Solar chargers are a great option for people always on the move. If people are always traveling, a solar charger is a wonderful user-friendly option that won’t drain resources and are brilliant to use on ipods especially when you forget your USB charger.
Now with the hype being all eco friendly now would be the best time to get your hands on one and most of the small portable ones can be picked up from £10-£25 on.
Solar power has often been commended for its environmentally-friendly capability to provide energy. One solar panel can charge a 12Volt battery in full with direct sunlight at a rate of 7 Amps or more. The power is then electrochemically stored within the battery.
There are alot of different types of chargers for devices like mobile phones, PDAs, and other various electrical appliances.
Wednesday, 18 March 2009
Saturday, 14 March 2009
Top 10 reasons why you should buy an iPod Nano
A must have gadget is what the ipod nano is, most people who carry an mp3 player will most likely have an apple ipod, they have become extremely popular throughout the years and improve every time a new model is released which then turns into the most wanted gadget.
Here are a few reasons why i think you might want one.
1. It is very thin compared to other mp3 players on the market
2. You can store up to 4,000 witht eh 16gb version
3. Can play music for up to 24 hours on a full charge
4. Can also store photos, podcasts and now video for extra supoort.
5. There are a vast amount of accessories and add-ons
6. Its ultra light and easy to carry around
7. Synchronized with iTunes and the iTunes Music Store, the ipod can access the world’s largest selection of music.
8. The new curve effect features a harder to scratch screen which is also clearer and brighter
9. It features the new shake shuffle to easily switch tracks
10. The ipod nano can now be picked up for under £100 in most stores starting at 4gb
Here are a few reasons why i think you might want one.
1. It is very thin compared to other mp3 players on the market
2. You can store up to 4,000 witht eh 16gb version
3. Can play music for up to 24 hours on a full charge
4. Can also store photos, podcasts and now video for extra supoort.
5. There are a vast amount of accessories and add-ons
6. Its ultra light and easy to carry around
7. Synchronized with iTunes and the iTunes Music Store, the ipod can access the world’s largest selection of music.
8. The new curve effect features a harder to scratch screen which is also clearer and brighter
9. It features the new shake shuffle to easily switch tracks
10. The ipod nano can now be picked up for under £100 in most stores starting at 4gb
Friday, 13 March 2009
MP3 and your hearing
So many people like myself are using mp3 players and iPods etc on an everyday basis. People tend to listen to non-stop music on the bus, in the car, at the gym, going to work or just while relaxing at home. While there have been many studies on the positive effects music can have on a person, having small earphones stuffed in your ears while blasting your music to the full can damaging to your hearing. Studies have shown that using small earpieces that are inserted inside of the ear creates a sound that is nine decibels higher than that of regular headphones that cover the whole ear. Nine decibels may not sound like too much, but to put it another way it is about the same difference of an alarm clock to a lawn mower. It is also important to note that the type of earphones that fit inside the ear are less effective at blocking out background noises, making you want to turn up the volume. While no one can be sure what the average volume mp3 listeners are cranking their volumes to, a recent study showed that a quarter of mp3 listeners between the ages of 18 and 54 are playing their music at levels that could potentially cause long term hearing loss.....so high basically.
High levels of music produced by mp3 players can cause hearing loss because the sound waves damage the hair cells in the cochlea; a part of the ear which transmits sound information to your brain. Any sound that is higher than 90 decibels can cause long term hearing loss if the sound is constantly played at this volume, and most mp3 players can reach up to 120 decibels! That is roughly the equivalent to an ambulance siren in your ear.....ouch.
You can’t measure the decibel level of your mp3 player, but you might be listening to your music too loud if your player is over 60% of the maximum volume, if you can’t hear conversations from people around you then other people can hear your music basically, or you find yourself yelling or talking loudly to people nearby when you think your sounding normal.
This isnt me trying to say dont ever use your mp3 player again its just a study that has been found out as to why hearing loss can develop early and how damaging it can be because of mp3 players being played at high volumes.
Thursday, 12 March 2009
iPod in your car
If you like to connect your to your car, turn up the music on your ipod through your car speaker systemand apart from changing to a brand new car that has ipod integration such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan and Volvo - there are other options around.
If your car does not have the ipod connectivity kit, the solution to ipod your car is to buy and ipo connectivity kit which can be brought cheaply
An ipod adaptor retailed by companies such as Peripheral and Monster can be installed within the cavern of wires behind your car dashboard, with one prong from adaptor going to the back of your stereo while another prong goes to a ipod holder near the front.
The ipod adaptor works like an emulator and tricks the stereo to think it is a CD changer, so that you can use the track buttons on the stereo faceplate to select songs of your choice, its very simple.
Installing an ipod changer might be difficult for the non-mechanical inclined, and the services of a trained mechanic might be easier.
If your car is old, the factory installed stereo might not be suitable for ipod integration and make sure you check before buying one. For such cars, it is advisable to install a new player from manufacturers such as Alpine, Kenwood and Pioneer but this can be expensive.
If sound quality is important to you, the use of ipod cassete adaptors is not recommended as the sound quality is not good enough, and more importantly they do not recharge the ipod's battery, but now adays are the cheapest option if you just go to and from work.
Yet another solution is to use a FM modulator that can produce better sound, and can recharge the batteries, but cannot be directly controlled from the radio.
With these drawbacks, the ipod cassete adaptor and the FM modulator are not the best options, and it is still the ipod adaptor that is recommended.
to find out what ipod integration is necessary for the model of your car, there are online catalogues from websites such as Crutchfield.com which come in very handy.
So your first step is to determine the ipod integration requirements for your car and get the suitable adaptor read through the manual to install and off you go. Before long, you can be blasting your ipod through your car speakers and youll never go back to your radio again.
If your car does not have the ipod connectivity kit, the solution to ipod your car is to buy and ipo connectivity kit which can be brought cheaply
An ipod adaptor retailed by companies such as Peripheral and Monster can be installed within the cavern of wires behind your car dashboard, with one prong from adaptor going to the back of your stereo while another prong goes to a ipod holder near the front.
The ipod adaptor works like an emulator and tricks the stereo to think it is a CD changer, so that you can use the track buttons on the stereo faceplate to select songs of your choice, its very simple.
Installing an ipod changer might be difficult for the non-mechanical inclined, and the services of a trained mechanic might be easier.
If your car is old, the factory installed stereo might not be suitable for ipod integration and make sure you check before buying one. For such cars, it is advisable to install a new player from manufacturers such as Alpine, Kenwood and Pioneer but this can be expensive.
If sound quality is important to you, the use of ipod cassete adaptors is not recommended as the sound quality is not good enough, and more importantly they do not recharge the ipod's battery, but now adays are the cheapest option if you just go to and from work.
Yet another solution is to use a FM modulator that can produce better sound, and can recharge the batteries, but cannot be directly controlled from the radio.
With these drawbacks, the ipod cassete adaptor and the FM modulator are not the best options, and it is still the ipod adaptor that is recommended.
to find out what ipod integration is necessary for the model of your car, there are online catalogues from websites such as Crutchfield.com which come in very handy.
So your first step is to determine the ipod integration requirements for your car and get the suitable adaptor read through the manual to install and off you go. Before long, you can be blasting your ipod through your car speakers and youll never go back to your radio again.
Saturday, 7 March 2009
What to look for in an mp3 player
Welcome to the digital mp3 age! Who could have thought a decade back that cassette record player will be replaced by compact and ultra-light digital audio players most popularly known as MP3 players. These days you can find MP3 players that are as small as the USB device with a dual function. There are some popular brands like the Apple I-Pod, the Microsoft Zune, Creative, Sandisk, Isonic etc. Most of the mp3 players today have a high memory capability and multiple functions. The memory can range from 1GB to 300 GB.
You can find some attractive and useful mp3 players at Play.com, which is a brilliant store for different products and services. You can check out the Apple iPod Nano MP3 Player with the following features:
Different mp3 players have different configurations and have different functional capabilities. Some of the mp3 players come with basic functions and buttons while others have complex functionalities and fancy displays. So when you are out there in the market to find the right mp3 player then you need to look for the following functionalities:
i. Memory: The first thing that you should consider is the memory. There is no point buying an mp3 player with 30GB memory if you are not going to use it for storing other files like videos or presentations. 30GB of memory space is a lot for storing just mp3 or audio files. Of course, it will be useless to pick up a mp3 player with 1GB of space if you love to listen to music or if you plan to transfer all your mp3 files into the player.
ii. Connection: This is an important aspect of all mp3 players. Connection refers to the compatibility to your computer. There are only a few mp3 players that offer wireless transfer of files but most of the mp3 players offer two options: USB and FireWire. Whether your mp3 player has the USB option or the FireWire option, you will need a cable, which will be included in the packaging box itself such as Apple who provide this. The cable will connect the mp3 player to the USB port of your computer so that you can easily transfer files from the computer to the mp3 player or vice-versa. The USB compatibility is the most popular and common connection today. It works well with both the PC and the Mac and are compliant with USB 1.1 and 2.0. FireWire primarily supports connection to the Mac.
iii. Display: The display is also an important aspect of any mp3 player. Most of the mp3 players available today have a display screen although the size of the screen will vary from player to player. If you are buying a small mp3 player then the display screen might be as small as 12x30mm or it can be as big as 2.5’". The display screen will let you know what music is being played, the time, and other important information. The display screen will also help you to operate the main menu so that you can choose a particular function.
iv. Type of files: All mp3 players can save or play particular audio files or convert a particular type of audio file into an mp3 file. So when you are shopping for an mp3 player, you need to find a player that can play Mp3 and support WMA as well as AAC audio files. Apart from that the mp3 player should also be able to support MPEG4-SP, MJPEG, WMV9, DivX 4/5, and XviD.
These are some of the most important aspects of an mp3 player that will help you to make an informed choice. Apart from these aspects, any extra functions will also be useful like FM radio, Clock & alarm, voice recorder etc.
You can find some attractive and useful mp3 players at Play.com, which is a brilliant store for different products and services. You can check out the Apple iPod Nano MP3 Player with the following features:
- 2-inch (diagonal) liquid crystal display with blue-white LED backlight
- Audio formats supported: AAC (16 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, and 4), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV
- 8GB or 16GB flash drive2
- Holds up to 2,000 or 4,000 songs in 128-Kbps AAC format3
- and weighs only 1.3 ounces
Different mp3 players have different configurations and have different functional capabilities. Some of the mp3 players come with basic functions and buttons while others have complex functionalities and fancy displays. So when you are out there in the market to find the right mp3 player then you need to look for the following functionalities:
i. Memory: The first thing that you should consider is the memory. There is no point buying an mp3 player with 30GB memory if you are not going to use it for storing other files like videos or presentations. 30GB of memory space is a lot for storing just mp3 or audio files. Of course, it will be useless to pick up a mp3 player with 1GB of space if you love to listen to music or if you plan to transfer all your mp3 files into the player.
ii. Connection: This is an important aspect of all mp3 players. Connection refers to the compatibility to your computer. There are only a few mp3 players that offer wireless transfer of files but most of the mp3 players offer two options: USB and FireWire. Whether your mp3 player has the USB option or the FireWire option, you will need a cable, which will be included in the packaging box itself such as Apple who provide this. The cable will connect the mp3 player to the USB port of your computer so that you can easily transfer files from the computer to the mp3 player or vice-versa. The USB compatibility is the most popular and common connection today. It works well with both the PC and the Mac and are compliant with USB 1.1 and 2.0. FireWire primarily supports connection to the Mac.
iii. Display: The display is also an important aspect of any mp3 player. Most of the mp3 players available today have a display screen although the size of the screen will vary from player to player. If you are buying a small mp3 player then the display screen might be as small as 12x30mm or it can be as big as 2.5’". The display screen will let you know what music is being played, the time, and other important information. The display screen will also help you to operate the main menu so that you can choose a particular function.
iv. Type of files: All mp3 players can save or play particular audio files or convert a particular type of audio file into an mp3 file. So when you are shopping for an mp3 player, you need to find a player that can play Mp3 and support WMA as well as AAC audio files. Apart from that the mp3 player should also be able to support MPEG4-SP, MJPEG, WMV9, DivX 4/5, and XviD.
These are some of the most important aspects of an mp3 player that will help you to make an informed choice. Apart from these aspects, any extra functions will also be useful like FM radio, Clock & alarm, voice recorder etc.
Friday, 6 March 2009
The iPod - Facts
Wondering why people are becoming crazy about this miniature audio device? iPods offer excellent quality of digital music. The success of iPod is due to its features like:
•iPod is able to deliver extremely rich quality of digital music.
•It comes in attractive small sizes and thus tends to be very handy and compact.
•They come with in-built media library software, called as the iTunes media library software. This feature enables the user to manage the music files efficiently.
•The most attractive feature which made iPod the best seller is the attribute which allows the device to be connected to the user’s computer.
•Thus by enabling connection with the user’s computer, the iPod prove to serve as efficient storage devices.
•iPods sport a display, which makes the gadget more user friendly.
•Improvised iPods also had PDA’s( Personal Digital Assitants).
•Apple, the creators of iPod kept on improvising it, and thus many models of iPod have rocked the market.
The models of iPod categorized according to the chronological order.
First Generation iPods:
Initially the iPods were released with 5GB hard drive, but then later Apple increased their hard drive capacity to 10GB. These iPods have a scroll wheel with a select button in the middle. This device was a huge hit in the commercial market, but now they rarely exist due to the release of new models.
Second generation iPods:
These devices had a thicker body and they supported 20 GB hard drive. They were the first gadgets, which were compatible with the windows. They also sported cases and wired remotes.
Third generation iPods:
These iPods were thinner than the original versions, the 30 pin dock connector was introduced with this series. They also had touch sensitive buttons this attracted the masses to a great extent. And it did not have buttons surrounding the wheels and hanging parts.
Fourth generation iPods:
The only difference, the fourth generation iPods had over the others is the introduction of click wheels. They also sported the same monochrome screen. But it enabled the battery to be charged through the USB connection.
Color iPods:
As the name suggests these devices had a color screen and the ability to store and display JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, and PNG images. They supported 65,536 colors. They possessed the photo library and released accessories like iPod camera connector.
Fifth generation iPods:
They were developed to reduce minor audio effects so that the head phone does not deliver hard drive noise. They came in a wide variety of sizes, colors and hard drive capacities. They also supported features like the World Clock, Stopwatch, and Screen Lock applications. In addition, the earphones plug were smaller.
iPod mini:
The mini had a smaller structure and it resembled the earlier versions in its features. but it did not support third party accessories. They introduced micro-drive hard drive as the storage medium. The minis were futher improvised as the first generation and second generation devices. It had rich case colors and was a big hit in the market.
iPod shuffle:
Flash memory was introduced through these gadgets, but they did not have a screen so navigation of music files were a little difficult. But it has been reviewed as the best sounding audio device in comparison with the other models.
iPod nano:
iPod nano also had the flash memory but it came with a color display. It also included a number of features like world clock, stop watch and screen lock options and now feature video/podcast playback.
•iPod is able to deliver extremely rich quality of digital music.
•It comes in attractive small sizes and thus tends to be very handy and compact.
•They come with in-built media library software, called as the iTunes media library software. This feature enables the user to manage the music files efficiently.
•The most attractive feature which made iPod the best seller is the attribute which allows the device to be connected to the user’s computer.
•Thus by enabling connection with the user’s computer, the iPod prove to serve as efficient storage devices.
•iPods sport a display, which makes the gadget more user friendly.
•Improvised iPods also had PDA’s( Personal Digital Assitants).
•Apple, the creators of iPod kept on improvising it, and thus many models of iPod have rocked the market.
The models of iPod categorized according to the chronological order.
First Generation iPods:
Initially the iPods were released with 5GB hard drive, but then later Apple increased their hard drive capacity to 10GB. These iPods have a scroll wheel with a select button in the middle. This device was a huge hit in the commercial market, but now they rarely exist due to the release of new models.
Second generation iPods:
These devices had a thicker body and they supported 20 GB hard drive. They were the first gadgets, which were compatible with the windows. They also sported cases and wired remotes.
Third generation iPods:
These iPods were thinner than the original versions, the 30 pin dock connector was introduced with this series. They also had touch sensitive buttons this attracted the masses to a great extent. And it did not have buttons surrounding the wheels and hanging parts.
Fourth generation iPods:
The only difference, the fourth generation iPods had over the others is the introduction of click wheels. They also sported the same monochrome screen. But it enabled the battery to be charged through the USB connection.
Color iPods:
As the name suggests these devices had a color screen and the ability to store and display JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, and PNG images. They supported 65,536 colors. They possessed the photo library and released accessories like iPod camera connector.
Fifth generation iPods:
They were developed to reduce minor audio effects so that the head phone does not deliver hard drive noise. They came in a wide variety of sizes, colors and hard drive capacities. They also supported features like the World Clock, Stopwatch, and Screen Lock applications. In addition, the earphones plug were smaller.
iPod mini:
The mini had a smaller structure and it resembled the earlier versions in its features. but it did not support third party accessories. They introduced micro-drive hard drive as the storage medium. The minis were futher improvised as the first generation and second generation devices. It had rich case colors and was a big hit in the market.
iPod shuffle:
Flash memory was introduced through these gadgets, but they did not have a screen so navigation of music files were a little difficult. But it has been reviewed as the best sounding audio device in comparison with the other models.
iPod nano:
iPod nano also had the flash memory but it came with a color display. It also included a number of features like world clock, stop watch and screen lock options and now feature video/podcast playback.
Thursday, 5 March 2009
Maintaining Your Mac
Mac and the OS X are very stable and reliable. However, if you want your Mac to work perfectly you have to maintain it properly. Most of the errors and glitches that happen to your mac are caused by incorrect permissions table. Mac OS X as a UNIX based system has a UNIX way of handling the files. UNIX as a multi-user system has a special way of manipulating file access. (More about file permissions you can read here). When the new software is installed on your Mac or you did some other system tweaks, it’s very likely that permissions will mess itself up so you wont be able executing applications or it may happen that your mac is acting weird. The easiest way of fixing permissions is by using Mac OS X “Disk Utility” which can be found in /Applications/Utilities folder.
Fixing permissions is recommended before and after installing any software to your mac as well as installing any software updates. There are various software available on the Internet to help you keep your Mac maintained and in a “good health”. Software such as Onyx or Cocktail are doing a great job by not only repairing and verifying permissions for you but also cleaning the internet history,cache,temporary files and running optimization scripts.
If you for some reason are unable to boot your system,before you do anything like re-installing the OS, try pressing command + S on the system boot-up and it will get you into console mode. Type in /sbin/fsck -fy and hit enter. Do that couple of times until it doesn’t say “System Modified”. Before you use “fsck” command, I advise you to open terminal, type in man fsck and read the manual page carefully. Not all software errors are as easy to fix by using methods above. Some errors and system misbehaving can indicate serious hardware failure so if the problems persist, the best is to take your mac to an authorized Apple service for a check-up.
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