Free iTunes Downloads

This is an awesome blog where they list free content on iTunes and it goes beyond songs; there are TV shows and short movies. There are some LOST recaps on there today in preparation for Season 4, which begins this month!

New Server?

I have several PC's on the network here at home, but we really don't have the space for them. It's also not very energy efficient. I am considering getting a NAS system. NAS stands for Network Attached Storage. This works very much as a dedicated storage server.

The one that I'm most interested in is the LaCie Ethernet Disk mini, which is available from Newegg for $181.99. For less than $200, this is quite a piece of technology. It includes an SMB (Server Message Block) server, an iTunes server, an AFP server (great for Amy's Powerbook), an FTP Server and others. It contains an 500GB hard drive, which is sufficient to back up our notebooks and other PC's and contain a share iTunes library available to any PC on our network. This will contain every CD and our favorite DVD's. The great thing about this particular NAS device is that it is expandable. It has a USB2 port to which you can attach external USB drives (of which I have several) that will enable us to have a terabyte of data.

In case you get an iPod for Christmas...

• Feature: The 20 Best iPod Utilities
• Feature: The 23 Best iTunes Add-ons

Both of these are links to Lifehacker

Rollup of Interesting links from the last month or so

From the MAKE: Blog:

• The stunning temples secretly carved out below ground by 'paranormal' eccentric

From Techbargains:

• Free: DriveImage XML - HD Backup/Restore/Copy

From FreewareGenius:

• iTunes Art Importer
  

From ZDNet:

• The $363 19-inch dual-core all-in-one LCD PC

From Lifehacker:

• Hack Attack: Six Ways to Catch Your Favorite TV Show

• Lifehacker Top 10: Top 10 Ways to Sleep Smarter and Better

• Featured Windows Mobile Download: Add Tabs To IE Mobile With Web Viewer

• Step By Step: Share Your Mac's Printer with Windows Without Samba

• Hack Attack: The Power Traveler's Checklist, Part One: Pre-Flight

• Geek To Live: The Complete Guide to Mac/Windows Interoperability

• Telephony: Get Free VoIP In-Calling Anywhere with GrandCentral and Gizmo Project

• Top 10 Free Video Rippers, Encoders, and Converters [Lifehacker Top 10]

• Get It Done on the Go with Floppy Office [Featured Windows Download]

Coinstar

Today, I decided to go cash in all my change. I figured I'd use Coinstar and use their free service to get an iTunes gift card. You might remember that I mentioned this service earlier in the year. I got over $23.00 worth and followed all the right selections. At the end, it said there was a technical problem and I would be given a regular voicher (with the service fee of 2.07 removed). I took the voucher to the register and got my cash.

I went out to the truck and decided that I had been wronged. I called the company and spoke to Matt in Customer Service who was very helpful and is speeding me a check for the $2.07. He not only made me feel like they cared, he also gave me the technical explanation of the problem and how they are changing the service to fix this.

Wonderful experience, in spite of the problem.

Big Love: Margene's Blog

If you like Big Love, you might enjoy taking a look at Margene's Blog. She's the only character with a blog, but she does have more time to work on it. You can also check out the Episode Guide. They also have a podcast, but unfortunately, it's only available in iTunes and I use Doppler as my podcatching client of choice.

Polygamy Loves Company.

Interesting article rollup

Source: eHomeUpgrade

• Boot Windows from a USB Drive
• Strip Out Commercials and Convert MCE Recorded TV to WMV or MPG with DVRMS Toolbox
• TabletKiosk's eo v7110 UMPC Hits the Market
• First Person Shooter in Your Web Browser

Source: wikiHow: How-to of the Day

• How to Safely Get Rid of an Old Computer
• How to Adopt a Baby from China
• How to Make Cat Jungle Gyms and Playgrounds

Source: Read/WriteWeb

• Rating the Meme Trackers - Memeorandum still tops, but Topix and TailRank up there too

Source: The Red Ferret Journal

• StoreGrid.
• Free games.
• Attensa online RSS reader.

Source: OSNews

• Backups with Bacula

Source: Extremetech

• Logging into Windows XP using RFID

Source: I, Cringely @ PBS.org

• 03/30/06: Prisoner of Redmond

Source: PC World's Techlog

• ajaxWrite: Latest Browser-Based Word Processor

Source: Lost Remote

• How to download clips from video sites
• Would you give this man a freebie?
• AOL launches classic TV showcase

Source: Lifehacker

• Hack Attack: Become a Gmail master
• Learn to play the guitar
• Price guides for building your own PC
• Stop your allergies with a Neti pot
• Megite personal newspaper
• Free iTunes Music Store music and video
• Ride the river of news with FeedBlendr
• Geek to Live: Set up your personal Wikipedia
• Download of the Day: Flickr AutoDownloadr
• HDTV Guide: The short and sweet version

Source: Engadget

• Switched On: Cheapest laptop boasts rich innovation
• HOW-TO: Map a drive to your FTP server
• Keian PSd waterproof SD/USB card
• Goobuntu: coming soon to a desktop near you?

Source: The Gadgeteer

• Wrapables Staple Free Stapler
• Aurora 1.5 Watt Nichia Jupiter LED Flashlight
• Brando One Battery Torch

Source: Gadgetopia

• Open Source CMS White Paper
• End Of The Line
• Funky Truck Arizona
• The Swirling Vortex of Doom
• Piece of History?

Source: MAKE: Blog

• HOW TO - Make a coin ring
• DIY Ring light
• $100 Sailboat
• HOW TO - Make a simple belt
• HOW TO - Logging into Windows XP using RFID
• Real-life optical illusions
• HOW TO - Make your own go kart
• Steady-ORB $425 - or make one like it for $14
• Build your own street legal kart
• Make a 9v LED lamp
• Homemade pens

Source: ReadyMade Blog

• Revitalizing Urban Development
• Growing Native

Source: Cool Tools

• Merkur Classic Razor
• Consensus Web Filters
• Toilet Lid Sink

Source: Slashdot

• Paul Allen's Microsoft Experience
• Improve Your iPod with Rockbox
• A DS In Every Pot

Source: Mark's Sysinternals Blog

• Running as Limited User - the Easy Way

Source: Official Google Blog

• Google Reader learns to share

Source: The Furrygoat Experience

• Terabyte File Server For $500

Source: Scobleizer - Microsoft Geek Blogger

• Gada.be is favorite tool for watching event coverage

TV Shows available on iTunes today

iTunes Music Store enhanced their television offerings this morning and the following shows are now available.
ABC

• Lost
• Desperate Housewives
• Night Stalker

Disney

• The Suite Life of Jack & Cody
• That's So Raven

NBC

• Law & Order
• The Office
• Surface
• The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
• Late Night with Conan O'Brien
• Alfred Hitchcock Presents
  
• Dragnet
• Adam-12
• Knight Rider

Sci-Fi

• Battlestar Galactica
• Battlestar Galactica Miniseries

USA

• Monk
  

Conversion to iTunes

I have never completely moved our CD collection to the computer. I've started and stopped a few times, but now that Amy is getting an White Apple 4 GB iPod Nano for Christmas, I am using iTunes to rip and convert our entire CD collection. We have more CD's than I thought, I've been working on it for a few evenings and I'm just now completing the C's. I'm using Amy's system and it has two optical drives. I have iTunes set so that when I insert a CD, it rips it, converts it to AAC format, then ejects the CD. Because of the two drives, it's working almost continuously.

Once the album has been stored in the iTunes Library, I run iTunes Art Importer to capture the album art. This way, the screen on the Nano will always show the album cover on the CD.

Lost on iTunes

As I mentioned earlier, earlier this week we lost last week's episode of Lost. I spent $1.99 tonight on iTunes to purchase it. We watched it and caught up. If Alias had the same deal, we would have bought those episodes as well.

Apple's Jobs Announces iTunes Podcast Support

From eWeek.com:

CARLSBAD, Calif.—Apple Computer Inc. CEO Steve Jobs demonstrated a new version of iTunes here Sunday that adds a Podcast directory and one-click subscription.

Speaking at the D: All Things Digital conference, Jobs showed off the new version of iTunes, which will include a searchable directory of Podcasts. Apple plans to make it easy to find and subscribe to Podcasts via iTunes—it will take just a single click to subscribe to a Podcast once it has been located.