Ian Scott » Stuff

Grip Studios – Monster Hand Guitar Hangers

Ian Scott — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 05:10:02 +0000

Now here is a fun idea to add a bit of hammer horror to your guitar collection, Grip Studios create monster hand guitar hangers in a number of finishes including carved wood.

They’re strong and durable and will support many times the weight of any guitar or bass. You can rest assured your axe is in good ‘hands’. – teh lolz…

Our hangers are machined and balanced so your instrument fits securely. The grip is equipped with a rubber cushion so the neck and head stock of your guitar or bass is well protected. Won’t harm nitrocellulose finishes. We at Grip Studios believe strongly in our products and most importantly in the satisfaction of ourcustomers. Bottom line… we stand behind our work. Each piece comes with our 30 day Money Back Guarantee and a Life-time Warranty against defects in craftsmanship.

The Standard model is the GS-1 which come in a number of colours but if you really want to get your monster on check out the GS-2 which includes the ‘Grip Reaper’ and ‘TorchTip Silver’ models pictured above. If you wood (see what I did there) prefer a hand carved model there are currently 2 available – http://guitargrip.com/prod_Carved.htm both equally as creepy as each other. If you really want to push the boat out how about the Air Brushed series? I particularly like the Ride/Lightning.

Check out http://guitargrip.com for details and join them on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/gripstudios.

(Via Guitar Noize.)

Spotify’s US launch date

Ian Scott — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 06:43:33 +0000

Updated. The buzz around European music streaming service Spotify’s United States launch just keeps getting louder.

A report published Friday on the Noisecast tech blog places Spotify’s US launch date between July 5 and July 15, citing an email exchange between a Noisecast source and major record label executive. The emails also ‘suggest that Spotify may launch as an invite-only service to start with’ and that the subscription price will be $10 per month, Noisecast reports.

Whether or not it’s totally accurate, the report certainly lines up with other recent talk around Spotify’s stateside debut. Earlier this week, Om Malik reported that Spotify will be a major part of a new music dashboard feature Facebook plans to release at its f8 developer conference in August. And Spotify executive Jonathan Forster recently told Silicon Valley Watcher that Spotify’s US launch is on the way, but would not occur before July 5.

Meanwhile, Spotify has been getting its financial house in order for the US push. Last week the company closed on approximately $100 million in fresh funding to fuel its geographic expansion. The latest round came from a group that included Russian venture capital firm DST and California-based VCs Kleiner Perkins and Accel Partners, all first-time Spotify investors.

Why is Spotify so hotly anticipated in the United States? For one thing, with a Spotify account, you can listen to the same library of music regardless of where you are and which of your devices you’re using. It’s the same cloud-based mentality behind some of the latest big offerings from Google (with Google Music), Apple (with iCloud) and Netflix (with Netflix streaming.) In many ways, Spotify fits right into the increasingly always-connected way many of us live now.

Update: Spotify’s US launch is indeed on track for mid-July — not July 5, as some other sources have claimed — according to a source with knowledge of the company’s plans. That confirms the rumors first published Friday morning that Spotify’s US launch will occur in July.

Spotify will be made available in the US under a three-tiered pricing model, the source said: A free ad-supported service, a $5/month subscription, and a $10/month subscription. The US pricing scheme will be very similar to the three-tiered revenue model Spotify already has in place in Europe.

The company does not have a more specific launch date nailed down at the moment, because Spotify is still sorting out a few kinks associated with the US debut, the source said.

(Via GigaOM.)

Voice Search Being Tested on Google

Ian Scott — Tue, 03 May 2011 01:51:22 +0000

Google has begun testing an integration of voice search with the Google.com search engine.

Helpful tipster Matt Schlicht first spotted the feature earlier Monday afternoon. Voice search detects your computer’s microphone settings and can open up a ‘Speak now’ widget to detect your words and transcribe them into a search query.

Android phone owners should be familiar with Google Voice Search; it’s available in the Google Search widget. Google Voice Search on Android even translates voice commands into actions. For example, ‘Directions to Empire State Building New York’ will get you instant driving directions to Manhattan’s famous landmark.

Google has been working hard on improving the accuracy of its voice search product. It now recognizes Chinese and learns from your speech patterns. Perhaps now Google believes it’s accurate enough to begin testing with the general populace.

Right now, voice search seems to be in a limited testing period. We’ve reached out to Google for comment.

While searching by voice may be easier than typing in some cases, we don’t think you’re suddenly going to see an uptick in people shouting out their search queries. As our tipster pointed out on Twitter today, Google Voice Search ‘works surprisingly well but is very awkward to use in the office.’

What do you think of Google Voice Search? Should Google roll it out on its homepage?

Update: Google’s experiment is confirmed. ‘Google is constantly experimenting with new features,’ was the only thing a Google spokesperson would tell us officially, though.

The Google Voice Search Icon

Google.com users with access to the experiment might see this page the next time they visit Google.com

Google Voice Search Widget

Talking into the mic activates the Google Voice Search widget.

Google Voice Search Results

(Via Mashable!.)

Useful Photography Cheat Sheets

Ian Scott — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 06:22:01 +0000

There’s a lot involved in photography, and so many things to remember it can be overwhelming, especially for beginners. Camerascan seem complicated, and photo editing software is packed with features. Then there are concepts like lighting and composition that must be mastered in order to achieve those perfect shots. With so many things to learn, sometimes a little help is welcomed. So for this post, we’ve rounded up a collection of photography cheat sheets and quick references that should come in very handy.

Digital SLR Cameras & Photography Cheat Sheet

Creative Gel Cheat Sheet

Photography Cheat Sheet

Reflector Card Cheat Sheet

Photoshop CS4 Cheat Sheet

Photoshop Elements Cheat Sheet

Lightroom 3 Shortcuts Cheat Sheet

Canon EOS Rebel T1i/500D Cheat Sheet

Nikon D5000 Cheat Sheet

Portrait Lighting Cheat Sheet

Apple Aperture Cheat Sheet

Nikon D40/D40X Cheat Sheet

Photoshop Black and White Cheat Sheet

(Via Web Design Ledger.)

Sing-a-Ma-Jigs

Ian Scott — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 21:43:02 +0000

Sing-a-Ma-Jigs – Meet the latest toy craze. Which also happen to be quite possibly the most annoying toys in the world.

Back To The Future 25 year reunion

Ian Scott — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 04:15:43 +0000

The cast of Back To The Future have reunited in New York to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the film franchise. Submit your videos at http://itn.co.uk/itndirect.html .

20 Stunning Halloween Desktop Wallpapers

Ian Scott — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 04:19:31 +0000

Seeing a lot of user-submitted artwork and animations via Blender, GIMP, and Inkscape enthusiasts (some of which you can see in 10+ Amazing Short Films Made With Free Software) has made me really appreciate images illustrated by hand, which includes wallpapers. Given the season, illustrated wallpapers shouldn’t be too difficult to find, and it might even get you excited for Halloween!

Here is a set of wallpapers that feature this exact illustrated-by-hand concept, though authors have not indicated that they used GIMP or other open-source image editing application. Also, some are from general wallpaper search sites, which I suspect don’t always link to the original author, but a number of these have a watermark (smart!) on them so they’re more traceable and attributable.

You can also find a few tutorials after the set of wallpapers, which may help guide you should you become inspired to create your own!

Download at: Zastavki

(Via MakeUseOf.com.)

Stunning animated book papercraft

Ian Scott — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 04:53:13 +0000

DudeCraft comes this amazing piece of stop-motion animation (papercraft with lots of Photoshop support? All-digital faux papercraft?), done by Andersen M Studios for the New Zealand Book Council. It’s cool however it was accomplished.

Savannah Jazz Festival Blues Night

Ian Scott — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 05:09:38 +0000

Georgia Kyle performs during Blues Night of the Savannah Jazz Festival in Forsyth Park.

TxtBlocker Promises to End Teenage Texting While Driving

Ian Scott — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 20:21:50 +0000

Texting while driving is a major problem, particularly amongst teen drivers. tXtBlocker claims to be the solution. The serve disables texting and Web browsing on phones traveling more than 15 miles an hour–calling, meanwhile, is limited to 911 and a select list of contacts.

The service is intended to be installed by parents on their teenagers’ handsets. Parents can also restrict cell activity by geographic region and time, prohibiting use during school or work hours. For full big brother effect, they can also view the phones on an interactive map at any time.

The service will be made available at Best Buy stores next month. It’s currently compatible with Android and BlackBerry handsets. An iPhone version is coming soon, so break curfew while you still can, kids.

(Via http://feeds.ziffdavis.com/ziffdavis/gearlog-ziffdavis.)