iTunes University?

iTunes has become the home to audio lectures from professors at universities across America. “Learn anything, anytime, anywhere” is the site’s tagline for its compilation of educational downloads.

Available with or without an iPod, iPhone, iPad or even a Mac, simply download iTunes and listen to lectures from over 600 universities including Stanford, Yale and MIT. In addition, video and PDF files along with other media types are available for some offerings.

Geek Sugar has 11 other ways to get free classes online. It’s really amazing what is available out there.  I wonder how long before most universities begin offering an online version of their degrees.

iPrompts for the Differently Enabled

iPrompts is an app for the iPhone and iPod Touch that can be used to help those with language and behavioral challenges (or just your normal kid) to transition through activites, make choices and focus on the task at hand.

Developed by the parents of a 4-year-old with autism, the application helps parents create picture-based schedules, visual countdown timers and illustrated choice prompts to be viewed on screen.

For example, mom or dad can create a sequence of pictures with customized captions using hundreds of sock images or snapping their own with the iPhone’s camera.  You can also allow those who cannot voice their preference to choose between two images.

Learn more with their video tutorial here.

This is sure to be very helpful to those who care for the differently enabled!  I’d like to try the choice feature with my two-year-old. It would be an improvement over our charades.

Available via iTunes for $49.99

Found via Scholastic Parent and Child

Can 3-D save cable tv?

With so much content become available online via Hulu, iTunes and network sites, cable television is increasingly finding itself in a challenging spot. However, new 3-D enterprises by channels such as ESPN, DIsney, Discovery and more.

ESPN plans to start offering programming before the FIFA World Cup in June with more than 80 live events this year.

Manufacturers such as Sony and Panasonic plan to offer 3-D capable televisions soon too. The problem, says experts, is getting enough content out there for people to justify buying new sets. That, and getting people to wear those glasses.

However, within the decade, 3-D will likely be mainstream and like other technologies before it, we won’t be able to imagine our life before it.

Digital Music continues to rise

Mint.com has an interesting graphic of the rise of digital music. One graph show  the gains digital formats have made in just the past few years grown from just 20% of the market in 2007 to 36% in 2009.

The site also breaks  down the big players like iTunes, Amazon, Napster, Rhapsody and others and how they rate against each other as well as how much they are making as people make the switch.

Like vinyl before it, CDs too will fall by the wayside of history as this trend continues. I can’t remember the last time I bought a CD myself. How about you?

HealthSync helps you keep track of your medical records

HealthSync, a new iPhone app, helps you keep track of your health records and those of your family.

Especially if you have a chronic disease such as diabetes, heart disease or allergies, the application helps users keep track of frequent tests and monitoring.  The information is input by the user and stored locally on the device.  Future version will support data sharing to enable users to manage data via Google Health’s web-based interface.

The app is $2.99 via the iTune App Store.

Marvel-ous

The evolution of comic books continues. iTunes has boasted a handful of comic reading applications for its ipod touch and the iphone, but now Marvel comics has officially jumped on board.

Through the comiXology, Fanelfly, iVerse, and Scrollmotion official Marvel comics can be downloaded and read for anywhere from .99 cents to $1.99. Current releases aren’t as extensive as they could be, but everyone starts somewhere, and it certainly is another step forward in comic’s accessibility.

Summer School

I for one get enough class time five days a week and enough homework that spare time for online courses is not really available (or a priority).  But that doesn’t mean I can’t recognize a good learning tool when I see one.

Academicearth.org is the next step in intellectual growth at our fingertips.  Like iTunes U the site provides taped lectures free to the masses.  These aren’t just any schools either, but lectures from the likes of Stanford and Yale.  I can’t attest to the quality of one lecturer over another myself, but the big school names are likely to get people in the door.

It’s never to late to learn (in life, or in the day) and it’s always nice when you can work for pure interest instead of a grade and extra homework.

Variety is a Good Thing

There are a million ways to buy music now, and varying forms in which to procure it.  I’ve listened to the MP3 vs CD debate for years it seems and I say, there is a place for both.

I’m not quite as knowledgeable about music as I am about movies, but as a consumer I’m pretty savvy about the options I have for getting my music when the need does arise.  

Lets start with MP3’s:

iTunes is super convenient (especially with a gift card and not my own hard earned cash).  When I watch a movie trailer and love the background music iTunes is where I go to buy the track in its entirety.  It’s a great way to procrastinate before exams.  I don’t need a whole CD for a song by one artist I’ve never heard of before anyway.  MP3’s are great for single tracks and instant gratification. 

The problem with MP3’s has a lot to do with their positive qualities as well.  iTunes specifically causes inconveniences where music sharing is concerned.  I’m not talking about torrents or file sharing in general (though that is a both a recognized problem and blessing for music consumers) but good old fashioned lending.  You can only share iTunes music with a set number of friends.  It’s part of the program.  This means that any music you purchase on iTunes can not be played on all your friends computers, but only five that you “authorize” with your account password.  Instant gratification is great, but the question of long term viability is a big one.

Okay, CD’s:

Yes, full albums can be purchased online from the likes of iTunes and amazon.com, but there’s something special about holding that plastic case in your hand that does make a difference.  If I’m going to spring for a whole album I want the album, plastic and all.  I like that I get the case, I also like that I can send the disk home with friends and they too can enjoy the sound I discovered (without my having to come along for the ride and authorize their computers).  Sure, I have to wait for a ride to the mall but in the long run, owning the CD, in the flesh, is worth it.  Plus, if my computer ever dies, I have automatic music backup.

Digital Music

I have a huge digital music collection. When I say huge, I’m talking about over 120 gigs of music – close to 30,000 songs.  (And for you record execs out there – it’s all legal, as the many cartons of CD’s in my garage can attest to) I consume digital music in every imaginable way. As I write this, I’m listening to a playlist of songs on my computer. I have an iPod Shuffle for the gym – the old one that looks like a pack of gum. My 80gb iPod is bursting at the seams with music and videos. (One day soon, I’ll tell you and Steve Jobs why iTunes sucks.) One of my cars has a 6 disc changer filled with mixed CD’s I burned, while the other plays mp3 CD’s.

The one sticking point has always been my home audio system. I wanted to be able to play my digital music without having to burn it to CD’s. It seemed like a wasted step and certainly limited the way I could access and play the music I wanted to hear. And then came the first wave of wireless media players – home audio components that accessed your computer over your wi-fi network. Score! Or so I thought…

My first entry to this was the D-Link DSM 320. I installed the software on my PC. Got the player configured on my network. And then started importing the music library into the “database”. It choked on the size of the library. I scaled back and decided to just import my list of playlists. It had a nice feature that imported all the listed songs when you imported a playlist. That worked fine until I added the playlist that pushed me back over the limit. They finally released a software update that resolved that. Connectivity, though, was always a 50-50 proposition at best, and when they released firmware that would have fixed that, my unit refused to upgrade and D-link’s tech support couldn’t help.

Then I saw the Go Video Wireless Media/DVD player, which seemed pretty cool during the month that it worked. Then it refused to connect to the network (and GoVideo has no real support) At least it played DVD’s for another few months – just enough for the warranty to run out.

It was time to give up. If I wanted digital music (and video, etc) on my home entertainment system, there was only one reliable way to get it there. I bought a cheap low-profile PC (kind of like this one) that would fit in the console like an audio component – upgraded the sound and video cards, plugged the video into the dvi input of my HDTV, audio into the receiver, and FINALLY got what I wanted. Plus, now I have high-speed internet on the home theater system and can surf the web and show streaming video on my HDTV. And some of it (like ABC’s HD streams of Lost) actually look great on the big screen. But we’ll get to that…