albums

Third Eye Blind singer: A Web site can be your album

Stephan Jenkins, lead singer of the band Third Eye Blind, digital music fan, and former beau of Charlize Theron, wants to clear up a few things. He wants people to know that contrary to what some have been saying about him, he doesn't hate the album format.

On Monday, Jenkins gave the keynote address at the SanFran MusicTech Summit. He said he was in favor of releasing singles and suggested that this would help avoid "album filler," the term used to describe the placing of so-so tracks on albums in order to meet the required number of … Read more

Third Eye Blind vocalist: Albums unnecessary in digital age

SAN FRANCISCO--Stephan Jenkins, lead singer of alternative band Third Eye Blind, is the latest person to agree that the album format is better off dead.

Jenkins, whose band is known for such hits as "Semi-Charmed Life," "Jumper" and "How's it Going to Be," gave the keynote address at the SanFran MusicTech Summit on Monday.

"I don't think it's necessary or useful," Jenkins told several hundred conference attendees. "The album is an arbitrary concept. It's not something that has to exist."

It's important to note that … Read more

AC/DC's iTunes boycott is on Highway to Hell

AC/DC, the iconic Australian rock band, has been talking to reporters as part of the promotion of its upcoming album. The group has also used the opportunity to take swipes at Apple.

The band refuses to offer music at iTunes because it isn't interested in selling individual songs. The only places to acquire the album, Black Ice, is at Wal-Mart Stores or on the band's Web site. In an interview with Reuters, lead singer Brian Johnson said the band is trying to protect the album format.

"Maybe I'm just being old-fashioned, but this iTunes, God … Read more

Favorite albums for each year since my birth

Update 8/7/09: Animal Collective's "Merriweather Post Pavilion" is my favorite album of 2009 so far, and I don't imagine that will change. By the rules of the game, I can't have two Animal Collective records on the list, so I changed my 2004 entry to Arcade Fire's "Funeral." I also made some other changes to recent years' favorites.

I stumbled across an excellent post on Google on Nick Carr's blog today, and scrolling through past entries, found this intriguing list of his favorite album from every year since he … Read more

Explore Picasa's latest and greatest community shots

On Friday, Google's Picasa Web Albums rolled out a new page that highlights community photography, with featured shots from its users, a stream of live updating uploads, and a game that makes use of media that's been geotagged.

Of all the new features, the "Where in the World?" game is the most fun. It lets you guess where a photo was taken by clicking on a giant world map. You're awarded points for how close you were, with closer guesses racking up massive points. It does this using shots that have been geotagged, although that … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 798: There is no poop, so leave the diamonds alone

It's a tortured analogy sort of day, including some confusing stuff about water and water bottles and then a whole long thing about a sandbox, poop, and dirty diamonds. You'll love it. In the actual news today, the IE8 beta arrives (has it solved the malicious cross-scripting problem!?), and several judges seem to have actually visited the Internet. And so did Aaron Sorkin! And he liked it! Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 798

IE 8 beta gives other browsers a run for their money http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10027345-83.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7585741.stm… Read more

Featured Freeware: Photozig Albums Express

No-frills but effective Photozig Albums Express offers a step-by-step process so you can design your project from start to finish.

Big button icons with descriptions make it easy to start your project and select the preferred output for your images including sending in e-mail, burning to a CD, or uploading to a Web site. The finished product is a basic layout of thumbnails that you can click to enlarge, but you'll have no skins to choose from with this one. Still, Photozig sports three configurations for beginners, intermediates, and advanced users, keeping it simple until you know what you'… Read more

Featured Freeware: Web Photo Album

Web Photo Album is a simple free album creator offering a wide range of nice--if sometimes cheesy--templates.

A clean interface layout makes it easy to find the pictures you want and quickly create a simple album. A row of big, easy-to-read buttons from which to navigate cap off the user interface, with a convenient left-side tree for folder selection and gallery creation. Web Photo Album offers basic editing functions like red-eye removal and picture rotation, and you can add captions to each picture. The finished product comes out as a page of thumbnails, and once you click on a picture, … Read more

Web Albums made easy on Windows and Mac

Just about anybody with a little computer experience can put a bunch of photos together onscreen and print them out. But what if you want something a bit more exciting? Maybe something that gives you the flexibility to control the layout, add captions, and upload your work to the Web so your friends and family can enjoy it. JAlbum, for both Windows and Mac is one of my long-time favorite programs. JAlbum just got a major upgrade, so if you're looking for a way to get your photos out to family and friends, it's definitely worth checking out.… Read more