MP3 Player Safety Tips: Listen Safely While Using Your Portable

 MP3 Player Safety Tips: Listen Safely While Using Your Portable

It might seem obvious that listening to your portable's digital music (via earbuds) while crossing a busy street is dangerous. However, there are also other situations you may not have considered which can be equally detrimental to your health -- such as eye strain, permanent damage to your hearing, or even electric shock! To see some of the major safety angles you should keep in mind while enjoying your digital music library on your portable, read this article for more information.

Safety Tips When Using Earbuds / Headphones

As mentioned above, crossing the street without being able to hear dangers around you (like approaching traffic) is obviously dangerous. However, there are also a lot of other potentially hazardous situations you should avoid too. Music can be quite a distraction (especially if it is loud) and so you should avoid listening to it when concentration is important. Examples include: operating any type of machinery, cycling, jogging, and other activities in a public place where hearing is a crucial sense.

Listening in the Car

it may seem safe to listen in your car using earbuds or headphones, but you will significantly increase the chances of an accident if you do. As well as using your eyes, you need to listen out for dangers while driving too. Examples of when your hearing becomes a crucial sense in order to drive cautiously or take immediate action include: sirens used by emergency services, car horns warning you of traffic dangers, and other street noises (like kids playing) -- all these events give you audio feedback on your surroundings.

If you want to listen to your digital music library in the car, then there are various car stereo accessories for the iPod, iPhone, MP3 Player, etc. Many cars these days have facilities to integrate MP3 players into their stereo systems by using wireless methods (like Bluetooth) or by physical connections (FM transmitters, USB ports for flash drives, etc). Additionally, if your car has controls on its steering wheel such as skip track, volume up/down, etc., then try to use this method rather than using one hand to drive while operating your portable player.

Protect Your Hearing

Prolonged exposure to loud music can permanently damage your hearing. According to research, the recommended maximum loudness level you should never go over is 85 dB. Children (particularly teens) are at the most risk of damaging their hearing by listening to loud music via earbuds / headphones. However, there are safeguards you can employ to prevent hearing loss. Volume-limiting headphones for instance restrict how loud the volume can go regardless of how much volume an MP3 player outputs. This is a great solution if you are worried about your kids hearing and want to protect their ears at all times.

Some portables have the facility to limit sound output. Even if your's doesn't, keep in mind that you should still be able to hear outside noises while listening to music -- if you can't, then turn it down a little. There are also apps available to download for various mobile operating systems (iOS, Android, etc.) that can be used to set volume limits on your device.

Limiting eye strain

Many MP3 players / media playing devices come with screens these days. If you need to use your portable's screen for an extended period of time (like watching music videos or using music apps), then consider turning the brightness down on your screen and taking regular breaks to rest your eyes.

Avoid electric shock

It may sound impossible but you can get an electric shock if you don't use your portable correctly and in an appropriate place. It's important to keep your portable away from sources of moisture that can cause an electric shock. This includes: heavy rain, drinks, showers, bath tubs, sinks, etc. It's also important to use your portable in a safe way and not to expose its internals or damage the battery which can cause a short-circuit, fire, etc.

How To Reset/Restart a frozen iPod Mini

 How To Reset/Restart a frozen iPod Mini

Nobody likes it when their iPod mini freezes up and stops responding to clicks. When computers freeze up, you know how that to fix that problem — restart them. But since iPods don’t exactly have on/off switches, how do you restart them?
Luckily, resetting a frozen iPod mini is pretty easy. Here’s how you do it (this works for the both the first- and second-generation iPod mini).

Difficulty: Easy

Time Required: Less than 1 Minute

Here's How:

1. NOTE: First make sure that your iPod’s hold button isn’t on. This is the little switch at the top left corner of the iPod mini that you can move to “lock” the iPod’s buttons. If this is on, you’ll see a little orange area at the top of the iPod mini and a lock icon on the iPod’s screen. If you see either of these, move the switch back and see if this fixes the problem.
   If the hold switch wasn’t the problem do the following:
2. Move the hold switch to the on position and then move it back to off.
3. Hold down the Menu button on the clickwheel and the center button at the same time. Hold these together for 6-10 seconds. This should restart the iPod mini. You’ll know the iPod is restarting when the screen changes and the Apple logo appears.
4. If this doesn’t work at first, you should repeat the steps.
5. If this doesn’t work, you should try plugging your iPod into a power source and let it charge. Then repeat the steps.
6. If this doesn’t work, you may have a bigger problem, and ought to get more help.

How to Reset iPod Classic

 How to Reset iPod Classic

If your iPod Classic isn't responding to clicks, it's probably frozen up. Just like when your computer freezes up, to fix your iPod you'll need to restart it. Resetting a frozen iPod Classic is pretty easy; here's how:

1. Slide the Hold switch, the switch at the top left of the iPod, to "on" (so it's showing the orange). Then slide it back to hide the orange.
2. Hold down the Menu and center buttons at the same time.
3. Hold them for 6-8 seconds, or until the Apple logo shows up on the screen.
4. Let go of the buttons at this point. The Classic is restarting.
5. You may need to hold down the buttons again if the iPod still isn't unfrozen.

What Bitrate Should I Use?

What Bitrate Should I Use?

Again, it depends. But if u want my suggestion, read my recommendations below:

128kbps (Constant Bit Rate - Joint Stereo) - This setting is good for folks who:

• can't notice the diff between cassette and cd quality music!
• have a 'very' old sound card
• unpowered speakers

** If u plan to upgrade ur PC's multimedia capabilities soon or plan on converting their mp3's to audio-cd format, then by all means consider higher bit rates instead!


32min-192max kbps <or 256max> (VBR - Joint Stereo)- Good balance between filesize and sound quality.

• For folks with powered/amplified speakers.
• New or not-so-new sound card owners.

32min-320max kbps (VBR - Joint Stereo) - Recommended for folks who wants quality and doesn't care about the filesize. Filesize is most of the time going to be less than 10mb ... so it's really not "that" big.
-If u convert ur mp3's to cda's and play it on HI-FI stereo's, this setting is definitely for u!
-For PC's with new sound cards and good quality speakers.

How to Reset iPod nano: Fix a Frozen iPod nano

 How to Reset iPod nano: Fix a Frozen iPod nano

There can be many reasons why your iPod nano may become unusable. For example, you could be listening to your songs or syncing with iTunes when it suddenly decides to crash! If your iPod appears to be frozen, then it may just need a reset (for syncing problems, read our iPod Sync Troubleshooting Guide).
The firmware inside your iPod (responsible for its operation) can at times trip up -- making the unit either freeze while it's on, or not power up. It is therefore worth trying to reboot your iPod nano before taking it to someone for an unnecessary repair -- they may even charge you for this simple task!

Difficulty: Easy

Time Required: 1 Minute maximum

Here's How:

1. The Hold Switch: The first stage in resetting your iPod nano is to slide the Hold Switch to the Hold position and then back to the Off position again.
2. Menu and Select Buttons: The next stage involves pressing the Menu and Select buttons down for approximately 10 seconds until you see the Apple logo displayed on the screen. If this doesn't work first time, then try again.
   
3. If the above steps don't work, then it could be that your iPod nano requires power to reset. Use a power adapter or your computer's power and follow steps 1 - 2 again.

What You Need

• iPod nano (1st / 2nd / 3rd / 4th / 5th generation)
• Power source (if steps 1 - 2 don't work)

Downloading MP3's made easy

The MP3 movement started out with a huge audience of music enthusiasts on the internet. The MP3 digital music format has had, and will continue to have, a huge impart on how people, gather, listen to and share music.

The MP3 format is a compression system for digital music that helps reduce the size of a digitized song without disturbing the sound quality. Digital music is converted to MP3 format and made available for use, usually via the web. MP3 files can be downloaded onto your computer from the internet and special software, either commercial or freeware. Using your computer and software you can convert digital music from a CD into MP3 format.

MP3 files can be played in three different ways:
1. They can be played directly onto your computer.
2. They can be decompressed and recorded onto a CD.
3. These files can be played on a portable MP3 player.

The advantage of MP3 players is that they are small, lightweight and rugged. They are a great way to carry your MP3 files with you!
With a portable MP3 player, a personal computer, and the appropriate software, you can do the following:
1. Obtain free or low-cost music from the web.
2. Create your own mix of music by downloading MP3 files from the web and converting the tracks from CDs.
3. Listen to near-CD quality music wherever you go.
4. Listen to more music (up to 10 hours' worth).
If you want to convert your songs from your CDs into MP3 files, you can use ripper and encoder software. A ripper copies a song's file from the CD onto your hard disk. The encoder compresses the song into the MP3 format. By encoding songs, you can play them on your computer or take them with you on your MP3 player. The ripper and encoder software may come with your MP3 player.
The specific instructions will vary with the individual software programs, but the following steps will definitely take place:
1. Place the CD from which you want to convert songs into your drive.
2. Select the track(s) that you want to convert to MP3 format.
3. Convert the selected track(s).
4. Copy the new MP3 files on to your computer's hard disk.
Now you are ready to download these MP3 files into your portable MP3 player.
Once you have MP3 files on your computer, you can use the software that came with your MP3 player to download the files into your MP3 player. Again, the specific instructions will vary depending upon your software program and player, but you will:

1. Create a playlist from your MP3 files.
2. Plug the player into your computer's parallel of USB port.
3. Transfer the MP3 files according to the instructions.
Once you have downloaded the MP3 files into your portable MP3 player, you are ready to take your music anywhere. Most MP3 players are small, lightweight, and solid-state. Because most players are solid-state, there are no moving parts to break down or skip, so the sound quality is uninterrupted regardless of your physical activity. MP3 players are equipped with various types of headphones or earpieces.

Portable MP3 players can play music longer than a portable CD player. The length of play for a CD player is about 74 minutes, the length of one CD. However, the length of play for an MP3 player depends upon its memory capacity, which can be upgraded on some models. A standard MP3 player can play for about half an hour (32 MB) to a few weeks (40 GB)! Some models can be upgraded with additional memory devices.

Are Free File Download Services Really Safe

On Monday June 27, 2005 the Supreme Court ruled that Grokster and Streamsoft, two free file download services, were operating illegally because they were allegedly encouraging illegal downloads of copyrighted material.

Encouraging it...that was what the Supreme Court said. These were free services that were encouraging illegal activity.

Would this have happened if they had had paying customers? In other words, would a paid file download service be better than a free download service?

I think so, and here's my reasoning why...

If you consider that every dollar paid is like a vote, then it becomes clear the paid file downloading services are much more accountable than free file downloading services.

If you follow my metaphor so far, then you may see how a paid file download service is like an elected official, and a free file download service is like a dictator.

Here's how they differ:

1. If an elected official doesn't get enough votes, the elected official doesn't get re-elected and is "out of there".

2. A dictator doesn't care about votes. A dictator does whatever they want. And, if you get hurt by what they do....
well, it's YOUR problem.

Basically, it's all about accountability.

A legitimate business has to make money to survive. If a business hurts people, customers will stop buying from that business and go elsewhere. And, if people stop buying from that business, then that business is "out of there" (just like the elected official which loses votes).

But a free file sharing service can "do what it wants", just like a dictator, and if they even go to the level of encouraging you to do things that are illegal, even lying to you by telling you that it's perfectly legal... well it's no skin off their nose. It's your problem!

Or so they thought...up to now.

For the first time, the Supreme Court has made these shady liars legally responsible for their bad behavior.

They got away with it in the past by "advising" people to do things that were potentially illegal. They rationalized it by saying "Hey, we aren't the ones actually doing it, so we shouldn't be held responsible."

But the Supreme Court has finally cleared this up. They are responsible, and can now be sued for their actions. Even if they did it for "FREE".

"FREE"... that was the draw that got so many innocent kids downloading songs, videos, movies, games, etc. illegally without knowing it. The "FREE" file downloading services were just exploiting these kids' ignorance.

Paid download services can't afford this kind of behavior. They look at this as a business. If they start getting their customers in trouble, word gets around pretty fast on the internet, and their business will become toast!

Think of this like NetFlix, who doesn't sell download services, but sends out CDs and DVDs through the mail. What would happen to them if they "encouraged" purchasing illegally copied movies or music from them? Yeah you got it... toast!

But the "FREE" file sharing services that are encouraging kids to do this thought they could get away with this indefinitely because "they weren't making any money off of it, and after all, they weren't the actual people doing the downloading."

Nice legal trickery... good thing it won't work anymore!

So... the question still begging to be asked is:

"Are paid file download services better than free file download services?"

I'll let you take it from here... ;^)