Since last September I’ve been a happy Sirius satellite subscriber. Today I went to plug my Starmate radio into the line-in jack on my eMac and while I saw signal, nothing was coming out of the speakers.
LineIn 2.0.3 (freeware) for the Mac solved this problem nicely.
MP3 blogs are basically podcasts that send along mp3 music only. Peel wraps up mp3 blogs into a player, stream and mp3 blog reader.
The rumours about a new iPod and iTunes combo with video have been circulating for awhile but today Steve Jobs finally made it official. The new iPod, named just that: The iPod will start shipping next week. I’ll try to get back with some screenshots and more information after I’ve checked it out further.
Today Apple released two new products plus an iTunes 5.0 upgrade. iTunes has made some UI enhancements and added Madonna music! That’s right, she was a long holdout but now all 15 of her albums are available via ITMS.
iTunes cell phone
The Motorola ROKR ($249.99) available exclusively through Cingular (darn, we are with Verizon), comes with a special version of iTunes inside. Holds about 100 songs and is on par with the Shuffle, feature-wise.
iPod nano
This sleek device comes in black or white and two sizes: 2 GB ($199, 500 songs), 4 GB ($249, 1000 songs). Unlike the Shuffle, it comes with a color screen. Should appeal to those who are on the move and want something light.
One of the primary uses I have for the Mac is recording my favorite over the air talk radio shows using the Griffin RadioSHARK. I took some screenshots of the radioSHARK in an earlier thread. Griffin Technology
radioSHARK for Mac - 1.0.5 - This software will allow you to play, pause, and record live radio on your Mac. Please note that this software requires the radioSHARK hardware to function.
Once the shows are recorded, I’m using AC3dec to convert from AAC to MP3. Next, via the Mac System Preferences I allowed another Windows Machine to access these converted files so that I can then copy and burn them to CDs. For long drives, these recordings will be useful, as I’m a huge fan of talk radio.
.Mac members can get a free version of VersionTracker pro ($24.95 value) for a limited time. Just login to .Mac and check it out.
I needed an AAC to MP3 converter and found mAC3dec 1.6.3 - VersionTracker- mAC3dec decode AC-3, QT audio; convert to AIFF, MP3, AAC
Over at Things That … Make You Go Hmm I just reviewed the Griffin radioSHARK for the Mac/PC. I have several Mac screenshots. One thing I learned that isn’t in my review (yet, I may update later) is that once you get it, go download the newest software from the Griffin website because even though it supposedly makes a check for the newest version, that built-in feature didn’t work right for me.
Also, they said it would be a two to three week wait for shipping, but it came within a few days of ordering.
Soundflower is a MacOS X (10.2 and later) system extension that allows applications to pass audio to other applications. Soundflower is easy to use, it simply presents itself as an audio device, allowing any audio application to send and receive audio with no other support needed. Soundflower is free and open-source.