Crossley, a company that specializes in retro-styled electronics, has introduced a new jukebox-style iPod dock, the iJuke. The $199 dock looks just like a classic jukebox, except that it’s 18″ tall.

We tend to go for more minimal docks – ones without percolating bubbles. But the neon lighting and mahogany cabinet tempered our gag reflex a bit.

What do you think – iJuke or iPuke? Let us know in the comments…..

A new Internet video shows dumpster-diving activists digging into trash bags from a New York JPMorgan Chase bank and finding individuals’ social security numbers, bank account balances and other sensitive information. The information, found on the street in Chinatown, Queens, the Upper East Side, and in two Brooklyn locations, could be used to steal customers’ identities.

The YouTube clip is a great use of Internet video to focus attention on a company’s business practices:

“Identity theft is one of the nation’s fastest growing crimes that wreak havoc on the lives of unsuspecting victims,” said New York City Council Member and Consumer Affairs Committee Member, Charles Barron. “I plan to work with my colleagues to coordinate hearings or any other measures that will protect the victims of identity theft.”

via ChaseTrash.org

Sling Media today announced the availability of SlingPlayer for Mac, a software client for Slingbox customers who want to view their home TV or Apple TV on their Apple Macintosh desktop or laptop computer.

With this software release, Slingbox owners can now view their television directly on their Macintosh computer screen. With full remote control, they can watch content from their home entertainment system whether from cable, DVR or DVD, or from a range of Apple products including Apple TV, Front Row, iPods in Apple’s Universal Dock or iPod in an iPod Hi-Fi.

SplashCast today introduced a new service, MyPodcastNetwork, that lets users embed a podcast player in Web pages, similar to the way you can embed YouTube videos in Web and blog pages. What makes the player interesting, though, is that it’s not static audio or video that gets embedded, but a customized channel of podcast content that will automatically update as podcasters update their content.

“The basic idea is that it‚Äôs an easy way to collect all your favorite audio and video podcasts and display them live on your startpage or webpage,” explains SplashCasts’ Marshall Kirkpatrick. “It‚Äôs an easy way to show off your brilliant taste in online media to your website visitors.”

Here’s Kirkpatrick’s example MyPodcastNetwork:

The embeddable player looks promising and could introduce a new type of social networking into podcasting.

All Your Podcast Are Belong To Us

One aspect of the SplashCast’s new service may prove controversial, though. The site appears to be caching podcasts. This means that podcasters whose shows are republished through the service have no way of knowing how many times their content is being downloaded. This could effectively steal money away from podcasters that are trying to monetize their shows.

SplashCast is aware of this concern, and is looking for a solution.

“We‚Äôre working on finding a way to make this work asap. In this first step in our MyPodcastNetwork feature – our stats reporting is not what it needs to be and we understand how important this is.”

At this time, anyone can add new feeds to SplashCast. Until SplashCast resolves the issues associated with caching of podcasts, they should limit the service to podcasters that opt-in.

Update: SplashCast’s Marshall Kirkpatrick dug deeper into the stats issue, and added some comments (below) that clarify the issue. Per Marshall’s comments, SplashCast points to podcasters’ files for audio podcasts, which means audio podcasters’ stats should not be distorted by the service.

For video podcasts, SplashCast is caching and transcoding the files for Flash distribution. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, because this could reduce bandwidth costs for podcasters, which could save publishers money. It could also speed up things for end users, if SplashCast can scale a robust infrastructure.

Anytime you republish a podcaster’s content, though, you need to get their permission. Some video podcasters may be glad for the additional exposure and not worry too much about the stats issue, while other publishers may not want anyone getting between them and their audience.

SplashCast is looking into this issue, and it looks like they are making it a priority. We’ll be interested in how they end up dealing with it.

More coverage at TechCrunch, Mashable

MXL Microphones is now shipping the MXL.007 USB Stereo Condenser Microphone, a mic that features two gold diaphragm capsules with an X/Y pick-up pattern, designed to capture a big, rich sound with excellent spatial imaging.

Unlike most condenser microphones, the MXL.007 is a USB (Universal Serial Bus) mic that connects directly to a computer without the need for external mic preamps. Featuring support for USB 1.1 and 2.0, the mic includes gain adjustment settings via a built-in three position attenuation switch.

The microphone is optimized for capturing a wide range of musical performances—both vocal and instrumental—and delivers realism with broad spatial imaging, thanks to a 90-degree X/Y stereo pick-up pattern. The MXL.007 USB also has a maximum SPL (Sound Pressure Level) rating of 137 dB—making it an good choice for capturing loud instruments such as trumpet, saxophone, or electric guitar.

The new MXL.007 USB ships with a travel case, a desktop microphone stand, a 10-foot USB cable, a windscreen, an owner’s manual, and an applications guide. As a plug and play device for Windows and Macintosh, the mic requires no special drivers.

The MXL.007 USB Stereo Condenser Microphone carries an MSRP of $229.95 and is available now.

PodShow and Sirius are parting ways. PodShow podcasts will lose their satellite audience as of May 1st, according to reports from affected podcasters.

The split is a setback for PodShow podcasters, which include Soccergirl, Dawn & Drew and Scott Sigler. The split is likely to be little more than a speedbump, though, for podcasting as a technology. The potential audience for podcasts via the Internet dwarfs the satellite radio audience, and satellite radio has its own share of problems.

Podcasters have wasted no time in voicing their opinions on the situation. Here are some of their takes on the news:

via Digital Flotsam:

It’s all over now, and it ended for me without warning. I wasn’t totally taken by surprise. I knew the contract was about to expire. I knew it was possible we’d choose to end it there. But I wasn’t expecting it to end without notice. Our last show to play on Sirius was Scott Sigler’s Earthcore, the last words spoken were fittingly by Adam Curry. But none of us got to say goodbye to our listeners, and I really regret that.

via Amateur Traveller:

I just got an hour of my week back as I won’t be doing a version of the show (exactly 24 minutes, not a second more or less) for Sirius Satellite radio any more. I was doing this version through PodShow that has stopped this relationship with Sirius. I suspect that they stopped it because they were not getting paid for it and now that they see the value of what they are providing they are looking for someone who will pay for this content.

via Paul Colligan:

We’ll never know the numbers but I’d bet good cash that Podshow on Sirius sold more satellite radios to Podcasters than Sirius knows. People always support what they help create and now that “us Podcasters” are no longer part of the ever-less-important satellite radio scene, I see their numbers further flushing down the toilet.

via Podcast Fresh:

The contract may just involve the two companies but for me, since they are in media broadcasting and somehow involved public service and entertainment, it is just fair to let the people who patronize their products be informed whenever there will be a change in their service offerings just like what they are doing when they are launching a new service or announcing a new partnership.

Olympus is offering podcasting grants for schools to help promote awareness of its podcasting offerings. Apply for the grant, and your school could win software and the digital media accessories you need to start a podcasting program.

To apply, you need to develop a lesson plan demonstrating how you would use podcasting in your curriculum. The most unique podcasting lessson plans, incorporating student involvement and creativity, will win.

Grants will be judged based on:

• Effective integration of podcasting in the curriculum.
• Effective use of all the resources provided by the grant.
• High degree of student involvement.
• Creativity and fun.

Details are available at the Olympus Tool Factory site.

The New York Times has a breathy overview of Vudu, a new set-top box that lets users download and view on their TV any of 5,000 movies. The selling point for the device is its speed, which, according to reports, uses P2P technology to allow almost immediate viewing.

“This is something that is going to alter the landscape, boasts Tony Miranz, Vudu’s founder. “We are rewriting economics.”

Here’s what the NYT has to say about the new device:

If Vudu succeeds, it may mean goodbye to laborious computer downloads, sticky-floored movie theaters and cable companies  much narrower video-on-demand offerings. It may even mean a fond farewell to the DVD itself – the profit engine of the film industry for the last decade.  “Other forms of movie distribution are going to look silly and uncompetitive by comparison,” Mr. Miranz asserts.

While the NYT may be excited about the Vudu, it looks to us it could be dead on arrival. Here’s why….

Audio-Technica has introduced a couple of stereo shotgun microphones aimed at the high-end broadcast and production environment.

The new BP4027 and BP4029 Stereo Shotgun models are based on models that A-T originally developed for the Sydney Olympics in 2000. Designed for broadcasters, sound recordists and videographers, these phantom-powered models feature independent line-cardioid and figure-of-eight elements configured in an M-S (Mid-Side) arrangement. Each provides a switch-selectable internal matrixing system offering a selection of wide and narrow stereo (L/R) output or M-S output. A switchable low frequency roll-off filter helps minimize the pickup of unwanted low frequency noise. The models differ from one another primarily in length (BP4027 15″ long and BP4029 9″ long); they both feature a lightweight rugged design, ideal for on-camera use.

Magazine publisher Marie Claire’s podcast series, The Masthead With Marie Claire, is getting the magazine attention….but for the wrong reasons. The podcast is raising questions about the blurring of advertising and editorial content in podcasts.

The video podcasts, which are produced in collaboration with Podshow.com, are sponsored by Unilever and Diesel. The video podcasts feature prominent product placement of Unilever beauty products.

Product placements have included segments that discuss using Degree deodorant, Dove self-tanner and editor in chief Joanna Coles discussing Dove skin products. The most recent episode featured the Diesel New York fashion show.

While podcasting and other Internet media are new technologies, the need for transparency when content is actually “advertainment” is not. The American Society of Magazine Editors has a set of Best Practices for Digital Media, which state that “Special advertising or ‘advertorial’ features should be labelled as such.”

“The principle is exactly the same,” said American Society of Magazine Editors board member Jacob Weisberg. “Readers and users have to know what is advertising and what is editorial on the Web, as in print,” he said.

“It’s got to be separate,” added Weisberg. “[Advertising] can’t include the editors and shouldn’t be produced by the editors.”