Simon made a simple iPod dock for his iPod nano using all the parts it came with. On the Flickr photo set he posted it shows making a hole in the desk, modding the connector cable and securing it flush on the desk. I go through too many devices to settle on one music player, but boy, this would make the desk less cluttered. Link.
Here’s the latest on the iPod breakout box, now you can control it, and poke at it…Panocamera writes – “The iPod breakout dock was the first step in creating a microcontroller interface to the iPod. The next step was to create a serial command protocol testing program so that I could send the iPod command sequences and watch the responses from the iPod in order to figure out a sequence to reliably control and command an iPod externally.” Link.
Big news for TiVo owners with iPods and PSPs – “You can setup the desktop to automatically transcode transfers to one of three formats – Windows Media Library, Sony PSP, or Apple iPod. At least in the first release you cannot transcode shows that have already been transferred. And you can only select one format for the desktop, so you can’t transcode transfers for both a PSP and an iPod, or put some shows into one format and other shows into another. But, again, I suspect most users will be OK with these restrictions, and TiVo says they may add these capabilities in subsequent releases. Advanced users still have other options.” [via] Link.
Slashdot and Digg both have links (and interesting discussions) to this story about LCD goggles for the iPod video. We made our own version here on MAKE awhile back and I use LCD goggles for a lot of applications now, I really think one and two LCD viewing of content won’t be bizarre or sci-fi ish in the next few years. It won’t be as common place as the dudes who wear Bluetooth headsets full-time, but it wouldn’t be weird to see someone watching a movie on their iPod with LCD goggles on a plane.
Procure IR modules from an old VCR, Raphael writes “Some time ago, I came across the Lirc (Linux Infrared Remote Control) website and decided to build a serial port IR receiver. They had a list of suggested IR receiver modules, but I was unable to buy one, so I had to think of using something else. A IR Receiver module is usually a photodiode and a 38khz detector. Most of them have 3 pins. VCC, GND, an output pin. If a 38khz carrier is detected, the output pin will become active. Some modules are active low, and others are active high. It is sometimes required to use an inverter(eg: 7404) to get the correct signal.” Link.
MAKE photo pool member Shufflehacks writes “I built my own radio-transmitter for my Shuffle, I nicknamed it “iMouse”. It works quite easy, there is a power switch on the bottom to turn it on. Just press play on the Shuffle and tune your radio to the right frequency. The range is about 100 to 150 meters.(500 feet) Now I can enjoy my Shuffle on my car stereo.” Link. It’s made out of an old mouse, excellent.
This is the best application in the entire world for converting DVDs to iPod video, it’s one click – “HandBrake Lite is a horribly-mangled abomination of HandBrake, jettisoning its non-crucial features with the one-track goal of creating iPod-sized movies from DVDs. You only really need to click two buttons to rip a DVD for iPod. It’s as easy as that. Less stuff to read, and fewer confusing words. All videos are automatically resized to 320px wide. Widescreen movies are properly cropped before conversion. Smaller interface, easier to stash away on your screen somewhere.” Link.
