While browsing LifeHacker recently, I discovered a wonderfull little application which allows you to copy songs from your iPod back into iTunes. A wonderful tool if you have ever tried to keep your iPod synchronized between two workstations at once. This application is free and from the reviews I have read seems to work REALLY well. I haven't tried it for myself yet, but this looks like it will do the job well. Plus, the wonderful iTunes interface and integration have made this application very professional looking and easy to use. (Another feature I like about this app is the ability to play songs through its interface that are on your iPod. A problem that iTunes has with its current configuration!)

Visit the Senuti site now and download your copy of iTunes Backwards today...

With the release of iLife '06 from Apple creating websites has never been easier than ever. However, a little known fact is that iWeb is not the first application of its kind. As much as Apple would like to claim the "new and cool" idea for themselves they really are not the first to support easy to create, professional looking, websites.

For any geek out there who has been running around online you will have come across RapidWeaver from RealMacSoftware. The original website creator for the Mac supports wonderful features just like iWeb... Integration with the iLife applications make creating your websites extremely easy. Plus, if you dare, you can create your own page coding your own HTML- a feature that iWeb does not support. But how does RapidWeaver stack up to iWeb in respect to the backend code and other features?

In case you missed them, I found that Google has taken all of the advertisements which aired during the superbowl and has made them available to watch again and again and again! Even though they don't have my favorite one the rest are still worth watching. (Hmmm... I wonder when Apple will get some of them on iTunes?)

Check them out here...!

As a technical service provider to around 300 Macs and even more PC's I find it really difficult at times when people come up to me and say "Hey, my computer hasn't been working." Like I am supposed to already know that? I am not God so how can I possibly know what is going on with their computer unless they tell me?

Oh, yeah, and then they say, "This problem has been happening the past two months now. so if you get a chance could you come and take a look at it?" It's like... "No way dude! How am I supposed to fix something that broke two months ago?" But they don't just stop there, no that would be polite, they continue to tell me that for the past two days their computer doesn't start up at all! WHAT????

But don't feel bad for me. Users will always be users, we can't blame them for that. They are just lucky that they have people like us to turn to during our lunch hour when they finally realize that their computer has not been working correctly!

I believe that the answer to this question is yes, they are. Look today at the use of cell phones in cars… a perfect example of how technology, available to the common person 24 hours a day, seven days a week, can be distracting. How many hours do you spend on the phone each day? The number is growing… Americans are becoming more and more distracted by the availability of technology today.

Statistics show that more automobile accidence occur today because drivers are distracted by cell phones and conversations with their friends, boss, or family member. What would possibly happen if we give consumers a devices that not only distracts their hearing from being alert but also from their sight or other senses? Now, not only can they now not “see” what is going on around them but their mind is taken up processing the information they are being given. They become lost in the World Wide Web and become vegetables to the world around them, not caring about anyone or anything else. They lose interest in society.

If we do not control what we do with our technology we may end up creating a society of zombies and the amount of accidents with automobiles and pedestrians will continue to rise to record heights!

Sharing our music is something I am sure each and every one of us has done at one time or another. Even before the invention of the computer and the mainstream internet people would share their albums with each other. “Hey Joe, can I make a tape of that new album of yours?” But until now the record companies never complained about the sharing of music between friends and family. So do they have a valid complaint today that music sharing is spreading a decrease in music sales? I think not.

For the past few weeks my father and I have been debating a question which has been popping up all over the Internet recently. Can a plane which is on a runway sized treadmill moving towards the plane take off? I did not believe that it could at first but after much reading I have come to believe that it can. But bringing this discussion up with my co-workers has sparked an entire new argument, what about the physics of flying? Can the airplane really take off?

As you may have noticed, I have put up a poll on my site to see what each of my visitors think plus I am planning on sending this problem into the Mythbusters on the Discovery channel to put this myth to rest. But if you happen to pass by my site please take the time to vote and let me know what you think!

Currently on my website, www.jacomputing.net , I use statistical monitoring software to track how many people visit my site per day, what articles they look at, what Browser they are using, and what Operating system they are using. This information is vital for me to see what people are looking for when they come to my site and where they are coming from. But the information on my site stays private, it is not given to anyone else, it is specifically for me to do statistical research. So what about the companies/sites who do give out your online profile? Should they be allowed to monitor your information?

In short, I believe that as long as the information collected when a user visits a website stays property of that site or company then it is absolutely acceptable. This, like in my case, can help companies improve their E-Commerce business by providing users with content that will make them potential customers. However, if the information is going to be sold, given, or otherwise passed to another party then I think that there should be a “no call list” for the internet so that you browsing history and interests are not given to just anybody.

Now, I am sure that most people out their know that the internet they use and love so much is not truly private but they don’t expect that their information is going to be provided to anyone who asks. Monitor what information is gathered, don’t restrict everything unless the information is being used to commit internet fraud, identity theft, or any other cyber crime!

Otherworld Computing has recently taken apart the new Apple MacBook Pro and published photos of the "innerds" for the rest of us to look at. If you are like me, an AASP, or just a Mac nerd then you really should check these out! It is amazing to see how Apple has moved all the components around to make the MacBook Pro easier to explore while it is apart! (And if you ever had to take a PowerBook apart then you MUST look at these photos, they will make you want to cry!)

Click Here to take a look at the photos!

Absolutely. When someone has committed a crime, the have lost one of the privileges in society today, the right to privacy. Where you are, what you are doing, and your criminal history should be available to anyone who wants it. It is your “debt” to society.

If states do not share information about criminals then you would end up with someone who is wanted in one state for a crime but not in another. States could not extradite criminals who are running from the law because they would not have the information to arrest them. People who flee the law could simply run to another state and hide if the states to not share the information.

Now, who should be in this database of information? Only the people who have been convicted of their crimes or should anyone who has been charged be included? I believe that the answer is everyone, unless you are found completely innocent, should be in the database. This would provide people with “watch” lists so that they can be aware that even a particular person needs to be kept on a close leash.

In short, if you have ever committed a crime, or have been charged with a crime then you have given up your freedom in the world. Your history should be available for anyone and everyone for the protection of others. Too bad if your life gets harder in the long run, you had the choice at one time not to commit the crime that now haunts you the rest of your days!

Most, if not all, of us have used Email to communicate. The Internet and more importantly Email have become the letters of our time. However, with the speed that Email and the Internet provides we have lost our professionalism when it comes to writing a letter.

Email is fast. I can type an Email out and send it to a friend in a fraction of the time it would take for me to even find a pencil and paper to begin writing a letter. But for most of us even that is not fast enough. We forget our grammar, complete sentences go out the window. We use slang terms and “funny” spellings because we feel that it provides a personal touch to our Emails. “Sup, yo? That pic you sent was kewl!”

Have you ever applied for a job over the Internet and not gotten it? Even if your experience and resume’ clearly state that you have the qualifications to assume the position applied for, your Email to the could-be employer may not have been flattering. Thus, the decline of your writing skills hindered your professional reputation. You have made a fool of yourself because you didn’t take the time to care.

So, take time to reread your Emails before they go out. Make sure that you are clear and expressive with your words, legible in your writing, and that your grammar and spelling are correct. For, “If you are faithful with little, you will be faithful with much.”

I believe that if you are going to become a web designer, webmaster, or site administrator you need to know HTML. Even if you never write a line of it in your career, your knowledge of HTML can enable to you to debug site’s code as well as see what parts of the code are displaying onscreen. You can also pick out what is good coding and what is not.

I have found, while reading over code generated by a web design application, that many times the HTML generated, while functional, is not as clean as if someone had coded it themselves. This “dead” code can lead to slow websites displaying in your browser and make a website difficult to troubleshoot should an error occur.

MacShrine.com recently posted what they are calling "Pictures of a new vPod" better known as a Video iPod. These rumors have been circulating ever since Apple released its fifth generation iPod with video only four months ago. But could these photos really be the new vPod? Is this what Apple is planning to release on February 28th? I can only wait to find out...

The photo definantly looks like an iPod, including a dock connector plugged into one end. The entire front of this device is a screen meaning that Apple has officially done away with its famous click wheel, which made its iPod the best mp3 player in the market, and have replaced it with some sort of "virtual" clickwheel. If this is true then I hope that Apple has also come up with a plan to keep the screen from scratching otherwise they are just working on setting themselves up for a TON of class action lawsuits after this products release!

Click here to be taken to the thread on MacShrine.com and look at the photo!

Engadget online. Microsoft's multi-billion dollar monopoly oriented company continues to try and make its footprint bigger in the world of technology. Will they ever grow up? This article shows a new product which Microsoft is hoping to premire sometime soon. To me though, it looks more like a PSP copycat than anything else. What could you possibly want from a product like this? What would make this Origami Project worth going out and buying? I will have to continue looking into this to find out if there is more under the skin of this piece of technology!

Read the whole story on engadget...

With the widespread use of the Internet today it is possible to find just about everything online including an up and coming service of online physicians. But do I really trust their diagnosis or is this a dangerous way for your personal health information to be broadcast to anyone who wants it? Would you trust an online medical diagnosis?

In response to a message posting at the Maccast Forums I have put together a small posting to the questions posed. "Is the 5th Gen iPod really a video iPod (vPod)?" and, "Is the Mac Mini the Media Center Mac?"

A question that tends to arise frequently today is “Should colleges teach courses in computer hacking?” With so much money spent per year by software and virus companies patching holes in system software and applications I don’t think that a course in computer hacking would benefit the economical field. There are quite enough hackers and coders in the world today that provide us with more worms, hydras, and Trojan Horses than we could ever desire.

"My computer is slow... I can't work on it... can you come look at it? Make it faster please!" This little complaint by a user can make my day go to the bottom of the lowest poll around. How can a user make such a request of me? I don't ask them to get smarter while using the computer do I? No, because that would make them feel stupid right? So how can complaining to me that their computer is slow change anything? I have no power to make it go faster.

"Sure, let me just sprinkle my special pixy dust on your machine and it will just speed up like magic!" Come on!! That is not going to help you or me fix your computer so just be quiet! If you want a new computer then go and have your boss buy you one, or better yet, just by a new computer yourself! Unless your computer is crashing, giving you kernel panics, or a blue screen of death please don't bother me!

After all, I am the one who has to listen to all of your problems. Why can't you just listen to mine for once? (Honestly! I love the users! It brings me joy to help them with their problems!)

Ok, I know that this has nothing to do with tech but I cannot help it... This is my blog and I should be able to say whatever I want here right? So anyway, I have been watching the Academy Awards and am very happy to say that my favorite actress, Rachel Weisz, has won the award for best supporting actress in her most recent film, The Constant Gardner. While I felt the film was on a strange note Rachel's performance was, like all her performances are, memorable, funny, serious, but mostly just wonderful.

Anyway I just thought that this was worth mentioning here... Otherwise I will catch up with everyone later this week!

Another Lifehacker download of the day that I thought was worth mentioning here is a simple application for Windows that will allow a user to hookup their "non-iPod" mp3 player to their computer and synchronize it with iTunes. While I don't have a Windows workstation to test this application on it does look cool and since it is not in Beta I assume that it works!

iTunes Agent looks to be a promising application that I hope will one day be ported over to Mac. Oh well, in the meantime, visit the site and download a copy of iTunes Agent today.

On the last TWIT episode a product was talked about which allows a Mac user to connect their iTunes and iPhoto library to their XBox 360 via Wi-Fi. This wonderful alternative to Front Row gives people who already own a 360 a way to share their music and pictures with everyone in their house direct over the TV. Check out Connect 360 now if you own an XBox 360 and let me know what you think! I would try it myself but I do not own an XBox so it would be kind of difficult to do!

Ah, so here is one that can go into the "stupid" category (Hey! I should set up a new category for this!). Anyway, the other day a user asked me how they might record music into their computer from a turntable. I have done this myself many times before and explained to them that they would need to plug a cable from their stereo system into their Sound-In port on their computer. Later, I received a call from them saying that the recording was not going as planned. They also said that for some reason when they were recording they were getting all kinds of background noise (people talking etc.). After investigating I realized that they had plugged the cable from their stereo into their headphone jack!!! Now, I know that some users don't know what all the ports are on their computer but this was almost laughable!

Needless to say, the recording did get accomplished that evening. I had my PowerBook available and was able to do it for them since, by some strange circumstance, they did not have an Audio-In port on their computer. I guess that this will be one for the records!

A review of Samsung's new YP-Z5 mp3 player is boasting that it might just be the iPod "Nano" killer that everyone in the Apple hating world has been waiting for, but I do not believe that is the case. This article on the anything but iPod site takes a technical approach to the YP-Z5 but I think it does not take into account the main reason that the Nano is so popular, the Apple commitment to excellence! It completely leaves out the wonderful scroll/click wheel which makes browsing music or photos so much easier than conventional up-and-down pads as the Samsung uses. It also does not support iTunes or Apple's DRM from the music store. With the popularity of the iTunes Music Store for its easy downloads and use of music I find it hard to believe that this product would ever become the fabled "Nano Killer". Why would you use a player that in the 15% market percentile? Only a fool would know the answer to that question!

But don't take my word for it. Go and read the article for yourself!

Hmmm... I wonder what Apple will do with the 17" MacBook when it is released??? Only time will tell...

Run Windows on your Mac! Alright, I know that you are all thinking that I have completely lost it but listen for just a sec. Ever have one of those pesky programs or documents that will only work if you are running Windows? Well, now you can actually USE them! That's right, a new X86 emulator which was posted on the Maccast Forums claims to not only be able to run Window's on your Mac but is also a Universal Binary, meaning that you who have the new iMac, MacBook, or Mini can use this program as well!

What is it called? Simply Q. How much does it cost? Absolutly nothing! What could be sweeter?

Click on the image to read the full article....

Wouldn't you like a case/cover for your new 5th gen iPod that would keep its beauty but protect it from the harsh scratches that the world around you gives it? Well, now you just might be able to do that. A new product from PowerSupport is an ultra-thin static iPod cover that will keep your ipod glowing like the day you got it but also protect it from the harmful dust particles that can scratch it so easily. The reviews that I have read of the product thus far are good, and for a $15 dollar footprint I think that this might be a worthy investment.

Head on over to PowerSupport now and check out the new cover/case...

Sorry Intel Mac owners, your dream may never come true!