It’s Complicated

Joe’s blog about technology, life, and more.

I have been toying around with the new 2.2 firmware for my ipod touch (2nd Gen).  I had been really excited to check out the new podcast features in the itunes app, but alas, its not as good as I had hoped.  It turns out that the new podcasting features of the itunes app are independant of your itunes configuration.  So you might have a list of podcasts you are already subscribed to in itunes, but none of them show up on the touch.  Podcasts (a new menu item in the itunes app on the iphone/touch) are indepednant of what you have in itunes.  While this new functionality is still cool, it would have been nice to import my itunes podcasts as those are the ones I want to update anyway.  This new functionality has little use to me, but is still neat if you aren’t already using itunes to manage your podcast subscriptions. 

I have also been having an issue with wifi connecting to WPA protected APs, basically I would have to turn my wifi option on and then off and then back on again in order to get it to connect to any wireless.  Hopefully this new firmware will address that issue as well. 

UPDATE 11-24-08
   It turns out there is a way to download new episodes of your podcasts from the touch (using your existing subscriptions and not the built-in separate podcast client on the iphone/touch).  When you go into your podcasts and view the details of them, there is a new option as you scroll down to “Get more episodes”.  So even though itunes and the podcast client on the touch are two separate things, you can at least download new episodes of your current subscriptions.  I was confused since my subscriptions weren’t under the podcast menu button at the bottom.  You have to go into the podcasts you have synched on your iphone/touch as if you were going to listen to one, scroll down and there you will see how to download more content right from the touch.

My wife and I just got back from a trip to Sandles Grande Ochos Rios in Jamaica.  We had a great time, and it was very relaxing.  This was our first interntional trip and it went very well overall.  I wrote a long detailed review/log of our trip which you can find on the trip advisor forums at – http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g147312-i110-k2376563-Just_got_back_from_SGOR_A_Review-Ocho_Rios_Jamaica.html

If you want better quality pictures, go to http://www.churchgang.us/Jamaica – this is a work in progress.

Monday morning I woke up with a sore throat that came out of nowhere.  Tuesday I started feeling worse, and today I had to take a sick day from work and go to the doctor.  Fortunately I don’t have tonsolitis or strep or anything like that, but its feeling more like a really bad head cold or the flu now.  I have never liked nedles so I never get a flu shot.  I don’t know for certain that its the flu, but after this, I think I will be getting annual flu shots from now on, just to be on the safe side.  I’ve been glues to my couch most of the day and it seems I’m in for at least one more day of feeling really bad.  The doctor gave me an anti-biotic since I had a fever, but I’m not sure if it will really help.  Hopefully I’ll be back up and going soon.  This is really bad timing for me to be sick, but glad its happening 2 weeks before my trip to Jamaica instead of happening right before or during the trip!

Now that I have an iPod Touch, I found that being limited to using iTunes on a single computer to sync and manage my library of music, podcasts and videos was a drag.  So I did some google searching and found that I could store my iTunes library on a portable hard drive and use iTunes on any computer (granted the iTunes version if the same).  I gave it a try, installed iTunes on two computers, made sure my portable hard drive was using the same drive letter on both computers and then began to setup my library.  As a result of all this work, I can now manage my library, sync my iPod and make changes anytime on either PC.  This works great and is very convenient for me.  Now I just need to get a dock for my desk and a few other accessories.  I didn’t find a need to post detailed instructions on my blog as there are many existing resources you can find with a simple google search on how to set this up.  Its very easy and works great, and I’d highly recommend it to anyone who wants to go mobile with iTunes. 

I have gone crazy with the iTunes App store for my new Touch.  Here is a list of some of my favorite apps and games.  Some of the games can be played against another Touch device over Wifi.  This is only the current list, there are apps being added all the time and I can hardly wait to see what else comes out!  (One warning, if you use folders, watch out for updates, as if you have a large amount of data stored in the app, it will never update and you will have to restore your IPOD to recover, just don’t install the updated versions).

facebook
iChalky
mSecure
Travelocity
Radiolicious
Movies
eBay
Wordpress
FS5 Hocky – fun wifi game
vSNAX
I.TV
ShoZu
Palringo
Express
Folders – awesome
Billminder – not free
Expsharer – also awesome
Banner Free
FourFre
IfFound
iTicTac
Lande
rMarbleMash
MazeFinger – awesome
Pageonce – awesome
Remote
MobileNews
Crash…ding
SQ Lite
CAr CAre – not free but awesome
Diggnation
Touch4

Last week I finally purchased a 32GB IPOD Touch (2nd gen).  I have to say right off the bat, that this is one of the coolest tech gadgets I’ve ever played with.  Its sleek, ellegant, functional and easy to operate.  The App Store on iTunes is great, there are tons of free apps and a whole lot more of non-free apps that are great as well.  I personally now have over 8 pages of icons on my home screen!  I love the wifi connectivity, rich browsing experience with Safari, and an equally rich e-mail experience.  One of my favorite features of the iTunes remote option, that lets you control a running instance of iTunes with the Touch over wifi.  Everything from now playing controls, to volume.  Its great, and will make a convenient remote control for a party or event where you want to have music playing in the background.  I wish it had bluetooth support, a camera and GPS, but oh well.  If you want those features, get an iPhone. 

I can’t personally use an iPhone because of my work e-mail requirements, but I am seriously considering getting my wife an iPhone soon and experiencing it that way.  I went with the largest model at the recommendation of someone I know who has a Touch.  It is absolutely true that if you have the space you will use it.  I am now using over half of the space on my Touch between the apps and movies/music/podcasts… 

My recommendation would be to buy the 32GB model, immediately get a Zagg protective cover and get yourself some kind of case to keep it in.  These shiny sleek devices are easily scratched on the back and have no trouble collecting layers of skin oils on the surface to smear around.  With all that being said, I love my iTouch, its amazing and if you (the reader) are thinking about getting one, I highly recommend it.  One other tip for you, disable the backup (see previous post) to speed up synch times. 

I recently had problems synching my new IPOD Touch with Itunes 8.  It would just hang on synching and take forever to finally get to the backup.  Well I came across this article which tells how to disable the mobile backup process by running a simple command.  (NEW – Alsup try this windows APP)  The syntax that is used in the article is wrong, so I’ll correct it here:

Windows Users: (updated)

Windows users can use the same approach:

1. Quit iTunes.
2. Press Win+R (opens the Windows Run dialog)
3. Type or copy the following command:
   “C:\Program Files\Common Files\Apple\Mobile Device Support\bin\defaults.exe” write com.apple.iTunes AutomaticDeviceBackupsDisabled -bool true
4. Open iTunes.
5. Connect the iPhone/IPOD.
6. Sync without backing up.

Microsoft seems to have decided to keep Windows 7 as the official name of their next Operating system after Windows Vista.  I’m not sure what to think about that, but some people have voiced their negative opinions regarding the name.  To me it seems like they are trying to do some things similar to Apple, (OS 9, 10, X).  Hope that strategy works for them and I also hope that Windows 7 will be more successful than Vista.  Although I have never had any real trouble with Vista (post SP1), it will be interesting to see what they do with the next version of the Windows OS.  Source Article here.

I came across FuseMail in my search for an outbound SMTP relay solution and really like its many features and small business focus.  For home users who need more than just pop mail, this would also be a great solution.  Check out their website for more information.  For only $2 per mailbox per month, its a great deal and feature rich.

Tampa residents know that they have a great airport, especially if you have exposure to other airports to compare it to.  I love it because of the easy design, quick security process, and convenient layout.  Check out these results for the top 10 airports in the country.

Portland 51.6
Tampa 51.4
Washington Reagan 47.1
Milwaukee 42.4
Orlando 39.5
Minneapolis-St. Paul 39.0
Long Beach 38.0
Salt Lake City 37.8
Pittsburgh 37.7
San Diego 37.3