Apple’s release of the iPod w/video created a media buzz. Now you can download selected ABC-Disney network programing via the iTunes store for a moderate fee of $1.99 per episode. Apple is providing a way for the mainstream to capture and carry it anywhere and as simply as possible.

If you don’t own the latest and greatest iPod (or wish to fork over the download fees) there is another way! The first step is to record a TV program. VHS tape is so old tech. TiVo, SageTV, or BeyondTV are great PC TV enhancement PVR choices allowing you to save your show for later viewing at your convenience. Your recording is stored on your PC’s hard drive as a file. That file, as you might imagine, is huuuuuge. The second step then is to make it portable. You could burn it to a DVD… Better still, use a utility called DivX, which will reduce the size of that file using an compression codec (much like your music files are shrunk to mp3 format). An hour long television video at 1.9 Gigibytes can be reduced in size to 112 MB. This is small enough that you don’t need to burn it to a DVD or CD. It will fit on your keychain flash memory. Step 3: Transfer your file to your handheld PDA viewer. Use this utility called Core Pocket Media Player – TCPMP which recognizes the DivX format for viewing. Done! Enjoy the show.

Legacy software applications such as the Microsoft Office are about to go obsolete. AJAX, RSS and other new programing techniques have made it possible to provide online document creation with web based applications. If you use Google’s Gmail than you’ve already experienced AJAX, which is used for spell check and contact addressing. Google Maps, another instance. Delay or lag is significantly reduced as you click and drag map objects in your browser. Internet connectivity allows for seamless publishing (public or private), the emailing of, blogging and or news feed syndication of documents. Now add the biggest plus inherent in this online scheme: collaboration. Writely is a striking feature rich adaptation handling WORD type documents. Backpack is an idea for a very slick personal organizer. You no longer have to own the desktop app or keep buying the upgrades. The traditional $oftware model is about to undergo a transformation.

Another score as prolific Google rolls out yet another useful free beta download. The Google VPN client offers a layer of security to those of us surfing the net with easy to snoop WiFi. All of the up and down bits and bytes are encrypted and flow through cyberspace via Google Servers as described thusly. Not that there isn’t a lock that can’t be picked… We trust that the mothership won’t mine our data ;-0

Other Google hits:Gmail Picasa Earth Talk

With an expanding podcast directory and not enough idle time, I borrowed B.O.U.R.Girl’s iRiver iFP-180Tand a pair of cast off headphones. Unwilling to dull the senses I’ve always taken my exercise without props. Breaking with this tradition I tuned into TWIT episode 22 and went for a jog. This mp3 player, mounted to an armband holder is unobtrusive. The dangling cable is a slight distraction while the earbud pieces do tend to produce mechanical noise of howling wind if there happens to be a breeze. Another initial bug was the less forgiving problem of having sweat rivlets rolling down the temple and onto the ear piece. The left one plugged up / shorted out at about the 4 mile mark! More testing is in order. I’m sure that an ideal setup will be found because the audio is a nice brain diversion from the pain – gain thing.

Here is a useful podcast source: NPR. Talk radio is back baby! Think what your VCR (PVR) does for your TV viewing experience. Podcasting is audio on your schedule.

Search video.google.com with keywords of your choice. I typed in S2000 and found this very nice amateur upload

technorati.com and del.icio.us are blogosphere buzz words worth getting aquainted with. They are websites that specialize in social bookmarking, categorizing and indexing weblogs. Google is not the only way to search you know…

Example: I’m an interested in Apple Computer’s announcement last week about their shift from IBM/Motorola to the (windows xp) Intel processor. And, does this news mean that I will eventually be able to buy and run the acclaimed Mac Tiger OS X, as an alternative operating system, on one of my non-apple PCs? Is Apple about to expand/reclaim market share from Microsoft? Do I want to buy Apple shares?

A google search on this topic reveals some recent info mostly from brick and mortar but a Technorati search will return the latest scoop. Further, I created a watchlist which furnishes an RSS feed on the topic. Nifty. The returned hits are current and fresh. Instant information.

or someone like him… Dell’s price leader, as advertised, is a $399 special. In order to qualify for the free shipping (a $99 value) you must customize for an additional $102. Okay, so it’s not 399 rather 501 — but still bargain bang for the buck. Moraff or Hoyle, IE or Firefox, ripping or burning CDs, and email application will be this machines forte. To play the latest 3D 1st person shooter you’ll need high end (read large green). The derby brown van drives by without slowing. Then, a few minutes later, yet again– backtracking. Package not on board? Lost? Spotted large scary dog in driveway? It could have been a huge tease but the driver makes a third run at us — and this time delivers.

Fitting – that the old desktop OS should crash just as I was saving the last of the important files. (“what are you doing dave!?”) It has been unplugged. Actually the machine served us well for 7 years and a month (a very long time in computer years). As Dad Harrison liked to say, “She owes you nothing…” (you got your money’s worth). Windows95 is no longer supported by Symantic, ZoneAlarm, or even Microsoft, and so this paper weight was coasting on legacy apps like Office 97 and Lotus Organizer. The Dell Dimension 300 XPS. Good bye old friend.