Thursday, March 31, 2011

Introduction To LED Lighting | DIYPhotography.net

Introduction To LED Lighting

diyphotography.net | Jul 30th 2009

You know how you never have enough lights to do the shot you want? Today I am going to solve this problem once and for all. I'm going to show you how to get all the light sources in the world for just a few bucks. How? With LEDs.

Lighting with LEDs is a ton of fun. It is also a great way to practice lighting. Why? Because LEDs are cheap. Having a ton of LEDs allows you to position a huge amount of light sources on any miniature detail oriented given setup - Provided that the setup is small enough.

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Photography with LEDs - The Basics

There are a few things that you need to consider when going in the path of LED lighting. 

LEDs are only giving that much light. And by "that" I mean not a lot. If you want to be at that place of short exposures and decent depth of field, you'd better get a huge bunch of LEDs. Fortunately though:

LEDs are really cheap. I get my fix at DealExtreme where you can literally get tens of them for about a dollar. (This is like 10 times cheaper than Amazon).

Another thing about LEDs is that (at least the ones I got) have a creepy cold white balance and poor CRI. The white balance can be taken care of once you shoot RAW (which I heatedly recommend when using LEDs). The CRI (Color Rendering Index) is a tougher issue. It will give you a certain look - it is OK for some images, however it takes from the how real the light looks.

Last thing on LED basics is that LEDs are small. That means that they provide hard light.  In fact they are so small that they provide very hard light.

Now, for the sake of fun, I lit all the pictures in this article with LEDs, even the illustrative ones that I would normally light with a strobe. You know eating my own dogpile.

LEDs Are Easy To Position

This is one of the first things you'll notice about LEDs. Since they are so small and weight close to nothing, setting them up is a very small effort. Using a bit of Gaffer's tape you can stick 'em almost anywhere. Like on a chair, like I did in the shot on the left, which is part of the ring light illustration that I did.

Another option is to simply place the LEDs on the ground, like I did on the image above. When doing this, you need to remember that light is very focused and will not go upwards. This means that only the bottom of your object will be lit. This is OK for some types of shots. 

If you need some light going up, though, you can even place LEDs on top of each other to create a small ad hoc tripod. This is another trick I used on the ring light illustration shot.

Last option is to use some plasticine to attach the LEDs to any smooth surfaces, or to give them a slight rise or decline.

The 1$ Ring Light

Since LEDs are so cheap, you can make banks of LEDs to create interesting lighting that will usually cost you big dollars.

If you closely look on the image on the left, you will recognize the shadow signature of a ring light - there is a cool shadow thing going to all directions of the shoes. YAP it's a LEDs operated ring light. (And yes those are the same shoes).

Here is how to make a LED ring light in two easy steps:

Step 1 - Create a Velcro hook strap that wraps around your lens + 2 centimeters. I used self adhesive Velcro for this. At those 2 extra centimeters, attach some loop Velcro. This will enable you to make a Velcro strap. Simply attach the loop side to the hook side with the adhesive side facing outwards. Click the image on the left for more details.

Step 2 - Attach LEDs to the adhesive side of the Velcro. Go one LED at a time until the entire strap is covered with LEDs. Now you have a LED strip. 

Before you run and bind it around your lens, note that this will make an excellent strip light. OK, now bind it around your lens. See the image on the left. This is how it looks like on my sweet Nikon 85/1.8.

And here is a link to the setup for the ring light photograph. Note the LEDs on the chair and on the floor.

Total Control

Since LEDs are so small and so focused you can have full control on where you want light and where you want dark. In the image to the left (click for more info) I used a restricted LED light to throw light on the edges and white portions of the shoe.

I did this with a technique called light painting, however, the same principle will apply to static light as well.

The light bean from the LED was not focused enough so I used a black straw (gridspot leftovers) to further restrict the light.

In fact, the light beam was so narrow that it was almost pen like. I had total control on where I wanted the light to hit. 

Similarly, you can position restricted kickers or rim lights made from LEDs. 

LED Light Painting

Last LED thingy for today is a personal favorite - Light Painting

In light painting, you use long exposure in a dark location and a moving light source to burn specific and very accurate parts of the image with light. 

Here is how it works. Since the setup is dark, the long exposure by itself contributes very little to light hitting the sensor.

When you introduce a bright light source, it has a huge impact on the sensor - a spot of light will be created where the light source was. If the light source is moving, a stripe will be recorded.

In the image on the left, I used two different light painting techniques (note that I left the creepy WB on this one):

The shoes - I used a similar LED and straw device to the one describe in the Total Control section to create interesting light on and under the shoes.

The dynamics - I than used a bare LED to create dynamic looking strips on the top half of the image

Summary

To sum up LEDs for now, here are the main points we discussed:

- LEDs are cheap, really cheap, however they provide little light which makes them ideal for small setups.

- LEDs have weird behaving light - bluish WB and poor CRI. Make sure you know what to expect by experimenting.

- LEDs are small and focused - they will produce very hard light, and you can exercise great control over that light.

- LEDs are FUN, FUN, FUN

Original Page: http://www.diyphotography.net/studio-at-home-introduction-to-led-lighting

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Article: America's Race To Buy Bigger Homes

America's Race To Buy Bigger Homes
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/31/housing-quality-value-chart_n_843004.html?ir=Divorce


HuffPost’s QuickRead…


Increase In Housing Quality And Its Effect On Home Values: 1940-2010 [CHART]

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By Catherine Mulbrandon
VisualizingEconomics.com

Our homes have changed in many ways over the last 70 years, including homes size, building technology, family size and a rise in standard of living. As people’s income increased over the 20th century, they bought bigger and better homes. This caused the median home value to go up even when taking into account the effect of inflation. For example, a full bath costs a lot since you need double plumbing for hot and cold water, while a flush toilet needs a home connected to a sewer system or septic tank.

In addition, housing costs include both land and the house; where building space in limited — i.e. cities — land will increase in value with population growth.

Median home value calculated by the U.S. Census factors in all of these changes and covers the housing markets in both rural and urban areas. The historical price index created by Robert Shiller, however, looks at home prices as an investment (like stocks), focusing on the resale prices of a subset of the standard, unchanged houses in large metro areas.


Visualizing Economics is a website by Catherine Mulbrandon dedicated to publishing infographics about economic data. Visualizing Economics has been featured at Slate.com, NPR.org, WashingtonPost.com, The Big Picture, Seeking Alpha and on MSNBC

Find more graphics explaining the U.S. economy at VisualizingEconomics.com

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By Catherine Mulbrandon VisualizingEconomics.com Our homes have changed in many ways over the last 70 years, including homes size, building technology, family size and a rise in standard of living. …
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On CBSBoston.com: Home Prices Falling In Most US Cities, Reach 11-Year Lows http://tinyurl.com/66lu8
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Home prices in 20 U.S. cities fell 3.1% from year earlier http://dpo.st/h1LhOU
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Article: Retrofit a Vintage Lens for Your DSLR Camera [DIY]

Retrofit a Vintage Lens for Your DSLR Camera [DIY]
http://lifehacker.com/?_escaped_fragment_=5785556/retrofit-a-vintage-lens-for-your-dslr-camera



diy

Retrofit a Vintage Lens for Your DSLR Camera

Adam Dachis It’s hard to deny that, lately, there’s been a bit of an obsession with vintage photography. It’s hard to find a smartphone photo these days that isn’t using some sort of vintage filter. If you’d like to take it a bit further, grab your DSLR and retrofit an old lens for some real vintage photography.

Photographer Jonas Kroyer wanted to use a lens from a 1929 Zeiss Ikon Ikonette camera (pictured above) with his DSLR, but getting there required a bit of work. The camera had to be completely dismantled in order to even get started, but once Jonas had everything removed the real work began:

Next step was to make an adapter, a t-shaped steel plate that would hold both bellows and the lens real in place together with a Nikon Bayonet I scavenged from an old no-name lens (see blueprint). The bayonet and rail were put in place with small rivets (brass rivets for the rail) and bellows glued on. I painted the plate black to match the old lens and bended it so the shape would also match it. I found some vintage brass knobs and mounted them with Greenstuff (a composite plastic) so I could more easily adjust the lens to focus. Finally, I used a small spring from a ballpoint pen to hold the shutter open so it would be the shutter in the camera doing the actual picture taking.

For a description of the full process and the beautiful results, be sure to read Jonas’ full post. If this process seems a little daunting to you and you want a much easier (but not quite as cool) way to use vintage lenses, you can generally find old lenses on eBay for $50-100 and adapters for $6-10. If you’re fine with using manual lenses, it’s an inexpensive way to expand your lens collection and incredible quality for the price. Additionally, some of the more flawed lenses you can buy will have imperfections you’ll appreciate and may end up being a favorite.

Retrofit a Vintage Lens for Your DSLR CameraIkonette a DIY DSLR-lens | Jonas Kroyer Photography

You can follow Adam Dachis, the author of this post, on Twitter and Facebook.  If you’d like to contact him, Twitter is the most effective means of doing so.

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Article: QNX, Not the PlayBook, Is the Key to RIM’s Future

QNX, Not the PlayBook, Is the Key to RIM’s Future
http://gigaom.com/mobile/qnx-not-the-playbook-is-the-key-to-rims-future/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+jkOnTheRun+%28GigaOM%3A+Mobile%29


QNX, Not the PlayBook, Is the Key to RIM’s Future

By Colin Gibbs Mar. 30, 2011, 12:00pm PT

Despite revenues that will likely fall short of expectations this quarter, plenty of speculation remains about whether Research in Motion’s forthcoming PlayBook can help shore up the company’s waning relevance in the world of mobile. The key, however, to stay in the race against Apple and Google isn’t hardware, but rather, RIM’s new QNX operating system.

Right now, RIM’s biggest vulnerability is an aging BlackBerry OS that simply is inferior in many ways to Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android systems. BlackBerry’s superior security technology aside, the OS doesn’t offer the easy navigation and multimedia support that has fueled the popularity of Android and iOS. Those are shortcomings RIM promised to address last year with the release of the Torch, the first handset to run BlackBerry 6. But as my colleague Kevin C. Tofel noted in August, the handset was an evolution rather than a revolution. In other words, it’s apparent that there is only so much upgrading RIM can do with BlackBerry. That helps explain why Android recently surpassed BlackBerry’s U.S. market share, according to Nielsen.

There’s a lot to like about QNX, though, which powers the PlayBook and is expected to come to RIM handsets later this year. It can enable full Flash and HTML5 capabilities, and it can deliver the kind of rich, immersive experiences that consumers have grown to expect on Android and iOS. It offers real 3-D graphics and optimized power, and its scalability will enable RIM to build a lineup of devices based on the OS, just as Apple is doing with iOS. RIM will surely need to iron out some wrinkles as QNX comes to mobile phones, but the platform shows tremendous promise.

The company still faces a few important challenges, of course, including luring developers to its platform and coming up with a slick new handset or two. But if RIM is still a major player in mobile a few years from now, it will be because of QNX and its supporting ecosystem, not a new piece of hardware. For more thoughts on what QNX means for RIM, please see my weekly column at GigaOM Pro (subscription required).

Image source: Flickr user Brenda-Starr.

Related content from GigaOM Pro (subscription req’d):

Article: Everything You Need To Know About Google’s +1

Everything You Need To Know About Google’s +1
http://mashable.com/2011/03/30/everything-about-google-plus-1/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29


Mashable | The Social Media Guide

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Trending Stories

Everything You Need To Know About Google’s +1

Todd Wasserman March 30, 2011 by Todd Wasserman

Google’s announcement that it’s adding a “+1” button to incorporate sentiment into its search results raised a lot of questions not addressed in the company’s official announcement.

We spoke with Google rep Jim Prosser about +1. Here are some of our questions answered. What other questions do you have about the new product?

Why is Google doing this?
Aside from the fact that it represents another way to compete with Facebook, Google’s officlal line is that it will make search results more germane. Says Prosser: “People consult their friends and other contacts on decisions. It’s very easy and lightweight way to make search results more relevant.”

Will the number of +1s affect search rankings?
Prosser says no, but adds that it’s something Google is “very interested” in incorporating in some form at some point.

Who are these contacts we’re seeing next to the +1s?
They are from Google Contacts, which come from various Google products, most notably Gmail, Buzz and Reader.

Will we see Facebook friends giving +1s at some point?
Not likely. Prosser draws a distinction between the “open web” and Facebook’s closed system. Google is up for incorporating open social media apps, but not Facebook. And Facebook isn’t likely to be interested in bolstering +1, a competitor to its “Like” button.

What about Twitter?
That’s a different story. Google already incorporates Twitter data into its searches, though Prosser says there are no immediate plans for integrating Twitter results with +1.

What about using data from other social networks?
Prosser says Google is interested in using more data from Flickr and Quora, which Google considers “open web” apps. Initially, though, you won’t see your Flickr or Quora friends’ +1 recommendations.

When will we start seeing the +1s?
Not for a few months, at least not en masse. Those who are interested in experimenting with +1 right away can go to Google.com/experimental. Otherwise, Prosser says only a “very small percentage” of searches and sites will have the +1 button within the next few weeks.

Will +1 be incorporated into banner ads?
Not right away, though Google is interested in that possibility.

Can marketers game the system by running “check +1 to enter” promotions?
It seems that Google frowns on this sort of thing, but it’s unclear whether the company expressly forbids it. Meanwhile, to maintain the integrity of the results, Prosser recommends that marketers don’t tweak their copy to ensure more +1s.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, JLGutierrez

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©2005-2011 Mashable, Inc.
Reproduction without explicit permission is prohibited. All Rights Reserved.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Photoshop Curves Video Tutorials

Photoshop Curves Video Tutorials

by Brian Auer, blog.epicedits.com
February 3rd 2010

I’m still working on putting together my article on using curves and histograms to edit photos, so in the meantime here are some good video tutorials on the subject. These tutorials are easier to understand because they show how the curve adjustments affect the image in a more dynamic fashion.

This first tutorial is fairly comprehensive for the grayscale and combined RGB channels, covering the basics of contrast and brightness adjustments while also hitting on a lot of little tips and tricks. The creator of this video also jumps into some of the things you should not be doing with curves so that you can avoid these situations.

See Video:

This second video is a little more basic than the first, but it presents some of the material in a slightly different manner. If you watched the first and you don’t have a good grasp on the curves dialog, watch this one and see if it helps.

See Video:

And if you have already watched the first two videos and you still don’t have a handle on things, this last one from our friend Donnie might help. He also gets into color channel curve adjustments, so this is helpful for the more advanced users.

See Video:

Original Page: http://blog.epicedits.com/2010/02/03/photoshop-curves-video-tutorials/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EpicEditsWeblog+%28Epic+Edits+Weblog%29

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Parents & Kids |

Parents & Kids

by Larry Magi, dataprivacyday2010.org
December 16th 2009

Online Resources for Parents, Educators, and Kids

For Children

  • Let Me Know (LMK): Life Online is a new interactive webpage for teens from Girl Scouts and Windows offering excellent pages on Privacy, Mobile Devices, Social Networking, Cybersecurity and more. Check into Girls Speak Up for articles on current privacy issues written by the site’s teen editors.
  • The FTC offers You Are Here, a virtual mall webpage designed for kids from 5th grade to 8th grade and parents and educators.  Visitors can play games, design ads, chat with customers and store owners, and learn key consumer concepts, such as how advertising affects you, how you benefit when businesses compete, how (and why) to protect your information, and how to spot scams. Make sure to Visit the Security Plaza to learn about protecting your privacy (online and off), and protect the citizens of Earth against identity-stealing invaders.
  • Netsmartz offers NetSmartzKids with activities perfect for younger children.

For Parents

  • Check out “Facebook Privacy Settings: What Parents Need to Know” recently offered by Common Sense Media.  CSM provides an instructional video for parents with a supporting article, explaining that “you can help your kids protect their privacy by making sure they use their privacy settings. Every time Facebook introduces new privacy controls, you’ll need to update your settings”.

Take time to explore the many educational materials offered by Common Sense Media: A video directed to parents about teens’ privacy online; Tips for Protecting Personal Privacy Online; a video that teaches parents how to create a Facebook page and learn more about social networking; information and helpful videos about kids at every developmental stage from pre-K through high school, addressing the many ways kids are interacting and sharing information online; and materials and resources categorized by topic, including social networking and virtual worlds, consumerism, and mobile and communicating, among others.

For Educators and Parents

  • Microsoft offers a Security Powerpoint Presentation with an accompanying script to enable presentations about important privacy and security issues.  Review Protect: Your Computer, Your Family and Yourself for guidance on how to protect your privacy.  Microsoft also provides a guide to consumer education, a poster, and the materials that will help you organize and conduct an online privacy and safety event for consumers.  The guide contains an overview of online safety for individuals and families who use computers and other devices that connect to the Web, and it is designed for concerned parents, community members, staff members of government representatives, companies and non-governmental organizations. The guide also contains modules for parents’ nights, school assemblies, internet safety fairs, community online safety seminars and more.

Informative Articles and Reports

Other Helpful Web Resources

Many of the resources available online for parents and children focus on internet safety as opposed to data privacy.  However, best privacy practices enhance safety, and privacy issues are addressed at many of these sites as well.

Focusing on Safety

Original Page: http://dataprivacyday2010.org/activities/academic/parents-kids/

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DIY - Homemade Speedlite Snoot DIYPhotography.net

DIY - Homemade Speedlite "Snoot"

diyphotography.net | Aug 31st 2007

This guest post was written by Leann Wrightsman, a photo DIY-er extraordinaire. This snoot making article has one of the best effort to result ratio. You usually use a snoot when you want only a small part of a scenario lighten, while keeping the rest of the scenario light free see the picture at the end of this article.

In this article Leann Wrightsman will show you how to make a "Snoot" for your speedlight flash with easy to find items you may even have around the house!

First, get the stuff you need- Get gaffer's tape and foam paper. Look in the craft supply area of Hobby Lobby or Michaels to find the foam paper, and if you have friends at the local theater (plays not movies) you can often get a bit of Gaffers tape at no charge. Else, check with a camera shop that carries lighting supplies.

Then make the first incision and "stitch" - Cut the foam board so the "long" side will fir around your flash; then Place the gaffer's tape smoothly along the short end of the foam paper.

Now tube it - Make a tube out of the foam paper, butt the ends of the foam paper together firmly for a nice even join.

Snoot it - Put it on your speedlight and call it a snoot! The snoot should fit snugly on the end of the speedlight.

Enjoy it - You'll be able to get a nice narrow light pattern, customizable by squeezing the snoot.

If you are in to snoots, checkout Rui M Leal's lighting mods blog. He has some great snoots here, here and here. No wonder he made it into my fav list.

The article was first published in Instructible's DIYPhotography.net group. right here. This group in general and Leann Wrightsman in particular has some very cool projects to offer check them out.

If you liked this article, you'll love the:

Back to Basics series is running - check out the exposure and shutter speed articles.

Original Page: http://www.diyphotography.net/diy-homemade-speedlite-snoot

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Article: On the Path to 1 Billion Users: Facebook's Feature Phone Strategy

On the Path to 1 Billion Users: Facebook's Feature Phone Strategy
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/on_the_path_to_1_billion_users_facebooks_feature_p.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+readwriteweb+%28ReadWriteWeb%29


 

ReadWriteWeb

The Israeli mobile startup Snaptu confirmed on its blog today that it has been acquired by Facebook. The terms of the deal weren’t disclosed for Facebook’s first acquisition outside the U.S., but the sum was pegged at $70 million.

Snaptu builds applications for feature phones, and the startup worked with Facebook to develop its feature phone app, released at the beginning of this year. That app expanded Facebook’s mobile app availability beyond just smart phone users, bringing a Facebook app to over 2500 different mobile devices.

Expanding to New (Mobile) Markets

The acquisition of Snaptu is an interesting move for Facebook, indicating perhaps its plan to expand to new markets via new mobile markets - as the company continues on its trek towards 1 billion users.

The feature phone app built by Snaptu was one part of that, as it followed Facebook’s launch of Facebook 0 last year, a site where users in certain countries could go to visit Facebook and incur no data charges.

Making mobile apps available beyond the smart phone may be crucial to gaining new users as not-so-smart phones still make up around 75% of the mobile phone market. By making itself easily accessible via feature phones, Facebook is opening itself to those who might otherwise have the resources to visit the site.


Mobile Facebook Users are Active Users

Facebook says that more than 200 million users currently access the site through mobile apps. But here’s a more important stat, perhaps: Facebook says that people that use Facebook on their mobile devices are twice as active on Facebook than non-mobile users. That makes a resource like Snaptu important for helping Facebook make itself the central social hub for all mobile phone users, not just iPhone or Android owners.

The acquisition of Snaptu is the latest in a string of mobile startups that Facebook has picked up recently, having acquired the group messaging app Beluga earlier this month and the local mobile advertising startup Rel8tion in late January.

Image credits: Paul Butler



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Article: 18 Million WordPress Websites Now Available in iPad Format

18 Million WordPress Websites Now Available in iPad Format
http://mashable.com/2011/03/23/18-million-wordpress-websites-now-available-in-ipad-format/?utm_source=iphoneapp&utm_medium=rss&utm_content=textlink&utm_campaign=iphoneapp


Mashable | The Social Media Guide

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Trending Stories

18 Million WordPress Websites Now Available in iPad Format

 March 23, 2011 by Ben Parr WordPress.com blog owners, rejoice! All of the hosting site’s 18 million blogs are available now in an iPad-friendly interface, complete with touch interactions and easy customization.

Automattic, parent company of WordPress.com, just flipped the switch on a new feature that transforms WordPress.com blogs into app-like destinations optimized for tablets. The company says it worked closely with NYC-based startup Onswipe to to create a whole new blog consumption experience for the iPad. Onswipe provides publishers with simple tools to create tablet-optimized websites.

“Our iPad-optimized view is app-like in its functionality, but pure HTML5 goodness on the backend,” said WordPress’s Nick Momrik in a blog post announcing the new feature. “It supports touch interactions, swiping, rotation and many other features of the iPad.”

The iPad-optimized blogs have a module interface, making it easy for publishers to switch up the look and feel of their websites. The WordPress.com Dashboard now includes options to change fonts, create personalized covers and change skins. The iPad optimization feature is also available as a WordPress plugin for anybody who runs a self-hosted WordPress.org blog.

“The iPad provides a ton of new opportunities for readers to experience the web and focus in on what matters: the content itself, while making use of what’s possible now with swipe gestures,” Onswipe CEO Jason Baptiste told Mashable. “Automattic powers over 18 million sites and believes in the open web, so it was a great place to start showing the benefit of the web over native apps.”

What do you think of the new iPad-optimized websites? Do you intend to create a tablet version of your WordPress blog? Let us know in the comments.


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About Mashable

Founded in 2005, Mashable is the top source for news in social and digital media, technology and web culture. With more than 40 million monthly pageviews, Mashable is the most prolific news site reporting breaking web news, providing analysis of trends, reviewing new Web sites and services, and offering social media resources and guides.

©2005-2011 Mashable, Inc.
Reproduction without explicit permission is prohibited. All Rights Reserved.

Article: Gaga & Bieber Together At Last: “Songs for Japan” Charity Album Hits iTunes

Gaga & Bieber Together At Last: “Songs for Japan” Charity Album Hits iTunes
http://mashable.com/2011/03/25/songs-for-japan-charity-album/?utm_source=iphoneapp&utm_medium=rss&utm_content=textlink&utm_campaign=iphoneapp


Mashable | The Social Media Guide

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Gaga & Bieber Together At Last: “Songs for Japan” Charity Album Hits iTunes

 March 25, 2011 by Brian Anthony Hernandez


To help raise money for disaster relief efforts in Japan, Universal Music Group has assembled a who’s who of the music world for a benefit album called Songs for Japan, which hit iTunes Friday. It includes an exclusive remix of Lady Gaga’s latest chart-topping single, “Born This Way.”

The 38-track album [iTunes link] costs $9.99 and features popular tunes in original, remastered, live or acoustic formats from Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Justin Bieber, Eminem, Katy Perry and other superstars (see full list below).

Worldwide proceeds from album downloads will go to the Japanese Red Cross Society to provide immediate assistance to people affected by the March 11 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The participating artists, their labels and music publishers waived their royalties, meaning every cent from each album download helps survivors.

This global initiative — one of the many new ways people can help Japan — is akin to the star-studded fundraising efforts following the destructive 2010 earthquake in Haiti when celebrities joined forces for a telethon and a new “We Are The World” charity single.

What do you think of the Songs for Japan lineup? Let us know in the comments.

Track listing


  • John Lennon — “Imagine” (Remastered)
  • U2 — “Walk On”
  • Bob Dylan — “Shelter From The Storm”
  • Red Hot Chili Peppers — “Around The World” (Live)
  • Lady Gaga — “Born This Way” (Starsmith remix)
  • Beyonce — “Irreplaceable”
  • Bruno Mars — “Talking To The Moon” (Acoustic piano version)
  • Katy Perry — “Firework”
  • Rihanna — “Only Girl (In The World)”
  • Justin Timberlake — “Like I Love You”
  • Madonna — “Miles Away” (Live)
  • David Guetta featuring Kelly Rowland — “When Love Takes Over”
  • Eminem featuring Rihanna — “Love The Way You Lie” (Clean version)
  • Bruce Springsteen — “Human Touch”
  • Josh Groban — “Awake” (Live)
  • Keith Urban — “Better Life”
  • Black Eyed Peas — “One Tribe”
  • Pink — “Sober”
  • Cee Lo Green — “It’s Ok”
  • Lady Antebellum — “I Run To You”
  • Bon Jovi — “What Do You Got?”
  • Foo Fighters — “My Hero”
  • R.E.M. — “Man On The Moon” (Live)
  • Nicki Minaj — “Save Me” (Clean version)
  • Sade — “By Your Side”
  • Michael Buble — “Hold On”
  • Justin Bieber — “Pray” (Acoustic)
  • Adele — “Make You Feel My Love”
  • Enya — “If I Could Be Where You Are”
  • Elton John — “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me”
  • John Mayer — “Waiting On The World To Change”
  • Queen — “Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)” (Remastered)
  • Kings Of Leon — “Use Somebody”
  • Sting — “Fragile” (Live)
  • Leona Lewis — “Better In Time”
  • Ne-Yo — “One In A Million”
  • Shakira — “Whenever, Wherever”
  • Norah Jones — “Sunrise”
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