Loudcrowd: where music meets play, gaming meets people, people play with people, and encounter squirrels, cupcakes, and toast that like music.

My experience with social networking sites started with Gaia Online when I was about 11 years old.  It introduced me to a close-knit, forum-based online community of elite role-players, general discussion debaters, and otaku. B ut I’ve since moved on (really my account was hax0red and I figured it was time to quit anyway);  I’m a different person with a different life and I’m not necessarily part of the niche that Gaia appeals to anymore.

Although I doubt I’ll ever get as involved in an online community again, one social networking site that appeals to a demographic more relevant to myself today is LoudCrowd.  It aims to combine music, social networking, and on-line game play into a listening experience that is more collective and engaging, combining a club atmosphere with listening parties.

I’m not an avid user of a lot of their social-networking features, but the music aspect around which the site is based has had me quite intrigued.  Each day there is a “DJ”, which plays a setlist throughout the day.  These playlists feature selections from over 50 “indie” artists, including Justice, Phoenix, and The Raveonettes, and selections from partner indie labels, such as Beggars Group, Domino, and Modular, which have offered exclusive music content to users. Most of the games available on the site are rhythm-based, and so users world-wide who are all listening to the same song at the same time play along to the same beat.

It’s a really innovative approach to engage listeners, and WIRED speaks to that here in more detail and with more eloquence than I can.

So if you’re at all into the indie ‘scene’, give it a try and let me know what you think.

Welcome to the first instalment of Sam’s Weekly Serving of NeRd! Today, we shall learn how to make organic plastic!

These days, everything is trying to be organic. But is organic really better? First off, let’s take a look at the dictionary‘s chemical definition of “organic”:

or⋅gan⋅ic /ɔrˈgænɪk/  [awr-gan-ik]

–adjective : noting or pertaining to a class of chemical compounds that formerly comprised only those existing in or derived from plants or animals, but that now includes all other compounds of carbon.

Products that say “organic” on them at your supermarket aren’t usually any different than the ones that don’t say it. Organic just means that no chemical pesticides, herbicides and insecticides were used. But is it trully better? Well, it depends on what you are using the food for. You always want to scrub the outside of your fruits and veggies no matter what, so that’s no different. But, if you are going to be zesting a lemon (aka, scraping off the peel as a garnish or flavouring), then you will probably be wanting to use organic, as you will be eating the outside of the lemon.

So hopefully that cleared some of your “to organic or not to organic” questions.

Now to the good stuff: How to make organic plastic!

*Note: Do not try this project without adult supervision.

Since you’re not actually going to be eating plastic, why should it be organic? Glad you asked–when you are done with this plastic, you can throw it out or compost it without the worry of it taking hundreds of years to decompose. So if it doesn’t work the first time you make it, you’re not killing the environment by throwing it out 🙂 

After last week’s Gives Me Hope, our WFW saga continues with another ‘feel good’ website that will leave a smile on your face.

So when we look at magazines, television, billboards and even clothing, the image of ripped muscular bodies or tall slim figures with perfect silky hair and glowing skin appear.  The flaws are unseen  and photoshopped out because it does not exist in the version of ‘beauty’ and ‘perfection’ that the media and our society has created.  Well, I  present to you, LoveYourFlawz, which de-photoshops the perfection of beauty and the way we view it.

‘Imperfect is the new perfect.’

The website is created and hosted by Caitlin Crosby (no, she is not related to Sidney Crosby) and Brie Larson.  This is a place for people to share their ‘flaw’s and together they help  inspire others to open up and share theirs as well.  Their mission?  To help us love and embrace our awesome flaws!  Why?  Because media and society puts a lot of pressure on us to look a certain way to be considered ‘beautiful’ or ‘hot’.  Our ‘flaws’ make each and every one of us unique, beautiful and real.

Continue

Living in a modern city everyday, it’s hard for us to imagine a city that is lost from human touch.  It’s time that we appreciate the past glory and history of the lost cities.

There are legends and ruins of dozens of lost cities around the world.  The following 5 are the most historically significant and famous:

5. In a blink of an eye, the community of ­Pompeii, Italy was sealed by the ashes, cinders and other debris of erupted volcano, Mount Vesuvius.  It was not until 1748, almost 1500 years later, this lost city was discovered by a group of archaeologists when they found that the entire city was perfectly preserved by the air sealed volcano ashes.

4. The city of El Dorado, supposedly located somewhere in the northern portion of South America, was said to be chock-full of precious gems and gold.  It has never been photographed, so it’s existence has never been confirmed.  Many explorers have tried to find the city, but they either come back empty handed or died in the process from a variety of causes, including disease and starvation.

Over the summer, I was talking to my uncle about this new search engine, Bing.  I thought I’d share a bit more about Bing with you all, and if you are an avid Bing user, some changes that you may have seen.

Bing (formerly Live Search, Windows Live Search, and MSN Search) is the current web search engine from Microsoft.  Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on May 28, 2009 showed it to the world at the All Things Digital Conference in San Diego, as replacement for Live Search.  It officially launched on June 3, 2009, (which would explain why it was new when I was talking to my uncle) with a preview version released on June 1, 2009.

Some changes include the listing of search suggestions in real time as queries are entered, and a list of related searches (called “Explorer pane” on the left side of search results) based on semantic technology from Powerset, which Microsoft purchased in 2008.  Bing also includes the ability to Save & Share search histories via Windows Live SkyDrive, Facebook and email.

Sounds interesting, read more about Bing on the Wikipedia by clicking here!

If you just want to try Bing, click here!

Google is boring now. A search engine? BLAH.

BUT there has been some recent websites that Google has created that have intrigued me. For example, if you type in www.googlegooglegooglegoogle.com, it gives you 4 independent Google browsers within your own internet page. I don’t know what’s the practical use of this, but it’s awesome!

Another cool Google site is www.mysterygoogle.com. You type a search query into this, and you get the results of the search before yours. So for example, you could search up “oranges” and you would get outt the results for “people who like cheese.”

Mystery Google now has missions. You ask for a mission, and something will come up like, call (this number) and ask for Melinda to get out of class. Complete your missions and have some fun!

Incredibox.

If you are a fan of beatboxing, you will love this site.  If you just like fun time-wasters on the Internet, you will love this site. 

Incredibox works like this: you start off with a bunch of animated beatboxers, and a bunch of beatboxing sounds that you can have each of them do, then you drag and drop the sounds into the men.  Once there are a few beatboxers with sounds lined up, a really funky song is produced for you to bop along to.  After, you can take some of the beatboxers out by double-clicking on them and replace them with different beatboxers with different sounds to create a whole new song.

It’s definitely one of the funnest websites I’ve come across in a while.  Check it out, and make sure to turn your speakers up 🙂

This is the second part of my search for John Green books.  This week I read Let It Snow, it is a collection of three Christmas love stories (these are love stories that guys will enjoy).  The stories are all slightly related and are all quite interesting and funny.  The book was written by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle.  

The first story is about Jubilee, who, after her train gets stranded in a blizzard, makes a series of choices which leads to her disillusionment, and the discovery of a new love.

The second story is about a group of friends racing against time to deliver the boardgame Twister to the Waffle House – a restaurant currently fill with cheerleaders from a stranded train.  However, only a few guys will be allowed in (to keep a good guy-to-cheerleader ratio).

In the final story, Addie must face the effects of having a cheating boyfriend, while making sure that people don’t see her as self-centered.  This is a story shows that lost love can be rediscovered with the help from unlikely sources.  This story brings a conclusion to everything. 

Sparkling white snowdrifts… Beautiful presents wrapped in ribbons, and multicolored lights glittering in the night through the falling snow. A Christmas Eve snowstorm transforms one small town into a romantic haven, the kind you only see in movies…

This is not a cheesy romance novel.  I enjoyed this even though I’m a guy and I tend to be annoyed by love stories.

Tune in next week for Searching For Alaska.

By now I’m sure you may have heard about the Kindle, Amazon.com’s wireless reading device that lets you download a whole book in a minute and now can carry over 1,500 books in one device (on the Kindle 2).  Supposedly, the screen “reads like real paper” (check out the video below).  You can also get magazines and newspapers, and subscribe to blogs on the Kindle.

Today, I heard about the nook from the US store, Barnes & Noble.  The nook boasts a similar screen display as the Kindle (ie. it “reads like real paper”), plus you can change the font size, and you can store up to 1,500 books digitally, just like the Kindle 2.  You can also make notes and highlight right on the page itself.

All of this is really cool technology – I really like that you can carry hundreds of titles around with either device (it would definitely save your shoulders from carry around a ridiculously heavy backpack).  However, I still like to hold the real book in my hand while re-reading Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows, despite its weight.

A lot of debate has come up over the last couple years about the death of print media, and the fact that the Kindle and nook are rising in popularity really reinforces this idea.

What do you think – would you rather have in your hand a real paperback to read, or is the new technology available too intriguing and fun?  Do you think that people will stop buying real books because of these technological advances?  Share your thoughts below in the comment section, or Facebook or tweet at us to let us know your opinion.

Now this is something totally awesome I know you’ll appreciate this weekend:

For many years, we’ve all searched the Internet for the perfect font for one project or another.  I’ve seen the ones that are based on famous fonts (like the font from “The Simpsons” title, etc.), and the super curly ones, and the gothic ones, and I always say to myself, “Wouldn’t it be cool to have a font of my own handwriting?”

Yes, I believe it would!  And so does FontCapture.  FontCapture is a website that lets you put your own writing into a font that you can use.  Cool, huh?

It’s done in four super easy steps:

1. Print out the FontCapture template.
2. Fill out each letter of the alphabet (plus all those crazy symbols and punctuation) in your own lovely printing.
3. Scan it into your computer and upload it to FontCapture.com.
4. Download and enjoy!

Try it out and feel free to comment below on how you are enjoying your newly-created and highly original font 🙂

In the past few days, some pretty awesome websites have been discovered.  How awesome?  Warm fuzzy feelings awesome.  Over the next week and a half, Alice and I will each shed some light on these websites.

So by now, I’m sure we all know about FMyLife (FML).  And thanks to this, we also know about MyLifeIsAverage (MLIA).  Now, not to hate or anything, but stories on FML can be rather depressing; we don’t like being downers all the time.  MLIA stories are more neutral, but it lacks…the warm fuzzy feeling.  Today, I bring you something that not only gives you this warm fuzzy feeling, but also completes this spectrum of stories: GivesMeHope.

It’s like Chicken Soup for the Soul – the 21st Century, Twitter-style version.

GivesMeHope (GMH) was founded in May 2009 (by Gaby Montero, founder of DailyCute.net, and by Emerson Spartz, founder of MuggleNet.com—yes one of the best known HP sites out there) as a response to FML.  The stories found on GMH are inspiring and moving.  These stories, shared by people all over the world, are stories about the most hopeful and uplifting moments in life that give strength and faith to others.  Whenever you’re down, one visit to this hearfelt site will bring you right back up.

My mother worked two jobs when I was growing up but still often there wasn’t enough money for food or heat.  A couple years ago she died of cancer.  I found out later that during the time she was sick she’d been saving money to make up for the years when we had nothing. It was over $20,000.  If only she knew that her love had been enough.  This GMH.

With Grey Cup Festival on its way, its time to decide how you are going to enjoy it!  Now for those of you who are not planning on attending the game, a game watching party or just sit by yourself at home watching, there is more to the Grey Cup than just the three hour game itself.  The fun begins Thursday, November 26th and lasts all weekend, until Sunday becomes Monday.

Some FREE events you’ll probably catch me at include the Enmax Street Festival on Stephen Avenue  and the Calgary Herald Olympic Plaza Family Fan Fest. Some stand out musical performances I would suggest checking out are:

Friday, November 27th:

The Dudes at 3:00pm at the Enmax Street Festival

Then make your way down Stephen Avenue to Olympic Plaza Family Fan Fest to check out Faber Drive at 5:00pm.

Saturday, November 28th:

Madcowboys at 4:00pm at the Enmax Street Festival

Then stick around for my favourite local musician Michael Bernard Fitzgerald at 5:00 pm at the Enmax Street Festival

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Remember that all the events I just mentioned are totally FREE! I can’t wait to see you there and let’s cross our fingers that the Stampeders will be there too!

“Sigh”… I was really expecting something different when I decided to read this novel.  You see, from what I had heard, it is a story that takes place in a world that has suffered a zombie apocalypse.  Groups of people built towns surrounded by fences to protect themselves from the zombies, and now, many generations later, a girl must leave the fence because her town was overrun by zombies.

I have also heard that humans found a way to defy death in the novel, which somehow caused the zombie apocalypse, and that the rulers of the towns tell the residents that they are the only survivors and do not permit people to leave the town. 

What I did not know was that the story was going to focus on a love triangle.  Well, it’s more like a love square – girl (A) likes guy (A) who is married to girl (B) who is girl (A)’s best friend and in love with guy (B) who is married to girl (A) the brother of guy (A), both guys have a crush on girl (A) and girl (B) is actually in love with guy (B). “Sigh”…

The ending of the book is not much of a conclusion, by that I mean it answers about half the questions.  This novel can be fast paced and impossible to put down at some points and excruciatingly slow at other times.

If you are looking for a love story that involves the supernatural (Twilight fans) yu should enjoy this. If you don’t like love stories (myself and most guys) you will probably not like this book. Love it or hate it.