DRM crippling older purchased iTMS songs...

A nice breakdown of why iTMS DRM sucketh. All your 10 times burnable DRM songs were robbed of three of their burns when you updated to iTunes 4.5. I don't know about you, but I feel as if I am entitled to a partial refund.

I think this sort of "we can change the rules on and functionality of your previously purchased property any time we damn well please" aspect to the DRM is what makes me want to strip every song I buy of it. Good thing somebody has already cracked the new scheme... I wonder if 4.5.1 will be released soon to countermand this hack.

*x-posted on 3650...

iTalk Review...

So, Powerpage has a much more detailed review of the iTalk than mine from the other day. Go check it out.

Griffin iTalk vs. Belkin Voice Recorder...

So now I have both the Griffin iTalk and the Belkin Voice Recorder. I will be keeping the Griffin iTalk and giving the Belkin Voice Recorder away to a friend, however, both are exceptionally cool and useful products. The only down side to the Belkin Voice Recorder was the inability to plug headphones or an external mic directly into it. Really, the headphones is the main issue for me, as the Belkin mic is really good. In fact, I think the internal mic on the BVR is a little better quality than the one on the iTalk. However, the iTalk does have a plug for an external mic, which also doubles as a headphone jack. Unfortunately, you cannot listen on the headphone set while recording with the internal mic on the iTalk, which was something I was really excited to try out. However, I can leave the iTalk on my iPod at all times, ready to go and record whenever I need to, which is better than the BVR, which I had to pop on. Also, the speaker on the iTalk is much louder and clearer than the one on the BVR.

I recorded three different short clips for you to listen to for comparison purposes. This one was recorded with the iTalk and an AKG microphone plugged into it via a Shure line matching transformer. As you can tell it is much cleaner sounding, but much more quiet (and difficult to hear) as well. This could be because I actually was holding the AKG about 1/4" away from my mouth, but in any case, it would be nice if there was some sort of gain control. Here's the recording with the iTalk. It is much louder, with more ambient noise and some popping. It was recorded while holding the iPod about 6-8" from my mouth. Here's another recording with the Belkin Voice Recorder. Not as much popping, but still some. Not as loud. Not as much ambient noise. All three files are in AAC format. None of them are in any sort of *amazing* sound quality because Apple put a cap on the throughput on this functionality on the iPod. Anybody want to hack it?

x-posted on 3650...

MacFixIt on Troubleshooting iPod and iPod mini

MacFixIt has a rather extensive list of troubleshooting articles on the iPod and iPod mini:

Troubleshooting the iPod and iPod mini

• Data loss


• Distorted iPod mini sound


• iSight interference


• iPod not showing up in iTunes


• iPod batteries


• Mac freezes when going to sleep with iPod connected


• iPod mini audiobook issues


• iTunes crash on iPod connection; solutions


• Resetting a frozen iPod


• AppleCare for iPods


• iPod preferences not sticking


• Cracked LCD Screens


• Repair difficult, replacement often cheaper


• Warning about Windows DRM and the iPod


• Complaints about iPod earbud quality


• Extracting files from the iPod


• iPod Remote Control Protocol

[MacFixIt]

Check it out.

iPod mini woes...

Check this bit of bad news out:

Problems with the iPod mini?There are reports of some problems with the iPod mini, and we don’t mean that Apple is
having trouble keeping them stock. Over at iPodLounge some iPod mini owners are complaining about its sound being
distorted and crackling whenever any pressure is applied anywhere on the player. The problem apparently is that the
part that the mini’s headphone jack is connected to its main board using only a small connector, and that doing almost
anything to the mini — like putting pressure on its case, putting it in its dock connecter, or plugging in
the headphones — applies tension to this connector, gradually wearing it out and causing this
noticeable degradation in sound.

[engadget.com]

Hmmm. Imagine that! A first generation Apple product with serious design flaws! What a rare occurence! //sarcasm off

Linux on iPod...

Part of me, really wants to install Linux on my iPod. Another part of me, sits there screaming in the first part of me's ear "WHY?!"

playfair : rip the DRM from your iTMS songs...

Check out playfair:

The playfair program is quite simple. It takes one of the iTMS Protected AAC Audio Files, decodes it using a key obtained from your iPod or Microsoft Windows system and then writes the new, decoded version to disk as a regular AAC Audio File. It then optionally copies the metadata tags that describe the song, including the cover art, to the new file.

playfair runs from the command line, and takes some basic familiarity with the Terminal to get it working, but relatively easy install all and all. Simply navigate to the decompressed playfair folder via the Terminal and:

$ ./configure
$ make
$ make install

Now, I can finally start listening to the songs I own on anything and anywhere I damn well please...

HOOT!

Preliminary Review of the XtremeMac Firewire Car Charger for iPod

I just picked up this car charger for my 2nd-gen 10GB iPod (no dock connector) at the Apple Store on Michigan Ave. in Chicago. Having done a little research, I had eliminated the Monster brand car charger, because an online forum for my car (Honda Element) revealed that the 12v socket in my dash was built to specifically prevent use of a filament cigarette lighter--it's sized as a slightly smaller accessory socket. The Monster charger is a cigarette lighter-sized plug, not an accessory-sized plug, and some people have destroyed the plug attempting to get it back out of the socket (some have even ripped the socket out of the dash). Just as well; the Monster charger was $30, and the XtremeMac charger was only $13. Reports had it that the Belkin charger would fit, but I discovered that the Apple store now only stocks the dock-compatible Belkin charger. I decided to give the XtremeMac product a go after comparing the size of it in the package to the Monster and Belkin (dock-compatible) chargers in their packages.
I was a little wary, as the XtremeMac plug doesn't look as nice as the Belkin. It appears flimsy, unnecessarily long, and not as put together as the Belkin. It fits rather nicely in the socket, though, and so has provided perfect performance over the past few days.
I would provisionally recommend this product as a low-cost, effective solution to charging your iPod in the car, and I'll only retract that opinion should my car deliver a destructive review (admittedly, the car has a tough reputation and would be partially complicit).