Saturday, April 27, 2002
Software: Eudora vCard Export v1.2.1 released
- New features:
- Write all information from the “Other” pane in Eudora to the vCards (the information will be converted to unqualified “TEL:”, “EMAIL:”, and “URL:” entries). Whether these fields will actually show up properly after importing the vCards depends whether the program used supports multiple entries of the same type.
- Nicknames which only contain the “Full Name” field instead of “First” and “Last” names will use the full name as last name (the vCard would have no name in such a case before). This allows export of nicknames from Eudora versions prior to 5.x which only had a single “Name” field.
Bug fixes/improvements:
- Fixed a small mistake which resulted in improperly formatted work addresses for nicknames with both home and work address
- Save the vCards with file type ‘TEXT’ (instead of no type as before which would be interpreted as ‘BINA’ in MacOS 9 and confuse some programs)
Friday, April 26, 2002
Your First iPod Experience
iLounger, “NitroBurner” asked in the forums, “Hi I am new here I want too REALLY get into the iPod world!! I was wondering if there is anything I should know before eventually opening the box? Like is there anything I should NOT do or SHOULD do?”
iLounger, “jerseyfreeze” responds:
- Should Not Do:
- Drop your iPod
- Wash it by dunking in soapy water
- Lick it
- Toss it around with your friends
Should Do:
- Listen to music, ASAP!
- Jam out in your house like that guy in the commercial
- Show it to all your friends with an evil laugh
- Enjoy it
iPod Box Photos
Update: iLounger, Chris A. writes in to inform us: “My 10 GB iPod came in a Billie Holiday box. So apparently they are using these slip covers interchangeably.”
Some of our readers in the forums wanted to know what model iPod came with who on the box:
10GB iPod: Jimi Hendrix and Miles Davis (box not available for our photo shoot)
5GB iPod: Bob Marley and Billie HolidayThursday, April 25, 2002
Software: Cpod v0.01 for Windows released
iLounger, “coldfireice” recently announced his multi-lingual application for the iPod Windows user in our forums. It will allow the writing of messages/notes in any language supprted by the iPod.
“Hi, I just write a program—-Cpod, that make you can write message or any characters under Windows system, and you can also type in Chinese words and save it into the iPod, so you can see them in iPod, of course, it can display the Chinese words . I tried the other language, Japanese, German, they all work well. So, you can use the iPod to read the message written in any language.”
SoundBug available in Europe
We received an email from the SoundBug-Team announcing the availability of the SoundBug in Europe.
“We want to advise you that the first 1,000 SoundBugs are now available. Orders from European countrys could be made only at www.soundbug.biz. But consider: first come, first serve.”
- Product Features:
- Listen to music without speakers or headphones
- Play your favourite music wherever you want
- Creates a sounding board out of any surface you attach it to
- Attaches to any glossy, hard surface (windows, tables etc)
- Connects to personal stereos, mini-disc, CD or MP3 players, handheld games, camcorders or laptops using a 3.5mm jack
- Connect 2 Soundbugs together for full stereo sound
- Up to 75 decibels for a single Soundbug
- Power sleep circuit
- Pocket size: 95mm x 50mm x 35mm
- Weight 180g including batteries
- Comes supplied with 3 x AAA batteries
- Exclusive to Olympia – patents pending
For more info and European orders…
We found the SoundBug for US purchase at web retailer, Shoplifestyle.com.ASD iPod Breakout Contest Deadline
Michael Zornek of the Apple Student Developers writes in to inform our readers that the deadline for the ASD Breakout Contest ends one week from now (5-2-04).
“The current scoreboard leaders will be tough to dethrone, but Amazon.com gift certificates in the amounts of $30, $10 and $5 will be waiting for those who succeed. Furthermore, prizes will be given away to a few random contestants just for entering. iPod owners are invited to play some Breakout and send their scores to AppleStudentDevelopers.org for a chance to win a top spot and top dollar on the score list, or one of two random $5 Amazon.com gift certificates.”
PodPacs starting at $9.99 with free shipping
John Corbin of PodPac, maker of the clear vinyl iPod cover, is offering a special discounted price starting from 9.99 with free shipping or half-price on Priotity Mail (US) shipping. The PodPac Unlimited ($9.99) comes in five colors, blue, green, pink yellow and clear. The PodPac with belt clip and without belt clip is only available in clear vinyl. International orders are welcomed, view the website for pricing/shipping info.
Wednesday, April 24, 2002
“Apple’s iPod as a ‘digital wallet’”
Mr. Spin from stage4, a UK art/technology ezine and independent webcaster, writes in to inform our readers of a recently published iPod article:
“stage4 has an interesting article on ways in which today’s digital artist might use the iPod as a ‘digital wallet’. The article includes a summary of some of the best known hacks as well suggestions of how the ‘digital wallet’ might develop in the future e.g. a digital video viewer, interfacing directly with cameras/camcorders, wireless connectivity etc.
“Sony Fontopia MDR-EX70SL in white
Update: iLounger, Kenny R. writes in: “Tell your readers you can find the white version at most electronics stores around New York’s Chinatown, selling for anywhere between $30 to $49.”
iLounger, Jackie L. writes in: “…company in Hong Kong also has the MDR-EX70SL in white. $50, free shipping.” This is the same company that sells them on eBay.” Read next entry.
iLounger, Celina P. writes in: “There is also a dealer who almost always has at least one Minidisc Australia offering the white MDR-EX70SL for our Australian readers.
iLounger, Leo W. has informed us that the imported Sony Fontopia MDR-EX70SL white earphones are available at Minidisco.com for $57.95. Our review of the MDR-EX70LP black model earphones states that the white earphones were only available in the Far East. Thanks to Leo and Minidisco.com, we now have a choice in colors.
iTunes On Your Wall
We received an email from Sioban Farey of Peacock Maps telling us about their “Music for Your Eyes” visualization posters. There are three different poster designs available, each design displaying screenshots of beautful and psychodelic imagery, screen captured from iTunes while playing trance, techno, rock, classical, jazz and other music. The posters are more than just screen captures. All the posters are well designed and composed to enhance the imagery. One such poster is designed to look like a record player.
You will also find “Whole Interent Posters” for sale, WinAmp and iTunes plug-ins for downloading besides the “Music for Your Eyes” posters at the Peacock Maps website.
Update: iPod 5GB for $259 for Vassar College community
We called the Vasser College Computer Store and confirmed that they have lowered the price from an earlier report of $279 to $259. Dealmac alerted us to this new lowered price:
“A reader reports finding the iPod 5GB MP3 Player for $259 at the Vassar College Computer Store. That’s over $100 less than the cheapest retail units we’ve seen. This offer is available only to students, faculty, and staff of Vassar College.”
Forums: “I dropped my iPod stories?”
iLounger, “coolhandluke” tells us about his heart-stopping iPod experience:
“Well, I have one (a short one). I was just sitting there in the stands at a track meet and stupid me had my iPod sitting in my lap… then, suddenly I felt it drift off my lap as I leaned to pick something up, I tried to catch it but it fell. First hitting the floor of the stands then falling between the cracks and about a 15 foot drop later, it hit the concrete.”
Software: EphPod v2.20beta for Windows released
- What’s new in 2.20:
- Works fully with iTunes now (songs will display in iTunes)
- Working with PlayList boxes is now much more intuitive (multi-selection and deletion,more intelligent drag-n-drop, etc)
- Upgraded Song List box now has better support for drag-n-drop
- Sort Songs in Playlists By Name
- Sync now has option to synchronize playlists (m3us) in sync directories
- You can now sort by multiple columns in the song list by shift-clicking on secondary and tertiary columns by which you want to sort
- Supports Playlists with non-alphanumeric characters
- Probe iPod for Lost Music now checks more than just the FXX directories
Bug fixes: - Saving Database on Exit should now never result in the blank-iPod bug
- Fixed bug when trying to copy from a read-only volume
- Updates Total Progress Bar properly when some of your songs exist
- Fixed problems with selecting subdirectories automatically in the Sync Configuration
- Fixed Ampersands display in dialog boxes
- Fixed writing-to-last-specified-directory bug (F19 never written to)
- Fixed sorting problems with song grid (file date, file size)
For more info…
Download latest stable version 1.45beta…
Download latest version 2.20beta…Tuesday, April 23, 2002
Software: K-Lendar 2.0 released
“It allows you to enter meetings specified by start time, end time, time, category, comments and description. You can also export your meetings to tab-delimited text file.
- What’s new in 2.0:
- More compatibility with all iPods
- Bug fixed for the reset of iPod’s meetings
- Visualization of meetings by week
- Filters for stats by week
- K-Lendar Server. Each K-Lendar client connect to one K-Lendar server and see schedules of all members of team. (K-Lendar Server coming soon)
- Duplication of meetings
- Many meetings can be opened at the same time
iPod box selling for over $150
Update: There was definitely confusion about the iPod box sans iPod. You’ll notice in the bid history all who thought there was an iPod in the box retracted their bids claiming the auction as “misleading”. The original auction is still ongoing and a new iPod box auction started as well.
An interesting thread in the forums today reveals a 5GB iPod box plus documentation and earbud foam covers selling for over $150 on eBay:
“Thanks for the reply. I figured as much – Apple-folks tend to be in a league by themselves. And no doubt, it’s good for me (who doesn’t care about the boxes). Right now, my iPod box is going for over $150 on ebay, and someone emailed me to see if I would take $300 for it and end the auction. Not sure if that guy is confused or what.”
Read the forum thread…
eBay auction…Monday, April 22, 2002
“Music On. $100 off.”
The Apple Store is offering a $100 rebate on an iPod when you buy a Mac:
“Enjoy more music for less money. Purchase any iMac, iBook, Power Mac, or PowerBook and an iPod between April 23 and June 30, 2002. And get a $100 rebate on the iPod, Apple’s ultraslim, FireWire-fast MP3 player. Choose the 5GB iPod or the new 10GB iPod – and put up to 2,000 songs in your pocket.”
iPod 5GB for $279 for Vassar College community
iLounger, Geoff G., a student at Vassar College, writes in to inform us that Vassar’s computer store is selling 5GB iPods for $279, $10 lower than UC Irvine’s price of $289 reported earlier today:
“Hi there, I’m a student at Vassar College (which is proudly a Mac-centric school) and our computer store has started selling 5gb iPods for $279. When I read your blurb about UC Irvine doing the same, I thought I’d write in. Maybe this means Apple’s getting ready to drop the 5gb iPod to $299 for everyone? Just maybe?”
Software: Four iPod Scripts v1.1 released
John Paul Davis emailed us with news of “a whole slew of iPod AppleScripts” he has recently written:
- These four scripts work nicely together:
- Random Albums to iPod deletes any songs and playlists on your iPod, selects albums at random from the iTunes Library and adds every song on those albums to your iPod until it is full.
- Random Artist to iPod deletes any songs and playlists on your iPod, selects artists at random from the iTunes Library and adds every song by those artists to your iPod until it is full.
- Random iPod deletes any songs and playlists on your iPod, selects tracks at random from the iTunes Library and adds them to your iPod until it is full.
- Clean iPod deletes all songs and playlists on your iPod.
Note: The “download” link is available at John’s website. Click on the [+] symbol to download each script.
For more info and download…Update: Apple Europe One Year iPod Warranty
iLounger, Daniel P. informs us that the iPod one (1) year warranty is offered in Ecuador:
“Just wanted to let you know that the same 1 year warranty applies also in South America (at least in Ecuador, where I live.). I just called today to Apple Ecuador to check it out.
Though the price is a little steeper ($450 for the 5GB model), it’s good to know that you have that one year of protection over here.
““iPod 101”
Dean Browell at Applelust has written an article describing his recent iPod purchase and more.
“In one of my recent articles, I wondered aloud whether I should hold off my impending iPod purchase due to rumors of 10 and 20GB versions debuting soon. A purchase has been made, some extras acquired and some lessons learned from use. So without further ado, here is Dean’s iPod For Beginners 101:”
“Refurbished PowerBook G4/667, iPod, CD-Rs for $3,059”
Dealmac reports:
“Small Dog Electronics offers the refurbished Apple PowerBook G4/667 512/30.0/DVD-CDRW/56k/100BT 15.2-inch TFT, model no. M8623LL/A, with the iPod 10GB MP3 Player and a 24x CD-R media 10-pack for $3,059. We couldn’t price these items for less if purchased separately elsewhere. Offer ends April 25, 2002.”
Software: EntourageEvents 1.3.1 released
“EntourageEvents takes all of your Microsoft Entourage Events (within a specified date range) and exports them into vCard files for copying to your iPod.”
- This is a bug fix release:
- Fixed recurrences that end based on the number of occurrences instead of a fixed date.
- Fixed a problem with date processing where it wasn’t handling international date formatting properly.
- Fixed a problem with recurring events that spanned multiple years (when not yearly events).
Software: Randomize your iTunes playlist
iLounger, Ron H. writes in to tell us about his new iTunes AppleScript:
“I’ve created a small AppleScript that can be put in the iTunes script library to generate a new new playlist with a random generated number of songs (determined through dialog) from the main iTunes Library.
I have a lot of MP3s, and sometimes I don’t have the time to manually select songs to update my iPod. This little AppleScript will generate a random list for me :)”
Apple Europe One Year iPod Warranty
Reports from iPoding and our own forums indicate that Apple Europe (U.K., Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, France, Finland, Belgium, Germany and Holland) offer a one (1) year warranty at no additional cost as opposed to the U.S. 90 day warranty. European readers: check with your country’s Apple.com website for confirmation of the one year warranty.
“iPod 5GB for $289 for UC Irvine community”
Dealmac reports:
“A reader found the UC Irvine Computer Store offers the iPod MP3 Player for $289 to members of the UCI community. That’s $110 off the list price and one of the lowest educational prices we know to be availalble.”
