entertainment

In addition to a new iPod update, Apple also released an updated version of iTunes (4.9). The main feature that this version adds is built-in support for podcasts. This is awesome! Podcasts can be selected and subscribed to using the Music Store interface (don’t worry, they’re all free). Once subscribed, podcasts can be configured to automatically be synchronized with the iPod. When a new edition of a podcast comes out, iTunes automatically downloads it and syncs it to the iPod the next time it is connected....

Now that I’ve gotten pretty far with ripping my CD collection and properly tagging the MP3s I already had, I ran into a minor iPod annoyance. I have about 20GB and more than 3300 songs in my iTunes library at this point, all of which I sync to my 60GB iPod. A bunch of my albums are collections from various artists - mostly industrial / electronic / goth samplers, 80s collections, tribute albums, etc....

Today I saw the “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” movie. It was always clear to me that it would be difficult to turn this story into a motion picture, something that Douglas Adams unsuccessfully attempted several times before his untimely death in 2001. I didn’t expect all books to be reflected in the movie, and I also didn’t expect all the pieces that did make it into the movie to be completely consistent with the books....

I just set my Linux box up as an iTunes server. After seeing how easy it was to get this working (not least because of Gentoo’s excellent package management), I’m almost annoyed at myself for putting this off for so long. :) The HOWTO Apple ITunes Server document on the Gentoo Wiki was absolutely on the spot and made this very easy, and the entire installation only consisted of a handful of comments plus some very simple config file changes....

Today I went to the Apple Store and bought an AirPort Express Base Station. I had been looking for a good way of listening to MP3s in the living room, and after my boss mentioned how we was using an AirPort Express and a set of PC speakers to stream music into his kitchen, I decided to give it a shot. I have to admit that I’m very impressed with this little device....