Listen To This - Netted
Article • June 29, 2011

Listen To This

Our Webby Mixtape, Brought to You by Pandora®

It’s only been two weeks and already we’re going through Webby Awards withdrawal. It’s hard to believe we have to wait a whole 50 weeks until the next ceremony.

At least we can relive the Webby experience with the Webby Awards Pandora® Mixtape. Created to honor Webby Artist of the Year LCD Soundsystem, the station combines the irresistible urge to dance brought on by the Webby celebration with the double awesomeness of Pandora® internet radio and the Music Genome Project®.

If you’re anything like us, finding and listening to music on Pandora continues to be one of the few things we couldn’t live without.  It doesn’t matter if you’re more into Black Flag or Rebecca Black: Their stockpile of music is always growing, so your personalized music experience stays fresh.

Besides, anyone that allows us to dance along to the Webby Awards year-round is a friend of ours.  It also doesn’t hurt that Pandora has helped us perfect our desk dancing moves.



Categories
Article • August 3, 2010

Pay, Pal

A Mobile App That Allows You To Pay (And Be Paid) By Text Message

Money, they say, makes world go around.  But cash can be elusive.

For those moments when you’re light on paper, there’s Venmo, a mobile service that allows you to charge or pay your friends securely via SMS.

Start by setting up a free account and adding your cell phone number (Venmo requires that you link your account with Facebook for security purposes).

From there, you can either top off your account with funds from a bank account or link a credit card for payments (and received funds). Venmo allows you to select “trusted friends” with verified identities that will link to your account.

This means the next time you’re out on the town and owe some money, simply text VENMO “pay mike 50 for drinks,” and the funds will be transferred to your friends’ account. You can also charge and invite people to the service over SMS.

The service is completely free, and all transactions can be cancelled within 24 hours, if need be.

At this rate your ATM card is going to start feeling very unloved.



Article • August 2, 2010

Post Haste

Get All Of Your Most Important Emails Without Actually Having To Check Your Email

As is the case with all technology, email is both a blessing and a curse.

To escape the daily deluge of emails, there’s Away Find, a service that uses personalized filters to scan your inbox for urgent messages and then alert you via SMS, instant message or phone call.

To start, create a free account. Then create filters for the emails that you want to be notified about (like your boss, or your bookie). You can choose to be alerted by text, instant message, or Twitter direct message.

This way you don’t actually have to even check your email to get your important messages.

As an added time saver, Away Find will call and read your urgent emails aloud to you, so you won’t miss an important message when you’re away from a computer.

If you’re headed on vacation, you can use the filters to delegate emails to other people. The filters can be set for a period of time and recipients can opt out of away notifications, so they won’t be spammed every time they email you.

Next to sunblock and a sixpack it’s the next best thing to take to the beach this summer.



Article • July 29, 2010

Avoid the Headache of Losing Data with an Online Backup

Mozy is a cloud-based solution for backing up all of your files

Backing up your photos, music and data files is important.  Adding another piece of unsightly hardware to your home office and a time consuming process to your life, less so.

To avoid losing precious files without the need for more machines or routines, try Mozy, an online back up service that’s cost effective and automatic.

To begin, sign up for an account with MozyHome, and begin evaluating your online backup options. The site offers 2GB of space for free to all users (that’s about 300 photos and 200 mp3s).

Need more space? You get  “unlimited” storage for just $4.95 per month (signing up for yearly and biennial subscriptions brings a lower monthly rate).

Files are protected with military grade encryption, and you have access to all of your files from any computer (which you don’t get with an external hard-drive).
In terms of use, Mozy works automatically, and in the background.

The automated backups take place when your computer is not in use (so upload time is faster), but the system also backs up revised and new files automatically, as they are added.

About the only thing it won’t do are the dishes.