Tape Deck - Old School Audio Recording

I am gearing up for the recording of the first Pixelphile Podcast. The big question is what software to use for the recording. Logic, Garage Band, Audacity? While they are all great pieces of kit, I decided to keep it old school and record it on a cassette tape. Well, not really a cassette tape in the traditional sense, but it's funky digital cousin.

TapeDeck brings back the analog love of the portable cassette recorder without all the noise and hum. By utilizing the tape deck metaphor, SuperMegaUltraGroovy have created a visually retro piece of software with all the features of a digital recorder. With it's idiot proof interface, there is never any danger of erasing or overwriting an audio file. Every time you click on the record button a new tape is created that you can label, annotate, and color code for further reference. It keeps all your recordings in the tape box that is collapsible and hides inside the recorder. The interface is familiar and fun to use, complete with all the analog sound effects that a tape recorder provides.

It's no slouch in regards to audio formats. It can export your audio file in pretty much any style you desire, including the ever popular AIFF, MP3, and MPEG-4 audio formats. Super cool extra features such as Email Tape, Copy Tape to iTunes, and Send to YouTube make TapeDeck a must have for your mac software library.

TapeDeck requires a Macintosh with Mac OS X version 10.5 or later.

Pros: Old School Analog Interface.

Cons: Chronological Listing Only.

List Price: $25.00

Vixy Online Flash Converter

One of the questions I receive most often is, "How can I save flash videos from Youtube and covert them to Quicktime?" There are many ways to do it, some requiring special software and a Ph.D. from MIT. For the rest of us without a MENSA membership, there is the free online flash video converter, Vixy.

It's as simple as copying the URL of the video that you want to download, pasting it's address into Vixy, picking what format you want to convert it to (AVI, MOV, MP4, 3GP, MP3) and hitting the start button. Once Vixy resolves the video address, it will convert the flash video from Youtube to the downloadable format that you picked. Then all you have to do is download it to your desktop.

Piece of proverbial pixel pie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HhMX9qTXqA

"I got myself a brand new Oakland scarf right here."

Pros: Easy, Fast, Convenient.

Cons: Server Often Overloaded.

Price: FREE!

Dash Express Internet GPS

If you live in a major metropolitian area, such as Los Angeles, you already know that traffic sucks. What you need is some insider information that will help you bypass the traffic jams, and pick a faster alternate route.

Dash approaches traffic in an entirely new way - by collecting it from other people driving real commute routes, during real commute times. Each Dash Express anonymously and automatically sends its position and speed back to servers at the Dash Network Operations Center. The Dash servers then update all other Dash devices in the area with current road speeds. That way, members of the Dash Driver Network always have the best, most up-to-date traffic information available.

Dash Express is also the only Internet Connected GPS. Using Dash, you can connect to Yahoo!® Local search and find unlimited, up-to-date information about businesses, products and services—all in real-time, and all rated by real users.

Whether you're at home, the office, or out of town, you can log into your MyDash account from any Internet-connected computer to easily manage and send information wirelessly to your device.

DashApps such as "Trapster", which warns you when there is a live speed trap, photo enforcement camera, or typical enforcement location nearby, add even more functionality to an already robust device.

It looks like Dash has taken an entirely new approach to automotive GPS with the needs of the busy commuter in mind.

Pros: Real Time Traffic, Wifi Connected, DashApps.

Cons: Slightly Funky Design, Not For Rural Areas.

List Price: $299.99

Click here to buy from Pixelphile's Amazon Stop & Shop.