Web service
Web service
The Filter (http://www.thefilter.com) is a Web service that promises to sift through the world of online entertainment — specifically music, movies and Web videos — to provide its users options that match their tastes. Although the service is still in beta, visitors can sign-up and get a taste for what it has to offer. Like other Internet recommendation services such as Pandora (http://www.pandora.com), The Filter needs to know what you like before it can offer suggestions. The service allows you to import your film preferences from movie social network Flixster (http://www.flixster.com). As for music, The Filter can import your Last.fm (http://www.last.fm) profile. You can also download an iTunes helper application that will scan your music library and upload the results to the Web service. Once your interests are imported, you can tweak them further in your taste cloud. The taste cloud is The Filter’s rating mechanism that tells the Web service’s search engine how much you like something. The Filter’s Web video suggestions are also a bit rough. Instead of offering up the Web’s best viral videos based on your tastes or being able to import your favorite clips saved on your You Tube (http://www.youtube.com) account, The Filter’s Web video offerings are tied to movies or music.
Asthma and kids
The children’s book “Breathless Bethany Buttercup” is a fun yet informative book about a little girl with asthma could help children better understand the condition. It’s easy to read — with rhyming phrases and bright pictures — and the perfect length for a bedtime story. Get a free copy of the book, written by Tolya Thompson in partnership with Allergy & Asthma Network Mothers of Asthmatics, at tinyurl.com/ckvgzc while supplies last or buy it for about $10 at amazon.com.