Make Money Selling Physical Media

Recently I needed to make some space, so I decided to sell my DVDs and some of my CDs.  I have large CD collection and many of them were miscellaneous or duplicates, those were ripped into my iTunes and sold.  I kept many of my favorite albums and all of the work released by my favorite artists.  But in order to make some money off of this physical media I did a little research online to see which services were best.  I decided to start with Music Magpie to sell most of my DVDs to.  I liked their site because it also had an app and you could scan barcodes with your computer's webcam.  I had a lot of DVDs that I wanted to sell so if I could scan barcodes instead of typing them all in I was all for it.  Plus Music Magpie's site said that they would cut their customers a check for their trade-in value.  I also checked out Amazon's Trade-In site, their site was nice but instead of giving their customers a check, in return for trade-ins customers would receive Amazon Store Credit.  It seemed like Amazon was giving slightly more for the trade-ins.  I decided to start with Music Magpie because I wanted actual cash instead of Amazon credit forcing me to purchase something from them. 

I proceeded to scan my DVDs for Music Magpie, the mobile app on my iPad and the web app for my laptop were very faulty.  The scanning didn't work as easily as barcode scanner apps that I had used in the past.  So I ended up just typing that barcodes into the site.  I totaled about $70 but not all of my DVDs were recognized or accepted by the site.  I decided to take those to Amazon.  Instead of typing the barcodes with into their site the search field accepted the title of the media and allowed you to select the one that you wanted to trade into them.  I totaled up an additional $30 from Amazon.  I shipped both boxes of DVDs via UPS using old Amazon boxes I had laying around on Feb 18th.  Both sites paid for the shipping and allowed you to print your labels directly from the site.  By February 21st Amazon had given me a credit on my Amazon account, so at that point I punched in my CDs to their site and shipped them off on the 26th.  I received the credit for about $50 for the CDs on March 1st.  The Amazon turn around time for payments seemed to be 4-5 business days.  At this point I had only received emails from Magpie stating that they had received my shipment and that they were reviewing it.   I finally received my check from them March 9th, approximately 15 business days later.

In review I would probably just use amazon in the future since I use Amazon to purchase household items on a regular basis.  Plus Amazon had higher payouts due to the fact that they were giving you store credit.  It's nice to have actual cash that you can do anything you want with but then again waiting 3 weeks just seems too long.  I was starting to think that I got scammed.  Both experiences were simple and you can't really go wrong with either it's mainly about how you want your money and how soon you would like it.

Seasons R&B/Soul Album by Demitri (@DemitriMusik)

Young R&B artist Demitri from the DMV (DC/Maryland/Virginia area) has released his 3rd album.  This album is a very mature, grown, and sexy collection of soul songs written by him with beats created by various producers.  There are love songs, songs that make you want to dance, upbeat party songs, ballads, and bedroom songs on this album.  A few like artist that come to mind when listening to the album would include Usher, Ne-Yo, John Legend, Luther Vandross, Gerald Levert, and Freddie Jackson.   You can preview and purchase the album from CD Baby, iTunes, Google Music, or Amazon.

Demitri - Seasons   1. Complicated Love (Intro)  2. Neighba  3. I'm the One  4. 100 MPH  5. Shake It  6. Interlude  7. 2 Step  8. Seasons  9. I Wanna Make Love 10. Body Call 11. Be the 1st 12. Psycho Love 13. Lost My Heart (Outro)

Here are a few the singles that he has released from this album as well as his first R&B album "Mines Tonight" which was released in 2005.  

Vizio Co-Star Google TV Review

 

 

I got a $100 Amazon Gift Card for Christmas, it took me a few weeks but I decided that the Google TV Vizio Co-Star would be the next tech device that I would spend it on.  So here's my quick review.  It might be helpful to know that I am a heavy Google user, I have a Galaxy Nexus running Jelly Bean, and I use almost every Google Application that is made available.  If you are not familiar with the Co-Star check it out here.

 

My main goal with GoogleTV was to be able to stream movies off of my network drive to any of the TV's in my household.  Also it would be great to have Netflix and other apps available on those TVs as well as available when travelling.  Its small size would make it easy to pack on any vacation or trip and just plug into a TV at my destination.  The device has wireless and wired Internet capabilities, a USB expansion slot (which would be great for Thumb Drives and USB Hard Drives), and HDMI input/output slots.

 

The set up process took about 15 minutes after plugging it to the TV.  What made things easier was the the remote which has a QWERTY keyboard on the back.

 

What I liked:

• The Remote
• The Size of the device
• Chrome Web Browser on the TV
• Google Music App on the TV
• The Netflix App
• The device worked good plugged into the set top box or plugged directly into the TV
• The interactive Google TV listings search App. 
  

What I didn't like:

• The Vizio interface
• The lack of GoogleTV Compatible Apps and Games in the Google Play Store
• If I wanted to play any games on the device I needed to get a subscription to a gaming network application that was pre-installed on the device.
• The lack of a good DLNA app for free.
• The device seemed to get very hot after as little as 30 minutes of use
• The Amazon Instant Video App really just took you to the Amazon Website
• Vizio Bloatware on the device
• I paid for one of the top rated DLNA apps for Google TV and it wouldn't stream some of my MP4's that streamed with no problem to my early generation LG SmartTV.  Waste of money.

In closing Google TV has great potential but didn't meet the expectations that I had for it.  I think some of the added Vizio related apps slowed down the device.  I wouldn't mind checking out a Nexus Google TV if they ever released one in the future.  The interactive TV listings (ON TV) app should become a standard interface on all Xfinity and Verizon boxes.  Its so much better looking at thumbnails in categories and seeing the progress bar to see how far along the show is.  The device getting really hot  with minimal usage was a bit discouraging, maybe I had a lemon.  Navigation was a bit slow compared to XBOX application/interface navigation, and much slower than my Android phone.  I returned the device 5 days after getting it.  I think I'm going to test out the Roku 2 XS next.

Do Yo Think Your Kinect Is Spying On You?

Here's a fix! For $15 I think I'm going to get this. I've watched too many Sci-Fi movies not to look at the camera eyes on the Kinect as the light bounces off of it and think that while I'm sitting in my mancave in my boxers, drinking beer, eating pork rinds, and playing Madden that its some how uploading this feed to some central server somewhere or broadcasting it in a room full of monitors.  Not that I'm doing anything illegal but still, it's the principalities smokey!  I will be looking for this fitted cover for the Kinect on Amazon and Target this weekend.  Of course the press release for this accessory states several other reasons why this was created, but I'll say that these Jokers created this to keep Batman from spying on them.

'Connect Pritect to Protect Kinect:' for all your tinfoil helmet needs:

Have you considered that if a secretive governmental cabal seized control of your Kinect, it would be able to spy on you as you lurched awkwardly to Just Dance? Such is the price we pay for abrogating our right to privacy, or at least it was until Catalyst Components came up with a solution. Connect Pritect to Protect Kinect is a high-gloss plastic shield that clips over your device to block the sensor bar's cameras from prying eyes. The only opening is a tiny hole for the Xbox logo -- the efficacy of which is shown after the break. Freedom from surveillance will cost you a meager $15 from Target, Microcenter, Best Buy and Amazon.

Continue reading 'Connect Pritect to Protect Kinect:' for all your tinfoil helmet needs

'Connect Pritect to Protect Kinect:' for all your tinfoil helmet needs originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Feb 2012 13:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Win a $25 Amazon Gift Card [Survey]

Ok, one of my friends and classmates has created a company and needs some feedback so that he knows which route to take the company. So he has created a quick online survey. He is looking for input from various groups of people about basic things about your experiences when you go out to eat or go to a bar. He would like to know what types of things you would like to have to upgrade your dinning/social experience. The survey is quick and easy, I took it a couple days ago. Hopefully I will win the gift card. lol.

Visit this link for the survey: RevoTech's Short Survey

The Light Of The Sun: After Further Review...

The Light Of The Sun On My Back

After Further Review...

Ok, so yesterday I purchased the new Jilly from Philly CD from Amazon, and I got the Deluxe version to get the extra bonus tracks.  My first listen of about 75% of the album was at work with headphones on.  I didn't have it up to loud (I hate when I can hear other people's music and they have on headphones) but I was just letting the CD ride.  No stopping, no looking at track names, just letting it go.  I wasn't impressed, nothing jumped out at me, it wasn't meeting my expectations of the CD.  But I knew I had to listen to it a little more thoroughly later, especially since I paid for it and it didn't mysteriously end up in my library of music from some unknown source.  But honestly even if it was garbage, I support artist that I like so I wouldn't have been too hurt by it. Hey, I've bought every Jay-Z CD he's put out including Kingdom Come and Blueprint 2, LOL. That was for some of my Jigga-Stans that I know.

But anyway back to my "After Further" review.  The 2nd and 3rd listens to this CD were in my car turned all the way up, with the windows up and the AC on to avoid any outside interferences.  I must say I completely enjoyed this CD and turned up loud so that you can feel her words and hear every bit of the beats is the only way this should be listened to.  Well aside from in the background during an intimate moment with your special someone, but hey that's up to you.

I will give this CD a 4.25 out of 5 based off of beats, lyrics, and overall vibe, its a really good CD and if you are a Jill Scott fan I think you will enjoy this CD.  As of right now I like every track except for two.  Those two I can listen to but I see myself skipping them in the near future.  All Cried Out with Doug E Fresh and Quick, maybe they are good songs but they don't fit the vibe that the rest of the CD was putting me in.  Quick does tell an interesting story but after I hear it once or twice I can skip it and keep my vibe going.  I even enjoy the two bonus tracks from the Amazon Deluxe version of the CD.  I'll say my favorites for right now, I can see this changing multiple times as I continue to listen, are So In Love, So Gone, Until Then, and Rolling Hills.

Its very normal for me to not like a CD the first time through but after a few listens in different environments and moods for me to completely flip it around and give the CD a high ranking.  That's how I felt about the Blueprint 3, I didn't like it at first but after awhile it grew on me and at the end of the day its worth at least 4.5 Mics.  Its very rare that I will like a CD at the beginning then dislike it later, I could get tired of it like I did with the Miseducation of Lauren Hill, but even if I get tired of it and can come back to it maybe once every few years and still enjoy it.

With this blogpost I completely retract my statement about "the new Jill Scott cd is just...Meh..." and go on record to say this is a well put together album and its more like "umm hmmm" and "oh yeah" and "umm umm umm" than it is "meh".

Enjoy Folks!

http://www.amazon.com/Light-Sun-Deluxe/dp/B0054JVKTW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1308752068&sr=8-2

To Pre-Order or Not To Pre-Order...

I've never understood the point of pre-ordering anything that I know I can find in-stock at some store somewhere.  When I worked at Circuit City every year Madden came out we sold a lot of copies but we prepared for that buy having a lot more on hand.  So whats the point of pre-ordering a game or a movie?  In my mind there is no point.  I will admit I pre-ordered Madden 10 last year for no reason, then went to Game Stop at 11pm the night before it came out and got my copy and played it once that night before going to bed and not playing it again until a time later in the evening of the release.  Which means I could've just bought it from the store during the day like anyone else.  But hey I was unemployed at the time and I had time on my hands, going to Game Stop at midnight wasn't a big issue.

This year it is different....

For one I pre-ordered Avatar on bluray from Amazon because I'm a prime customer and get free shipping and the bluray was going for $16.99 when pre-ordered via Amazon.  The bonus to all of this was the fact that it showed up at my door step the same day it was released to the stores.  I got it on time, cheaper, and didn't have to go anywhere to get it! FTW! (for the win).

So when my homeboy told me that amazon had a special for pre-ordering Madden 11 I figured I should check it out, since I was partially thinking about pre-ordering it from Game Stop again and taking advantage of their special offer for getting it from them.  You can pick it up at midnight (I'll probably be sleep), some events get unlocked, and you receive 20,000 coins to use in the game for different game modes.

But then I check Amazon and they tell me if I pre-Order Madden (or any other game you might want, like Halo Reach or Call of Duty: Black Ops) that I will receive a $20 credit towards the next game that I buy.  This is a no brainer... I immediately pre-Ordered mine.  It will be at my door step August 10th, I'm not paying shipping, and Amazon does an auto price match, so if someone else is selling it for less than $59.12, they will refund you the difference.

Here's the exact wording for the deal: 

Get it the day it comes out! Pre-order and select Release-Date Delivery at checkout. See details. Get a $20 Video Games Credit Pre-order Madden NFL 11, for Wii, PS3, or Xbox 360, and get $20 off a future video game purchase. The promotional code will be placed directly into your Amazon.com account within 2 business days after the product ships. Offer valid when shipped and sold by Amazon.com. Promotion valid on all existing pre-orders. Limit one per household. Amazon reserves the right to change or terminate this promotion at any time.

Amazon aides in the fight to be lazy.  

If you have a student email account (.edu) that is still active and you can check it with ease, Amazon is giving out free PRIME accounts, which means 2-Day Shipping is free.