All in all, this is turning out to be an extremely helpful tool especially for academics, students, etc. If you want to learn more, I suggest watching the intro video they have.

(Note: If you do end up creating an account through that link, it will give me more free space! But of course I’m not just promoting it for the free space from referrals—it’s not really that much. I just think it’s a really cool program.)

I’ve now been using it for several years now, I guess, and it’s really great. When I’m driving, I often listen to lectures on my iPhone with one headphone in my ear. (This should be legal and safe.) It helps to pass the time while driving and I learn something. Some of my favorites are lectures from psychology classes. Berkeley and Yale in particular has a good number of great psych classes available from some top psychologists (e.g. Alison Gopnik and Paul Bloom).

So I highly recommend iTunes U for this sort of thing. It’s all free and pretty easy to get on your iPhone or iPod. You can even download them now directly to your device through the iTunes app over 3G or wireless. The only problem is the lack of content. It’s still early on, so only a few professors across the country are recording their lectures and posting them on iTunes U. But I’m sure it will grow with time and become a really amazing resource.

So I’m just testing things out. I’m digging both WordPress and the new iPhone. The phone is way faster and has some great new features. I’m upset by the raise in rates again from AT&T, among other things, but the phone is just too cool!

http://www.apple.com/iphone/softwareupdate/

Yay!

Oh yeah, I got a Zune… a while ago. There’s lots of smack talk and iPod comparisons going around. I just want to register my own opinion and experience (so far).

I owned iPods first for quite a while and liked them just fine. But I wanted to check out these Zunes and it was on sale. And so far (it’s been a few months), I love my Zune. I don’t know why more people don’t have them. Sure, the whole wireless thing is worthless, right now at least–since so few people have them. But even leaving that aside, I think the Zune is better than the (current) iPods. I’m sure Apple will soon come out with something better or more competetive at least, but the Zunes are all around great.

Features I really like:

• matte-style finish (looks cool and doesn’t scratch as easily)
• customizable user interface
• large LCD screen
• cool colors (the double-shot effect is cool too)
• the Zune software is WAY better than iTunes on PCs (I’ve seen iTunes on a Mac and it runs great, with no lagging), but iTunes runs horribly on PCs

Plus, the Zunes are something new to keep Apple from having a monopoly on the MP3 player market. Sure Microsoft is just another big corporation, and at best we’ll have only two huge corps dominating the market. But, I say that’s better than just one! People should really support the Zune. Besides, I got mine on sale for only $200. That’s $50 less than the competing iPod videos (at least it was when I bought it).

Update: I now have an iPod because I can only control an iPod from my car’s stereo system. I still think the Zune is cool, though.

The funny thing is you really need to have Vista or have used it to fully appreciate that commercial.

If I could do everything on a Mac that I wanted to on a PC, I would totally switch over. Maybe some day that will be the case. Although, it wouldn’t be for the “security features.” As far as I know, the reason why Macs “don’t have as bad of security issues as PCs do” is because the jackasses who write viruses, spyware, etc. write them for PCs, not Macs. (When you design a virus it must be written to interact with a particular programming language or code. Just like computer programs, two different viruses have to be written if they are to work for two different operating systems.) And the main reason that more viruses are written for PCs than Macs, as far as I know, is because there are more PC users than Mac users (so virus-makers hit more people with viruses made for PCs). I’ve also heard that some virus-makers target PCs because they hate Microsoft (which is mostly because Microsoft is a big company that dominants the computer market). So, it’s not as though Macs have better security features or anything. And if they came to dominate the computer market, then they would likely inherit the greatest security problems. Rather, my main reasons for wanting to switch to Macs are that they are higher quality computers with a nice stable OS that’s made by a company that takes better care of their customers.

But, nevertheless, the commercial is hilarious.

DRM (digital rights management) is, as I like to think of it, an attempted chastity belt for intellectual property, primarily for music right now. I won’t spend a lot of time writing about how retarded this idea is. I’ve already done that some here (see “Thoughts on Pirates and Pirating“). What I would like to do is draw your attention to an open letter written by Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple:

http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughtsonmusic/

Check it out. Jobs makes some great points. I also think that this shows how much cooler Apple is than most companies (keep in mind that this is coolness in comparison to other big-time companies).

As a consumer, I would add to Jobs’s points that many of us consumers, including myself, are still reluctant to purchase music online because the quality is so low. Frankly, even if iTunes music becomes DRM-free, I still won’t be buying music from them; not until they up the quality of the mp3s. And I would be willing to pay a bit more for the higher quality mp3s that are DRM-free (say, $13 per album or so). I continue to purchase CDs, usually from Amazon.com. They aren’t much more expensive than iTunes, you have a hard copy backup, they are DRM-free, and you can rip them to your computer at whatever quality you want.

Honestly, I wish I could just buy music digitally online. But, the aforementioned problems keep me from it.

So I built a new computer. Actually I build it and I’ve been updating it by upgrading various parts over the years. I’m pretty proud for purchasing all the parts and then putting it all together myself.

Here are the current specs:

Motherboard: ASUS Maximus Formula
Processor: 2.66Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo E6750
Video card: nVidia GeForce 9800 GT, 1GB VRAM, by PNY
Soundcard: Creative Soundblaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty Pro Series (w/64MB X-RAM)
Speakers: M-audio Studio Pro 4 powered monitors
Hard drive1: 300GB, SATA, 16MB cache, 7200RPM, by Seagate
Hard drive2: 320GB, SATA, 16MB cache, 7200RPM, by Maxtor
RAM: 4GB (2 x 2GB), DDR2 800Mhz (PC26400) by Mushkin
CD-ROM: DVD-R/CD-RW combo, by Sony (DRU-820a)
TV tuner: WinPVR 150
Monitor: 22″ Flat panel LCD, Samsung SyncMaster 2253BW (w/DVI)
Power supply: 550W Ultra connect X2
Case: Antec Super lanboy, two fans built in (front one w/ blue LED)
Keyboard: ultra slim, multimedia ViewSonic KU709
Floppy drive: some generic one
Mouse: Logitech MX-510

Anywho, just thought I’d share. This is mostly for my own reference. Here are some more pics: