Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat

TiVo finally turned on the power of the HD platforms (the Series 3 and HD) with the 9.2 upgrade this week.  This enables sharing of video between TiVos (even between standard-def and high-def units) as well as allowing uploads and downloads from PCs.

So now we can all enjoy our video away from the house.  This is super sweet with the Desktop Plus’ support of the iPod (and thus iPhone)!

And one more thing - it you want to watch that embarrassing Ford ad blunder, I just uploaded it to YouTube!

I’m not really a classical guy, but I do have a few favorite classical selections in my collection.  If you’re got any non-pop music at all, you’ve run into the same problem I have (and many others besides - you there, Jim?):  the default way iTunes organizes music is really not any good for music types that aren’t performer/album/tune based.  And the iPod’s non-scrolling makes matters worse!

So I stumbled across this article about organizing your classical music in iTunes, and I’m thoroughly happy.  But I have a couple of additions to make:

• I use the Album Artist tag for the performer or soloist (e.g. “Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields”, “Nigel Kennedy”)
• The “Sort Artist” tag, though hidden, is your friend.
• I leave the composer in the composer field and just note the album information in the comments field, since I don’t really care about it.

How to use “Sort Artist” you ask?  Here’s an example:

1. Put “Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart” as the artist
2. Right click ONE Mozart track and switch to “Sorting” and put “Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus” under Sort Artist
3. Right click that same track, select “Apply Sort Field” and “Same Artist” and watch the magic happen.  Now the artist will say “Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart”, but it’ll come under “M” instead of “W”!

Sort Artist is really powerful, but be careful - it’s easy to forget to maintain it as your collection grows and be left with a smattering of works in “M” and another set in “W”!

I spotted this on a Ford commercial last night. Their new(ish) Edge SUV sure is fast! I imagine no other vehicle in any class even comes close to this top speed! Someone tell Bugatti and Pagani!

Update: Because I’ve been asked, here are the answers you seek:

• The ad aired on the local educational access channel last night (10/17) around 10 PM
• It was the “Ilissa swapped her Murano” ad
• It was very polished and professional - a national ad not just some local botch
• I recorded it on the TiVo, but since it’s a Series 3 I can’t download it until they enable TiVo ToGo next month…

And one more thing:  The Edge has a 265 horsepower V6 engine, in case you were wondering what they thought they were saying!

Another great tutorial by Stephen Bigelow is appearing this week in lots of TechTarget publications. It focuses on switch upgrade best practices, and again quotes that Foskett guy. He’s so smart…

Yeah, I know it goes against the current shrinking/greening storage meme, but I wanted to point out this excellent article on expanding disk arrays over at SearchStorage. Stephen Bigelow has written a number of these great tutorials, which should be required reading to new storage admins.

Oh yeah, and he quotes some Foskett guy in the piece…

As I mentioned before, I’ve been working with a team at Contoural on an e-Book for TechTarget on the topic of email archiving. Chapter 5, which focuses on product selection, was just published. Go grab a copy for yourself!

So I was disappointed by the range and sound quality for my Cardo Scala 500 when used with the iPhone. It was good with the BlackBerry but so bad with the Apple that I ended up using the wired headphones most of the time.

Today I stopped by the local Best Buy and discovered the high-end mini Motorola H800 marked down to $17.99! This is an $80+ headset (was well over $100 when it was released in the first quarter) and has gotten fairly good reviews. After trying it out with the iPhone, I’m quite happy. Sound quality is good, it’s solidly built, and I love the slide-to-activate feature (which reconnects quite quickly to the phone).

If you’re in the market for a new headset, cruise by your local BBY and see if you’ve got this same deal…

I’d love it if there was a wireless stereo headset for the iPhone, but I guess right now the best stereo headset/headphone is the V-Moda. Why to all bluetooth stereo headsets look so nasty anyway?

OK, so let’s get this whole new world of music straight…

• Apple now allows iPhone and iTouch users to buy iTunes songs without a computer and they’ve teamed up with Starbucks to offer in-store song shopping, but not yet…
• Amazon.com now sells real mp3s with no DRM or watermarking for less than iTunes, making Apple look like the bad guy
• Sony finally dropped their Connect store, but Microsoft is standing by the Zune, introducing a new version
• Radiohead gave the record labels, and Apple, the two-finger salute and decided to sell their new album themselves, for any price you feel like paying

It’s a weird new world. Where’s Newbury Comics when I need them?