A push for custom XP folder icon use
Most of you who use Windows XP are probably aware of the ability to change a folder's icon to one of your choosing. But how many of you actually use this feature to make your life easier?
Have you uninstalled programs that leave their folders behind? Giving application folders a custom icon helps these stick out like a sore thumb, when the icon they used is deleted and the folders become the default yellow ones.
It can also make it easier to identify programs you don't use much. Just look for icons you aren't used to seeing.
Or at least you can pretend you have a Mac.
27 Apr 05 | +Permalink+ | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)iPod Shuffle first week observations
The iPod Shuffle may have been born a barebones budget item, but in life it stands at the top of it's game. I'm finding that I favor it over my full sized iPod(2G, 10gb), and I have seen the same thing happen with friends who own both. Here are a few observations that make the iPod Shuffle a little bit more fun.
-The iPod Shuffle brings back the thrill of the mix tape. You have one playlist to carefully craft into a stream of consciousness. (Of course if this isn't your style, you can always have it Auto-fill and set it to shuffle.)
-It is so light you can ditch the lanyard and dangle it from your headphones comfortably if you really want to.
-It fits perfectly in that little pocket in your jeans that is too small for anything else, making you want to carry it everywhere.
-iTunes lets you keep the iPod Shuffle in your Source list even when it is unplugged so that you can build your playlist when its not plugged in.
-Running with a full sized iPod is no comparison to running with the light light iPod Shuffle. It's as if it's not even there.
-The simplistic controls are more practical than the iPod. Press a button to turn up the volume. Flip a switch to turn it off. Never take it out of your pocket.
12 Apr 05 | +Permalink+ | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)iTunes shares cap at 60
After a bit of experimenting today, I found out that iTunes shares max out at sixty. Beyond this number of people, crazy stuff happens. New people that try to join the Rendezvous network will not see any shares, as if they have sharing turned off. The overcrowding of people will cause funky behavior for people who didn't get in before the sixty mark. Once enough people leave, it will usually take 5-10 minutes for things to function normally again for new people. This is probably why the default behavior of iTunes is to only display shares in a very tight subnet. They didn't build in handling for more.
But a limit of sixty total active shares is nothing compared to the new five-users-per-day limit that iTunes recently added in 4.7.1, allowing only five different users to connect to a given share in a day. There are always open source DAAP clients like Get It Together that don't carry this annoying limit, but its about time someone from the community develops a hack for the real iTunes that doesn't include the phrase "restart the program"[restarting iTunes resets the 5 user limit].
My top requests for iTunes hacks:
1. Five user limit removal
2. A windows implementation of NoTTL
Free iTunes sampler for new iPod owners and you
Apple is running a promotion where new iPod owners can download the following sampler album for free.
iTunes New Music Sampler (Atlantic/Lava Edition)
1. Title and Registration, Death Cab for Cutie
2. Welcome to My Life, Simple Plan
3. Drive Away, Gratitude
4. Gotta Get Up from Here, Ellie Lawson
5. Lost Control, Unwritten Law
6. What You Want, John Butler Trio
7. When I'm Gone (Sadie), No Address
8. Funny Little Feeling, Rock 'n' Roll Soldiers
9. Yesterday Never Tomorrows, The Stills
10. Louis XIV, Louis XIV
11. Broken Promises, Moments In Grace
12. You'll Never Guess Who Died, The Kinison
13. Pressure, Skindred
14. On Your Porch, The Format
15. Everyday, Toby Lightman
16. Shallow, Porcupine Tree
Some people found that they could also take advantage of this if they formatted their iPod to make it appear to be a new iPod. But what about people who don't want to format their iPod or who don't even own an iPod in the first place?
ACCESS THE ALBUM HERE
Choose the "Add Album" (it should say Free next to it).
Apple went to some lengths to prevent people from finding that URL. If you are a new iPod owner and you go to this album the proper way, you'll notice that you can't use the normal dragging and dropping of the album title onto your desktop to get a shortcut to it.
Luckily, they didn't take the same precautions for accessing the album through the iTMS arrows from someone who already has the album and is sharing it with iTunes sharing. :)
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[Update: April 4, 2005]
Here is another album a commenter was kind enough to point us to. If you have any more, keep'em coming!
iTunes New Music Sampler (Universal Motown Edition)
1. Blow It Out, Features
2. All At Sea, Jamie Cullum
3. Sunshine to the Rain, Miri Ben-Ari
4. Lonely, Akon
5. Golden Touch, Razorlight
6. Every Time You Go Away, Brian McKnight
7. Bigtime, The Soundtrack of Our Lives
8. Laura, Scissor Sisters
9. She Said, Brie Larson
10. Jus Anotha Shorty, O'Ryan
11. Sleeping With the Lights On, Teitur
12. Reach Out, I'll Be There, Michael McDonald
13. TKO, Le Tigre