Category — Apple

I am a big fan of iTunes and this was even way before I switched over to the Mac. It was perhaps three years ago that I made the iTunes my standard player for home and then later for work. Its blend of user interface aesthetic, the interface to the iTunes store and the ease of integration with the iPod devices make it hard to beat. I have had other players like WinAmp and MediaPlayer but those are now in the distant past and I have never look back.

I am not alone in thinking this way as the millions of people who own some variety of iPod device , a Mac computer or just have the player for their ripped CDs and non - Itunes downloads.

However, there is one feature many people overlook of iTunes and that is the streaming radio stations it provides. Pick a genre and there is likely a station for that somewhere in the world. Many of the stations originate overseas and one I like listening to on a regular basis is Virgin radio out of the UK. It is predominantly Top 40 but when I tune into it at around 10-11pm, the time is 4 am in London so what I get is “golden oldies” from the 60’s through the early 90’s. When they switch into the “morning ride”, that is when it gets interesting. It is kind of strange hearing about traffic conditions on M25 and the latest football (i.e. soccer) scores and highlights but I like it. It reminds me of the time when I lived in Europe. The format of the show is much like North American radio with the hosts bantering back and forward. The topics they discuss in blue collar British accents give it away as not your local radiocast. The voice over on intros and station break is actually an American voice, one that you hear at nearly every radio station in North America.

What is good about this station is that music that may take up to a year to cross the ocean, you can now hear as it is released in the UK.

There are other stations I like. Radio Fusion for electronica is a good choice especially for mixes you would not normally find anywhere else. A slew of NPR stations on the Talk category; plenty of stations that broadcast 80’s hits, the songs I grew up on are also available and the list goes on.

So I find it a chance of pace to listen to the radio via iTunes especially as I pretty much avoid listening to local radio stations with the exception of WFDD (local NPR) and Davision College for their classical music fare. I like having choice for my listening pleasure because I get so little of it here.

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite

With all of the going ons in my life, one thing that has been put on the back burner has been my oft-discussed move to the new iMac computers. As a priority in my life, it has been downgraded quite a bit. But like many other things in life, sometimes waiting for something may prove more advantageous than rushing in.

This week the iMac received a bit of an upgrade with faster CPUs and more default RAM for the same price pints as before. Apple also released a new top-end version of the iMac, a 24″ monitor version with a 3.06 GHz CPU and a NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS graphics card making it more a gamer’s machine than anything else.

Considering that the desktop line received a major overhaul last summer, it is premature to expect any significant upgrades for the iMac. This year, it is the MacBooks that will get the overhauls as we have seen first with the Air version.

The Leopard version of the Mac OS will be getting a new update in the very near future and may get another one yet by the time I get to buying the iMac. So far I am still comfortable with my decision to switch but holding back for a bit looks like a prudent decision if not a totally voluntary one.

The new 20-inch 2.66 GHz iMac, for a suggested retail price of $1,499 (US), includes:

• 20-inch widescreen LCD display
• 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with a 1066 MHz front-side bus
• 2GB of 800 MHz DDR2 SDRAM expandable to 4GB
• 320GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 7200 rpm
• a slot-load 8x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
• ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO with 256MB GDDR3 memory
• built-in iSight video camera
• built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking & Bluetooth 2.1+EDR
• mini-DVI out (adapters for DVI, VGA and Composite/S-Video sold separately)
• built-in stereo speakers and microphone; and
• the Apple Keyboard, Mighty Mouse and infrared Apple Remote.

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite