Category: iPod

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If it’s metallic, lightning is attracted to it

There has been one of those warnings put out by medical researchers saying not to use iPods or cellphones during thunderstorms[guardian]. This makes complete and total sense, but is it really anything that we, as educated human beings, shouldn’t already know?

CASTLE ROCK, Colo. — A teenager who was hit by lightning over the weekend talked about his close brush with death Thursday.

Jason Bunch was mowing the lawn and listening to his iPod at his home in Castle Rock in the 3200 block of Cherry Plum Way on Sunday when he was struck. […]

“From where the iPod was, it damaged my hearing and it ruptured my eardrums. Where the cord was, it burned me all down my body,” said Bunch. “We need to shave my head because my hair is like dreadlocks. It’s all sticking together.” [thedenverchannel]

Now there are couple other details to this that strikes me, no pun intended.

He was mowing the lawn in weather conditions where lightning was possible. It seems to me that the mower would have been the main thing saying, “Hey, lightning! Here I am!” However, since his ear buds were the highest point of contact, that’s where the strike made its entrance. Any part of his body touching the mower probably didn’t help much, but with the iPod on him, the bolt did it best to fry those components first before moving on.

With that being said, why is the focus here on the iPod? He was probably trying to mow as much of the lawn before the storm came in. Lots of people do it. It just seems that the story here is saying that if you have an iPod on while you frolic in the rain, you will be struck by lightning. Officials will admit that occurances of this is rare, but worthy of educating the public.

Millions of golfers from around the world are saying, “Tell me something I don’t know.”

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It’s been flagged. It’s been in the bathroom.

iCartaThis is going a little bit too far. The iCarta lets you take your iPod into the bathroom with you. Why and for what reason? Because you can? But do you want to? I mean, I thought the click wheel on my mini got kind of filthy from my sweaty hands making mid-run adjustments, but this takes things to a whole new level.

The four external speakers are not the only cool feature of this “accessory”. It comes with two USB ports and charges your iPod while you… um… wait? It’s also waterproof and requires AC power.

Oddly enough, there is this news story coming out of Santa Clara, CA.

A pink iPod Mini, just four inches long, caused a huge headache for maintenance workers at the Santa Clara University for the last few months.

A female student accidentally dropped the iPod in the toilet.

It got stuck in a way that maintenance crews could not get it out. They told NBC11 News they first tried to break the iPod into pieces, but that failed. One maintenance worker called the device “indestructible”.

In order to get the iPod out from under that building, crews simultaneously flushed as many toilets as they could and they turned on every sink. That caused a water surge which pushed the iPod into a larger more accessible pipe.

It cost the university $1,000 a week to fix this problem. It took months.  [nbc11]

Something to make a mental note of when mounting your iCarta.

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Now that I live in Canada, I care about these things

It’d be even better if some one was uber super awesome cool and scored us both some of these sweet things.

Apple has cut the prices of the fifth-generation iPod sold in Canada. The 30GB iPod video, which was CAD$379, is now $30 less at $349, while the 60GB iPod video model is now $459, a $40 cut from the original $499 price tag. The newly updated special edition U2 iPod, also based on the fifth-generation design, sells for $379. According to iLounge, the price drop is an apparent response to changes in international currency exchange rates. The report notes that the iPod nano and iPod shuffle pricing remain unchanged.  [macnn]