iTunes Remote

I have an ipod Touch, and I'm very happy with it. I recently installed an application that allows the ipod to remotely control iTunes running on a computer. This is very handy. I can control the iTunes on my desktop computer, which is attached to nice speakers in my office, from anywhere in my house. I have dreams of installing speakers all over the house, and having them all controlled by a single media server, and be able to control them with my ipod. Even outdoor speakers :)

All that being said, I have a couple of suggestions to improve the Remote app:
1) The Remote app is not sensitive to tilting of the ipod. Otherwise, the Remote app has a very similar look and feel to the native controls of the ipod.
2) The native ipod controls allow for play/pause, fast-forward, and rewind control without using the slider unlock control. You just double-press the home button and those controls appear on the screen. The Remote app can't do this yet.
3) When the ipod is locked, it should display the song info on the screen when you hit the home button, just like the native ipod does when playing music.
4) If Apple one day makes iTunes extensible to be able to control any appliance on your network (such as your TV, DVR, lights, A/C, washer/dryer, etc.), I would like the ipod Remote app to support them. That way, you could basically control everything from the ipod. The ipod would become the true universal remote.

Glass half empty: Austin SWAT team

I've noticed a pattern with the Austin SWAT team. They keep having a SWAT situation, complete with guns, armored vehicles, tear gas cannons, evacuations of citizens from adjacent areas, etc. These SWAT situations drag on for hours, and at the end of it, it turns out that there was nobody holed up in the habitation to begin with. Apparently, the perpetrators have been fleeing before the SWAT team shows up. There's got to be a quicker way to find out that the suspect is gone.


Austin SWAT Successfully Raids Empty Hotel Room (8/25/08)


(This one was 3 houses away from my house)
Austin SWAT endures 7-hour long standoff with Empty House (4/26/06)


Austin SWAT paralyzes traffic for 9-hours as thieves escape (11/25/07)


SWAT Standoff Ends with Suspect Missing (11/19/06)


300 students stranded due to SWAT standoff with empty apartment (10/15/07)