Have you seen the new ultra slim iPod Nano; this little cool gadget is a must have and it is not much bigger than a couple of business cards set end to end. When we all saw the first ads on the Intenet for the Innovative and High Tech iPod Nano on the various high tech gadget website, it was hard to believe, some thought is was not real at all, how could it be, where was the battery, where was the hard drive; how could this little contraption have that many songs? It seems now that most editors and personal tech writers are giving the iPod Nano the first prize for the 2005 greatest and most innovative gadgets.

The iPod Nano comes with two different options; the 2 GB version which holds about 500 songs and the 4 GB, which can hold about 1,000 songs. Of course it is not cheap, but some say it is less expensive than they thought it would be starting at $199.00 and the prices go up from there. How thin is The iPod Nano? Well it is about a thin as a number 2 pencil and as powerful as floor size juke box and then some.

It is three and a half inches by an inch and a half and weighs less than 2 ounces. The LCD screen is cool too, as it is very bright and about one and a half inches. Twelve solid hours of play for its battery life and it does have the new cool click wheel, which users love too, making it extremely easy to use. The iPod Nano has all the same ports and docking connectors like all the other iPods. And you know what? You need this in 2006.

Lance Winslow

Recently a Christian and an Atheist were bantering back and forth at a local Starbucks and their debate about creationism was becoming louder and louder and quite heated over the Jazz Type elevator music in the coffee shop. On one hand the atheist claimed that the Christian’s fanatical psychotic invisible friend behavior was causing him to live his life in such a way that he was not accomplishing anything worthy of mention and that his life would soon be over and he would merely die a worthless old man with little if anything to show for his labors during his life experience. All this while the Christian claimed that the atheist had no moral judgment as he had no base line or any code of conduct to live by. The debate was getting to the point that it appeared that swear words we going to be issued to the atheist via his Christian rival and probably something to the affect; “…Burn in hell” salutation upon departure.

Luckily I was listening to all this meaningless sound and fury and actually laughing inside. I noticed they both had iPods with those earbud things draped around their necks. Seeing this commonality, I thought I would have the last laugh. So I said;

“Oh, by the way, there is no god. iPod is god; play with the letters a bit you will see. You humans just don’t get it do you? It is all right in front of you, but you are blinded by your own fog of war; sound and fury to confuse and control the masses and you know what; you deserve it.”

They both did a double take of their iPods and I stuck my iPod’s earbuds into my ears and walked out singing and having a nice rest of my day, knowing by the look on their faces that I took the wind right out of both of their sails. Maybe iPod really is god? There is a lot of vibrational energy going on with all those sound waves and gigabytes of songs. Think on this in 2006.

Lance Winslow

Using the iPod to gain knowledge quickly and effectively!

There is no doubt that the Apple iPod has become a common item amongst today’s youth as a great music player. But is the iPod more than just a music player?

In fact, the iPod is more than a music player. It is also a great teaching and learning tool as well. And it is guaranteed to help you learn fast.

Audio Books

Besides music, the iPod also plays audio books. These are essentially books that has been converted into a audio format and saved as a MP3 file. From a technical angle, there is no difference in the file format between a music or a book and you can download and play the same audio book off your computer or your iPod.

This opens you to a whole library of ‘books’ for your iPod. These can include many great books found in public domains and downloaded for free. There are also many good commercial ‘books’ that you can purchase for a small price. These audio books are great as you can play them over and over again in the car, on the train or even on the plane. It’s a good way to kill time and gain knowledge at the same time.

The best thing about audio books is that you do not need to read. Let the book read to you and this can be a great enhancement for learning while driving or while sitting in a shaky bus or train.

Podcasting

Have you also heard of podcasting? If you have not, these are simply audio files published by individuals or companies covering interest topics ranging from music, technology, current affairs, news, politics, cars, sales and marketing, electronics, fashion to many other interesting niche areas.

They then put up these audio files in certain podcast stations on the internet.

Most podcast are free and you can download and treat them just like audio books. Similarly, you can subscribe and organize these podcast on your computer iTunes and then synchronize them to your iPod. It’s also a great way to gain knowledge while driving or taking transport to school or work.

What is gaining fast popularity today is video podcast. Video podcast are essentially video files that can be downloaded and again, it covers a great genre of subject. (As a matter of fact, I am learning about designing my own podcast by watching a video podcast of this subject.)

However, you can only watch a video podcast on your computer or on the latest iPod video model. All earlier models of iPod will not be capable of playing video. With the iPod video, you can also output the video signal to a normal TV and watch the entire podcast on TV as well.

What’s more, you can watch them, stop them, rewind them or repeat these audio or video podcasts as often as you like. What better way to learn?

So who says that iPods are meant for music only?

Katherine Xie has 4 iPods starting from the 2G model. She runs a popular website, http://www.smart-ipod-ideas.com, that gives tips on iPods as well as showcase quality iPod accessories from Japan. Please feel free to distribute this article as long as credit and reference is made to her website.