Oh, you're right. I trust Time Warner not to screw me over.

I have Time Warner

Which isn't to say that you won't be able to view the digital channels once they make the switch, they just won't look very good. There was a lot of noise on my set before we upgraded to the digital box.

The good news is that they let us have the digital box without subscribing to DTV -- we've got the same channels as our old standard cable, but much, much better reception.

Well, Beej (or anyone else), if you end up going with Speakeasy, tell 'em "spidra" referred you. I get a credit for referrals. But I'm telling you the honest truth regardless of kickbacks (heh). I've had something like 5 ISPs since first getting on the net in '95. I've had cable both when it was Excite@Home, ATT@Home and Comcast. Speakeasy has been the best customer experience of any utility I use. I'm a pretty broke person, but I am willing to pay more for an ISP just to have that pleasant experience instead of the hell that, say, Comcast was.

The wait times on the phone are usually negligible and sometimes no wait at all. The people I've talked to on the phone are very knowledgeable. I've never felt like the first line CS people are just reading off a script. They know their stuff. They don't treat you like a dummy. If you go to them saying you've already done (a), (b) and (c) in the way of troubleshooting maneuvers, they don't make you do it all over again just because they figure you couldn't possibly know what you're doing. They have a nice ticket system which allows you to check status online for anything that doesn't have an immediate solution. So you can see what the CS rep entered and you can make additions to the ticket yourself if necessary.

I'm with you on being willing to pay for good CS. These days, it is a lost art.

The Speakeasy rep I spoke to today was quite helpful. And, the multiple emails I got 'from the president' (right), helped solidify at least their intention to provide good customer service in my mind. I appreciate that.

So any recommendations for aftermarket car stereos that have built-in iPod interfaces? 'Cuz I gotta buy a car stereo, so I figure I might as well get one that connects directly to an iPod, rather than buying a car stereo and then buying a separate iPod adaptor thingie.

I have Time Warner

Oh, that statement was a slice of sarcasm pie, served with a tasty sauce of bitter experience.

A number of Macintouch readers shared their experience with aux in solutions for the iPod. [link]

So any recommendations for aftermarket car stereos that have built-in iPod interfaces?

I tried a bunch of those last year and found them all to be very very slow. From Spidra's link:

I installed a cheap 3rd party AM/FM/CD player in my ride. It's got a line input which I plug directly into the iPod, which I can fix to the dash by Velcro. Sounds great, works well, and the aftermarket stereo & all materials cost less than the iPod itself.

I did something like that, but fancier -- an Alpine stereo and a TransPod iPod bracket that attaches to the data port and lets you charge from the cigarette lighter: [link]

I haven't made use of iTune's Shuffle feature before but it's really pissing me off now. I have it drawing on the entire library and it's actually playing them in alphabetical order. I hit the Refresh button a couple times with no change and I've switched out of Shuffle and back in again trying to make sure it's really in Shuffle mode. No dice.

quit itunes and try it again. I've never had that happen.

Thanks for the suggestion, le nubian. Unfortunately, my iTunes is stubbornly doing the same thing. I checked to see if I had the latest version and I do. Guess it's just a glitch.