How to get a Spotify invitation sooner rather than later

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Question: So, this Spotify thing... How do I land myself an invite?

Answer: Music in the cloud — it's a lovely thing.

The newest and shiniest of the services is U.K.-based Spotify, which on Thursday made its debut on U.S. shores. People have understandably been hyped on the service and what it's capable of: You can play your favorite music from any computer selecting from a really large and impressive database of songs. The interface itself is blazingly fast, and it even syncs with Facebook so that you can trade playlists with your friends. Best of all, it's all in the cloud, saving you valuable hard drive space.

(MORE: Five Cool Websites for New Spotify Users)

Now, there are a couple of ways to begin using the service right away if you didn't receive an invite (so don't feel slighted!).

1. You can pony up for one of their listening plans and bypass having to wait for an invite. The Unlimited plan starts at a reasonable $4.99 per month, and a Premium version is available for $9.99 per month, which lets you use the service on your mobile device. When you pay for the service you won't be subjected to any advertisements. Plus, when you consider the fact that a typical album costs around $10 on iTunes or Amazon, then paying $9.99 for access to nearly any song, anywhere sounds like a pretty good deal.

2. Business Insider found a loophole for U.S. visitors that tricks the system into thinking you're a U.K. user (where Spotify is already available to everyone). You'll need a U.K.-based proxy (such as: www.daveproxy.co.uk), then you'll need to enter in this URL to request an invite: (https://www.spotify.com/int/invitation/). Go to Business Insider for a comprehensive walkthrough.

3. Spotify also has a number of partners you can go through to snag an invite. Here's one from Coca-Cola. Social metric service Klout also has their own you can use. You'll be ushered through some extra online paperwork, but it's pretty quick and you should be able to hop aboard. Once you're there, Spotify's a slam dunk.

MORE: Spotify Free Music Service Launches in U.S.

Have a question you'd like answered? Send it to tips at Techland dot com.

80 one-minute films(!) via free iPad app from FilmOneFest

Enhanced Features and Iconography for Film Festival iPad App

New York, NY    Jul 12, 2011

New York, New York - Polymash Inc. is excited to announce the inclusion of an additional 40 films from international filmmakers to its FilmOneFest iPad app, completing the 2011 program of films as shown on the night of the festival. In addition, the iPad app has been updated with new and expanded features to enhance the viewing experience.

More than 40 one-minute films from international film-makers have been added, and the app now contains over 80 films, as well as the complete screening program shown at the live FilmOneFest festival. Furthermore, the app offers not only a collection of one-minute films from film-makers all around the world, but also artists' in depth interviews, feature pages, artists' statements and insights from the esteemed Selection Panel and more. Among the new features is the ability to select FilmOneFest viewing options that allow the user to customize their viewing of the content in a number of ways:

1. Display all film entries in alphabetical order by name of film-maker
2. Display 2011 FilmOneFest selected films in the order of the program on the night of the festival
3. Display news and updates about FilmOneFest and its growing global community
4. Easily identify new content with the use of alert badges.

Another feature is a new legend of iconography that describes which films:
* Are selected for inclusion in the Festival
* Include an artist statement about the film
* Have received a special award
* Include a featured article written by the artist, about themselves and their work along with social media links

About the FilmOneFest Festival:
FilmOneFest is an annual outdoor film festival that shows approximately 60 one-minute films from all over the world. FilmOneFest is in its third year. Last year, almost 1000 people gathered on the lawns, laid down their blankets, stretched out their lawn chairs, opened up their coolers and joined in celebration on a balmy July summer's evening to watch one-minute films under the stars next to the marina at Atlantic Highlands, NJ, USA.

App Features:
* One-minute films and videos from filmmakers all around world
* Documented interviews with filmmakers about what inspires them and what excites them about the one-minute film format
* Artists' statements accompanying many of the films
* Past award winning films from FilmOneFest
* 2011 award winners, announced at FilmOneFest July 16, 2011
* Links to Facebook, Twitter and websites of many of the artists
* Selection Panel sharing their passions about film and what they look for in their selection
* Growing collection of one-minute films for submission to the annual FilmOneFest
* Information about the host township and its Arts Council: Atlantic Highlands, NJ, USA, located 30 minutes south of New York City by fast ferry service
* Live news feed indicating new additions
* Updated Legend to include 2011 Selections, Award Winners, Featured Articles, Artists' Statements

The continued vision for the FilmOneFest app is to accept and curate one-minute films all year round, culminating in the acclaimed FilmOneFest every year in July in Atlantic Highlands, NJ, USA. To the best of the developer's knowledge, the FilmOneFest app is:

* The first iPad specific app developed for a film festival
* The first iPad app for a festival of one-minute films
* The first iPad app to curate submissions of one-minute films all year round for final selection to a festival

Device Requirements:
* Compatible with iPad
* Requires iOS 3.2 or later
* 97.2 MB

Pricing and Availability
The FilmOneFest app 1.0 is currently free of charge and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Entertainment category.
Polymash
FilmOneFest 1.0
Download from iTunes
Screenshot
App Icon

Polymash Inc. is a US-based company whose mission is to transform knowledge and content into exceptional experiences on tablets, web and emerging mobile platforms, offering a full range of app creation services that combine the design, authoring or converting of interactive content for tablet devices, assistance to clients with overall app strategy development and integration, information product design and development, app marketing strategy, services and support. Polymash is a team of experienced IT and publishing professionals, specializing in user experience design, content and language optimization, marketing and social media integration, as well as creative web and graphic design. Copyright (C) 2011 Polymash Inc. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, iPod and iPad are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Enhanced Features and Iconography for Film Festival iPad App

Years ago, some folks put together what they called “Short Attention Span Theater”: all of Shakespeare in just 10 minutes. ;-) I read a wag recently who suggested that the attention spans of many continue to drop (including just 140 characters in a tweet), so we were heading toward a future of using just one emoticon to express ourselves. ;-)