Convert titles from the internal format to MP3(iTunes)

               You have purchased various songs in the iTunes store. As these are coded in Apple’s M4A or M4P format, the titles can normally be played only in iTunes or with an iPod.

               It’s possible to convert audio files in MP3 format directly from iTunes. For this, you only have to adjust the import settings. Open “Edit | Preferences” command and then select “General” category. Here, click the “Import settings” button. Now in the “Import using” combination field, change the setting to “MP3 encoder”. Confirm both open dialogs with “OK”. Open the media library or any playlist and select the desired title with the [Ctrl] key pressed. Then right click on it and select the context command “Create MP3 version”. For all newer files, this option should work, as Apple is doing away with the old and much criticized DRM protection of its files since some time. If some of the files cannot be converted, it probably concerns older DRM-protected M4P files. Collect these problematic cases in a separate playlist. Then right click to the left of this list and select the context command “Burn playlist on medium”. In the next dialog, make further settings for burning. As the format, select either “Audio CD” or “MP3 CD”.
                For the conversion process, you will however have to use the expensive disk. Or you can use softwares like NoteBurner or Virtual CD, to burn a virtual CD without a medium. After the procedure, you will either have an audio CD, a medium with MP3s or the images developed from virtual burning. Insert the disks or mount the images to copy down the music again, or to rip it.

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Speed up the program-start of music and video players(iTunes)

              iTunes-start is slow if you have a large media library. You would like to know about options for tuning and efficiency.
              The bigger the music data bank, the slower the iTunes. This becomes especially apparent on the older computers or with slow hard disks. Although a practical function, the intelligent playlists add to the delay, as iTunes updates all lists during every access. Therefore consider which of the lists are really useful and required.
               In case of other lists, you can right click the desired entries and delete them by means of the context command bar. If you wish to retain the list, it is logical to configure its settings. Use the context command bar “Edit Playlist” or simply right click on the Playlist. Here, deactivate the option “Update automatically”. If a list is constantly used, you can limit its size for improving performance during automatic update. For this, activate the option “maximum” and set the limit to say “25 objects” or “100 MB” next to it. Confirm your settings with “OK”.

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Reduce personalization of ads(iPhone)

             Your phone saves data about its geographical location, and you want to prevent this data being misused.

            At its default setting, every iPhone records location data which is then sent to Apple's servers for various purposes. As per information provided by Apple, this data is used for the intelligent iAd advertising platform amongst other things. You can however disable the collection of such data as well as the advertisements. Since the update to iOS 4.3.3, location data is no longer saved if geolocation is deactivated. In order to disable the advertisements, go to oo.apple.com from the phone's browser. This unregisters your device from the iAd platform so the ads you see after that are no longer as personalized. If you have multiple iOS devices, you will need to perform the described process for each one individually. Re-registration is also possible using the same method.
               There are also tools which can read and show you your phone's stored geolocation data. You will be surprised to know how comprehensively and accurately your iPhone logs movement. iPhone Tracker for Mac OS has been around for a while now. You can download it from petewarden.github.com/iPhoneTracker/#1. A Windows version is available at huseyint.com/iPhoneTrackerWin. Both tracker tools are very easy to install and operate. Of course, an iPhone is a basic pre-requisite for using these programs.

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