One thing I want to see out of my current technology

I got to wondering today...why hasn't Apple developed an iPod with an SD slot?

Let's think about this for a few seconds, shall we?

Yes, the iPod memory is flash technology, and SD cards are also flash-based--wouldn't that be like doubling up on the same technology in one device? Well, yeah, but what's so wrong about that?

Think about it in this sense: You purchase an album on an SD card (some people out there think that might be a good route to go), and you want to put it on your iPod without having to go through the middle man of your computer and iTunes. Well, right now, it doesn't seem like you'd be able to do it (I welcome comments from anyone telling me I can, and how to accomplish that without cracking open my iPod). How awesome would it be to take that SD card you just bought and put it right into your iPod to give the new songs a (metaphorical) spin? Yes, at some point, if you want to transfer the album to your iPod for good, you can go through your computer and have it now in two spots. It could also offer the opportunity to "share" the music with someone else and possibly avoid all the copyright infringing--much like lending a CD to a friend (and, you know, assuming they aren't borrowing it to rip it). The same would work for videos, and would allow a person the chance to pop a card in and watch a video on their iPod and not have to worry about taking up precious space usually reserved for music (I know I try to keep my iPod for mostly music, maybe I'm an anomaly in that sense--I just don't know).

All I'm saying is that I think that this is a missed opportunity right now, and if Apple put an SD slot on an iPod, it could make the machines even more versatile, and could very possibly make my life even a little easier.

What are your thoughts? And what would you like to seen done to the iPod?

Oh hey, it's Christmas!

I've been a busy girl lately, but that usually happens this time of year. I'll be doing my best to hustle and bustle and post a bit more in 2009...and maybe next week, if I can get around to it.

Whatever winter holiday you celebrate, I hope you have an fantastic time celebrating it! I myself get in on the Christmas festivities, and so far it's been pretty enjoyable. This whole week has seemed to be one long weekend...aside from the one day I worked. No, I'm not complaining...I'm just not used to it.

A very Merry Thursday to you all! And to all, a good night!

Question of the day

Is it possible to be cynical about specific situations yet optimistic about the overall picture at the same time?

Mobius Band--my indie electro rock love

A few weeks ago (the day the Phillies won the World Series, to be exact), I happened to be in the City of Brotherly Love to attend a concert for a couple great indie-rock acts: Tokyo Police Club and Mobius Band. Really, I wouldn't have thought to go to the show until I heard that Mobius Band was added to the bill. My first exposure to them was probably the song "Starts Off With A Bang" off their City Vs. Country EP about a year, possibly a year and a half ago, and I really dug their sound. They seem to do nearly everything right when it comes to creating perfectly catchy, yet musically good, electro-rock. And I have to say, I'm hooked. Their full-length album, "Heaven", has been in heavy rotation on my iPod lately, and I was thrilled I got to see them live. They look like they're just having a lot of fun up on stage, and that's what I consider an ideal live performance: a band having a great time playing and drawing the audience into that, creating a really great positive environment for enjoying the music. There were definitely people dancing and bopping around at the show during their set, and that made me really happy. The only thing that disappointed me was that I didn't get a chance to talk to any of the band members hanging around during the TPC set to personally give them my thumbs up. I'm considering this my way of making up for it. Thanks for playing Philly, guys. Can't wait to see you again!

Check out their video for "Friends Like These"--it's one of my favorite songs by them.

Rave about a new Google Gadget

About two weeks ago, it appears, Google made public a new gadget for adding a Google Calendar to the Gmail side nav bar. I decided to try it out, since I'm a frequent user of both Gmail and Google Calendar.

I have to say...I am a fan of that little gadget! It seems like it was pretty well thought-out. It gives you a day agenda view, and when a scheduled event ends, it is faded in the calendar. Also, clicking on an event will take you automatically to the details of that event, which is something I'm disappointed about with the normal Google Calendar, where you have to double-click to get to event details and it takes you away from the rest of the monthly calendar to a new page. Sometimes that seems to take longer than it should, and the gadget makes that transition nice and quick.

Normally, a month loads at a time, but if you scroll down to the end of the month, it will load the next month, and if you scroll to the end of that month, it will load another, and so on. There is also an option to load a mini monthly calendar, and that allows you the ability to quickly jump to a date by clicking on the date in the monthly calendar, rather than scrolling through all the dates, as well as letting you go back in time to view dates that have already passed (that was a concern of mine when I was testing it out earlier this week, and I'm glad that there is a way to time-travel...on the calendar).

I haven't noticed any major problems or glitches yet with the gadget. My only complaint would be that adding details to a new event leads you to a new window or tab (browser-dependent), and ideally I'd love for it to merely expand the new event box that pops up when you click on "add". Then again, the same thing happens in the original Google Calendar. At least they're being consistent. I'm just happy I don't have to keep two tabs open for these two applications now. It's nice to have it all in one spot.

There is also a gadget for Google Docs, which I also added, but as it's not yet something I use often, I won't go on raving about how awesome it is. Again, though, it's still neat to keep everything on one page. If you use any of the applications, I highly recommend trying your hand with the new gadgets.