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New Media News Every Morning

Flood Alerts for U.S. Rivers

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Using data from the U.S. Geological Survey, Weather Underground now shares data on American rivers, potentially giving residents advance warning of a flood.

Each river is color-coded on a map, allowing users to easily identify conditions. Among them:

Dry/wet percentile
Flow Rate
Current Stage
Forecast Stage
Flood Stage

Access the river information here.

This key info is displayed as a layer on the WunderMapâ„¢, a visual display of weather layers that are plotted and overlaid on a map interface.

“We have created this product to help communities in the US threatened by flooding,” said Alan Steremberg, President and co-founder of Weather Underground. “People will easily be able to find the data they need to assess the threat to their homes and businesses. We have brought the product to market as quickly as possible in light of the many flood alerts currently in place in the middle of the country.”

This service is free. Whether its Mother Nature or external sources causing the problem, Weather Underground keeps you up to date.

Originally posted on June 18, 2008 @ 9:00 am

DocStoc Adds OneClick for Desktop E-mails & Uploads

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DocStoc, the place to find and share professional documents, has long been one of my favorite Web destinations. From business plan templates to generic job applications, the Website houses an embeddable/sharable/printable doc for just about every business practice.

With Acrobat’s recent share features, it’s clear that the DocStocs of the world will have to evolve, offering more than just content. To that effect, they’ve launched OneClick, a Windows-only app (free download) that enables users to e-mail large files and conduct bulk uploads, directly from your desktop. Just right-click, add a title, tags, category and description. Voila! You’ll receive access links and embed code.

The feature eliminates the need to e-mail large attachments, giving users the ability to convert docs to Flash (hosted on DocStoc) and e-mailing the link to a recipient.

There’s no upload wait time, a generous 50MB limit, and your doc lives on the Web for anytime/anywhere access. Docs can be shared or set as private. Your default e-mail client will send the message. Currently, .doc, .pdf, .xls and .ppt files are acceptable.

Aside from being a hotbed for interesting documents, DocStoc is evolving, making sure content can be shared in a cinch. Check out the goods for yourself.

Originally posted on June 11, 2008 @ 8:46 pm

iTunes Gets New Movies on Day of Release

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No more waiting to download that spankin’ new movie from the iTunes store.  Effective immediately, Apple is offering many movies on the same day as their DVD release. Participating studios are 20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Lionsgate, Image Entertainment and First Look Studios.

New releases will set you back $14.99 and standard titles remain unchanged at $9.99.  Rentals are $2.99 to kick it old school and $3.99 for the new stuff.

Get your street smarts on with “American Gangster,” get sarcastic with “Juno” or get creeped by “Cloverfield” – all without the wait.

Movie purchases and rentals require iTunes 7.6.2.  Download here.

Originally posted on May 1, 2008 @ 9:04 am

50 Cent a file-sharing advocate

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50 centJust when the music industry is tightening its grip against file sharing, Hip Hop artist 50 Cent is quick to claim that it doesn’t hurt artists and the music industry must learn to support this.

According to TorrentFreak, this former drug dealer was interviewed by his friend Pal Nordseth minutes before his stage performance in Oslo. While it focused mainly on his drug habits, one question was asked about his own label, G-Unit Records.

Question: How are G-Unit Records doing in these times of file-sharing?

“Not so good….The advances in technology impacts everyone, and we all must adapt. Most of all hip-hop, a style of music dependent upon a youthful audience. This market consists of individuals embracing innovations faster than the fans of classical and jazz music.”

“What is important for the music industry to understand is that this really doesn’t hurt the artists.”

“A young fan may be just as devout and dedicated no matter if he bought it or stole it.”

“The concerts are crowded and the industry must understand that they have to manage all the 360 degrees around an artist. They, (the industry), have to maximize their income from concerts and merchandise. It is the only way they can get their marketing money back.”

“The main problem is that the artists are not getting as much help developing as before file-sharing. They are now learning to peddle ringtones, not records. They don’t understand the value of a perfect piece of art.”

Well said! It’s very refreshing to know that some popular artists view file sharing from a consumer perspective and not from the viewpoint of music producers. I could only wish he was not high on some sh*t when he made these bold statements.

Originally posted on December 10, 2007 @ 5:40 am