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How To

Five ways to put your music in the cloud

A few weeks ago, I predicted that, along with the iPad, Apple would also debut a version of iTunes that would upload your music collection to the Web and let you stream it back down to your iPhone or iPod Touch.

Well, it turns out I was wrong (for now, anyway).

Fortunately, if you're someone whose music collection outstrips the storage capacity of your iPhone, iPod Touch, Android phone, Netbook, iPad, or whatever, there are a number of tools you can use to get your music collection online and beam it to whatever device you find handy.

Be forewarned: not all of the following methods will stream music to a mobile device. Some will bridge the gap between your home computer and work computer; some will store actual copies of your music; some will simply sling songs from your home computer; and some offer just an approximation of your music collection.

Simplify Music 2

As the name implies, the concept behind Simplify Music is fairly simple. After installing the application on your home computer (Mac or PC), you can browse and stream any song from that machine using an iPhone, iPod Touch, or another computer.

Pros:

No limit to the size of your library Add libraries of friends (up to 30) Recognizes playlists Works with UPnP devices such as Xbox, Roku, Sonos… Read more

How to pick the right cables for your home network

Every so often, we get questions from people who plan to install Ethernet cable in their homes. The most frequent question we get is, "what's the difference between Cat 5e and Cat 6 cable, and which should I use?"

Here's what you need to know.

Around your house, you probably have either Cat 5 or Cat 5e wire. Cat stands for category. Cat 6 is cable that's more reliable at higher speeds than Cat 5 or Cat 5e. They look pretty much the same; in fact, Cat 6 is backward compatible with Cat 4, so … Read more

SharePod: More than iPod backup and share

Apple makes extracting your music from your iPod unnecessarily difficult, and there's been a cottage industry of software tools designed to get around Apple's restrictive file-renaming conventions. Most of these programs charge you to use them, and of the free ones, few are exceptional at what they do. SharePod breaks the mold with useful features that work encased in a simple but appealing design.

It's a fast freeware tool for transferring your music collection from your iPod to your hard drive, making it easy to back up or restore your music, videos, and photos. It also transfers … Read more

The Real Deal 195: Tablet computers (podcast)

We take a tour through the history of previous attempts at making successful tablet PCs. How is the Apple iPad different? Is it that different? Can it succeed? Also we take your calls and answer e-mails.

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video)… Read more

Browse safely in Internet Explorer

The recent attacks on Google from China seem to have been caused by a vulnerability in Internet Explorer. This has led many fans of alternate browsers to tell everyone to dump IE. This may be a good idea, but some people don't want to switch browsers, or worse, can't switch because their workplace won't let them.

Whatever the case, here's how to make sure Internet Explorer is as safe as possible while surfing the Net.

First, upgrade to Internet Explorer 8. Yes, the vulnerability that led to the Google hack still exists in IE 8, but … Read more

So you've got a Zune...now what?

'Tis the season for tunes, and I'm willing to bet that at least a few lucky readers got their hands on a shiny new Zune HD recently. Getting acquainted with this excellent MP3 player will be entertainment enough for some, but there are some possible frustrations that may need to be overcome, and there's more fun to be had beyond the initial features of the device. No matter what the case may be, we've got you covered with a slew of useful articles designed to help Zune HD owners. I've rounded up some of the key … Read more

You got an iPod, now what?

Year after year, Apple's line of iPod portable media players make for great holiday gifts to give and receive. But whether it's your first iPod or an overdue update, the increasing complexity of the iPod (and the iTunes software behind it) can be challenging to wrap your head around.

To shorten the distance between unboxing and rocking out, I've put together a collection of all the major iPod and iTunes tutorials I've created over the course of the year. Happy holidays.

iPod setup guides:

How to set up an iPod Touch How to set up an iPod Nano … Read more