TechZine » Epidemik

Microsoft Songsmith

Epidemik — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 06:38:27 +0000

When I first watched that video, I laughed. It was a fairly funny comedy act poking fun at Microsofts quirkiness. I showed it to a friend and then out of curiosity, followed the link at the end of the video because it looked legit. http://research.microsoft.com/songsmith

It was a well done website so at that point, I was thinking to myself, Microsoft is playing a prank and I am going to feel like a fool for falling for it (though I wasnt sure why they would be pranking people). There is no way they’d spend time and effort developing a program to help individuals write corny theme songs for commercials. But then I saw there was a download. Out of curiousity, I downloaded and installed. Low and behold, it was a legit program.

This is definitely something worth checking out. There is a demo on the website. Microsoft Songsmith does exactly what it claims. You sing a song and then it analyzes what you sang and adds background music to fit your tune. It works surprisingly well. It was fun to write a short verse and email it to friends, despite my lack of singing skills.

As strange and unbelieveable as it sounds, Microsoft Songsmith is worth a download, even if you aren’t musical. While it may not be your end-all music creation solution, its a fun toy to turn your thoughts into song.

Video, information, and download here

Discussion thread here

Windows 7 Public Beta

Epidemik — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 06:16:19 +0000

This past weekend, Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer announced the release of the Windows 7 Public Beta. While there was originally a 2.5 million download limit, the enthusiasm shown by users has inspired Microsoft to lift that limit. According to Brandon LeBlanc, all users will have access to the public beta until January 24th. So head over to the Windows 7 page and join me and thousands of other users in this treacherous but exciting download (yay 200 KB/s).

Windows 7 can be discussed here.

Fallout 3 Named CF Game of the Year

Epidemik — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 08:36:36 +0000

The polls have closed and it’s official folks, the members of ComputerForum.com have named Fallout 3 game of the year 2008.

It received 28 votes. In second place was Grand Theft Auto 4 with 13 votes closely followed by Left 4 Dead which garnered 12.

Fallout 3 is an action role-playing-game released by Bethesda (makers of Oblivion) on October 28, 2008. The game takes place in 2277 in Washington D.C., 200 years after a nuclear war which devastated the country. While the game has items, attributes, and stats like an RPG, it also incorporates elements from survival horror games and first person shooters making it appealing to many different types of gamers. It is commonly praised for its expansive world, memorable characters, and gripping story.

Computer Forum was not the only site to name Fallout 3 Game of the Year. It received similar awards (Best PC Game, etc) from Gamespot, Gamasutra, Gamespy, IGN, Game Trailers, Gamesradar, Official Xbox Magazine, X-Play, and Spike Video Game awards.

Fallout 3 is a solid game and definitely deserves all the acclaim its recieved.

This post can be discussed here