Kirk McElhearn is a freelance writer, specializing in Macs, the iPod, iTunes, digital music and more. In addition to having written or co-written a dozen books, he is a regular contributor to Macworld magazine, TidBITS, and other web sites and magazines. He reviews classical CDs for MusicWeb and audiobooks for Audiofile, and is a translator from French to English.

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Latest Joy of Tech!

Total Hits to Kirkville	2,770,233
Stories (Comments) on Kirkville	316 (778)
Polls (Answers) on Kirkville	19 (1,832)
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Story Title	Views
What to do with a Dead iPod	89,008
Copying Music Files from your iPod to your Computer	61,989
Organize PDF Files in iTunes (Updated)	51,270
The Mac OS X Command Line: Unix Under the Hood	50,520
iTunes: Apple's New Spyware and Adware Application?	43,497
The Ultimate iPod & iTunes Book!	40,004
What's the Best iPod Case?	37,716
Creating User Accounts from the Command Line	36,036
iWish: Multiple iTunes Libraries	34,612
Getting the Most out of Classical Music with iTunes and the iPod	30,293
The iPod/iTunes FAQ	29,921
The Mac OS X Drawer: A Badly Designed User Interface Element	24,147
Kirk's Eight Rules of Effective Podcasting	21,789
iSpy: Still More on the iTunes MiniStore and Privacy	21,765
Why Haven't Online Newspapers Gotten it Right?	21,689
What is Gapless Playback on the iPod and in iTunes? (Update)	21,267
Apple Bungles Bluetooth in Mac Pro	16,390
It's Official: Apple's Stupidest Interface Innovation Ever	15,081
A9.com - Amazon's Trojan Horse	13,891
Mastering Mac OS X: The Power User's Guide to Tiger	12,930
Importing Audiobooks in iTunes	12,546
Finally! Digital Booklets with iTunes Music Downloads	12,468
Now Available: How To Do Everything with Mac OS X Tiger	12,321
Apple to Launch Apple TV - Cable and Satellite TV Channel with Apple Programming	11,878
Spotlight's Secret Search Syntax	11,453
Hey Apple - Why Don't You Make Us an Ebook Reader?	10,915
Apple Peddles Porn Podcasts	10,683
Why Use the Command Line in Mac OS X?	10,190
The iTunes MiniStore Debacle: What Apple Did Wrong	9,960
Books about Literary Translation	9,897
My New Book: Take Control of Users & Accounts in Leopard	9,732
Image Manipulation from the Command Line	9,460
The Key to the I Ching	9,339
How Much Electricity Do You Waste?	8,778
Microsoft Office v. X Inside Out	8,732
iTunes Music Sharing - Count Me In, Please?	8,376
Hot Off the Presses: Take Control of Tiger	8,353
The Mac mini is a Lemon	8,287
Reading Moby-Dick	7,885
Take Control of Customizing Microsoft Office	7,737
Mac OS X Power Hound	7,514
The Joy of Travel in the Digital Age	7,504
New Book: Podcasting Pocket Guide	7,293
My $10 Home-Made iPod Remote Control	7,129
French Science Fiction by Pierre Bordage	6,670
AAC: Apple's Preferred Audio Codec	6,469
Review: Apple Wireless Bluetooth Mighty Mouse	6,371
Mac Upgrade and Repair Bible	6,369
On My Wish List: Nested Folders in iTunes	6,144
Steve Ballmer Insults Me!	6,070
Why Doesn't the iPod Offer Gapless Playback?	5,925
Choosing the Right iPod	5,908
Help! My Screen's Too Big!	5,902
The iTunes MiniStore: Fact and Fiction	5,887
The iPod photo - A Portable Cartoon Viewer?	5,449
Why a WiFi iPod?	5,408
Do We Need a Color-Screen iPod?	5,261
The iTunes MiniStore: Apple Does the Right Thing	5,039
iWish: iTunes "Works"	5,005
FireWire R.I.P.	4,741
Software Review: Ulysses--The Writer's Text Editor	4,728
Take Your First Steps on the Mac OS X Command Line	4,691
On My Wish List: the Apple iServe	4,645
Unleashing the Power of the PowerMate	4,622
BBEdit - The Text Editor for Processing Words - Updated	4,608
Essential Music: Dark Star, by the Grateful Dead	4,579
"...extremely gullible users..."	4,343
The Warriors of Silence - Chapters 1 and 2	4,310
Listen Different: Adding Silence to your iTunes and iPod Playlists	4,293
Death to "Hidden Tracks"	4,283
Book Review: Walden - A Fully Annotated Edition	4,275
The Well-Tempered Database: A Classical Music CD Database	4,197
The iPod and Podcasting: New Features in the iPod Enhance Podcast Listening	4,158
Pre-loading Music on an iPod Shuffle	4,128
iWant: A Terminal Widget for Dashboard	4,117
Spyware - Windows: 2,509 Mac: 0	4,090
The iPod shuffle: A Great New iPod; and It Does More than Just Shuffle	4,051
Why I'm Going To Buy a MacBook Air	3,989
Printing from the Command Line	3,938
Apple's Marketing: Lies, or Just a Question of Semantics?	3,923
Mac Pro Take 4: Bluetooth Mighty Mouse is a No-Go - Now it Works!	3,889
Book Review: iPhoto 4 for Mac OS X	3,883
Ask Kirk - March 23, 2005	3,859
Mac Pro: Take 3 - The Weird USB Extension Cord	3,838
Music Review: Franz Schubert Complete Songs	3,786
Ask Kirk - May 23, 2005	3,759
Book/Magazine Review: Make	3,741
Essential Music: First Song (For Ruth), by Stan Getz and Kenny Barron	3,715
Napster To Go? Yeah, right...	3,680
AirPort and AirTunes: The Perfect Pair	3,644
Mac Pro: Take 1 - The Quietest Desktop Mac Ever	3,612
iWanted, iGot: iTunes Album Ratings	3,449
Review: Contour Design Showcase iPod Case	3,412
Raintree County: A Great American Novel	3,387
Book Review: Wicked Cool Shell Scripts	3,362
Review: The Kinesis Advantage Keyboard	3,360
Book Review: In Praise of Slowness	3,359
iTunes Gets a Facelift	3,351
Is Steve Jobs Preparing for his Retirement?	3,334
Ask Kirk - April 18, 2005	3,325
Apple's Real Revolution: iTunes	3,264
iWish: A Flash-Memory Startup Volume	3,233
In Praise of the Pencil	3,216
My Predictions for the Apple Expo 2005	3,058
Apple, iTunes and France: The Reality Behind France's New Copyright Law	3,039
Book notes: The Complete Cartoons of the New Yorker	3,036
Rant: Supporting Shareware Developers--Grumblers and Recalcitrants	3,032
iPod Ha-Ha	2,949
The First Read of the Year: Bartleby the Scrivener, by Herman Melville	2,891
Apple's Intel Macs: Why Aren't They Cheaper?	2,884
Book Notes: Learning the bash Shell	2,877
Get Yer iPod Updater Here!	2,865
What I'd Like to See in Leopard	2,862
Book Review: The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Short Stories	2,847
Essential Music: Charles Ives	2,844
The iPod mini gets a Maxi Update	2,838
What's in a Name? Apple's Reasons for the MacBook Pro	2,817
Access your Smart Folders from the Spotlight Menu	2,813
Buy My Book and Get Free iTunes Songs!	2,801
Look Up Word Definitions from the Command Line	2,784
The View from My Window	2,769
Back to the Basics: The Hipster PDA	2,766
Dick's Picks on iTunes!	2,728
Mac Pro: Take 2 - The Power of Spotlight	2,719
All About your iTunes Music Library	2,706
iPod Killers or iPod Wannabes?	2,703
Intel Inside: What Does It Mean to You?	2,702
Music Review: Brad Mehldau Live in Tokyo	2,701
Book Review: Author, Author, by David Lodge	2,695
iTunes Plus: No DRM, but Breadcrumbs	2,683
Book Review: Cloud Atlas	2,663
Steve Jobs Sells Sugar Water	2,659
Listening Anew to Einstein on the Beach	2,643
Guest Rant: The Cocoa Text Editor	2,639
Book Review: The Master, by Colm Toibin	2,629
iTunes and Large Libraries: Slow, Slow, Slow	2,611
Mac vs. PC in France	2,607
On My Wish List: iTunes Music Store Radio Stations	2,564
Book Notes: Web Search Garage	2,561
Book Notes: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell	2,537
Finally, an iPod Stand that's Nice to Look At	2,512
Simplify Assigning Permissions with Chmod Calculator	2,506
Classical Music on the iPod and iTunes	2,505
AppleScript to Add PDF Files to iTunes	2,495
On My Wish List: A Voice-Controlled iPod	2,493
Lawsuits Galore!	2,484
Book Review: The Plot Against America, by Philip Roth	2,480
The MacBook Air: What a Laptop Should Be	2,459
iPod Case Review: The iFrogz Silicone Case	2,457
And what if Cellphones Really are Dangerous?	2,452
Is Watching Videos on your iPod Bad for your Eyes?	2,434
Book Review: Excelsior, You Fathead! The Art and Enigma of Jean Shepherd	2,432
Mozart Complete	2,401
French Court Rules against Copy-Protected CD	2,388
Book Notes: Grateful Dead: The Illustrated Trip	2,382
Digital Audiobooks: Taking Them to the Next Generation	2,379
Thoughts on the iPod Photo	2,377
Book Review: I Am Charlotte Simmons	2,365
Today's Rant: Liner Notes	2,357
What New Features should iTunes 5 Contain?	2,356
Imprecision in Journalism: How the iTunes MiniStore was Reported	2,356
Will Leopard Support Current Macs?	2,352
Henry David Thoreau: An American Original	2,351
iTunes 4.9: Podcasts for Everyone!	2,334
DVD Review: In Search of the Valley	2,315
Book Review: Photoshop Compositing with John Lund	2,300
The Tivoli Audio iPAL: Big Sound from a Little Speaker	2,276
Book Review: Encyclopedia of Literary Translation into English	2,272
What Happens when the Machine Stops?	2,258
Tagging Classical Music for iTunes and the iPod	2,257
Cory Doctorow on Copyright, Piracy and DRM	2,253
Buying My Books	2,243
Essential Music: The Return of The Durutti Column	2,226
Book Review: J. S. Bach - Oxford Composer Companion	2,178
The Warriors of Silence - Chapter 2	2,177
Check Out Doug's Automator Actions for iTunes	2,143
A Positive Tale of Apple Customer Service	2,105
All of Bach for 90 Euros!	2,099
Apple Censors Authors!	2,088
Save Even More Money on .Mac Renewals	2,084
How Many Books are Too Many?	2,081
The Biography of a Once-Popular Program	2,079
Letter from France #1: France and the Future of Employment	2,075
Product Review: Griffin iBeam	2,070
Letter from France #0 - Introduction	2,061
Video + Podcast = Vodcast?	2,058
Music Downloads Aren't Killing Music Sales?	2,028
No CDs for French Reviewers	2,025
The Right to Steal?	2,015
What do You Want to See in a Mac Magazine?	1,985
Uh Oh, Apple Phones Home... Serious? Feh...	1,984
Review: The Complete Arkangel Shakespeare on CD	1,983
Tiger Roars!	1,972
How to Use Flickr: The Digital Photography Revolution	1,941
Create Bookmarks for the iTunes Store	1,940
Help Buy an iPod for your Senator or Congressman	1,938
Mac Pro Take 5: Wow, This Thing Sure is Fast!	1,930
10 Points to Consider about iTunes, EMI and DRM	1,927
The Apple PDA: The iPhone Minus the Phone	1,918
Minimalism for All: Live Classical Music at the iTunes Music Store	1,917
Welcome to Kirkville!	1,891
Protect your Ears!	1,873
The iPod Book That's Always Up-To-Date	1,866
What do you think about the iTunes MiniStore?	1,849
Books: The Library of America	1,837
Five Mistakes Band & Label Sites Make	1,829
Backing Up Files in Leopard: An Ideal Method	1,812
What New Features should the Next iPod Contain?	1,812
iPod & iTunes Garage Update Version 2.1	1,809
NetNewsWire Gets Revved Up	1,798
New Homes for Old Books with BookMooch	1,787
My First Book in Japanese	1,768
Kudos to Audible.com - Better Audio Formats for Old Titles	1,763
Microsoft, the Zune and Bad Grammar	1,763
Keep Your Earbud Cords Untangled	1,753
Book Review: The Mahler Symphonies - An Owner's Manual	1,745
The Apple TV: an iPod Without a Screen	1,734
iTunes Custom Cards: A Card for a Song	1,694
Wizards of Technology Podcast with Yours Truly	1,689
Why Doesn't iTunes Have a "Sync" Button?	1,682
Is it April 1st on the iTunes Music Store?	1,655
Essential Music: Live at the Village Vanguard, by Bill Evans	1,653
The Mayor of Kirkville on The Tech Night Owl	1,645
Book Notes: Lincoln, by Gore Vidal	1,628
So Many Dead Podcasts...	1,625
Everything You Need to Know about the Oompa-Loompa Trojan Horse	1,616
iPod iChing	1,597
Hear Me Talk about My Book iPod & iTunes Garage	1,572
Writing Conversation: An Analysis of Speech Events in E-mail Mailing Lists	1,538
Hattogate, or, The Music You Hear is Not What You Think	1,529
Thoughts on the New iPod Classic	1,508
The Trouble with Newspapers	1,493
Today is Bob Dylan Day	1,443
Book Notes: Darwin's Origin of Species: A Biography	1,431
Two New Big Brilliant Classics Box Sets - Both Now Available	1,427
Amazon MP3 Downloads: Good and Bad	1,425
Some of My Translations	1,375
Marcel Proust in Audio	1,360
Hello iPhone!	1,341
DRM Is Dead - Sort Of	1,313
Audiobook review: Molloy, by Samuel Beckett	1,296
$2000 for an iPhone?	1,295
The Mayor of Kirkville on Swiss TV	1,247
Happy Bloomsday to All!	1,213
Tour de France or Tour du dopage?	1,200
Essential Music: Morton Feldman	1,187
Podcast, Podcast, Podcast, Podcast, Podcast	1,173
iPod: Has It Been 5 Years Already?	1,147
Rip To Lossless - and Never Rip Again	1,137
A Slimmer, Trimmer iTunes	1,137
Floyd Tests Positive - Again	1,122
Amazon Shorts: Short Stories for 4 Bits	1,110
Apple's My iTunes: They Make Money Off Your Back and Don't Even Say Thank You	1,101
Macworld Predictions	1,090
What Do You Think about My Web Design?	1,052
Traveling with the Chums of Chance	1,052
One Million Page Views!	997
Lots of Great Recordings of the Century!	982
"Book" Review: Why Bach?	972
Maria Callas: Complete Studio Recordings	967
Book Notes: Who's Who in Proust	933
It's Leopard Day - Save $20	841
Find and Conquer Duplicates in your iTunes Library	835
Leopard: Likes and Dislikes	834
Get Your Leopard Here!	807
Perceval Puts Pen to Paper	774
The Demise of the Recording Industry	762
Music Review: Beethoven Complete Piano Sonatas on Period Instruments	749
Book Review: Marcel Proust by Jean-Yves Tadié	746
Music Review: Goldberg Variations by Simone Dinnerstein	744
Essential Music: Transmission, by Joy Division	742
Apple Needs People Who Understand Music	723
Book Notes: The SFWA European Hall of Fame	700
Book Review: Another Day in the Frontal Lobe	694
What Kind of Keyboard is This?	691
Book Review: The Rest is Noise, by Alex Ross	676
Book Review: Bridge of Sighs, by Richard Russo	664
Bach on Clavichord: Listen Closely	663
'Twas the Night Before Expo...	649
Glenn Gould Box Set: Available Now	648
Deadheads Up in Arms About MP3 Bait-and-Switch	645
Operation Spamalot	642
Mac Security: A New Trojan Horse	618
Hear Me Talk on the Books and Ideas Podcast	579
Should You Re-Rip Your Music?	574
Apple's iPod Games: Planned Obsolescence	564
Over 2,000,000 Served	545
Which New iPod are You Getting?	542
Harry Potter Time - Counting Down...	460
New from Apple: Movie Rentals	442
Setting Parental Controls in Leopard	436
My New Go Set	428
Yet Another Important Box Set: Bach's Sacred Cantatas	418
Me and Steve Jobs	410
Classical Box Sets for Every Taste	407
Learn How to Get Lyrics on your iPod (and iTunes)	404
I Can Has Glossy Screen?	363
Karajan 100 - More Big Box Sets	363
Apple Updates .Mac	362
2008 Will Be 2008	332
On the Road	321
Better Battery Life with the MacBook Air	309
Three Articles about Spotlight	274
Happy New Year to All!	227
Henry James's Letters: What's the Point of Publishing Them?	226
Watching the Super Bowl in France	223
Book Notes: Excursions, by Henry David Thoreau	221
Too Many Acronyms - Tales of a Confused Consumer	196
Happy Birthday Henry James	190
The Walden Mailing List	176
Discover Preview's Hidden Powers	157
Get a Free iPod From Amazon.com	154
DVD Notes: Complete BBC Shakespeare	152
Learn How to Use Album Art with iTunes and the iPod	147
Belkin UPSs = Crap	135
DVD Review: Barenboim on Beethoven	119

Story Title	Comments
The Mac OS X Drawer: A Badly Designed User Interface Element	45
Copying Music Files from your iPod to your Computer	28
Creating User Accounts from the Command Line	23
Why Haven't Online Newspapers Gotten it Right?	22
Getting the Most out of Classical Music with iTunes and the iPod	22
Do We Need a Color-Screen iPod?	20
Steve Ballmer Insults Me!	19
Reading Moby-Dick	15
iTunes and Large Libraries: Slow, Slow, Slow	15
A9.com - Amazon's Trojan Horse	14
AirPort and AirTunes: The Perfect Pair	13
iWish: Multiple iTunes Libraries	13
Importing Audiobooks in iTunes	13
Apple Bungles Bluetooth in Mac Pro	12