Internet Moments

Jam Studio

180techtips — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 14:22:04 +0000

Since 2007 you’ve been able to go online at JamStudio.com and create your own authentic sounding music for free. With an easy to follow tutorial and simple controls on the screen, this internet based Adobe flash website could definitely capture the imagination of even the most amateur musician. Think of it as a music sandbox.

JamStudio.com was created by Dave Edwards and here is a 10 minute interview with him. The online music mixer includes over 40,000 musical phrases played and recorded by real musicians that you can mix to create your own songs. JamStudio.com is free, but you can create an account so you can save and further develop your creations later. For a monthly fee of about $10 you can become an All Access Pass Member and you’ll be able to download all your musical creations royalty free.

For educators there is a special grant program that gives students an All Access Pass to JamStudio.com at no cost. Here’s some more information about the grant program at Philly-Teacher.blogspot.com.

So find your musical talent and experiment with JamStudio.com today.

JamStudio.com on Fox 4 in Dallas-Fort Worth, TX:

Magic Ball Mind Reader

180techtips — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 18:51:12 +0000

Here’s an oldie but a goodie. Do you remember the online Magic Ball Mind Reader? The original mind reader was credited to Andy Naughton and appeared in 2002. Today the old flash animation is located at Bored.com’s website but you can also view a newer version of it here, and if you’re wondering what else Mr. Naughton has been up to you can visit his portfolio at Flashlight Creative. Here’s a version of the mind readed that was customized for the CBS’s TV show the Ghost Whisperer. The mind reader is even available as an iPhone app.

If you’ve never seen it before check it out. The online mind reader is guaranteed to at least surprise you. If you vaguely remember the site from a few years back it’s still worth revisiting. Try to see if you can remember how it works.

And if you can’t figure it out, there are some websites and blogs that can help you out.

eHow

180techtips — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 19:42:05 +0000

Would you like to know how to make pizza dough? How about learning how to change the oil in a car or balance a checkbook? There is an amazing list of things you can learn online. eHow.com is a website that makes it easy to learn just about anything.

eHow.com is an online community that strives to give people a place where they can reasearch, discuss and share all kinds of knowledge with anyone. According to their about page they have accumulated over 1.5 million articles and 150,000 videos that were created by experts and ordinary people. If you have something to contribute you can join the eHow Community also.

Take some time out of your day and learn something new today at eHow.com.

The American Revolution

180techtips — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 18:27:24 +0000

If you’d like to delve into some American history this Independence Day the Nation Park Service might have the website you’re looking for. Pulling from their vast historical resources, this one website has a great collection of stories, timelines and biographies from the Revolutionary War. Of course they also offer information about visiting the various parks throughout the nation that have connections to the Revolution.

Whether you are doing serious research or just looking to understand the history of the United States of America, the National Park Service has a website for you to check out!

The American Revolution – Lighting Freedom’s Flame

Google Books

180techtips — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 00:48:09 +0000

In a way, Google Books is the original idea that launched Google. According to Google’s own official history of the project, “In 1996, Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page were graduate computer science students working on a research project . . . Their goal was to make digital libraries work, and their big idea was . . . a ‘web crawler’ to index the books’ content and analyze the connections between them”

By 2004 the technical challenges of scanning millions of books without damaging them had been overcome and Google entered into a formal agreement to scan the public domain content of Oxford University’s Bodleian library. Partnerships followed with Harvard, the University of Michigan, the New York Public Library, Oxford and Stanford. Today the list of worldwide Library Partners continues to grow.

The Google Books Project uses special book scanners and optical character recognition to create a searchable digital library. The project has drawn criticisms and controversies relating to copyright infringement, but a settlement is in the works. Most recently Google has announced plans to open an online book store called Google Editions.

So search Google Books today and see what it has to offer!

More about the Google Books Project (from PBS NEWSHOUR, Dec. 2009):