Last summer music lovers in the U.S. were excited by the release of Swedish based online music player, Spotify, to American users. Memberships were highly sought after because you couldn’t just sign up, you had to have an invitation extended to you. Klout offered users some of the first available accounts through their Perks program and then little by little, people were able to score memberships off of invitations from others. Spotify came with a strong social component, the ability to share what you are listening to with your Facebook friends.

Spotify users were given free accounts with very little restrictions, you just had to tolerate their ads that ran after every 3-4 songs. But the free status wasn’t meant to last. After six months, according to the Spotify terms, a free account would have severe limitations. Only 10 hours of streaming a month broken into 2.5 hours a week plus limitations how many times you could listen to a song.  It looks like all those perks that everyone are used to may no longer be available unless you upgrade to a paid subscription. However, so far, those free subscriptions are still running they way always have. Case in point, my six months should have been up on January 14, but here we are a month a bit later and Spotify has yet to restrict my access.

At some point though, Spotify will reign in it’s content and when that happens, you can either upgrade to a $5 or $10 a month subscription or you can take your ears elsewhere. Here are a few suggestions for other services that are still free…sort of.

Rdio

Rdio is a free music player with no ads. The catch? They don’t tell you how long you can listen before you’re cut off! From the people behind Skype, Rdio is very similar to Spotify. A large track library (12 million), desktop app, on-demand music, playlists that can be made and then shared on social networks. So what happens when your time runs out? Upgrade, baby! $5 for unlimited streaming, $10 for unlimited plus mobile access, and for $18 you can get two unlimited accounts, one for you and one for a family member. Or you can wait and use something else until the next month rolls around and your free time resets.

(Another ad free but limited play option is MOGFreePlay. It is similar to Rdio and Spotify BUT, it’s not yet available in the U.S.!)

Grooveshark

Grooveshark has many of the same features as Spotify such as social sharing (you actually have more sharing options on Grooveshark than on Spotify) and the ability to create, share and subscribe to playlists. It’s actually the best alternative to Spotify because of the similarity of it’s features. The drawbacks though are a track library that is only half of what Spotify has (7 million tracks verses the 15 million on Spotify), user uploaded content which means inconsistent playback quality, and their desktop application is only available with premium accounts. Yes, they have premium accounts, too. Grooveshark Plus for $6/months means no ads, Grooveshark Anywhere for $9/month means no ads, access to the desktop app, and the ability to use Grooveshark on your smartphone.

Pandora

Many people swear by Pandora as their online music player of choice. It’s the “Music Genome Project” that can intuitively figure out what kind of music you like based on the music you’re already listening to and an algorithm of thumbs up/down ratios. Simply pick an artist that you like and then let Pandora work its magic. It’s free, with ads and certain limitations or, of course, you can pay $36/year for no ads and a few more perks including access to their desktop app. Pandora is not terribly social (you can share on Facebook and Twitter but it’s not an automatic update) and has less than 1 million songs in it’s library. You can’t choose want you want to listen to, it chooses for you but you can follow the stations of others or pre-defined stations. One particularly unique perk is the inclusion of lyrics, when available, on the playback page.

YouTube

Yes, it’s kind of clunky. You have to search through a lot user uploaded content to find what you want. But, it’s always free, there are no listening limitations (expect maybe your own bandwidth), you can create playlists, you can share socially, and you can even watch the video if you want!

So, with this information in hand, if/when your Spotify account is restricted, what will you do? Will you upgrade or will you find another way to listen to your favorites for free?

Several website have gone “dark” today to protest the two anti-piracy bills that are before Congress right now. SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act and PIPA, the Protect IP Act. Most of the websites maintain that they are all for making sure piracy is stopped, however the language used in these bills would make it all too easy for any website to be shut down without due process.

Here’s a list of who is “going dark” today.

Join the strike and write your congressperson here.

Why SOPA is dangerous

Google: End Piracy, Not Liberty

The Oatmeal’s take on it (FYI – possibly NSFW or if you have young eyes around)

And finally I’ll leave you with something a friend of mine posted on Facebook this morning, “I’d tell you to stop SOPA and PIPA but everyone else is telling you that today. What I will instead tell you is to put on your calendar to keep calling your congressperson once a month about it. Because what they’re counting on is that we make a big fuss for a few days and then go on to something else. So please–the best thing you can do is set up an autoreminder in Events or iCal or Outlook to remind yourself to keep asserting your freedom while you still can.”

It’s not just about today or when Congress comes back from their break and takes a look at these bills again. Use your voice. Be heard.

A few weeks ago we provided a SOPA “cheat sheet” to try and help explain what this bill could potentially mean for life on the Internet. The bill is still alive and on December 15th, it will go to the House of Representatives for debate. Mashable has once again provided an excellent infographic that details SOPA’s history, highlights the key points, profiles the supporters and opposition, and gives suggestions for how you can help fight against it (including having your name read during Senator Ron Wyden’s filibuster on Senate floor!)

Via: Business Insurance Blog

Have you ever tweeted out or updated your Facebook status with a question that you could just Google for the answer? When my friend Sarah does that she calls it a “lazy tweet” because she could have just as easily put the question to Google and looked over the search results. I’m no psychologist but it seems to me that it’s really not laziness that drives this behavior. I see it as being the desire for a human answer versus an answer trolled from gazillions of gigabytes of data. Sure, we may not be looking at each other in the eye when the question is posed but simply knowing that the response received is coming from human experience and not a search engine holds a great deal of importance.

Do you remember how we used to give each other directions to our homes or local establishments? Now we direct people to Google Maps or Mapquest. While those tools have become increasingly efficient and accurate over the years, they still lack the human touch. Mapping services don’t always recognize easier ways to get between two places; routes that you know from experience yield quicker results. And those “layers” that can be added to maps don’t always tell the whole story about restaurants and local venues. Consider this tale based on a true experience.

Sue was visiting an area she used to know fairly well but time had changed the landscapes of her old stomping grounds. Before the trip, tentative plans were made to meet with an old friend, Karen. When it came to the point of actually settling on a time and place, Sue was at a loss as to where they should meet. Karen did not offer any suggestions, so Sue asked the person she was staying with, someone who had lived in the area for many, many years, for suggestions. The response she received was, “Google it”. A bit taken back by that reply, Sue decided to go with it and consulted the all-knowing Google. The results were not easy to decipher as she was not sure where so many of the places she was looking at were located. After several searches using Google Maps and Google Earth views with location layers, Sue finally decided on a cafe that seemed to be about half way between where she was staying and her friend’s home.

On the morning of the meeting, Sue followed Google Maps’ expert directions to the cafe, only to find that it was one of those places set-up inside an office building that services people who work in the area during the business week. It was not open on that Saturday morning that Sue was meeting her friend. Karen also found the address and together the friends headed to a Starbucks Karen had passed on her way to the cafe.

In the end, all was well, but I believe the moral of the story comes from relying too much on technology and not enough on human instinct and experience.

That human experience is the primary reason why word of mouth marketing works so well. We trust people’s opinions, even more so when those people are somehow significant to us: friends, family members, coworkers, Twitter followers, and so on. You can search and search for a place to meet for coffee but what you really want is someone to say, “Why don’t you try this place? We had a great experience there!” You can research and research a product, vacation spot, restaurant, book, movie, anything that you are interested in trying but the information you want the most is “what did others think about it”? Even factors like cost and location will take a backseat if the information you get from those who have tried it is compelling and honest.

So the next time someone asks you for directions or a coffee spot recommendation or even whether or not Justin Bieber ever sang with Usher, don’t just point them to Google. Give them the benefit of your knowledge and experience, you’ll both be better off for it.

If you spend any time at all the Internet, you’ve most likely seen tweets, status updates and articles talking about this thing called SOPA. If you’ve not had the time or inclination to dive in and find out what it’s all about but you are curious, we’ve attempted to cover the main highlights in this post.

1. SOPA stands for the Stop Online Piracy Act from the House of Representatives (H.R. 3261). There is a similar Senate bill called Protect-IP.

2. This is a bill that is backed by the entertainment industry and pharmaceutical companies. Music labels and television/movie production companies don’t want people to be able to steal their content. Pharmaceutical companies don’t websites to be able to sell pharmaceutical drugs to people online without a prescription. Overall, those two things don’t sound so bad. The problem comes with the measures the act will allow government to take to enforce it. Paul McDougall of Information Week writes about the 5 key elements of the bill and their implications.

Allison from BlogWorld sums it up like this, “Basically, what SOPA does is create a way for content creators (anyone from a large movie studio to an individual artist) to fight piracy, which is a good thing. But it also creates tons of loopholes for content creators to shut down anything they don’t like or understand that they feel infringes on their rights.”

3. Internet companies are, naturally, against this bill and sent an open letter to Congress stating their displeasure with it.

“We support the bill’s stated goals — providing additional enforcement tools to combat foreign “rogue” websites that are dedicated to copyright infringement or counterfeiting. Unfortunately, the bills as drafted would expose law-abiding U.S. Internet and technology companies to new uncertain liabilities, private rights of action, and technology mandates that would require the monitoring of web sites. We are concerned that these measures pose a serious risk to our industry’s continued track record of innovation and job creation, as well as to our Nation’s cybersecurity. We cannot support these bills as written and ask that you consider more targeted ways to foreign “rogue” web sites dedicated to copyright infringement and trademark counterfeiting, while preserving the innovation and dynamism that has made the Internet such an important driver of economic growth and job creation.”

The letter was signed by nine Internet companies, including Google, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, AOL and eBay.

David Ulevitch, CEO of OpenDNS, said in an interview with CNET that the bill, “creates a tremendous amount of liability for ISPs and service providers like mine to become the censorship arm of the Department of Justice, which is not a position we want to be in.”

This video from FightForTheFuture.org sums it all up rather succinctly.

4. This bill can be stopped but it will take a large grassroots effort that is already well under way. If you feel this bill is bad for American and the Internet, please don’t delay – contact your congressperson TODAY!

Email your Congressional Representative.
Send a note to your Senators.

UPDATE: Mashable has handy infographic about SOPA

Locked Laptop image courtesy of Microsoft ClipArt Online

In a long anticipated move, Google+ opened up pages for businesses this week. (Read about how to do that here.) Companies all over the web have been staking their claim on this newest of social media sites including many bloggers (like Uppercase Woman Media) and yours truly, One2One Network. But just how helpful will it actually be to have a Google+ presence? It’s going to depend some on how you use it and some on who is using Google+.

Why Have a Google+ Page For Your Blog?

1. You have a Twitter account and a Facebook page for your blog. You list your blog as your business on your LinkedIn profile. Is Google+ just another notch on your social media belt? Yes and no. While having a Google+ presence does seem to round out the major social media venues, what you do with your page is going to determine whether or not it’s a benefit for you. Are you simply going to mirror what you put on Facebook and Twitter? Or are you going to have a different focus for you content on Google+?

Since business pages are still so new, it’s hard to tell at this point what will be the best strategy. Several brands that have set-up their pages are providing different or modified content than what is found on their other social media sites (like the Dallas Cowboys), others, so far, have simply used it as an additional place to put Facebook and Twitter content (Starbucks, for example).

2. In terms of effectively reaching people, Google+ provides another venue for promoting yourself and your blog. There are people who are spending more of their social media time on Google+ rather than on Facebook and Twitter. Having your business or blog on Google+ can be a way to reach them. One hurdle though is that Google+ users must add your business page to their circles before you (your business page) can add them to your circles. You’ll need to spend some time promoting your new Google+ page via your personal Google+ page and possibly your other social media accounts to make sure you’re getting the eyes on it that you want.

3. Business pages are able to utilize that unique and handy Google+ feature called the “hangout”. Several brands, like Good Morning America and The Muppets have already utilized hangouts to connect with their fans. Bloggers can get creative too and find fun way to make the hangout a part of their Google+ experience.

Tips for Getting Started on Google+

1. Be sure to review the Terms of Service. In the several months that Google+ has been operational, they have been more than willing to shut down pages that do not comply. It seems that many brands and bloggers were hoping to move their contests and giveaways over to Google+ to get around the Facebook terms of service for contests. Turns out Google+ doesn’t want you running contests there either.

2. Get a shortened, personalized URL for your Google+ page. The URL provided by Google is a string of numbers but at gplus.to you can turn that string of number into an easier to remember and nicer looking address like this – gplus.to/One2OneNetwork.

3. Your Google+ page comes with four preset tabs: Posts, About, Photos, Videos. If you don’t plan to post photos or videos, you can remove those tabs from your page. Mashable show you how here.

4. And just like with present tabs, your page comes with preset circles. Be sure to use them! Also, add other circles that more accurately reflect the people you are interacting with on your Google+ page. Your business page is set to a default “Public” sharing option but you can adjust that so that you share certain updates with people in specific circles.

5. Add “Useful Links” on your About tab. This section on the right hand side of your About tab lets you link to other places of interest. You can put anything there that would you like. Many pages are using that spot to link their Twitter, Facebook and other relevant social media sites.

Have you set-up a Google+ page for your business or blog? Please leave your link in the comments so that we can be sure to connect with you! And if you’re a Google+ user (with a personal profile) would you consider adding One2One Network to your circles? We’re looking into ways to use Google+ to interact with our members and promote projects!

We are a team of Mac users. Most of us use iPhones (and those who don’t, um…me, have plans to change that). We are grateful for Steve Jobs and his visionary spirit. We were saddened to learn of his passing.

“[Y]ou can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”

– Stanford University commencement address, June 2005.

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. … Stay hungry. Stay foolish.“

– Stanford University commencement address, June 2005.

Rest in peace, Steve Jobs, you will be missed.

Pinterest is the latest and greatest Internet obsession that has everyone talking. It’s one of those things that I wish I had thought of. It makes perfect sense, especially to those who are highly visual learners, like me!

If you’re not familiar with it, I find that the best way to explain it is as a visual bookmarking site. It’s the online version of tearing recipe, hairstyle, outfit, and decorating ideas out of a magazine and pinning them to a corkboard or sticking them to the refrigerator with a magnet. Except instead of adding clutter to your walls and appliances, you can make as many virtual boards as you want to accommodate all the fabulous stuff you find on the Internet.

The most common thing I hear people saying about Pinterest is how easily you can get sucked in and “waste” time looking at all the pretty, inspiring, amazing, funny things that people pin to their boards. But it’s also a fun way to pass some time when you’re burnt out on other online activities. One2One Network member, Justice Fergie, says in her MomCrunch article about Pinterest, “Whenever I need to unwind at the end of the evening or am looking for something mindless to do that uplifts the spirits and entertains, I find myself turning to Pinterest.”

Did you know Pinterest can also be a valuable tool for bloggers? I often use it to research ideas for my One2One Network and Blissfully Domestic articles. This is a board I started for a Fourth of July article:

Bloggers can also see what articles of theirs have been pinned on Pinterest. This tip from Alli Worthington will help you see which of your posts are popular with readers and “pinners”!

Use the following URL set up to do it: http://pinterest.com/source/blissfullydomestic.com/  - will show you all the pins from Blissfully Domestic. Now I can find other fans of the website and readers who are enjoying the content from the site. I can also see at a glance which articles are popular with the Pinterest crowd and how they are responding. Replace the /source/blissfullydomestic.com part with your our url to see what’s being pinned from your site, and who is pinning it in what topic areas.

You can also increase traffic to your site by pinning your own articles on Pinterest. When you work hard on a post that includes photos showing steps in a recipe or a DIY project, you have created a very pin-worthy post! When you write a post about how you found a creative way to store Legos or spices or how made over your laundry room, don’t hesitate to share it on Pinterest just like you would share it on Twitter or Facebook. Just remember that your post must include images (your own or properly credited ones) in order to be pinned.

Example of Pinterest referrals to a blog

I hope this gives you some food for thought about how Pinterest can be a useful tool for you and not just a dizzying trip into Wonderland! Now, let’s have some fun. Are you on Pinterest? If so, link your profile here so that we can all follow each others boards! If you’re not on Pinterest, you need an invite to join. I can definitely help you with that. Just leave a comment requesting an invite and the email address where you’d like the invite to be sent.

Tell us, what is your favorite thing about being on Pinterest?

Pinterest definition & happy place graphics found on Kristi Quill’s “Pinteresting” pin board.

The groundhog predicted an early Spring this year and depending on where you live, you’re either raising your glass to him or cursing him. But no matter what his forecast was, Spring really is just right around the corner even if it doesn’t quite feel like it yet.

And with Spring comes that urge to throw windows open, air out the house and get rid of months worth of accumulated stuff. However, when you air out your filing cabinets, just be sure you don’t toss documents that could compromise the security of your identity.

The best way to properly dispose of private, paper documents is to shred them with a cross-cut paper shredder. We have teamed up with Fellowes to give one of our members the chance to win the most innovative paper shredder yet!

“The Fellowes P-12C paper shredder is a durable, innovative and affordable machine. With Fellowes’ industry-leading technologies, the P-12C provides high-security and is safe for family environments.”

Here’s what makes this paper shredder different from the others:

• To ensure high-security against identity thieves, the P-12C features Cross-Cut technology, which destroys a single sheet of paper into nearly 399 particles.
• The P-12C also includes Fellowes’ patented SafeSense technology, which disables the shredder when it senses hands or large pets come too close to the paper opening.
• The P-12C can also shred staples, credit cards and paper clips to help speed up your spring cleaning process.
• Its slim profile design allows the P-12C to fit in any office environment, including under desks or in kitchens and other rooms.

The P-12C has a suggested retail price of $89.99 and is available at Target Stores nationwide.

We’re giving away one Fellowes P-12C paper shredder on the O2O blog! Here’s the deal. First, if you are a One2One Network blogger and have signed up for the blog posting portion of the campaign, this giveaway is not for you. We’re reaching out to those who were unable to participate in the posting campaign. Second, you must be a One2One Network member to enter. Not a member? It’s so easy to sign up!

**The giveaway is closed. Congratulations to the winner, Leslie M. of Live, Laugh, Love With Leslie! **

To enter you must:

Leave a comment telling us the first Spring cleaning project you plan on tackling.

For additional entries you can:

• Like One2One Network on Facebook
• Like Fellowes on Facebook
• Follow One2One Network on Twitter
• Tweet the contest – I’m going to safely Spring clean my paper documents with a Fellowes paper shredder from @one2onenetwork http://bit.ly/O2OFellowes

Leave a comment for each additional entry. Please include the permalink for your tweet in your comment, one tweet per person.

This giveaway runs through Midnight, March 2nd, 2011. Winner will be drawn by random number generator and will be contacted by e-mail. Winner will have 48 hours to respond to the e-mail, if no response is received within 48 hours, a new winner will be selected. Winner will be announced in this blog post no later than March 31, 2011.