GOM Media Player

http://www.gomlab.com/eng/

Wed May 27 10:35:11 +0000 2009

by Ralph Averbuch

As we rely more on our internet connections for play as well as work, one of the big 'gotchas' is reliably playing a range of media files with a minimum of hassle. That's often because, good as Windows Media Player or Winamp are, they can often drive you nuts demanding various codecs to be able to read all manner of video formats... and there are a hefty list of them out there. The free GOM Media Player is the nearest you'll find to the Swiss army knife of players and steals a march by including a broad range of codecs in the initial download. This increases your chances of playing a wider range of file formats from the get-go. Supported formats include DAT, MPEG, DivX, XviD, WMV, ASF, AVI, MOV, FLV1, AC3, OGG, MP4, and H263. However, unlike VLC Media Player, it's not ideal for playing DVD files and is currently only available on the Windows platform. That said, it's definitely one of those apps worth having as backup when you're suffering playback problems.

Kongregate

http://www.kongregate.com/

Wed May 20 18:22:02 +0000 2009

by Ralph Averbuch

There are plenty of studies to suggest that we need regular breaks to work at our optimum. On that highly tenuous premise we give you Perfect Balance. This is just one of a very large number of enjoyable distractions on the game playing site Kongregate. In fact, with a wealth of genres to choose from, there really is something for every taste. Whether it counts as legitimate use of break time... that's up to you.

audioBoo

http://audioboo.fm/

Wed May 13 11:24:53 +0000 2009

by Ralph Averbuch

Here's an interesting idea. Take your mobile, currently only an iPhone at time of review, and record up to three minutes of commentary on any topic that comes to mind... anytime, anywhere. Then post to audioBoo. Nothing particularly novel in that, but if you marry it to your existing Twitter feed, suddenly followers can listen to your pearls of wisdom and you're not limited to 140 characters. This was recently put to the test when the G20 summit took place in London and a UK broadsheet reporter used the new service to update events on the ground in near real time. Audio on the web is nothing new but the way audioBoo has integrated it with social networking could prove to be very popular, especially when the API for the service goes public and more mobiles can join the party.

ScreenToaster

http://www.screentoaster.com/

Wed May 06 17:53:23 +0000 2009

by Ralph Averbuch

We've mentioned tools for screencasting in the past on ENN. You record your PC screen's activity, adding your voice explanations to go with the images. It's particularly effective for tutorials on all sorts of software or websites. French startup Screentoaster takes the concept and turns it into an online application. Unlike other solutions, there's no need to download and install any files to make it work. It all happens online so it will function equally well on Linux, PCs or Macs. To get started just register and you're ready to record. Check out the Screentoaster site for examples of just what you can do.

The Official White House Photostream

http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/

Wed Apr 29 21:35:23 +0000 2009

Who wants or needs to see Bo, the White House dog with House Deputy Director of Oval Office Operations Brian Mosteller? More people than you might think. This behind-the-scenes look at the Obama Administration makes compelling viewing. The 300 new pictures just added to the set are a day-to-day chronicle of the big moments (foreign policy meeting in the Roosevelt Room) and the little -- staffers laughing over birthday cake for a White House colleague, Obama cheering on a young girl in an Easter Egg race. It's a stark reminder of just how direct public life in general, and the White House in particular, has become under an administration which sees the web as a way to directly engage its public. Apart from the over-emphasis on things canine (see Bo haul Obama through the halls of the West Wing...see Bo nose open the door of the Oval office), the set is a chance to look at what the newspaper editors never show you and the television news editors can't. Well worth a look.

Handbrake

http://handbrake.fr/

Wed Apr 22 16:53:16 +0000 2009

by Ralph Averbuch

In this digital entertainment era a major drawback is making our media fit a variety of devices. If you've an extensive DVD collection it's now pretty easy to rip. But what if you then want to change your film to a format you can use on a portable device or at a different resolution? That's where Handbrake steps in. HandBrake is an open-source video transcoder which runs on for MacOS X, Linux or Windows. Visit the site and find out how you can breathe new life into your dusty DVD collection.

Urban PacMan

http://www.pri.org/arts-entertainment/urban-pacman.html

Wed Apr 15 17:43:02 +0000 2009

by Ralph Averbuch

Any aficionados of early video games can't fail to recognise the importance of the first 2D colour games that began appearing in the 1980s. One such was PacMan, where you navigated a maze eating white dots to gain points whilst trying to avoid being caught by four ghosts. Well it seems that a good video game just doesn't die and whilst there are endless versions of PacMan on every kind of platform or device today, there are even groups of people who attempt to re-create PacMan in the real world. Check out Public Radio International's report to discover how a bunch of French students brought some computer colour to the streets of Lyon.

MyProxySite.org

http://www.myproxysite.org/

Wed Apr 08 22:18:48 +0000 2009

by Ralph Averbuch

Very occasionally you’ll be faced with a situation where you just can’t access a website, either due to technical problems or because your domain is denied access. This is where services such as MyProxySite can help. It’s a free (ad funded) proxy service which should allow you to access any blocked or inaccessible sites. It also has the added benefit of making your surfing anonymous.

The Black Cab Sessions

http://www.blackcabsessions.com/sessions.php

Wed Apr 01 14:50:47 +0000 2009

by Ralph Averbuch

Running since late 2007, the Black Cab Sessions are literally captured footage of musicians playing in the back of a traditional London taxi. In its conception, the website is simply links to the video of each session, with helpful postage stamp sized shots of each singer or band to make it easy to find the one you want. As the site owners explain, "The sessions are all about great music and the venue strips this to its essence. We aren't picky about genre and will happily open the cab door to anyone who blows us away." Another great example of a simple idea, simply executed.

CamStudio.org

http://camstudio.org/

Wed Mar 25 21:43:43 +0000 2009

by Ralph Averbuch

With many predicting 2009 will be the year of open-source software (helped in no small measure by current economic conditions) it's only fitting that our pick is from an open-source stable. CamStudio is actually a piece of client software which can record all your screen and audio activity on your PC and create AVI or flash video files. If you only occasionally find you have a need to create an instructional video or presentation then this is an ideal way to capture it for posterity. Better still, you can do it without forking out hefty sums for professional packages you will only occasionally use. It doesn't come with all the bells and whistles of the pro competition but it still acquits itself just fine.