is it essentially converted to a normal playlist on your iPod which is updated every time you connect?

I've always assumed that, and nothing has happened to contradict my assumption.

Which is my way of saying, "I guess so."

What's the difference between a smart playlist and a regular playlist?

regular = "play this song, and this song, and this song..."

smart = "play alternative songs released in the 90s that I've rated 4 stars or better but haven't heard in the last month."

Smart playlists are cool. I do stuff like amych's example all the time so I can catch songs I like a lot but might have forgotten about.

smart = "play alternative songs released in the 90s that I've rated 4 stars or better but haven't heard in the last month."

Gotcha. I did something like that to load up FAQ Girl's iPod. I labeled songs I wanted on the iPod with a common Grouping label ("iPod". Clever, no?). Then created a playlist to include all songs with that grouping label. Then told the iPod to only download songs from that playlist. It made it very easy to negotiate which 35 gigs of music I wanted to include. It was like making a 7400 song mix tape! But without the sequencing anguish.

People are finding all sorts of uses for the Mini-Mac: [link]

Because the Mini measures only 6.5 inches square and is 2 inches high, Underwriters can cram a standard server rack with three times as many minis as full-size servers.

"Size is a huge advantage," said Patrick Dayton, a senior project manager at Underwriters. "By taking into consideration remote power, we can get approximately 100 units in a single cage, as opposed to 30."

...

"When I saw the mini -- the dimensions and the specs -- I thought, this is perfect for the car," said Benzaquen. "I'd be surprised if Apple didn't think of installing it in a car, it's so perfect.... You don't have to do anything except mount it and plug it in. It even has voice-recognition built in. It's almost too easy."

Smart playlists stay smart on the iPod. Try making one that uses play count or rating and you can see that it is still smart. You can also see how much slower an iPod is than a desktop computer.

Smart playlists stay smart on the iPod.

Is this a recent update?

Try making one that uses play count or rating and you can see that it is still smart.

Really? Oh, cool. Most of mine are driven by ratings "Play everything by artist prince with rating over two stars" or "Play everything with year between 1980 and 1999 with rating over two stars" and I manically rate on the fly.

Is this a recent update?

I can't remember when it happened, perhaps as late as the Mini, but I think earlier.