Tag Archives: cool finds

My Collection of the Best Twitter Tools

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I’ve been collecting a host of twitter tools for a blog entry for some time now. Although this is not an exhaustive list, it may be enough to help expand the usefullness of one of my favorite social media platforms. Check them out for yourself:

Twitter search – Want to look for particular terms (or your own name, brand or competition) on twitter? This is the tool!

Twitter Fan Wiki: Apps – Want to find the best of the twitter platform apps for your own use, check out this exhaustive list.

Twitter alerts: TweetBeep – Would you like an email when someone on twitter mentions you or your products or your company — or even your favorite topic? This is the tool… but beware, too-general terms will overflow your inbox in minutes!

Twitter pictures: TwitPic - Expand the platform from 140 characters to include photos with this service.

Tweet from Firefox: TwitBin – If you love Firefox as much as I do, and would like to twitter directly from there, try this addon.

Tweet-grid – Select a handful of topics you would like to follow and create a browser-based grid to hold them all. I tested this during the election and found it to be quite useful.

Twitter directory – get listed here and find people with similar interests!

Prettify your twitter – grab a twitter background to rise above the norm.

Twitter hashtags – a way to group specific keywords/topics when trying to stay on top of twitter speak.

Tweet clouds – ever wonder what you tweet about most often? Find out!

Twitter cost – once you start following some of the bigger names, you may find that you don’t have the time to read all those microposts. Check the guy/gal here before committing to a follow — or do a vanity check on yourself. Are you worth the cost? Are they? (Also shows the political index of any twitter user.)

And, if all this talk of Twitter is like Greek to you, try Jason Hiner’s excellent Twitter article as your intro to this platform. It’s from May of this year, but is a great starting place for those new to twitter or twit-wanna-bes.

I’d welcome any additions to this list, so tell me what you guys use!

(Note: Bluebird photo courtesy of gracey of morguefile.com)

Free MP3 downloads from Amazon

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I’ve been enjoying the free Amazon selections to build my ever-expanding music collection for ages now, and I thought it might be time to share a few valuable links with my readers.

The samplers are an excellent way to try the freebie offers and these are particularly good:

In addition, you can go and peruse over 500 of their free mp3 selections here.

I just wanted to share a particularly good resource with my readers this holiday season. Pick and choose as you will…personally, my musical tastes are a bit eclectic. :) Enjoy!

Ocarina: Musical Instrument Built for the iPhone

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Ok, I’m loving the way the platform for the iPhone is constantly expanding. Holding up the device to a radio and using an app (Shazam) to identify the song, artist and offer the ability to buy that song… well that’s just cool. It works pretty well, I had it on my iPhone for awhile.

(I took it off to make room for more apps I wanted to test. I don’t really NEED to know a song that often, but it’s cool to have when I do.)

Being able to scan a barcode and look up the product online, complete with price comparisons to get the best deal… that’s a great concept as well (It’s on my list of apps to try, but I’ve not done this one yet — I’ve heard it still needs a bit of work). I’ll wait for the next version.

One that I did recently download (a paid app) that is uber cool is called the Ocarina by smule. This has GOT to be one of the coolest expansions of the different parts of this device for a completely new purpose.

The mic is used as a “reed” to blow into in order to play the instrument. The touch screen offers combinations of four virtual “buttons” to make a multitude of tones and sounds. And if having a little instrument in your pocket isn’t cool enough… they’ve also taken the social networking aspect to a new level by broadcasting (with your permission, of course) the music of all players all over the world.

So you can watch on a globe of the earth as someone far away struggles with those beginning chords of amazing grace, or triumphs over the final chords of Greensleeves. If you get tired of listening to one new-iphone-age artist, you can hit the next button and the globe spins and picks up another player somewhere else in the world.  Hit the heart emblem to give props to those you like — everyone has their own username.

Yeah, I know that the iPhone has had mini-piano programs (I got the free one to play) and drums and guitars, and some that are a whole band in your pocket… but this is different. This is something completely new.

It’s an instrument FOR the iPhone and it’s worth the 99 cents just to play with the expansion on this smartphone’s overall concept and what it can do. Very cool. Try it.

Are there hidden messages in store displays?

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Last night, while at Joseph Beth Booksellers in Lexington, Kentucky I bought a book and a magazine. While waiting my turn to check out, I noticed that the three displays closest to the main checkout were quite an odd collection of topics… and then I thought about it and decided that the person responsible for the setup of these displays may be making their own statement.

I’ll let you be the judge (I got photos of each of the three for your review):

First there was this one…

then this one followed…

and the third (and last one) before the checkout…

Accident, irony or overt political statement? You be the judge.

A Damascus knife: Needful thing or object of art?

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Every year around this time, I start thinking about what I’m going to buy myself for my birthday. I start early because it always takes awhile to come up with the perfect item. Even once I determine what it’s going to be, it takes awhile to find the perfect specimen.

It’s always something that I’d never permit myself any other time of the year.

It’s usually something that is a little on the pricey side — and WAY on the cool and luxurious side. In recent years, it’s usually had something to do with writing. A hand-tooled, leather covered journal. A fantastic pen. Luxury papers. A leather-bound book. A leather case for my writing tools or a leather cover for standard composition books that turns the ordinary into something extraordinary. High quality inks. A watercolor set. Art papers. A engineering-grade mechanical pencil.

It’s not that I intended to do the pen and ink path… it just happened. But this year, I’m going to break away from that.

This year, I’m going to attempt to locate my perfect daily-use knife. I love my sterling flatware pattern. I’m spoiled and hate to eat with stainless. I like MY fork. (Eccentric, perhaps, but true.) I prefer my spoons to any others. And the sterling knife that goes with the set is great for spreading butter… and little else.

I need a real knife, one that can slice through a medium-rare slab of steak as easily as it would slide though Jello. I want it to be sink-washable, beautiful and a pleasure to use. I don’t want anything that’s run-of-the-mill.

This summer, at a Renaissance festival, I saw my perfect knife. Unfortunately, it was not for sale. S’ok, though, the one at that same booth (that was not as pretty) was over $600. If it had been for sale, I wouldn’t have bought it. I’m eccentric, not crazy. (Not rich either.)

It wasn’t terribly decorative or overly fanciful. It was beautiful in its simplicity. The blade was artfully marked Damascus steel with a nice, hefty full-length tang and a hand-polished bone handle. It was balanced and ideally weighted. The handle was neither too long, nor too short. It was perfect. And it is responsible for starting my knife-lust. (Dang it!)

So now, I’m searching.

I’ve found some fantastic examples. Some are more art-knives than knives intended for daily use. Many of the really pretty ones are “folders” and I really want a standard “fixed” blade knife. But, with that said, here are some pretties for you to view:

http://www.gallagherknives.com
http://www.stamascus-knife-works.com/ (check out the custom engraving work on some of these!)

And if you are richer than Midas, and want something that is an amazing work of art, you can bump around over on this site: http://www.engravingarts.com for works like this engraved knife and this one or maybe one from a different site, like this one. Wow, eh?

A pen may be mightier than a sword… but is it prettier than these knives? (Now, my pen is really pretty, but I don’t think it beats out these beauties!) I may not find my knife this year… but I’ll be looking for it now. Eventually, I’ll find it.