GoodBlimey - Home to 2,748 mashups! » Internet

Unlimited Cloud Storage from Google and Amazon

Matt — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 15:36:47 +0000

Apple’s “cloud” service has spurred Amazon and Google in providing unlimited storage, for free, with restrictions. In Google’s case, if you have a Google+ account you are given unlimited storage for pictures and videos on their Google Photos (formerly Picasa), as long as they aren’t more than 2048×2048 in size and videos are under 15 minutes. For most people this isn’t an issue; there’s little rssaon to have photos larger than 2048 in width on the web.

Amazon has changed their policy in regards to their Cloud Player that now gives unlimited storage to upload all your MP3′s to their service, as long as they don’t have DRM on them. This means that if you bought songs on the iTunes Music Store then they won’t play on the Cloud Player unless you strip the DRM from them using an app.

However with these new services people will have to pay close attention to the terms of service to see what happens when they copy over their data to these services. Already there’s some apprehension about Google’s copyright policy when you upload pictures to their Google Photos service. This article outlines those issues.

With this in mind, why use these cloud services at all? There are a number of good reasons, namely as a backup source, to protect your precious photos, music, home videos, etc. in the event of a hard drive failure, fire, or other means of losing your data. Another reason is for convenience; to access and share them across multiple platforms. For example, listen to your music on any device without taking up space on your device’s limited drive, or show friends your photos without having to load them on your laptop.

There’s no set definition on what exactly the cloud is. To numerous people it means different things. One of them is basically storing your data on the internet using the variety of services such as YouTube and Flickr, for example. By uploading your files to these different services, you’re no longer constrained to having to access them on your own computer but can access them from anywhere, using any device, so long as you have an internet connection.

Build a Website (for Beginners)

Matt — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 19:33:31 +0000

Not everyone has the time to learn HTML and CSS, the code that are used to structure and design websites. Many people just want to put one up with no fuss and be done with it. Fortunately, today there are many options to create and build a website without any technical knowledge at all, just a little bit of time and motivation is all that’s required.

There are 3 different options to choose from when you decide you want a website. The complete site building service, the web blog service, and the hire a web designer service. Many of the services in the first two categories I list below as options are free.

Site Builders:

Site Builders allow you to create a complete website, allowing you to focus on creating the content, choosing a look (theme) for your site, and arranging the different elements as you see fit. Many offer more advanced features if you so choose to use them, and some require payment to use certain features. Which one is the best? That’s up to you and what you’re looking for; so check out each one and see which fits your goal best.

Weblogs:

Weblogs, or more simply just blogs, are the popular diaries and journals of the internet where people post about just about anything. Blogs are handy in providing an outlet for anyone to get their word out there for friends, family, or strangers to read. It’s a great way to share travel stories, personal hobbies, thoughts about your favorite team, and much more. Blogs also let you share photographs, music, videos, and other rich multimedia on the web. Visit the Wikipedia entry on the subject to understand what a blog can encompass. Below you will find many services that offer blogs, many which are free and easy to use.

Hiring a Web Designer:

Hiring a web designer, while it can be expensive, can go a long way towards a strong internet presence. A good web designer creates a clean, usable website that is naturally optimized for search engines such as Google. They focus on standards-compliant coding, proper use of whitespace, make sure their site is accessible (for disabled people using assistive devices), and know how to use typography and bold to highlight content.

Unfortunately finding someone such as this is difficult in a sea of bad web designers who think if they just know a little HTML and CSS that that is good enough. Turning to your uncle’s friend’s former roommate for a website design just because it is convenient and cheap can be more harmful than good in the long run.

This is why, when it comes to your money, it is a good idea to shop around and find someone who is good at his craft and is good with working with people who aren’t so knowledgeable when it comes to websites. If you decide to go with this option, do your homework and don’t be afraid to ask for examples of past work. Most web designers love to proudly show off their portfolio. See if their style is good enough for you, and then go from there.

Recommended Google Chrome Extensions

Matt — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 00:34:58 +0000

Now that Google Chrome supports extensions in the latest builds, we can now extend and make the best and fastest browser on the planet even better. Below is a list of extensions that I recommend and personally love:

AdBlock: Blocks ads on websites.
AutoPager: Popular sites with pages are all put on one page so you don’t have to constantly click to go to each page.
Better Gmail: Features to make Gmail … better.
Clickable Links: Text with http: and mailto: are made clickable if they’re not already.
Google Quick Scroll: Quickly find the passage you were searching for on Google.
IETab: For those websites that only works in IE (banks and government sites for example)
LastPass: Securely save and generate passwords to sites. Stores in the cloud.
Slinky: Google image links go straight to the image, instead of the frame/website.
Xmarks: For bookmark backup and syncing.

Be sure to check out all the other Google Chrome Extensions for others that fit your personal preferences.

Reading on the Web – Tools to Live By

Matt — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 10:26:12 +0000

If you find yourself reading a lot of articles online, there are certain tools on the web, and for your browser, that will make reading a whole lot easier, and more efficient. Below I will list some tools you should check out.

The first recommendation is a bookmarklet that makes reading articles much easier, and with less clutter. A bookmarklet is a bookmark, that when pressed, executes an action on your browser instead of going to a webpage. There are a bunch of these type of bookmarklets, so it’s best to try them all to see which one you like the best. My personal favorite is the first one:

A handy web service for setting aside articles you want to read later is Instapaper. Instapaper lets you use a bookmarklet to save articles to their service to read it later. There are some nifty features, such as the ability to make the articles more readable (similar to how the above bookmarklets work), the ability to download an article in Kindle or ePub format to read on your eReader, and more. They even offer a free and pro version for the iPhone, which I’ve found to be incredibly handy for catching up on my reading while on the go. A side service of their’s provides recommended reading material at givemesomethingtoread.com.

While Delicious is a handy bookmarking service, it has become incredibly cluttered and slow ever since it was sold to Yahoo. A fantastic alternative is Pinboard.in, which is what Delicious used to be, and then some. It is speedy, easy to use, and allows importing from links from services like Delicious, Instapaper, Twitter, and even email links in. While it is not free, I paid a $5.82 signup fee and it goes higher as more people sign up, it does keep spam off of the service and allows them to keep the service running smoothly and speedily.

I Got Quoted by MSNBC

Matt — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 18:09:54 +0000

Just wanted to share that I was interviewed by MSNBC and my answers were quoted in an article available online at their site, entitled “Games are serious business for Apple”. The article is about gaming on the iPhone and iPod Touch, and whether or not Sony and Nintendo should be worried in regards to their PSP and Nintendo DS, respectively. The article was featured prominently on the front page of MSNBC, too.

Since starting FingerGaming.com two months ago, the site has grown by leaps and bounds as just a couple weeks ago Apple officially announced they’re entering the mobile gaming industry. I knew gaming on the iPhone and iPod Touch was going to be a big deal, so this basically validated my gut instincts.

Here are the quotes by me in the MSNBC article:

Apple iPhone and Touch users can interact with games by touching the screens and by tilting the machines to and fro. “The possibilities are near limitless with what can be done in games using these unique methods to interact with games,” says Matt Burris, creator of the blog FingerGaming.com.

Additionally, when the App Store launched in July, it suddenly offered an easy way for iPhone and Touch owners to download a veritable smorgasbord of games (and other programs) onto their devices. And Burris points out, “These games are affordable, lower than any other games on the market. They range from free, 99 cents, all the way up to $9.99. You don’t have to go to the store to get them. All you have to do is tap on an icon, choose the game you want to buy, and within minutes you’re playing that game.”

And further along in the article:

Burris disagrees. “If anything, Nintendo should be excited. The iPhone and iPod Touch will be reaching even further to an audience that may not even consider themselves gamers.”

He says that most people who have purchased an iPhone probably didn’t buy it to play games. But now that they’re able to find and easily play interesting games, they’ll be pulled into the fold.

For their part, Nintendo is striking a nonchalant tone.

FingerGaming.com – Gaming on the iPhone and iPod Touch

Matt — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 07:09:54 +0000

I’m announcing my new website I’ve just finished putting together and now unveiling to the public, FingerGaming.com. FingerGaming.com is all about gaming on the iPhone and iPod Touch, now that Apple’s new App Store is open to the public and cranking out games every single day. Mobile gaming a rapidly growing industry, and FingerGaming.com is going to be a part of that by covering everything games on the iPhone and iPod Touch.

The reviews, the main features on the site, will feature videos I’ve recorded of me playing these games, screenshots, price, link to the developer of the game, and of course my thoughts on the game itself.

Already we’re seeing a slew of very fun, polished, widely talked about games. You have my personal favorites, MotionX Poker, a dice poker game with achievements, dozens of dice you can unlock and use, and gameplay mechanics that take advantage of the iPhone (multi-touch, accelerometer support, vibrate, etc.) There’s also Galcon, a fast-paced space strategy game that is incredibly addictive and easy to pick up and play. Labyrinth is an age-old game, with a modern approach. It’s the wooden box in a maze with holes that you have to tilt the iPhone/iPod Touch to avoid. It’s simple for everyone to pick up and enjoy, with over 500 levels to play through, with more that you can download over time.

All of these games can be had for $10 or less, some are even free, such as the excellent Aurora Feint. Portable gaming has never been this powerful, and intuitive, and now it’s here. Visit FingerGaming if you want to be part of this wonderful new world.

MattPlays v2 – HD Gameplay Videos

Matt — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 04:17:56 +0000

I’ve wrapped up a redesign of my gameplay video site, MattPlays. On MattPlays, you will find me playing games and showing them off in a high-quality, easy-to-use manner. Next month will be the first year anniversary of the site, as I had launched it on August 31st, 2007. As of this writing, there are exactly 77 games with high-quality gameplay videos on both the PC and Xbox 360. That’s 23 shy of one hundred! I’m pretty proud of the site, and how far it has come.

Favtape – Loved Tracks Mashup

Matt — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:28:39 +0000

If you’re an avid user of Pandora or Last.fm and you find the “Loved Track” feature to be pretty useless, well not anymore! Favtape takes your loved tracks from Pandora or Last.fm and presents them in a Muxtape-like format. It’s absolutely brilliant, and a great way to show off your music tastes. If you’re curious, here’s my Last.fm loved tracks playlist at Favtape.

Update: Favtune updated shortly after this post with a new feature. You can now listen to Top and Recent lists on Last.fm. Very neat! Be sure to check out my top artists on Last.fm.

Last.fm Sports A New Design

Matt — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:14:24 +0000

Last.fm has updated their site with a brand new design and I like it! It’s much improved over the previous design, and has a slew of new features. You can find my profile at Last.fm which has been tracking my listening habits for over 3 years now. I’m currently listening to my personal radio and it plays nothing but songs it knows I like. Really, it’s the last FM radio station you’ll ever need.

My New Site – AudioSurfBoard.com

Matt — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 16:55:07 +0000

I’ve put together a new website, called AudioSurfBoard. It allows gamers playing AudioSurf to share their videos of them playing, all on one site, using any video service they like.

If you’re not familiar with AudioSurf, think of it like Guitar Hero or Rock Band, but without the cheap, plasticky instruments, or the limited soundtrack, or even the expensive pricetag. AudioSurf’s track-like stages visually mimic the music the player chooses, while the player races across several lanes collecting colored blocks that appear in sync with the music.

Here’s a video of AudioSurf in action, click the image below to view it:

Bedouin Soundclash – When the Night Feels My Song

You can find a lot more videos over at AudioSurfBoard.