Technology

Just thought I'd throw out some techno junk.

Today I helped a virtual friend identify a song's artists - he had some old home movies that had a version of Jingle Bells on it, in the background or something. He didn't know who it was, and I couldn't quite find the right one. Anyway, here's what we did: he was streaming the video off his family's web server to his computer, and then streaming his computer via Justin.TV (note: I do not endorse any activity there, as that is a live site). I listened, but could not identify the artist - I had never before heard the version he was streaming.

So, I downloaded Shazam to my Nokia E71, and had my friend play the clip again. This time, I let my E71 "listen" (using Shazam), which then identified the artist, album, and track, which I then located on YouTube: "Twistin' Bells" by Santo & Johnny (1962); enjojy:

Pretty cool, huh? You, too, can get Shazam, for your iPhone, Blackberry, or Nokia smartphone. Free for a bit, then you have to pay if you want all the premium features (the free version allows you something like 5 identifications per month). But it's more than just the Shazam: it's the whole process by which we, a guy I've never met in person and I, identified a song from an old home video, even though we're roughly 400 miles apart (note: not EXACT directions there, just city to city; privacy, you know).

In other news, T-Mobile is having a "global outage" - which, apparently, really is at least as global as all of Alabama, 'cause we in the south are having trouble and friends up north are, too. No cell calls, no text messages, no logging into their web site (although, interestingly, it appears that their WAP server is still serving). Spent many minutes waiting on their chat support ("you are number 189 in the queue" - and that was good compared to some of my friends who got in after I did), and got a $20 credit ($5 per line on the account). I just hope the services are restored in a timely fashion. Funny, isn't it, that something that we didn't even really have twenty years ago is so "vital" to our existence today. Funny, are we humans.

And, on another note, I still rather enjoy my qik and bambuser accounts, which allow me to broadcast LIVE video from my Nokia E71 phone (as long as I have network coverage). All on T-Mobile's $5.99/month T-Zones plan (you can't get that one anymore, unfortunately - I think their cheapest option now is $9.99/month). So, the other day, when my kids were doing their Christmas concert (combined band/choir concert), and my dad couldn't make it because he was ill, I could broadcast it and he could see it live while it was happening! That's pretty cool.

I'm sure there are other uses for our burgeoning technological world... feel free to share your favorites in the comments!