Start-ups in the city: SFBeta mixer
Chesspark: Chess meets Web 2.0.Play against the site's own bots or mix it up with other members. Rich functionality on the Web site. There's a download, too. The service does not appear to support wagering, so Chess hustlers will have to head elsewhere.SoftSearch: Helps you find business software apps for your particular industry or function.FreePledge: Site that collects affiliate marketing fees from big online retailers on your behalf and gives them to charity. An easy way to do good (reminder: you can also just donate money to your favorite charity directly).Rightround: Site by and for indie musicians and the people who listen to them.Previously coveredSpotDJ: Cool service that lets you listen to--and record--commentary blurbs between your iTunes music tracks. Webware review.Kongregate: Flash games site. Recently got a big pile of venture money, so should have some new features coming soon. Review; News.Xcellery: Makes Excel spreadsheets collaborative over the Web. A Webware Top Five Under the Radar pick. See also our review.Fliptrack: Makes slideshows with music. Review.Wrike: Project management through e-mail. Review. This company also presented at last week's Stirr event.Prosper: Lets you lend to, or borrow from, other Prosper users. See our previous review.Facebook: Right. Them. Don't know if they have anything new to show us tonight. We'll check.
Monday, March 23, 2015
Starbucks- We'll be Passbook-ready before October
Starbucks: We'll be Passbook-ready before October
Starbucks says it will be integrated with Apple's Passbook by the end of the month.The company announced the news on Twitter this morning, providing no further information about features or carryover for current Starbucks card holders. A Starbucks spokesperson told CNET that an update to the company's iPhone app will let current Starbucks Card owners add their account to Passbook.Passbook, which went out as part of iOS 6 earlier this week, is a new application from Apple designed to store membership cards, tickets, coupons, and boarding passes -- a bit like a digital wallet. As an added feature, Passbook does a few things paper and plastic can't, like alert you to changes, and pop up to be readily accessed based on your location.Starbucks already announced that it would be integrating with Passbook, though did not provide a timetable. Nonetheless Apple has promoted the company as one of the initial partners, along with Fandango, Target, and Major League Baseball, the last of which CNET gave a spinthis week at a MLB game.The relationship between Apple and Starbucks dates back to 2007 with a deal that had Apple offering a special Starbucks section of its iTunes Music Store, with Starbucks-curated music picks that would appear when iPhone or iPod Touch users were on the store's Wi-Fi network. Starbucks has since gone on to offer the Pick of the Week program, as well as developed a first-party application that lets users pay for drinks with their iOS device.
Starbucks says it will be integrated with Apple's Passbook by the end of the month.The company announced the news on Twitter this morning, providing no further information about features or carryover for current Starbucks card holders. A Starbucks spokesperson told CNET that an update to the company's iPhone app will let current Starbucks Card owners add their account to Passbook.Passbook, which went out as part of iOS 6 earlier this week, is a new application from Apple designed to store membership cards, tickets, coupons, and boarding passes -- a bit like a digital wallet. As an added feature, Passbook does a few things paper and plastic can't, like alert you to changes, and pop up to be readily accessed based on your location.Starbucks already announced that it would be integrating with Passbook, though did not provide a timetable. Nonetheless Apple has promoted the company as one of the initial partners, along with Fandango, Target, and Major League Baseball, the last of which CNET gave a spinthis week at a MLB game.The relationship between Apple and Starbucks dates back to 2007 with a deal that had Apple offering a special Starbucks section of its iTunes Music Store, with Starbucks-curated music picks that would appear when iPhone or iPod Touch users were on the store's Wi-Fi network. Starbucks has since gone on to offer the Pick of the Week program, as well as developed a first-party application that lets users pay for drinks with their iOS device.
Springsteen's Super Bowl sellout-
Springsteen's Super Bowl sellout?
In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if some of his vocals weren't live, either. In big rock 'n' roll productions, it's not uncommon to have a prerecorded vocal track running at the same time, and a sort of reverse-limiter running on the live vocals--if the input on the vocal mike drops below a certain volume, the track automatically switches over to the canned vocals. In some cases, this is done to hide the flaws of singers who genuinely can't sing, or for aging singers who can't hit certain notes anymore. In other cases, it's simply to allow the singer more freedom to run, jump, slide into the TV cameras, and then magically resume the vocals without missing a note or even taking a breath. For the most part, audiences never notice. Still, a lot of fans imagine that Springsteen operates at a higher level. I suppose that if there were some sort of thermometer that measures rock 'n' roll authenticity, the Boss would score near the top: he writes and sings his own songs, tours frequently, and plays long shows with a different set list every night. But this wasn't about his live shows, which he has no problem selling out. This was about informing the tens (hundreds?) of millions of Super Bowl watchers that this singer they used to like back in the '70s and '80s has a new album coming out. This was a 15-minute commercial. And it seems to have worked--Working on a Dream enjoyed high positions on both Amazon.com and iTunes on the Monday, after the game.At least the game wasn't fixed.
In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if some of his vocals weren't live, either. In big rock 'n' roll productions, it's not uncommon to have a prerecorded vocal track running at the same time, and a sort of reverse-limiter running on the live vocals--if the input on the vocal mike drops below a certain volume, the track automatically switches over to the canned vocals. In some cases, this is done to hide the flaws of singers who genuinely can't sing, or for aging singers who can't hit certain notes anymore. In other cases, it's simply to allow the singer more freedom to run, jump, slide into the TV cameras, and then magically resume the vocals without missing a note or even taking a breath. For the most part, audiences never notice. Still, a lot of fans imagine that Springsteen operates at a higher level. I suppose that if there were some sort of thermometer that measures rock 'n' roll authenticity, the Boss would score near the top: he writes and sings his own songs, tours frequently, and plays long shows with a different set list every night. But this wasn't about his live shows, which he has no problem selling out. This was about informing the tens (hundreds?) of millions of Super Bowl watchers that this singer they used to like back in the '70s and '80s has a new album coming out. This was a 15-minute commercial. And it seems to have worked--Working on a Dream enjoyed high positions on both Amazon.com and iTunes on the Monday, after the game.At least the game wasn't fixed.
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