Monthly Archives: July 2005

iTunes 4.9

I know I am a bit late with this. Therefore, you may already be quite aware that Apple has released iTunes 4.9 that has built in support for Podcasts. Those who know me know that I am a fairly recent convert to the whole Podcast phenomenon but I have become a big fan. I think it is the only viable independent alternative to todays corporate dominated radio.

With iTunes 4.9, Apple has not only thrown it’s support behind this medium but also made it ridiculously simple to subscribe to, mange and sync those Podcasts to your iPod. The implementation is amazingly elegant and practical. Not only that but they also make it easy to search for new Podcasts that you may not be already aware of, thus opening up a whole new stream of audiences to those that produce these shows.

Now my only problem is finding the time to listen to all of the ones I have subscribed to. A 45 min. commute certainly helps but that is still not nearly enough time to listen to all that I would like. That is one of the problems with too much choice, if one is not careful it will become a curse rather than a blessing.

NeXT

Low End Mac has a great article on the history of NeXT, the company that Steve Jobs founded after leaving Apple. In short, NeXT developed a revolutionary object oriented operating system that went on to become that basis for Mac OS X. This is a great read and refresher. Check it out:

Full Circle: A Brief History of NeXT

Writeboard

What is Writeboard? Is it a Wiki? Is it a web based whiteboard? One that can be used for anything from brainstorming to mind mapping to basic word processing? Could it be yet another über-application for collaborative and organizational from our friends and yours at 37 Signals?

Well, to answer that question we will just have to wait. A painful wait fueled by the sort of wanting, dare I say longing, that org-geeks like myself seem to do with cool new toys. Jason Fried does give us some clues on Signal vs. Noise. I guess we have no choice but to wait and see.

That being said, if it is a brain-stormy-mind-mappy sort of thing, that would come in real handy right about now. Bethany Snugglewombat and I are going to sit down this weekend and start to brainstorm on all of the lists, projects, plans and hurdles we must overcome in order to merge our lives, and those of my sons, into one household (hers). We have already set up a Basecamp site to manage the project that will spring forth from this but will have to do all of our brainstorming on good old pad of paper (which has it’s benefits for sure).

In any case, I am looking forward to whatever the heck it is no matter what.