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Your iPod is probably getting old with that boring interface. Too bad you can't upgrade it with a Mac OS or Windows OS. Luckily though Rockbox has come onto the scene with a free open source upgrade for digital music players such as the iPod. I say iPod because the Apple iPod is such a huge seller that I am most likely to attract more visitors. Rockbox was made popular due in part to the fact that it supports FLAC, an open standard like MP3. It has much better quality and is therefore a joy to listen to. The iPod doesn't support FLAC. That's where Rockbox comes in. Download Rockbox and open your music player to a much better world. Since Rockbox is updated almost daily, the stability might not be the best but there are many other features that make it plenty attractive. There are hundreds of user submitted themes for your build (i.e. most updated software for your mp3) but since builds are updated constantly, some themes might not work well. If you do love a theme, you might need to tweak it a bit to make it work better. It can be some fun if you know what you're doing but HTML-defficient people like me it might not be as easy. Obviously if it doesn't work just uninstall it and you're back to normal. A quick note when installing Rockbox on your mp3; connect it right to your computer as opposed to a hub connected to your computer as it may cause write problems. 
2010 is a year Microsoft is looking forward to as it is the proposed release date of its new OS. With Vista failing expectations, Microsoft needs to put all its effort into creating an amazingly great OS that has great security, speed, and performance and from the word go. Already leaks have been sited on the new OS but none to specific. One feature is it will not include if any groud breaking software and features like Vista did, but improve on Vista's flaws and make them superior. For example, the difficult to use, Bitlocker for all those technical readers out there. Even though the userface has gone a modern look, Microsoft is hinting the new OS wil undergo a major revamp called a really thin OS that manages virtual machines. Finally, a touch screen interface will maybe makes it way into the next-gen OS, many people are waiting for, and analysts putting heavy weight on.
You never thought it was Microsoft and Adobe competing for customers. PC vs Mac is now old and Microsoft needs to pick on somebody else which happens to be another heavyweight and they are butting heads in Adobe's territory. Adobe Flash has long been the choice for websites when playing videos. Now Microsoft comes onto the scene with Silverlight, a movie streamer for high quality videos. FOX, Netflix, and MLB.com are among the big companies prepping to use Silverlight for there heavy-video services. You can already download a release candidate at PC World. With no buffering delays, at least on MLB, Silverlight is poised to make a huge splash when it's finally released and should move and shake platforms for many websites. Netflix and FOX Movies are using similar movie players that are interactive with DVD clone controls and use Silverlight with very clear and great quality picture. Check out a trailer at Silverlight.
A no-name site called Skinkers, a London based technology group that's has a beta of a peer to peer live video streaming platform by the name of LiveStation where the basis of it is...Silverlight. The great thing about this service is that it cuts down the buffer time on online video and since it's P2P it cuts bandwidth. LiveStation opens in a new window outside of your browser which makes it easier to surf and you are able to switch stations like live TV. 
Adobe is coming back at Microsoft with it's own version of Windows Media Player with Adobe Media Player which will be available for download by the end of this year. It will let you play flash movies outside your browser and manage a library of your favourites much like iTunes. It was developed using Apollo, an application that lets web developers build media rich internet software. Adobe Media Player features full screen playback, a favourites utility that will automatically download new episodes of your favourite podcasts or TV shows, and a one click viewer rating. Adobe and Microsoft should each challenge the other making for healthy competition and a much easier and better life for the consumer. Note:If you have a LiveStation invitation, please contact me as that would be much appreciated.
Ever bought a major product and never took advantage of the 14 day price guarantee? I sure have and now there is a free web service that will help you look for a better price from the product you just bought within a scheduled amount of time. Some retailers guarantee that there price will be better than other retailers to. So all you do is go to Price Protectr, enter the url of the product(s) you just bought from that retailer and click 'look it up'. That's it, your done! Price Protectr will then remind you via email if the price has changed. You though have to enter other retailers that sell that product if the place you bought it from offers a price guarantee for all retailers selling that product. Overall it's a great service and you should check it out when you next buy a product over $100.
Youtube has long been the king of online video sharing which is why Google bought it this year but that's becauase most of the other video sharing sites have never gotten enough publicity. There are 8 different sites that are competing with Youtube and most of them have been rated better when it comes to performance, features, and specifications. Blip.tv was the best because the audio quality is great and the video is pretty good, but much better than Youtube. The reason why this site has such good video quality is that it lets users upload the original high-quality file as well as Divx Stage 6. Youtube uses the old Flash 7. Many of these sites that I will tell you about share the revenue of the advertising to it's uploaders and people who link videos to there blogs. Check out Rocket Boom news. It adds spice and comdey to the news. Blip.tv also allows you to download videos on the site for ideal playback on an iPod or cellphone. This is not a huge site yet, as in it doesn't get much viewers so stick to Youtube if you want to get a huge audience for now.
Blip.tv, Brightcove, Metacafe, Revver, and Veoh will all split advertising revenue with you right down the middle. Youtube does none of these. Revver has an extra feature that will make non-video uploaders smile. They let you earn 20% of the revenue from videos you've decided to share on the Revver page or your blog/website. The remaining 80% is split between Revver and the uploader.
