With version 2.1 of the software, I think they have upgraded the software to ready-for-prime time. I’m in agreement with Rob Griffiths of Macworld, who discusses the software here in a new column at Macworld.com.

In further good news, Apple has addressed one aspect of the iPhone software development platform that is causing developer angst. They have removed the NDA that was in place for all software development, so developers can now talk amongst themselves. Hopefully the next step is for them to stop rejecting apps that may compete with Apple’s own iPhone apps.

Regarding the new iTunes release, there are a lot of nice touches that make it easier and more enjoyable to manage a large media library. For example, you can now manage settings for podcasts on a per-podcast basis. Why would anyone want to do that, you may ask? Well, I would like to have all of my podcasts but one set to delete a podcast “episode” after I listen to it, with the one exception being NPR All Songs Considered concert podcasts–I’m working my way through converting the better of those into individual MP3s, so I want to hang on to those podcasts even after i listen to them. Prior to iTunes 8, you didn’t have the granularity available to make such an exception. Thanks to this iLounge article on becoming an instant iTunes expert, I learned about the new podcast setting capability, as well as other tweaks.

One downside to iTunes 8 is that it turns on the little iTunes store arrows next to each song, artist and album in your library. Clicking on an arrow takes you to the relevant iTunes store page. Beyond the fact that I don’t buy much media from the iTunes store, I dislike the visual clutter and wasted space with these arrows and so have turned them off via Preferences. Well, you can’t do that anymore–Apple took away the choice. However, an enterprising MacFixIt reader shared a workaround (for Mac OS X at least) that lets you kill them off. Check it out here. I’m back to being arrow-free.

Re-enact Bullitt With GPS Maps | Autopia from Wired.com

Why You Should Turn Gmail s SSL Feature On Now – Webmonkey

More to come.

On the general topic of wireless networks, I had a brush with the general annoyance that is tech trouble shooting. I was updating Vanessa’s WiFi network to change the SSID from “dlink” and to add a password. Somehow this screwed up the IP address assignment process done in conjunction with the Comcast cable modem. After exhausting my toolbox of techniques with no luck, I had to turn to Comcast for assistance. Their first step: unplug the power cord from both the router and the cable modem, then power back up the cable modem and then the router, and finally restart your computer. Bingo, this worked. I had done these steps in a different sequence with no success during my troubleshooting attempts. Oh well, just glad “Little Fury Things” net is working now.

Onsite backup is what most people think of for backup, and it is the first step in making sure your data is protected. However, offsite backup is also important in case of fire, theft or other catastrophe that wipes out your local backups. There are a number of options for offsite backup, depending on the amount of data at issue. I posted in December about CrashPlan and Mozy, two leading options. Take a look at that link for an overview.

I currently use CrashPlan on my MacBook to back up that computer up to my Mac Pro desktop. So long as both computers are awake and online, the MacBook automatically backs up to the Mac Pro. I also have a Mozy monthly subscription to back up certain files on my Mac Pro, such as digital photos. The problem with Mozy is that restoring backups solely over the Web will take forever, so I haven’t extended the backup to include, say, my 300GB iTunes library (lots of music and movies).

I’m now planning to buy a Drobo storage appliance and use it in conjunction with CrashPlan to back up my Mac Pro offsite. Drobo is basically a multi-bay USB storage device that lets you add up to 4 drives at a time and replace drives when broken or more storage is needed, while handling all drive formatting, configuration, etc. automatically. The user doesn’t have to worry about anything. It’s a RAID array without any tech headaches for the user. A RAID array is the only way I’m going to get enough storage capacity to back up my main Mac Pro hard drive (1 terabyte) and the iTunes volume (750GB). CrashPlan + Drobo + work computer means I’ll have offsite backups under my control and able to be directly connected if restores are needed.

• MGoBlog. My mainstay for Michigan (U. of) sports news, esp. for football.
• Sunday Morning Quarterback. Great, serious college football site.
• Every Day Should Be Saturday. Hilarious college football blog. Maintains the Fulmer Cup in the offseason, which tracks the criminal infractions of college football programs. I think Missouri is currently leading. Here’s a recent post covering headbutts. I learned from EDSBS that an Oregon player was arrested last year for stealing livestock to have sex with it. Love it.
• Detroit Tigers Weblog. Provides pitchFX analysis of Tigers pitchers and minor league reports, as well as a reasoned take on Tigers’ happenings.
• Detroit Bad Boys, a Pistons blog.
• Baseball Prospectus feed 1 and feed 2. Great stats-focused baseball site. Not sure if this is a blog, but the lines are blurred. Some Baseball Prospectus stories are premium, requiring a membership.
• Buster Olney’s blog at ESPN.com, part of their Insider feature. Hmm, Buster Olney was the Yankees beat writer at the NY Times and wrote a real book published in hardcover format. Crazy Buzz B., where does Buster fit into your world view?
• Rob Neyer’s blog at ESPN.com Insider.
• Hardball Times. Another baseball site. Similar focus to Baseball Prospectus.
• James Mirtle’s hockey blog. He’s the hockey guy at the Toronto Globe & Mail paper.
• TrueHoop blog, which Borders reads. Henry Abbott aggregates a lot of links and provides some insight. I learned about the fascinating William Wesley here.

“Windows vs. Mac: This is the eternal question. In my view, Apple’s Leopard operating system is faster, better and far less prone to malicious software than Microsoft’s Vista operating system. And the Mac laptops also come with better built-in software. The $1,099 MacBook is a solid, fairly priced machine, and the $1,999 MacBook Pro is even better. Both also can run Windows.”

Obviously, Walt faces space constraints, but if I were to write the overview, I’d make clear the point that you should get a Mac unless you find a Windows PC with better hardware specs for the price (somewhat unlikely because Macs are now pretty good values), or a unique hardware profile that you can’t get on a Mac (such as that new small ThinkPad or a super-cheapie machine), AND that hardware advantage and/or difference outweighs the advantages of Mac OS X over Windows Vista (acknowledged by Mossberg in his story, but likely to be a subjective call for many longtime Windows users).

With a Mac, you can have it both ways, so in my view the default purchase position should be: “I’m going to get a Mac. Do I need to install Windows on there as well? Is there a reason I should get a Windows machine instead?” One little sentence from Mossberg doesn’t communicate that very well.

On Sunday, I connected it to my computer to see if there was some useful software that would let me download trail routes to the GPS device and log my trips. Both the Garmin software and software from a third party affiliated with Backpacker magazine are Windows only (which I got around by using my VMWare Fusion program that lets me run Windows XP on my Macs) and are pretty crappy.

The Colorado does offer some utility. It shows you exactly where you are, which you can use in conjunction with paper maps to figure out a route. It tracks how far you’ve hiked and the elevation you’ve gone, good for those that like to track stats on a hike (although if you’re going on an established hike, you can just check your guidebook for that). You can place waypoint markers at points along your route, such as where you saw a California condor (yep, saw one on Saturday, very cool to see and a very, very ugly bird–no hair on its head). And you can use it for geocaching, a GPS-linked treasure hunt for adults. But I don’t geocache. And the other features aren’t compelling enough to make me buy a $300 device. Given that the Colorado costs $600, goodbye.