Cowboy Frank's Webcam Reviews : For Everything Webcam

For everything webcam go to Cowboy Frank's Webcam Reviews

Bob Westbrook's Handy Diagram For Stringing A Guitar

Bob Westbrook has done repair work for the C. F. Martin Guitar Co. for years. He is no ordinary luthier. My favorite story about Bob's legendary ability to make guitars is a short one. Bob has told me more than once, "when people found out I work out details to the thousands of an inch, they would laugh. Until they saw my first guitar.
Bob's extensive machining background prepared him to become a master craftsman and work with very tight tolerances. He built his own car which he took to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, and set the land speed record years ago, (I saw his speed tickets verifying this).
I have talked to many people who own guitars Bob has worked on, and he always exceeds expectations, no matter what the case. I have seen guitars that I never thought would be playable again, only to be astonished at the results.
When Bob was my neighbor in Boulder CO, I would occasionally notice guitarists walking in front of my house with a broken instrument. At the time, I didn't realize they were mostly highly experienced guitarists on tour that would carry around a broken guitar until they played Boulder. Then they would walk over to Bob's house and drop it off.
Bob Westbrook is a master luthier and his advice should be taken seriously. Here then, is how Bob suggests you string a guitar so it will not easily go out of tune. I have done this for years and it works.
Thank you Bob!

Love that song but don't know what it is? Tunatic can tag it for you!

Ever thought ‘what is this song?’ Let Tunatic hear it and you will get the artist's name and the song's title within seconds. Tunatic is the very first song search engine based on sound for your computer. All you need is a microphone and Internet access.

	Download Tunatic v1.0.1b for Mac OS X v10.2 or better
	Download Tunatic v1.0.1b for Windows 2000/XP

1 - let Tunatic hear the music. All you need is a microphone and Internet access.	2 - Tunatic identifies the song. Follow the white arrow to get links for the song.

How does this work? When you click Tunatic's ‘search’ button, Tunatic transmits the song's features to the Tunatic server. The server searches its database and returns the matching song. More Q&A

Guide to buying a used guitar : Learn where to look and what to look for when purchasing a used electric or acoustic guitar

Where to look:

• craigslist > musical instruments
• Kijiji > buy and sell > musical instruments
• Other online classifieds

What to look (out) for:

Take a look at the sample ad below. On the first look it looks like a really good deal. It comes with a cool box. Only few scratches and chips? No biggy. And all those cool sounding specs. This is the best deal in the world!

Lets take a dive into reality now. The cool box, which is obviously not very portable because of its weight, is a bait for potential customers.
The ad fails to mention that each scratch and chip can cost the potential customer $50-$100 to repair. Yes, even the small one may cost that much to repair. Also don't take the advice to cover up those cracks and chips by yourself. That will cost you more when repairing the finish, since the repair guys are paid by the hour on top of labor. It takes hours to repair a small chip, and when you cover it up it makes the job harder and more time consuming for the repair guy.
And those cool specs are standard on most guitars.

Here are some really good and elaborate guides on buying a new or used guitar:
http://www.guitarnoise.com/lesson/how-to-buy-a-used-acoustic-guitar/
http://www.essortment.com/all/buyusedguitar_rmfh.htm
http://exclaim.ca/musicschool/needtoknow.aspx?csid1=86
http://musiced.about.com/od/beginnersguide/qt/buyguitar.htm
http://www.sweetwater.com/shop/guitars/electric-guitars/buying-guide.php
http://www.sweetwater.com/shop/guitars/acoustic/buying-guide.php
http://pages.ebay.com/buy/guides/vintage-electric-guitars-buying-guide/
http://www.guitarimports.com/acoustic-guitars.htm
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/document?doc_id=99234
http://www.guitarbitz.com/buyersguide.asp
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/columns/the_guide_to/beginners_guide_to_buying_an_acoustic_guitar.html
http://www.guitar-resource-center.com/beginners_electric_guitar.html
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/52426/the_complete_guide_to_buying_the_guitar.html

DAVID-laserscanner : Incredibly Low-Cost 3D Scanner for Everyone!

Try DAVID, a free and easy-to-use software for low-cost 3D laser scanning!

	What do I need to build a 3D scanner? - A camera (e.g. web cam) - A hand-held line laser (starting at €19.90) - Two plain boards in the background - A Windows PC - Our free software DAVID-laserscanner Or use the brand-new DAVID Starter-Kit! If you don't want to start searching and tinkering, the DAVID Starter-Kit contains all necessary hardware and software to set up your own 3d scanner!
	How does scanning with DAVID work? 1. Set up background and camera 2. Calibrate your camera with one click 3. Start scanning by sweeping the laser line over the object 4. Gaze at the 3D window and export your result to .OBJ 5. Optional: Automatically stitch several scans/meshes with DAVID-Shapefusion and export .OBJ, .STL, or .PLY
	I'd like to see some results before buying or building anything! You will find some amazing results in our gallery and on the user pages in our wiki. Also you can download DAVID and use a test video file instead of a real camera, so you will have 3D data within a minute! More Questions? See Gallery (with amazing 3D results) Downloads (software and test video) Laser Shop (find low-cost line lasers) Manual (how to build and use your 3D scanner) FAQ (frequently asked questions) Forum (exchange experiences with others) Wiki (tutorials and user impressions)

Free Voice Line [Beta] : Call US/Canada for free

Call anyone, anywhere in the US and Canada for free!

FreeVoiceLine.com makes it super easy to call anyone in the US and Canada for free! This is the new way to get in touch with friends and family.

Simply enter your phone number, then the number that you want to call. Once you're ready, just click to call. FreeVoiceLine.com will call your phone and then connect you.

Have questions? Check out the frequently asked questions page.

Tell your friends, family, and loved ones about FreeVoiceLine.com Today!

Make Your Own Handwriting Fonts For Free

YourFonts.com is a FREE online font generator that allows you to create your own OpenType fonts within a couple of minutes. Go make your own handwriting as a font!
100% Free!

* Your own handwriting turned into your very own font for free
* Optionally include your signature
* You'll have your very own font within 15 minutes
* Make as many fonts as you like
* Use your fonts on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux
* Personalize your digital scrapbook pages
* Make your own "family handwriting history"
* Use your fonts in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and every program that you own

High Quality Personal Handwriting Fonts

YourFonts allows you to upload large templates (up to 4000 x 5000 pixels) and it has the most advanced raster to vector conversion algorithm. Together this results in unbeatable high quality personal fonts.

It's easy and fun to digitize your handwriting, so go make your own font now!

the Chart Chooser: Great Charts for MS Office

Use the filters to find the right chart type for your needs. Then download as Excel or PowerPoint templates and insert your data.
ChartChooser

6 Online Tools for Text to Speech you would not want to miss

Once in a while, all of us face a need to get some text synthesized into speech. Maybe we want to know how someone would pronounce a complicated word, or sometimes we just want an entire passage to be read out to us.

These online tools are a great help when you face such a requirement. Some of them will allow you only to synthesize a small passage; others would read out entire PDF or DOC files to you!

1. Vozme

vozMe an online text to speech tool with an ultra-simple interface; a baby could use it! You have a large text box where you type or copy-paste whatever you want to convert to speech, and click the 'Create MP3' button. That's it. A new window would open, and in a few seconds, your MP3 file would start playing. Large chunks of text were translated - the text field seems to accept a pile of text easily.

Save as MP3 file. Integrate into websites or blogs (WP plugin available) Add as iGoogle gadget

2. Expressivo

This text to speech conversion tool from Expressivo has a maximum limit of 200 characters. So large chunks or text at one go are out. But it is easy enough to use. Type or copy-paste your text, choose one of the four voice options (You have female US-English, female Romanian, male Polish and female Polish accents as options), and hit Read Me.

Epressivo produces a short URL to the speech file you created which you can email, IM or blog Option of entering text directly into the address bar of the browser

3. Cepstral

At Cepstral, the text to speech conversion converts the text into a .WAV file. Type in the text, hit Say It, and you will be asked to download s small WAV file. The ability to save the file is a great convenience here.

4. Ivona Speech Synthesizer

The Ivona Speech Synthesizer text to speech conversion tool online has a charcter limit of 200, and the same voice options as Expressivo. Ivona, however, allows you to save the converted speech file as an MP3 for private, non-commercial use.

5. SpokenText

SpokenText is packed with features - but it wants you to register, a small hassle. The registration is a bit too comprehensive - but I think it's worth filling it out. Once you click on the link in the activation email, your registration is ready to go.

Log in, and click on the button 'Create a New recording'. Choose from one of the 5 voice options, choose a words-per-minute speed for spoken text and - there is no text box! You have to upload a PDF, .txt, .DOC or .PPT file.

Conversion from multiple file formats. Conversion status indicator Email notification on conversion Filter words Your own Spokentext web address to share your recordings

6. Talkr

Talkr is not so straightforward - but that's only if you land up on the site looking for a text to speech synthesizer. Talkr is not for that exactly - have an RSS feed you want read out?

Yes, this one is for instant podcasts - it converts RSS feeds into MP3 files for podcast! Once you sign up, all you need to do is to point it towards a feed of your own or someone else's and it converts it into an MP3 file.

• Player to embed the mp3 file into your blog
• MP3 voice mails
• Listen to text only blogs anytime!