Monday, June 28, 2004

Update from Talking Panda

I received a nice reply from Bob Ippolito, the developer behind Talking Panda:

CK,

All of your existing Notes are stored in a numbered Notes backup folder on your iPod. Unfortunately, due to technical limitations of the iPod (there are scalability and nesting level issues), we made the decision to "take over" the Notes reader rather than attempt to integrate with existing notes. As you can see, we've made a special notice on our page hoping to make this decision more clear due to your input.

We'll definitely be talking to Apple about upgrading the iPod firmware to better support our application in the future, but this is the "state of the art" as far as the iPod goes.

I apologize for the response latency today, but I (the developer responsible for the installer) am currently attending WWDC and do not have constant internet access while sessions are going on.

Bob Ippolito
Talking Panda

Hopefully, Apple will continue to expand the possibilities of the Notes function on the iPod.

Thanks, Bob!

WARNING: Don't install Talking Panda... [UPDATE]

Alright, I just had a bad experience. This post over at Gizmodo pointed me to Talking Panda, a really cool language guide complete with audio built for the iPod's Notes feature. The problem? Well, installing the guide erased ALL OF MY NOTES without any warning or indication that it would, replacing my entire Notes folder with the Japanese demo. Supremely uncool. Here's the email I just sent them regarding this issue:

Hiya,

I just downloaded the demo of your Japanese book and was going to recommend it to my readers, because it really is a great idea. However, the installer to your program just erased all the Notes I had stored in my Notes folder on my iPod which really really sucks. You should probably fix it so that the book installs in a folder inside the Notes folder rather than simply replacing everything inside the Notes folder. Otherwise, it will make it extremely impractical and hazardous for many users.

Let me know when you've fixed this error.
--C.K.

If you never use your Notes folder, though, go check it out.

UPDATE: Okay, I discovered thanks to comments here that there was actually a backup folder of my Notes made on the iPod during installation. However, I have not heard back from the developers and there is no documentation of this backup in the form of a read me or on their website (only evidently in the installer itself, which I clicked thru). So, at the least, better documentation is needed. BUT, this still cripples my iPod's Notes functionality when on the go. I can either have Talking Panda, or I can have my Notes. I suppose I could drag the backed up Notes over to the Notes folder and have them all mixed up with Talking Panda, but that is extremely messy. I hope they revise the software so that it installs in a folder inside the Notes folder rather than becoming a Notes folder hog, as it currently is.

*cross-posted on 3650...

Save the iPod

Just received the following email:

Hey CK,

This is a pretty important story. There's a bill up right now that could mean serious legal troubles for future iPods, so we just launched savetheipod.com. It would be awesome if you could post about it to your iPod blog.

Thanks a ton for your time,
Holmes


A new Senate bill (S. 2560 - "The INDUCE Act") would make businesses liable for customers who use their product to make unauthorized copies. Legal experts say this bill would give the big record companies grounds to sue Apple for selling the Apple iPod. People need to act right now to save the iPod:

www.savetheipod.com

Today, activists from freeculture.org will be on the ground at WWDC in San Francisco passing out "Save the iPod" stickers. But we need everyone to get involved. At savetheipod.com you can fax your senator, and send op-ed letters to local papers. Do it now!

Apple computer gave the major record labels the iTunes Music Store, quite possibly their best chance for survival on the internet. You'd think they would be gratetful. But now the major labels, along with Hollywood, are pushing for legislation that would give them the power to bully hardware manufacturers and software designers. The major labels say the law is aimed at p2p companies, but the legal language they're pushing is much broader than that.

The labels have not promised that they won't sue hardware manufacturers. Two decades ago, Hollywood sued Sony for making the Betamax VCR, and the INDUCE Act would make lawsuits like that possible again. This threat needs to be taken seriously.

Read more at: savetheipod.com

For legal information on how this new bill threatens Apple and the iPod see the EFF: http://www.eff.org/IP/Apple_Complaint.php

Usually, I would file this under "The Sky is Falling," but the way things have been going politically as of late, I fear that Chicken Little may be right....

Monday, June 21, 2004

Buy more stuff: FEED YOUR POD!!!

So, there have been some cool announcements in the world of iPod peripherals recently:

  • SendStation has:
    the PocketDock Combo, which allows iPod owners to use standard USB and FireWire cables to connect their dock-compatible iPods to their PCs (instead of using Apple's cables) and the PocketDock Line Out, which includes both the standard FireWire and an eighth-inch stereo jack which feeds signal directly out of the iPods line-out port (instead of the amplified headphone jack at the top).

  • IcceWear iPod cases...

  • Bluetooth add-ons for your iPod.

Thursday, June 10, 2004

Cards iPod Contest

Win a free iPod mini if you design the best business card using this software in this contest. That is all.

Tuesday, June 08, 2004

Constitution on your iPod

Go here to get a copy of the United States Constitution that you can read on your iPod (under Extras-->Notes). So you can listen to your iTMS purchases, read the Constitution, and get really really mad about how absurd DRM is.

iPod Beat: New iPod Community Site

Check out iPod Beat, the new iPod Community Site on the block...

iPod a Greatest Rock n' Roll Moment

Check it out:

iPod among greatest rock 'n roll moments
This month's Rolling Stone lists the iPod among "The 50 Moments that Changed Rock 'n' Roll."... [MacMinute]

This is cool in a way. But, then again, considering that Rock n' Roll used to be a cry of youthful rebellion, this consumer product being awarded the status of "great moment" is kind of sad in a way, too...

In other news, Velvet Revolver's new album hit iTMS today and I got it. Review soon to come. GnR + STP = KICK ASS!

Monday, June 07, 2004

PodQuest

File this under useful:

PodQuest 1.2
About PodQuest
Adds a menu to your menu bar which allows you to download driving directions to your iPod. PodQuest supports downloading driving directions from MapQuest and MapBlast. [Mac OS X Downloads]