iPhone Review from Phone Scoop
July 18, 2007
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All Things Ipod!
June 22, 2007
The ipod has quickly transformed itself into a household word, such as Duracell, Kleenex, the walkman, qtips, and coke. These are not the actual names of the product, but rather the brand name. Brand recognition is what every company aspires to achieve. Apple, once again has succeeded in a best way possible. The ipod is the defacto portable audio device to own.
Your ipod can be used as a portable hard drive with this tip, you can put an operating system on it with mojopac, and of course there are many software packages to organize your playlists, update your album art, and synch your music.
Now you can use the power of the internet to enhance your ipod. Several new services have launched on the internet in the fashion of web 2.0 products and services. All of them geared towards integrating your musical tastes into the internet, and you daily lives. Share your playlists, or download someone else’s; check out what others are listening to, or discover new music. These are some of the newest websites and services. This list below is worth a… listen!
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ipod recording with the Xtrememac!
June 20, 2007
XtremeMac Ipod Recorder
Finally, a portable recording solution that integrates into your everyday life without any extra gadgets or power supplies and cables! For the commuter, the public transit user, or the “quick…record it before I forget it” like me, the XtremeMac Ipod recorder is a welcomed innovation! Can you tell I love it? even before I’ve used it? Not at all obvious!
The recorder plugs into the bottom of the ipod (with video, and nano 2G)and seamlessly integrates with it. It has a built in speaker, as well as a standard 1/8” mini (3.5mm) stereo jack. Included is a flexible mini goose neck type microphone that can be detached from the unit. You may choose to use a line in signal from your computer sound card, or from any other low level input source. There is a line and mic input selector switch to handle the impedance and input levels. You may also purchase a lapel microphone, or use a different condenser microphone. I find it especially useful for recording a band, my lyrics or memo’s. The included mic can be easily propped up and ready to record anything.
The included microphone records in mono with two quality settings. The specs are here
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Ipod’s dirty little secret
May 28, 2007
The ipod as well all know has some amazing features. With its ability to mobilize our music and media files. It can serve up all a digital buffet of music and video, help organize your contacts, and allows you to play games and view the family photos.
All great and amazing, but one very important feature that many of us overlook is the ipod’s dirty little secret. I am referring to its ability to double as a mobile filing cabinet.
The average ipod has a 20Gb hard drive. If you are like me, I have about half of my ipod filled with music that I actually listen to. Once the honeymoon is over, and you organize your media collection to include what you actually listen to, you can free up some space on the hard drive. iTunes by default manages your ipod and the space on it. Change a few settings in iTunes and you can access those precious Gb’s of unused space.
The real benefit is of course the amount of storage you have. In comparison to USB flash drives, they typically offer 4Gb of storage at a reasonable price. Any larger, and the price seems to be slightly out of reach. Of course wait a few months and USB storage capacities will double and quadruple, and prices will continue to fall. For the here and now, you cannot beat the price per Gb of storage the ipod offers.
To manage your ipod hard drive usage follow these simple steps:
- Connect iPod to your computer and then open iTunes. You should wait until the ipod and itunes are finished synchronizing.
- Select your iPod in the source pane on the left hand side. Open the Summary tab and select “Manually manage music and videos” and then click Apply.
At this point, you can close iTunes, or minimize it and continue working. Open My Computer, and you will see an additional drive letter (C:\ is your primary hard drive, D: may be your cdrom) If you have any other hard drives or partitions, then your ipod will appear as the next logical drive letter in the sequence. Open your ipod’s drive letter and you will notice many other folders. Note: Leave those files and folders alone. You can drag and drop your files as you please. There are no limitations to what you can store on the ipod, as long as you don’t go beyond the drive’s capacity.
To revert back to automatic mode, simply remove the check mark that you placed earlier in the itunes summary tab. You can also view how much free space you have on the ipod drive with the summary tab.
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…and I’m Linux
April 24, 2007
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What’s your Beef? – MAC users
April 17, 2007
I do not loathe Mac computers as a product but I am starting to dislike the “social-community” that is the Mac user.
Problem #1
Have you ever noticed that MAC users cannot stop talking about their precious Macs? They’re always asking PC users to switch or at least try a MAC out. Well, I’ve tried it out and I’m sticking with my PC and Linux/Vista/XP. Apple has spoiled MAC users, rewarding them with praise for using their simple software. Macs are computers built for people that do not want to learn anything new. They are content that everything has already been done for them. They do not want to experience what it is to be a “true” computer user. While there is nothing wrong with the “plug n go” approach, I as a CompSci geek like to mess around with the internal workings (Hardware/Software) of my computers. In other words, I like to learn.
Problem #2
Have you ever noticed that if you insult a MAC you will have a group of MAC users surround and yell at you while saying that you have no idea what you’re talking about? It’s like they’re a cult! They’re trying to convert you even though you have no interest and are completely satisfied with your LIFE/PC.
It’s apparent that in order to be a MAC user you must be: (From Apple’s Marketing)
- A four year old
- Unemployed (a.k.a. Hippie)
- An Artist
- In an unsuccessful band
- A “wannabe” Professional
- A newbie with computers
Problem #3
Have you noticed that the majority of MAC users are juvenile? They are extremely sensitive and cliquey. They make it seem like you are emotionally damaging them if you “bad-talk” their “way” of life or computer usage. I may remind you that it’s a COMPUTER! We have enough social-networks in the world, we do not need one more.
My final words are to keep it to yourself Mac users! We’ll either stay with our beloved PC or switch to MAC in time. The fact is that we do not need you forcing Macs in our face 24/7.
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What’s your Beef? – Canadian Digital Copyright Laws
April 17, 2007
Beef? – Xbox 360 media content, Apple TV media content, VOD content in Canada.
Xbox 360 & Xbox Live
- We pay the same amount of money for the “Live” service as other countries (U.S.)
- We do not get the same content
- We do not have access to TV, Movies, HD Content
Apple TV
- There is no monthly or yearly subscription fee (YAY!)
- The major draw to buying an Apple TV is to stream video
- Canadians do not have access to TV, Movies or anything that is good on iTunes
- If all we wanted was to stream audio why buy a Apple TV?
Major Television Networks
- NBC, ABC, etc….
- Their shows are offered on demand
- Canadians do not have access to these VODs
What’s the problem?
Many people believe that it’s the company’s that are holding us down but they would be mistaken. In fact it is our own copyright laws that prevent these offerings from showing up to Canadians everywhere. I was extremely p’od when I wasn’t able to watch my missed LOST episodes on ABCs website. I got the following message “Only viewers in the United States can watch these Full-length episodes.” I did some research and it was clear that these companies would like to tap into this very “connected” country but they cannot.
No wonder Canadians are constantly being caught pirating Movies and TV shows! We don’t have a choice and I assure you that if we did we would purchase. Just look at the online sales of music in Canada. It’s an extremely successful business model. I think it may be time to amend Canada’s Digital Copyright Laws!!!!!
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