GeekSugar

Geek Tip: Keep Your iPod Cords Untangled For Free

GeekSugar — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 15:06:03 -0800

The Budcozys I posted the other day got an overwhelming "Leave It" response, so I figured I'd share an old Lifehacker tip on how to keep your iPod cords untangled, no new product to buy or anything. I like to call it the "Lifehacker Devil Horn Hand Wrap." And trust me, the title's much more complicated than the technique.

You make a devil horn with your fingers as in the diagram, hold the earbuds down with your index and middle fingers, and then wrap the cords around each "devil horn" like a figure eight. Take the last six inches of cord and circle it around the figure-eight wrap. Take it off your fingers and it's a nice little package that unravels with no knots at all. It may not read simply, but it is once you get the hang of it. If I can do it, you can definitely do it.

iLoad: Loads Your iPod Music Sans Computer

GeekSugar — Tue, 29 May 2007 07:01:57 -0700

The iLoad sat on my desk for a good week before I decided to take it out of its box. It wasn't that it didn't look sleek, (while it's a little heavy it does match the regular iPod and my MacBook) but more that as a 21st century woman, I find the idea of it a bit confusing. When I eventually tried it out, I did realize the device's use, but still don't think I'm its target customer.

The iLoad device takes your CDs (apparently it will work with DVDs soon too), as well as any music, album and video data, and loads them directly to your iPod without using a computer or requiring an Internet connection. As someone who has a computer and constant internet access to download from iTunes, this seems silly, but for those people who avoid/don't have computers but do have an iPod (i.e my mother), it could be real handy.

To check out additional images of the iLoad and more of my review, read more

The device itself is pretty "sturdy" - it weighs about 4 pounds and is 8-inches by 7.25-inches and 3.4-inches high. It features about 256 MB DDR RAM, RCA-style jacks, 2.5mm headset/Speaker, microphone and line in, mouse Port, keyboard port, monitor port and ethernet port. It costs $299.

Because its use is so simple - put music on your iPod without a computer - I think the iLoad could really take off if it was half the size and (I know this is never going to happen) half its price. Last year my sister spent some time in Japan without her own computer (she used the computers at her school or internet cafes), but would write home about how bummed she was she couldn't add all her new Japanese pop CDs onto her iPod without losing all the music that was already on there. I think the iLoad could be a perfect traveling companion in that case, if only it were more compact.

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Geek Tip: Unfreezing Your iPod

GeekSugar — Wed, 23 May 2007 15:00:33 -0700

Geeksugar readers often e-mail me frantically at all hours of the night asking me what to do when their iPod is frozen or on the fritz. Unless your iPod is completely out of commission, you can usually reset it. So, take a breath and keep reading.

To reset an iPod, iPod nano, or iPod mini, press and hold the Menu and Select buttons until the Apple logo appears, which takes about 6 to 10 seconds. You may need to repeat this step.

To reset an iPod shuffle, disconnect the iPod shuffle from the computer (if connected), and then move the switch on the back of the iPod shuffle to the off position. Wait 5 seconds, and then move the switch on the back to the play in order or the shuffle position.

If the above steps did not work, try connecting the iPod to a power adapter and plug the power adapter into an electrical outlet, or connect the iPod to your computer. Make sure the computer is turned on and isn't set to go to sleep. I know, it sounds obvious, but even my IT guy laughs at his simple mistakes sometimes!

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How to Manage Multiple iPods on One Computer

GeekSugar — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 11:04:12 -0800

Readers have been e-mailing me asking about managing multiple iPods on one computer, so I figured it was time I address the question with you all. For a time my boyfriend and I were managing both our iPods off his computer, simply because I was so excited the day I got it I didn't stop to consider I should do it on my own computer (yes, even geeks have such moments). While it worked, it became stressful and we both travel a great deal for work, so his computer wasn't always around when I needed it.

Geek Tip: iTunes can easily differentiate between multiple iPods and manage settings for all of them. When you use multiple iPods with one computer, assigning each an obvious name will help avoid confusion. If you need to change an iPod’s name, double-click on that name in the "Source" menu and enter a new one. For help setting this up, read more

By default, iTunes is set to automatically update all songs and playlists. If you want to better control this option, or if you’re connecting an iPod that’s synced with one computer to another system and don’t want to overwrite all the music on it, you should switch to the manual mode.
Connect the iPod, click on the No button if iTunes asks whether you want to link that iPod to the new library (you’ll be asked only if the iPod has been previously linked to another computer), click on the iPod icon near the bottom right-hand corner of the iTunes window, and select Manually Manage Songs And Playlists in the resulting window.
If you're using a Mac you can set up multiple OS X user accounts, each with its own iTunes library and settings. A downside of this approach is that, by default, iTunes stores its music in each user’s Home folder, which means that duplicate copies of shared songs will be maintained for each person.

Need more iPod help? Check out my guides:
Syncing Your iPod Music on a PC and a Mac
How to Sync Your iPod to Two Computers

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Syncing Your iPod Music on a PC and a Mac

GeekSugar — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 07:05:26 -0800

Many of you have been asking for help solving your iPod dilemmas - like How to Sync Your iPod to Two Computers or for those of you that work on PCs and Macs, how you can sync your iPod between different operating systems - a problem that can cause more than a few headaches. The first setback is that traditionally, Apple doesn’t support using a Mac-formatted iPod on a Windows PC. The good news is that cross-platform syncing is doable.

For my how to guide, just read more

iPods formatted for Windows are okay converts for cross-platform syncing, so while Windows does not natively support Mac-formatted iPods, you can buy software like Mediafour’s XPlay, $29.95. Simply drag-and-drop the music files you want into XPlay music folder. The music is automatically organized on the iPod. Inside the XPlay music folder your songs are arranged just as they are on the screen of the iPod. You can browse your music by Playlist, Albums, Artists, Genres, Composers and all Songs.

Using the restore feature provided by Apple’s iPod Updater, you can convert an iPod from Mac to Windows. But all data is erased from the device during the restore process, so make sure you back up the data on the iPod before you attempt a conversion.

Need more iPod help? Check out my guide on How to Sync Your iPod to Two Computers.

How to Sync Your iPod to Two Computers

GeekSugar — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 10:03:24 -0800

La_clique recently posed an all too familiar question: I have a desktop PC with my iTunes library on it, but yesterday I bought a new laptop and wanted to be able to sync my iPod on there as well. Others have asked about managing multiple iPods on one computer, or dealing with controlling your music via your home Mac and a Windows PC at work. How does a geek manage his or her music without erasing their entire library?

For geeksugar's Guide to Syncing Your iPod to Multiple Computers, which is the first installment in a series of iPod How Tos, just read more

iPods were designed to automatically sync with one iTunes library, or one computer. Luckily, you can manually manage files on your iPod across multiple devices by: Displaying the iPod preferences and clicking the Manually manage music button. Then you can move files from any iTunes client to the iPod.

geeksugar Guide to Syncing Your iPod to Multiple Computers

Un-Networked Computers: Syncing two computers that are not connected via network (say your home and office computers), is relatively simple because iTunes is set by default to autosync with iPods. You must, however, be sure to switch to manual mode to avoid losing files.

Whitney Young’s free Senuti 0.31 allows you to copy single songs, songs grouped by artist or album, or entire playlists from an iPod into iTunes.

Paid options include crispSofties’ $35 iPod.iTunes, which allows you to also transfer metadata along with songs and playlists, but iPod, and MP3tunes, which provides syncing tools and unlimited online storage space for all your music files for $40 a year. Remember that you can authorize only five computers at once to play songs purchased from the iTunes Music Store.

Networked Computers:
Synchronizing iTunes manually between computers can be a laborious task. Oligrob Software’s free syncOtunes 0.95 (3.5 mice) can ease this chore. It's designed to sync libraries and settings, provided that the computers involved can communicate directly over a network.

Future geeksugar Guides
Be on the lookout for next week's How to Sync iPods Across Platforms and How to Manage Multiple iPods on the Same Computer guides.

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How To Share iTunes Music

GeekSugar — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 10:00:31 -0800

One of my favorite things about working in an office with a group of people is the fact that I can listen to most of their music through our shared iTunes folder. It gives me a chance to sample music that isn't part of my regular playlist, and make sweeping assumptions about my co-workers' hipness based on their music taste.

When your computer is on a network, iTunes’ built-in “sharing” feature works in two directions: it lets you open up your music library to others on the same network, and allows you to listen to music files that are on other computers running iTunes. For tips on how to use it, just read more

If your computer is on a local network or shared housing environment (such as a dorm), you can share your music so others can enjoy it, and listen to your music on other computers. Also, if your computer or network has a WiFi or AirPort wireless card, you can often check out shared iTunes libraries on other wireless networks. I've picked up a couple in coffee shops and had fun looking around the the room, wondering whose music I was listening to.
If you have more than one computer at home, you can share your iTunes music libraries from one computer to another. You can either have separate libraries on each computer, belonging, for example, to different family members, or you can have all your music on a single computer that works as a music server for your other computers.

Setting Up iTunes Music Sharing

iTunes includes everything you need to share your music and to connect to other iTunes music libraries. You don’t need any additional software, but you do need to be connected to a network - either wired or wireless. By default, music sharing is not turned on, so you must go to iTunes’ preferences and set up sharing. Select iTunes > Preferences (Mac) or Edit > Preferences (Windows), then click the Sharing icon to access these preferences.

If you have a firewall on your computer or network, you’ll need to make sure it allows iTunes music sharing to get through. This Apple technical document tells you how to configure your firewall.

Geek tip: Music sharing is not the same as file sharing, however. When you share music with iTunes, you provide other users with the possibility to listen to your songs, not to copy them or keep them.

Make Your iPod Double As A Storage Drive

GeekSugar — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 07:00:40 -0800

Besides the fact that iPods are fashionable, user-friendly and keep us rockin' and b'boppin' all day long, there are many hidden (and not-so-hidden) functions of our beloved gadgets that I surmise many of us don't use. I recently started using mine as an alarm clock, but if you're traveling this holiday season, and want to use it as a storage device, it's plenty easy.

With iPod storage sizes exceeding 80GB you can store everything from music, videos, pictures, documents and then some! You can use your iPod as a drive (hard drive or flash drive depending on your iPod) to store and transfer data files (also known as disk mode).

Geek Tip: To transfer music files to your iPod, use iTunes. You can't see the songs iTunes copies to your iPod in the Finder or My Computer. If you copy music files to iPod using the Finder or an Explorer window, iPod won't be able to play them.

For a step-by-step guide on how to transfer and store files onto your iPod visit the Apple website.

7 Awesome Gifts For Your Kid Brother

GeekSugar — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:00:57 -0800

I'm counting down the days to the holidays by sharing my picks for the best geek-approved gifts for your entire family. Check out my previous picks for your parents and your sister here, then check out all the cool goodies I would choose for your younger bro in this slideshow!

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GeekSugar's Gift Guide For Dads

GeekSugar — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:05:22 -0800

I happen to think that my dad is pretty easy to shop for, but I know that a lot of you out there don't know where to begin when it comes to picking out gifts for your dads. If you fall into that category, fret not! From now until Christmas I'll be giving you the lowdown on all sorts of cool gadget gifts to stash under the tree this holiday. I got our moms covered yesterday, so let's see what I have on my short list of gifts for dads!

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