iTunes and Android — Play Well Together?

Folks, today I am seeking a little reader input, if you’d be so kind.

As I mentioned in Wednesday’s article, I am now (trying to) using an iMac for as many of my “daily computing” purposes as possible, as a learning experiment, and to be a better tech. Naturally, I quickly came to the point where I wanted to load up some songs and digital music, and explore the “wonderful world of iTunes”. And compare it to other music players.

Now I know that if I had an iPhone or iPad, all I’d have to do is connect the device (via USB) and my playlists/songs/devices would ‘sync’ automatically.

But I have Android devices.

And iTunes kinda pretends I’ve plugged nothing in, and seems to have no easy way to ‘sync’, and transfer song files from one to the other. In short, it’s refusing to play nicely.

So I have looked at some “apps” for syncing Android and iTunes – Easy Phone Tunes, TuneSync, iSyncr, and DoubleTwist, i.e. – but have yet done more than read about them. (I have been using Finder and ‘drag and drop’, to get the ball rolling..)

I am hoping folks out there will share with me the solutions they have found to like the best, in the Comment section below. (Bad experiences welcome, too.)

I’d sure like the tool to be free, and it does not need to sync over WiFi, and should be able to transfer more than 20 songs.

Thank you for your consideration.

Today’s quote: “It is impossible to defeat an ignorant man in argument.” ~ William G. McAdoo

Today’s You Gotta Be Kidding!

Again I say, beware the Easy E-Card…

Update: I have just learned that (sorry, I’m kinda slow) there is a major storm in the N.E. which could drop as much as 2′ of that vile white stuff commonly referred to as ‘snow’ (today??!!). I hope that everyone will exercise good cautions and stay safe out there.

Copyright 2007-2013 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.

How to Transfer Videos to the iPhone…

“I am the last guy in America who hasn’t turned his phone into a pocket movie theater.”

I have a certain kind of fun reading other tech websites, because I watch them for hype and “pack journalism”.. of which there is plenty. Part of that is due to how search engines (Google, Bing) operate, and the hopes that by using “hot keywords“, readership numbers will be better.

Hot keywords seem to be: iPad, iPhone, Android, download, smart phone, movies, videos, YouTube, and latest. So.. the “smart” tech sites will on Monday have an article “Download Movies To Your iPhone”; and on Tuesday, “iPhone Basics: How to Transfer Videos to the iPhone“, and on Wednesday, “Android And YouTube videos: Meant For Each Other”. Almost every tech site will mention the YouTube downloader app (“which supports iPhone, iPod, PSP, cell phone..!)

Now.. I look at the 1.75″ x 1.5” screen on my phone, and I think, “Don’t be ridiculous. No way am I going to try to watch Pirates of the Caribbean 4 on that.” And I wouldn’t even if my whole phone was a screen (like an iPhone)(the more you mention these “hot” keywords, the more readers you’ll get)(Android)(iPad)(iPhone).
I wondered if I was alone in this? From the sounds of the tech sites, I am the last guy in America who hasn’t turned his phone into a pocket movie theater.

A little while ago, I conducted a casual reader survey — my thanks to all who participated. Well, the survey results suggested that I wasn’t alone at all, with almost two thirds of respondents saying they had never watched a video on their phone. The other third: “a few times a month”. And one person, a “few times a week”. (To the one person who responded “everyday”, may I suggest, shouldn’t you be studying?)
To me, such a never-to-very rarely score makes me think these tech websites are hyping a non-function to sell more gadgets.. But I am a bit cynical. I could be wrong.

Now, I am sure that this website’s demographics play a significant role; and I know that the yuppie-gotta-have-the-latest-iGadget-types gravitate to other sites. There are – such as the article referenced in today’s title (above) – websites dedicated just to smart phones; and I admit, sometimes I think I should talk about smart phones more. They are becoming miniature PC’s after all. (And, camcorders..) And, WordPress (host of this site) will let me post articles, written on my phone, directly to the ‘net. Isn’t that cool?!

All I have to do is learn how to squint, and type with my thumbs.

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** Software License Giveaway Drawing Ends Tonight**

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Put plain and simply, Sandboxie gives me a secure feeling when traveling around the Internet, and I feel ‘naked’ without it. For the details (such as how to enter), click here.

Sandboxie’s creator, Ronen Tzur, has graciously and generously donated five licenses to me, to award to my readers. I sincerely thank him for that. So I am going to do a random drawing contest from folks who “enter” my drawing. The contest will end midnight Thursday, July 15th, and the winners announced Friday the 16th.
A “registration” license is “lifetime” and can be used on as many computers as you own.

Act now! Deadline nears… Midnight, tonight (Pacific).

Today’s reading: More people are losing their jobs due to online missteps
“It’s the kind of story that those who use Facebook and Twitter don’t like to hear. Despite warnings from career experts around the globe, employees persist in posting personal and sometimes inappropriate information on their personal online accounts.”

Today’s free download: Large Scale Giveaway of PDFtoWord
Get it while you can – AnyBizSoft PDF to Word Converter 3.0.0 (worth $29.95) for FREE.

Copyright 2007-2010 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved. post to jaanix.

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iTunes Album Art

I was helping a young man with his computer this morning, and he wanted to show me something he thought was “kewel” and that he was obviously proud of. So I said, “OK. Show me.”

It turned out that what he wanted to ‘Show & Tell’ was his iTunes, and how he had managed to acquire the “album art” for (practically) every entry in his very extensive music collection.

Now, I have to tell you that old Tech Paul is not “into” music enough these days to clutter up my hard drive with songs (and I won’t install iTunes on my PC’s for security reasons) but in my younger years I was very into my audio.. so I could understand this fella’s enthusiasm.

He explained that iTunes is only “so so” at getting album art, and he talked about his efforts he had gone through to find the art for the more esoteric titles in his collection. I told him that sounded like a lot of work..

He confirmed that it was. And then he told me about how he had paid $30 for a “lifetime” tool that did the work for him, and did an “excellent” job. He was quite enthusiastic, so I’ll pass along his reco’ — it’s called TuneUp. You can click here to visit the website and watch the Flash video demonstration, and/or download.
There is a free version, but it is limited.

TuneUp does more than just find album art, it cleans up your tags, and works to fix your “Unknown Artists”, “Track 01s”, or the same artist labeled multiple different ways.

Today’s free download: I also found AlbumArtFinder for iTunes, which I haven’t tested out.
“AlbumArtFinder for iTunes – images for all the songs in an iTunes library show up on iPod Photo. Uses the amazon.com web service to automatically search for the largest image for any given album. Option to use smaller versions of images.”

Perhaps my more savvy readers will share some iTunes tips in my Comments… as this is really “not my cup of tea”.

Copyright 2007-9 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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EU punishes Intel+corruption, greed, gov’t

“With this power, the EC is rapidly becoming the world’s gatekeeper for new technologies. In recent months, regulators forced Apple to accept price controls on its popular iTunes music store and launched three new attempts to dictate which features Microsoft can offer in its software products. In early April, commissioners released guidelines dictating how Internet companies like Google and Yahoo should collect, use, and profit from information online.
The EC’s willingness to manipulate the technology industry makes Europe the venue of choice for companies looking to cripple their competitors and gain an unfair advantage in the marketplace. By repeatedly coaxing regulators to investigate Intel, AMD hopes to level the playing field and compensate for its own mistakes.”

Folks, these lines are from an article I came across in one of my small local papers– a guest opinion piece written by Dr. Daniel Ballon.
It is a fascinating reporting on government meddling for the simple sake of greed and corruption, (disguised as a Noble Ideal) and how this (negatively) affects us all. I highly recommend it. It is an eye-opener.

Tip(s) of the day:
* Read Dr. Ballon’s excellent article titled, Intel punished for being too competitive. It is available here.
* (In case you missed it) Watch this short video from anti-malware vendor Sophos to see a demonstration of how clicking a link in an e-mail can exploit weaknesses in your computer, implant a trojan, and steal your (in this instance) banking info. See how the cyber-criminals do it..
* Visit my 10 item checklist and run down it to see if your machine is properly defended and configured for surfing the big bad Internet.

Today’s free link: Avidemux is a free video editor designed for simple cutting, filtering and encoding tasks. It supports many file types, including AVI, DVD compatible MPEG files, MP4 and ASF, using a variety of codecs. Tasks can be automated using projects, job queue and powerful scripting capabilities. Avidemux is available for Linux, BSD, Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows — under the GNU GPL license.

Copyright 2007-8 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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Troubleshooting iPods and iTunes

It may be kind of hard to believe, but it seems that a lot of people have iPods. And it seems to be true that a lot of people (even Windows people) use iTunes software to download and/or manage digital music. And, it also seems to be true that both these products are fairly simple and easy to use.

Tip of the day: Make sure you’re using the latest version of the product to resolve your iTroubles.
iTunes is pretty good at letting you know when there is a “newer version available”, and it (typically) prompts you to update. You should accept these prompts when you see them. If you haven’t.. and/or are having trouble making purchases at the iTunes Store, or connecting your iPod to your computer.. you can (and should) manually check for a newer version of the software.
To do so, open iTunes, and under the iTunes menu, click “Check for updates”.

iPods need to have their software updated as well, and you can solve most issues by following these steps:
Connect your iPod and then open iTunes and click on your player in the Source list (on the left), and click on the Summary tab, then click on the “Check for Updates” button. Then follow the instructions.

If you are fully updated with the latest software, and still are having troubles getting or playing music the next troubleshooting step is to reset your iPod.
1) Unplug your player from your computer.
2) For Click-Wheel iPods, slide the Hold switch to “Hold” and then to “Off”.
3) Press and hold both the Menu and Select buttons down for about 10 seconds, or until you see the Apple logo on the screen. (If you don’t see the logo after 15 seconds, stop, and repeat the steps above.)

This should do the trick. But if all this fails, and your player still won’t play, you can restore your iPod’s software. This should be done as a last resort, as it will “wipe” your stored songs/podcasts/etc. from your iPod’s memory, and you will have to copy your content back.
Connect your iPod and then open iTunes and click on your player in the Source list (on the left), and click on the Summary tab, then click on the “Restore” button. Then you may see up to four restore “options”– try using the “Use Newest Version” option first. If that doesn’t do the trick.. repeat the process and select the “Restore” version, and then update it when it is reinstalled.

These steps will resolve the majority of problems, and get your music playing again.

Today’s free link: I have recommended the top-rated encryption program TrueCrypt before, but I don’t believe I made it clear that versions are available for Mac users as well. To get it, click here, and scroll down a bit to see “Mac OS X” and use the drop-down arrow to select your version.. then click the “Download” button.

Copyright 2007-8 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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