Haloscan, that blog commenting software that has been around for years, is closing the service. This is from their website.
Haloscan, the legacy comment system that JS-Kit acquired last year, is physically starting to fail (the software and hardware). In order to minimize the disruption for users and avoid a hard stop, we have worked hard to provide two ways to transition off the system.
This transition will happen in batches of users over the course of a couple of months. The first batch of users will start getting a notice of the upgrade right away on their Haloscan admin dashboard.
Once presented with the upgrade message, Haloscan users will have 2 weeks to make a decision. You will have the following two options.
1. Upgrade to Echo for a 30 day free Trial and then $12/year – all your comment data will be transitioned over automatically. Read below for important information about Echo.
2. Export your Haloscan comment data and turn off their service – Haloscan comment importers are on the way from various vendors.
If you do not choose a specific path within the 2 weeks notice, you will be upgraded to the Echo trial automatically.
Haloscan was very popular with Blogger, since Blogger’s commenting functions are woefully inadequate (even after a few small tweaks by Google). I tried Haloscan a few years ago, and wasn’t too impressed. Of course, the Blogger commenting functions are terrible. But rather than continue to work with Blogger, I just went to Wordpress and my own self-hosted blogs. It’s been a great experience, with Wordpress.
Regarding Haloscan, some bloggers are afraid they may lose all their comments across hundreds of posts. I *think* Haloscan is offering a free comment migration back to your original blog host, through various third-party vendors. Not sure, though, because it seems some things are still up in the air. Read the FAQs here.
This is an amazing little application! It’s PDFmyURL. I heard about it from Kim Komando. It’s a little application that converts a web page into a PDF file. I love it! I frequently travel to areas with no Internet connection, yet I do still need to work from web pages for my jobs. PDFmyURL allows me to save the webpages into PDF files while I am at home; then, I can move these files onto my netbook, and away I go! It’s extremely convenient.
PDFmyURL also has a little bookmarklet that you can drag onto your Firefox bookmark toolbar. So, when you visit a web page, you can click the little bookmarklet and the page will be immediately converted into a PDF. This is a great app!
You can see my bookmarklet (circled in red) in the screenshot, below. I converted my blog, TheOlderGeek.com, into a PDF file. The quality of the conversion is excellent.
This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of 123 Media Max. All opinions are 100% mine.
This is timely. It’s a superior media backup and burner software program, very affordable and just in time for the holidays; not only as a gift, but also as a way to create gifts. With the personal computer becoming more powerful, with peripheral media creators and software becoming more user-friendly and affordable, we can now create our own videos! Moreover, these videos can be copied and burned onto DVDs for family and friends to enjoy, too.
OK I’m jumping the gun here. This 123 Media Max is very versatile software, and does many things. Moreover, it boastsBlu-Ray Copy Breakthrough which allows you to make backup copies of Blu-ray movies to standard DVD-RW, retaining the excellent HD quality.
The list of features is extensive, too extensive for me to list here entirely. But these are the main features the 123 Media Max software offers:
Convert audio files and CD tracks to mp3s for easier editing and managing.
Convert video files to DVDs.
Convert any DVD to DivX, AVI, Windows Media Video (WMV), and MPEG4 files. (wow!)
Make your own ringtones from CDs, mp3s and audio files
Convert and burn YouTube, Google Video, Metacafe, MyVideo, blip.tv, Putfile, Break and Myspace videos to DVD.
Backup Blu-ray movies to DVDs; the copied DVDs retain high quality and are playable on DVD players or your Sony PS3.
Back up any DVD movie to DVD.
Make a DVD from multiple video files; you can the audio and video pieces independently, too!
Loads more
I make a lot of audio and video compilations, so to me this software looks fantastic. Plus, we have some very valuable DVDs and DVD collections that would break my heart if they became damaged or corrupted. And Blu-ray movies are pricey– the 123 Media Max backup feature is a perfect way to have backups on hand in case anything happens to the original. Or, if you are like us, use the backup copy and store the original for safe-keeping.
Check out the software. This would make a very nice gift for any audiophile or movie maker or movie buff on your gift list. It’s affordable and looks really nice! Make sure to go to the website to check your computer specifications before purchasing.
I’ve been in search of some video editing software that could manage my .MOV files that my Kodak camera creates. It’s been a very loooong search, almost a year now! I’ve tried all sorts of free (and purchased) video software and video converters– about a dozen, total. I was just about ready to buy a used Apple Mac so I could edit these videos– I was at wit’s end and could find nothing for my PC that could handle the .MOV files with ease.
Until now.
I have found the software of my dreams. It’s Roxio Creator 2010. (Lisa, thanks for mentioning it to me– Roxio totally rocks!!) The astute folks at Roxio had noticed my blogging lamentations about video editing software, and said they had what I needed. Honestly, I kind of doubted it at first- I’d tried so many other programs with no results. So Roxio sent me their product for a review. It was a bold move on their part, I believe. I’m pretty fussy and nothing had worked up to this point. I was shopping for used Mini Macs on eBay…. but I installed Roxio Creator on my PC, and….
:jeeters: HOLY COW!! I am very, very impressed with the software. It works it works!!
OK, now for the details.
Roxio Creator 2010 is a hefty chunk of software. It installed well on my Acer Aspire X3200 (AMD Phenom X3 at 2.1 GHz, 4 GB RAM) and my HP Pavilion a6720y (AMD Phenom X4 at 2.2 GHz, 6GB RAM), but it would not install on my Toshiba Satellite notebook (AMD Athlon X2 at 1.7 GHz, 2 GB RAM). I didn’t even try it on my computers with Celeron processor cheapies. So be watchful of your PC specs when getting the software. It requires a hefty machine.
Roxio Creator is touted as a “multimedia software suite.” Among its many capabilities, it can:
Burn CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray discs. It has a cute desktop widget where you can drag and drop your files for burning right on your desktop. It’s a very nice feature for someone like me, who already has a dozen applications open…
Copy and convert video files, and data, audio, photo files. The conversion process is a breeze. I love this feature because so many recording gadgets record in native Apple formats (AVI, MOV, etc) and Windows seems to have a hard time managing them.
I’ve been doing a little bit of ongoing research into “Tesla” electricity generation– that’s “wireless” electricity. Nikolai Tesla first came up with the idea, about 100 years ago. He was a contemporary of Thomas Edison (who, as we all know, came up with the light bulb and electricity transferred through wires). Tesla’s ideas were crowded out in favor of Edison’s, because Tesla’s ideas didn’t make the robber barons (like J.P. Morgan, who ran the copper industry) as much money as a world filled with poles and copper wires. So if you want to blame anyone for your tangled mass of electrical cords and all those ugly telephone poles on your streets– blame Morgan and Edison.
ANYWAY, Tesla’s ideas are now coming to the forefront. So far, the British have been the innovators in this field. Several years ago, they were doing some experiments with wireless energy, and were trying to use wireless electricity to power a laptop without its battery. It was some BBC article (can’t find it now; it was about 6 years ago or so).
Well, the Americans are working on it, too. Some professors and students at MIT have invented a contraption that generates what they call “WiTricity.” In a nutshell, a corded electrical device is rigged up with a transmitting device that transmits a magnetic field that resonates at a very high pitch. The receiving electronic device is rigged up to receive the pitch, which converts it to power to run the device. Here’s a video of how this is done.
Of course, I have the philosophy that any innovation and invention– ANY– will always be twisted around by man to use for evil. It’s been happening ever since Cain and Abel. Think about it– do you really think axes were made to split heads open, or chop trees to make houses? No! The “good” of the technology was rapidly turned into an instrument for evil. How about the airplane– do you think Wilbur and Orville Wright had Nazi bombers in mind when they flew their plane at Kitty Hawk? No! How about dynamite? Or gun powder? Or computers? All were created with the best of intentions, meant to make human life easier, more convenient, or to help him in progress. But every time, it’s been twisted to be a tool for evil. I can’t think of an exception.
Anyway, so while this wifi electricity generation is GREAT… I do find my self wondering “I wonder what evil this great invention will be used for?” :-p We should always progress into such things with care.
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Haloscan Closing Its Doors
Feb 6
Posted by Mrs. Mecomber in Blogger, blogs, conversion programs | No Comments
Ouch.
Haloscan, that blog commenting software that has been around for years, is closing the service. This is from their website.
Haloscan was very popular with Blogger, since Blogger’s commenting functions are woefully inadequate (even after a few small tweaks by Google). I tried Haloscan a few years ago, and wasn’t too impressed. Of course, the Blogger commenting functions are terrible. But rather than continue to work with Blogger, I just went to Wordpress and my own self-hosted blogs. It’s been a great experience, with Wordpress.
Regarding Haloscan, some bloggers are afraid they may lose all their comments across hundreds of posts. I *think* Haloscan is offering a free comment migration back to your original blog host, through various third-party vendors. Not sure, though, because it seems some things are still up in the air. Read the FAQs here.
Haloscan is closing February 20.
Tags: Blogger, blogs, comments, Haloscan