According to Zune.net, the fix for the dead Zunes is dead simple:

My Zune 30 is frozen. What should I do?

Follow these steps:

1. Disconnect your Zune from USB and AC power sources.
2. Because the player is frozen, its battery will drain—this is good. Wait until the battery is empty and the screen goes black. If the battery was fully charged, this might take a couple of hours.
3. Wait until after noon GMT on January 1, 2009 (that’s 7 a.m. Eastern or 4 a.m. Pacific time).
4. Connect your Zune to either a USB port on the back or your computer or to AC power using the Zune AC Adapter and let it charge.

Once the battery has sufficient power, the player should start normally. No other action is required—you can go back to using your Zune!

Let’s see if this really works. Good luck to all that’s affected.

[ Zune.net ]

Apparently at 12am, any Zune 30 that had been updated with the most current firmware just stopped working. Mind you, I own a Zune 120 but even so, this might affect my Zune as well.

The following sites are covering the story as it develops:

Engadget: [ 30GB Zunes Mysteriously Begin to Fail ]
Gizmodo: [ All Together Now!: 30GB Zunes Failing All At Once ]

I’ll update this post as I receive updates too. Two friends, two dead Zunes. All hail the Zune-ocalypse!

And on the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to the Music Lover:

I’ve already written about the Mint Digital Music Station 220 here before at RTL; it remains one of my favorite little things ever. It can dock and charge up your Apple iPod or iPhone while playing tunes that are on it. And if you’re anything like me, you probably have a sizable MP3 collection that resides on your main PC.

You’re in luck. With the Mint USB wireless transmitter, you can listen to whatever streams on your PC directly on the Mint 220 up to 45 feet away via their Mint Di-Fi™ technology - which means honestly that your music will stream over the air without any loss of quality whatsoever. Read the rest of this entry »

Can you sing? Do you have talent? Do you want to release your inner “Chinese Democracy“? Sennheiser wants what you got… and you can win prizes too.

With Sennheiser’s “My Song” contest, the spotlight is on you-and your original song. Now through March 31, 2009, high school students can enter to win a free 10-piece, professional-grade Sennheiser evolution microphone kit and a spot in an upcoming Sennheiser ad! What’s more, you’ll also be featured on the Sennheiser Artist site alongside such performers as Red Jumpsuit Apparatus and Paramore!

To enter, visit www.sennheiserusa.com/MySong and hit the “click to enter” button. You’ll need to submit a direct link to your original song (which can be uploaded to sites like YouTube or MySpace) along with the title of your track. The five best songs will be chosen by a panel of secret judges. The lucky grand-prize winner will be selected by one of your favorite Sennheiser-endorsed artists!

The 10-piece evolution microphone kit includes everything you need to mic a full band: two e 835 vocal mics, one e 609 SILVER guitar amp mic, one e 602 II bass drum mic, three e 604 tom/snare mics and two e 614 instrument condenser mics.

I can’t even get a decent score on Guitar Hero, but I’m sure some of you more musically inclined types should definitely try it out.

Who knows… we might be waiting 14+ years for your CD too!

TORONTO, Oct. 29 /PRNewswire/ — iPod touch 2G owners now have their
choices of fun, fashion and function to guard their beloved touch: the iSkin
touch Vibes and iSkin touch Duo.

The iSkin touch Vibes delivers the complete protective benefits of a
durable soft case, adds an ultra-clear screen film and protective docking port
insert, and wraps it up in a rich color finish lightly accented with a unique
inner pattern that shimmers. The result is everyday protection against
everyday hazards in a fun, stylish and fashionably aware bodyguard. Also
featuring an included adapter for the Apple Universal Dock, the iSkin touch
Vibes is available in Reflex (blue), Blaze (red), Carbon (black), Rave
(purple) and Pure (clear), and retails now at http://www.iskin.com for $29.99 US.

Master Lock, makers of the well-known locks that’s been shot, flamed, boiled, frozen and still worked - are now entering into the land of the Apple iPod case makers. Yes, a Master Lock inspired case; nothing short of a Fargo Wells entry might actually prove to be safer.

iPods have quickly become some of the most popular and widely used portable media devices by people of all ages, with over 170 million sold worldwide since its introduction in 2001. Their frequent use while people are on the go and potentially less attentive to their surroundings have made them an easy target for would be thieves on campus, in urban areas, on city transportation systems, and in many other public environments.

Master Lock, www.masterlock.com, the innovative industry leader in locks and security products, recognizes the importance of the personal and financial investment iPod users have made in their media players, and has now made protecting these devices more convenient with the introduction of the first-of-its-kind iCage™, a family of locking skins for iPod players. The iCage includes a durable, lightweight protective skin, set-your-own 3-digit combination lock for keyless convenience, flexible cable for lock-down security, and three (3) invisible shrink wraps for screen and body scratch protection. Best of all, the device remains fully functional in the new locking skin with access to all ports for the user.

With the massive proliferation of personal digital audio players, experts agree that the devices have contributed to increases in violent crimes. In major urban areas like New York, Washington, DC, San Francisco and Los Angeles, crime statistics compiled between 2004 and 2007 show a substantial rise in iPod and cell phone robberies.

“So many people have made their iPod an essential part of their lives and that means more, and often easier, opportunities for theft. The iCage™ maintains the ease of use of these devices while keeping them more secure,” said John Heppner, president and CEO of Fortune Brands Storage and Security, which includes Master Lock. “The iCage locking skin enhances the iPod user experience by making security possible wherever and whenever people are using them.”

The new iCage is available for the 4GB and 8GB iPod nano; and the 30GB, 60GB, 80GB or 160GB iPod classic. It has a suggested retail price of $14.99 for the nano models, and $19.99 for the classic models. For more information about Master Lock’s new iCage™ and other security tips to keep you and your belongings safe, visit www.masterlockitup.com.

ATLANTA, Sept. 10 /PRNewswire/ — With the release of the newest iPod
Touch and iPod Nano this week, Case-mate has you covered with Clear Armor.
Protect your newest gadgets with the world famous Case-mate Clear Armor for
the new iPod Touch and iPod Nano.

Originally created to protect Apache Helicopter blades from sand damage in
Desert Storm, this high grade protective film is incredibly resilient. In
fact, this is the same film used to protect cars around the world from
scratches, dings, and road debris.

Installation is easy. Simply remove the film from the backing, spray it
with the included solution to moisten it, and position it on your phone.
Smooth the bubbles out and let it dry. This film will protect your iPod Nano
and iPo…

Link to the original article…

“We’re approaching a pull-the-plug kind of decision,” said Tim Westergren, who founded Pandora. “This is like a last stand for webcasting.”

I’m not one to normally editorialize much; however it seems like something that actually made sense, will probably be looking at closing it’s doors due to licensing fees. The idea… Pandora Music Genome® Project. Sign up, tell the site what music and musicians you happen to like, and it’ll find music and match from other offerings in it’s catalog that you just may like as well.

I’ve had an account for years. And won’t even lie… it’s shaped my taste in music in so many genres where I thought I’d like only one or two in a particular genre. Next thing I know, I have like twenty favorites. And armed with that information, I’d open up iTunes, buy the music that I found on Pandora and go about my day. Even share that knowledge with people around the water cooler, online, et al.

Enter the bad guy(s). Normally I’d just go straight at the fact that the RIAA had created SoundExchange merely to collect royalties from music that’s played on satellite and internet radio. Mind you, there’s no model for collecting royalties for music played over the normal radio at all. And if you were to think about it… it’s the most backwards way of thinking. Internet entities that are willing to work with the RIAA and each of it’s arms - I can’t even keep up, so I’ll just use the RIAA as common term from hereon - that the RIAA possess, it seems like people are getting penalized for having genuinely good ideas and all the RIAA wants to do is capitalize for as long as they can, then shut them down.

Yet… Pandora opened up the doors for new musicians that most people had never heard of. Which in most simple terms… would mean that more sales for those lesser known artists, the ones that the labels don’t exactly allocate advertising to and thus garner less sales might have yet another avenue to be seen and heard.

But no. The RIAA wants it’s money. The same money that the RIAA has collected and yet they “cannot find the artists” to give them the money they owe. Or this is the same RIAA that basically gives the artists about $2.00 out of $20.00 - and the RIAA didn’t create anything. And don’t forget… this is the same RIAA that had about 700mb of e-mails leaked out that detailed on how it would create fake torrents and trackers all to disrupt p2p traffic.

Simply put… RIAA is clearly a dirty organization that has yet to catch up with the fact that it’s poor sales are clearly attributed to the death of the CD single - face it, only one to two good songs are on each music CD released, to find more, it’s rare - and the fact that the distribution model shifted from in-store to online quicker than they were willing to change to… and no DRM will last forever. It’ll be overcome in mere minutes. And here is a pretty legitimate unique idea that for once broadened my personal music tastes instead of hampered it with playing music over and over from artists that a certain label thought should sell well.

Here’s to hoping that Pandora finds a way to continue to exist.

Read more about this situation in a more informational manner over at the Washington Post.

Apparently CNET’s UK division got their hands on the impressive looking iRiver Spinn MP3 and PMP player with the unique AMOLED - Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode, feel free to read more about that technology from here.

Anyway, CNET’s description has me drooling even more over this player:

Rather than only giving the unbelievably crisp 84mm AMOLED screen superb touch-sensitive navigation, iRiver has innovated a new type of input method in the form of a mechanical scroll wheel in the top-right corner. Spinning this — hence the name — scrolls through menu items, both horizontally and vertically depending on the menu you’re in, and can be clicked down to select.

It works well, although at times it’s a little touch sensitive, and it takes a short while to get used to. We actually found that we did half our navigation with the wheel, and half with our finger on the touch-screen.

And never have we seen a screen so crisp and so bright. Images are stunning; videos are smooth and sharp. In fact, in the video menus, moving thumbnails are used to illustrate listed videos, and there’s enough detail given by the screen to make this look damn impressive.

While it’s not perfect - comments about the touch being too sensitive, it’s definitely something that has me wanting to get one ASAP.

Read and see more over at Crave/CNET UK.

My hate for wires still continues - feel free to read my other rant about wires right here. Enter the Digital Signature Mint 220.

Coming in under $180.00 USD, it offers:

• The Mint 220 Digital Music Station offers the highest fidelity digital audio, using Texas Instruments’ PurePath Digital audio amplification for optimal performance.
• Wireless 2.4GHz lossless audio streaming from your Mac or PC with the included Mint USB Wireless Transmitter
• Mint’s Di-Fi™ digital-sound is delivered from your PC or Mac wirelessly, with no loss of fidelity, up to 45 feet or 15 meters
• Careful craftsmanship, acoustic engineering and sealed enclosure design offer precise audio usually found only in much pricier systems
• Two 3.5” full-range Peerless® transducers for big speaker sound and compact, mini-speaker versatility.

What catches my eye is Di-Fi™. I’ve heard of wi-fi, just like everybody else… but Di-Fi is a promise that your already compressed mp3 music - or the uncompressed FLAC type(s) of music filetypes - will sound just as good over the air as it does in your headphones.

Hop down to your local Best Buy or hit up the MintDS (Mint Digital Signature) website for more information.

This is the 3rd and final part of my live recording from my residency at The Beach House in Port Macquarie (NSW, Australia).
This is the end part of the night so lots of high energy funky stuff, a few classic for good measure and lots of feel good main room vibes.
Enjoy!

Cerrone feat Jocelyn Brown - Hooked On You (Jamie Lewis Main Mix)

Ralf Gum feat. Monique Bingham - Kissing Strangers (Ralf Gum Alternative Club Mix)

Shawn Christopher - Don’t Lose The Magic (Bobby Blanco’s Block Re Edit)

Timbalestics - Meo Amor (Andreas Thiessen Old School Vibe)

Junior Jack - My Feelings

Lisa Millet - Don’t Bring Me Down (Copyright Main Mix)

Daft Punk - Around The World (LP Version)

The Sunburst Band - We Will Turn You On

MAW feat Roy Ayers - Our Time Is Coming

Soularis feat. Mandy Edge - I Told You (Vincent Kwok Spaced Out Funk Mix)

Kinky Movement - Shake It

Pingo & Bobby - Soul Of House (Peak Hour Mix)

Hustlin Blow - Life Has Changed

Doug Willis feat. Zeke Manyika - Dougswana (Joey Negro Club Mix)

Miguel Migs - Those Things

Brian Tappert & Grant Nelson present The Soul City Experience feat. Vula - The Only Way (Club Mix) - Source Site:http://www.purehousemusic.net

Link to the original article…

- dj subRoutine. Take those “Quelle surprise!” free radicals in your mind on an inverted progressive house picnic.
Format: mp3
Length: 74:51
Size: 171 MB
Bitrate: 320 kbps
01) Ned Shepard - A Fine Balance (Quivver Dub Mix) [Harem Records]
02) Ido Ophir, Miki Litvak - Shnorkel (Dousk Exclusive Gems Remix) [Iboga Records]
03) MOS - Kinky Loop (Valentino Kanzyani & Tomy DeClerque JLY Remix) [Sprout]
04) Dirty Disorder - Up To You (Original Mix) [Little Mountain Recordings]
05) Nicholas Van Orton - Grooves From The Pit (Original Mix) [Balkan Connection]
06) TC Maniak - Hellbent (Pako & Fredrik Remix) [Sprout]
07) Patric La Funk - Icicle (Nice7 Remix) [Noir Music]
08) Jon Gurd - The Chimes (Original Mix) [Kill-A-Watt]
09) Medway - No Step (Stan Kolev Outter Limits Remix) [Dutchie Music]
10) Lank - Confrontation (Original Mix) [Boz Boz]
11) Pole Folder - In My Mind (Niko Fantin Remix) [Restart Records]
12) Glenn Morrison - Circles (Original Mix) [Armada Music]

_-
s007ii - dj subRoutine
http://s007ii.com/tunes - Source Site:http://djmix.net/s007ii/mixes/FreeRadicals

Link to the original article…

A 3 hour live-set from Jaime James’ gig at the Swan Club in Dusseldorf, Germany. - Source Site:http://www.myspace.com/jaimejamesmusic

Link to the original article…

MALONE - 6th & Fairfax Breaks vol. 1

With a decade of DJing experience behind him, Malone is undoubtedly ‘South Africa’s Breakbeat Ambassador’. His impeccable mixing and emotive nu skool sound have seen him tour the country to wide acclaim, as well as netting him performances with international legends Krafty Kuts, General Midi, Baobinga, Cut La Roc and Scratch from The Roots.

For over a year now, Malone has held the position of resident DJ for Los Angeles-based 6th & Fairfax Radio, the flagship online show of BijouBreaks.com (America’s leading Breaks community, thrice-nominated at the international Breakspoll Awards). During this tenure, Malone has enjoyed huge support from Breaks fans and producers all over the world, building up an extensive catalogue of mixes that are stacked with promos and painstakingly selected gems. Over the next few months (with Malone’s blessing), Listenup.za.net will be presenting you with handpicked highlights from his 6th & Fairfax residency, available for download right here. For more info on Malone, check out myspace.com/malonebreaks.

For the best in worldwide Breaks, visit BijouBreaks.com.

For DJ bookings, email malone@bijoubreaks.com.

> Breakbeat is our passion here at listenup.za.net and we are so stoked to have Malone on board for good. Malones mixes are a must have. period.

Link will take you to Mediafire where you can download the mix. - Source Site:http://www.listenup.za.ne

Link to the original article…

This week’s episode feature’s my good personal friend, Faith Gatewood. We talk about American Idol, try to sing the National Anthem, Diss rap. - Source Site:http://theministryofdjism.blogspot.com/2008/07/faith.html

Link to the original article…