h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I recently received an iPod Touch as a gift (far more than I deserved) and I highly recommend it to anyone who has the means to get one. It's really . For instance, the past three nights, I've gone on long late night walks throughout my town with music playing. When I've come upon something interesting, I've whipped out the old iPod, touched the 'Notes' section and written it down. I've also discovered a Rare and Used books store right not far from my neighborhood which I'd never heard of before

Almost all of my entries in the past have been based on books, interviews, documentaries and internet sources. Writing down notes on landmarks, streets, architecture and things about my town (ultimately for an entry, I hope) has made me feel like a real researcher in the mold of the original field researcher, Ford Prefect. It's a cool feeling.

My question is: Why would you think that you didn’t deserve it?

I don't have an iPod, but I do have an MP3 player. It also has its uses. Not for writing notes – but it’s a great companion when I’m in the gym. It helps pass the time! And last year at the Grand Prix, here in Bahrain – I slid into my seat and suddenly realized that I didn’t have any ear plugs. Big mistake! I didn't want to miss the start of the race. And when the cars took off, the noise was incredible! But luckily I had my player with me. So, it helped drown out some of the noise. It definitely saved the day!

I have some very good earphones as well, incidentally. I'm not a good judge of sound quality, but they're squishy and are consequently much more comfortable than the other ones I've tried. They may come in use on an airplane or something to get some sleep.

The reason I said that they were undeserved is that it was just an incredible act of generosity I didn't expect.

I got an iPod touch for my birthday this year (yes, lucky girl). It's been completely amazing to have the internet in my pocket everywhere I go (provided there's wi-fi of course). It beats carrying a laptop with me on every trip, anyway.

They're pretty fun to play around with, aren't they? Really makes me appreciate public WiFi. Also reminds me of this quote from U42 (A550955) -

"What we are now focussed on at h2g2 is what happens when people start to share information while they are on the move. Soon we will start to see devices arriving that combine palmtop computers with cellphones with Internet devices with GPS systems. That - in a phrase we hear over and over again when people talk about the Internet - will change everything. You'll be able to read and write to the Guide wherever you are: at the station, in the plane, on a park bench, in your car (pulled over to the side of the road with the handbrake on, of course) in a café. And when you write in something as simple as 'The coffee here is lousy!' the Guide will know exactly what to do with that information and where to put it. And if you see, a few seconds later, a note which says 'Yes, but the cheesecake is good' it might be worth looking round the other tables to see who you've just made contact with."

I do like cheesecake...

Cheesecake is awesome. And DNA was a visionary.

It's strange, though, that my life has become more or less focused upon whether there is public wi-fi in a given setting. My school, for example, lacks it, which while completely inconsequential a couple months ago has rapidly become an enormous problem.

An enormous problem, eh? Well, I'm sure the college of your choice will be fully equipped. So just hang in there.

I found out how to unlock the iPod about a month after I got it, and have quickly become addicted to the Billiards game as my favorite time-waster.

I have three iPods, but I have a use for every single one of them!
1st generation shuffle has soothing music loaded on it, and it stays beside my bed.
2nd generation shuffle has fast-paced music on it for the gym. It's great cos it just clips on to my tracky-dacks.
Nano, for my podcasts. There's no good breakfast radio in Melbourne at the moment, so listening to podcasts are great.

Love the iPod touch. I don't have on, but have had a play. I would love to get an iPhone. I don't think they're available in Oz yet. Even if they are, I can't afford one just yet. It would be great to have my phone, MP3 player and everything else all in one.

Enjoy your touch, Jordan. Let us know when it bears some h2 fruit.

Wow, really? Using three different iPods is one I hadn't heard. Any particularly good podcasts?

I've seen a few threads around here lately about how iPods are worthless junk, and anyone who buys one is a fool, but I've never really had any problems with iPods. The worst I've ever had was when my old one froze up a few times and I had to reboot. They work beautifully in my experience.

Agreed. Until I got my touch, I was still using a 1st-generation iPod mini from 2003 - absolutely no complaints, despite its age (well, except for the part where I took it apart and then put it back together and the play button stopped working... but that was my fault).

I'm thinking about getting the cheapest iPod shuffle, because when I go to university next year I'll probably be doing more urban commuting and taking out an iPod touch on the bus or train doesn't seem like the brightest idea.

I used a fourth generation (I think?) 60GB one. About as thick as a brick, but I didn't really mind. I dropped that thing several times over the years too , and it never showed any effects.

And by the way, I'm going to take a moment to complain that it was 70 degree outside yesterday, and now it's threatening to drop into the 20s. What is going on?

Weird.

I was in Chicago the past couple days, where it was 45 and pouring on Thursday, about 60 and sunny on Friday, and I hear that today it's threatening to snow.

Meanwhile, it's always sunny and in the low 70s in San Diego.

I didn't intend on having 3. I started out with the 1st gen shuffle. It was enough for my needs. Then when the 2nd gen shuffle came out, with it's little clippy thing on the back, I had to have it for the gym. I then used the 1st gen for podcasts, but I found I needed something with a screen for podcasts. It helps with navigation.
The 1st gen still works rather well, so I decided to load it with soothing music for insomnia nights. It sometimes works.

The podcasts I'm listening to at the moment are 'Get This', an Australian radio show that was axed last year. It's better than any brekky radio that's on at the moment.
http://www.triplem.com.au/sydney/shows/getthis/podcasts/index.html
I'm not sure that you can still download the podcasts. Luckily I have all of them.

I'm getting 'The Mighty Boosh' radio series as an audio book soon, so that'll get a run on the Nano too. http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/mightyboosh/ Apparently the radio series won the Douglas Adams Award for innovative comedy writing, an award which was created to honour this specific series and has not been awarded since. The TV series is the most bizarre thing I've ever seen.

Looks like that 'Get This' link doesn't work anymore. They finally took the page down.
There's a Wikipedia page about them: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Get_This