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Website of the Day: Feedbooks

GeekSugar — Tue, 12 May 2009 14:00:58 -0700

The e-reader market is a funny one. Consumers gawk, but complain about the price of the device and downloads. Still, 33 percent of you admit to owning an electronic book gizmo like Amazon's Kindle, which has quickly become a travel essential for celebs.

If you've committed to an e-reader you can fill 'er up for free, you just have to know where to get your reading material. Feedbooks is a handy e-reading platform that's compatible with all major mobile devices - from the Kindle, iPhone, iPod Touch, to the Sony PRS-505 - and allows you to download thousands of free e-books. You can also publish and share content, and create customized newspapers from RSS feeds and widgets. The site's collection airs on the classic side (top downloads include The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes), but you're guaranteed to find something. It's free, after all.

For a video look at how to use the site with the Kindle, read more.

Kindle Guide FB from zeta on Vimeo.

Got a cool website you'd like to share? Follow the steps below!

First of all, join the Website of the Day group.
Click the pink "Share" menu on the top left side of the page.
Choose "Blog" and "Regular Post."
Give your story a "Title."
Fill in the "Body" with a link to your favorite website and the reasons why you love it.
Click "Next."
Choose the audience for your story to "Website of the Day" in the dropdown menu.
Add keyword(s) (for example mine for this photo was "Website of the Day").
Change channel to "Technology and Gadgets."
Fill in tag field with relevant tags.
Click "I’m done" to submit content.

So join the Website of the Day group and share information about all your favorite sites! Yours just might end up on the geeksugar homepage!

Do You Download Media From Questionable Sources?

GeekSugar — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 10:02:42 -0700

The debate about downloading movies and music from certain file-sharing sites becomes hairier every year. Making files available is not always illegal, but we all know the music industry has sued people who download pirated songs and that the film industry does not take stealing movies lightly.

I have friends who are die-hard iTunes fanatics and have never even looked at other download sites, and I have friends who are all about file sharing instead of file shopping. Have you ever downloaded media from questionable sources?

94% of Americans Think Movie Downloads Are More Eco

GeekSugar — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 07:31:13 -0700

Eighty-seven percent of respondents from a recent study believe renting DVDs at the video store or through mail services will become a thing of the past. I am not shocked at all considering what's available for download on iTunes, Amazon's streaming video, the fact that Xbox 360 streams Netflix movies, and the plethora of on-demand movie services.

The ecological positive of the trend is the fact that downloading movies is more convenient and eco-friendly than taking a drive out to the local video store. The survey, which was conducted by CinemaNow, reports that 94 percent of Americans believe that they make a bigger contribution to the environment by downloading a movie online than renting or buying at a video store. To check out additional findings, read more.

The poll found that consumer adoption of digital sharing features such as streaming to IP-enabled TV or loading content onto MP3 players still lags in comparison to burning DVDs. More than half (51 percent) of Americans say they’ve tried burning the digital movies onto DVDs versus 18 percent who have tried connecting them to set-top-boxes or cable box.

Have you shifted your download or streaming usage in this age of ever increasing and ridiculous gas prices?

Source

Download of The Day: FoxyTunes

GeekSugar — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 13:10:27 -0800

Oh, how I hate tabbing back and forth from Firefox to iTunes. It just takes so much time! If you're a geek, you know our goal is to make things easier for ourselves, not to control + tab our life away. Thankfully, we have FoxyTunes, to allow us to control our music player - right from the convenience of our browser.

To learn how FoxyTunes works, read more.
FoxyTunes works with your music player to put the controls in view, giving you the ability to skip, go back, pause and play right on Firefox. And now with the new feature "FoxyTunes Planet," Foxy will pump you full of info, videos, photos, top stories and show similar artists to the artist you are currently playing. And don't think FoxyTunes is just for the Apple fans out there, either. Foxy has a big list of apps it supports for your listening pleasure. Have a cool download you'd like to share with the class? Join our Download of the Day group and let us in on your little secret!

Free Podcasts To Get You Through The Day

GeekSugar — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 18:08:23 -0800

I am one of those people that keeps my iPod on nearly all day at work - it just helps me focus on what I am doing and not the chitter chatter around me. In an effort to make sure I never tire of my favorite artists, I usually listen to NPR podcasts, some of which most people aren't interested in (think Car Talk's Call of the Week), and others that everyone seems to love (think All Things Considered and This American Life).

If you're looking to fill your day with a little free entertainment and mental stimulation, check out PodcastAlley, which is a great website that is trying to develop the biggest and best directory of podcasts (podcast directory) available on the Internet. It's one of those fantastic, user-generated communities filled with goodies. For my favorite podcast of all time, just read more

Harry Potter! When you're visiting PodcastAlley don't miss out on Pottercast, the top site for Harry Potter news, which brings all the latest developments in the Harry Potter franchise, entertaining segments featuring discussion, theories, interviews and more. Download the Harry Potter Podcast. Both NPR and PodcastAlley allow users to subscribe directly using your preferred podcasting tool.

How To Share iTunes Music

GeekSugar — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 10:00:31 -0800

One of my favorite things about working in an office with a group of people is the fact that I can listen to most of their music through our shared iTunes folder. It gives me a chance to sample music that isn't part of my regular playlist, and make sweeping assumptions about my co-workers' hipness based on their music taste.

When your computer is on a network, iTunes’ built-in “sharing” feature works in two directions: it lets you open up your music library to others on the same network, and allows you to listen to music files that are on other computers running iTunes. For tips on how to use it, just read more

If your computer is on a local network or shared housing environment (such as a dorm), you can share your music so others can enjoy it, and listen to your music on other computers. Also, if your computer or network has a WiFi or AirPort wireless card, you can often check out shared iTunes libraries on other wireless networks. I've picked up a couple in coffee shops and had fun looking around the the room, wondering whose music I was listening to.
If you have more than one computer at home, you can share your iTunes music libraries from one computer to another. You can either have separate libraries on each computer, belonging, for example, to different family members, or you can have all your music on a single computer that works as a music server for your other computers.

Setting Up iTunes Music Sharing

iTunes includes everything you need to share your music and to connect to other iTunes music libraries. You don’t need any additional software, but you do need to be connected to a network - either wired or wireless. By default, music sharing is not turned on, so you must go to iTunes’ preferences and set up sharing. Select iTunes > Preferences (Mac) or Edit > Preferences (Windows), then click the Sharing icon to access these preferences.

If you have a firewall on your computer or network, you’ll need to make sure it allows iTunes music sharing to get through. This Apple technical document tells you how to configure your firewall.

Geek tip: Music sharing is not the same as file sharing, however. When you share music with iTunes, you provide other users with the possibility to listen to your songs, not to copy them or keep them.

Cellphones for the Music Fan

GeekSugar — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 13:40:51 -0800

The New York Times recently published a Cellphones for the Music Fan article, which featured (shown from left to right): the V3i, which is a modified Motorola RAZR; the Sony-Ericsson Walkman W810i, available through Cingular; and Verizon’s LG VX8500 Chocolate.

While geeks and music fans around the world are still waiting to see if Apple will produce an iPod-inspired phone, many music lovers have already taken the plunge and are faithful users of the listed cell/MP3 player combo phones.

For the Times' take on phones for music lovers, just read more

The problem seems to be that few multimedia phones, if any, are as easy to use as an iPod. Of course, most people pick phones primarily for the phone features or service plan, but for those who put high importance on music, there is a subset of media phones designed with the music fan in mind. A few can give an iPod a run for the money.

At the top of the list is the Motorola iTunes phone from Cingular ($200 after $50 rebate with a two-year contract). The handset is a modified Motorola RAZR, called the V3i, with a music note button that takes you right to your songs. The V3i uses the same menu system as the iPod. The phone lacks the iPod click wheel, so an up/down/left/right button substitutes.

Totally Geeky or Geek Chic? Hello Kitty Alarm Clock

GeekSugar — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 07:26:50 -0800

To me, Hello Kitty items are chic, but in that counter-culture "I'm totally cute and indie, but I still love it" kind of way, but when I saw this soon-to-be-released Hello Kitty iPod Alarm Clock I stopped in my tracks.

When did Hello Kitty get so savvy? This stereo clock radio and recharging station for iPod mini and nano can link your iPod with video and iPod photo players to a TV Set, has an FM/AM radio, LCD function display and will wake you up to your iPod, radio or buzzer. (It also features an auxiliary input jack for connecting other MP3 or digital music players.) I imagine the sound isn't a great as an iHome or the new Luna iPod alarm clock, but it's pretty and pink.

An Apple A Day Keeps The Doctor Away

GeekSugar — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 07:08:58 -0800

Hitwise reported that visits to the iTunes website were up 413% on Christmas Day this year versus Christmas Day 2005. The increase is attributed to new iPod owners rushing to Apple’s site to download iTunes. In addition, visits to the online Apple Store showed an increase of 110% when comparing Christmas Day 2006 to the previous year. The Apple Store was the fourth most visited website in the Hitwise Retail Index on Christmas Day 2006.
"For the third holiday season in a row, the iPod has been the must-have Christmas gift," said Bill Tancer, general manager of global research at Hitwise.
Go to marketwatch.com to access the full article.

Were you one of the many millions of people who downloaded iTunes to your iPod Christmas day? Let us know below!

Download of the Day: Jonathan Adler Smartphone Wallpapers

GeekSugar — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 13:11:00 -0700

Similar to my desktop wallpaper, I like to keep my BlackBerry's wallpaper beautiful as well. What is currently adorning my BB's screen? A beautiful floral design wallpaper from the Kindred website which I manually resized to fit my screen perfectly.

But now I have even more lovely designs to choose from, thanks to Jonathan Adler's latest selection of free PDA wallpapers, which are easy to download and perfectly sized to fit the iPhone, the Palm Pre, the BlackBerry Bold, the BlackBerry Curve, the BlackBerry Flip and the BlackBerry Pearl.

Have you found a cool download-worthy treasure you'd like to share with the rest of us? Join the Download of the Day group where you can submit your favorite downloads and widgets. And you never know, it could be featured on GeekSugar! Here's a detailed guide to posting questions or posts to groups if you are new to the PopSugar Community.