What is an Internet Music Locker?
An Internet Locker is a new service by MP3tunes that stores your personal music connection on the web. By having all your music stored in a single location on the web you are able to sync multiple PCs to your collection and stream them without the hassle of having to copy all your music from location to another. MP3tunes was founded by Michael Robertson. He also founded MP3.com, Lindows/Linspire, and SIPphone. The locker called Oboe has a limited free service or an unlimited service you can purchase $40 a year. Personally, I would be wary of paying this man any money on the fact that within 3 years Robertson either has to close his business for legal reasons, or sells his business leaving the company in doubt. If you are interested in this, you can sign up for a free account and test it.
There are Alternatives.
MP3tunes tells you it can take up to a weekend to upload large music collections. Who has a weekend to upload all their music? I might want to use my computer this weekend. Not to mention there is a limited use unless you shell out forty bucks. Well there is an alternative that takes a few minutes to setup and you can stream your music from your home pc. That’s where your main music collection resides anyway. The solution comes from a company called Slim Devices. It’s called the Slim Server. You can download it here. You install this on your home machine. It automatically finds your music collection and sets up your machine as a server without any real help. If you have a firewall make sure port 9000 is open. I should note this is only available for broadband users. Next find your IP Address. This is done in Windows XP, by clicking start, programs, accessories, and command prompt. In command prompt type IPCONFIG. Write down your IP Address. You will need it later.
On the computer you want to stream on download SoftSqueeze. You can find it here. Install it, it’s easy! When you go to set it up you will need the IP Address of your computer. Type it in under SlimServer Hostname and it should connect. Now it shows you are playing nothing, that’s ok we have another step. You have to set up a play list. You can do it from SoftSqueeze or the SlimServer. In my experience it’s easier from the SlimServer. So open your browser, Internet Explorer, and in the Address type in http://[your-IP-address]:9000/. Now you have the ability to build your play list. You can search by album name, artist, there are even radio stations. Play around, have fun!
An Internet Locker is a new service by MP3tunes that stores your personal music connection on the web. By having all your music stored in a single location on the web you are able to sync multiple PCs to your collection and stream them without the hassle of having to copy all your music from location to another. MP3tunes was founded by Michael Robertson. He also founded MP3.com, Lindows/Linspire, and SIPphone. The locker called Oboe has a limited free service or an unlimited service you can purchase $40 a year. Personally, I would be wary of paying this man any money on the fact that within 3 years Robertson either has to close his business for legal reasons, or sells his business leaving the company in doubt. If you are interested in this, you can sign up for a free account and test it.
There are Alternatives.
MP3tunes tells you it can take up to a weekend to upload large music collections. Who has a weekend to upload all their music? I might want to use my computer this weekend. Not to mention there is a limited use unless you shell out forty bucks. Well there is an alternative that takes a few minutes to setup and you can stream your music from your home pc. That’s where your main music collection resides anyway. The solution comes from a company called Slim Devices. It’s called the Slim Server. You can download it here. You install this on your home machine. It automatically finds your music collection and sets up your machine as a server without any real help. If you have a firewall make sure port 9000 is open. I should note this is only available for broadband users. Next find your IP Address. This is done in Windows XP, by clicking start, programs, accessories, and command prompt. In command prompt type IPCONFIG. Write down your IP Address. You will need it later.
On the computer you want to stream on download SoftSqueeze. You can find it here. Install it, it’s easy! When you go to set it up you will need the IP Address of your computer. Type it in under SlimServer Hostname and it should connect. Now it shows you are playing nothing, that’s ok we have another step. You have to set up a play list. You can do it from SoftSqueeze or the SlimServer. In my experience it’s easier from the SlimServer. So open your browser, Internet Explorer, and in the Address type in http://[your-IP-address]:9000/. Now you have the ability to build your play list. You can search by album name, artist, there are even radio stations. Play around, have fun!
24/08: New Gadget: Playaway Books
I thought I would share a neat little gadget I came across called the Playaway book. Basically it’s an audio book on mp3. However you don’t have to download the book and then fool around with syncing it to your I-Pod or MP3 player. You just open the package, plug in the ear buds and press play. It’s also much smaller then your old heavy cassette or CD player and runs off a single AAA battery. The Playaway book only measures 3 by 2 inches and is small enough and light enough to travel around you neck. The Playaway book you can easily plug it into your car stereo for road trips and is the perfect size for long flights. These audio books range from $25 to $40 not much higher then hardcover bestsellers. When you’re finished the company recommends donating it to a children’s hospital, a nursing home, or your local library. For more information you can go to their website at http://www.playawaydigital.com/
A list of titles include:
1776
David McCullough
Anansi Boys
Neil Gaiman
The DaVinci Code
Dan Brown
The Kite Runner
Khaled Hosseini
The 5th Horseman
James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People / The 8th Habit, From Effectiveness to Greatness
Stephen R. Covey
You can click here for a full list.
