Web/Tech

  • Tune-Up Your iTunes Music Collection, Automatically

    For years I took my music collection for granted. I ripped many of my
    old CDs to disk, and simply allowed the computer to save the
    information anyway it chose to. Over time, it became clear that there were
    mistakes, missing information and, in general … a mess.

    After several limited attempts to clean my collection manually, I
    started looking for a better way. I certainly found something that
    worked for me. It's called Tune-Up.

    080919 iTunes Tune-Up Service
    Tune-up is a software add-on designed to clean your iTunes music collection. For me, that means fixing and standardizing the artist, album, song titles, and other data that helps me find the right music for my mood. I also appreciate how well it finds and updates cover art for songs and albums.

    Tune-Up accomplishes a lot of its magic by connecting to various data services (like Gracenote's MusicID).  While Tune-Up does most of the heavy lifting, I appreciate that it
    allows me to have the final say. It's very easy to accept its
    suggestions; yet, I still have the ability to ignore or override it
    based on how I want my music categorized.

    There's also feature that recognizes the song you're playing and displays other relevant information, like related concert dates in your area, links to videos by the artist, and recommendations about other songs or albums you might like.

    Bottom line:  This tool saved me a lot of time and works better than the other tools I've tried.

    If you don't use iTunes, or just want to check-out another good alternative, you can also look at MediaMonkey. And if you want a clean your music collection by finding duplicate tracks or to clean-out entries where you deleted or moved the actual music file, I recommend looking at Marklesoft's Dupe Eliminator.

  • Another Type of Image Toy – Deep Zoom

    The new Deep Zoom technology in Microsoft's Silverlight is pretty cool.  The smooth in-place zooming and panning that Deep Zoom allows is a true advancement and raises the bar on image viewing. High resolution images need to be prepared for use with Deep Zoom to control the zooming experience.

    Here is an example.

    Also, here are three links worth exploring about Deep Zoom:

    • This is a Deep Zoom site of Hard Rock Café Memorabilia (Hard Rock)
    • This is a Barack Obama supporter site using Deep Zoom (Obama)
    • And finally, here is a demo of a web site designed for Deep Zoom (Vertigo)

    If you want a little more background on this, here is a post about why this technology is new and different.

  • Another Type of Image Toy – Deep Zoom

    The new Deep Zoom technology in Microsoft's Silverlight is pretty cool.  The smooth in-place zooming and panning that Deep Zoom allows is a true advancement and raises the bar on image viewing. High resolution images need to be prepared for use with Deep Zoom to control the zooming experience.

    Here is an example.

    Also, here are three links worth exploring about Deep Zoom:

    • This is a Deep Zoom site of Hard Rock Café Memorabilia (Hard Rock)
    • This is a Barack Obama supporter site using Deep Zoom (Obama)
    • And finally, here is a demo of a web site designed for Deep Zoom (Vertigo)

    If you want a little more background on this, here is a post about why this technology is new and different.

  • New Imaging Tools Will Change How You Access Information

    Photosynth is a new technology from Microsoft. 
    It is software that could transform the way we look at digital images.
    Using still photos (and more), Photosynth builds a breathtaking new
    form of composite image, and lets us navigate them.  This service turns multiple photos of a scene or site — say, an art gallery or a building — into a 3-D scene you can virtually "walk" through on the Web.

    080829 Photosynth of Venice Canals 600p

    Ten-years ago I saw something like this; it was the interface to a game called Myst.  It was ground-breaking at the time.

    In the early phase of adoption for Photosynth, I expect to see things like the 3-D rendering of the Canals in Venice.  It is an easily accessible way to explore the concept.  Soon, however, this could evolve into a new way to hyper-link a wide range of data, meta-data, and business information.

    To get a better idea of what this can do, watch this video from the Ted Conference introducing Photosynth.

    Think about how much the web has already changed how you do research?  Also, because it is so easy to do now, think how much more research you do.  For example, I'm amazed at how often I search Google or Wikipedia. Similarly, I use sites like Digg, Technorati, Regator, and various blogs to find relevant information – even if I didn't know I was looking for it.

    Photosynth is different, and in some ways a step beyond, those research tools.  It is graphics-centric instead of text-centric.  And I can imagine a new type of front-end (a new framework) for accessing information stored virtually anywhere.  Consequently, I expect to see a lot more of this, and things like it.

    Click here to explore some interesting Synths.  You can make your own, too.  For example, here is a link to a Photosynth of, my son, Ben's dorm room at Duke.  It took him about a half-hour to make it.

    Note: you can use arrows on the screen to navigate a Photosynth image; and the "Space Bar" is helpful, too, because it jumps to the next cluster of 3-D images.

  • New Imaging Tools Will Change How You Access Information

    Photosynth is a new technology from Microsoft. 
    It is software that could transform the way we look at digital images.
    Using still photos (and more), Photosynth builds a breathtaking new
    form of composite image, and lets us navigate them.  This service turns multiple photos of a scene or site — say, an art gallery or a building — into a 3-D scene you can virtually "walk" through on the Web.

    080829 Photosynth of Venice Canals 600p

    Ten-years ago I saw something like this; it was the interface to a game called Myst.  It was ground-breaking at the time.

    In the early phase of adoption for Photosynth, I expect to see things like the 3-D rendering of the Canals in Venice.  It is an easily accessible way to explore the concept.  Soon, however, this could evolve into a new way to hyper-link a wide range of data, meta-data, and business information.

    To get a better idea of what this can do, watch this video from the Ted Conference introducing Photosynth.

    Think about how much the web has already changed how you do research?  Also, because it is so easy to do now, think how much more research you do.  For example, I'm amazed at how often I search Google or Wikipedia. Similarly, I use sites like Digg, Technorati, Regator, and various blogs to find relevant information – even if I didn't know I was looking for it.

    Photosynth is different, and in some ways a step beyond, those research tools.  It is graphics-centric instead of text-centric.  And I can imagine a new type of front-end (a new framework) for accessing information stored virtually anywhere.  Consequently, I expect to see a lot more of this, and things like it.

    Click here to explore some interesting Synths.  You can make your own, too.  For example, here is a link to a Photosynth of, my son, Ben's dorm room at Duke.  It took him about a half-hour to make it.

    Note: you can use arrows on the screen to navigate a Photosynth image; and the "Space Bar" is helpful, too, because it jumps to the next cluster of 3-D images.

  • LiveScribe – All Things Fit to Print

    Livescribe 250p I got a new gadget. It is a Livescribe pen that records both what it hears and what you write.

    From a small sample of using it about a dozen times so far, I am impressed; Livescribe works great, and delivers immediate benefit at meetings and seminars.  I use it to review conversations and brain-storming sessions for clarification, or to catch something I missed the first time through.

    It generates an interesting polarity of responses though. Some people get it instantly and want to know where they can buy them.  Others couldn't care less.  No one objected to its use during the meeting – and I suspect that it became invisible quickly.

    It records about a hundred hours of surprisingly clear audio.  The pen has a camera, just above the tip, that captures the image of what is being written — and synchronizes this to what you hear or say.  And if you go back and touch the tip of the pen to writing on the page, you hear what was being said while it was written.  You can even control the playback speed to go faster, or slower, when you want.

    The Livescribe pen looks and feels nice.  It comes with a leather travel case and a dock to sync it with your computer.  There is well-designed software that lets you manage and share the results. Livescribe created a place to post "pen-casts" online, to share with your team.  You can limit who see it with an access control list or leave it open.  Click here for an example.

    I'm sending my son to back to school with one.  It seems like the perfect environment for a tool like this. 

    All-in-all, Livescribe is worth a try. For more information about this interesting technology, here is the Livescribe's site.

    Here are some video demos.

    It looks like college book stores and Amazon are expected to be the big distribution channels.

  • LiveScribe – All Things Fit to Print

    Livescribe 250p I got a new gadget. It is a Livescribe pen that records both what it hears and what you write.

    From a small sample of using it about a dozen times so far, I am impressed; Livescribe works great, and delivers immediate benefit at meetings and seminars.  I use it to review conversations and brain-storming sessions for clarification, or to catch something I missed the first time through.

    It generates an interesting polarity of responses though. Some people get it instantly and want to know where they can buy them.  Others couldn't care less.  No one objected to its use during the meeting – and I suspect that it became invisible quickly.

    It records about a hundred hours of surprisingly clear audio.  The pen has a camera, just above the tip, that captures the image of what is being written — and synchronizes this to what you hear or say.  And if you go back and touch the tip of the pen to writing on the page, you hear what was being said while it was written.  You can even control the playback speed to go faster, or slower, when you want.

    The Livescribe pen looks and feels nice.  It comes with a leather travel case and a dock to sync it with your computer.  There is well-designed software that lets you manage and share the results. Livescribe created a place to post "pen-casts" online, to share with your team.  You can limit who see it with an access control list or leave it open.  Click here for an example.

    I'm sending my son to back to school with one.  It seems like the perfect environment for a tool like this. 

    All-in-all, Livescribe is worth a try. For more information about this interesting technology, here is the Livescribe's site.

    Here are some video demos.

    It looks like college book stores and Amazon are expected to be the big distribution channels.

  • The Only Constant is Change

    Change is constant.  Learning to respond and adapt faster and better is
    one of the foundational keys to success.

    Bill Gate VideoOne of the best illustrations of that in business has been the story of Bill Gates and Microsoft. 

    This week, was Bill’s last as a full-time Microsoft employee.  So, there was a lot of hoopla.

    This video is interesting, and puts his contribution in perspective. 

    It is worth watching.

  • The Only Constant is Change

    Change is constant.  Learning to respond and adapt faster and better is
    one of the foundational keys to success.

    Bill Gate VideoOne of the best illustrations of that in business has been the story of Bill Gates and Microsoft. 

    This week, was Bill’s last as a full-time Microsoft employee.  So, there was a lot of hoopla.

    This video is interesting, and puts his contribution in perspective. 

    It is worth watching.

  • Market Commentary from June 27th, 2008

    The Dow lost almost 500 points in the last two days.  Longer term, the stock market has been down sharply since May 2; in fact, it has been down five of
    the last six weeks. Several commentators note that the Dow experienced its worst June since 1930.
    Moreover, with this decline, it has also given back all of the gains it made since September, 2006.

    080627 Dow Low Divergence 600p

    Also worth noting is that the Dow just made new lows for the year, entering “Bear Territory” by sinking more than 20% from its October peak.  However the MACD’s downward momentum did not make new lows, even while the index price plummeted. 

    Perhaps more important, though, is that the Index broke below its 28-Year Up-Trend line.

    Dow 28 Year Uptrend 630p

    Also, Bespoke had an interesting chart comparing returns of various international indices.  Here it is:

    0806 Global Return Comparison from Bespoke

    Finally, here are a few of the posts I found interesting this week:

    And a little bit extra …

    • Trading Desks Turn to Video Game Technology to Speed Analytics. (Wall Street & Technology)
    • Your Money and Your Brain (Phil’s Favorites)
    • The Petabyte Age: Because More Isn’t Just More — More Is Different. (Wired)
    • The New Name Game: Internet Naming Rules About to Change. (CNN)
    • Will Brain Downloads will make lessons pointless? (Telegraph)
    • The Philosophy of George Carlin (Financial Philosopher)