Google Music - My Take On It!

Okay, let's say you went out and bought a Joshua Radin album and you put it on your iPod.  That's great, you listen to it, enjoy it, then you lose your iPod.  What do you do then?

TO THE CLOUD!!!


Google has done something that Amazon, Apple, and a few others have already done.  Why should anyone be surprised that Google isn't in the thick of things that the people want right now?

So what makes Google Music better/worse than other services?  Well, I don't know much about the iCloud, but I got a beta invite to Google Music and I like it so far.  Amazon limits the total size of free music to 5GB.  You can upgrade for a fee to 20GB, but I'm all about the free stuff.

Google Music limits it's current users to 20,000 songs.  YEP! That's right... 20k!!!  And to get things started, they give you a good bit of music to get your feet wet.

Now, About The Interface


For starters, you have to download the "Music Manager" software to upload your tunes.  I didn't particularly like that, but some things are necessary to keep things under control.  The manager registers your computer and you have up to like 8, I think.  It basically runs the same way Netflix does on their streaming service.

Basically you have a Play/Pause, FWD, BACK, SHUFFLE, REPEAT, THUMBS UP/DOWN, and VOLUME button to play with.  You can see the album cover (if available) and the progress of the song as it goes.  You can also create and even import your playlists.

For testing purposes, I just had it import my iTunes database.  As you can see from the picture, some of the songs have been skipped due to size (it's trying to pull audiobooks too for some reason), corruption, or empty files. After a full 24 hours, I think my whole database should be about uploaded.  Then I can delete all the audiobooks and listen away.  The manager will also load with your computer (if you allow it) and it will look for new music to upload automagically in your watch folders or iTunes database.


OVERALL TAKE ON IT?


I'll keep working with it.  I have one of the pilot CR-48 laptops and I am waiting for a Chrome Store App for it that will make things easier, but for now I can remember music.google.com when I need to go to it.  I also have every intention of getting an Android phone before too long, so then I'll be able to take my music with me in the cloud and save my storage on my phone and memory card for movies, pictures, video, games, apps, etc.

If you can get an invite, try to get one... At least use it for now until they decide on a price.  I understand they plan on charging for this, but we'll see what happens once Apple goes live.  Maybe they'll just interrupt every few songs with a short commercial like Pandora does to keep things free.

Anyway, that's my take.  If you click the Amazon link above, listen to some of the Joshua Radin music.  It's soft, mellow, relaxing, and overall good in that folky sort of way.

Enjoy!

It's here... Hurricane Season '11

Well... Hurricane season is upon us.  If you are anything like me, you like to check on the tropical outlooks.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov is the website where you can do that.

Experts are saying that this year is going to be bad for hurricanes, but I don't believe it as much as they are trying to say so.  There is no way to really know, but we'll see what happens.  Some people believe that we are "due for a big storm" since it's been a few years, but it's not a good excuse for raising insurance rates.

This will be short, but basically, make sure you have plenty of bottled water on hand, check the website above to see what's going on and make sure you have a plan for what to do if a small, medium, or large hurricane hits.

SMALL HURRICANE:
     Secure pets, bring in plants, gather up your daily meds, and make sure you have plenty of prepackaged food, water, and batteries.

MEDIUM HURRICANE:
     Same as small, but consider your evacuation plan.  You might be in an area that deems evacuation and you'll want a full tank of gas and everything ready to go.

LARGE HURRICANE:
     Same as small and medium, but be sure you are not one of the last ones to leave.  Roadways will jam and it will make it difficult to leave if you wait too long.  If you have a safe inland place to go, go early.  Be sure before you leave to unplug anything you can and getting things off the floor in case of flooding.

Most of all... Be safe and be prepared.

How To: Make Money With Blogger - Ad Revenue Explained

Is it really possible to make significant money just blogging?


You bet it is!  Can you do it?  That's up to you.  Blogging for cash is not for everyone.  Some people just want to keep an online journal or occasionally blog to keep the creative process flowing.  I've done both.  I actually even made some ad revenue doing that, but it was peanuts compared to what I am about to teach you.

Lesson 1: What brought you here?

EXACTLY... You saw something appealing and clicked on it.  I have knowledge that I am willing to share for free.  Not everyone possesses this information, but since I do, I can use it to drive up my traffic.  I also have the time to dedicate to blogging a few times a week.  This is important, because I don't ever want to cool off and lose my readership or following.  Sure, most people won't read everything I've written, but that's because my wide range of knowledge lets me hit more than one topic.  (Later I'm going to show you how to do CREDIT REPAIR on your own.)  More after the break.