ipodder

iPodder, the cross-platform Podcast receiver.

This may prove useful to learn non-iTunes podcast reception management.

Of course, my ideal would be just to use iTunes and hack something that will place the ‘casts onto the Treo at sync (just like this, but for a Missing-Sync-using Mac user). Perhaps Palmcasting has a lead. Hm, that article cites Pocket Tunes again, is windows-oriented, and relies on being able to drag-and-drop playlists into the sync window, something that Palm’s ‘add to handheld’ tool explicitly disallows.

I also came across AeroPlayer, which looks interesting as well.

Oh, I seem to have overlooked a feature of the Missing Sync toolkit. When the Treo is mounted as a drive to the Mac desktop using the Palm-based “Missing Sync” drive mounter, you can copy tunes (and playlists?) to the media card of the Palm from within iTunes via in-window drag-and-drops. That plus smart playlists for podcasts equals a possibility of accomplishing my goal.

How scriptable this is remains to be seen. Seems like someone must have scripted an ‘if volume mounted’applecsript for iTunes. Clearly. this is also the sort of monkeyshines that watched folders were designed for.

I may delete Busker after poking at it briefly. It is clearly designed to emulate much of iTunes’ functionality, but since the program is so solidly aimed at a Wintel audience I found the design and featureset implementation unappealing. I actually prefer parts of the portable RealPlayer UI, but that app clearly has trouble dealing with a volatile, multivalent mediabase and has already failed to play media from playlists I built with the application from local media on the card.

But enough palm futzing for the day. There’s writing to be done!

Bul Gogi

In my defense for a day of blogslacking, I would like to point out that we went out to eat Korean food with Greg and Stacey last night. I abused my cellphone’s camera privileges all night.

treo_031105_025.jpg

The Old Village restaurant featured many tables with hooded charcoal burners in the center of the table, which made the dining experience an amusing combination of Brazil and Clan of the Cave Bear. It was the first time that I’d ever eaten Korean food with a burner in the table. I liked it a lot. Greg and Stacey set us up right, ordering a plethora of Korean dishes. We were all stuffed to the gills when we left.

Dirty Pool, Old Man

Wow! I haven’t missed a day for a couple of years!

Today’s Treo update:

I installed Ringo, a ringtone manager which looks to be based on the Apple-store model of app. The default tone-selection methodology is to direct you to a store to purchase tone. Since I hate that business model with a burning passion, I deleted the app immeditaely.

I’m experimenting with another electric pocket utility, Busker, which is an MP3 player that includes podcast support. I imagine I’ll be looking at other players but it’s clear to me that podcast support is the single feature I really want.

I have also put Butler on the phone, which looks very promising indeed. It offers up to 60 day-configurable repeating or non-repeating alarms, 2 more than my beloved (and sadly mourned) BigClock, as well as a host of other little reminder-oriented features.

Finally, I’ll be experimenting with both ToySoft’s mp3Ringer and MotionApps’ mRing. Both apps advertise the ability to set ringtones based on mp3s and other media-stoage file formats.

UPDATE: both apps disqualifed themselves on initial launch. One required non-standard phone-answering behavior, so it’s gone. The other required Pocket Tunes; the ring manager I want has to be standalone. Onward!

After all, even if all the Palm Pilots stop, the cellphones will still all play Jason Webley tunes.

Custom

Google News: now offering customization.

Add your own saved searches, delete sections (bye-bye, Sports!) rearrange the pagelayout. And no login. Pretty cool.

diabetes free

BBC NEWS | Health | Transplant cures man of diabetes

I read this on the way in to work this morning. The cure depends on islet transplants, and what the story fails to mention is that as in any transplant, the recipient is dependent on anti-immune-reaction drugs for the rest of their life. The only way around this (barring twins) is to employ cloned islet cells, which to date are solely obtainable via the use of the ever-controversial stem cells, cells taken from foetii, I think.

Viv and I have discussed this, and she rejects, rightly, I think, the idea of replacing one lifetime treatment which she has mastered, it seems, with another which she would need to learn in her forties.