Remove iTunesU files - revisited

It is hard to remove iTunesU files from iPod (nano and older - not from iPod touch). I have written about this last August and that is one the most frequented posts on this blog - Problem with iPod: remove iTunesU files. This post gives three methods to remove the files, each with their own limitations.
1- Recategorize (safe, but does not work for all)
2- Delete through file system (risky and complicated, but effective)
3- Reset (easy and safe, but with side-effects)

Here I want to tell you about a fourth method I have found. The fourth method is safe and effective, but as I will point out, has drawbacks of its own.

4. Synchronize iTunesU

You can change the settings of your iPod to synchronize with iTunes on your computer. This can be done for Music and Podcasts as well as for iTunesU. Select your iPod in iTunes (as on the picture above) and click on the iTunesU label above the summary. Then select the checkbox to sync iTunes U and choose to synchronize all unplayed and all collections. As on the picture below.

What this setting will cause is for iTunes to automatically copy all unplayed iTunesU files from your computer onto your iPod and after you have played them, either on computer or iPod, automatically remove them from the iPod. In case you want to listen more than once, you can choose to sync All files from iTunesU and in that case, the files will only be removed from your iPod, after you delete them from your computer. In case your iTunesU section is very large, you may also want to not sync for all collections, but rather choose one or more among them.

So far so good - this indeed is a safe and effective way to get rid of redundant iTunesU files from your iPod. What are the drawbacks?

First of all, like me, you may want to prefer managing your iPod manually. You may not like all unplayed files to be on iPod and also, you may not want to immediately remove what has already been played.

A second, very weird phenomenon, is that iTunesU files will appear on the computer interface on the iTunesU item under iPod, that is, as a category like podcasts, yet when you handle the iPod independently, iTunesU acts as a playlist and not as a category like podcasts. This makes the files more difficult to find and one more click away than podcasts.

The best solution to the second phenomenon is the playlist, which is a feature I use anyway, because I like back to back listening. Copy your iTunesU files onto a playlist together with podcasts and other audio you like and create your own order there. One has to be warned though: you can only make playlists when your iPod is managed manually, so do not sync music and podcasts otherwise playlists are no longer available. Be aware also that this not stopping the first problem and therefore, the iTunesU files will be removed from the playlist as they are removed from iPod during synchronization.

The way around the first problem is to only use the sync iTunesU setting occasionally when you want to remove all iTunesU files and once that is done, revert back to manual.

UPDATE: Go to the BEST method I propose for dealing with this problem: Subscribe to iTunesU feeds as a podcast

Heads-up for 16 December 2010

In Our Time
Daoism
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ancient religion and philosophy, Daoism. Said to date from the 6th century BC when a wise man called Laozi wrote the 'Scripture of the Way and its Power', the 'Daodejing'; Daoism plays a significant role in Chinese culture in general and is now one of the most influential religions worldwide. Melvyn is joined by Tim Barrett, Professor of East Asian History at SOAS; Martin Palmer, Director of the International Consultancy on Religion, Education and Culture; and Hilde De Weerdt,Fellow and Tutor in Chinese History at Pembroke College, University of Oxford.
(review, feed)

KQED Forum
AIDS Breakthrough
A team of doctors in Berlin say they've cured a man of HIV/AIDS with a stem cell transplant. While AIDS researchers say the exact procedure is unlikely to result in many cures, some are celebrating the findings as a huge leap in research that could lead to a cure.
(review, feed)

The China History Podcast
The Empress Wu Zetian REBROADCAST
Today we rebroadcast our July 19, 2010 program on the Tang empress Wu Zetian. Initially a concubine to the second Tang emperor and wife of the third, she later went on to reign as Empress of China in her own right. In this week's episode we look at her colorful life. Then next episode we will resume our dynasty overview in 705 after the death of Wu Zetian.
(review, feed)

Schlaflos in München
Dick im Geschäft
Erstmal vielen Dank für das Intro von Toby vom einschlafen-podcast.de. Heute endlich mal wieder ein Interviewpartner. Peter Kuhn von der Ascuro AG erzählt uns, wie schwer übergewichtige Menschen es im Alltag haben. Seine Firma verkauft im Online-Shop simplybig.eu viele Produkte, die dicken Menschen helfen sollen. Mehr Informationen auch bei Adicare. Er plädiert für mehr Verständnis und dafür, Vorbehalte endlich abzulegen! Wäre doch ein guter Vorsatz für's nächste Jahr... Das von ihm angesprochene Buch ist Fat! So?: Because You Don't Have to Apologize for Your Size.
(review, feed)

Rise of women, fall of men - inequality again

Most of the time, in most places of the world, I think, women are still discriminated against. The inequality mostly still is at the expense of women, yet, in the TED Talk I embed below, Hanna Rosin presents data of the rise of women in the modern age, in the modern world and the extent seems to not go towards equality, but rather show a flipped reality, in which women are the better performers, the better earners, the ones in power. And Rosin seems to also ask: was this what Feminism was aiming for? (feed)



I have been aware of some elements of what Rosin makes visible. For example, I have been seeing for decades that there is an especially underpriviliged chanceless class of uneducated poor young men. These days, for a man to be without education is worse than for women. Rosin adds the next nail to the coffin: men have been underperforming in the educational system for a long time. Consequently, this class of male drop-outs is only growing. Consequnetly, as Rosin has made me realize, our culture will change and within it our stereotypes of men and woman. We both fear that the next inequality will be just as bad as the other and most of all worse than the equality we had hoped for.

A last point to make is about this show being a videocast. I prefer podcast; my listening time lies especially in moments when my hands and eyes need to be somewhere else. Ted Talks are great videos to look at, but this specific talk I tested listening while not looking and there is very little you miss. I have experienced that this goes for many videocasts and so, if you are inclined like me towards audio alone, do not discard the vodcasts off the cuff.

More TED:
Rory Sutherland,
Dimitar Sasselov,
Sir Ken Robinson,
Photos that changed the world - Jonathan Klein,
Karen Armstrong on The Golden Rule.

Heads-up for 15 December 2010

Rear Vision
The changing nature of friendship
Friendship relationships have always played a significant role in human society - historically they were public relationships, often underpinning the political and social structures of society. Today friendships are private or personal - having no place in political or public life. We trace the changing meaning of friendships.
(review, feed)

Radio Open Source
Chris Hedges: We’re Missing Our Safety Valve
Chris Hedges, among those anxious prophets to whom attention must be paid, is a sort of George Carlin without the laugh lines. Grim obituarist of our empire, democracy and culture, the ex-New York Times war reporter is gabbing with us here about the smothered conscience of power: the Death of the Liberal Class, in the title of his new book.
(review, feed)

Wise Counsel
Joseph LeDoux, Ph.D. on the Synaptic Self and Memory Reconsolidation
Entering psychology by way of marketing, Dr. LeDoux chose to study animal brain mechanisms of fear after becoming disenchanted with the overly broad concept of the limbic system and frustrated by the difficulties associated with the study of human brains in that era (e.g., modern brain imaging techniques did not yet exist). He applied an information processing approach to this work (wherein mental processes like memory and attention are attended to; not emotion or other subjective mental contents). He became well known after demonstrating that auditory signals indicating danger were independently transmitted by the thalamus (a sub-cortical switch of sorts) in parallel to both the auditory cortex and the amygdala. Because the route to the amygdala is physically shorter, animals are thus able to respond to danger signals before becoming consciously aware of the danger. Dr. LeDoux's more recent contributions include authoring several excellent books such as Synaptic Self, which introduce lay people to neuroscience concepts in accessible language, and conducting important work in memory reconsolidation, a recent advance in the understanding of the nature of how memory functions, which has enormous promise as a therapy for PTSD and other conditions which revolve around problems involving emotion and memory. The interview winds up with discussion of Dr. LeDoux's rock/pop band the Amygdaloids which has recently put out a new CD, Theory of My Mind
(review, feed)

Radio Lab
The Good Show
In this episode, a question that haunted Charles Darwin: if natural selection boils down to survival of the fittest, how do you explain why one creature might stick its neck out for another?
(review, feed)

KMTT
Parshat Vayechi
KMTT - Parshat Vayechi, by Rav Alex: Israel - Not Egypt!
(review, feed)

Torah Threads
Vayehi 5771-Blessings, Endings and Beginnings
Jacob’s Blessings for his sons and grandsons
(review, feed)

Heads-up for 14 December 2010

Outriders aka Pods and Blogs
Wikileaks so far and a little light mathematics
This week Jamillah and Chris Vallance tease out the strands of the wikileaks story so far and chat with experts on the real meaning of cyber war and the future of leaked documents. Oh - and there's a great song about maths too.
(review, feed)

Inspired Minds
Pavan Sukhdev
The Special Advisor to the United Nations Environment Programme’s Green Economy Initiative, Pavan Sukhdev, pursues long-standing interests in environmental economics and nature conservation. Initially as a senior banker, Pavan Sukhdev founded and went on to join the board of Deutsche Bank's Global Markets Centre in Mumbai. Sukhdev has also held positions with Deutsche Bank as Head of Global Markets Finance for Asia-Pacific and later Chief Operating Officer of the Bank's Global Emerging Markets Division, a leading and multiple award-winning markets division represented in over thirty countries. He also manages a model rainforest restoration and eco-tourism project in Australia, and an organic farming and eco-tourism venture in south India. Pavan Sukhdev talks this week to Robin Powell.
(review, feed)

Some Books Considered
Program 073
Patricia Cornwell continues her highly successful Kay Scarpetta series with Port Mortuary. She shares how she developed her interest in forensic science, which led to her career as an author. She also discusses the plotline of the book and the research that went into developing the story. Through the military focus of this novel, set in part at Port Mortuary at Dover Air Force Base, she gained a greater appreciation for the Armed Forces and has launched an “America for Vets” national campaign. More information is available at patriciacornwell.com.
(review, feed)

Science Times
12/14/2010
This week: thinking about thinking about eating, why bugs hold their breath, and insights on dementia.
(review, feed)

Heads-up for 13 December 2010

The History of Rome
Restitutor Orbis
Aurelian defeated the breakaway western provinces and reunified the Empire in 274 AD. The next year he was assassinated by officers who had been tricked into committing murder.
(review, feed)

Philosopher's Zone
The Athenian philosopher Epicurus
born in 341 BC, Epicurus set up a philosophical school which was unusual for its time - it allowed women and slaves to join. He also developed ideas about pleasure and the good life, but would likely turn in his grave were he to know how the term 'Epicurean' has come to be used in the 21st century.
(review, feed)

Mahabharata Podcast
Bhima and the Snake
The Pandavas journey south, out of the Himalayas and back to the plains. Along the way, Bhima goes hunting and finds himself captured by a giant magical snake. The Snake takes his time and tells Bhima his life story before proceeding to eat the hero. Meanwhile, Yuddistira sees dark omens and heads off to look for his brother on his own. For the purposes of the later story, Arjun stays at home and Yuddistira does the rescuing.
(review, feed)