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creativity

Wal-Mart joins downloadable movie battle

Wal-Mart is joining the fray of movie download services today. Its new store (which is mysteriously unfriendly to Firefox) features movies from all six major studios including Disney and Sony--two studios that have a long history of proprietary use and ties to competing download services.

Films range from about $13 to $20 and can be watched almost immediately depending on your connection. Movies are managed and played through a custom player that runs only on Windows PCs. You also can watch the movies in Windows Media Player. Like the iTunes Movie Store, titles released on DVD will be available … Read more

Apple's portable fashion

Just when you thought the ubiquitous iPod Shuffle couldn't get any smaller, Apple showed us all by releasing its second-generation Shuffle. Of course, that's not good enough for Apple, which has just unveiled a multifarious array of colors to delight even the most fashion conscious music lover. At a price under $100, who wouldn't want to say goodbye to their current, bulky Shuffle and move on up into the world of color? Of course, if iPods aren't your cup of tea, there are plenty of excellent alternatives.

An MP3 player to send mash notes

Weren't we just talking about companies overdoing the whole Valentine pitch thing? Creative Technology is the latest to aim Cupid's arrow with a "special Valentine's Day edition" of its Zen Neeon 2 player. Available only in Japan (thankfully), it comes in your choice of six designs that can be engraved with your personal love notes, according to Newlaunches. At least an MP3 player is something your significant other might actually want, as opposed to a flash drive or an alarm clock.

Creative to fight the scourge of blurry Web video

Do you have trouble sitting still? Or perhaps you host an overly active Webcam show. If so, Creative's Live! Cam Optia AF might give your Webcam broadcasts a bit more clarity and focus. Creative is calling it the world's first plug-and-play autofocus Webcam. Creative gave us a quick demo at CES. The autofocus feature worked quickly and quietly, and the bundled software includes your typical face-tracking video effects (look, I'm wearing a funny hat!), plus some really fun audio effects. You can enable the voice effects on the fly and make the person on the other end … Read more

Urbis: 'Creative Republic' shows potential, faces threat of 'Myspaceyness'

I have a background in creative writing, so I was very excited to hear that one of the presentations at last night's NY Tech Meetup would be a demonstration of a new kind of Web community for writers (and eventually artists, musicians, and filmmakers). Indeed, the first presentation was of Urbis, which is a new review community founded by local New Yorker Steve Spurgat. Meetup founder Scott Heiferman described Spurgat, with his background as a playwright, as "the most unlikely Internet entrepreneur."

Here's the central concept of Urbis, which according to Spurgat has 12,000 members … Read more