Hacking iPod + iTunes

Randy Newman Playlist

iPod vs. the world

An editorial argues that sometimes it's a good idea to come out of your iPod.

iTunes will support podcasts

Steve Jobs pre-announced that the next version of iTunes will support podcasts. The iTunes Music Store will have a podcast section, and Apple will provide a way for people to submit their podcasts.

iTunes 4.8 and iPod filenames

You probably already know that last week Apple released iTunes 4.8. When you use iTunes 4.8 to sync with your iPod, an interesting thing happens: the filenames of your music files get squished into incomprehensibility on the iPod (they're not changed on your computer).

It's been well documented that your iPod holds music in invisible folders named iPod_Control/Music/F00, F01, F02, and so on. Until iTunes 4.8, files didn't change their names when copied to the iPod: Judith.mp3 on your computer was Judith.mp3 on your iPod. But when you sync with iTunes 4.8, it becomes something like BLDN.mp3. All other files are similarly renamed: every filename consists of four upper-case characters followed by the extension. Apple probably did this to make iPod file handling a bit more efficient, because every little bit of efficiency helps.

So what are the drawbacks for iPod users? Basically, none. You can no longer scan or search your iPod's invisible folders looking for a particular song, but that's pretty minor. The iPod utilities such as PodWorks still work, because they rely on the iTunes/iPod database, not the filenames. And, if you're running Mac OS X Tiger, you can use Spotlight to find songs on the iPod -- all the metadata, including song and artist name, is still there. If Spotlight doesn't seem able to find stuff on your iPod, go to Terminal and use mdimport to ask Spotlight to index the iPod. You can also use mdls with a particular file to see its metadata (and so figure out which song is in that file).

50 fun things

Check out this cool post that lists 50 (or so) fun things to do with your iPod.

iTunes 4.8

iTunes 4.8 is out. It's an update with a fascinating new feature: you can add QuickTime videos to your library, and iTunes knows how to play them. Some music in the iTunes Music Store now comes with videos.

Another big part of iTunes 4.8 is the ability to sync your contacts and calendar with your iPod -- no iSync needed.

For more on iTunes 4.8, check out Chris Breen's article.

Free legal tunes

The great iPodlounge has a section devoted to listing free legal songs for your iPod.

iPod sock puppet

By Phillip Torrone.

Bush's iPod

This article provides insight into what's on President Bush's iPod: sounds like country and classic rock, mostly.

iPod commuters in London

According to this article, 8.6 percent of all train commuters in and around London have an iPod with them, just ahead of the number that have a Blackberry (8.3%), but way behind those with a mobile phone (52%).