Windows Aero

Growing up, my father had a single-minded obsession: finding the cheapest possible gas for his 70s-era Olds Toronado. To shave even a few cents off his fuel tab, he’d routinely pilot this cruise ship-sized craft miles out of his way, finally docking it at some remote filling station on the edge of town.

Of course, he burned through more gas finding these bargain pumps than he ever saved (and I quickly learned to find other things to do when I sensed the needle nearing E.) But it didn’t matter. A bargain was a bargain.

Maybe that explains why I’ve never been one to shop around for gas. But that’s starting to change. Last week I spent $80 filling up my wife’s Honda Odyssey. Even my fuel-efficient little Civic has started eating into my beer budget.  A man can only take so much before he’s compelled to act.

That’s how I discovered some great online tools for finding cheap gas. Now I save money, time, and gas by pinpointing a cheap pump near me before I drive.

MSN Auto

MSN Auto receives daily pricing data from more than 90,000 stations across the country through the Oil Pricing Information Service (OPIS). Just plug in your ZIP Code to see the cheapest pumps in your area and what each charges for various grades of gas.

 GasBuddy

GasBuddy is a grassroots version of MSN Auto. The site relies on volunteers to report pump prices and boasts some 700,000 members. GasBuddy also has a bunch of cool tools.  Mobile phone owners, for example, can get price data beamed to them while they’re on the go.  A similar site called GasPriceWatch is also worth a look.

How’s your MPG?

Finally, if the spike in oil prices is making you think seriously about ditching your Hummer, you might find the US Department of Energy’s Fuel Economy site handy, especially its cool interactive tool for comparing gas mileage between different car and truck models.

<Michael Stroh>

Growing up, my father had a single-minded obsession: finding the cheapest possible gas for his 70s-era Olds Toronado. To shave even a few cents off his fuel tab, he’d routinely pilot this cruise ship-sized craft miles out of his way, finally docking it at some remote filling station on the edge of town.

Of course, he burned through more gas finding these bargain pumps than he ever saved (and I quickly learned to find other things to do when I sensed the needle nearing E.) But it didn’t matter. A bargain was a bargain.

Maybe that explains why I’ve never been one to shop around for gas. But that’s starting to change. Last week I spent $80 filling up my wife’s Honda Odyssey. Even my fuel-efficient little Civic has started eating into my beer budget.  A man can only take so much before he’s compelled to act.

That’s how I discovered some great online tools for finding cheap gas. Now I save money, time, and gas by pinpointing a cheap pump near me before I drive.

MSN Auto

MSN Auto receives daily pricing data from more than 90,000 stations across the country through the Oil Pricing Information Service (OPIS). Just plug in your ZIP Code to see the cheapest pumps in your area and what each charges for various grades of gas.

 GasBuddy

GasBuddy is a grassroots version of MSN Auto. The site relies on volunteers to report pump prices and boasts some 700,000 members. GasBuddy also has a bunch of cool tools.  Mobile phone owners, for example, can get price data beamed to them while they’re on the go.  A similar site called GasPriceWatch is also worth a look.

How’s your MPG?

Finally, if the spike in oil prices is making you think seriously about ditching your Hummer, you might find the US Department of Energy’s Fuel Economy site handy, especially its cool interactive tool for comparing gas mileage between different car and truck models.

<Michael Stroh>

Want easy access to the music collection on your home PC when you’re away?

Recently I discovered Winamp Remote, which I now use to access my music and video libraries from other computers—even my cell phone—via the web. It’s like having my own personal Internet radio station. What’s even cooler is that Winamp Remote is easy to use and set up—so easy, in fact, that I did it by accident when installing the Winamp media player.

Here’s how:

First, download and install Winamp. On the Choose Components setup screen, under Winamp Library, you’ll see the Remote Media option. Make sure it’s checked. (If you’re installing the Full version, it should be checked automatically.)

After Winamp is installed, select the Media Library tab and then click Audio under Remote Media. This will bring up the Winamp Remote installer. Click on the Download Now link to install Winamp Remote.

After the installer finishes, you’ll be asked to create a login name and password to access your media.

Your Winamp media library is now available from any web browser at http://winamp.com/remote. For instance, let’s say I want to stream the album “Deep Cuts” by The Knife from my home PC to my work PC. I just click my New Music folder, where I keep the album.

Then I select all the tracks on the album, and then click the play icon. As you can see, I’m just finishing listening to Deep Cuts and will probably listen to some M.I.A. or Hot Chip before heading home for the weekend.

<Gus Class>

Want easy access to the music collection on your home PC when you’re away?

Recently I discovered Winamp Remote, which I now use to access my music and video libraries from other computers—even my cell phone—via the web. It’s like having my own personal Internet radio station. What’s even cooler is that Winamp Remote is easy to use and set up—so easy, in fact, that I did it by accident when installing the Winamp media player.

Here’s how:

First, download and install Winamp. On the Choose Components setup screen, under Winamp Library, you’ll see the Remote Media option. Make sure it’s checked. (If you’re installing the Full version, it should be checked automatically.)

After Winamp is installed, select the Media Library tab and then click Audio under Remote Media. This will bring up the Winamp Remote installer. Click on the Download Now link to install Winamp Remote.

After the installer finishes, you’ll be asked to create a login name and password to access your media.

Your Winamp media library is now available from any web browser at http://winamp.com/remote. For instance, let’s say I want to stream the album “Deep Cuts” by The Knife from my home PC to my work PC. I just click my New Music folder, where I keep the album.

Then I select all the tracks on the album, and then click the play icon. As you can see, I’m just finishing listening to Deep Cuts and will probably listen to some M.I.A. or Hot Chip before heading home for the weekend.

<Gus Class>

Microsoft Blogs

Since the advent of electronics, innovators have been inventing new ways for musicians to make music. Take the first electronic instrument, the theremin, as an example—it didn’t replace the violin, but many musicians still use it today for its quirkiness.

I’m always on the lookout for new music-related inventions. About a month ago, I attended Microsoft’s top-secret, employee-only TechFest, where the company shows off research that’s been going on behind closed doors over the last year. Obviously, I can’t talk about a lot of what I saw there (without getting into trouble, at least). But there’s one project that was also unveiled to the public that majorly piqued my interest: A piece of music software called MySong.

MySong is essentially a backing-band emulator. It takes any melody that you sing into your computer mic and generates chords to go along with it. If you’ve ever spontaneously sung in the shower, and wished you could hear it with musical accompaniment, this software is for you. 

I can’t say I’ve never sung along with an imaginary band in the shower, but I also play guitar and write songs with a real band—so I’m not exactly the target audience for MySong. Still, I found the idea irresistible, both as a fun toy (like Guitar Hero) and a legitimate music tool (like Reason or ProTools). What if my band could use MySong to flesh out melodies as part of the songwriting process? How cool would that be?

When I proposed the idea to my band mates, it didn’t spark enthusiasm, but rather the age-old technology-and-music debate: “Will this really be helpful, or will it strip music of its humanity?” I imagine Johannes Brahms had similar concerns about the player piano in the 1800s. Boy how times haven’t changed.

Whether or not I can convince my bandmates to give MySong a try is beside the point. Right now, Microsoft is developing MySong purely for research purposes, and has not announced any plans to formally release it. I’m crossing my fingers, though, and daydreaming about the future of technology and music. What’s next, a robot guitar?

<Andy Myers>

Since the advent of electronics, innovators have been inventing new ways for musicians to make music. Take the first electronic instrument, the theremin, as an example—it didn’t replace the violin, but many musicians still use it today for its quirkiness.

I’m always on the lookout for new music-related inventions. About a month ago, I attended Microsoft’s top-secret, employee-only TechFest, where the company shows off research that’s been going on behind closed doors over the last year. Obviously, I can’t talk about a lot of what I saw there (without getting into trouble, at least). But there’s one project that was also unveiled to the public that majorly piqued my interest: A piece of music software called MySong.

MySong is essentially a backing-band emulator. It takes any melody that you sing into your computer mic and generates chords to go along with it. If you’ve ever spontaneously sung in the shower, and wished you could hear it with musical accompaniment, this software is for you. 

I can’t say I’ve never sung along with an imaginary band in the shower, but I also play guitar and write songs with a real band—so I’m not exactly the target audience for MySong. Still, I found the idea irresistible, both as a fun toy (like Guitar Hero) and a legitimate music tool (like Reason or ProTools). What if my band could use MySong to flesh out melodies as part of the songwriting process? How cool would that be?

When I proposed the idea to my band mates, it didn’t spark enthusiasm, but rather the age-old technology-and-music debate: “Will this really be helpful, or will it strip music of its humanity?” I imagine Johannes Brahms had similar concerns about the player piano in the 1800s. Boy how times haven’t changed.

Whether or not I can convince my bandmates to give MySong a try is beside the point. Right now, Microsoft is developing MySong purely for research purposes, and has not announced any plans to formally release it. I’m crossing my fingers, though, and daydreaming about the future of technology and music. What’s next, a robot guitar?

<Andy Myers>