I just got home with my new toy, a 120GB iPod classic. It’s the first iPod I’ve owned so this is something of a new experience.

I plugged it into my laptop (an eeePC, running Hardy Heron) and RhythmBox started up automatically. It looked good as the new device appeared in the side-panel and there seemed to be a synchronisation check.

When it came to pushing the music library from laptop down onto the iPod, things got a little tricky. First I tried to drag and drop the ‘All Artists’ listing from the music library to the iPod item. This caused RhythmBox to shutdown; there was no error dialog to point out what was going on.

I started googling and discovered that one of the first things that happens when you plug an iPod into a Mac/Windows PC with iTunes is that it’ll format and create a basic directory structure for the music. I’d assume this is somewhere below (or hidden) from the standard top-level folders which were already present: Calendars, Contacts, iPod_Control, Notes, Photos, Recordings.

There were a few old forum threads where people had difficulty using RhythmBox to sync their iPods. The best suggestion I could see was to use gtkPod.

So, the simplest thing that can possibly work (but no simpler):

• Eject the iPod and physically disconnect;
• Install gtkPod using Synaptic;
• Re-connect the iPod and it should auto-mount;
• Close RhythmBox if it’s already open or it opens automatically;
• Open up gtkPod. It will more than likely detect the iPod and ask you to confirm the mount location. It then launches the wizard to create the necessary default folder structure. Alternatively, use the File > `Create iPod’s directories` menu item.
• Choose the model and it should make the updates. Then just use the toolbar icon to Save the changes to the iPod. Once this is set, you can close gtkPod.
• Open up RhythmBox and you should be able to drag the ‘All Artists’ listing that contains all your music onto the IPOD device in the side-bar.

And from there you should be laughing. I’ve even found that the Last.fm plug-in will scrobble the tracks played on the iPod since the last time it was connected. Very neat.

One other thing. My iPod model wasn’t on the list available in gtkPod. It’s one of the newer 120GB classics. I just gave the 160GB Silver option a crack and it worked fine. I guess your mileage may vary though.

I’m lying around listening to a couple CDs I bought yesterday (Pixies and She Wants Revenge). I just had a flashback to new year’s day when I stumbled into a second hand record store and found The Answer To Both Your Questions by Something For Kate.

I usually check the SFK spot in a vein attempt to find Intermission which is rare.

I couldn’t remember whether the tracks are on Q&A With Dean Martin, which I own. I didn’t make the purchase. It turns out the vague memory was correct – Q&A includes The Answer… and the tracks released with their first single Dean Martin.

While googling and ended up on a tangent when I noticed the Prickly re-mix (of Prick) was by Eli Janney. He played bass/keyboards for Girls Against Boys. Cool band in mind, mainly for the track ‘Kill the Sex Player’ from the Kevin Smith film Clerks.

Kill that noise,
Kill the noise.
Make it alright,
Kill the drummer.
Kill the bass player,
Kill both bass players.
This song is so hip right now,
I’m going deaf, I wanna kill the singer.

Anyway, I think I’m going to buy The Answer to Both Your Questions.

I couldn’t sleep when I saw this in my Last.fm rss feed.

I’ve been hooked ever since I gave Antics a serious listen on a mates iPod while deep in powder country. I went straight out and bought it from Tower Records in Shibuya a few days later.

While speaking of getting hooked, I’m severly engrossed in The Mess Hall’s Devils Elbow. It’s strong and punchy up load but smooth enough for background music.

And finally I’ve just stumbled upon evidence that She Wants Revenge put out a second album, This is Forever, late last year. I’ll have to get hold of this and then get amongst the Hottest 100 voting.

I’m not a huge fan of the iPod, mainly cause there’s no FM reciever. Having said that, the new nano’s are quite visually appealing. iPod Linux looks pretty juicy and could provide the motivation to make a purchase.

Tuesday the 18th @ The Tivoli.

There’s plenty of buzz around for the new music service, Pandora.

Basically it’s your own custom web-radio station. You start by seeding it with a band or track you like, then it automatically chooses the subsequent tunes that play from bands that offer a similar style. During each track you have the opportunity to give the thumbs up or down and move on. Or you can just let it play right through.

My tastes vary from quite punky stuff to more mild pop-rock so it’s useful that I can setup multiple ’stations’ that play to my differing moods.

I tried to start with a couple of Aussie bands (Something for Kate and Powderfinger) and it didn’t recognise them. No doubt as the user base expands the service will grow to include more worldly music selection.

I definitely agree with Scoble’s post suggesting a rich client front end would be good. At times the “everything has to be a Web app” argument annoys me too.

The votes were counted and today the lineup was released. The hardest part will be deciding when to catch some sleep.

A few of my tips have made it in, checkout the list on the Impossible Festival page.