I’ve been able to save hours of reading time by listening to audio books while I drive to work. This is made possible by hooking up my iPod Touch to a FM Transmitter and when tuned to an unused FM frequency, you can listen to your music or audio books through your car stereo system. This is not new technology but it was previously illegal in the United Kingdom to use a FM Transmitter in your car. Since the law changed, I finally got around to buying a FM Transmitter to use in my car.

There are many brands of FM Transmitter you can buy from high street shops or even online and the prices range from cheap to expensive. I bought mine from Amazon.co.uk and I decided on the Belkin iPod TuneBase FM Transmitter with ClearScan. I decided on Belkin with ClearScan because it allowed me to charge my iPod Touch while I listened to my audio books and ClearScan made it easy to tune the gadget.

What is ClearScan?

The ClearScan technology will automatically scan to find the best FM frequency and it eliminates the static. With ClearScan you can enjoy listening to music and audio books on your iPod static-free in your car. I know how annoying it can be to listen to your favourite music while you endure all the hissing static. ClearScan technology claimed to be best at auto scanning and deliver static-free music. I tried it and I agree with Belkin’s claim.

TuneBase presets.
Once you find a clear station, you can set it to one of two presets on the TuneBase. This is especially useful around your local area and areas that you frequent, because you can quickly return to these stations at the touch of a button.

Other plus points I like
1. The Belkin comes with a flexible steel-neck mount and a swivel cradle which allows you to position the iPod for optimal viewing and accessibility.
2. Supports various generations and types of iPod.
3. The TuneBase built-in PRO setting optimizes the audio and provides a volume boost for the best sound possible.
4. Large display on the from to tell you exactly what frequency the music is being broadcast.
5. Works a treat as an iPod charger which you can easily plug into your car cigarette lighter.
6. The TuneBase also has a line-out feature that lets you use it with car-stereo inputs or cassette adapters.

Any minus points?
Yes, only one…the price. It costs £40 from Amazon.co.uk but if you buy it from an Apple Store or any High Street shops, you could be forking out between £60 – £70.

Would I still recommend Belkin iPod TuneBase FM Transmitter with ClearScan to the readers?
It’s a definite Yes. If you look beyond the price, you will appreciate the technology. You get what you pay for and in the case of this gadget, you will not be disappointed.

Here’s a simple and easy to follow Photoshop tutorial on how to change the eye colour on a photo.


Photoshop – EYE COLOUR CHANGE – Watch the best video clips here

My mate sent me a solution on how to fix a mobile phone or iPod if you accidently dropped it in water. Fortunately, this did not happen to me but it is worth knowing anyway. The first question that came to mind when I read the email from my mate was, is it possible to do a DIY fix to a mobile phone or iPod that pathetically drowned itself?

Some of you like myself may think this is a practical joke and have a good laugh but in times of desperation to save a drowned gadget, this solution might just work

Other suggestions:

What should I do if I drop my cell phone in water.

How to fix cellphones dropped into water

I have been using WordPress for a few months as my blogging platform for www.ashchuan.com/blog and one of the great advantages of using WordPress for blogging is its vast number of plug-ins that are available online. The plug-ins are “gold” because some are really useful in extending the power of WordPress as a blogging platform.

Recently I came across a comment plug-in called Comment Relish when I was reading Gobala Krishnan’s easywordpress.com web site. The plug-in is created by Justin Shattuck but Gobala Krishnan found a good use for it which he talked about in his post entitled “Turn One-Time Commenters Into RSS Subscribers”.

Most of us bloggers know that driving genuine traffic to your web site is not an easy task and keeping returning visitors is even harder. Gobala devised a strategy to use Comment Relish as a platform to reach a new visitor with hope that the visitor will be converted into a returning visitor and eventually a fan.

Quoting Gobala Krishnan:

“Most people who visit your site and happen to comment on a post never return later to subscribe to your RSS feeds. In other words, you’re losing out on potential subscribers simply because you never followed up with them and invited them to join your feeds.

That’s exactly what the Comment Relish plugin does: It follows up for you!”

According to Gobala Krishnan, Mert Erkal of SearchForBlogging.com used this plugin and found that it helped him double his RSS subscription rate! I think this strategy is worth trying out.

What is Comment Relish?

Comment relish is a WordPress plugin developed to send an e-mail message to users who comment on your website who have never commented before. The message dispatched to the user is defined within the plugin’s preferences. Numerous tags have been integrated to allow for information to be included in the message easily (I.E.: timestamp, author name, comment, ETC.).

Gobala Krishnan’s post: “Turn One-Time Commenters Into RSS Subscribers“

Alex Tew, the 21 year old student who created the million dollar page by selling to pay for his university fees has come up with another idea – he calls it pixelotto. He will be selling pixels as advertising space, this time for $2. He will keep the first million dollars andthe other million dollars will go to a randomly selected lucky winner who clicks on the pixel. Well good luck on pixelotto.

New York emerging-media artist, Yury Gitman has taken on the idea to convert his bicycle into a wi-fi hub. He has a hidden laptop in the saddle bag and the wi-fi hub has antennas. The connection is received from nearby hotspots or mobile phone networks.

Read the full story on BBC