iPod Zod

Is It Bad To Jog With Your iPod?

2007-02-09T08:14:00.000-07:00

There are so may great features that make an iPod so much better to job with than say a portable DVD player, or the old reliable Sony Walkman. First of all you can hold infinitely more songs. DVD players had the advantage over cassette players allowing you to skip songs, but had the drawback of skipping - especially when jogging. You don't have to worry about an iPod skipping.

Some believe that iPods have no moving parts. This is actually not true. iPods contain mini hard drives. Unfortunately, all that jarring from jogging can affect you iPod in the long run, but I wouldn't be too concerned.

If you jog quite often and are worried about protecting your valuable electronic device, you may want to consider the iPod Shuffle or another portable MP3 player that uses flash memory rather than a mini hard drive.

Flash member cannot hold near the amount of a mini hard drive, but they have no moving parts and therefor will last longer over time.

Fake iPod Nano

2006-12-16T06:25:00.000-07:00

I ran across this fake iPod Nano on an Italian site. Too bad I can't read Italian. If you are cheap, you could carry this around and almost fool the masses into believing you own a Nano.

I think it is interesting though that many of these fakes will include extra features such as an FM radio transmitter, and built in voice recorder. Sometimes I wish my iPod had these extra features - especially the ability to control songs (delete, sort, etc.) directly on the device.

Can I Rename Songs On My iPod Nano?

2006-12-14T20:13:00.000-07:00

The query in the title "Can I Rename Songs On My iPod Nano?" actually brought traffic to my site from Google. Well as long as someone is searching, I might as well answer.

The short answer, no. You can't directly. You have to rename your songs through iTunes or some other way such as Windows Media, Winamp, or TagScanner to name a few. I suppose iTunes is the easiest since it was created to work with the iPod.

Sorry Google searcher!

Blendtec Blends an iPod

2006-12-14T05:16:00.000-07:00

Blentec has blended some odd stuff, but I think they've gone too far with this one! I sure hope that was a defective model :)

Now, let's see that again in slow motion, with some touching music...

7 Sources For Free Audio Books

2006-12-13T06:06:00.000-07:00

Some call me weird, but I prefer listening to audio books rather than music most of the time. I think I just like to keep learning and keep my brain going.

If you like to listen to audio books you might like to benefit from free books.

There are 7 sources I know of for free audio books.

Project Gutenberg: Probably the hub all all things public domain, this is always a good place to start your search. Project Gutenberg's audio page has links to some of the sites below, but also has it's own directory of human-read and computer generated audio books you can browse.
LibriVox: Contains human-read books from the public domain. So mostly these books are classics written before 1920 or so. From their site: LibriVox volunteers record chapters of books in the public domain and release the audio files back onto the net. Our goal is to make all public domain books available as free audio books. We are a totally volunteer, open source, free content, public domain project.
Literal Systems: This site does not have quite as large as selection, but they are all free still. Also, every book seems to be only in MP3 format - which is usually my preference anyway.
AudioBooksForFree.com: This site has over a thousand titles of free audio books. I think this site is a bit deceiving though. It is plagued with dollar signs. The books are free if downloaded in "bearable" quality (8 Kb/sec). A better quality download will cost a bit more.
The Public Library: Yes this is a no-brainer, but often overlooked. You local library has thousands of books on CD. My library has links online to download audio books (unfortunately they only work in Window's Media for a set number of days that I have the book "checked out", but it is simple enough to extend those days.)
Audible: Now this source is not free per se, but if you don't have an account there, you can join as a platinum member and get 3 free audio books. These are high quality best sellers that you are not going to find free anywhere else (except your public library). If you want them to be free, you have to cancel within 14 days of signing up.
PodioBooks: Here you can sign up to get portions of audio books delivered via RSS feeds. From the site's FAQ: All the books you'll find on podiobooks.com are provided by the authors to you for free. Many authors do this to get exposure for their work, others do it in the hopes you'll buy their next work in development. Still others simply do it for the sheer joy of writing. And while it's not required, you have the option to donate money to the author of your choice. When you consider that audio books run usually 50% more than their hardcover counterparts... we hope you'll be generous. Authors receive 75% of all the proceeds from the donations from listeners. The smaller portion goes to the maintenance and upkeep of podiobooks.com.

Yes there are other sources of free audio books out there. Some legal, some not so, but this should get you started.

How To Delete Songs Directly From iPod

2006-12-12T05:27:00.000-07:00

Deceptive title I know, because from all I know it can't really be done. But wouldn't it be nice if you could delete a song directly from the iPod, so that when you're out on the go, you can just drop a song you don't particularly like without waiting until you get back to your computer to update iTunes and resync? Well I do.

There are a couple of hacks though to help you remember to delete it later.

For example, you could give the song a one star rating. Hit the select button twice while the song is playing then rotate to the number of stars you want. You can then delete all your one-star songs at the next opportunity.

Another method is to hold the select button down on a song. This will add it to an on-the-go playlist - which will give you list of songs to take action on.

For the bit more advanced, you can create a smart playlist which stores all your one-star songs. This is sort of a combination of both techniques above.

Please, if anyone finds a hack that really can delete a song directly from the iPod post it here. It would be nice if you could press the select button on a song and get options for the song.

What Song Was Number One On Your Birthday?

2006-12-11T12:31:00.000-07:00

This site lets you find the single that was number one on the day your were born. On the day I was born it was "I Just Want To Be Your Everything" by Andy Gibb.

Sadly, I've never head of it. Luckily though, someone has posted it on YouTube so I can re-live the tune that was most likely playing on my first car ride home :)

Free Music for Your Mood

2006-12-11T10:50:00.000-07:00

I stumbled across this website this morning. I thought it was pretty cool. Basically you just click in a little grid based on your mood, it then finds a song in that mood range and other songs nearby to choose from.

Check it out at Musicovery.com - it's pretty sweet!

I suppose if you're looking for new music and artists to put on your iPod, you can start here to find it.

How To Listen To Your iPod While Mowing The Lawn

2006-12-08T10:40:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I know, a strange post indeed for the middle of winter! The topic just crossed my mind though.

I have a neighbor that I noticed that whenever he mows his lawn he listens to music on some HUGE headphones. I thought it was odd at first. Then I got my iPod and tried listening to music while mowing the lawn. I had to turn the volume up full blast just to hear anything over my crappy old mower.

Now I see why my friend used such huge headphones. I went browsing about the net and found this pair that a user gave 5 stars to because he could now listen to his iPod while mowing the lawn.

Or, or you cheapskates out there like to engineer your own treasures, you can build your own set of "jackhammer headphones" for under $20.

And for the rest of us, there is always eBay. :)

50 Fun Things To Do With Your iPod

2006-12-08T06:50:00.000-07:00

I found this site that lists 50 fun things to do with your iPod. Yeah, it's a catchy title, but the list comes up short, and there are no refunds ;)

My personal favorite --

#35:
Disguise it as breath mints

The iPod shuffle is so small that it fits nicely within a case of Altoids. Punch a hole in the top for your headphones, and people watching you listen to an Altoids tin will think there's something curiously wrong with you.

Copying Music From Your iPod To Your Computer

2006-12-07T06:02:00.000-07:00

I always figured there was a way to copy music from your iPod back to your computer. I've just never had a reason to try yet. I did notice that if you have your iPod set up to be used for storage as well as music, then you could browse your iPod folders. Your music folders are hidden though, so you have to change your folder options to view hidden folders.

To do this in Windows XP, open a folder and select Tools -> Folder Options

Then, in the View tab, select Show hidden files.

You can see you music files, but they don't necessarily have useful names. I haven't tried it, but I'm sure you could find a way to rename them - maybe useing tagscanner.

There is a tool that will find and download songs from your iPod for you. It works on both the Mac and PC. It's called PodUtil.

Getting Some Free MP3's (legally)

2006-12-06T05:08:00.000-07:00

It's Christmas time and I'm bored with my collection of Christmas MP3's that I have listed to the past few years. I found a way to get a nice new collection of Christmas music on my iPod. Now I'm going to share so you can too :) And yes, this is completely free and legal as far as I know. Ethical? Well, that's another discussion for another blog.

What you will need:
1. Winamp
2. StreamRipper for Winamp

Basically what you want to do is find a ShoutCast radio station you like with a good bitrate, then start ripping it.

Post a comment here if you can't figure out how to use it and I can explain further.

Sony Looking To Follow iPod/Zune Strategies

2006-12-05T05:02:00.000-07:00

From the WIRED blog:

At Sony's CES preview event today at 30 Rockefeller Center, Sony revealed its holiday plans, its CES gameplan, and talked a lot about about HD video. But there were a few scraps for us digital audio types, including Sony exec Jay Vendenbree calling "MP3 players" (not "digital audio players") one of Sony's strong suits this holiday season, despite the fact that the 2006 holiday product guide they passed around listed only two MP3 players -- the NW-E003 and an American Idol-themed NW-E005.
More intriguing was Sony Electronics head Stan Glasgow's hint about what Sony might do in the MP3 player/digital music store space after watching Microsoft launch the Zune.

Next holiday season could see a new approach from Sony in the MP3 player space -- one that could resemble Apple's iTunes/iPod combo or Microsoft's similarly-unified Zune approach. Glasgow said that Sony "still ha[s]n't come back to the [digital audio] market hard," but that "we [CE manufacturers] all want to use this approach," and also "you'll find us doing something in that direction" in the future.

Read more ->

Comments on the site are asking Sony to just make their current products better, such as the PSP for example. I say go for the iPod/Zune market. Drive the prices down & give us another alternative.

I was sad to see Sony drop their Clie line for the Palm OS.

TagScanner

2006-12-05T04:28:00.000-07:00

A few years ago I was looking for a tool to help me rename some file that made more sense base on their ID3 tags. (I think this was back in the days of Napster when people named files weird).

I found this cool tool that I still use today. It can quickly rename a whole folder of files.

Also, it can work the other way around. You can create ID3 tags based on the file name. This is helpful when you find mp3s that have good names, but no ID3 information.

There are really a number of things you can use this tool for. From the homepage:

Overview

TagScanner is a multifunction program to organize large music collections. It can edit tags of several progressive audio formats, rename files based on the tag information, generate tag information from filenames. Also you may get album info via internet music database freedb.org. Supports ID3v1, ID3v2, Vorbis comments and APEv2 tags. Worksheets technology. Powerful TAG editor with batch functions and special features. Playlist maker with ability to export playlists to HTML or Excel. Built-in player.Very useful interface.
Features

Rename files based on the tag information

Advanced multiple files TAG editor

Supports MP3, OGG, Musepack, Monkey’s Audio, FLAC, AAC, OptimFROG, SPEEX, WavePack files

Supports ID3 1.0 / 1.1 / 2.2 / 2.3 / 2.4 tags, APE v1 and v2 tags, Vorbis Comments

Supports for ID3v2 Lyrics and Attached pictures

TAGs generation from folder/filename

TAGs versions conversions

TAGs case conversions

Import tag information from an online database (freedb)

Manual text-search for information in freedb

Worksheets technology

Recursive subfolders support

Powerful Playlists editor

Write extended playlists like Winamp or Sonique

Playlists export to HTML, Excel and CSV(e.g. for MySQL)

Best of all, this tool is FREE!

Sync Your iPod Faster With USB 2.0

2006-12-04T07:14:00.000-07:00

My computer is coming up on its fourth birthday. It is sad considering that last numbers I heard was that the average life of a computer is 2.5 years. It could be worse. My friend is still running Windows 98 on and 750 MHz machine. I don't remember the last time I saw a processor measured in megahertz. The ironic thing is that both of us build computers for clients. It's like the cobler's kids having no shoes really. That's not to say that we don't upgrade when necessary. It just has not yet been necessary for me and I don't see it being necissary anytime soon. I have added a DVD rom, DVD burner, a gig of RAM, and a wireless adapter. Oh yeah and and extra hard drive that came into my possession.

I think my next upgrade needs to be USB 2.0 though. Did you know that USB 2.0 is 40 times faster that the original Full Speed USB?

The upgrade is really not that expensive either. You can find USB 2.0 adapters at Newegg for under $6!

I Love My Altec Lansing inMotion for my iPod

2006-12-01T05:23:00.000-07:00

One of the gifts I got for my last birthday was the Altec Lansing inMotion mobile speaker system for my iPod. I'm really impressed with the speaker quality. It's small and portable, but it can really kick it out - even with just 4 AA batteries!

My mom said she picked it out for me because she didn't like hers or her boyfriends for various reasons (such as not being able to charge the batter while it's docked and plugged in, or not being very portable). This one she said had all the features that SHE wanted so it must be good.

Here is what I like about it:

Great sound
Easy to use
Batteries or A/C adapter
Only 4 AA batteries (I use rechargeable NIMH that seem to last forever)
Remote control
Works with my 30 GB iPod video and my wife's iPod nano
Folds up flat - easy to store
Nice storage bag for protection

I checked Wal-Mart.com and found they were out of stock, so it must be pretty popular this holiday season. I suppose you can always find it elsewhere such as eBay (view relative eBay items here). I also found this system on Amazon in both black and white.

I took some photos of my inMotion for all to enjoy :)

Find relative eBay items here.

Microsoft Zune vs. iPod

2006-11-30T06:28:00.000-07:00

The other day I was looking at top searched on Google. I saw the word "zune" and had no idea what it was. :blush:

As many of you already know I'm sure, Microsoft is now trying to compete with the iPod.

This is nothing new. There seems to be thousands of portable media players out there. I've seen lots that have more features and are certainly cheaper. Tech geeks dig these devices.

The problem with these other devices is that they don't have the marketing background of Apple. This is why I think the Zune has a chance of gaining lots of market share. Microsoft is notorious for their marketing efforts.

iPod Hacks reports that the Zune is barely breathing. I know a lot of people, myself included, thought that Microsoft could never take over the handheld market and compete with Palm OS. It was a sad day when my company said they wouldn't order me a new Palm because they were only going to support Pocket PC. But it led me to get my first Pocket PC device.

I don't use the device nearly as much as I did my Palm OS, nevertheless, it did replace my Palm and now it seems Microsoft has succeeded in controlling the handheld market.

It remains to be seen for the Zune though. It will be hard to replace the iPod mainly due to all the after market goodies you can find for the iPod. A couple weeks ago I saw a cool kitchen radio thing that ejects a docking station for your iPod. My brother in law bought one for his wife. It is cool gadgets like that the make the iPod an easy choice for most consumers.

Logitech Media Keys with iTunes

2006-11-29T09:23:00.000-07:00

I have a pretty basic Logitech corded internet keyboard with media keys at the top. They didn't work with iTunes. I made iTunes my default player for audio files. (I recorded a short video on how to do that, which you can watch on Google Video & YouTube). That seemed to make it work. But it only works when iTunes is the active application.

Does anyone have better experience with Logitech media keys?

iTunes

2006-11-29T06:01:00.000-07:00

My first experience with iTunes was highly disappointing. I never saw why anyone would use it. I really preferred the new beta version of Windows Media 11.

I have to admit though in the past few months, the updates to iTunes have really impressed me. I like the different view available now where you can see the images of your albums.

I'm still learning though. I did a Google search for iTunes tips and found this site on Apple: http://www.apple.com/itunes/hottips/

My iPod

2006-11-28T14:08:00.000-07:00

I got my iPod this year from my mom. It's a funny story really. I'm 28 year old and I finally graduated with my bachelor's degree in Computer Science last year. We were at my older brother's house celebrating his success in getting his doctorate degree and starting his residency. I noticed my mom gave him an iPod.

Well, it didn't surprise me since she always tends to get him cool stuff (she bought him an XBox a couple years ago for Christmas) while I always get clothes. I'm sure my mom sees it as being nice to me because my mom would rather have clothes. My wife is the same way. Plus, being the uber geek I am, everyone is trying to get me to dress better.

Well after the party, as my mom was getting on her Harley with her boyfriend, I said, "That's a nice iPod you got Toby... You know, I graduated this year too... (obvious hint)"

She was actually surprised. "You did? Well, your birthday is coming up. I guess I know what to get you." (She really didn't know. I didn't make much to do about graduating. I didn't even go to graduation. I just had them mail me my degree.)

The next week my mom invited me over for lunch. She got me an 30 GB black iPod video. SWEET! She then told me how proud she was of me for graduating because I already had a good job and the degree meant nothing to my career but I stuck with it with a wife and 2 kids. Ah, thanks mom.

A couple months later for my birthday she got me some cool gadgets to got with it. I got the car adapter and a a speaker set the charges it while plugged in, or to take it on the go with batteries.