Roughly a year later, the whole podcasting phenomenon really took off. In no time at all, my cavernous 20 gig iPod seemed somewhat lacking in the storage department as my growing collection of podcasts started pushing my storage limits. In the mean time, Apple had released the iPod Photo with a color display. I was getting the itch for a bigger ‘Pod in a big way. But I waited.

In mid-January of 2006, along came the 5th generation iPod that played video. It came in both 30-gigabyte and 60-gigabyte flavors, along with your choice of standard white or the new black. Considering the Apple product line at the time was either white or some flavor of metallic, black iPods seemed strange to me. Mac “purists” like myself would be much less likely to own a black Apple branded product. I’m guessing the whole black thing was aimed at the Mac-hating Windows users, who had just been introduced to iTunes for Windows. “Real geeks use Pee Cee’s” ya know. And Apple was all about selling more iPods. To anyone. Even PC users.

I bit the bullet and dropped $400 on a new WHITE 60 gigabyte iPod. And let me tell you, it was (and still is) a thing of beauty. A glorious color screen for all my pictures and videos, and triple the storage of my beloved 4th generation iPod. Amazing battery life, too, except when I got carried away playing videos. The sticker on the box said something to the effect of “listen to 16 hours of music, or watch 2 hours of video on a single charge”. I guess the novelty of video playback on such a small device made up for that shortcoming. For awhile. I still use this iPod for at least 8 hours a day, and still love it. I’m amazed at the battery life it continues to give me.

In October of 2007 I became the proud owner of a 1st generation 16 gigabyte iPod Touch. It seems like Apple only makes the Touch better and more useful with every software and firmware update. At first, it could only run web apps (html, css & javascript stuff). Now it can run all kinds of awesome apps, games, and utilities and it’s nothing short of a very capable handheld computer. Almost more useful in some ways. While I’d love to get a new 3rd generation Touch, I really can’t justify spending the money when my 1st gen Touch still does everything I need it to, and then some. It’s a great little gadget. If I could afford to upgrade, the only reason would be to get more storage. 64 gigabytes would be nice. And maybe a camera, maybe.

Last Sunday, a couple days after Christmas, I added yet another iPod to my small collection — an incredibly sexy 5th generation iPod Nano. 8 gigabytes, Purple. I told myself awhile back that if I ever got a new Nano, it would be a Red 16 gig model. But being the impatient ass I am, last Sunday’s late afternoon trip to the Walmarts changed my mind. What can I say? The sheer tiny-ness of the thing sold me. But when you add the video camera, voice recorder, gorgeous color display and everything else, it becomes pretty overwhelming. A total impulse buy, granted, but I’m looking forward to playing with it and hopefully learning to enjoy it as much as I do my “Classic” and my Touch.

I’m not exactly sure what the attraction is to these shiny little audio playing gadgets, but there definitely IS an attraction. Maybe an obsession. I guess I’m officially a “hoarder” of iPods. 60 gig Classic for everyday use, but mostly in the car going to and from work (an hour each way). An iPod Touch for tweeting or killing time at Starbucks. And now, an awesome little purple Nano for listening to, posing with and, well, I haven’t figured the rest out yet. But I will. Maybe.

While looking though an old external hard drive today, I came across some amazing old videos that I have NO IDEA where they came from. Some of these videos were pretty amazing, some were pretty lame and ended up in the trash. This one, however, required sharing. It’s called Jugg Master. Like the name implies, it’s all about the boobies. It’s short, like a couple minutes, so click the image to make the jump. You’ll be glad you did. (Note: You probably guessed already, but this video is NSFW.)

Before you click “play”, I should warn you I shot this whole thing on a cheap little standard-def Flip Mino camcorder ($129 +tax from the Radio Shack in Lewiston, Idaho). The nice thing is, I think it shoots as good – or better – video than my little Canon Z-800 mini DV camcorder. Although neither are up to current video blogger standards, I think that with a little effort I could make the Flip my main vlogging device. If I could only figure out a decent way to keep from wiggling so much, that is. I hope to come up with a solution there soon.

Download for iPod / iPhone
(Quicktime .mov, 52.11 MB, 464×348, 24fps, 10 min 26 sec)

A couple quick notes here:
1) When using a green screen, make sure you have PLENTY of EVEN lighting on your subject.
2) If you’re using a cheap little Canon ZR800 to tape your green screen epic, make sure it’s in 4×3 mode, not “widescreen”. Your subject will look all squished.
3) Try to have something interesting and compelling to talk about.

I can honestly say I failed miserably on those three points here. I hope to do much better on my next cinematic effort.

Download for iPod / iPhone
(Quicktime .mov, 39.0 MB, 480×270, 24fps, 7 min 0 sec)

Download for iPod / iPhone
(Quicktime .mov, 26.2 MB, 480×360, 24fps, 5 min 4 sec)

Apps in this year’s bundle are:
iSale ($39.95 makes your eBay sale pages look professional and appealing)
Picturesque ($34.95 a light-weight photo manipulation app with some kewl tricks)
SousChef ($30 an interface to a sort of “social cooking” network)
World of Goo ($20 very fun little physics/construction game)
PhoneView ($19 view your iPhone/Touch notes & data on your desktop)
LittleSnapper ($39 nice little screen capture utility)
Acorn ($49.95 another fairly light-weight photo manipulation app)
Kinemac ($299 awesome 3-D animation program)
WireTap Studio ($69 powerhouse audio recording/organizing app)
BoinxTV ($199 hardcore video editing/organization app)
The Hit List ($49.95 simple GTD “Get Things Done” application)
Espresso ($80 amazing CSS/XHTML/Javascript text editor)

The total value, if you bought each app seperately, would cost you a little over $930. In addition, 25% of your $39 goes to charity. You can choose which charity you’d like your chunk to go to from Macheist’s list, or by default they will divy it up between all the charities.

There is a catch to the “12 apps for just $39″ though; Macheist says you’ll get these 12 apps for your $39 — and you do — but until they raise $400,000 for charity, the last three apps on the list will remain locked (i.e. you can download them, but you don’t get a serial number to unlock them). At this time, those apps are BoinxTV, The Hit List and Espresso. Macheist has currently sold 28,501 bundles which raised $264,993 for charity. Actually, that’s pretty awesome. I checked the box to send my 25% to the AIDS Research Alliance, but other charities they support include Action Against Hunger, the Prevent Cancer Fund and The Nature Conservancy, to name a few.

So, with only 9 days left, I hope Macheist reaches its goal. Yes, because of the charitable intrinsic goodness they’re doing for the world, but also so I can get serial numbers for BoinxTV, The Hit List and Espresso. I hope you’ll do your part to make sure I do. Thank you, that is all.

Okay, that’s all for now. Check back in in a week or two to view some of my stunning photography. I’m no Andy Melton, but I try.

So forgive me. From this day on, I will aspire to produce intelligent, riveting, thought provoking content that will leave my viewers mesmerized and crying for more. I hope.

In the meantime, you might as well view this piece of shit (you notice I didn’t say “enjoy”?). In it you can view my thoughts on my new Elgato Eye TV 250 Plus, my thoughts on Another Gay Movie and Naked Boys Singing DVD’s, my plea for you to vote this November, and finally, a beautiful PSA from the one and only Andy Melton.

Next time, if there is a next time, I won’t be so boring. Promise.

Download for iPod / iPhone
(Quicktime .mov, 108.9MB, 464×352, 24fps, 13 min 58 sec)

CORRECTION: I’m an idiot — I mentioned in this video that Palouse Pride, in Moscow, ID, is on August 11th. THAT IS WRONG. It’s actually on Saturday, August 2nd. For more info on the upcoming Palouse Pride festivities, go to their myspace page. Sorry about the mixup. I’m old.

Download for iPod / iPhone
(Quicktime .mov, 37.62MB, 480×270, 15fps, 7 min 15 sec) 

Download video for iPod (Quicktime 7.0+, 320×240, 15fps, 88.53 MB, Duration: 20 min 18 sec)