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Steve Bass's Weekly Newsletter
TechBite's columnist Steve Bass writes weekly commentary on the technology products he loves, the strategies for getting the most out of them, and the gotchas that can cause computing misery. Plus a couple of weekly laughs.
Bass Buys an iPod touch; PDF Conversions; Fine-tune Player
In This Issue
I'm an iPod touch Owner!
The Apple Phenomenon
Look Out for iTunes
This Just In: Free Wi-Fi at Starbucks
Want to Buy a touch?
Three Essential iPod Tools
Tool of the Week: PDF to Word
Web Site of the Week: Finetune Player
Time Wasters
Guess Who
I'm an iPod touch Owner!
You would think a PC guy could escape Apple's clutches. I've been successful until now, but I recently bought an Apple iPod touch. Here's the weird part: I love it.
If you own an iPod touch, you're wondering why it took me so long. For the rest of you: This is one fun device, and a terrifically useful one with the right applications. Watch a video to see what the gizmo does. (Warning: The presenter is a hurt-your-eyes perky Apple evangelist.)
Actually, I had no choice. My wife, Judy, heard about iBird ($30), a must-have birding program available for the Apple iPhone and iPod touch. The app does away with the hassle of carrying birding field guides; iBird shows images and illustrations of birds, plays their songs, supplies behavior and range details, and more. (Even if you're not a birder, watch a video of iBird in action -- it's amazing.) [top]
The Apple Phenomenon
The iPod touch can do everything you'd expect from a portable media player -- listen to music and podcasts, watch videos, and run programs designed for it. It's just that everything is a lot cooler, including the icons, the navigation, and the nifty free apps.
And boy, are there apps. I've downloaded a dozen free Sudoku programs, a high-frequency whistle to get my dog's attention, an accurate carpenter's level, and dozens of others fun tools. I have a Wi-Fi finder, a news reader for the Los Angeles Times and New York Times, a cheap gas looker-upper, and the Weather Channel and Weather Network, both which get me more detailed weather forecasts than the iPod's built-in weather feature. Google has all sorts of applications specially designed for mobile devices, including Google News, Google Calendar, and Gmail.
Most of the apps are free or cost under a buck. To download podcasts, for instance, I found RSSPlayer, a 99-cent gem.
You can use your home network wireless connection to download everything. If you're traveling, or just floating around town, and within range of a Wi-Fi hotspot, say, a library with free access, or fee-based Wi-Fi at Starbucks, you can use the iPod's built in wireless feature to access the Internet. Just like on your notebook, you can check e-mail, browse the Web, stream video and podcasts, and download programs. The touch is essentially an iPhone, but without the outrageous monthly fee for the continuous Internet connection.
This just in: You can get free Wi-Fi at Starbucks, just by getting and registering one of its refillable cards. You'll need to refill or use the card monthly and put up with a few easily filtered AT&T e-mails. [top]
Look Out for iTunes
However, if you're into S&M, use iTunes instead to transfer music to your touch or download apps. Apple's official boondoogle, iTunes was designed by monkeys and is the dumbest, most unintuitive program I've seen since I tried to use dBaseII's command line. (Rumor has it that iTunes engineers actually enjoyed using the barcode-reading CueCat.)
iTunes designers were sorry to see the CueCat discontinued.
iTunes: Designed by Apple to be
as confusing as all get out.
Want to Buy a touch?
Amazon sells an 8GB version for $215; we wanted the extra legroom, so opted for the 16GB version, a whopping $275. Odd, but Amazon beat Costco's prices on the 8GB version by about $10 bucks. No, don't bother looking for better prices. Apple doesn't offer discounts [top]
Three Essential iPod Tools
You know it's difficult to buy a device and then try to avoid getting accessories. Here are the three I bought to keep my iPod up and running.
4-in-1 Car Charger for iPod: I use the $30 USB to iPod cable to charge the device at home. In the car, Kensington's 4-in-1 Car Charger does the trick. I can also charge other USB-cabled devices, such as my cell phone and camera.
Charge your iTouch or cell phone
using the 4-in-1 Car Charger.
Kensington Battery Pack and Charger: If you're heading up into the Himalayas and won't have access to a power outlet, take along a battery pack. About $40 on Amazon, the Kensington Battery Pack and Charger weighs 22 ounces and has enough juice to run your gadget for 100 hours of music or podcasts or 21 hours of video. I can't vouch for the specs, but I will say the Battery Pack provided enough power for my iPod to run iBird and play podcasts for a full day; the Battery Pack indicator lights showed it still had plenty of juice left.
Kensington's Battery Pack and Charger for iPhone and iPod,
and any other device that use a USB cable for charging.
MediaGate I-kit: One hassle with an old car is getting the iPod sounds over to the radio. (Ancient ain't the word. We own a 1992 Roadtrek; the radio still has a tape deck.) We used to use a cassette-tape converter gizmo, but we've graduated to a transmitter that sends the sound from the iPod to an unused FM-radio station. I like the goose-neck that lets me rotate the holder in every direction; it also has a USB port for charging, eliminating the need for an extra device. It sells for about $24 on Amazon. [top]
MediaGate's I-kit holds the iPod, charges it,
and sends music to my car's radio.
Tool of the Week: PDF to Word
There are at least a zillion tools for converting Adobe Acrobat's PDF files into Microsoft Word documents. If you have to do this sort of thing often, I recommend Abbyy PDF Transformer. It's a professional product, and one you have to shell out $80 to own. (A doctor friend of mine who uses this tool has to convert 100 PDFs a day, and they have to be as close to perfect as possible.)
If you only occasionally need to move a PDF over to Word, try Nitro PDF. It's a free online service that accomplishes the task and e-mails you the results. It's surprisingly accurate and it sent me a 12-page conversion in about 30 seconds. [Thanks to Gary Aspelin for the lead.] [top]
Web Site of the Week: FineTune
Want to listen to Dave Brubeck, Ahmad Jamal, or Michael what's-his-name? Stick the name into Fine-tune Player and start listening. Yes, I agree, the interface is dopey, but the site plays the tunes, plain and simple. [top]
Time Wasters
I have a bunch of delightful videos, some DIY project ideas, and Sodaplay, a fun way to kill a few hours.
Choose a Sodaplay model (say, a bicycle or spaceship constructed with rubber bands) and start fiddling with its physics -- gravity, springiness, friction, speed, and more. In no time, an hour has gone by and you've missed a deadline. [Thanks, Errol.]
Sodaplay will entertain you for hours.
Note: You'll need to have Java installed on your PC to get Sodaplay to work. You can verify if you have Java, or if you have the latest version, on the official Java testing page. If you don't, download and install the application. Be careful during the installation and uncheck the OpenOffice.org installer (unless you want that, too). You'll also want to uncheck the MSN toolbar option.
Once installed, right-click on the icon in the System Tray, choose Open Control Panel, select the Advanced tab, click the minus sign in front of Miscellaneous, and uncheck "Place Java Icon in system tray."
Have you ever wondered why e-mail was invented? Dogs and mail carriers. Take a look.
I didn't want you to see this weird way to celebrate the Fourth of July until after it was over. No doubt, I could see lots of you trying the sledgehammer explosives trick. BTW, from a technical perspective, I think this guy put too many explosives on his sledgehammer.
These two sea otters are the cutest things I've ever seen. You're going to ooooh and ahhh, and send it to everyone you know. Make sure to keep watching, even after they break apart.
You ever think about a do-it-yourself project? Here are 26 examples of DIY undertakings not to try. (Original source.)
A light switch in the shower is handy, no?
And using a car's
radiator hose to replace a drain pipe is a smart idea...
Image of the Week
Moonwalking Cheeto auction on eBay.
It sold for $35.18. [Thanks, Judy.] [top]
Guess Who
Yep, it's me with my usual routine, asking you to make amends for not forwarding my newsletter to anyone last week. (Admit it: You didn't, right?) Look, I know you got a laugh out of some of these time wasters, so how about some quid pro quo. Forward this newsletter to a bunch of your closest buddies. Or send 'em the link:http://www.techbite.com. By the way, if you're enjoying this newsletter and getting something out of it, become a TechBite member by sending us some financial support using PayPal. I promise, good things will come your way... [top]
_____________________
Steve Bass is the publisher and self-appointed Chief Content Officer at TechBite; he continues to experience the cool feeling of having his own newsletter. Send him your feedback at TechBite. To sign up for TechBite's free Steve Bass Technology newsletter, head for our signup page.
Steve's also the author of "PC Annoyances, 2nd Edition: How to Fix the Most Annoying Things About Your Personal Computer," available on Amazon. You haven't purchased your copy today yet, have you? Don't wait, supplies are limited...
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