The discussion surrounding the connection between earphones and hearing loss has prompted me to revisit using speakers for some of my iPod listening. If I cut my earphone time in half, coupled with keeping the volume at a reasonable level when I do use them, it's got to be a step in the right direction. The problem for me...

Oh. I guess I didn't understand the meaning of the word "wireless." It's a trademark. Got it. Sorry, my bad....

Many interesting experiments are going on in the realm of extending the live concert experience to forge a stronger bond between artists and fans, and of course to reap incremental revenues for artists who can now monetize their content in more ways -- capitalizing on the excitement and momentum that exists before, during, and right after the concert itself. And...

My Coder friend Thom sent me this link to a heart-warming feel-good pop tune about The Code Monkey Within. Says it's by Jonathan Coulton, released under the Creative Commons license. http://www.exegame.com/CodeMonkey.mp3 Sometimes it feels good to see little monuments built to the culture we help create. Thanks, Thom! Here's a little link to Thom's website of equally heartwarming feel-good games....

I just looked in my trash can and noticed this: (Don't be alarmed--your screen is not on fire.) I had bought the "ULTRA X-Finity Flex-Force"--yes, _the_ "ULTRA X-Finity Flex-Force"--in a box covered about 75% in flames and about 5% in chrome... ..And I had not noticed the name of the product until now. I simply shopped for a power supply...

More good news for the record industry - this via Marketwatch: Europe's two largest music recording companies, EMI Group and Universal Music Group, reported increasing revenue on Thursday, underscoring the growing importance for both firms of selling music over the Internet. Label revenues have been falling for years now, suffering from the impacts of file sharing, the use of music...

Over at the MacDevCenter, I just bellyached about some mysterious iMovie and QuickTime errors. Perhaps more frustrating than those temporary setbacks is figuring out what to do when computers spit up error messages such as this: Naturally, my project disk did have enough room and the proper permissions. So what’s the next step?...

Kelli Richards’s straightforward suggestion for ending the fighting between Apple and Apple Corps got me thinking about software enhancements for the iPod ecosystem. Specifically, I envisioned a tool that would create iPod Packs—enhanced enhanced podcasts—without all the overhead of GarageBand. I’m imagining something like MixMeister, a Windows program that detects the tempo of each song in a playlist and then...

My co-author Kelli Richards, who spent a decade promoting music at Apple, has an ingeniously simple suggestion for how Apple and the Beatles’ Apple Corps can resolve their ongoing dispute. What if producers and DJs designed your next iPod? Although Kelli didn’t list a Beatles iPod in her plan, I’ve long wondered why Apple stopped with the U2 model. I’d...

Currently Apple Records and Apple Computer are back in court -- for the third time. The dispute centers around Apple Computer not using the Apple name in conjunction with music-related endeavors. I was in the middle of the fray during the second court case during my tenure at Apple Computer; we lost that one. This time I suspect a settlement...