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Pandora Radio

| FREE | Pandora Media, Inc.

Where to Find Free Online Music | Obsessed Analytic - Obsessed Analytic - Find Time, Save Money, Have Fun

Ever since the inception of Napster over ten years ago, online and free music has been the pursuit of people everywhere. The rise and fall of various music-sharing sites and complicated legal battles has made the process of gaining unbridled access to all your heart’s content of music a difficult undertaking.  Thankfully, the music industry is slowly warming up to free online music discovery, and below are great places to start when you want to hear your favorite song for free legally. There are a number of great sites for hearing free music online, but most limit your access to songs you own or offer random playlists of songs you may like.  One site that rises above the rest in its ability to provide all the music you want is Grooveshark.  The ad supported Grooveshark website offers full access to any song you can think of along with the ability to set up a playlist, skip ahead in songs, and listen to radio stations featuring music you like.  Although you are not able to download music directly to your computer, you should find Grooveshark as a great way to access the music you want for free. Another type of useful online service is music discovery.  Pandora is the most well know music discovery website and offers music lovers of all types the ability to create a custom radio station.  To start, you just need to submit a song you like and Pandora plays similar music.  Thumbs-up and thumbs-down buttons then allow you to identify to the service what you really enjoy and the service can then better target new music for you to hear. While free online music is slowly becoming a reality, the ability to access that music on the go has been significantly limited.  Music discovery services are available Read More

Comcast mobile App

| FREE | Comcast Cable Communications

Program a Comcast DVR Online | Obsessed Analytic - Obsessed Analytic - Find Time, Save Money, Have Fun

I recently received an invitation to start using Comcast’s new online DVR scheduler.  The myDVR manager from Comcast finally provides a service that AT&T U-verse and Tivo users have long held dear, and until now, the missing service had been another problem in the string of complaints about Comcast.  Thankfully, the service is here and next time you’re stuck in a meeting or bank robbery you can be confident that the overdone ESPN episode of an over-glorified NBA player’s free agent signing is available for viewing later. Go to www.fancast.com/mydvr and follow the links to activate your myDVR service.  You’ll be taken through a few pages to sign in and check availability in your area.  Finally, you’ll choose to activate your DVR which may take up to 24 hours. Using the myDVR Manager online is very simple and easy to use, and Comcast will enjoy getting more visitors on their fancast site.  On the site you’ll find a TV guide similar to what you see on your TV.  You can look up shows by channel and time plus filter by popular groups like Movies, Sports, and HD.  Once you find a show you want to record, select it and then click “Record Episode” or “Record Series”.  Next you will find an interface similar to that on your DVR box where options on how often to record and what to keep are available.  The myDVR Manager button (below) is always available and lets you manage the priority of shows and see what upcoming recordings you have. Best of all, the Comcast myDVR service is available via the Comcast Mobile app on the iPhone and iPad.  The app has a guide similar to the one online where you select the shows you want to record and then “Schedule a Recording”.  The mobile services Read More

ING DIRECT Mobile

| FREE | ING DIRECT

ING Direct Unveils New iPhone App | Obsessed Analytic - Obsessed Analytic - Find Time, Save Money, Have Fun

ING Direct is my favorite online bank.  They offer decent rates with excellent services.  They have been lagging, though, in the mobile banking market until recently when they unveiled a great new iPhone app.  The app provides core services like checking your balance and transferring money, and it only lacks a few small options that would make it nearly perfect. The ING iPhone app is a significant improvement over their previous app offering which simply forwarded the user to their online website.  Now ING customers will find a familiar login screen that requires a username, picture verification, a few questions, and a PIN.  Similar to the online website, you can allow the app to save your username and skip to the PIN when you open the app on your iPhone.  This allows for a quick sign on, but may be a security concern on the mobile platform. After logging into the app, you’ll be happy to find a simple and clean interface.  Just swipe right or left at the menu on the top to access accounts balances, bill pay options, customer support, and a “Refer a Friend” link.  The bill pay option allows you to send checks to friends when you owe them money making it easy to pay back friends on the spot (similar to Venmo).  One feature I found lacking was the inability to add a friend to your bill pay list via the mobile app.  Only those people who you have added to your online address book are available which is a significant setback to making this iPhone app very useful.  Additionally, the app doesn’t integrate an ATM finder which exists as a standalone app. Best Features All together this app is a great start for ING Direct as they enter the mobile market, and it is helpful to Read More