@methodshop

iPod-TV is a free application that transfers television schedules to your iPod. A week's worth of programming for each selected channel can be saved on your iPod and then used to decide which is better - continue to listen to music, or plant your lazy arse down in front of the TV and zone out. Due to the massive amount of garbage fine entertainment on television, each listing is saved as a small mp3 file (since the iPod Notes doesn't have the storage capacity necessary). Currently, iPod-TV is a Windows application and works only with UK television. Versions for the USA and other countries are in the works.

[Via our friends at iPoditude.com]

It's iPod update time again.

So what's new this time? Apple's latest iPod software update provides iPod Photo Software 1.1, which adds support for the iPod Camera Connector. In case you don't know what this is, Apple recently introduced this devicve for importing and viewing photos directly from a camera. The update also provides updated slideshow transitions.

Not an iPod Photo owner? No problem. The iPod Updater 2005-03-23 contains up-to-date software versions for all iPod models.

The update can be downloaded from http://apple.com/ipod/download/.

For years I was content with my little CD tower of music. I'd add a few albums once in awhile, but for the most part, I was happy with what I already had. That all changed when I got an iPod. Having instant access to every single song I had even owned made me hungry for more. In my quest for new music I found life in Dead Man.

Neil Young's experimental musical opus, Dead Man, is a perfect addition for anyone who likes a little feedback or owns a Sonic Youth CD. The album Dead Man is actually the soundtrack to Jim Jarmusch's 1995 film Dead Man.

If you are a die hard fan of Young's or into alternative music, you will love this album. There's some feedback and distortion, but the bulk of the album consists of one riff songs with several haunting renditions. An added bonus is audio of Johnny Depp reading William Blake poems on one of the tracks.

This album is perfect for the iPod especially if you have it on shuffle mode. Let yourself be surprised.

I first heard about this album my sophomore year in college after my brother mailed me a newspaper review of it. I was president of my school's film society and we had the movie playing there in the Spring (where I got to see it free - hey, I was the prez). I loved the movie and had the movie poster on my wall through my senior year.

The preferred time to listen to this album (if there is one), is on a long car-ride or train-ride. If it's dark out and/or raining, it will complete the mood. Like a fine Scotch. You may need an acquired taste for Dead Man, but... ahhh well worth it. A gem you keep hidden for particular times and particular moods.

Listen to samples of DEAD MAN

Happy Easter

A man, his wife and his cranky mother-in-law went on vacation to the
Holy Land.

While they were there, the mother-in-law passed away.

The undertaker told them, "You can have her shipped home for $5,000, or you can bury her here in the Holy Land for $150".

The man thought about it for awhile and told the undertaker he would just have her shipped home.

The undertaker asked, "Why....why would you spend $5,000 to ship your mother-in-law home, when it would be wonderful to be buried here and spend only $150?"

The man said, "A man died here about 2000 years ago. He was buried here and three days later, he rose from the dead."

"I just can't take that chance."

Napster sucks, KaZaA is chock-full of viruses and spyware, and iTunes lacks the selection you need.... What should you do? Say hello to BitTorrent!

In case you are totally unfamiliar with BitTorrent, let's just say that it's a peer-to-peer file sharing program unlike any other. Napster worked by downloading full files from other users, but BitTorrent (BT) takes file sharing to the next level by breaking a file into small pieces for sharing. This way, when you are downloading a file, you're also uploading pieces of it to other users. So the more popular a torrent file is, the faster it downloads!



Any file can become a torrent file. You can find all types of torrents from games, programs, music, DVD's, movies and even TV shows. Just think, the next time you miss Janet Jackson whipping out her boob at the Super Bowl or Ashlee Simpson lip-syncing on SNL, you don't have to worry. Chances are someone recorded it and you can just download the torrent file later online. BitTorrent has transformed the internet into a giant TiVo!

Sound like fun? Let's get started...

Tutorial: How to Use BitTorrent and Download Movies, TV Shows and Software for Free



methodshop

Labels: internet, tutorial

Looks like the Insider has been spending a little too much time inside the liquor store.

Things just keep getting worse for Pat O'Brien. On Sunday he issued this statement to the Associated Press and checked into rehab:

"I have had a problem with alcohol. I have decided to take action by checking myself into an intensive recovery program. Overcoming this problem is a top priority in my life, and I am excited to return to work as soon as I am able."

Everyone was wondering what prompted O'Brien to do this until this morning. A string of dirty voicemails where O'Brien expresses his desires for cocaine, hookers, and wild sex have been leaked all over the internet. It's clearly his distintive voice in the voice mails and his reps do not deny that O'Brien made the calls.

Maybe it's time O'Brien got things under control. Here's a list of lessons learned for old Patty O.


LESSONS LEARNED BY PAT O'BRIEN

Before leaving Access Hollywood in summer 2004, O'Brien sent out a drunken email critiquing his co-hosts including Nancy O'Dell. The email was promptly followed by a public apology and an admission of a drinking problem.

Lesson #1 for Pat O'Brien: If you write an email while intoxicated, sober up before hitting the send button.

After leaving Access Hollywood, O'Brien got his own entertainment gossip show called the Insider. At first it looked like O'Brien got his drinking under control. However, he apparently decided to get drunk, do a few lines of cocaine and leave a string of dirty voice-mail messages all over the place.

Lesson #2 for Pat O'Brien: If you are "horny" and doing illegal drugs, don't call everyone in your address book and tell them. You are a celebrity damn it! Especially don't leave voice mail evidence that can be recorded and leaked all over the internet.

If you would like to hear the Pat O'Brien voice mails, you can download them here from Screenhead.com.

Or watch the video clip below (Warning: R rated adult content):



methodshop

Labels: cell phones, video

"It's kind of scary that you might find a certain fashion trend or musical style exciting only to wake up a few years later and wonder, "What the hell was I thinking?" We all have our skeletons and my big one is that, for most of my middle school to high school years, I was a hair metal fan.

I was completely possessed by the dark forces of poodle rock. I was seduced by their rebellious f**k-all attitude and enthralled by their dedication to "partying!!" Even though my mom wouldn't let me grow my hair long or wear an earring, I felt that my soul was aligned with Nikki Sixx, C.C. Deville, Taime Downe, and Izzy Stradlin. It's kind of difficult at this point in my life to figure out what it was about certain bands that made me think they either rocked or sucked when, in retrospect, they all seemed to suck. I guess either the subtle distinctions were lost over time or I was more discriminating as a teenager." [Via pitchforkmedia]

Sweaty men wearing make-up and leather pants?

In this article, writer Kevin Barnes takes you through his best and worst 1980's hair metal bands. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks David Coverdale (Whitesnake) and Kip Winger (Winger) were creepy. When Whitesnake was popular, David Coverdale looked like my dad with long hair. He was too old to be part of the whole heavy metal rebellion. Plus the name of his band was Whitesnake. Have you ever thought about that one?

While Coverdale was old and and creepy, he wasn't alone. His younger creepier counterpart was Kip Winger. If you think hard, you might be able to remember a few MTV videos where Kip sexually strokes his bass guitar and even licks it with his tongue. What exactly was that all about? I still think it's funny that Winger's biggest song, "Seventeen," was basically a pedophilia anthem. I hope Kip has a seventeen -year-old daughter now and the 57-year-old trucker she's dating whispers those lyrics in her ear every night.

If you've mentally blocked out the lyrics to "Seventeen," don't worry, I just Googled them for your convenience. Enjoy!

she said I'm only seventeen,
but I'll show you love like you've never seen
She's only seventeen,
daddy says she's too young,
but she's old enough
old enough for me

methodshop

Labels: music

Throw out all those cheap executive office stress toys on your desk and prepare to class up your workspace with a touch of woodcraft.

A company called Westshore Craftworks has taken some of the techniques used in classic guitar woodworking and refurnished it for the iPod with a product they call the iDockCover. This unique accessory is essentially a decorative wooden top for the standard iPod Dock.

The iDockCover has no electronic parts or wires. The sole purpose of the iDockCover is to make the standard white plastic iPod Dock less boring and give your desk a little more panache.

Review: iDockCover iPod Dock


methodshop

Labels: ipod, review

"Love your iPod shuffle, but wish you had a better way to carry it?" [Via dvforge.com]

Lose the Lanyard, loser!

Let's face it...Your iPod Shuffle is pretty sleek. But your lanyard is awfully geek. Wearing one automatically pegs you as the newest pledge in the Lamda Lamda Lamda fraternity.

Get rid of the lanyard. Get DVForge's "The Clips." The Clips are a set of 3 different clips, one that you can attach to your shirt as a lapel, and two to put on any clippable area of your clothing (belt, hat, shirt collar).

The clips get rid of the standard USB cap and replace it with these modified designs...They retail for $14.99.

Say you had 60,000 compact discs of music and wanted all of it to be accessible every minute. How would you transport your tunes? If you were fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld, who heads Chanel and Fendi, you would design an iPod case to carry your 40 iPods on your trips around the world.

The Fendi Juke Box, an iPod carrying case for 12 iPods, is modeled after Lagerfeld’s own and costs $1,500 – iPods not included – according to iPodLounge.com.

“It’s the single most over-the-top iPod story I’ve heard,” said Jeremy Horvitz, 29, editor in chief of the Web resource site for iPods. “People still pamper their iPods in an almost surrealistic way.”

The iPod’s technology and sleek design have turned consumers into fanatics, some of whom buy multiple iPods and expensive accessories like the Christian Dior Vintage iPod case and the Louis Vuitton Damier iPod case, which cost almost as much as the iPod itself. Despite the accessories’ high costs, high-end retailers find that users will gladly pay. Coach, a designer leather goods brand, sold out of its $98 python-skin iPod case before the item was officially available in stories in September 2004, according to Jason Mendez, an associate manager of the Coach store in the Time Warner Center in Manhattan. A second release of Coach iPod cases, available in April of this year, has also sold out already.

Continue Reading: iPod Accessories Are Music to Fans' Ears


methodshop

Labels: gadgets, ipod

Apple on Tuesday won a legal battle against iTunes.co.uk domain owner, Benjamin Cohen, as the UK internet registry, Nominet, found that Cohen had made an "abusive registration" and ruled that the domain name should be transferred to Apple.

Apple issued proceedings against Cohen's CyberBritain in December through Nominet, claiming ownership of the domain should be transferred to Apple because it holds the iTunes trademark. Nominet's rules state that it can rule in the complainant's favour if "the respondent is using the domain name in a way which has confused people or businesses into believing that the domain name is registered to, operated or authorised by, or otherwise connected with the complainant."

"I must admit that we were not expecting this decision by Nominet's appointed expert," Cohen said. "Apple chose to launch the UK brand of 'iTunes' within the UK with the knowledge that we had owned the name for three years before their US launch and four years before their launch within the UK." [Via SpyMac]

Shuffling the Competition?

Nobody could have predicted the portable music dynamo that the iPod Shuffle has become, but nonetheless, success breeds competition, and competition often creates rip offs. That's exactly what's on the minds of Taiwan-based LuxPro who unveiled their Super Shuffle at CeBIT this week. Essentially, an iPod Shuffle in every way, from form to function, the Super Shuffle picks up where the iPod Shuffle left off, adding both FM Tuner and Voice Recording capabilities.

The Super Shuffle supports MP3, MP3-VBR, WMA, WMA-DRM, WAV music formats. There is no support for AAC files.

Currently pressed by Apple to remove its rip off from the stands at the CeBIT convention, LuxPro has other intentions. Even the stand backdrop for LuxPro's Super Shuffle featured colors and icons reminiscent of the iPod Shuffle commercials.

Keep a sharp eye on your inbox. A homemade ad for the iPod Mini has been making the Internet rounds lately. Normally, someone's attempt at making a rip-off of commercial woundn't justify being hyped, but this commercial could easily fit in with the current ads currently being shown on TV. It even has a great soundtrack with "Tiny Machine" by the Darling Buds. The master beind the ad is George Masters, a visual graphics teacher. His iPod Mini ad isn't his first attempt in remaking an Apple ad. He's also created an iMac ad with the song "What's Your Favorite Color" by Living Colour.

You can view his iPod Mini commercial on this page hosted by Wired.com

The iPod shuffle has been a runaway success, and not surprisingly with it's attractive form factor and price point. However, many new shuffle owners are not very fond of dangling their iPod from a lanyard. The lanyard creates a mess around the shuffle user's neck, and exposes the iPod to potential damage.

The solution to this problem has arrived with a product appropriately named the ShuffleClip.

The ShuffleClip is a simple, elegant case and clip for the iPod Shuffle. Formed from a single piece of transparent PETG polymer, the ShuffleClip compliments the design of the iPod while keeping it safe and secure.

The ShuffleClip allows iPod owners to now wear their shuffle anywhere they like. In a pocket, on a shirt, or clipped to a briefcase. Think Random.

For more information visit http://www.shuffleclip.com. The ShuffleClip sells for $14.95 and is available now.

At least let me backup my files first!

OK... so you're sitting there on the train listening to tunes, minding your own business..when some dickhead comes at you trying to steal your iPod. Sounds crazy right!?!? Well, it happens all the time now, especially in NYC. A recent article on the Mac Observer talks about how students, specifically kids with the signature white earbuds trailing from their ears, have had to fend-off felons lately.

"A South Brooklyn transit officer reported a near doubling of student iPod robbers on subways in recent months, The New York Post reported Tuesday. One week ago, a high school student required 44 stitches after being stabbed for his iPod on a Q train."

Needless to say, we here at Methodshop find this extremely troubling. Can't we all just get along... come on people! Stabbing someone for an iPod? For those of you with iPods be careful. And those of you in the market for one, PLEASE don't buy one from "some guy" with an iPod for sale. Now, more than ever, it could be stolen.

iPod Safety Tip: It's crazy, we know, but sometimes it might just be better to listen to your iPod with those crappy old headphones so a would-be robber gets the wrong idea.

For people with more money than taste. For people with more money than brains. For people who like sparkly things, take a look at what Crystalmini can do for you. Cover your iPod mini or iPod shuffle in Swarovski crystals and you'll be the talk of the town, or at least your local mall.

Prices start at $299 for shuffles and $799 for minis. It's unclear if this includes the price of the iPod or not. You will just have to ask...

By the way, if you like this sort of thing, Modphone.com might become your friend too.

Related Links:

• Paris Hilton's Phone Gets Hacked
• Spend A Night In Paris Movie Review

The next time you do a Google Image search of your favorite musician, don't be surprised if a picture of their shoes ends up in the results. Who do you have to thank for this unusual honor? Her name is Helen Lawrence and her blog, Popstar Feets, might be one of the most original blogs ever created. When getting an opportunity to take a photo with popstar, most people like to shoot from the waist up. Not Helen. She prefers to angle her camera a little lower and checkout the celebrity footwear. Then she blogs about it.



Here's an interview with Helen Lawrence from Popstar Feets complete with an exclusive ;) picture of Adidas sneakers that belong to Chris Martin from Coldplay.

BeSocial: methodshop

Labels: interview, music

We all love listening to some guilty pleasure, whether it's Thomas Dolby, Perry Como, or Ashlee Simpson. And what better way to isolate yourself in a world that you love and others hate, than by listening to your music using noise-reducing prosumer grade headphones with amazing sound?

Enter Shure's E3C headphones… and prepare to be Blinded (or Deafened) With Science...

The next time you do a Google Image search of your favorite musician, don't be surprised if a picture of their shoes ends up in the results. Who do you have to thank for this unusual honor? Her name is Helen Lawrence and her blog, Popstar Feets, might be one of the most original blogs ever created.

When getting an opportunity to take a photo with a "popstar", most people like to shoot from the waist up. Not Helen. She prefers to angle her camera a little lower and checkout the celebrity footwear. Then she blogs about it.



Here's our interview with Helen Lawrence from Popstar Feets complete with an exclusive picture of Adidas sneakers that belong to Chris Martin from Coldplay... if you are into that kind of thing.


methodshop

Labels: interview, music

March 2, 2005 - Bill Gates was knighted today by Queen Elizabeth, who conferred upon him the title of "Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire" in a ceremony at Buckinham Palace. Gates now joins the list of prominent individuals who are bestowed honorary knighthood.

Money can buy many of games of bridge, not to mention large tech companies, but it doesn't buy the right as a non-Brit to use 'Sir' as a prefix to your name!

Non-U.K. 'knights' may not use the prefix 'Sir' before one's name, at least not officially. Gates was selected for knighthood based upon "Microsoft's impact on the British economy and the way it has transformed business practices."

Ironically while Microsoft may have escaped unscathed from U.S. anti-trust proceedings, it seems unlikely to share the same outcome with the European Union's proceedings.

Shouldn't the actions of a monopolist merit the Tower of London rather than honorary knighthood?

Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer provided interesting answers to questions about the direction of the iPod at last week's Goldman Sachs Technology Investment Symposium. Apple's CFO was a featured presenter representing the company among 140 other leading tech companies in the U.S. Oppenheimer noted the following:

-Apple is co-developing an "iTunes mobile music player" with Motorola to combine a mobile phone with an MP3 player. This will ostensibly compete with the new Sony-Ericsson phones that do the same.
-Do not expect a video iPod anytime soon. Apple thinks such devices have "failed in the marketplace" due to their small screen dimensions and bulky size.
-The iPod is a part and parcel strategy to win back eroded desktop computer market share, often referred to as the "halo effect."
-It's no secret why Apple created the Mac Mini (despite many clamoring for an 'icheap), 75% of all desktop computers retailed for under $800.
-Apple is midly receptive to the idea of a media center PC because their research shows consumers would prefer a powerful desktop in the office beaming content wirelessly to other outlets in the home.

Each month DJ Winta (aka Big Young) releases a new STREET OFFICIAL MIXTAPE comprised of Hip/Hop music sold in the iTunes Music Store. The 25 minute mix track is a free download for all iTunes users.

This month's mix features: NAS, Xzibit, Pete Rock, The Game, and KRS-One to name a few. You can download the free Frebruary 2004 Mixtape Volume #4 here.