainment mags with beach chairs and chaise lounges. I even had a friend who only bought People in May and June, just so she could stock her beach house with a few weeks' worth of guilty reading pleasures each summer.

And why not? Earlier this month I promised my teenage son he could spend the first few weeks away from his grueling high school curriculum, free from any serious intellectual pursuits. As for the rest of us, maybe being tasked with nothing more challenging than identifying body parts in an annual celebrity bathing suit issue is a necessary form of battery-charging on vacation.

If so, People remains up to the task. According to the Publishers Information Bureau, it's still the largest of all the 800-pound gorillas, with the highest ad revenue for the year to date. And as noted on this site last year by Phyllis Fine, People still stands out from other gossip and tabloidy mags because it "acknowledges humans beyond the Hollywood axis," focusing not just on the famous, but on interesting unknowns.

As Jeff Goldblum's character so memorably stated in "The Big Chill," the average People article can be read during a bathroom visit. Heck -- if anything, that challenge should be upped to about 2.5 articles. And there remains something vaguely summery about the content; the pages themselves seem particularly well suited to withstand suntan lotion and sand.

Even the correction in the July 20th issue makes for great beach reading: "In our July 6th issue we incorrectly printed the location of where Christina Aguilera shopped. She shopped at Color Me Mine in Studio City and not at the store's Beverly Hills location. We regret the error." Not exactly an editorial transgression to rival what or when Dick Cheney knew about yellowcake uranium in Iraq -- but then how many among us can spend all 52 weeks of the year mulling such weighty topics?

Yet despite the fluff, People seems to view itself as something of a periodical of record when it comes to celebs. For example, Karl Malden's short obituary on the Passages page was reported sooner, more thoroughly, and more eloquently by scores of other media outlets. Yet Passages reminds us this mag itself arose from Time's People page -- which dryly documented weddings, births, and deaths -- and that dogged spirit lives on somehow, even amidst the treatises on Beyonce's mascara.

This issue also contains a single-page "Life is About Choices" piece that details Sarah Palin's sudden resignation as Alaska's governor yet doesn't provide new or particularly noteworthy information or insights. With hundreds of newspapers, news magazines, and blogs covering the same story, the question arises why People would even bother.

However, when the magazine does focus its full editorial and photographic resources on a story, few rivals can touch it. Thus the cover story on Michael Jackson's memorial service, which is the type of event People was founded for in the first place.

What's interesting is how Jackson's passing so polarized the country, as reflected in the cautious commentaries issued by the White House and Congress and cable news shows. Clearly the millions of heartbroken fans seemed to be matched by at least as many who viewed MJ as tragic at best and a child abuser at worst. That's another debate for another forum, but it's worth noting that People quite deliberately did not attempt to take the journalistic middle road: "Farewell to a King" offers a passing reference to "his troubles offstage" but is as much about praising as it is about burying.

The 10th anniversary of the untimely death of another scion of another famous American family makes for an even better read. "My Friend John" provides personal commentary and photos from Sasha Chermayeff, a close and long-time pal of JFK Jr. It's People at its best: original, interesting, and even compelling. Just as interesting is the portrait of a San Diego man who founded a nonprofit organization that provides needy families with rides to local hospitals, a profile unlikely to make the cut in rival mags.

But there's plenty of nonsense in these pages too. Most entertainment mags would be happy to print a photo of Kim Kardashian in a red bikini on a waterslide. People ups the ante by printing two versions side-by-side and then, in the spirit of a preschooler's activity book, challenges sharp-eyed readers to find ten differences ("#6: Her bikini top has no clasp in the middle.")

The Kardashian reference reminds us that ultimately People has evolved into a litmus test for each succeeding generation. I'll confess I was hit by a severe case of culture shock several weeks back when I stood before a newsstand and saw the same woman in the same orange bikini simultaneously gracing the covers of seven -- seven! -- gossip rags. I had the odd sensation I was in another English-speaking country, reading about British rugby players or Australian soap stars I had no clue existed. Even though I was spotted the huge hint of her first name, I still didn't recognize Kate, and had to be told about her and her husband Jon and her eight kids and her reality show. Even then, I remember thinking: So are we supposed to care?

Obviously the answer is yes. Those PIB figures don't lie.

MAG STATS

Published by: Time Inc.

Frequency: 53 issues per year, including 2 double issues

Web site: www.people.com

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William J. McGee is a freelance journalist who writes a monthly travel column for USAToday.com. 

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Sunday, July 05, 2009

Vegas Magazine

Vegas

by Fern Siegel , Wednesday, June 24, 2009
I arrived at work one morning to find a copy of Vegas on my desk, with a Post-it slapped above the strangely death-like gaze of actress Heather Graham. The note read: "Mock me." As my colleagues will attest, I'm the first to do a coffee run and aim to be a congenial office mate. So let the jabs begin!

In all seriousness, it wasn't that hard. What is it about Las Vegas that brings out the big hair and big jewelry? Or the nightclub ads that give Calvin Klein's a run for their money? It helps explain why the lifestyle magazine's mission, per its company president, is to "arm readers with all the ingredients necessary for their pursuit of Luxury, Access, Money and Power." Wait till this guy finds out about the recession, will he be surprised!

Then again, Sin City is billed as an escape from America. That means you can gamble 24/7 while being served endless cocktails, then get married by an Elvis impersonator to a stripper you met 15 minutes earlier in a neon-lit chapel.

Yes, I know all about the family-friendly efforts and the hotels that make the Sphinx look like a hood ornament, but when it comes to glitzy overkill, Las Vegas stands alone. (The Venetian's Tao Beach features a pool surrounded by 14-foot-high columns of fire, Xboxes, daybeds and a 30-foot bar.) Too often, luxury and money are used for conspicuous consumption. People, try emulating fashion icon Diana Vreeland, who said less jewelry made more of a statement. As for Power, there is the power to indulge your fantasies -- just ask your LV cabdriver -- and the power to jump-start sane health care. Given how most of us treat our bodies, it's probably a toss-up.

Vegas, however, celebrates the body beautiful, which can mean full-time work in its namesake, according to the "model couple" profiled in the "Voyeur" section, which is top-heavy with local talent -- from Michael Curry, a master puppeteer, to poker champ Phil Hellmuth. Laura Diane and Jay Rebholz run a modeling agency that provides DJs, go-go dancers, valet parkers and golf caddies. Posed among mannequins and scattered limbs, a la "Dexter," Jay is draped in black, apparently fulfilling George Costanza's dream to be "ensconced in velvet," while Laura is sporting a hot pink teddy, her hands perched possessively on Jay's thigh.

Laura, 28, was once a pussycat doll at Pure, a local hotspot, but admitted, "My knees started hurting." I feel your pain! Ask anyone who spends hours at work in front of a computer, moving only to order lunch. The joints are the first thing to go; idealism is the second.

Perhaps we could take a page out of Elaine Newton's book. Vegas pop-culture editor Michael Shulman asked local VIPS "What can't you live without?" Newton, who is slugged "hostess/icon," picked the agedashi tofu at Raku, since "freedom" and "culture" were probably too generic. Her dogs, Troy and Geisha, came in second. She's also a big fan of Botox, which, judging from the photo, may be used on the poodles. I was stunned, however, by "icon," a term usually reserved for a name, face, picture or edifice that carries well-known significance and embodies certain qualities, like the Empire State Building or JFK.

Hold the presses! Newton isn't alone. Apparently, there is a second icon in LV: Jojo Zanone-Pucci, who has a passion for and expertise in upscale timepieces. There are macro icons and micro icons. Now, I agree with Ms. Z-P about the artistry of classic watches. To quote Keats, "a thing of beauty is a joy forever," but a Cartier Tank Louis is also an acquired taste. The under-30 crowd tells time via their cell phones. I'm guessing they take the same approach to an exquisitely crafted Bucherer chronograph, profiled in the mag's "Indulge" section, as they do to newspapers.

Vegas, which is heavy on profiles and accessory features, is splashy, like the city. In short, it's oversized, loaded with pretty women and divorced from current economic reality. Then again, if you are nostalgic for the Reagan era, Vegas leads the way.

MAG STATS
Published by: Niche Media Holdings/Greenspun Media Group
Frequency: 10 times a year
Web site:
http://www.vegasmagazine.com


This commentary is insightful. I recommend it to others.
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See what others are saying on the Magazine Rack blog.
Fern Siegel is Deputy Editor of MediaPost. 

Magazine Rack for Wednesday, June 24, 2009:
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=108617

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