One of the first most annoying thing about the iPod/iTune is that with albums (i.e. compilations) that contain multiple artists, your iPod/iTune displays it multiple times (i.e. one per artist as if there are more than one albums). What you really want is for these compilations to be displayed once and labeled “Various Artists”. We had this annoying problem too and we’re going to tell you how to solve this.

The secret lies in the compilation functionality of iTune. The purpose of the “Part of a Compilation” checkbox in your track information in iTunes is to flag a given track as belonging to a “compilation” album rather than a traditional album. This is normally used for albums that contain multiple artists, and can also be used for albums with “featured” artists. Tracks marked as “Part of a Compilation” can be grouped separately and omitted from the normal artist listings.

1. To do this, firstly the tracks themselves must be marked as “Part of a compilation”. You can do this by selecting multiple tracks, and right click the “Get Info” option.

2.Now go tot the “Options” tab and check the “Part of a Compilation” box. Choose “Yes” in the drop down.

3. Now you’re almost done. One of the hidden secret is that there is a 3rd step critical to this process. You will need to also ensure:

• a) the “Album Artist” field is blank

• b) the “Album Name” is consistent across all the tracks i.e. no extra spaces

As a result, you should check both of these boxes and ensure the information are correct.

Finally click “OK” to apply the changes. Now sync your iPod and you will see that any albums that you have applied this trick will be shown only ONCE, whether you’re viewing the music by Album or by Cover Flow.

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There’s alot of bashing on the Apple iPad. While I am neither an advocate or a basher myself, I just want to provide some perspective here on what’s behind “Steve Jobs” mind when he said the iPad was his most important work for years. To the critics, “So who’s buying the iPad?” And in addition, let’s also look at some previous comments about the iPhone launch. The Apple iPhone had became a phenomenal success, hasn’t it?

Let’s continue, shall we? (more…)

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