The cleverly-named PyP-Bomb iPod/Guitar Amp is a battery-powered speaker and amp made from a section of PVC pipe.
Optimized for the iPod, the $150 PyP-Bomb generates 18 watts of sound and is “seriously loud,” according to ThinkGeek site, which sells them.
Can that be true? Is 18 watts a lot of sound? Sure looks distinctive.
Accessories for the iPod seem to be getting more and more niche. There’s the iPod boxer shorts, of course, and now here’s a $35 pair of gloves with special electrically-conductive fiber in the thumb and index fingertips. The fibre allows control of the iPod clickwheel without taking the mitts off.
As retailer J&R explains:
“The clickwheel on iPods functions by detecting the minute electrical charge in fingers and tracking it as it moves from point-to-point. Gloves adds a layer of insulation between fingers and the clickwheel’s surface, blocking the electronic sensors. Tavo’s new gloves allows charge to pass through the gloves from fingers to iPod’s clickwheel.”
The gloves also feature a “Gripper palm” to stop you dropping your precious music player in a big puddle of slush.
The Associated Press has the most incredible story about Dick Cheney’s travels to Iraq and Afghanistan in a silver, cargo-plane mounted Winnebago, and the precedence the charging of his precious iPod took over all other matters.
The vice president is an iPod fan, and keeping it charged is a priority for his staff.
Normally that isn’t an issue, even when he’s flying around the world. Air Force II is equipped with outlets in each row of seats.
But when Dick Cheney was traveling home overnight Wednesday from his diplomatic mission, most of the outlets went on the fritz.
Working passengers began lining up their laptops to share the power from a couple of working outlets — particularly the reporters who urgently needed to prepare their articles to transmit during a quick refueling stop in England.
But when Cheney said his iPod needed to be recharged, it took precedent above all else and dominated one precious outlet for several hours. The vice president’s press staff intervened so a reporter could use the outlet for 15 minutes to charge a dead laptop, but then the digital music device was plugged back in.
That way, Cheney got his press coverage and his music, too.
Of all the iPod nuts I’ve met, and read and written about, this description of Cheney beats them all. In fact, the story is so preposterous, it beggars belief. But maybe it tells a lot about the man: his power, the self-absorbtion, a surprising obsession with music.
If previous reports are true, the iPod was a Christmas present from his daughters.
Happy Holidays one and all!
In thanks for reading this rubbish all year, I give you the gift of music.
Here’s the best holiday song ever: Walking in the Air, sung by 11-year-old Declan Galbraith, who’s blessed with an extraordinary set of pipes.
Of course, the song isn’t available anywhere on iTunes, or I’d buy it in a second (nothing I want ever is).
I did find this though: an excellent version of Carol of the Bells by MystiQuintet from the Christmas Re-Grooved album.
(Via Robotwisdom)
John Venzon, curator of the Newton Museum is shutting down the website and selling his collection of every Newton ever made.
Venzon has run the website since 2001. Venzon said his collection includes “one of every Newton ever made plus every developer scrap of paper, software and manual.” The collection is for sale through eBay.
“I’m closing up shop for the very prozaic reason that my wife and I are remodeling our house, and the collection is housed in a room we are tearing out to make space for a family room,” Venzon said. “The sale is also helping to pay for it. My hosting is up in June, so I’ll be passing it on to the person who buys the collection, if they want it.”
Venzon added: “I still use my original Newton I bought in 1993, though. I’m keeping that!”
Update: I emailed Venzon to ask how much he thought the collection was worth. Venzon, a feature film editor, replied:
“I don’t have any idea how much money I plan to get, as it’s kind of bittersweet to hope for anyway.
I’ve been collecting, really, since I bought my first Newton back in 1993.
Alex Olivares and I used it as a film calculator on Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers.
We were assistant editors on the movie, and since Oliver was shooting so many different formats, we had to know how the 16mm footage would end up once it was blown up to 35mm.
We used a beta version of GoFigure to do much of the math. The guys at Dubl-Click software were great, and would tweak the code as we used it.
Ah, Newton, is there nothing you can’t do?
Google’s year-end Zeitgeist — a roundup of the year’s most popular search terms — is full of iPod action; at least, the “Froogle” section, which is devoted to online shopping, is. The iPod’s various flavors crop up in four of the top 10 Froogle searches, including the number one position.
1. ipod
2. digital camera
3. mp3 player
4. ipod mini
5. psp
6. laptop
7. xbox
8. ipod shuffle
9. computer desk
10. ipod nano
Public domain Torrents has links to more than 500 movies in the public domain available for download via BitTorrent. Most are compatible with the video iPod.
There’s a lot of silent-era stuff, but also a rich vein of kitsch trash, including clunkers from Ed Wood (Plan 9 from Outer Space), George Romero (Night of the Living Dead) and a Russian psychotronic/cult/camp sci-fi oddity called Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women.
King of Kong Island seems typical. According to the IMDB review:
An Italian Spanish Co-production with America’s own Dick Randall involved in the ‘presenting’- King of Kong Island mixes horror movie, nudie-cutie and jungle adventure with toppings of National Geographic stock footage- all set to a jungle beat of exotica.
An exhibition of video art is to be presented entirely on video iPods at the Fine Art in Space gallery in Long Island City, NY.
PodART will feature the work of several multimedia artists whose work has been reformatted for the iPod, including MTAA and Marisa Olson.
The show is “the first group exhibition of video art intended to be viewed and sold solely on the iPod. Apple, the computer of choice by much of the art world is the inspiration for our new exhibition,” a press release says.
The artwork will be sold at the show, pre-installed on an iPod. “Each video object is a limited edition and is sold in iPod format with the player,” the release says. No pricing is given.
The exhibition runs December 9, 2005, to January 17, 2006. The opening reception is December 9, 7pm to 9pm.
(Thanks Walt)
Underwear with an iPod pocket: the iBoxer — only $22 apiece.
The Play iBox Solid Boxer is an ideal knit boxer for trendy, gadget-savvy music lovers. Made from a cotton/spandex blend, this button fly boxer has a discrete front pocket which is perfect for holding your iPod, other mp3 players or your cell phone. This Play iBox Boxer is available in solid fashion colors and the solid waistband features a racing stripe and the Play logos. If you buy 2 pairs of the Play iBox Boxer, you’ll receive 3 free iTunes. iPod not included with purchase.
(Thanks Chris Uriarte)
What a great phrase “Money for old rope” is. And as writer/editor Giles Turnbull notes, half the new shows on the iTMS are exactly that — dreadful old crap with little but nostalgia value. And they’ll probably sell like crazy.
“The cost of licencing and converting old TV shows to a suitable digital format is a fraction of the cost of making new shows, or licencing the rights to use shows that are broadcast in peak time right now.
This is money for old rope. The iPod generation is being wooed into spending money on old content it has already seen and in many cases already paid for. Just as we bought CD copies of albums we’d already bought on tape or vinyl, and in some cases then bought the same tracks again on the iTMS. The same thing, purchased three times! That sort of brand loyalty makes record and TV company executives smile.
There’s a perceived value in nostalgia. People of my generation get a warm feeling when they hear those late 70s / early 80s new wave hits. And the same applies to some TV shows…”
Damian Kulash Jr., lead singer for the band OK Go, argues convincingly that in this day and age, file-sharing is essential for his band’s success.
In the New York Times, He writes:
“To be clear, I certainly don’t encourage people to pirate our music. I have poured my life into my band, and after two major label records, our accountants can tell you that we’re not real rock stars yet. But before a million people can buy our record, a million people have to hear our music and like it enough to go looking for it. That won’t happen without a lot of people playing us for their friends, which, in turn, won’t happen without a fair amount of file sharing.
As it happened, for a variety of reasons, our label didn’t put copy-protection software on our album. What a shame, though, that so many bands aren’t as fortunate.”
Eric Wolfe, a 17-year-old senior, met his girlfriend when he “jacked” into her iPod in a darkened cinema.
IPod jacking is when two strangers swap headphone jacks to sample each others’ music. It’s one way to discover new music, and can be used to break the ice. IPod jacking was a lot easier when iPods were rarer, and the white earbuds signified membership of an exclusive club.
Eric is from La Quinta, California, near Palm Springs. He met his girlfriend, Bailey Smith, at an outside mall called “The River,” which has a movie theater.
Here’s Eric’s story, as told via a recent IM-terview (which I’ve lightly edited to make it easier to read):
ERIC: so i was here at “the river” with a couple friends
i had my ipod on me, like i always do, (it’s as normal as taking my wallet)
and i saw a girl walk into the movie theatre with her friends….. i notice the famous white earbuds and knew she had an ipod.i convinced my friends to move down a couple rows closer to the screen
so when i was walking down i plugged in my earbuds and put on a cute song real quick i thought she might like….. i sat 2 seats to her side
i waited till she glanced over at me( i was kidna lucky she ever did)
so i looked back at her and put on a small smile and said hi
she seemed friendly
so i asked what she was listening to while taking out her headphone and plugging in mine
she was a little confused at first but then laughed when she realized what i was doing
ME: cheeky
haha yeah…. i was kinda nervous but i pulled it off
we only had a couple minutes to introduce introduce each other and talk about music before the movie started
but that’s pretty much it…. i got her screenname
before we left
ME: what was the song you chose for her to listen to?
hopeless love by daphne loves derby
ME: and what was she listening to?
dark blue by jack’s mannequin
ME: so you approved of each other’s taste in music?
she liked what i had, i wasn’t too fond of jack’s mannequin, but its grown on me since
ME: how long you been going out?
3 months
a little over
ME: you have any other ipod jacking stories?
just one other… i “kinda” knew the girl though
she was an old friend’s little sister
i just used it to “break the ice”… it seemed more interesting than saying “hey, are you josh’s little sister?”
ME: so — you’re a serial jacker?
haha
ME: what kind of music do u like? name a couple of bands.
a thorn for every heart, boys night out, the academy is, armor for sleep, bloc party, brand new, dashboard confessional, the early november, emery, the faint, halifax, hellogoodbye, mae, matchbook romance, motion city soundtrack, northstar, panic! at the disco, park, the plain white t’s, the postal service, silverstein
typical ’emo’ stuff
that was a bit more than a couple, but thats just off the top of my head
ME: so it’s a good way to approach girls?
most definitely
This case for the iPod nano is swedish and designed by Johan von Konow.
It’s very thin – only 0.3 mm – which feels like a high priority for a case that surrounds a nano. Four colors to choose from, the three seen above and one transparent.
A smart feature is the holder for the earbud cable on the back of the case. Only available in Sweden right now, unfortunately.
So I just woke up and see that Apple is offering about a dozen new TV shows for download from NBC, USA Network and the Sci Fi Channel. Sorry for being the last person on the Net to post this.
The new shows include:
NBC’s “Law & Order,†“The Office,†“Surface,†“The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,†“Late Night with Conan O’Brien,â€
the USA Network’s Emmy Award-winning “Monkâ€
Sci-Fi Channel’s “Battlestar Galacticaâ€
classic TV shows including “Alfred Hitchcock Presents,†“Dragnet,†“Adam-12†and “Knight Rider.â€
Pricing is a bit weird. Entire episodes of “Law & Order†cost $1.99, but so does a 10-minute clip of Conan O’Brien.
CNET:
The Princeton researchers that have done much of the work deconstructing SonyBMG’s recent controversial copy protection software have found an interesting new tidbit. According to their new findings, the Sony software had a hidden component that could convert songs from the CD, or other ordinary MP3s, into a file compatible with Apple’s copy protected FairPlay format.
That would mean that the songs could be played on iPods, which hasn’t been the case with copy protected CDs in the past. It apparently accomplishes this by using open-source, yet copyrighted code, a practice deemed a no-no in programming circles.
It’s not yet clear how this came about. Record labels have hoped to establish compatibility with the iPod for their copy protected CDs for some time, and EMI Music has even said that its CDs are close to reaching that point. Apple, for its part, denied EMI’s contention.
This is a big deal:
Britain’s independent music labels are about to make music available for podcasts, reports the BBC. Britain’s indie acts include Franz Ferdinand and The Prodigy.
Songs by acts signed to UK indie record labels are to be made available to podcasters on a trial basis.
The Association of Independent Music is selling six-month worldwide licence deals for its members’ music to be used on download radio programmes.
… “We believe there will be huge global demand for the AIM podcast licence,” (said an AIM spokeswoman)
As one of the BBC’s interviewees points out: “I see podcasting and subscription services as playing a big role in where the music consumer wants to go.”
Steve Wozniak:
My best computer prank involved counterfeiting twenty thousand brochures for a phony computer. I did it at the West Coast Computer Faire, where the Apple was introduced.
Bruce Damer’s ever-excellent Digibarn Computer Museum has a scan of Wozniak’s proudest prank.
What’s the most expensive Mac money can buy?
According to Gadget Madness, it’s a “2.5Ghz Quad-core PowerPC G5 with 16GB of RAM, 1 TB of storage, Quadro FX 4500 graphics card with 512MB of memory, 16X dual-layer Superdrive, and two 30″ Apple Cinema HD displays.”
Cost — a cool $24,000 — but shipping is free.
UK blogs Tech Digest and Shiny Shiny have named the iPod Shuffle as this year’s “Must Chav Gadget.”
A chav is slang for a member of Britain’s “peasant underclass” — a lowlife, in other words.
Says Tech digest:
The shuffle is perfect for chavs. It’s cheap. It’s by a cool brand, and you can let others know you have one as it is designed to be worn round your neck. As it is white it also accessorises well with those classy gold chains Chavs wear. The sad part is that the shuffle is the worst player in the Apple range — more like some dodgy back street knock-off than the excellent other iPods. The fact it has no screen so you can’t program it or choose a track — it chooses the music for you — also saves Chav brain cells for the much more important business of, ahem, pimping their rides.
Second prize went to the Motorla Razr — “standard fixture for every Tom Dick and Chav.”
The New Oxford American Dictionary has chosen “podcast” as the Word of the Year for 2005.
Podcast will be added to the next online update of the dictionary in early 2006.
EIC Erin McKean said, “Podcast was considered for inclusion last year, but we found that not enough people were using it, or were even familiar with the concept. This year it’s a completely different story. The word has finally caught up with the rest of the iPod phenomenon.”
The runners-up included:
bird flu
IED
lifehack
persistent vegetative state
reggaeton
rootkit
squick (“cause immediate and thorough revulsion”)
sudoku
trans fat
Here’s a cheap way to boost the range of your Airport Express Wi-Fi base station: stick it inside a steel wire-basket ladle.
This idea is to put the Airport Express in the middle of the parabolic kitchenware. In other words to make a kind of a passive wifi antenna enhancer. Et voila!
… Positioning this area of the AE in the focal point of the parabola with some sticky tape can even marginally improve the range extension. You could also use a bigger chinese kitchenware.
(Via MacBidouille)
Apple’s mega Cinema Display is to about get some competition: Dell is prepping its own 30-inch flat panel, according to a post on the NeoWin forums.
I’ve no idea how reliable the post is, but it says the monster monitor will ship four days before Christmas, have WQXGA resolution (2560 x 1600), two DVI-D links and one HDCP port.
The big question though is price — will it be a lot less than the $2,500 Apple charges?
Unlike Sony, which is using fake graffiti to promote the PSP, this iPod graf from New Zealand appears genuine.
Think Secret says at Macworld in January Apple will unveil an online media distribution system for streaming tons of content to the living room, including feature-length movies.
One of the analysts interviewed wondered whether the Mac mini, which Think Secret says will be revamped, could be based on Intel’s new Viiv platform, a set of branded chip technologies for home entertainment devices.
Among other things, Viiv (which rhymes with “five”) provides a secure platform for sharing copy-protected media among devices in the home, as well as out of it — like loading TV shows on handhelds and laptops, for example.
Intel has been busy signing up dozens of partners in consumer electronics, as well as Hollywood and the music biz, according to the WSJ (registration required). Tivo is a partner, as is British Sky Broadcasting and Movielink, a joint movie-download service from five major movie studios.
Viiv works with Microsoft’s Media Center and the upcoming Windows Vista, but could Apple also be involved, basing the new Mac mini on Viiv?
Either way, publications like the Enquirer and Hardware Analysis, think Viiv is bad news for consumers.
The technology will allow content to be locked down, limiting what consumers can do with movies or music they buy in digital format, even if it’s within their “fair use” rights.
In addition, “unauthorized” hardware like homebrew Linux boxes will be locked out of the legitimate digital content market. As I suggested before — this is the real reason Apple is switching to Intel — so that it can sell copy-protected digital entertainment securely online.
It may not be all doom and gloom. Intel says Viiv will play unprotected content.
According to the WSJ: “With Viiv, Intel tried to make sure that consumers can still use unprotected content — such as CDs they rip — as they can now, Mr. Corbett said.”
But note the telling phrase: “Intel tried to make sure that consumers can still use unprotected content.”
Tomorrow afternoon, I’ll be giving the first of three short talks in the Bay Area about my new book, Cult of iPod.
The talk will be a brief intro to the book and what it’s about: fast-growing iPod culture.
The other appearances will be at the Stanford Bookstore in Palo Alto on Dec. 8 at 2pm — where there’ll be a raffle of an iPod Shuffle — and Borders San Rafael on Dec. 10 at 7pm.
Here’s the details of Saturday’s event:
LOCATION/TIME
Borders Books (Stonestown) Details and MAP
415.731.2025
255 Winston Dr.
San Francisco, CA 94132Sat 12/03/05 (4:00pm)
Hope to see you there.
