Ipod | Technology Blog

Add Youtube Videos to Your iPod with Floola

January 3rd, 2009

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Some would say the fact that Linux can even communicate with an iPod is remarkable. And the way Apple keeps everything secreted away, I could easily buy that sentiment where it not for an intimate understanding of the resolve of the typical developer. Although not open source, Floola typifies this resolve, and then some. At first glance Floola is just another music manager for the iPod. Upon closer inspection, however, Floola is much more than that. The “more” couldn’t be better illustrated by Floolas’ ability to add videos to your iPod from youtube.com. Oh, and it manages your music really well too!

First things first, you’ll need to download the Linux binary of Floola from the Floola download page. Once you have the tar file downloaded unpack it with the command tar xvzf Floola-linux.tar.gz which will create a new directory called Floola-linux. Move into that new directory and, as the root user, issue the command cp Floola /usr/bin/. Copying the Floola binary into /usr/bin will allow Floola to be run globally.

Add Youtube Videos to Your iPod with Floola

January 3rd, 2009

No comments

Some would say the fact that Linux can even communicate with an iPod is remarkable. And the way Apple keeps everything secreted away, I could easily buy that sentiment where it not for an intimate understanding of the resolve of the typical developer. Although not open source, Floola typifies this resolve, and then some. At first glance Floola is just another music manager for the iPod. Upon closer inspection, however, Floola is much more than that. The “more” couldn’t be better illustrated by Floolas’ ability to add videos to your iPod from youtube.com. Oh, and it manages your music really well too!

First things first, you’ll need to download the Linux binary of Floola from the Floola download page. Once you have the tar file downloaded unpack it with the command tar xvzf Floola-linux.tar.gz which will create a new directory called Floola-linux. Move into that new directory and, as the root user, issue the command cp Floola /usr/bin/. Copying the Floola binary into /usr/bin will allow Floola to be run globally.

Connect your iPod to gtkpod

December 27th, 2008

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You’re new to Linux. You have managed to figure your way around the desktop and you have become accustomed to the application installation process. Now it’s time to go about day to day business of using your newfound obsession. Of course one of the first issues you might come across is that of application abundance. With Linux there are sometimes countless applications that can handle the same process. Which one to do you use? If you are like many new users you will find an application that does what you need and then you will stop looking. But with Linux there is always something that might be a little better or suit your taste a bit more. One of those applications is gtkpod. Although gtkpod does not contain many of the advanced features of iTunes it is one of the more reliable iTunes-like applications for Linux.In this article I will show you how to connect your iPod to gtkpod.

Download Unlimited Music for a Flat Fee

November 4th, 2008

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Currently, if you want to purchase music legally, you can use a variety of online music stores from big companies like Microsoft, Apple, Yahoo, etc. The modus operandi of these sites is pretty much the same. You can either buy an individual song or pay for the entire album.

Now imagine this scenario: what if you paid a yearly or monthly fee to an online store and in return you could download an unlimited number of songs. Not only that but these songs would be DRM-free so you only need to download a song once and you can play it anywhere you want and burn it to a CD multiple times.

A service like this is in the works from a site called Datz Music Lounge. Datz claims to offer unlimited music downloads in mp3 format for just 100 Pounds a year. That works out to around $160, based on the current exchange rate. As far as offers go, this sounds pretty good.

The Zune: A Review

October 3rd, 2008

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Yesterday I finally got my Zune 120, all the way to Australia from America through Ebay thanks to Microsoft鈥檚 failure to release the Zune internationally at this point.

All I can say is it was completely worth it.

The bad thing for Microsoft is it鈥檚 taken 3 years to get the Zune to meet it鈥檚 initial expectations, the good thing is that I truly don鈥檛 care because it鈥檚 a fantastic product. I have to admit I have never wanted an iPod primarily for the reason that I don鈥檛 want what everyone else has, and also because I don鈥檛 like iTunes.

The Zune software is perhaps Microsoft鈥檚 most under-appreciated work. I鈥檝e been using it for a few months now, ever since the 2.5 release, and like it a lot, but it wasn鈥檛 till I actually had a Zune myself that the whole experience opened up and I realised how great the software is. What I love most about it is that Microsoft has not taken the approach of meeting the iTunes head-on, feature for feature. Instead they鈥檝e worked on creating a great experience, so that even if the Zune lacks something Apple provides, users are willing to make the compromise.

New Zune Won

September 12th, 2008

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Microsoft announced it鈥檚 latest lineup of Zune products to a fairly underwhelming response, which was frankly also fairly well expected.

It鈥檚 easy to get cynical about the Zune, especially considering Microsoft鈥檚 promises about delivering an amazing iPod killing device three years back.

The original Zune was pretty ugly, far too bulky and came in an attractive poo-brown. It still sold a million units however and Microsoft stayed in the game to bring out the Zune 2. For me the problems with the original Zune where that it failed to deliver anything the iPod didn鈥檛 have and came with some hideous software which was one of the biggest issues.

The wifi connectivity was almost un-utilised when it could have been a fantastic addition to an mp3 player and instead Microsoft let Apple steal it鈥檚 thunder with the iPod touch.