At the risk of showing our age, we still have vinyl albums sitting around the house, and a turntable that can actually play those albums. We also have a collection of tapes and CD’s over the years.

Digital music has taken a firm hold in our society, and that’s a good thing concerning the environment. We’re not just talking about the music format itself, but the packaging that goes with it.

We really enjoy the digital music age for a couple of reasons. One, we can purchase only the songs we actually want, and not the entire album. (Which we may or may not like.) Two, we listen to more music and genres these days in one sitting which adds to our listening pleasure. And three, music now comes with the proper genre and album art attached.

Our biggest issue with such our massive collection of digital music over the years however is trying to organize our collection. We’ve been burning, combining, downloading, and converting music from various sources for a number of years now, and it was a real mess.

As much as we love iTunes as a platform to collect and distribute our music on various computers and mobile players in our family – the iTunes software seriously lacks any way to truly organize and clean up our music library.

That is until we tried a free trial of Rinse from Real Networks.

After combining all our music from various computers around the house that we collected over the years in various ways, and several formats, the entire library was a mess. Wrong tags, missing genres, missing album art, even duplicates from moving our music around from computer to computer. We’ve never been big fans of iTunes as a place to store all this music for several reasons. However, with several iPhones and iPods that our family uses to take our music with us, we needed to come to terms with iTunes limited editing features. We also needed to collect and manage our music in one place for streaming the music around the house with our blu-ray player and iTunes does have a nice feature for streaming our collection.

Sorting and organizing thousands of songs manually takes a ton of time we simply don’t have. That’s why we wanted to give Rinse a try.

Rinse is the smartest way to seamlessly organize and repair your iTunes music library. They’re powered by an intelligent online database which finds what you need without searching or typing. iTunes and other programs rely on correct information in your songs to work. Not Rinse. Even if your song names have misspellings or missing info, Rinse’ intelligent database technology will find the matching artwork, remove duplicates and clean things up for you one by one or automatically in one fell swoop.

A free trial of Rinse is available to see if it will convert up to 50 of your toughest songs. We were extremely impressed with how quick and intelligent it was.

Try it yourself and see.

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When I ran into this marriage of eco-friendly travel and iPhone app – I fell in love. Both happen to be two of my favorite subjects in the whole world right now. I’ve always been a technology geek, and love how it’s used to increase productivity and speed. When it helps out the environment too – it’s simply a slam dunk.

I’ve collected an entire page of “green” applications on my iPhone over the years. (Probably installed at least two pages, but condensed it down to the applications I use most.)

Catherine Mack is responsible for creating a brand new application in iTunes called Ireland Green Travel. Catherine is a travel writer specializing in green, eco, responsible and ethical tourism. She also holds a Masters degree in Responsible Tourism Management. Her new application for the iPhone features the best green accommodations, activities and hiking adventures, along with eco-friendly places to stay in Ireland.

Green places to stay include lakeside lodges, yurt camps, island retreats, eco-castles, grand houses “with more than just grand green gestures”, yoga retreats, community-run hostels, switched-on hotels and activity centers throughout the island of Ireland, North and South of the border. The application also features how to get there without using a car.

Catherine wrote a book called Eco Escape: Ireland some years ago and wanted to update it. What she ended up with was not only an update on all the eco-friendly places and activities that are popping up all over the Ireland – but an update in technology with this cool new mobile app.

According to Catherine, she was a bit hesitant about creating an application instead of the tried and true guidebook. After launching the new application however, Catherine admits there are a myriad of benefits for both her and the end user. Her biggest surprise was how she could update the application with new tours and activities without having to re-write a new book or application. End users also have to capability to interact and connect through the application with Google Maps, YouTube videos, train timetables; links to walking trails, and eye catching photos.

The new iPhone app is moderately priced at $2.99 and can be found in the iTunes store. You can also search for the application directly on your iPhone under “Ireland Green Travel”.

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My apologies to my regular readers of this blog today. I need to head off into the realm of computer geek to help out fellow iPhone users who’ve upgraded either their phone or their computer in the last couple of weeks who ran a very annoying and troublesome syncing error.

The problem occurred for me more than a month ago, the morning we left for vacation, when I upgraded iTunes only to be greeted with an error after the upgrade that said:

“iTunes could not connect to this iPhone because an unknown error occurred (0xE8000065).”

So my search began for a fix.

It’s not that I haven’t run into syncing problems before – and a fix is usually a quick Google search away for the error code and a related solution found on the first page of results. I wasn’t so lucky this time – with a solution found in an area that very few were looking into.

The “blame game” began with the obvious (or most likely) players in the mix. That being iTunes or Windows 7. After getting a little more in depth the problem appeared to be narrowed down to 64 bit processors and more importantly the new P55 Intel chips that they run on. Patches and fixes were suggested but nothing appeared to work properly, and some solutions ended up causing even bigger problems or would actually slow systems down instead.

After researching the search results and the dates they were posted, the error has been extremely problematic for everyone involved dating back to late 2009. With so many having the same problem and posting their frustrations out on the world wide web for so long, any type of solution would be difficult to uncover at this point.

I even gave up for a time during the month due to some of the needless banter I was reading. I understand people get frustrated, but after the years of needless bashing I’ve seen the last couple of years from the travel industry and clueless anti-mlm folk, my tolerance levels are pretty much nonexistent these days. None of it contributes to a real solution people actually want or need.

But alas, iPhone’s are arguably the most popular smartphones on the market today. With so many phones out there a solution to this strange error would be found and resolved eventually.

Oddly enough, the problem was found in the P55 Express chipset’s USB controller. Newer PC’s with P55-equipped Core i5 / i7 chips and BIOS configuration couldn’t “talk” to the phone. Part of the solution came from those who bypassed the built in USB controller found on the chip for a more generic USB version. Other users were successful in solving the issue by deleting the iPodDevices.xml file from their iTunes folder, by disabling Bonjour or by turning on C-state capability in their BIOS.

While it worked for some, it wouldn’t for others. (Including myself.)

After pinpointing the culprit of the error (that being the Core i5 / i7 chips) I found an update from Dell that was released in the middle of the month. (July 13, 2010) Other motherboard manufactures who now install the Core i5 and i7 chips have also released BIOS updates to fix the problem. These manufactures include (and I have a link to for each download) Gigabyte, MSI and Asustek)

If you’re running a Dell machine like I am, I’d recommend downloading directly from Dell here.

Please note, there were two files associated with this chipset update from Dell, and I have no idea if both are required to fix the USB issue or not. I’m pleased however that the patch was extremely easy to install directly from the desktop, and there’s a noticeable difference in speed and processing time on the plus side.

Oh, and yes, it resolved my sync error with my iPhone once and for all. ;-P

With any luck, this post will find its way to the top of the search engines for other folks who have the same sync problem so they can resolve it in a matter of minutes instead of days like myself.

I’ve always joked about “Ain’t technology grand?” when things go awry. This problem was no joke however and far more problematic than any would have ever imagined.

Hope you find it quick and that it helps.

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Since purchased my iPhone last month, I’ve become a HUGE fan of podcasting. I’ve subscribed to a number of podcasts via iTunes that automatically download into my iPhone. I listen to these gems either on a daily basis or weekly basis depending on how often they’re updated. There are a number of reasons why I’ve fallen in love with this new format.

One, I only listen to programs of my choice, and have found several that feed me knowledge to continue to learn and grow, and motivates me to help in areas of personal growth and professional development.

Two, I can listen at times that are convenient for me. I don’t have to stop what I’m doing simply to listen to a show that I enjoy, these shows are ready at any time I am.

Three, multitasking. My schedule can get very busy and hectic at times, but there are times that I can easily listen to a podcast while doing something else, such as driving, doing the dishes after dinner, or working out in the yard. (Which got ramped back up again this past weekend.)

The vast majority of these programs come free of charge which is a bonus and like your favorite radio stations or television stations they have regular schedules when these shows are available for downloading. By subscribing to shows that interest you, iTunes goes out to cue up any new podcasts that are available to download into your iPhone or iPod when you hook it up to your computer. The player also knows if you’ve finished listening to shows, and will erase the programs you’ve finished with, replacing it with the new updated show. (If you hadn’t had a chance to listen, no problem, it saves it on your mobile device so there no need to worry about missing any shows.)

A couple of podcasts that I’ve fallen in love with are “The Daily Boost” with Scott Smith, who is a new C.M.O. (Chief Motivating Officer) Scott comes from the professional broadcasting arena, and his polished rhythm, positive energy, and words of wisdom and motivation make this a top show that always puts a smile on my face and creates a positive vibration that I carry with me throughout the day. Another show that I really like is Morning Coach with JB Glossinger. JB comes across as one of the “average guys”, but after listening to him for the last several weeks, he’s far from average. (Exceptional is more like it.) JB’s down to earth style and personal experience make him “one of he guys” who I can relate to and if he can overcome some of the same obstacles he’s overcome, so can I.

I also TiVo Joel Osteen, but find it easier to bring him with me during the week via my iPhone via his podcast of the show to get my week first thing Monday morning off to a good start. This past week, I actually found myself accessing his podcast a few times because the message was meaningful and I enjoyed his perspective. It was just the pick-me-up I needed to keep me focused on the task at hand instead of getting wrapped up in subjects designed to distract and derail me.

But the best news of the week was finding out you can now subscribe and download The Saturday Morning Leadership Show to either listen or watch right on your iPhone, iPod, or other MP3 player. I don’t know if you caught the word “watch” or not, but for those of us who have video capabilities like I do on the iPhone, the same streaming video we watch each Saturday morning is also available right on the phone. I’ve got to tell you, the video is about as pristine as I’ve ever seen on any device. It’s like a mini Hi-Def player and I’ve been showing it to a number of prospects and team members this week who have been blown away at the quality of this video. The one word I’ve heard most is “impressive”.

Once again, YTB has embraced the technology available and uses it to it’s advantage to help those of us out in the field. I have to give a huge shout out to James Tackett for this gem. He’s the one who put this Leadership Show format together, and with YTB’s blessing, and podcasting already available, now all of us have news, events, and motivation to bring with us throughout the week. 

Don’t have an iPhone or iPod? Not to worry, you can still download iTunes to you desktop to watch at home when it’s conveniant for you, or this could be just the ticket you need to go out and get yourself and iPhone or iPod. You could also register to win one, but you’ll have to actually learn something in return. Wyndham Hotel Group is holding a Webinar on Monday, April 6th, 2009 at 2:00PM EDT. Thier new travel agent Specialist Programs will enable you to earn a diploma and continuing educational units along with special offers and promotion at over 7,000 properties.

It really doesn’t matter how you access this show, simply that you access it to stay plugged in and up to date on what’s going on. It’s been one of the best tools I’ve used for years and I’ve been extremely impressed with how it’s evolved with the times and the technology to stay on the cutting edge.

That’s the YTB way.

PS - If you're involved with YTB, sign up for our FREE Newsletter. As a Website Owner or Website Seller, we'll keep you up to date with all the latest news, acquisitions, and developments with YTB.

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