World music in one place with Screamer radio player

Internet based radio stations are blooming these days. No wonder with expenses and costs for that kind of broadcasting being so low except for internet usage itself. Therefore internet based radio players are getting more and more popular and Screamer Radio is amongst them. But don't be fooled and think that this player is new on the market. He is there for quite some time dating way back to 2003. So why we are writing about it today? Because it is probably the best if not thee best internet based radio player out there. Why do we think so? Read on...


Basic qualities of this wonderful application are very simple interface and very small footprint. But once again, don't be fooled with that. That minimalistic interface enables you full control over content which is streamed over the net. Another big quality of this application comes from very big database of supported radio stations from around the world. Over four thousand of them. Wow! Newest additions can be tracked on Screamer radio directory location. And that is not all. Some stations may broadcast from more than one stream enabling different quality or formats. Not a problem. Screamer enables you simple and fast change between sources. Supported formats go from Shoutcast and Icecast MP3 streaming to Icecast OGG and WMA/ACC streaming.


Now we come to another great quality of this player. All streamed content can be recorded by simple button click. And not just that, this player will record the whole song even if you clicked on record button at the middle of song broadcast. This is possible because Screamer uses buffering system which is held until the song in question is over. Also if radio station in question enables id tags songs will be recorded, properly named using those tags and put into proper folders. You can also choose the format for recording being MP3 or OGG.
Amongs other things we can also mention marking your favorite stations and even using portable version of this program which you can put on your usb device and use it on virtually any computer. Also, this program is low on resources but you should probably have a better internet connection for streamed content although reported internet usage goes from 10 to 20 kb depending on streaming quality. For more demanding and better quality network usage goes up.
On the end, when it comes to internet radio players, one big, musical, and Hot Wink goes to this wonderful and small yet very powerful application. Ah yes. You can get it here and take it for a spin. Don't worry it is FREE. Enjoy!

Tips for Tweets

It seems that ever popular service called Twitter is having a much larger impact on our lives than we thought it will have. Practically everybody who uses the Network on a daily basis is using it. Today we bring you two out of many twitter contribution projects, TwitScoop and TwiTip.

TwitScoop is a service entirely based on Twitter. Their automated algorithm crawls hundreds of tweets every second bringing up the words which are mentioned more then other words. Main page gives you an insight into this through one constantly changing word cloud which is actually fun to watch. You can see words appearing and disappearing depending on their cloud influence. The right side gives you insight into hot trends for the day. You can also put up the twitter username or keywords into a provided search box in order to follow the conversation with results being refreshed every twenty seconds. Neat. Other than that, there is also a widgets page from where you can grab the code and connect this service with your blog or website.


TwiTip compared to TwitScoop is a totally different story. It was created by Darren Rowse from ProBlogger and it is a blog. The purpose of this blog is to give twitter tips and lessons to Tweeter users in order to use it more effectively. According to the author, articles will cover Twitter Tips of all varieties including writing for twitter, branding a growing, corporate tweeting and more. Also if you have some Twitter tips and tricks in your sleeves don't hesitate to share them with the community as a guest author on this promising blog.

So whether you like to Tweet or not now you know where to find hot and juicy words and service tips and tricks in order to tell us 'What are you doing?' in a better and more precise way. Two Tweeted Hot Winks for this two contributors. Happy tweeting.

Feeling touchy? HP opens up TouchSmart

Have you always wanted to make applications that were touch sensitive? Well now you can and it all comes from industry giant called HP and their TouchSmart Software suite.


They have released TouchSmart Application Developer Guidelines to third-party developers thus allowing anyone with enough motivation to create touch-friendly applications within the TouchSmart Software suite on the popular HP TouchSmart PCs. HP also made an effort to distribute the guidelines to developers and provide an environment for developers to interact. After that only what is left is to upload the new creations via download hub on the site. Neat.


And that is not all. In order to popularize it more, TouchSmart Community is running a promotion that will send one lucky developer, with all expenses paid, to demo their software within the HP booth at the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. He or she will also receive a free TouchSmart PC, HP MediaSmart Server, and a month of promotion in the community! The motivation is there and the promotion runs through December 5th with all details located here.
One last thing is that TouchSmart owners need to upgrade their TouchSmart Software to the latest version in order to install third-party applications. The upgrade is available free from HP's Support site and Developer Guidelines can be downloaded here.
So whether you are a developer and eager to start coding or you are a consumer eager to test new applications now you now what to do. One programmed Hot Wink for HP and their TouchSmart technology. Happy coding!

Find my way home, Magellan Maestro 4350 series

When it comes to GPS navigation Magellan is already a well known name. Their new, advanced Maestro 4350 series which utilizes one touch user interface approach is out. First one of its kind in the world of vehicle navigation devices. The focus is thrown on already mentioned one touch user interface which should reduce drivers distraction and be very easy to use. This new concept is not yet tested and other manufacturers are apparently waiting for consumers approval.


With this new device you can access your favorite destinations and searches with only one click. At least they say you can. After identification and placement of your favorite places, locations and destinations you can access them directly through one quick menu selection. Neat huh? Beneath that you will be given the ability to quickly change or reroute to other destinations with minimized distractions and fuel consumption. This sounds very good especially in unfamiliar locations and big towns. Other than directly GPS involved functions you will be able to access other applications in order to play music, call people or simply search for addresses. Amongst other features we can mention audio, video and picture player.
This device comes in standard equipment which includes windshield mounting device, cigarette lighter adapter, A/C power adapter, USB data cable and protective pouch.
So whether you are lost or going to visit your relatives in Europe now you now what device can help you to achieve that with just few clicks. One touched Hot Wink for this great device which has yet to prove it self.

One hot singing hound from Hot Topic

While we are dealing with hot topics one particular Hot Topic got our attention. This clothing and accessories based retailer, with rich taste for alternative music, has launched its first online music store called ShockHound which offers rich musical content including millions of mp3s and videos, bands merchandise and quality editorial content amongst other things.


On ShockHound you can find almost all major record labels standing next to independent ones. But things get even better. The word is that artists themselves will be able to upload and sell their own music directly from this service with no need for a middle man called record label. Nice.
One other unique feature of this service will be already mentioned editorial section. It will host editorial team controlled and music related news, reviews, interviews and videos amongst other things. Despite the known fact that Hot Topic mostly likes the alternative rock flavor on ShockHound you will be able to find music from all genres. This opens the new question. Will it compete with iTunes and Amazon store? Why not? It has a wide network of consumers, established name and one key advantage regarding musical content. Apparently all ShockHound songs are DRM free. Each song can be downloaded directly from the website for 99 cents.
Well although it seems like a promising service we cant avoid the fact that it is new and has a pretty late start comparing to well established and already mentioned giants in this field. We give it a Hot Wink to keep it warm for the market battles yet to come.

Controlling the Sonos through iPhone

Who knows about Sonos knows about their wireless home music systems. Who knows about iPhone and has one of those all together with one of the Sonos systems will now jump high in the air because Sonos has released their Controller for iPhone which combines previously mentioned devices. And guess what. It is available as a free download on the iPhone store. Control freaks will totally enjoy this.
Yeah this is all cool but how it works? Actually it combines Sonos user control interface with well designed iPhone touch sensitive display and utilizes it as a control device. This gives you the ability to engage or disengage certain rooms without even stopping the music. You can play, stop, pause or skip tracks from any room in the house and you can even do searches or other various cool things as long as you know what you are doing. Simple as that. But, before using this awesome tool you might want to check that there is at least one of Sonos ZonePlayers active and that you have Sonos software 2.7 and iPhone software 2.0 compatible devices.

So wheter you are one of those already mentioned control freaks or just one lazy couch potato or maybe you just like it, now you now one more iPhone purpose. One controlled Hot Wink for iPhone and Sonos this time.

Watching past week television, iPlayer time shift

Some key and legendary sentences are getting rapidly out of use these days. Honey, can you tape me that show today, I will be late... Previous sentence was forced out years back with massive expansion of cds, dvds, torrents and other file sharing services. Now, beside online video sharing websites like youtube, metacafe and others, we have a new breed. iPlayer gives you an opportunity to watch BBC's past week programmes in two ways.


One way is directly from the iPlayer website via online streaming. Quick, easy and practically free way to catch what was missed. This works for Windows, Mac, Linux, Nintendo Wii and iPhone users for now and they are working on more ways right now. But there is a catch. If you are from UK then you can use Click and Play feature directly, but if you are from any other country then you will have to satisfy with Real Player or Windows Media Player.

Other way is to download programmes through iPlayer Download Manager and watch it locally. There is a catch again. This only works with Windows XP and Vista for now. And again they are working on other versions for other operating systems.

Will other television houses follow this BBC example? Hard to say. Anyway one hot wink for BBC and their iPlayer application. Now excuse us we have some shows to watch. Cheers.

Clean up MySpace please

There is probably no one who uses computers on a daily basis who doesn't know about extremely popular internet location called MySpace. You can do a bunch of stuff there. Make your personal pages, listen to some music, watch videos, chat with other people and what not. All that freedom, although greatly appreciated and loved by the community, has it's price. MySpace started to look like one of those markets where you can find all sort of stuff (read junk) just piled up together with no visible order or meaning. Pages became so filled up with numerous additions, scripts, customized layouts that something had to be done. And they are doing it as we speak. It was about time.


Cleaning MySpace is getting a great response from it's fans. And they are cleaning it from top to bottom. And not that they are just cleaning it but some helpful, new things and additions are being published along. One of those things is a new Profile interface which is based on drag and drop technique. It seems like a very good approach and is already taking positive feedback. It gives you co called granular control over privacy, comments, friends, age and other parts of your space. Also there you can find some themes and theme editor so practically you can customize it without any knowledge of HTML or copy pasting any codes.
So whether you like it or not or you simply don't care about it now you know what is this particular hot wink about. Good job MySpace.

Blog08 and Rockstars of the Web

The Blog08 is definitely the place to be today, if you are a blogger, because that is the place where some popular blogging stars will be today. The list of speakers is strong with some of strong names like Pete Cashmore (Mashable), Hugh MacLeod (GapingVoid), Scott Rafer (MyBlogLog) and many more. The list of attending companies is impressive too and you will see names like Blurb, TechCrunch, Sun Microsystems, Mashable, MTV etc. Being well said by themselves that blogging is no longer the domain of geeky kids and that today virtually anyone can start their own publishing platform within minutes, the time came for new rockstars to take their place.

So what is Blog08 anyway?
The whole thing was initiated by only two guys, Ernst-Jan Pfauth and his colleague Edial Dekker. As they wrote on the official website of the conference, BLOG08 is about bringing people together who share an interest in blogging. Inspiration being the keyword they invited all bloggers to join them in sharing the visions and ideas of the blogging future. The exact location and time where you can do that is Piet Heinkade street in Amsterdam, Netherlands 24th October 2008.

Now, while you are packing and traveling to Amsterdam we can only send some hot winks and best wishes towards the Blog08 to be as successful as attending people are.

Look ma, I can fly. On solar power...

Human dreams of flying go way back to the roots of man kind. As soon as those first humans on our planet looked up to the sky nothing was the same any more. Nowadays, with so much pollution around us, it is always nice to hear that something is not using jet fuel to propel it self through air. If it is not a bird of course.

A UK made plane just made an unofficial endurance record for a flight by an unmanned aircraft. Zephyr-6 is the name. Apparently the plane was in the air for more than three days, running to the night on batteries and recharging through the day. It weights about 30kg and is operated by remote control until it reaches operating altitude, which is at about 18km (60,000ft) and then it switches on autopilot and satellite communication. The structure of the plane uses ultra-lightweight carbon-fibre material and the plane propels it self using solar power, generated by amorphous silicon solar arrays, which are glued all over the Zephyr wings and are not any thicker than a sheet of paper. Going through the night, the propellers are powered from lithium-sulphur batteries which are recharged during day time.

Well this is all very nice, being in the air for three consecutive days, but still everyone wants to use it for military purposes. When it comes to that, it seems that all technological advancements came first for military purposes. Even the most popular Internet. Why cant we just put a couple of seats on to it, and glide through the night and day watching the sun goes up and down?

Nevertheless one hot wink for Zephyr and innovation on solar power field.

Browsing the web with Chrome

Yep, Chrome is out boys and girls and is shining through out the web. Despite some initial beta problems Chrome is now taking a stand and probably aiming at Microsoft juicy piece of web cake. And who can blame it.

Although initial release was only for Windows, the rumor is that Mac and Linux users might just get a brand new web browser too, but without official announcements and dates for this to be confirmed we can't say no more.


Chrome is slick, fast and reliable browser with some new tools of the trade. Migration from one of the previous browsers, whether it was Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer will be a breeze but new and innovative tab bar, omnibar and the complete lack of title bar will definitely be a strange experience for some users. The rest of the minimalistic design story is pretty much already known more or less. The biggest section goes for web page being viewed and the rest is filled up with search bar, bookmarks and the rest of needed things that need to be easily available.

Speed. If it is the one thing that would make you use Chrome than that is your answer. And if the Google engineers deliver their promises this will be the Chrome's strongest point over time. Separated processes for every tab is the most innovative approach and it means that while one tab is busy you can use all the others without any problems.

Amongst other things we can mention integrated debugger for web developers, enhanced security and maybe the best two words in the entire web, open source. That's right the Google Chrome is completely opened for cooperation and it is good news.

But, everything might not be that shiny after all. Yet. There are still stability problems, minor and bigger bugs here and there and API support is yet to come out which will enable developers to write extensions although their effectiveness is yet to be proved. And because Chrome is years back behind his competitors, years might pass until competition is reached. We are patient.

Now with everything being said, one Hot Wink was sent towards Chrome direction. You can get it here and take it for a spin.