Computer and Web Articles

If you own a Mac and aren’t running an older operating system, chances are you’ve heard of Widgets. If you own a PC and have already upgraded to Windows Vista, chances are you’ve heard of Gadgets. If you’re still running XP, this next little bit of information doesn’t pertain to you.

For the ultimate resource offering the latest Gadgets and Widgets, head over to http://www.Widgipedia.com.

You won’t be disappointed; the site is overflowing with useful and/or fun Gadgets and Widgets for you to download and run on your computer. The site is clean and easy to use, and there’s a great FAQ page as well as a forum to answer all your questions.

www.Booqbags.com sells a variety of high quality bags, backpacks, sleeves and accessories for laptop computers. Their products most definitely cannot be classified as cheap, but I’ve learned that you tend to get what you pay for when it comes to laptop accessories. And yes, I learned the hard way.

Last summer I purchased a cheap laptop bag from eBay for my new laptop, thinking there was no reason to spend a larger chunk of money on a nice bag. And OK, yes, I admit it, I also purchased that bag on eBay because it was bright red and, at the time, I thought it looked pretty cool.

Anyhow, upon returning from my New Zealand trip last September with an almost-broken back caused by nothing other than carrying that cheap red bag around day and night during my travels, I understood how wrong I had been about the “no need to invest in a good bag” decision. Needless to say, I tossed the cheap bag and made a visit to the Booqbags website, quickly finding a product that was worth every penny.

Without a doubt, BooqBag’s neatest site feature is its time-saving “BagFinder” tool. Punch in the dimensions of your laptop and the site instantly displays a list of all compatible products. Cool.

I recently happened upon a bright green website called Vitamin T.

Located at www.dailyvitamint.com, the site offers handy tips on a daily basis. The tips relate to anything and everything - from cooking and food to finance and money to transportation and travel. While not all the tips are particularly helpful, it’s fun to browse through their archives on occasion; you never know what neat little trick you’ll pick up.

Here are a couple of recent tips I liked:

1. Make your iPod battery last longer. When listening to your iPod through externally powered speakers (not headphones), turn speaker volume up and iPod volume down. This draws less power from the iPod battery, and you can listen longer before having to recharge.
2. Use www.addall.com to save money when buying books. Before you ever purchase any book you should first check www.addall.com. This website is a comprehensive search of all new and used book sellers online. It then ranks them by price. Great for school textbooks or your next favorite read.

In the past I’ve shared iPod related columns, websites, technology, tricks and goodies; today, I’m sharing yet another iPod-related winner. The tech toys sold by www.dlo.com are SWEET.

In the store section of the DLO website, you can browse through iPod accessories by looking at the top sellers, checking out product photos, or choosing one of their main categories: 20 Products under $20, Exercise + Workout, iPod in the Car, Shuffle GEAR, iPod Nano Gear, 5GB Video iPod Gear or Summer ‘06 Collection.

For those of you who don’t have iPods, DLO also offers accessories for alternative MP3 players made by Samsung, Pioneer and Zen.

If your iPod ever acts up and appears frozen, try resetting it. The steps of resetting are simple enough to follow, yet it’s surprising how many people remain unaware of this option.

To reset your iPod:

Toggle the Hold switch on, then off. (Slide it to Hold, then turn it off again.)

Press down the Play/Pause buttons until the Apple logo shows up (6Ð10 seconds). There’s a chance you might need to repeat this step.

If taking these two steps doesn’t do the trick, try using one finger from one hand to press the Center button, and one finger from the other hand to press the Menu button. If you’re still out of luck, you might need to send the iPod back to Apple for service. Bummer. (I know; I’ve been there.)

Griffin Technology specializes in just about every iPod accessory one could ever imagine.

Take a scroll down their products page and you’ll see firewire connections, wireless remote controls, home media centers, headphone splitters, cassette adapters, battery backups, and even gadgets that turn your iPod into laser pointers and flashlights.

It’s easy to spend far too much time browsing about through Griffin’s website, so don’t say I didn’t warn you: www.griffintechnology.com.

It’s inevitable. Over time your beautiful, shiny iPod is going to get scratched. Perhaps you’ll drop it, perhaps just setting it down on the counter each day will do it - regardless; it’s nearly impossible to keep those pretty little things in the pristine shape they first arrive in.

Enter iDrops. Marketed as “Liquid Health” for your iPod, iDrops clean, polish, protect and remove scratches and blemishes from the surface of your iPod. They’re a one-step solution that arrive in pretty blue packaging and cost $11.95 per bottle (shipping is free, woopee!).

There’s a pretty neat before-and-after shot on the main iDrops website, as well as instructions and a lengthy list of other uses. Interested? Hop over to http://podshop.com/idrops.

All right now, let’s take a poll. How many of you out there either own an iPod or know what an iPod is? Raise your hands. Mmm. Okay.

I saw a few embarrassed people out there twiddling their thumbs and looking around innocently, as if they hadn’t heard the question. Not to worry, I’ll quickly explain iPods for you so that we can all move on together and talk about Podcasting.

Podcasting is a rather important topic, considering that the New Oxford Dictionary just announced “podcast” its 2005 Word of the Year.

An iPod is just a modern, fancier and cooler version of a Walkman or Discman. The best part about iPods is that you don’t have to keep your tapes or CDs around whenever you want to use your iPod, since all of your songs are on your iPod at all times. This is why they’re ultimately so popular. Unbelievable convenience.

Plus, it’s easy (and some might say a little too easy) to put new songs onto your iPod. Connect to the iTunes store and with one click of your mouse, practically any song you want will be on its way to your computer, then your iPod. So go get one already; they’re fantastic and they do so much more than what I noted in this summary.

For the rest of you, stop yawning. I know you already knew all of that, but it didn’t take long and now we can all learn about today’s topic - Podcasting.

If someone is Podcasting, they’re simply distributing audio (or video) to other people through the Web. The neat part is that people can subscribe to these Podcasts, and then listen (or view) the material whenever they like. If my mom read my articles, I’m sure she would stop here and think, “Well, now isn’t that convenient. Just like my TiVo.”

You can listen to World News, your favorite NPR show, Jim Lehrer, Technology Updates, Discover Channel Programs, Spanish lessons, or Sports updates. Even the little guys have their own Podcasts: You can subscribe to Wild Animal Park iZoofari from the San Diego Zoo, or perhaps you’d prefer to subscribe to Oz’s Oz Wine Show, or Theo MacKinnon’s daily Blues Tunes, or Dr. George Lundberg’s Weekly Medicine Podcast.

Be careful when you first enter Apple’s directory of Podcasts, since you’ll feel like a kid in the world’s biggest candy store. So much to listen to, so much to learn, so much to try … so little time.

Of course, if you’d like, you can create your own Podcasts and submit them to Apple’s master Podcast directory.

Have I mentioned yet that pretty much all Podcasts are free? I’m not sure if all will remain free in the future, so best to get started now, eh?

If you’d like to learn more, http://www.apple.com/itunes/Podcasts is a great place to start.

Music is everywhere. In our hearts, in our souls, in the air. Today, though, we’re just going to be talking about the music that’s online.

Searching for those MP3s

Sometimes it’s difficult to find the specific song or sound you’re looking for. That’s why I’m happy to be the bearer of good news today: There’s a brand new MP3 search engine - and it rocks.

eSpew may not have the coolest name in the world, but it sure does the job. At www.espew.com you can search through more than a million and a half MP3s, submit music, view a top 40 download chart or browse through featured artists. Find the music you’re looking for quickly and easily.

Though I think espew.com is great, alternatives include www.audiofind.com and www.mp3search.com.

iPods get around

The cute, tiny, convenient little Apple product otherwise known as the iPod is undoubtedly one of the hottest and most useful tech items available.

If you own an iPod, it’s quite likely that it goes wherever you go. And now you can show the world.

Head over to the iPodlounge (http://gallery.ipodlounge.com) and see where people’s iPods have been lately.

You’ll see snaps of people with iPods riding roller coasters, on jungle expeditions in Peru and standing atop the highest mountains.

People have sent in pictures of themselves and their iPods while kissing, giving birth and sunbathing. It just goes to show that MP3s and MP3 players are indeed taking the world by storm.

MP3rat

Kaylon Technologies has developed a “fast, intuitive, and easy-to-use music organizer and player” called the MP3rat.

Kaylon Technologies essentially built a piece of software that directly addressed the typical troubles people run into when managing MP3s, including having difficulties locating songs, wanting to quickly organize and search through music collections and experiencing problems managing playlists.

You can try MP3rat free for 30 days and decide if it’s the right tool for you. If you like it, you can purchase the full version for $24.95, making you eligible for free technical support as well as free upgrades for minor version changes.

That’s it for today, everyone. Time to grab a bag of chocolate chips, put on some headphones, listen to your favorite tunes and sit back in the sun.