A Quick Review of the Clouds: A Quick Way to Keep Your Music Library With You

Well hello again...glad to see ya...

 Now this post may be a little different from the norm but bear with me. It should be very insightful for you well at least I’m hoping.  If not…don’t judge me Mr/Ms. Know it all! HA HA HA!

Ok let’s hop to it. 

I often make mention of my cloud…and usually I am greeted with a look of confusion so…let’s start there.

What is a cloud?

Well according to the infamous Wikipedia it’s… “a visible mass of liquid droplets or frozen crystals made of water and/or various chemicals suspended in the atmosphere above the surface of a planetary body.”

Ok now that is the text book term for those fluffy white poofs in the sky (yeah I said poofs…whatever!) at any rate that’s all great, however, that is not the type of cloud to which I am referring. 

Clouds are a new way technology is allowing us to store and retrieve information without using up space on our devices (i.e. computers, smart phones, tablets etc).  It’s also referred to as Cloud Computing. According to InfoWorld… “Cloud computing providers deliver applications via the internet, which are accessed from and desktop and mobile apps, while the business software and data are stored on servers at a remote location.”

Now these clouds are used by all and for personal as well as business use.  This post will be basically regarding the personal use and music. 

Now I mainly use my clouds to store music some use it for videos and pictures as well.  I have around 5,000-6,000 songs in my cloud and growing.  Of course if I stored that on my Smartphone, iPod, tablet etc depending on size I would be out of space and in some cases unable to store it all.

I don’t know about you but I don’t want that hogging up all my device space.  Well that’s where the awesomeness of the cloud comes in.  You simply find a cloud service you like…(I’ll go over those in a second).  You then simply upload the music library from your computer into the cloud.  Most of the cloud services have an app for your Smartphone you download the corresponding app for your cloud sign in and BAM where ever you are you have access to stream you own music where ever without taking up phone on your respective device.

The companies that are providing cloud services are growing by the day…but I’ll go over some of the more popular ones to give you a sense of how they operate.

First up is Amazon Cloud Service:

Now with Amazon you get 5gb of storage for free.  This will allow you to store about 1,000 songs.  There is a mobile app for this if you have an Android or Blackberry. Unfortunately Apple doesn’t have an application for this any longer it was yanked from the Apple Store since of course Apple kills anything that tried to compete with it.  So if you want to use this service on your iPhone you will have to go through your safari web browser.

Pros: Easy to use, if you buy a CD from Amazon they will update your cloud to unlimited to storage for a year.  You can share what your listening to with your social network site.

Cons: Once you put music into it you cannot alter your music tracks.  i.e. you have songs listed as Track 1 and you want to give them the correct name you’ll have to delete it from your cloud.  Fix it on your computer then upload again.

If you are interested in this cloud service you can get more info or set it up here:

https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/learnmore

Amazon pricing set up:

I recommend this Cloud.  I actually have one… this is my Amazon cloud:

Mobile App view:

 

 Next up is the Apple iCloud:

I personally haven’t used this one because I don’t have an apple device. Well my Ipod touch but daughter mainly uses that. Any who here are some of the basics with the iCloud if you don’t have an iPhone you can move to the next cloud.  The iCloud is only compatible with Apple products. To be even more specific iPhones running at least iOS5, have iTunes 10.5 and your iPhone must be 3Gs or newer.  So if you actually meet all those criteria then here we go. Works the same pretty much across the board once you set the cloud up you can update your setting that whenever you upload music to iTunes then it will sync with your cloud.

Here is the blurb from the Apple site:

"iCloud is so much more than a hard drive in the sky. It makes it quick and effortless to access just about everything on the devices you use every day. iCloud automatically and securely stores your content so it's always available to your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, or PC. It gives you access to your music, apps, latest photos, and more from whichever device you happen to be using. And it keeps your email, contacts, and calendars up to date across all your devices. No syncing required. No management required. In fact, no anything required. iCloud does it all for you."

Now what you do you get with this service:

5gb free with the iCloud.

Extra storage cost:

BUT AHA!! Good ol Apple the Kings of nickel and diming its’ loyal followers to death…this is only compatible with music you bought from iTunes…if you want to add music that you didn’t purchase from iTunes then you have to get another service compatible to the iCloud called iTunes match which cost an additional 24.99/year. 

Pros: Neat, clean interface, auto syncing, you can also put photos, videos and documents in the icloud

Cons: Expensive, have to buy iTunes match to sync my other music I may have on my computer from CD’s etc, only compatible with Apple products, oh yeah EXPENSIVE compared to competitor.

*side note* now do you see why they yanked the competitors apps from the itunes store.  They are cheaper and you get more space for less.

More info can be found here: http://www.apple.com/icloud/features/

I recommend if you have an apple product and plan on using everything its capable of besides music.

Next is Google Music Cloud:

This one by far is my favorite it’s a Google product and I love Google.  However,  let me give you the skinny on Google Music.  Here is the a synopsis of the Google Cloud from their site…

“Google Music stores all of your music online so that you can save space on your computers and mobile devices and easily access your collection from anywhere you want to listen.”

What you get with Google Music Cloud:

You can add up to 20,000 songs that’s roughly I think about 80GB’s for…wait for it….. FREE!!! (whoo hoooo)

Also with the Google Music cloud you get free music if you are Android from the Android Market.  There are hundreds of free songs.

There is an app for it on Android.  Although Apple has restricted a Google app put out by Google there are several 3 party Google Music apps for iPhone.  I think what I have heard most people like is the iPhone app gMusic. Blackberry users access google.com/music from their browser.

Pros: Ease of use, seems to be most compatible, free music, most storage for free, if you are on Google + you can share songs with friends, auto syncs with whatever program you want including iTunes, editable song information.

Cons:  If you have a large music library to upload all at once be prepared to start the upload in the morning and go about your day and hope it’s done by the time you get home but once its uploaded your good.  This is Music only cloud so if you have pictures or videos you want to upload this Cloud system doesn’t have that capability.

More info here: http://music.google.com/about/

If you’re looking for music only….I HIGHLY recommend this one.

Here is a screen shot of my Google Music Cloud:

Mobile App view:

Lastly is..

Have your own Cloud at home.  You can purchase a home media cloud device for your home which you upload your information to it and you stream from it where ever you are.  Some of them I’ve heard of or seen are the PogoPlug, Iomega and you can Google others. 

These devices start with 5gb of space and the lowest price I have seen is 37.99 ranging up into the hundreds.  Also the streaming quality and speed depends on your internet connection at home.

Pros: Everything is in house, if the services ever decide to go up on fees on begin charging fee’s you have no worries.  If you pirate music or movies this is a safe way to put your info in storage and have no fears of being caught. You can share files with friends with no restrictions.

Cons: Streaming is spotty unless your internet connection is rock solid and fast, if you have a blackberry or something other than an iPhone or Android most likely it may not be compatible.  If you need more space you have to get another device or start deleting stuff to make room.  In a lot of the cases after looking at these online is you have to also buy a mobile device to actually be able to stream to your device. 

All in all, I guess I’m impartial to this one…I have no interest in it but if you want everything to remain in house and are very concerned about ultimate privacy then this might be the route for you.

If you want more info on having your own in house cloud here is the link to PogoPlug: 

https://my.pogoplug.com/features

Well this has just been my brief review, opinion and break down of some of the major music cloud services out there.Hope this has been helpful for you.  If you have any questions feel free to ask. I'm off to enjoy my plethora of music. Blog ya later!

My Adventures in the Gym

Well hello there again!

As promised in the previous post…I will break down what I have observed in my visits to the gym.  Now, I have always been pretty athletic and fit.  Not tooting my own horn it’s just something that is in my DNA I think to be active exercising or playing sports.   Well my season of flag football, basketball is over until spring.  So in addition to my boxing work out I said to myself…”Self you need to get to the gym a few times a week to relieve stress and get that six pack you want.” Well it’s going well, but I digress…this blog is not about my physical progress workout. Maybe we will discuss that one day but yeah not today. In my frequent trips to the gym and if you hadn’t noticed I’m a bit of a people watcher…well I have categorized some gym goers.  Once you read these I’m sure you will be able to identify.

First up we shall pay homage to the:

GYM RAT:

These are the guys that have to lift as much weight as humanly possible for their body, they have to make grunting noise, yell, and scream so everyone in the gym knows they are “getting buff.”  Also, typically they lift weight close to a mirror so once they are done they can spring up and check out their physique in said mirror.  Once the gym rat has finished a particular weight routine.  They usually grab a towel and water bottle and walk around the gym doing the buff walk like they own the place.  Wait…why are you looking like that…you don’t know what the buff walk is? Oh allow me to explain…ok hunch both your shoulders up, then let your arms dangle free slightly bent and away from your body, now squeeze both your butt cheeks in now walk…BAM look at you buff walking!!!

Next up is America’s favorite the:

The Spokesperson:

These are the people who come into the gym and you think wow they are about to hit it hard! OR if playing basketball for instance you think whoa did they play in college.  All because they have the LOOK down! They will have on the Nike shoes, socks, shorts, air dry razor back tank top or jersey, the Nike head band, towel, watch etc the list goes on and on.  However, if you notice this a lot of time is the person with absolutely NO ATHLETIC bone in their body. If they are just working out they come often but the ol elliptical or treadmill defeats them in 3 mins or less. The weighted machines stay on a weight of 10 or the pin isn’t in at all. But I tell you what bless their hearts they look good doing it.  They get picked up in a basketball game only for their team to realize that was an EPIC fail of a decision to pick them up.   However, the Spokesperson can sure give you great tips on fashionable gym attire! If this is your style…hey embrace it its ok…look one of our favorite comedian Kevin Hart does…watch…

OK moving on along to the…

The Singles:

These are folks that can also fall under one of the categories above.  Yet the main purpose of Singles is to simply check out chicks or guys.  This is the guy who will give you that huge smile and then randomly pop up next to you on every machine you get on…the Singles can sometime be a bit creepy. Now women are in this category…wanna know how to spot a woman that’s a singles…find her next to a somewhat hot guy in the gym she will be on the treadmill next to him leisurely walking with a full face of make up but dressed like a SPOKESPERSON.

Next we get to the…

The New Years Resolution Maker:

These folks usually come out of the wood work after the holidays. These are the folks who went the ol New Years ball dropped they made the resolution that this would be the year that they would get in shape.  They get excited and sometimes form group…yay.  They then get all the apparel needed for the gym and head on down to the local gym and sign up.  Some even get personal trainers…because they are serious this time not like that past years. Nope this year it’s different. Well the New Years Resolution Makers start off good and strong sad part is usually about 2 weeks later…nada Gyms love the New Years Resolution Makers they get them obligated in contracts and get their money never see them again.  FREE MONEY!

Then comes the:

“I’ve got to get my body right for the summer" person:  

 Actually see New Years Resolution Maker however this person usually emerges in April or May right before the summer.  One caveat is sometime this is the person that says they will hit it hard to be able to get into a bikini by summer obstacle is their body most likely looks like this…

Next Up:

The never ending runner:

This group of people I secretly envy…they run for ever and ever and ever.  Me after a mile and a half 2 and most I’m tuckered out.  I had to work to get to that point.  Don’t judge me I was a sprinter not a cross country runner! This person usually has a straight face, ear buds in ears or watching TV…they usually are dripping in sweat and have a towel for the occasional sweat wipe away…

The Magazine reader:

I think this is a new generation of exercisers or something…I mean we come to the gym to work up a sweat right…WRONG these folks have the latest edition of Cosmo or People and catching up with celebrity gossip while working out.  I must admit I tried it yeah not so much for me…I’ll stick with reading mags in the Doc office waiting room, but hey if it works for you. Great lol.

Are you the:

Stinky dude:

This dude may or may not be a gym rat, but most likely not a Spokesperson or Single.   This is the guy who is super sweaty and stinks to high hell like the invention of deodorant hasn’t been discovered yet.  This guy may be outgoing but he is usually all over the gym and you know this because his stench is all over the gym turning heads and burning nose hairs out of all gym patrons.  This person is also not going to use the sanitizing wipes to clean off the machines or weights once you use them.  Forget about it, he isn’t EVEN going to attempt to use them.

OMG without further ado!

The locker room flasher:

Ok where do I begin with this one...let me paint you a picture of my encounter.  So I leave work headed to the gym…la da dee la dad ah (that’s me humming).  I walk into the gym say hey to the employees “hey guys!” they say “hey how are ya?” back at me.  La da dee hmmm mmmmm open the door to the women’s locker room go around the corner to the locker area and WHAM greeted by butt nakedness! In my head I think…”Holy hell cover up” but I say nothing because honestly this is quite normal for a locker room right.  Well then it gets interesting…I am taking my coat off and placing items in the locker gathering my clothes to escape into the handicapped bathroom stall to change (yeah I’m that one…don’t judge me).  Before I could finish gathering my clothes I hear…” hey what’s up Toya?!” I look up to say “hello” but something happened my eyes looked up before I could speak and what they saw was the back shot view of a woman looking at me while drying her ankles off and looking at me from in between her legs…OK my face instantly looked like o_O all I could say was “oh nothing” and I dang near ran to the stall.  Where I had to then compose myself and mouth silently to myself “WTH was that?!” Then I have to come back to work or around the building and see you on a regular basis…FAIL!

Ok so prime rule for me…DO NOT TALK TO ME WHILE YOU ARE BUTT NAKED!! …well unless you’re the ROCK but ahem back to the subject…yes not cool.  I don’t want to talk to you as you are lifting your breast to dry sweat or water etc or while you’re putting on underwear.  Let’s just enjoy the silence and pick up the conversation once we are fully clothed to avoid any awkwardness.

Welp it's been fun dissecting the various personalities at the gym and sharing it with you but I gotta run...Blog ya later!