Posts filed under 'Digital Living'
iTunes 7 is now available. I loaded this up over the weekend and am pretty pleased with some of the new features. I wasn’t really interested in upgrading until I learned that a whole new batch of (real) games are now available for the (fifth-generation only) iPod–one of my favorites, being Zuma by PopCap.
In able to use games, you also need to upgrade your iPod firmware to 1.2. This has been made much easier since iTunes 7 now has an iPod manager section which allows control of a number of iPod settings and functions.
Probably the biggest news is the addition of movies to iTunes. A library of Disney films can be purchased with a resolution higher than previous video downloads making them friendlier for large screen viewing.
Movies cost between $9.99 and $14.99. Games cost $4.99.
Other games include:
Bejeweled, Tetris, PAC-MAN, Vortex, Zuma, Texas Hold ‘Em, Mini Golf, Mahjong, and Cubis 2.
New features that don’t cost anything are:
Automatic Album Art which reviews your song library and provides the album artwork to be viewed within iTunes or on your iPod. This feature does seem a bit scary–you can only get this missing art if you have an iTunes account, and now you are sharing a list of all your music with them. They of course tell you not to worry–so I do.
Cover Flow allows you to browse your music collection by flipping through the cover art. It is reminiscent of an old album collection. Now we can once again judge a book by its cover.
Gapless Playback is a must for anyone listening to live albums or tracks that are meant to flow from one song right into another. Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of The Moon is a great example of this. Prior to this feature, there was a noticeable and offensive gap between songs. This can take place retroactively as again, your music collection is scanned and fixed. I tried it and it works well.
If any of these features seems compelling to you, I would recommend upgrading to iTunes 7.
September 18th, 2006
As I wrote about a few days ago, my iPod has not been feeling well. After numerous resets and much frustration, I decided to visit the Apple store on 5th Avenue.
After traveling the 10 floors from my office and underground via the spiral staircase, I visited the “Genius bar” and signed up for a consultation. They have a nice reservation system and are quite helpful. Counters of young creative technologists with modern haircuts, tattoos, and piercings (you know…Apple people) all eager to help.
I met with Eric, who quickly diagnosed my problem as a hard drive issue. My iPod was less than 1-year old, so still under warranty, but more than six months, so I would have to pay around $30 to swap it for a new unit. I actually opted to pay for a $60 AppleCare plan which extends my warranty a total of 2 years past the original purchase price. I don’t normally do extended warranties, but I get the feeling this might happen again.
I take great care of my iPod. I have it housed snuggly in a leather case with clear plastic window so it can never come in contact with anything nasty. But still, the front screen has received some abrasions. This has been a common complaint on these devices. Anything so portable with a sensitive hard drive must also be susceptible to shock and other environmental conditions, but how else are you going to get 60GB of information on there?
I thought it interesting that a little sign on the iPod bar advertised an iPod recycling program where they would happily dispose of your iPod in exchange for 10% off the purchase price of a new one.
Well in less than 20 minutes I was setup with a brand new iPod–charged but without any content at all. I would need to sync up with my computer to get everything back on. I always thought that should have at least some songs and videos loaded on the player out-of-the-box. I’m sure some up-and-coming unsigned band would kill to be pre-loaded.
I also lost my personal engraving that I had on the back of the unit, trading it for immediate gratification. You can opt to get your replacement in the mail complete with your personalization.
The guy next to me had the same problem and got a new unit as well. I wonder what percent of units sold fail within one year of use?
Although disappointed that my iPod met an early demise, I was quite happy with the service and quick replacement. I don’t know how smart these geniuses are, but they are very helpful and professional–Thanks Eric.
Apple Support
August 31st, 2006
Breaking up over the phone is cowardly. Breaking up using instant messenger is cowardly and modern. Firing 400 people using email is cowardly, modern, and efficient.
“Unfortunately your position is one that has been eliminated,” is the email that 400 RadioShack employees received letting them know they were no longer welcome at the “shack.” This sounds like a totally cold way to break this news, but evidently there were many meetings letting people know this was coming. It sounds like it was a lottery where everyone gets a ticket and there are 400 losers–Congratulations.
Some people complained that this should have been done face-to-face, but why bother. I have been in these meetings, and there is not much to say. It’s not like you can ask for your job back. After the shock, there are just questions about severance and extending health insurance. What better way than to have an email that hits you in the head about all of these things? Plus, it takes a long time to notify 400 people. At 15 minutes per person, that would be 100 hours of effort. Once the process started, everyone would wait in agony wondering if they were to be called next. The email method is like ripping the band-aid off quickly–sure it hurts, but it’s over quick.
Just think of the poor sap that showed up to work because his firing email was filtered as spam!
P.S. It always makes me a little made that the last line of these stories is about how the company’s stock rose in value after such a move. Congratulations.
RadioShack lays off employees via e-mail - Yahoo News
August 30th, 2006
I use my iPod every day–on the train, walking to work, sometimes in the car. Every once in a while it malfunctions. Sometimes it appears I no longer have any content loaded. Other times I get a sad iPod icon. Sometimes the apple symbol stays on the screen and nothing happens at all.
The basic, and I think only, fix is to reset your iPod:
- Toggle the Hold switch on and off. (Slide it to Hold, then turn it off again.)
- Press and hold the Menu and Select buttons until the Apple logo appears, about 6 to 10 seconds. You may need to repeat this step.
The most important thing to remember in these fairly simple steps is “You may need to repeat this step.”
After tying these 2 or 3 times, I started to worry that something was wrong. I tried connecting with my computer to see if that would jolt it back to life and eliminate weak battery power as the culprit.
I was about to take it to the flagship Apple store here in NYC, but being lazy, and a man, I decided to keep trying. (Did I mention that I work in the same building the Apple store is located?)
After a few more resets, I felt the hard drive spinning and signs of life. A few more resets and my iPod was alive again. I just wonder if this is a predictor of an early death for my iPod.
Apple - Support - iPod
August 25th, 2006
As a gadget boy, I have a Treo 600 on one hip and a Blackberry 7290 on the other. In my IBM ThinkPad T42 
laptop bag, I have my 60GB Video iPod
. I am generally using at least two of these devices at once–while on the train or walking. When driving, I usually can only swing one at a time. With all of these devices in close proximity to one another, I have noticed some strange phenomenon.
The Blackberry is a noisy device. In a radio frequency (RF) interference sense, the Blackberry shouts over everything. I can always tell when I am receiving a new email a few seconds before it actually gets delivered, for if the Blackberry is anywhere near a speaker or telephone, there is a telltale staticy sound that one hears whenever the device is sending or receiving information. When this happens on a conference call, it can get quite annoying.
Now I have confirmed that the Blackberry “communicates” with the iPod. The good news is that I have not experienced hearing any interference while listening to the iPod, but almost worse, the Blackberry adjusts the volume on the iPod! At first I thought I was imagining things–perhaps I bumped the volume control wheel, or the case that protects the easily scratched pod was the culprit. After some definitive tests, I have confirmed that if these two devices are next to one another and the Blackberry communicates with the mother ship, your iPod’s volume will change–sometimes lower, but sometimes to an ear-splitting full volume.
Like quarrelsome children, I have learned to keep these two devices apart, but I am considering upgrading my iPod software and enabling the volume limiting function to safeguard against a “Blackberry volume boost.”
If you have had similar experience, please comment.
August 3rd, 2006
I have used portable media players for years now. From the basic Walkman, generic MP3 player, and now an iPod, I have had ear buds shoved in my ears for some time. One of my favorite uses is to listen to audio books on my commute into NYC. Between train and walk time, I can do quite a bit of “reading” each day. Listening to anything through earphones gives you a great appreciation of just how LOUD the city is.
After walking past diesel locomotives that vibrate your body and the loud blast of air brakes, once I hit the street, the normal din of buses, trucks, and taxis easily competes with the volume of audio being injected directly into my ears. It is no wonder people are having hearing problems as they need to crank the volume to compete with surrounding noise. Throw in some horns and a siren, and you may as well shut the sound off.
When traveling on airplanes, I often saw people wearing large, ear covering headphones — you know the ones that ’70s roller skaters wore. It turns out that these are noise canceling headphones that actually listen to the surrounding noise and through active electronics, phase out background noise. I looked into getting these, but when your headphones are larger than your player, it hardly becomes a portable situation. Also, the fewer things with batteries the better.
The other types of noise canceling earphones are passive. These block out noise by being shoved into your ears forming a tight acoustical seal. They come with a few different size ear cups for varying ear canals. They work very well and may actually help combat hearing loss since you don’t need to turn up the volume as high.
I am using Shure E2c’s which are about $100. There are other models that have wider frequency ranges costing over $500.
There are some safety issues to consider whenever using any earphones. If they work too well, then you can’t hear any outside noises like, “hey buddy! Watch out for that bus!” Driving is another activity that you should be cautious with, and I’m sure it must be illegal to drive with earphones in both ears.
But what’s the point of having great audio if your earphones aren’t any good? Or if you can’t hear the audio over all of the noise pollution?
Shure Earphones are available here
.
June 2nd, 2006
If you haven’t already uploaded a picture of yourself to see which celebrity you resemble, give it a try at MyHeritage.com. Currently in beta, MyHeritage seems that it will become a genealogy/family tree site, but for now, its face recognition utility can be a lot of fun.
It’s quite simple. Upload a basic head-shot of a person and run it. Your picture is scanned, facial features identified, and then compared to a database of celebrity photographs. You are then presented with an interesting set of results which you can share with your family and friends. I’m not sure how this will all play out with family trees, but for now, it is a fun novelty.
My uploaded and recognized photo:
My results:
Your mileage may vary. Enjoy!
MyHeritage is available here.
May 23rd, 2006
It seems that ever since there have been computers, there have been computer games. I can still remember the text-based adventure game ZORK. (”You are standing in an open field….”) Things have come a long way. Nowadays, I divide computer games into two categories: 1) Complicated games that take hours to master, forever to finish, and consume days of your life; and 2) simple games that take minutes to master, a short time to complete, and consume days of your life.
The standard Windows games of Solitaire, Minesweeper, and FreeCell fall into this second category and still seem popular today. In a pinch for a quick gaming fix, I will resort to playing these and they certainly do pass the time. It seems a masterful feat to find a game simple in concept yet very fun to play (and play and play and play). PopCap Games is a place to find such games.
Bejeweled is perhaps the most popular game from PopCap. It is available as a Palm handhelp version, and Palm owner I know has it installed. With over 30 games available, there is something for everyone. They fall into four categories: Puzzle, Arcade, Word, and Card games.
My Favorites
Dynomite! is a prehistoric egg-blasting games where you shoot eggs at similar colors to match three or more to remove them as they advance down at you. It is simple, comical, and very addictive. Part action and strategy, it reminds me of Tetris.
Zuma is similar as a ball-blasting game to match similar colors as a trail of balls winds through complicated layouts.
Candy Train reminds me of one of those leaky pipe games. Keep the train on track by rotating the tracks to form a continuous path to the destination picking up bonuses along the way.
Bookworm is a letter game perfect for Scrabble and Boggle players searching for words is world of letters. Special tiles, bonuses, and hazards keep this interesting.
TyperShark is a great way to improve your typing skills by touch-typing in order to keep your diver from being devoured by sharks.
Most of the games are available for free online play and many are available for download and purchase if you really fall in love with them. I’m sure you will get addicted to at least one of these games.
Play games from PopCap here.
Other free online games available at MIStupid.com.
May 18th, 2006
The concept of being read aloud to starts when we are children. Then, the responsibility of adulthood forces us to read to ourselves. However, there are times when reading a book is simply not appropriate. It is hard to walk through city streets or jog through the neighborhood whilst reading. It is also unsafe, and evidently illegal, to read while driving.
The concept of recording someone reading books is probably as old as recording technology. Books on Tape is actually a popular brand for this service, but who still uses cassette tapes? They are also available on CDs, but even abridged versions of most popular novels are over eight hours long, and that’s a lot of CDs to be shuffling around.
The MP3 format has proven to be a great format for spoken word recordings. Since the frequency range is much narrower than music, voice recordings are very compression friendly, allowing to pack a long program is a small space. Not that it is a problem anymore with things like 60 Gigabyte iPods.
Another benefit of the digital format for audio books is that you can immediately download and transfer to your portable audio device for your listening pleasure. Immediate gratification always seems to be a big bonus.
Where do you get these audio books? There are many services out there, but personally, I use Audible. I have been a member for years and have an account in which I pay a monthly fee which allows me to download any two books per month.
Browse their offerings by category, search, view best seller lists, read user reviews, and listen to excerpts. Add the selection to your shopping cart, purchase, and you are ready to download in varying level of fidelity. They provide the software to transfer the audio to your favorite MP3 device. I used to listen to these on my Treo 600 smart phone until I got an iPod. The file format is not a simple MP3. A form of digital rights management (DRM) is imposed so that you cannot share these files with others. In fact, you seem to only be able to listen to the programs on your computer and one other device.
I find that novels are suited best for listening. Any instructional or informational type texts tend to need review and often include important graphics. An audio recording is not the best for reference material as it is also hard to navigate to a specific “page” as desired.
Another challenge I have with reading, is that it does require a dedication to that as one task. Although some might argue that is important, that type of focus is hard to find in our busy schedules. Reading before bed only aids me in falling asleep quickly. If your day has a long drive, commute, workout, or other chunks of time that could be filled by listening to books, you should try it.
Audio programming is available from Audible.
May 16th, 2006
It seems that web domain names have lessened the desire for “vanity” phone numbers. You know, those phone numbers that spell out words that are easy to remember but take twice as long to dial because you have to decode them first. Your existing phone number might already have some interesting mnemonics that you can discover using PhoneSpell.
PhoneSpell.org is a free website that allows you to do many things with phone numbers. The most basic is to enter 3 to 10 digits for phone numbers. PhoneSpell will then search through its database of common words and return a variety of results that may prove to be interesting or useless.
Don’t get too excited. Some phone numbers just don’t produce good results. Some don’t produce any. Keep in mind that there are no letters for the number 1 key.
Other features of PhoneSpell:
- Enter a full phone number to see what words and phrases it spell
- Enter the start of a phone number to see what words start with those digits
- Enter some letters to see (and even dial) the corresponding phone number
PhoneSpell has been around for many years, but I always return whenever I get a new phone number to check if I have struck gold are not. If you would like to give me a call, just dial 720-box-a-crap and leave a message.
PhoneSpell is available free here.
May 12th, 2006
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