Do you suspect that your iPod has a hardware problem? The iPod’s built-in diagnostic mode is a quick and easy way to determine if you have a “bad” iPod.

How to Turn on iPod Diagnostic Mode

The following procedure will activate the iPod Diagnostic Mode with the following iPods (Photo, Nano, Video, and Mini).

• Turn off the “hold switch”
• Press and hold “Menu” and “Select” buttons simultaneously for 10 seconds to reset the iPod.
• The Apple logo will appear and you should feel the hard drive spinning up. Press and hold both the “Back” and “Select” buttons at the same time.
• You will hear an audible chirp sound and the logo should appear backwards. Let go of the “Back” and “Select” buttons. You are now in Diagnostic Mode.

Once your iPod is in Diagnostic Mode, you will be able to run a series of tests. For more info on the types of tests and what they exactly do, check out this MethodShop.com iPod Diagnostic Mode Tutorial.

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Has this happened to you before? You like an artist and buy a few tracks from their album on iTunes. Then you realize that you really like the artist and want to buy the rest of the album. But if you buy each remaining song on the album separately, it costs more than if you just buy the entire album all at once. And many times, several tracks on the disc as well as the PDF booklet are only available if you purchase the entire album at once (iTunes calls them Album Only offerings).

I’ve run into this dilemma a few times before. Sometimes I’ll want to buy the entire album but won’t just because I don’t want to waste the money.

Apparently I’m not alone when it comes to this problem. If recent reports are true, Apple is supposedly going to credit iTunes users who purchase individual tracks before buying the entire album. For example, let’s say you bought two tracks from the new live Foo Fighters album for $0.99 each and the album is priced at $9.99. If you decided to buy the album later, Apple would charge you something like $8.01 instead and credit you for the tracks you already own.

Why would Apple do this? Why not? Something as simple as this might be the deciding factor between you just buying 1 or 2 songs or the entire album on iTunes. And if you decide to buy the entire album, then everybody wins. You save some money and get the music you want. The record companies sell more albums (something they are struggling to do because everyone just buys singles now). And Apple makes a bigger commission.

It’s a great idea. I’m surprised Apple hasn’t done this in the iTunes Music Store since day one.

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Dogs can be the best of pals with us, staying by our side even though every single one of our two-legged friends has deserted us during times of adversity. Unfortunately, there are always two sides to a coin and your precious, loyal mutt can be a pain in the butt at times as you have to walk around scooping up his poop as well as scratch your head in bewilderment as you wonder why he can’t get some sleep during the wee hours in the night/early morning, howling and barking his head off for no apparent reason. On the other hand, there are some of us who are neighbors with the above-mentioned mutts, and it drives us nuts whenever we try to get some sleep with a vocal canine that cannot stop barking just next door. The K9 Kalmer claims to provide a solution to all your woes at an extremely affordable price.

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You know how the gaming experience has evolved since the days of CGA graphics, which moved on to 16 colors in EGA and subsequently 256 colors in VGA, and the color palette just exploded from there. Sound cards were introduced to bring new levels of realism in gaming, followed by surround sound and a subwoofer to capture the effects of the low rumbling of a vehicle or the heavy thud of footsteps. We even have ambient lighting speakers today, but that’s another story for another day. SmartHome is currently selling its ButtKicker Gamer solution at a massively discounted price of $119.99 for gamers to play games with heavy bass that is close to home for the most realistic gaming experience possible.

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The holiday season is slowly but surely creeping up on us, bringing the whole country to a frenzied shopping rush due to the wonders of procrastination. Children all over the world will be clamoring for Sony PlayStation 3s, Nintendo Wiis, Xbox 360s, the Tickle-Me Elmo 10th Anniversary Edition, and all things soft and plush. Hopefully, panicking parents (after seeing the long queues at the checkout counter) will not pick up the Swear Bear plush toy without even reading what it does just to get out of a maniacal shopping environment as soon as possible.

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Sure, the Outdoor Theatre Kit is a pretty sweet way to watch movies outside, but it’s out of most peoples’ price range. For the general public, there’s the Bright Screen Outdoor LCD TV. It’s still not cheap by any means, but in comparison to the Outdoor Theatre Kit, it’s a bargain and can withstand all sorts of conditions.
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Think Sony PSP games are overpriced? Us too. Here’s a tutorial on how to download free homebrew games off the Internet and install them on your PSP.

In this tutorial we will be installing a homebrew game called SmashGpsp. If you are unfamiliar with this game, SmashGpsp is a lose PSP recreation of the popular Nintendo 64 game Super Smash Brothers by a very talented programmer named mATkEUpON.

Tutorial: Install Homebrew Games on Your Sony PSP

This guide doesn’t detail eboot loaders, which you’ll need for some of the more complicated homebrew programs out there. This tutorial is a good first step if you want to get your feet wet in the world of PSP homebrew.

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Ever wanted to start recording your very own tracks digitally, but never got around doing it due to the numerous cables and sound cards that you have to meddle with? Enter the LightSnake from SoundTech, an amazing invention that could be dubbed as a “Soundcard in a cable” - making digital music recording as easy as 1, 2, 3. All you need to do to get started is to plug in your particular instrument and begin recording in CD quality. Each purchase of a LightSnake comes with demonstration software from Sony, while the cable is Garage Band-ready for Mac users, offering a new totally twist to the meaning Plug-and-Play.

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