My iPod has gone wrong. For some reason, it refuses to update with new songs and podcasts. So, I need a replacement. But do I spend 300 odd quid on a new iPod, or look to another solution – because it’s not like iPods are exactly perfect…

I’m thinking of using this instead:

Yep, my mobile. Well, it’s meant to be a Walkman, isn’t it? Using the headphone jack I can still get it working in the car, and if I buy myself a 4gb memory card, I’ll be well away. Alright, it won’t be the same as my old 20gb iPod, but it’s a lot cheaper than getting a new one, and I can still play the songs already on the old one, so…

Pressies

Picked up all the wedding presents today. If anyone who reads this got us one, then thanks. The trouble is, with all these lovely new plates and bowls and whatnot, we can’t bare to use them in our current kitchen, which is a little rundown. We need to move. And hopefully, having looked round a house today, we soon will. Nice one.

Interesting post on Google Operating System blog:

If Gmail were integrated with Google Docs & Spreadsheets, it would have a new link next to some attachments that says “Import in Google Docs & Spreadsheets”. This way, you could edit these files online.

Fortunately, if you go to this page, you can find a mail address where you can send your documents to be uploaded in Google Docs. So you can add that address as a contact (let’s say Google Docs), and forward the mails that have .doc or .xls attachments to that address.

You can even add a filter that sends all your .doc or .xls attachments to Google Docs & Spreadsheets:

Has the words: has:attachment doc OR xls
Forward it to: (the email address discussed above)

For the moment, you can upload only files smaller than 500 KB and you can’t upload spreadsheets by mail (but this feature will be added soon).

Source: Import Gmail Attachments into Google Docs

I’d rather there were some sort of Google file manager to managed all attachments and Docs files in the same place, but it’s a step forward anyway…

Following Neville’s advice, I’ve downloaded the new FeedDemon beta, despite the fact that I’ve recently moved away from it in favour of Google’s Reader, and will give it a go. Sounds like it integrates well with the new Windows Live Writer – Microsoft’s entry into the offline blog editor market. I’ve tried a few editors and will give Live Writer a go too. One feature I love already is the web preview, which shows how your post will look in your template. Excellent stuff.

Talking of templates, I’ve reverted back to my old hacked version of Contempt. I just think it’s more useful, and I miss my rotating headers…

I also downloaded IE7, which has finally been released. Remarkable that it is the first full revision of the browser since 2001. Anyway, as Scoble notes, it’s too slow to replace FireFox in anyone’s estimations, especially v2 of FF, which is considerably quicker than previous versions.

The Google Toolbar for Firefox has a subscribe button for RSS feeds. You can choose your aggregator from a list. Google Reader isn’t on it…

How cool is this? Download Wikipedia to read on your Ipod!

Another of my photo favourites, this one taken at Bodnant Gardens, near Colwyn Bay.

What was Writely is now Google Docs. Sigh. They’ve combined it with the spreadsheet package, so they are available from the same screen – the homepage being effectively a file manager when you log in.

One criticism of Google when they buy things is that they don’t bother to integrate them properly with everything else – think Blogger, and until recently, Picasa. But with Writely, sorry, Google Docs, they have got rid of the nice Writely green and orange look and the end result is just really dull. I suppose it means that Gmail, Calendar and the two productivity apps all now share the same interface.

In other news on the online productivity front, the Zoho suite of online productivity apps now only needs on sign-in per application. Before, if I used Writer, and then needed to go into Sheet, I would have to log in twice. No more. Good stuff.

Spending a daft amount of time on my day off here. Nice flash versions of some classic arcade games, notably Space Invaders, Frogger and Asteriods.

The same chap who did the PacMan port which is on my personalised Google page.

I have been working away recently on a little project to bring together all of the RSS feeds of members of Palimpsest, the discussion forum I maintain. I have used third party arrangements, like KickRSS and Suprglu in the past, neither of which were wholly satisfactory. I’m a regular reader of the WordPress Planet – which pulls together influential WordPress based feeds – and one for the Anglian LUG. So I thought perhaps it would be best to host the aggregated feeds myself, using either the Python based Planet or the PHP MetaPlanet.

An hour’s fiddling last night made it clear that both were beyond my modest abilities. So, I needed another solution. I found it – a WordPress plug-in that aggregates feeds and spews out separate posts for each item. The title of each posts acts as a link back to the originating site. I soon had it up and running, and it seems to work really well for a quick-and-dirty solution. 

A great option for those wanting to create a blogging community.