Computer and Web Articles

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.

I’m here to tell you something you probably don’t want to hear. So I’ll just get it over with, then move on to the tips that will make the process easy as cake … deep breath … YOU NEED TO DO SOME CLEANING!

If you plan to test out the advice in any of my future columns, you’re going to need a functioning monitor and keyboard. You simply cannot type in lengthy URLs or test out secret shortcuts if your keyboard keys are jamming up or if there are two inches of pine dust accumulation on your monitor. And besides, think of all the gunk and germs and bacteria and bits of food and who knows what else is clinging to your keyboard keys. Ewwww! Let’s take care of that, shall we? It’s just unsanitary, people.

And NO, you DO NOT just take a wet rag and wipe everything down once in a while. Though not an art, keeping your equipment clean does require following a few guidelines. As always, I’m going to make this as simple as possible to encourage your participation. Wipe that I-don’t-feel-like-doing-this frown off your face and get moving.

Monitors

Let’s first tackle those gigantic dust and dirt magnets otherwise known as monitors (thank the electrical charge in your monitor for attracting all the dust.) If you allow layers of dust to build up on your monitor, they will begin to act like insulation and will cause heat to build up in your monitor, meaning the electric components will wear out much faster than they normally would.

No. 1 rule here: Don’t use glass-cleaning liquid on your screen! This includes Windex. Your monitor might have a special anti-glare coating that ammonia-based solutions can damage. Plus, they can drip down into your monitor case, and we don’t want that. Use a soft cloth instead of paper towels, because the latter can cause tiny scratches.

Your best option is to use cleaning solutions and pads specifically designed for monitors (take a look at www.klearscreen.com). If you’re like most people, though, you probably just rolled your eyes and thought, “yeah right, eRin. Let me go out and buy those special products for my wimpy little monitor RIGHT NOW.” That’s why you should know that the runner-up cleaning option here is to use water sprayed on an eyeglass cloth.

SECRET MONITOR CLEANING TIP OF THE DAY: Fabric softener sheets are great antistatic wipes that pick up dust and dirt from your screen. They can also be used to wipe dirt off your monitor case.

Lastly, always remember the following two things. One: no matter what you use to clean your monitor, don’t apply it directly to the screen; pour or spray the solution onto your cleaning cloth first. Two: never open a monitor case! Monitors store a lot of voltage and can cause severe electrical shock. So go on and tell all your enemies to open up your monitor case, but don’t do it yourself.

Keyboards

Not only can the crumbs and crud that clog your keyboard cause malfunctions and sticky keys, but the bacteria and germs on the keys can make you sick. Therefore: get cleaning!

Oh, stop pouting. No one ever told you that cleaning your keyboard would be incredibly fun (blasting loud music in the background makes this process bearable, I promise).

To begin the process, first turn your computer off, then go ahead and flip your keyboard upside down and shake, shake, shake. Watch all the dirt and crumbs fall out (remember to have your significant other vacuum the floor later). While you’re shaking your keyboard to the loud music, give it a good hard whack on the back, too. You’ll be amazed at all the junk that falls out. If you’re lucky, you might even end up with some spare change.

The next part is SO fun.

Take a can of compressed air (or a very small vacuum) and spray, spray, spray additional gunk out from in between the keys. Remember to use small bursts and blow in outward directions. Compressed air is so fun!

Next we’re going to clean off the top of the keyboard. We don’t want any type of liquid getting inside, so be careful here. Dip a cotton swab in some alcohol and wipe the keys to clean off the remaining grime, gunk and thriving bacteria. Try not to overdo it with the alcohol (as usual … ). The black lettering on some keyboards can start to come off if you go overboard. If one of your keys is sticking, just pop the key off and use a cotton swab with a teensy bit of WD-40 to clean the problem area.

And that’s it. Go be good readers and clean your monitors and keyboards. You can have some Nutella if you do a good job. Well, at least I’ll have some Nutella, no matter what you do.