scattered technology news

Stream iTunes To PSP, Part 2 141

A few months ago we published an article entitled How To: “Stream Your iTunes Library To PSP“. The article, which demonstrated how to share music from your windows machine to your PlayStation Portable (PSP), became an extreme hit. Today we are here to demonstrate a new alternative, which is in fact more powerful and functions smoothly on both Windows and Macintosh machines. After reading through this tutorial, you will be able to easily stream as much DRM-Free music as you want from any networked computer to your Playstation Portable (PSP) via WiFi.

The software we are using today, MyTunesRSS, has been developed by our friends at Codewave Software. This new MyTunesRSS software is completely free and offers even more features than the software used in our previous tutorial. To use this application you will need the items mentioned below. (MyTunesRSS is currently on v2.1)

To get started you’ll need the following:

• PSP with Firmware 2.60/2.70 or Above
• Networked XP Pro/Home or Mac OS X
• Java Runtime 1.5 or Above Installed
• WiFi (802.11b-compatible) Network Router
• Apple iTunes v6.0.4 or Above Installed
• DRM-Free Songs In The iTunes Library

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iTunes: Song + Video = $2.50 0

Ever wish you could get a high quality of version of a song when you purchased the video from iTunes? A new Apple promotion now offers iTunes users the option of purchasing a combo of a certain Music Video along with the original Song for $2.50. Songs and Videos can still be purchased separately for $.99 and $1.99 respectively. Although this isn’t an “amazing” deal, it will however save you a mere $.50 if you do plan to purchase both the song and video. (select link below to launch iTunes for the offer)

On another note, Apple’s CEO, Steve Jobs, seems to be working on sorting out a deal with a few major motion picture studios, to begin to offer iTunes users the ability to purchase any movie for standard rate of $9.99. According to Apple, after this deal is complete, consumers will begin to see full high quality movies being offered in the iTunes Music Movie Store.

Links: iTunes Song + Video Special Offer
Related: Get iTunes | Apple iPod

TiVo Desktop v2.3 Released 2

On Wednesday (06/21/06), TiVo released TiVo Desktop v2.3 for Windows. TiVo Desktop now offers TiVo users the ability to convert and transfer shows from their machine to their Apple iPod (video) or Sony Playstation Portable (PSP). TiVo had originally announced their plans to offer this feature back in November 2005 and as expected, the “premium” edition, TiVo Desktop Plus, will not be free. TiVo Desktop Plus will run consumers $24.99, however a basic edition which supports all the standard features of music/photo sharing and show transfers will remain completely free.

The reason for the $24.99 “Plus” edition is because TiVo has to pay both Apple and Sony royalty feeds for the use of the Mp4 format. Luckily users who plan to use only the basic edition will only lack once premium feature, the ability to convert and transfer shows for portable devices. If you wish to utilize TiVo Desktop v2.3 (basic or premium) you will need to be running a TiVo Series 2 which is networked, has the latest software update, and has TiVo To Go enabled. The software unfortunately currently only works on Windows 2000/XP, however there is no word on a new version for Mac OS X users. (TiVo Desktop Plus can be purchased at TiVo.com)

Links: TiVo Desktop | TiVo Home
Related: TiVo To Go 4 iPod Video and PSP

Digg This Bookmarklet 8

Since Digg has not officially released their API to the public it has hard for developers to create applications to work easily with Digg. There have been many extensions which have allowed Digg users to easily submit stories to digg; however most of these have either been limited to certain operating systems and/or browsers. Therefore I made this little universal JavaScript Bookmarklet, which will automatically submit the URL of the page your browser is currently on, to Digg. The Digg This Bookmarklet has been tested and has functioned successfully with Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Internet Explorer, and Apple Safari, however it has not yet been tested with any other browsers. If you have found new compatibility, have any suggestions/fixes, or have found any issues please reply in the comments.

To add the “Digg This Bookmarklet” to your bookmarks do the following:

• Mozilla Firefox: Drag and drop the digg logo onto your bookmarks toolbar. Or Right-click on the digg logo and “Bookmark this link”
• Internet Explorer: Right-click on this link and press “Add to Favorites”
• Apple Safari: Drag and drop the digg logo onto the bookmarks toolbar.

Links: Digg.com | My Digg Profile
Related: Digg Search Widget (win and mac)

All You Can Upload – WebShots 1

On May 23, 2006, Webshots announced a new easy to use photo hosting service called All You Can Upload. Webshots, which is a part of CNET, is already a major photo sharing service, but with their new service photo sharing/hosting will be faster than ever. All You Can Upload (AYCU) is quite different than most free image sharing services such as imageshack for a few reasons: AYCU offers unlimited file sizes, unlimited bandwidth, unlimited number of files, no advertisements, and no registration required. I definitely would recommend this service over other ones for people looking for free image hosting space. This is an excellent tool to use with sites such as MySpace, eBay, Xanga, Blogger and Typepad.

“Webshots understands the variable needs of photo uploaders and is providing AllYouCanUpload.com as an answer to those seeking a tool for fast, easy, free uploads,” – James Park, Webshots Director

After testing this service I feel that the UI is very clean and easy to use and has no obtrusive ads. The only issue I could think find is that if a user uploads a photo and forgets the URL, he or she will have to either remember it or re-upload the file since AYCU doesn’t require users to register in any method. Other than that All You Can Upload seems to be good since it supports the major image formats.

Links: All You Can Upload | Service FAQs
Similar Services: ImageShack | ImageTiger | PhotoBucket

Google: U.S. Government Search 0

Having trouble finding DMV forms, handbooks, or contact info? You no longer have to worry; Google has just released a new search tool which allows searching through millions of government websites. Google Government Search, which was launched yesterday on 06/15/06, allows anyone to search through Federal, State, and Local government webpages. The tool has been designed to help people find information about anything relating to the U.S. Government directly through their powerful search tool.

The website which is accessible from usgov.google.com has been designed very similarly to Google’s custom Personalized Homepages. If you are one of those that like to keep up with government news, you will now have the ability to add tons of government news feeds and information to your Personalized Google Government Homepage. This is a great tool for finding information, but lets just hope the government doesn’t subpoena Google’s logs to see what everyone’s been searching for.

Links: Google U.S. Government Search | FAQs and More Info
Related: Offical Google Announcement | Google Calendar Released