Stream Pandora Radio in Your Car

One of the best new iphone apps is the free Pandora radio application. Pandora radio allows you to build custom radio stations based on your favorite artists and tweak your radio stations as you listen. Its a great free web-app for laptop music, but with an iphone you can take Pandora with you anywhere. 

My car has a simple line-in audio auxillary jack that I can plug my iphone into. The Pandora iphone app is designed to stream over Wifi, 3G or Edge, and audio quality is adjusted based on the quality of your data connection. I tested Pandora both in the city with a good 3G connection and also on a road trip where only Edge was available. 

3G streaming had great quality and zero interruptions during my test. I found it to be a perfectly functioning music option for city driving. Think of it as a free alternative to satellite radio. 

With Edge, I found the quality to be noticeable lower, however, it was still adequate. During my 2 hour drive through the country, the phone stopped for bufferring about 3 or 4 times. Most of the skips came early on when I first started the app. Once it got going, I had at least an hour of uniterrupted music. 

I found Pandora to be a nice option for road trips when you grow tired of your own collection or just want to hear some new music. I could do without the skips, but overall it was not enough of an annoyance to prevent me from using the app on the road when I am restricted to an Edge connection. 

The iPhone is Perfect for a Whole House Music System

When the iPhone released its new "app store" in the summer of 2008, there was a lot of excitement over the possibile apps that would be designed in order to give the phone new capabilities. Six months later, one thing is becoming increasingly clear........the iPhone is the perfect controller for a whole-house home music system. 

Here's why:

One of the first apps released for the iPhone was the Apple Remote. This free app gives iPhone users the ability to control iTunes remotely over a wifi network. You can also control and Apple TV and extend Itunes through the use of Apple's Airport Express router. The Apple Remote interface resembles the iPod interface. Just connect to your Itunes library over wifi and you will see all of your songs and playlists neatly organized on your iPhone. Are there limitations? Yes. You can play the same music in multiple rooms, but you can't play different music in different rooms. However, its still a very cool system and gives you the ability to access your entire music selection from your iPhone. 

Sonos recently released a free iPhone app that gives you the ability to control an entire Sonos whole-house music system. I previewed the system on their website and it looks very well done. The main advantage is that you can forgo buying a $400 Sonos controller, making it much cheaper to set-up a basic Sonos music system. Plus Sonos gives you the ability to play the same or different music in different rooms of the house, and gives you access to Pandora, Rhapsody, Sirius, and internet radio stations. 

Here's another great app for those of you that own the Roku Soundbridge. Roku Remote allows you to remotely control 1 or more Soundbridge systems using and iPhone interface that resembles the organizational structure on your Soundbridge. I find it to be a more friendly way to browse and play my music that using the Soundbridge itself. Plus, it adds album art and lyrics to your iPhone when you select a track to play. All in all, a great app. 

These are 3 great options to stream music through your house. And I'm sure there may be many more to come. If you have an iPhone, take advantage of these capabilities to get the most out of your music collection. 

Apple iPhone 3g

This is my first post in blogger using the apple iphone 3g. I'm using the blogger interface directly at blogger.com in edit HTML mode and it's working nicely. I'm able to use the keyboard in landscape mode which gives you a little more space on the onscreen keyboard. I'm still a little slow on the keyboard but I am attempting to type using two thumbs. I'll have a full review posted soon.

Panasonic's New Plasma Line

Panasonic's 2008 line of plasma TV's looks to be a good one. If you are a budget-minded consumer, you may want to look at the TH-PX80U series, which comes in sizes of 42" and 50". The 50" model lists at $1,699 but can be found online for as low as $1,239.

It got a nice review on Cnet and features an improved anti-reflective screen and SD-card input slot that is compatible with the gallery player adapter.

Other features include:

• "720p" native resolution (42-inch: 1,24x768; 50-inch 1,366x768)
• 15,000:1 native contrast ratio
• Three HDMI inputs
• Game mode

Home Theater Paint

I recently finished painting my home theater and while doing research I found a useful article on painting a home theater that I used as a guide. Formerly, my walls were painted a light beige color that reflected too much light. I decided to replace that paint with a Streudel color from Ralph Lauren. Its a chocolate brown that looks quite dark with the lights out. Although a flat paint is ideal, I decided to go with a Satin for some additional protection. I wanted a paint that would absorb more light without looking to dark. I have a front-projector and the previous paint would "light-up" during bright scenes.

Here's a list of do's and don'ts from Dennis on Home Theater Paint:

• Choose a high-quality paint
• Do not use a gloss or semi-gloss - stick with flat (best) or satin.
  
• Avoid blues and reds, as they will give off a colored glow during bright scenes.
  
• Stick with neutrals and browns.
  
• Test samples of wallpaper with your projector on before purchasing to make sure that it doesn't reflect too much light.
  

Another thing to consider, if you were projecting on a blank wall, a dark paint color will certainly require you to purchase a separate screen.

How to Sync Google Calendar with Outlook

Here's a cool feature for those of you who use Gmail and Google Calendar. Google has an application available for free that allows 2-way syncing between your Outlook Calendar and your Google Calendar. I use Outlook Calendar, so syncing with Google Calendar gives me an easy way to check and update my Outlook Calendar from any computer.

Its easy to install, simply install the app from google, enter your gmail username and password, and select 2-way or 1-way syncing. 2-way syncing updates events on both calendars to match each other. 1-way syncing updates either your Google or Outlook calendar exclusively. You can also select how often you want the sync to occur. The default is 120 minutes.

That's it. You should notice your google calendar updating immediately with your outlook events. I tested putting a new event in the google calendar to see how it would work. The same event popped up in Outlook seconds later. Pretty nice. I plan on using this feature with the new iPhone so that I always have access to my up-to-date Calendar.

Windows Vista Keyboard Shortcuts

If don't use Windows shortcuts, you may want to spend a few minutes learning a few. They can really save you some time on some common Windows tasks. One common shortcut that I use often is copy and paste. To copy, press 'control' + 'c'. To paste, press 'control' + 'v'. After you start using them regularly, you'll not want to go back to mouse-clicking your way through every task.

Here are some other Vista shortcuts you may find useful.

F1	Display Help
CTRL+C	Copy the selected item
CTRL+X	Cut the selected item
CTRL+V	Paste the selected item
CTRL+Z	Undo an action
CTRL+Y	Redo an action
DELETE	Delete the selected item and move it to the Recycle Bin
SHIFT+DELETE	Delete the selected item without moving it to the Recycle Bin first
F2	Rename the selected item
CTRL+RIGHT ARROW	Move the cursor to the beginning of the next word
CTRL+LEFT ARROW	Move the cursor to the beginning of the previous word
CTRL+DOWN ARROW	Move the cursor to the beginning of the next paragraph
CTRL+UP ARROW	Move the cursor to the beginning of the previous paragraph
CTRL+SHIFT with an arrow key	Select a block of text
SHIFT with any arrow key	Select more than one item in a window or on the desktop, or select text within a document
CTRL with any arrow key+SPACEBAR	Select multiple individual items in a window or on the desktop
CTRL+A	Select all items in a document or window
F3	Search for a file or folder
ALT+ENTER	Display properties for the selected item
ALT+F4	Close the active item, or exit the active program
ALT+SPACEBAR	Open the shortcut menu for the active window
CTRL+F4	Close the active document (in programs that allow you to have multiple documents open simultaneously)
ALT+TAB	Switch between open items
CTRL+ALT+TAB	Use the arrow keys to switch between open items
CTRL+Mouse scroll wheel	Change the size of icons on the desktop
Windows logo key +TAB	Cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Windows Flip 3-D
CTRL+Windows logo key +TAB	Use the arrow keys to cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Windows Flip 3-D
ALT+ESC	Cycle through items in the order in which they were opened
F6	Cycle through screen elements in a window or on the desktop
F4	Display the Address bar list in Windows Explorer
SHIFT+F10	Display the shortcut menu for the selected item
CTRL+ESC	Open the Start menu
ALT+underlined letter	Display the corresponding menu
ALT+underlined letter	Perform the menu command (or other underlined command)
F10	Activate the menu bar in the active program
RIGHT ARROW	Open the next menu to the right, or open a submenu
LEFT ARROW	Open the next menu to the left, or close a submenu
F5	Refresh the active window
ALT+UP ARROW	View the folder one level up in Windows Explorer
ESC	Cancel the current task
CTRL+SHIFT+ESC	Open Task Manager
SHIFT when you insert a CD	Prevent the CD from automatically playing

Windows logo key +PAUSE	Display the System Properties dialog box
Windows logo key +D	Display the desktop
Windows logo key +M	Minimize all windows
Windows logo key +SHIFT+M	Restore minimized windows to the desktop
Windows logo key +E	Open Computer
Windows logo key +F	Search for a file or folder
CTRL+Windows logo key +F	Search for computers (if you are on a network)
Windows logo key +L	Lock your computer or switch users
Windows logo key +R	Open the Run dialog box
Windows logo key +T	Cycle through programs on the taskbar
Windows logo key +TAB	Cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Windows Flip 3-D
CTRL+Windows logo key +TAB	Use the arrow keys to cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Windows Flip 3-D
Windows logo key +SPACEBAR	Bring all gadgets to the front and select Windows Sidebar
Windows logo key +G	Cycle through Sidebar gadgets
Windows logo key +U	Open Ease of Access Center
Windows logo key +X	Open Windows Mobility Center
Windows logo key with any number key	Open the Quick Launch shortcut that is in the position that corresponds to the number. For example, Windows logo key +1 to launch the first shortcut in the Quick Launch menu.