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In lieu of Cool Music Tuesday, I thought bringing everyone a cool music gadget might just get us through this Tuesday (that and I just have way too much going on this week to do a bunch of music bios). Usually I’m pretty on top of things when it comes to Apple releasing new products, but somehow this one snuck up on me. Apparently Apple released sometime in the last week a new iPod…the iPod Touch.

The Zune Just Wet Itself

I’m pretty sure the folks over at Microsoft were just thrilled (sarcasm) when they heard about Apple’s latest brain child. Wi-Fi music sharing? How about fully functional wireless internet browsing, streaming video, and the ability to download music right from your MP3 player. All of the above without ever connecting to a PC? Not to mention, this latest iPod comes with the breakthrough touch technology that’s featured on the iPhone. In fact the iPod Touch seems to be nothing more than an iPhone without the GPRS antennae. I think it’s safe to say that the Zune can now, officially, be declared defeated. iPod Touch goes above and beyond anything we as consumers have seen before. Apple has set the standard again.

The Nano Goes Square

Not only did Apple unveil a great iPod touch and give some polishing accents to the iPod Classic, the Nano got some well-deserved attention as well. Instead of the familiar stick-of-gum we’re used to seeing, the Nano just got square. Why square? Well to fit the new widescreen for viewing movies. That’s right, you can now watch video on your iPod Nano! And the price didn’t change either…Bonus!

If you want to check out the rest of the lineup, head on over to www.apple.com/itunes to see the whole iPod family lineup.

In what appears to be the largest mass-prize giveaway in blogging history, David Airey is celebrating his blog’s one year anniversary by giving away over $4000 in goods and services. David is a great logo designer and blogger, but how he managed to get all these services and bloggers involved seems a small miracle in the making to me. You can check out how to enter for yourself Here. Now, take a look at this list of prizes!

• Professional logo from David Airey. Add a touch of professionalism to your business with one of my logo designs.
• Custom WordPress theme design from Nate Whitehill of Nate Whitehill dot Com. It’s vital to set yourself apart from the crowd, and Nate will help a great deal with your very own custom WordPress theme. By the way, Nate Whitehill is the one who recently redesigned both John Chow and Shoemoney’s blogs.
• Personal marketing / advertising plan from Maki of Dosh Dosh. Maki is an expert where blog advertising is concerned, and he is kindly donating his time to help you make the most of your new custom blog.
• One year’s hosting and blog setup from John Boardley of I Love Typography. John has kindly donated his time and will do everything you need to get your new custom blog hosted on one of Media Temple’s dedicated servers.
• Signed copy of Blogging Tips by Lorelle VanFossen of Lorelle on WordPress. David bought this book himself, and it contains excellent blogging tips for beginners to pros.
• A second logo design from Tara Roskell of Graphic Design Blog. You only need to visit Graphic Design Blog to realise that Tara really knows a lot about great design.
• Website critique from Randa Clay of Randa Clay Design. If you want some expert advice on how to improve your website design, you won’t be disappointed by this offering.
• One hour SEO consultation with Lyndon Antcliff of Cornwall SEO. Lyndon will conduct a Skype consultation with the winner of this prize, and he comes highly recommended for search engine optimisation and linkbaiting.
• $60 of books from Amazon courtesy of Darren Rowse of ProBlogger. Is there a book you’ve been meaning to buy on Amazon? How about getting it free? A great donation from a professional blogger.
• Logo / blog header design from Jonathan-C. Phillips of Smart Wealthy Rich. Jonathan has donated his expert skills to help your blog stand out from the crowd.
• One hour blog optimization consultation with Daniel Scocco of Daily Blog Tips. This consultation will cover design, SEO, monetization and blogging strategy, from the author of one of blogging’s most useful resources.
• Revolution Premium WordPress theme package (personal package) from Brian Gardner, WordPress designer and consultant. Brian’s WordPress skills are second to none.
• Blog review and email interview published on Make It Great! with Phil Gerbyshak. The man to ‘make it great’ will critique your blog and feature you on his very own PR5 blog.
• Behringer Podcastudio USB Podcasting Kit, kindly donated by Fraser’s Affiliate Marketing Blog. Looking for a new way to express yourself? Ever wanted to be a famous producer? Then podcasting is the answer and the BEHRINGER PODCASTUDIO USB bundle has all you need to make high-quality podcasts and home recordings.
• $25 via PayPal courtesy of Gayla McCord of Mom Gadget. Free money! Who doesn’t want free money? Very kind of you Gayla.
• 2GB USB storage key x 3 courtesy of Jamie Clague at Terinea Weblog. Three USB sticks will make up three separate prizes, with free worldwide postage. Jamie, Edinburgh Computer Services, has also kindly donated his valuable time to helping with the prize draw administration.
• Full blog review with deep links and images published on Blog-Op with Chris Lodge. Chris knows how to piece together an excellent blog review, giving you an added insight into the impression your website is giving.
• Blog review from Aaron Russell of miLienzo. Aaron has been coding WordPress themes for a while now and certainly knows his stuff where blog design is concerned.
• Expert WordPress blog help from Lakshmi Mareddy of Chilligavva. Have you ever had any ideas for your blog that you haven’t been able to incorporate? Lakshmi has kindly agreed to offer her WordPress skills, helping you out with either code or graphics.
• Blog review from Hock Ng of Marketing Tools Review. Hock will focus his review on your blog content, design, SEO and usability.
• Blog makeover from Charles Jordan of The Queer Chef. Charles is proficient with design for the Blogger platform, and can also design WordPress. He’ll tantalise your taste buds with one of his blog makeovers.
• Blog writing consultation with Ben Yoskovitz of Instigator Blog. Ben has offered his expertise to review 3–5 of your articles, providing tips and giving suggestions on writing, plus a quick guide to social media and how you can benefit from it.
• Two 45 minute coaching consultations with Mark McGuinness of Wishful Thinking. Mark specialises in coaching creative professionals, and is a real expert in his field. The first session will involve goal setting, with the second session reporting on progress and making adjustments.
• 4 hour business growth consultation with Rebecca Caroe, via telephone / Skype, or face-to-face in London / Cambridge. Rebecca is a business growth consultant for creative agencies, so if you’re looking to expand your company then this is the prize for you. If you want Rebecca to visit your offices simply pay her travel expenses.
• Tele-Coaching with Tammy Lenski. A one-hour, private telephone consult with professional mediator and conflict coach Tammy Lenski. Figure out how to deal with a challenging client, strengthen your contract negotiations, or confront difficult conversations with more confidence and success. Free call within the U.S., via Skype outside the U.S.
• One hour product launch consultation with Design Translator (DT) of Design Sojourn. Whether you’re launching a line of t-shirts, custom furniture, electronics, or any other product, DT will lend you his product launch expertise.
• Blog improvement or monetization advice with Easton Ellsworth of Business Blogwire. You choose, do you want to generally improve your blog or do you want help making money from it? Easton has kindly offered his help.
• Two premium quality books designed and produced by David Hyde of david the designer. John Hinchcliffe, internationally acclaimed designer-maker, is the subject of the richly illustrated first of two quality books. Crafts in the 20th Century is the second book kindly donated by David.
• Copy of Brand Aid by Brad VanAuken of The Blake Project. Brand Aid is a practical how-to guide on building winning brands. Derrick Daye was kind enough to offer this great prize.
• Watercolour print from Ed Roach Watercolours. Ed has quite a talent, and will graciously ship your favourite print from his watercolour studio.
• 728px by 90px banner ad for 30 days above the fold on The Blog Experiment, courtesy of Sara. This is quite a new forum for bloggers, but already there are approximately 5,000 posts! You must supply your own artwork.
• 125px by 125px image ad for 30 days on Smart Wealthy Rich. An excellent donation from top blogger, Jonathan.
• Ad icon located site-wide in the top left of Blog-Op, courtesy of Chris Lodge. Another kind gift from a fellow blogger in Scotland.
• 30 day text link ad shown site-wide on Contest Blogger. This is a great way to advertise your very own blog contest. Blogging is about giving something back, so get your contest featured.
• 125px by 125px image ad for 30 days on Freelance Folder. Another superb offering from Jonathan a.k.a Smart Wealthy Rich
• Lifetime membership to the paid membership site that Andy Beard, WordPress SEO and Niche Marketer, will launch on Andybeard.eu (eta and value yet to be determined). If the prize winner already qualifies for membership (some people will), then Andy will kindly come up with an alternative prize.

Do you ever get frustrated with how tied to your computer you are? Unless you tote your laptop around with you EVERYWHERE, more than likely you’re constantly in a state of wishing you had something from your home computer with you. Well, I think I’ve got just the solution for you. It’s called PortableApps. No this isn’t a paid post, nor is it sponsored in any way. I just tried this last week and really like it, so I’m spreading the word.

What is PortableApps? It’s a set of open-source software that installed onto a flash drive. Some you may have heard of, like Firefox, some you may not have, like Nvu or GIMP. All of these free softwares perform like software you’re already familiar with: Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Notepad, Outlook, and many more. All these apps run right from the flash drive, no need to install them on a computer. The best part of all, you can store all your personal information on the flash drive without leaving any behind on the host computer. That’s right, all your bookmarks, settings, and files are saved on the flash drive as well. All you do is plug in and have access to all your files and programs without leaving a thing behind on the host computer.

I did this last week just to try it out. I went to Wal-Mart and got a 2GB flash drive for $15. The whole PortableApps folder takes up about 325MB of space, so I have over 1.5GB of space left on the drive for files and settings to be saved. This is nice because I can carry this little drive around anywhere, it’s only about an inch long, and I have everything I need anywhere I go. The only downside, the PortableApps suite only works on Windows. Even so, I’d encourage you all to go out and give this a try.

Colleges and Universities across the country have started or will be starting this week. Many of you have already experienced the dreaded lecture hall. Lecture hall classes are usually a good culture shock for incoming freshman, as most have never had to deal with this in a high school setting. So what do you do when faced with these lecture halls? Here’s a few tips that I use to help me get by.

1. Read the chapter before the lecture. Reading the material before you have the lecture should make sense. It allows you to get a basic understanding of what’s going to be covered and formulate any questions you’re going to have so you can get answers during the lecture. If your questions don’t get answered during the lecture, be sure and ask them. Every professor I’ve had encourages questions and discussion during the lecture time, don’t be afraid to ask.
2. Outline the material. I like to do this in stages. While reading the material before the lecture I read it one section or topic at a time. After I’ve read that topic, I go back and outline the key points, then move onto the next section. If I have questions, I write them down so that I can ask them during lecture.
3. Type your outline. After you’ve had your lecture and have all your questions answered, you should have a pretty good outline or set of notes. I wait until the end of the week to type up all my outlines and notes. That way it gives me a little refresher of what I’ve learned that week.
4. Start studying for tests BEFORE the day of the test. Cramming doesn’t work. Just face it. You need to be in a constant state of study to be successful at test time. You’ll be surprised at how much information you retain when you simply glance at all your outlines once a week, and you’ll remember it longer. A week or two before an exam go back over the outlines a little more in depth, focus on what you know will be on the test. You need to do this in three to five separate sessions to be effective.
5. Keep your notes. Your classes are meant to give you knowledge you’ll use for the rest of your life, and other classes. So keep your notes and study aides, you’ll almost definitely use them later on down the road.

Yeah, I know this sounds like a lot of work. Hey, I just spent the last 2 1/2 hours outlining my one chapter for biology. College isn’t supposed to be easy, but if you’re going to be paying for it, you might as well succeed!