I love this little tool! It creates a series of tiny jpg files that are the maps from Yahoo! Directions service. Enter a starting point, a destination and whoosh! you have a series of tiny jpgs that represent the route!

I did it! It's on the way! I'll report back when the little black gem is in my hands.

I'm thinking about it. I have enough spare change in quarters. Maybe I'll try out a Nano!

I never understood the idea behind having HP market the iPod. HP and Apple are completely different companies. Now that the leadership at HP has changed, the iPod has been dumped by HP -- probably to be replaced by HP's emphasis on media devices that conform to Microsoft's specifications and media tools.

I use the iPod Photo all the time and one of the things I'm obsessive about is audiobooks. It's rare that I buy an audiobook -- instead I use Audible all the time. But when I do use traditional CD-based audiobooks, I've found a nifty tool to change the MP3s into tagged audiobooks that the iPod can bookmark. That tool is MarkAble from iPodSoft. It has a very simple interface that allows you to batch up multiple MP3 files for conversion and a nifty Audio CD wizard that lets you insert an audio CD in your CD drive and then rip and convert it on the fly. Recommended.

Here's something to listen to once a week. A podcast by some of my favorite, most opinionated commentators on Technology: The Week in Tech.

Okay, okay: this isn't a post on a great new album.  Instead, Wired News reports on new batteries for the iPod that deliver 22 hours of continuous play.  Needless to say, I want one -- and it seems easy to install.  If I get one and install it I'll post something to the list.  Here's the article that describes the new batteries.

This is on my iPod and while I've loved Keith Jarrett's work since my 20's -- this has to be the best album in a decade.  The Trio has been wonderful, especially in the Standards work, but in this album something positively wonderful happens.  DeJohnette is especially amazing this time: he elicits a huge pallette of different timbres from the variety of instruments that he plays.  The album seems fun for the participants: you can hear them chatting between the songs, for instance.  In the end, the combination of lyrical impulses and strong rhythms is well worth listening to -- over and over.  And so: I have.