Java Jane's Good Stuff

Handy iPod or MP3 Player Trick

nobody@vox.com(Java Jane) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 16:38:50 -0500

Via Lifehacker. Make sure you don't screw up your iPod headphones...wrap them quick and simple like this:

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Convert YouTube Videos into any format, even audio only - Online!

nobody@vox.com(Java Jane) — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 22:52:16 -0400

Video To Go: Save YouTube videos for any device with vConvert - via Lifehacker - via Mashable

Use online tool, vConvert, using the link above to convert your YouTube videos into any format you need. Can isolate just the audio portion so you can transfer that onto your computer or device as well. Nothing to download, just insert the YouTube URL and it will convert the file and let you download it. Cool!

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Life is Good With My Moto Q

nobody@vox.com(Java Jane) — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 21:10:56 -0400

There are plenty of reviews out already for the Motorola Q Smartphone, so I don't want to "reinvent" the wheel. Here are some in depth reviews (not necessarily my opinion):

Moto-q-qwerty-keyboard

I bought one on Monday afternoon, as I was eligible for my Verizon new every two once again. After mail in rebate, I was able to get the $300+ phone for $79. Of course, that was before I added in a Bluetooth headset, stereo mini jack earbuds, a 512 mini SD card and a BodyGlove cover, which I felt essential, since it was one of the only covers to also cover the screen, which is essential as the Moto Q, although sharp and clear is prone to smudging and this prevents that.

Now that I've had a couple days to use it, I couldn't be happier. I need Verizon for service coverage, as where I live, most other carriers tend to be spotty. The other half has T-Mobile, which has been good, but still not quite the performance of Verizon, especially on our travels out of the country. Yeah, people gripe about the cost of Verizon's data plan, but when you compare apples to apples, the $80 (before surcharges, etc.) is really no more than anyone else's unlimited data plan (with phone minutes) when you add in all the extras Verizon bundles in with the plan.

I read all the reviews, and for my non-business purposes, this phone was "it". There was one BlackBerry in contention, but there was no camera, and I wanted to use the phone for moblogging, so that ruled it out. T-Mobile had a few BlackBerry smart phones that would have worked, but having to change my longstanding cell # for lesser service for a phone didn't seem worth it and I'm glad I didn't. That being said, a lot of folks like Cingular's Blackjack, but service coverage where I use my phone is horrible.

Anyway, for me, blogging, email, SMS, phone usage, web surfing, listening to music and watching video clips, including my own while I'm out and about made this the perfect smartphone device for me. I love, love, love it. Since Verizon doesn't partner with Yahoo!, I downloaded Y! Go Beta for my phone and now I can push email from gmail, my broadband provider and Yahoo! without subscribing to Yahoo's premium service. It also allows for maps, easy Flickr uploads and viewing and other nice Yahoo! features.

I love that I don't have to carry a phone (formerly a Moto Razr V3m, pink) and my iPod now unless I want to listen to or watch larger file size items. I can just put my music on my Moto Q, along with video clips and listen to them through the onboard stereo speakers using Windows Media Player, or I can put my headphones on and listen, take a phone call and go back to listening again. Schweeeeeeeeeeet.

This phone should help me be more consistent about blogging, even when I am untethered to my computer, as there are times as of late, I've had extended absences, but have been places I wish I had internet and keyboard access as I had time to answer mail or post.

Anyway, my Moto Q is my new toy and making me a very, very happy camper!

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Tweak or Trick Out Your iPod - The Shortlist of the Best Freeware

nobody@vox.com(Java Jane) — Wed, 02 May 2007 21:34:58 -0400

I love to soup things up. My computer, my cell phone, my iPod, my coffee. I like to get every bit of milage out of one device that I can, and I like a little bling too. I am personally not a huge fan of the iTunes software for iPod, but do open it from time to time to when I create smart playlists. All my thousands of music files, many which I use daily on my internet radio broadcast Generation 80s Retro Radio, are well tagged making it easy to sort and filter to create those

Ipod

smart lists in many creative ways. Even though I am a huge freeware fan, I have found Aspect One's Dr. Tag the best program I have used, bar none, paid or free by far, to tag and clean up massive amounts of files, much of it is easily and flawlessly automated and then I volume normalize my tracks with an easy to use freeware utility called MP3 Gain appling a contstant gain of 92db so everything is auto leveled and no one song is louder than another without any quality loss. I find the built in leveling that the iPod employs is not reliable and I prefer to apply the changes to the files on my hard drive for many reasons.

I pretty much have taken to using Winamp for playlists at times as well as Ephpod (a wonderful program when I used my iPod mini, unfortunately doesn't currently support newer iPod video, so I've had to scrub this one for now) or Yamipod (Yet Another iPod Manager). There are a lot of other iPod managers, but I really think these two are the best of the bunch. What do you think?

Want to change the fonts, graphics or text link names on your iPod? Then you need the free, opensource program called iPod Wizard. Follow this link to get the full scoop and the latest stable download. iPod Wizard even allows volume uncapping of certain models. iPodulator Pro is another nifty must have if you like to play games (full catalogue of text based games free), write or read notes and text docs, edit and delete easily with no text limitation or read web pages along with their subsequent embedded links or RSS on your gizmo. Now you can catch up on your web based reading in the doctors office, on the train or by the pool. Basically, like the site states, "iPodulator Pro 2 puts any website or RSS feed you name on your iPod in a text-only version. And it gets better. iPodulator Pro 2 can copy most of the links on webpages to your iPod, so when your reading a page on your iPod you have all the links there, ready for clicking".

If you are into e-books, iPod Library is a nice little open source tool for importing books in multiple formats, remembering your place in the book and easily managing or deleting them. I just downloaded Soundcrank tonight to try out on my iPod. It functions something like Last.fm's scrobbling function (I'm a Scrobbler) and supposedly enables you to discover new music, easily find and tweak album art and lyrics and share lists of what you've been listening to among friends. Of course, this is a Beta release, so if you are leary of Beta testing or Beta releases, tinker at your own risk. I'll follow up my impressions on Soundcrank in comments in the next few days.

If you need some worthy free video conversion tools the one I recommend is the very popular, tried and true Vidora iPod Video Converter freestanding program, or even better, if you have Yahoo! Widget engine installed on your computer, formerly Konfabulator, you can use the Yahoo "Widgitized" converter, where you can simply drag and drop your videos onto the cool looking iPod widget and they will seamlessly convert without any adoo. I mostly use Nero 7 since I own it, but if you just need a good free program, this is your go to app. Handbrake is the equivalent for Mac users. Now if you are in love with YouTube, boy, do I have a treat for you! You have to run and snag Ares Tube which will allow you to enter in the YouTube page URL in AT and it will automatically download the file, convert it, and then import it directly into iTunes, waiting for you to update your iPod. How cool is that?

Lastly, if you want to make your iPod into a mini PDA, it's worth the $15 for iGadget (formerly PodPlus) as you can download local movie times, weather, driving directions, rss, transfer files all types of files between iPod and computer, sync your iPod with Outlook plus a whole host of other things with a nice GUI and a nominal price tag.

What are you using to soup up your Pod and how do you like to create your playlists? Have any tips? Feel free to share, even if it's via email and I can post your comments manually if you are not a fellow Voxer. Rock on...

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Free iPod Skin Generator

nobody@vox.com(Java Jane) — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 22:17:36 -0400

Make your own paper skin for free for any iPod:

iPod Skin Generator

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Free Audio Books for iPod or Anywhere

nobody@vox.com(Java Jane) — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 14:30:31 -0400

clipped from librivox.org

LibriVox: free audiobooks

LibriVox volunteers record chapters of books in the public domain and release the audio files back onto the net. Our goal is to make all public domain books available as free audio books. We are a totally volunteer, open source, free content, public domain project.
More info

FAQ

Guides for Listeners & Volunteers
(the LibriVox wiki)

Contact

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QotD: Totally Obsessed

nobody@vox.com(Java Jane) — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 11:55:38 -0500

What is your current obsession(s)?
Submitted by eijsr.

My new XM satellite radio (posted about it last night, I'm so obsessed)
Adobe Illustrator (I'm just figuring it out, and not very good, but still obsessed)
My iPod (I'm a tech geek at heart & love my rare archive of music)
My internet radio station, still, after all these years... (gen80s alternative retro radio)

I'm not a very "obsessive" person in general as I tend to be borderline ADHD. Due to that, I tend to immerse myself in something and then be on to the next thing a few weeks later. The two things that hold my interest and I am truly passionate about are my love of music and my passion for my internet/computer pursuits. I'm looking forward to seeing some other people's obsessions. About time to shop for a new one!

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In Case You're Still Out of the Loop:

nobody@vox.com(Java Jane) — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 14:43:12 -0500

Own an iPod video, but still in the dark ages regarding how to get your home DVD collection on there because the disks are encrypted? Are you sick of paying big bucks to download movies in MPEG-4 format a second time that you already have paid and own in your home video library and are paying for again due to encryption? Well, if you are a Windows user, then you need to run this free program:

DVD Decrypter download DVD Decrypter

along with your ripping/burning software to strip the region coding. This will allow you to "unlock" the DVD's you already own and put them on your computer or iPod. I use Nero 7 to rip and then convert to MPEG-4, but you can use the free and very capable Videora iPod Converter to do the job just as well. Mac users can use Handbrake which combines the capabiltiy of the two Windows programs into one. Hopefully the Windows version of Handbrake will be out shortly.

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