Sony BMG takes Beyonce's official YouTube channel down for "copyright infringement"

Filed under: Business, Video, Commercial, Op-Ed

In an act of corporate insanity that reminds me of military behavior as described in Catch 22, Sony BMG removed the videos from Beyonce's official YouTube channel for "copyright infringement." It is her channel, and she is their artist. This is awesome! I mean, talk about caring for your musicians! Way to go, BMG!

This is just one example of the heights of madness that copyright "protection" has ascended to. And now that the super-secret ACTA negotiations appear to be well underway, we are drawing near to a day when ISPs will be held accountable whenever one of their users downloads infringing content.

Please, dear readers, convince me that I'm scare-mongering here. Tell me that ACTA will never happen, and that this is just a slight glitch on Sony's part and not an actual symptom.

As they ask over at motherboard.tv, how long will it be before Sony starts suing ladies who put a ring on it, or before Beyonce sues herself?

Sony BMG takes Beyonce's official YouTube channel down for "copyright infringement" originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 30 Mar 2010 11:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MySoti is a well-designed online t-shirt and artwork marketplace

Filed under: Business, Commercial

MySoti is an online t-shirt and artwork marketplace. The site looks nice, and the interface is easy to use.

Pros:

• Selection seems to be plentiful. Lots of stuff to buy, and some of it looks good.
• The site looks visually polished. A nice blend between artsy looks and down-to-earth usability. Layout is sensible.
• You can easily share t-shirts you like, with a simple "embed code" (which is actually just an HTML link) right under each image.
• There are nice "artist pages", in which you can see all the works by one person.

Cons:

• Search is very rudimentary. While the works are tagged, I had trouble finding anything interesting. I did not see any tag suggestions, related tags, etc.
• The prices I've seen seem a bit steep, but this isn't the site's "fault" -- sellers set their own prices and get a margin. However, the base cost seems a bit high -- $17.59 for an American Apparel shirt, on top of which the seller adds their own margin.
• I could not easily find shipping rates. I guess you have to open an account and add something to your cart for this, which is too bad.

Bottom line:

I somehow feel the site lacks a bit of pizzaz. I know that's a really general thing to say, but it's just not that different from any other online t-shirt marketplace I've seen. It's well made, and I would give it 7 out of 10. Better search options and "themes" ("animal t-shirts", "political stuff" etc) could make it more interesting.

MySoti is a well-designed online t-shirt and artwork marketplace originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 23 Apr 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone Tap Tap fans rejoice! Tapulous is now bringing Nirvana to your fingertips

Filed under: Fun, Games, Apple, Commercial, iPhone

If you're an iPhone owner and Tap Tap Revenge fan, you may be surprised (and pretty excited) to see that Tapulous has devoted a whole Tap Tap installment to Nirvana this week. I know I was surprised, considering the last couple of artist-based releases have been Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber... but I digress.

Nirvana Revenge [iTunes link] brings 13 tracks and a pretty clean theme to the table, and the only catch is a slightly steep $4.99 price tag (USD).

Paying 5 bucks for a Tap Tap app may cause some to pause, but 13 tracks at that price is actually pretty decent -- it's certainly cheaper than a Nirvana album, even on iTunes.

What really struck me as awesome was the inclusion of several live tracks from the recently released Live at Reading performance from back in 1992. "Breed," "Lithium," and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" are all included as both studio (Nevermind) and live (Reading) recordings. Those, along with tracks from In Utero, make for a pretty good playlist to tap your fingers to while waiting for that drink.

If you're curious but holding out, you can still rock the fingerfrets to some Nirvana for free. The featured track for download this week on regular Tap Tap Revenge is "In Bloom."

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iPhone Tap Tap fans rejoice! Tapulous is now bringing Nirvana to your fingertips originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 13 May 2010 07:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Looking for an OS X Tumblr app? myTumblr is a pretty snazzy option

Filed under: Internet, Macintosh, Apple, Commercial, Social Software, web 2.0

Aside from Tumblr's oft-broken web interface, there are some reasons that you may be looking for a desktop app to handle your tumbling. If that's the case for you, myTumblr is at least worth checking out -- it's free to try, and could be well worth the $14.99 price tag if you're a serious Tumblr user.

myTumblr more or less acts as a direct replacement for the Tumblr Dashboard. It does have some nice perks in addition to that, though: it allows for multiple accounts and fast switching between them all, auto-refresh of the follow-feed, drag and drop for multimedia posts, and built-in FTP.

The drag and drop feature is definitely nice, but to beef it up some basic image-editing options (which might be the biggest feature for many Tumblr users) have been added to the app. You can also simply provide a source URL for an image on the web, and sending your post to Twitter is as easy as a ticking a checkbox.

Continue reading Looking for an OS X Tumblr app? myTumblr is a pretty snazzy option

Looking for an OS X Tumblr app? myTumblr is a pretty snazzy option originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 11 Jun 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google adds Gmail's 'suspicious activity' monitoring to your Google Dashboard

Filed under: Internet, Security, Google

Back in March, Google added a very neat feature to Gmail that warns you of suspicious activity on your account. In essence (and I'm sure there's more to it than this), it simply checks the 'geolocation' of your IP address against any other logins on your account. If I log in from 'near London', and 30 minutes later someone logs in from 'near New York', an alert is produced. Today the same functionality is being rolled out to Google Dashboard.

It's very cool, and it works really well. I have multiple friends that have caught hackers (usually from China!) just moments after they've gained access to their private email accounts. With Dashboard now enabled -- and thus every single Google-owned website -- you will have unprecedented security from identity theft attempts,World of Warcraft password stealing, generic hack attempts... and so on!

The only problem is that you need to visit the Google Dashboard to receive the warnings. You won't get a warning by simply browsing YouTube or Picassa -- you'll only see the 'suspicious activity' dialog box if you visit the Dashboard (or Gmail).

Still, it's better than nothing! You should check your Dashboard and marvel at just how much information you've given Google too...

Google adds Gmail's 'suspicious activity' monitoring to your Google Dashboard originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 01 Jul 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Escaping the corporate or educational firewall, or 'how to play FarmVille from work'

Filed under: Internet, Security

We've all been there. You're either at work or school or university and you desperately need to visit LiveJasmin -- or play FarmVille. But the computer won't let you! 'Page not found' it says. 404 my foot! You're being firewalled! You're being blackholed! You're being COCKBLOCKED!

Fortunately, in most non-enterprise cases (if you work at IBM, this guide probably won't work), networks are set up by technicians that don't know their RJ45 from their RJ14, their patch cable from their patch server, their silicon from their silicone -- in short, most corporate and educational networks are easy to break out of.

With this guide, you can be surfing Facebook, jacking off to Cam4 or playing World of Warcraft within 10 minutes. Some of the methods described are easy to pull off, and some will require technical expertise. Still, if you're reading this from work you've got plenty of time to blow, eh?

Continue reading Escaping the corporate or educational firewall, or 'how to play FarmVille from work'

Escaping the corporate or educational firewall, or 'how to play FarmVille from work' originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 01 Jul 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Online shopping deadlines for Christmas!

Filed under: Holiday Gift Guide, Lists

Christmas is a week away. Have you finished (started) your holiday shopping yet? If you are a PROcrastinator (like myself) you've been planning on ordering everything online and having it speed-shipped in the Saint Nick of time. Well there is still time (or not). Check out the lists below for the last possible minute to order your gifts.

Amazon
Amazon order deadlines are:

• Thurs. 17th - Free super saver shipping. Too late! Sorry.
• Sun 20th - Standard shipping. (hurry!)
• Mon 21st - Gift cards by mail
• Tues 22nd, 8pm PT - Two-day shipping
• Wed 23rd, 4:30pm PT) One-day shipping. (Though this varies by item, so be careful)
• Thurs 24th - Local express in select cities
• E-mail and printable gift cards - Immediate at any time. (The ultimate procrastination gift)

Best Buy
Best Buy guarantees Christmas delivery by the following times if you order on the following dates prior to 11am ET, or they will give you a $10-$20 digital coupon (depending on order size)

• Mon 21st - Standard Shipping
• Tue 22nd - Expedited Shipping
• Wed 23rd - Express Shipping

Apple Store
Apple store order times depend on the exact items, but for the most common items such as iPods, iPhones, standard config macs (except for the 27" iMac), and apple accessories, the following dates are pretty solid:

• Sat 19th, midnight PT - Free 2-3 day shipping
• Wed 23rd, 10am PT - Next day shipping

Dell
Dell is promising that their most popular systems can be delivered in 48 hours, meaning that you have until Monday the 21st at Noon PT to order.

• Mon 21st, noon PT - 48hr shipping.

Newegg
Newegg's order deadlines are:

• Sun 20th, 11:59am PT - UPS Guaranteed 3 Day or FedEx Express Saver
• Mon 21st, 3pm PT - RUSH ORDERED UPS Guaranteed 3 Day or FedEx Express Saver
• Tues 22nd, 3pm PT - UPS 2nd Day Air or Fedex 2Day Express
• Wed 23rd, 3pm PT - UPS Next day, FedEx Overnight

Tiger Direct
Tiger Direct's deadlines are based on region so check out their shipping chart, but you might be able to squeak by with a little later than the following:

• Fri 18th - UPS Ground
• Tues 22nd - UPS 2 day
• Weds 23rd - UPS overnight

Think Geek
Order quickly for some of the best geek gear on the planet. Eastern states can still get standard UPS ground shipping if ordered by today, all other states must use an expedited shipping method.

• Fri 18th - 3 Day shipping
• Mon 21st - 2 Day shipping
• Wed 23rd - Next day shipping

Online shopping deadlines for Christmas! originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 18 Dec 2009 11:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Who needs shipping? 14 online sites where you can get great gifts

Filed under: Internet, Features, Holiday Gift Guide, BlackBerry, iPhone, Mobile

Don't want to spend more on shipping your gifts to arrive before Christmas than they're actually worth? Don't worry, there are lots of online sites where you can give some super gifts via download online certificates. Here are 14 places to check out to give some great gifts:

E-Gift Cards:
Amazon.com offers the ability to send gift cards via email in any denomination from $1-5,000. Your gift card can arrive in your friend's inbox as soon as you hit checkout. You can also print your gift card and give them something that is more tangible.

Barnes and Noble is another option if you'd like to send an online gift certificate to someone. B&N provides online access to ebooks which can be read on iPhones and Blackberries, Mac or PCs. All your gift recipient will have to do to get started reading, is select their book at B&N.com and download the free eReader software. Note, gift certificates can only be used at B&N.com, not in stores.

Macys.com offers the ability to send e-gift cards until 1pm on December 24. Your recipient will receive a personalized email within 24 hours, redeemable at Macys.com, macysweddingchannel.com or in stores.

Continue reading Who needs shipping? 14 online sites where you can get great gifts

Who needs shipping? 14 online sites where you can get great gifts originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Twitter Tuesday - Ads in third-party apps? Seriously?

Filed under: Features, Web services, Social Software, Microblogging

As we mentioned last week, Twitter ad networks aren't dead. In fact, it looks like they're just getting warmed up. Ad.ly is getting ready to launch ads in third-party Twitter clients, which is a whole new level of Twitter advertising. Ad.ly for Apps serves location-based ads to users, in-stream, right in a Twitter client. It's got an API, making it pretty easy to build into other Twitter apps. The big question is ... why would app creators want to do this? If you were a developer, the return would have to be pretty huge before you'd sell out your users and give a cut to Ad.ly, right?

Plus, it's not entirely clear that this is legit under Twitter's new TOS, which bans "in-stream" advertising. Ad.ly for Apps is technically "on top of" the stream, not "in-stream," but from a user's perspective, it's just about the same thing. It'll be interesting to see whether Twitter drops the hammer on this kind of thing. On one hand, I really, really hate ads in my Twitter. I'd rather pay for an ad-free version of a good app. On the other, it might be nuts for Twitter to tell independent developers what their apps can or can't display.

Continue reading Twitter Tuesday - Ads in third-party apps? Seriously?

Twitter Tuesday - Ads in third-party apps? Seriously? originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 29 Jun 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TwitPic, butthurt and pathetic, brings in the lawyers to fight Posterous

Filed under: web 2.0, Microblogging

Posterous, as I'm sure you're all aware, is the supremo light-weight blogging platform. Not only is it fantastically easy to use, but it's also the king of flexibility and interoperability -- you can post to your blog via email, bookmarklet, mobile phone and even Twitter! It also has the ability to import from other platforms: WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr and switch from many others -- but yesterday Posterous enabled Twitpic importing. Most of us hardly batted an eyelid -- it's neat, certainly, but hardly a killer feature.

TwitPic on the other hand figured that RSS scraping was enough to land Posterous a letter from its lawyers and a threat to sue. Within hours of the TwitPic importer tool going live, Posterous' servers had been banned by TwitPic. According to TechCrunch, TwitPic says they're 'not going to stop users from exporting data', but would 'prefer users to do so manually.' Awww.

Now, rest assured, this won't go any further than limp-wristed prepubescent punches, but I bet the folks at Posterous have huge grins on their faces right now. TwitPic on the other hand won't have to bother cooking breakfast this morning: it can just scrape that delicious butthurt egg from its face and chew on that instead.

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TwitPic, butthurt and pathetic, brings in the lawyers to fight Posterous originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 30 Jun 2010 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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