Audio and video

Happy Valentine's Day from Webware. We don't have chocolate, flowers, or cheesy cards for you, but we do have a roundup of Valentine's Day-related Web services and specials for you to get in touch with that special someone.

>> YouTube is offering video valentines. You've got six kitschy and humorous videos to choose from, featuring a slightly overweight cupid who causes more harm than good. For quick and easy personalized Webcam videos to your sweetheart, try out Viddler or Gabmail.

>> If your honey is stuck in the office all day, cheer him or … Read more

Ever wanted to score some hot Michael Kors boots, but didn't want to book the trip to Rodeo Drive? FashMatch.com is bringing that fancy shopping strip (and your local mall) to your computer.

Technically speaking, Fashmatch.com is a consumer social-networking site where visitors can put together outfits from various designers and swap fashion tips and advice. Last week, CNET News.com reporter Caroline McCarthy blogged about ShopStyle.com, another online shopping site. FashMatch and ShopStyle point to clothes shopping 2.0 as an up-and-coming trend.

With FashMatch, fashionistas are three steps away from having their dream outfit … Read more

Web site discovery and recommendation site StumbleUpon, best known for its thumbs-up-or-down recommendation and discovery system for Web sites, has given its Stumble Video product a makeover that targets the coveted demographic of Wii addicts. The site now has an interface specifically designed for the Wii's Opera browser so that Wii owners can use their consoles to find cool new videos from YouTube and other sites, targeted specifically toward their prior StumbleUpon rating histories. It's a bit like Netflix's recommendation service.

StumbleUpon, which claims nearly 2 million registered users, has also released the 3.0 version of … Read more

ReQall is a telephone-based service that records notes you speak into it. I saw a demo of this service at Demo 07 and just recently got access to the private beta. It's like an automated secretary: You talk into your phone, and it transcribes what you say and sends it to you as e-mail. The service could be very useful--if it learns to play well with other products.

As is, it's still handy. If you're driving and remember something you need to do, you can just speed-dial ReQall on your cell phone, dictate a note, and when … Read more

It's really impossible to follow any tech blog these days without hearing something about Joost, formerly known as "The Venice Project," the mysterious online video start-up from the same minds that brought us Skype and Kazaa. There's been a lot of speculation, a lot of hype (usually involving the phrase "YouTube killer"), and a lot of hush-hush. That's because Joost, as I learned upon signing up for the private beta test, has a very strict non-disclosure agreement (NDA). Consequently, it's been difficult for me to address some of the more pointed questions … Read more

Cellblock is an interesting live photo dropbox. Images or videos sent to a user's Cellblock e-mail address are displayed immediately on said user's Cellblock widgets.

Here's a use case: Say I set up a "cellblock" (as each account is called) for a trade show I am attending, and I embed a widget for that show's cellblock in my blog. Then every time I take a camera-phone image from the show and send it via MMS or e-mail to the e-mail address of the cellblock, the photo immediately shows up in the blog's widget. … Read more

Vandalism is a primal urge for some, and even little things like tearing up junk mail can unleash the inner vandal in all of us. Vidavee wants you to run with that feeling, with its new service Vidavee Graffiti. Essentially, Vidavee Graffiti lets you drop in a number of Flash animations that run on top of hosted Flash videos (like YouTube). The entire interface runs in your Web browser, so there's nothing to download and no rendering is required. The point is to have fun, and likely at the video's expense.

There are 21 preset animations at your … Read more

>> Microsoft sticks with Hotmail name. First it was Hotmail, then it was Windows Live Mail. Now it's Windows Live Hotmail. Will people still call it plain ol' Hotmail? Probably. The name change is reminiscent of the Cingular/AT&T debacle of late. Microsoft is choosing to keep the Hotmail moniker in its upgraded e-mail service, despite the vastly different interface.

>> Verizon breathing new life into Mobile ESPN. The Web-to-phone service that was originally offered as an MVNO and got axed less than a year later has been resurrected by Verizon as a part of … Read more

Lycos Mix is a new video-playlist creation tool that lets you string together video clips from various hosting services. The videos sit beside a live chat window based off of Lycos' Cinema technology. Casual observers can come in, watch videos, and chat with you. It's almost like a bar except a little creepier.

When you're done adding content, which is done by pasting URLs or using the Lycos Mix bookmarklet from the content's source page, you can watch, rearrange, or chat about the videos, all within the same screen. The adding process is a little arduous, as … Read more