What I Learnt Today

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Hum a Few Bars and I’ll Fake It.

Is there a tune in your head that you just can’t name? A song on the radio you’d like to download to your iPhone? How about the music from a TV commercial that you’d like to identify.

The iPhone app Shazam has been around since the app store first opened. Turn it on, hold it up to a music source, and it will ‘fingerprint’ the tune, consult its online database, and let you know the song, singer and lyrics and also link to the iTunes store and YouTube videos for that song. Amazing.

The newer app SoundHound takes that a bit further. It does the Shazam thing for recorded music, but is also very good at identifying songs that you just hum or sing. Even when I hum and sing. It correctly identified Hey Jude and Piano Man immediately – that is probably because so many other bad singers have tried to match the same song. It struggled when I sang ‘Jeans On’, but today that song happenned to come over the loudspeaker at Officeworks and SoundHound was able to confirm that David Dundas was the artist.

SoundHound uses the enormous user-created database of songs at midomi.com. 

You can test out the service without the app by visiting that site.

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What you need for Uni : Part Two

Is there something you need to remember?

Evernote is the king of note taking apps.

Evernote allows you to –

• Type your lecture notes in Evernote. 
• Take a photo of a Powerpoint slide. (the text is recognised by the app, so you can search for it later)
• Record a voice message ( and have it converted to text)
• Clip and save a webpage or email

Evernote is available for Mac, iPhone, iPad and Windows. You can create as many notebooks as you need. All the Notes you take are stored ‘in the cloud’, which means every device on which you have Evernote is automatically ‘synced’. So take a photo on your iPhone, and it is available immediately on your iPad and MacBook. Take lecture notes with your iPad, and they will be available on your iMac back in your room.

I use Evernote extensively, especially for ‘What I Learnt Today’. For example, I can dictate an idea I hear in the car and know that it will be available wherever I need it. Or start an article on my iPad at Il Portino, edit at work, and post it from home that night.

There is a video which acts as an introduction to Evernote. There are also a number of plug-ins and attachments that add capability available from ‘the trunk‘. For example, Voice2Note will convert your dictated spoken voice notes into text.

What’s more, Evernote is free!

 A completely new version of the Evernote iPhone app was released yesterday.

 It is available in the iTunes App Store as is the iPad version.

You can download Mac and PC versions from the Evernote site.

 

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What Its Like to Own an Apple Product – The Oatmeal.com

Today in San Francsico, Steve Jobs announced the imminent release of the iPad 2.

Jobs has been on medical leave since January due to complications of pancreatic cancer, so it was a surprise for the crowd at the ‘Apple Event’ when he walked on to the stage. He received a 2 minute standing ovation. Unfortunately, he now needs a much smaller skivvy than In previous years.

The keynote address is available on the apple site.

The iPad has defined the tablet computer, and is my preferred way of browsing the web, checking emails, reading books, subscribing to magazines, looking at photos and playing games.

Apple has sold 15 million iPads since it was introduced 9 months ago. This has generated $9.5 billion in revenue! There are 350,000 apps available for the iPhone and iPad, 65,000 of them developed especially for the latter.

The iPad 2 is thinner and lighter. It has a faster chip and faster graphics display. It can now plug directly into a TV, or stream wirelessly to a TV using AppleTV.

It also has front and rear facing cameras, which enables video-conferencing between Macs, iPhones and iPads (has anyone ever actually used this?) An updated iMovie app will enable editing of video filmed on the iPad. A new GarageBand for iPad looks cool, and will turn the device into a virtual piano, guitar or drum kit.

The iPad 2 is designed to use one of the groovy ( but not cheap ) iPad Smart Covers, ‘available in aniline or Italian leather’. These connect to the iPad via magnets.

 

The iPad 2 will be available in the US on March 12th and in Australia on March 25th. US pricing is the same as current models. Australian pricing has not yet been announced. Given the strength of the dollar, it should be less than the previous pricing. (wishful thinking, probably)

If you’ve been waiting for iPad 2 before jumping on the iPad wagon, now’s your time. The iPad 3 is likely to be another year away. If you have an iPad already, I don’t feel the new features are compelling enough to replace it with a new one – unless there is someone in the family who would be happy to receive a slightly used second hand iPad. Happy Birthday, Cath.

 

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Seth Godin launched the Domino Project today.

Seth is a prolific author. 

He has written thirteen books, the most recent being today’s ‘Poke the Box‘. His blog is hyperactive, and I enjoy the daily entertaining read.

He is known as an expert on marketing. When driving with his family around France, they were at first entranced by the picture perfect scenery of black and white cows against the green fields. After a few days, the cows blended into the background. In his book ‘The Purple Cow’, Seth makes the point that in today’s sophisticated markets, you need to be a purple cow to stand out.

More recently his books (Tribes, Linchpins) have been about leadership, and overcoming fear.

This theme is continued in ‘Poke the Box‘, which is about ‘ go ‘. Start a project, make a ruckus, take a risk, leap, commit. Make something happen. Ship. Show initiative.

“The challenge, it turns out, isn’t in perfecting your ability to know when to start and when to stand by. The challenge is getting into the habit of starting.”

Seth’s style is not for everyone. To work out whether it is for you, you can subscribe to Seth’s blog. His books feel and read like a series of blog posts.

The Domino Project aims to deliver small books with high quality ideas made to spread. Speed triumphs – speed to market and speed to respond to readers.

My Kindle Ediition of ‘Poke the Box‘ arrived today. (The special pre-order price was $1! It has returned to its usual price of $4.99 today. Guess I should have made this post last week).

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