So, my boyfriend’s birthday is coming up in a week and I have no idea what to get him this year. You’d think it’d be easier after four years of being together! It’s always nice to make your boyfriend something, but with all the midterms and assignments on my plate, I could not possibly devote the time to personally make him something, as sweet as that might be. Not to mention, I totally blew my last month’s salary on a gorgeous dress for my cousin’s wedding. It was until I came across this free app called Birthday Mashup Cards on Facebook. Yes, sometimes good things can be free.
The app offers personalized e-cards with a variety of community templates that you can choose from. Best part is that it allows you to upload all sorts of different media- photos, music, videos. It’s a simple process, since the app is directly linked to Facebook, which enables you to just extract photos from your albums and drag it directly onto the card. It really saves the hassle of uploading the photos, not to mention I have turtle speed Internet. I also searched and inserted a cute little video directly from YouTube, which is linked within the app. Anyhow, I finished making the card in less than ten minutes, although it really doesn’t look like it. These mashup cards are perfect if you’re looking for something personal and simple, best of all- free! Here’s a link to the website for those of you who are interested: http://www.mashuparts.com/, or you can just search “Birthday Mashup Cards” on Facebook. I think my boyfriend will love it- all those memories we shared mashed up into that little card.
The Valentines that you will remember years from now will have nothing to do with the gifts you bought or received. You will remember who you were with, and the time you shared together.
Most couples will tell you that their best times came when they had little or nothing. They may remember a love letter they wrote, but probably cannot recall the flowers, jewelry and any other physical gifts. The love letter maybe a lost art in a world of texting, but truth be told, most of us look to our musical hero’s for inspiration – for it is the one art that can really transport us back in time. Today’s hero’s are more likely to be played on YouTube than heard on the radio – so we put together a Valentines Mashup Card with a few Love songs that we feel have well stood the test of time.
First up, Bruce Springsteen’s powerful “If I Should Fall Behind” is not so much a classic declaration of love, as it is a song that speaks to our sense of caring for our true-love, in spite of our own human frailties.
“We said we’d walk together, baby come what may,
and in the twilight, should we lose our way,
If as we’re walking, a hand should slip free,
I’ll wait for you, If I should fall behind, wait for me.”
Second, and humor me here, but the poet “Leonard Cohen” was on to something with his “Chelsea Hotel” and this 1988 live reference to Janis Joplin. In this clip he uses the variation “younger men.”
“She said she preferred handsome men, but for me she would make an exception.”
Finally, a little John Hiatt with “Have a Little Faith in Me” from his breakthrough album “Bring The Family.”
“When the road gets dark, And you can no longer see, Just let my love throw a spark, And have a little faith in me.”
We wish you all a Happy Valentines, and wish you luck in finding your very own someone to love.
TORONTO February 4, 2010 Internet personalities are bold, but private videos and pictures can take classic Valentines cards to a whole new rating. In this video example, a hot girl has sent her boyfriend a mashup of personal pictures and videos, with the sultry “unlike the other cards I have made, this one’s set to private.”
The new templates at MashupArts.com help people to not only mix picture and video ecards, but also to search for free content from sites like Flickr and YouTube.
While user generated content has exploded on the net, over the last few years, most people have figured out that certain images are best shared privately. The new Mashup Arts service, which is integrated with Facebook and allows people to carry over their privacy settings and personal Facebook pictures, also allows for a higher privacy level, so cards cannot be reposted or forwarded – a type of condom for the private cards
“The high majority of Mashup Cards made on our site are G-rated, and are made by creative people who have shared their ideas for Birthday Cards, funny video clips, and creatively punked photos” said Shaun MacDonald, CEO of Mashup Arts. While we will take down any offensive Cards that are posted as public, people can do what they like if they keep the “privacy defaults.”
Something sexy, a find from the wine rack, a tech toy, a good book or a classic movie are perfect last minute gifts.
Something sexy and boldly daring – just get the sizes right and share more than a laugh or two. This clip is priceless.
The subscription to Wine Spectator is fine, but cuddling up with a new favorite wine is better yet. Here are two great choices.
She can be one of the first to own a kindle -with a book of course… consider Midnight in Madrid for its exotic locations and art theft storyline.
A classic movie is thoughtful, and you will have to pick something that she will like. In Primal Fear, she gets to look at the handsome Richard Gere and you’ll get to cheer for Ed Norton.
The modern day love letter does not require you to hire a writer and a producer. If you customize the title for her, add her favorite song, dress up her picture, and mix in one funny video you are an original.
About Mashup Arts
Mashup Arts is the “Mashup Card Company.” Our website was built for social networkers who want to share video ecards and photo ecards by mixing their personal content with free Internet content. We encourage individual and community creativity. The application offers options to customize ecards so they better reflect your style or brand. You can also create group ecards for your office, team or school. We help people to play with photos, videos, text and music to create unique and memorable cards. The flexibility and search options are suited for our diverse cultures. Check out what our community members have made for your Birthday Cards, Weddings, Christmas and the Holiday Season, Valentines, Chinese New Year, Diwali, or your favorite charity event.
Bringing Social Networking to the Greeting Card Market
Mashup Arts, announced the launch of its Holiday and Christmas ecard service designed for video and photo lovers of all ages. The new online service helps people create their own custom cards with multimedia tools. The opposite of mass market cards, these greetings can be highly personalized by embracing the diversity of the visual Internet.
The idea is to start with photos and designs from the community, and then mix in free Internet content from sites like YouTube and Flickr. People can also add their own pictures, music or videos so their greetings really feel “home-made.”
“With so much creativity being shared on the Internet, we feel there is huge market for a new class of greetings where talented people share their ideas, and anyone can mix in their favorite content,” said Shaun MacDonald, CEO of Mashup Arts. “The key is to help people get started, and for that, we have built a model with templates, simple design tools, community sharing and artist attribution. If we can catch the wave for sharing and remixing content with shared workspaces, we will create a new segment in this market.”
The social community stands in contrast to the classic studio model, where you shop for cards and sign them. This new model allows people to be creative with simple on-demand search and design tools, so they can mash up titles, photos, videos and music to match their personal style.
Users can import their photos directly from Facebook. Cards that are made public can be browsed for ideas, and reused in whole or in part as people create something new from something old. The ability to mix in multiple videos and photo slide shows is unique in the market, and this is of particular value for people interested in creating team, school, group or family cards.
Free to use, the ecard service will make money through premium value added modules for printing, DVD’s and storage, as well as enterprise services for companies to bolster their brand promotions.
The technology platform is a thin web based application with a flash interface for rendering videos, images, music and text. The workspace environment was developed in PHP and AJAX, with numerous technology API mashups like YouTube for videos, Flickr with a Creative Commons API for photos, CCMixter with a Creative Commons API for music, and Picnik for photo editing. The greetings are assembled on the fly from their discrete elements. This is to enable remixing so images and videos can be shared within the community, and it reduces storage by avoiding content duplication.
About Mashup Arts
Mashup Arts is the “Mashup Card Company.” Our website was built for social networkers who want to share video ecards and photo ecards by mixing their personal content with free Internet content. We encourage individual and community creativity. The application offers options to customize ecards so they better reflect your style or brand. You can also create group ecards for your office, team or school. We help people to play with photos, videos, text and music to create unique and memorable cards. The flexibility and search options are suited for our diverse cultures. Check out what our community members have made for your Birthday Cards, Weddings, Christmas and the Holiday Season, Valentines, Chinese New Year, Diwali, or your favorite charity event.
To view the video’s associated with this press release, please visit the links below:
