Playing with Technology PT3
Okay so
like most of the planet my music collection lives
in iTunes, together with my podcasts, audio books,
and home movies. Now being on the move a lot I use
my 5th Generation 80GB video iPod to listen and
watch the varied content, but what happens if I am
away for more than a few days. Well, usually I have
watched / listened to the podcasts and tend to rely
on my audio books and music. I do however take
advantage of the duty free shops at London Heathrow
on a regular basis, collecting CD’s and DVD’s, or
services such as audible.com to download more audio
books . The problem you ask? Well getting them onto
my iPod means coping them to my local iTunes
library, which means when I get home I have
multiple iTunes libraries that I need to keep
synchronized.
Well, the answer it would seem is an application from SmithMicro called “Tune Ranger”. Tune Ranger allows you to keep up to 4 Mac’s/Windows machines and / or iPods in sync with each other (You obviously need at least
one
Mac or Windows machine running iTunes) and better
still gives you complete control over what it is
you are synchronizing. You can synchronize by play
list, genre, artist, file format, the list is
extensive. You can also choose to replicate one way
or another overwriting the destination, or being
overwritten. You can merge one way, both ways or
even allow it to duplicate. You can set it to avoid
items you already have, items that are orphaned the
list just goes on.
The killer thing is that they don’t have to be all your Mac’s. Husband, wife, 2 kids, all with Mac’s / PC’s / iPods? Synchronize the lot, better still synchronize the items you want. Don’t want the wife metal working podcasts, or little Jack’s “Bob the Builder greatest hits” filter them out.
Now I wonder if there is an iPhoto version?
Well, the answer it would seem is an application from SmithMicro called “Tune Ranger”. Tune Ranger allows you to keep up to 4 Mac’s/Windows machines and / or iPods in sync with each other (You obviously need at least
The killer thing is that they don’t have to be all your Mac’s. Husband, wife, 2 kids, all with Mac’s / PC’s / iPods? Synchronize the lot, better still synchronize the items you want. Don’t want the wife metal working podcasts, or little Jack’s “Bob the Builder greatest hits” filter them out.
Now I wonder if there is an iPhoto version?
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Playing with Technology PT2
However for me it worked and proved to be exactly what I needed. Now which ever Mac I am using, or indeed if I am out and about I have access to my email, calendar, contacts, and bookmarks. If I add, delete, or modify any one of these items it’s almost immediately replicated to all the other devices. Better still the information is all available via the MobileMe website which means I can effectively access the information via any internet enabled device, where ever I am!
Now I hear what you’re saying, is that safe? Well, I had the same question, and to be honest up until now I remain unconvinced. So for now I have only placed what I would call reference information on my iDisk.
The next step is to figure out how I do the same thing with my sensitive data, music, and photo’s.
That however is another story.
16,000 on Headphones
Now I was introduced to these by a friend of mine who loves traveling but finds it hard to sleep on a plane. I'll be honest and say I have never paid more than £30 for a set of headphones in my life, but I tell no lies when I say if I lost these tomorrow I would be back at the store with another £200.
If you travel regularly and travel internationally crossing time zones, you will understand what I mean when I say "You grab sleep where you can!". Well these things are just fantastic. The sound quality is excellent and they come with all the cables and connectors you need including an extension cable, and the dual pin adapter loved by some airlines. What is even better is the cable disconnects at the headphones themselves so once you have watched an inflight movie and numbed yourselves with a few bottles of red wine, you can unplug yourself and fall asleep without the noise of the aircrafts engines, small children, and the constant ding that emanates from those people summoning the attendant for more red wine because they can't sleep, knowing that you aren't going to strangle yourself.
Now I did look at the newer QuietComfort(R) 3 Acoustic Noise Canceling(R) headphones, and while they were lighter I didn't like the fact that they sat on my ears rather than around them.
Next time you pass a Bose shop, stop and take a look.