I came across the two YouTube posts “IMAscore — Winterstorm” and “London Music Works — O’ Christmas Tree” today. I learned about both of them from the https://aetherealengineer.com/ Blog.
The Christmas music is a little late for this year, but I have added it for next year’s enjoyment. The ‘Winterstorm’ music is something I will play when I want relaxation or thinking time music.
I hope that you enjoy them as much as I have.
– In the spirit of the festival season, Sidify Inc. of HONGKONG, HONGKONG is celebrating Christmas from December 17, 2018 to January 15, 2019 with its special deals, an offer up to 25% off available for millions of users to get two hottest DRM audio converters, including Sidify Music Converter for Spotify and Sidify Apple Music Converter, and one DRM video converter – M4VGear DRM Media Converter.
Customers can shop Sidify 2018 Christmas special deals from the embedded campaign page, or purchase page from the Sidify official website.
Sidify Christmas Special Deals:
Sidify Music Converter for Spotify is the best Spotify music converter which has gained millions of happy users all around the world. It is specially designed to convert Spotify music, playlist or podcast to DRM-fre audio formats including MP3, AAC, WAV and FLAC at 5X faster speed. For better organizing the music library, all the ID3 tags and metadata including title, artwork, artist, album, track number and more will be preserved after conversion. Then, there is no worry about the playback on multiple music players and portable devices, or using on all kinds of DJ software or music creation studios.
Available for Windows and Mac Version: Was $39.95, Now $32.95
Sidify Apple Music Converter is also specially designed for 100% losslessly removing DRM from Apple Music and then converting those downloaded songs to MP3, M4A, FLAC or WAV for offline playback on any MP3 player or other multiple devices. It also supports converting all your music which is playable in iTunes, such as converting M4P Music, iTunes M4A, M4B & Audible AA, AAX audiobooks to MP3/M4A/FLAC/WAV. All the ID3 Tags, including Artwork and Metadata (title, artist, album, year, track number and genre), will be smoothly preserved in output files after conversion.
Available for Windows and Mac Version: Was $39.95, Now $32.95
M4VGear DRM Media Converter is capable of removing DRM from iTunes purchased or rental movies, TV Shows, and Music Videos at 20X faster speed and converting them to unprotected popular video and audio formats like MP4, MOV and MP3, and etc. It also supports outputting iTunes videos to iOS devices, or Android phones or tablets. After conversion, 5.1 audio, all subtitles and audio tracks will be retained.
Available for Windows and Mac Version: Was $49.95, Now $37.95
Product Announcements – Now a big offer of 2018 Christmas and New year from TunesKit Software of Shenzhen, Guangdong, a highly rated DRM removal solution provider, is coming with attractive discount promotions for massive TunesKit Software users. In gratitude for the old and new customers, TunesKit offers up to 50% off discount to celebrate the year-end holiday which contains Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.
During the TunesKit 2018 Christmas and New Year promotion, all the users can get the hottest M4V Converter product at 50% OFF instead of the original price $44.95 to convert DRM-ed M4Vs and all DRM-free videos to common MP4, M4V, AVI, etc. with original audio tracks, subtitles 100% retained. This series of products enables iOS users to enjoy iTunes movies on most non-Apple devices directly with less cost of money.
As for other single items and exclusive bundles on Christmas sales, TunesKit offers 15% to 20% discounts for the DRM video and audio solutions under its brand, including Music Converter for Spotify, DRM Audio Converter, Audible AA/AAX Converter and Audio Capture. As for iPhone Data Recovery for Mac/Win, users can get the professional software at 30% discount price $34.97, saving about $15 in total. There are no restrictions on the products that participate in this special event, which means that all users can purchase discount products directly, including special offers for M4V converters.
“Wish everyone have a memorable Christmas and New Year!” said Andres, the TunesKit R&D Manager, “To commemorate this annual holiday, we launch the considerable promotion to express appreciation to the long-standing support of all the customers, hope you will all enjoy this special offer and continue to focus on our products.”
Now TunesKit is prepared well for the approaching Christmas season, with its variety of well-performing desktop applications and varying degrees of discounts here to provide a number of users with pleasant, cozy and meaningful Christmas as well as New Year. This promotion has limited time and will start from Dec. 19, 2018 to Jan. 08, 2019. Do not hesitate to save money and give the excellent software of TunesKit a try now. Get your holiday offer now.
About TunesKit
TunesKit is a reformatory software developer, aiming to develop effective and professional applications products and services for DRM removal solution and data retrieval to the customers all around the world. The products of TunesKit Software ranging from iTunes DRM M4V Video Converter, DRM Audio Converter, Spotify Music Converter, Apple Music Converter to other practical tool like Audio Capture, Video Cutter, iPhone Data Recovery, and more. Currently, tons of users in more than 180 countries are using the software of TunesKit and are highly valued for TunesKit’ product and services.
Robots – I read the article “AI, robotics, automation: The fourth industrial revolution is here” today. It is another article that addresses the displacement of jobs by AI, robotics, and automation. Some of the points mentioned:
One of the things that I continued to see regarding AI and automation is “Part of the promise of AI/robotics has always been to liberate human beings from the ‘3Ds’—dirty, difficult, and dangerous jobs—so that they can focus on creative, personal, and original activities”. I think that this is a wonderful goal, but I don’t think that all of the people displaced will pursue such lofty aspirations.
Product Announcements – To express our gratitude for all your support in the past year, M4V Converter Plus Inc. of Cortaro, Arizona has announced a special sales activity for the holidays. All the customers will save a Ton of money off of its regular prices, the special offer is only available during this once-a-year sale! It started on Dec 15, 2018 and ends at Jan 15, 2019.
This sale will last a whole month. Customers can get all the M4V Conversion tools with 25% off on 2018 Christmas & 2019 New Year special sale season. All-in-one iTunes Video Conversion Tool Availability of 2018 Special Offer.
The sales are available to both M4V Converter Plus for Mac and Windows programs. With M4V Converter Plus, you can remove DRM protection from iTunes rented movies, purchased movies and TV shows. Besides, it can help you convert all the iTunes videos to common MP4, AVI, FLV, WMV, MOV and other video formats with 100% original quality kept.
It provides you a free trial version, which can let you download it for free and try it firstly.
Get 25 percent off on both M4V Converter Plus for Mac and Windows: This promotion began December 15, 2018 and expires on January 15, 2019. During the promotion month, customers can purchase it from the M4V Converter Plus Inc. official website.
Book Reviews – “A Baker Street Wedding” eBook was published in 2018 and was written by Michael Robertson (https://www.thebakerstreetletters.com). This is the sixth novel in the “The Baker Street Letters” series by Mr. Robertson.
I received an ARC of this novel through https://www.netgalley.com in return for a fair and honest review. I categorize this novel as ‘PG’. The story is set in the contemporary UK. The primary characters are lawyer Reggie Heath and the celebrated actress Laura Rankin.
Rankin and Heath have just gotten married and try to escape the publicity by disappearing to a small town where Rankin once attended school. They are soon drawn into a mystery. Rankin is asked to fill in for a woman in a community play. The woman has accidentally fallen off a cliff and died. Soon though Rankin and Heath begin to question the accidental nature of the death.
There is also an unusual character that shows up with Heath’s secretary in the rural town. Is he Sherlock Holmes?
I enjoyed the 5 hours I spent reading this 304-page mystery. This was an OK mystery and I liked the strange character that shows up, though there needs to be more explanation of the character (perhaps that is covered in one of the earlier novels in the series, though Rankin and Heath do not appear to know him). Even though there are five earlier novels in the series, this novel reads well on its own. The cover art is OK but doesn’t relate well to the story. I give this novel a 3.8 (rounded up to a 4) out of 5.
My book reviews are also published on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/31181778-john-purvis).
Product Announcements – 12-Star Apps of Belgium, Europe unveils its app selection and promotions for the holiday season starting today, December 20th, and ending on January 2nd at midnight, featuring apps of all categories that made it under the 12-Star Christmas tree. This new roundup again wishes to overcome language and market challenges by bringing together 24 apps made by passionate European indie developers from 9 different countries:
iOS apps:
Mac apps:
Pricing and Availability
App listing is available on the 12-Star Apps website. Apps are sold either through Apple’s App Store/Mac App Store or directly from developers’ website (Mac apps only). The 2018 Christmas Special featuring takes place from Thursday, December 20th to Tuesday, January 2nd (ending at 23:59 GMT 1). Apps are offered for an ephemeral special pricing, with discounts of up to 70%. Some apps are also free for a limited time. All the apps featured on the website can be purchased individually.
Star Wars – Set to open in 2019 at both Disneyland and Disney World, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge will immerse you in the Star Wars Universe. I glimpsed some of the construction early this year when I was at Disney World. You couldn’t see much, but what I did see was impressive. This ‘Trailer’ was released by Disney on December 25, 2018, to give us a peek at what we will be seeing.
I am looking forward to visiting Disney again after the Star Wars park expansion opens in 2019. Galaxy’s Edge is set to open next summer at Disneyland and later in the fall at Walt Disney World.
Product Announcements – Excel Software of Henderson, Nevada has released XojoApp Desktop 5.0 for Xojo programmers. These pure Xojo code components require no plugins and can be used in almost any desktop programming project for macOS or Windows Apps.
XojoApp Desktop 5.0 is a major upgrade to the class library enhanced for compatibility with the latest Xojo 2018R3 IDE and earlier builds. Version 5 adds a new Cloud License component to support Trial, Product, and Subscription licensing of desktop applications using the Cloud License API. XojoApp Desktop supports both 32 and 64-bit Apps.
XojoApp Desktop components include:
Cloud License is an Internet-based Serial Number activation system supported by the Safe Activation service or the self-hosted Cloud License Server. On the first launch of a protected App, a customer enters a Serial Number acquired during the purchase process to activate the App on their computer.
The XojoApp Desktop is $495 and includes royalty-free distribution of compiled applications to any number of Mac or Windows users. Each product includes a User Guide with component descriptions, reference documentation, and example applications. Visit the company website for detailed information, a downloadable trial edition or demonstration videos.
Product Announcements – DEVONtechnologies of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho and twelve like-minded makers of genuine Mac software and productivity books have teamed up again for their traditional year-end celebration of hand-crafted software for writers, designers, and thinkers. Apps created by real people, not faceless corporations, and designed to work together. A basket of carefully selected applications and books with valuable tips, not a meaningless bundle of random products.
Customers buy any of the participating products with the exclusive discount by using the common coupon code WINTERFEST2018 in the respective company’s online shop. More information about the WinterFest 2018 offer is available on artisanalsoftwarefestival.com.
For a limited time, DEVONtechnologies, Aeon Timeline, Apparent Software, Bare Bones Software, Eastgate, Houdah Software, Literature and Latte, Nisus, Smile Software, Sonny Software, Take Control Books, and Timing offer their tools and ebooks all for a fair price and directly from the people who make them:
WinterFest assembles many of the best-of-breed tools for writing, creating, and researching on the Mac. These innovative applications make recent developments in research and advances in engineering available on the desktop, addressing many of the most challenging facets of knowledge work. Each of them is the work of a small design team or a passionate designer, bringing devoted craftsmanship to a field too often dominated by corporate blandness.
The Together page shows real-life examples how these tools work together hand in hand to enable their users create something new without struggling with software that throws stones into their way.
“Our customers are no casual users. They work with our app every day. They collect things they receive or find online, organize them in DEVONthink, and give them a structure. Then they switch to other apps to create. Some write in Nisus Writer, Scapple, Scrivener, or Storyspace; some others move to Tinderbox to make sense of their thoughts. And Timing makes sure they know where they spent their time.” – Eric Bohnisch-Volkmann, President of DEVONtechnologies.
“The applications on offer for WinterFest comprise some of my favourite writing software. There’s something here for every step of the writing process, from gathering research and working out connections between ideas, to putting it all together into a manuscript and polishing the text for wherever it needs to go.” – Keith Blount from Literature and Latte.
“You don’t discover inspired design in focus groups. Artisanal software is filled with ideas, ambition, and a passion to make things right. Using all these tools together lets our team build better software while engaging the rest of the research community.” – Mark Bernstein, developer of Tinderbox.
More information:
Customers buy any of the participating products with the exclusive discount by using the common coupon code WINTERFEST2018 in the respective company’s online shop between December 20, 2018, and January 14, 2019. More information about the WinterFest 2018 offer is available on http://artisanalsoftwarefestival.com.
John's Notes 