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I’ve decided I’m going to start going green in order to help the environment. This won’t be easy since I’m into technology but it’s still a step in the right direction. After the failure that is Windows Vista, I am done with Microsoft products. I am currently running Windows XP on 2 of my computers. If I ever decide to get rid of Windows completely, I’ll replace it with Linux. I currently run Linux on 3 of my computers. I can download it legally for free from the Internet and burn it to one DVD. I don’t have to purchase a package where I’m going to throw out most of the packaging just to get to the install DVD.
I’ve also started printing straight to PDF, using Cute PDF Writer, to go as paperless as possible. All of my credit card bills, bank statements, and other financial documents are all done electronically. I do all of my bill paying online. This not only saves the paper used to make the checks and envelopes but also saves me time and money (no postage).
I’ve also signed up at Green Dimes to help stop junk mail for the next 5 years. When I signed up, I had the choice of getting $1 sent by postal mail (kinda goes against the idea of going green), plant a tree, or get a trial issue of a magazine about green living. I chose to have a tree planted. I also registered with the Direct Marketing Association’s Mail Preference Service to opt-out of mail offers. I also signed up at OptOutPrescreen.org, which allows me to opt-out of credit card and insurance offers. All of these should reduce the amount of junk mail I receive considerably.
Once I get my own place where I get to make more decisions, I would do a few more things like composting, using solar energy for exterior lighting and opting to have the electricity come from renewable resources.

Technorati Tags: green

Spencer Elden, the baby on the cover of Nirvana’s Nevermind album, turned 16 today.
Then:
Now:

Apple has released a DRM-free version of certain songs for $0.30 more than the regular DRM version. The quality of the new songs is 256kbps whereas the older DRM songs’ quality is 128kbps. You can upgrade existing purchases (if available) for the $0.30 difference. In order to get iTunes Plus, you need to upgrade to iTunes 7.2.

Technorati Tags: Apple, iTunes

I was browsing the iTunes Music Store tonight and one of the links on the main page caught my eye. The List: ’80s Pop Covers is a list of 80 songs, all covers of popular songs from the 80’s. Some of the songs include Alanis Morisette’s cover of The Police’s King Of Pain, No Doubt’s cover of Talk Talk’s It’s My Life, and Crowded House’s Don’t Dream It’s Over covered by Sixpence None The Richer.

Technorati Tags: 80s, cover, iTunes

Today would’ve been Kurt Cobain’s 40th birthday. In case you’ve been living under a rock for the last 10 years, Kurt Cobain was the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist of the rock band Nirvana. He allegedly committed suicide on April 5, 1994 and his body was found 3 days later. I say allegedly because I don’t believe he killed himself. I think he was murdered and Courtney Love was responsible. She may not have done it herself but I think she knows who did.
The generation that grew up listening to Elvis Presley still celebrate his birthday every year. I think my generation will wind up doing the same with Kurt Cobain. I plan on visiting his grave one day.

Technorati Tags: Kurt Cobain

Apple released iTunes 7.0 today which includes movies along with music and TV shows currently available. The pricing is comparable to buying the DVD in the stores except it’s basically already ripped so you can watch them on any PC/Mac or on an iPod including the new ones they released today. Apparently they realized how popular the different colors were for the iPod mini so they decided to release the iPod nano in the same colors. The new iPod shuffle was also redesigned and is now not much bigger than the click wheel interface to control it. iTunes 7.0 can now do gapless playback, which a lot of customers have been screaming for, and automatically import album artwork into the songs you import into your library. Before iTunes would only add the artwork for songs downloaded from the iTunes Music Store, so you would have to add the album artwork on your own. iTunes 7.0 can now sync with Outlook for your contacts and calendar information. Previously, you had to export vCards from Outlook and then copy them to the iPod manually.

Technorati Tags: Apple, iPod, iTunes

Maxwell House is using ‘Our House’ by Madness. Cingular/Motorola are using ‘Pretty In Pink’ by the Psychedelic Furs and ‘Back In Black’ by AC/DC for the pink and black Razr phones. Rockstar Games used ‘I Ran (So Far Away)’ by A Flock of Seagulls for their Grand Theft Auto: Vice City video game (ok, I know the game takes place in the 80’s, but still…). Baltimora’s ‘Tarzan Boy’ was used in a Listerine commercial years ago. Even Falco’s original version of ‘Der Kommissar’ (made more popular by After the Fire) is in a commercial. This seems to be a new trend. Use 80’s music in commercials to get the attention of people that grew up in the 80’s.

Technorati Tags: 80s, Commercials, Music

Now that I have my new Mac, I needed to put all my music on it from my iPod. I could’ve done it the same way I do it in Windows (View hidden files and folders, navigate to iPod_Control\Music\) but the only way I can get to that folder, that I’ve learned so far, is through a terminal window. I found a program called Senuti that looks like iTunes and can copy the songs right from the iPod directly into iTunes. Normally you would have to copy the songs to your hard drive and then import them into iTunes. Senuti does it all with one click.

Technorati Tags: iPod, Senuti

I’ve had the iHome iH5 Clock Radio for iPod for a few months now and thought I’d blogged about it so I’m doing it now. It’s something I’ve been waiting for somebody to make ever since I got my iPod last November. It’s an alarm clock radio that allows you to wake up and fall asleep to the radio (either AM or FM) or your iPod. It works with every iPod including the Shuffle, Nano, and the new iPod that can play video. The sound quality is amazing. You don’t need the volume turned up very high to hear everything clearly. It’s very similar in sound quality to the Bose systems everyone brags about. The only downside with the radio is that there aren’t any presets which doesn’t bother me too much since I don’t listen to the radio that often. The backlight on the clock is extremely bright on it’s highest setting (of which there are 3). It took me a few nights to get used to even the lowest setting which still illuminates my bedroom better than a nightlight.
There are a few drawbacks to the alarm feature. The first drawback is that instead of using time zone abbreviations such as “ET” or “CT,” the iH5’s display uses numbers 1 through 7. It comes preset for Eastern Standard Time and there’s a +1/-1 switch on the back to spring forward/fall back for when Daylight Savings Time starts and ends. People outside EST/EDT will have to figure out which zone they’re in and adjust the clock accordingly. The second drawback is that there is only one alarm. My old alarm clock radio had two alarms. I could set one for weekdays and the other for weekends. Now I have to change it from one time to the next. The last drawback has to do with the snooze feature. When you hit the snooze button, you get 9 (yes, nine) extra minutes of sleep. Why would they choose a time like 9 minutes? Why couldn’t they do one extra minute for an even 10?
There is an optional remote control for $20 that I’m thinking of getting. When your iPod is in the iH5, you have to change tracks using the click wheel on the iPod. There isn’t a forward/reverse button on the iH5, only a play/pause button. I’ve tried changing tracks a few times and it feels a little strange. The remote allows you to turn the iH5 on and off, switch between radio and iPod modes, control iPod playback, change radio stations, adjust the brightness of the LCD and to snooze the alarm. That last feature I doubt I would ever need but it’s nice to know it’s there.

Technorati Tags: iH5, iHome, iPod

A little over month after Apple released iTunes 5.0, they come out with iTunes 6.0. iTunes 6.0 now supports video for the 5th generation iPods that support video. It has finally happened. Apple has true video capability in an iPod. There are even docks with IR ports for a remote control. As of right now, I don’t see myself wanting/needing a video iPod but that may, and probably will, change in the near future.

Technorati Tags: Apple, iPod, iTunes