Video games were so much cooler in the Eighties than they are now. Yeah, the graphics were a little blocky and the sounds were more techno than audio, but the games themselves had a playability factor that you just don’t get anymore. A simplistic style to them that makes people of a certain age hark back to a better, brighter time.

Now you no longer need to think about the old games, you can play them. Better yet, you can play them on your iPod, the way they were meant to be played!

Well, maybe not. But you get the point. One such Eighties classic is the 1982 racing game Pole Position, that was played by all budding Lewis Hamilton wannabes when Lewis Hamilton was a Lewis Hamilton Wannabe.

Namco, the developers behind the game, have released it for the iPod Touch and the iPhone, and it even contains special hidden games for you to find and master. These games include the Namco legend that is Pac-Man!

The game features different tracks from the F1 season, way back when the cars were more ‘edgy’ and racing was a real sport.

Playing the game offers you several choices on car control, such as ‘tilt to steer’ or by using the touch screen steering wheel; whatever suits your driving style.

The best bit is you can download the game from the Apple store for just $5. What a bargain!

How many of you bulk at paying your TV licence because the quality of television is poor? When you have to pay to fund shows like ‘My Hero’ on BBC 1, it could really put you off wanting to cough up the money.

However things might be getting worse, as Ofcom (the Broadcasting Regulator for the UK) say that UK residents might soon have to pay a new tax to fund even worse TV programs on C4 and ITV. The new tax; the iPod tax.

Ouch.

It’s not just iPod and MP3 users who would be targeted though, as people with Sky dishes, Freeview boxes and even just an Internet connection would be expected to fund the dross on C4.

Ed Richards is the CEO of Ofcom, and he thinks that consumers should be taxed for everything from blank DVDs and CDs to just owning computers. This is one of the many options that Ofcom is looking at to provide funding for public service broadcasting.

Advertising spend is currently leaving the television industry and disappearing online, so according to Ofcom the three junk channels, ITV, C4 and C5, would require somewhere between £145 million and £235 million in order to keep making the rubbish that they’re producing right now.

If you’ve got a distinct lack of style, you might be interested in a post on the Macworld website this week, where they’ve revealed a pair of goggles that are being released by the company Vuzix. The googles are called ‘iWear AV310’ and for the discerning iPod fan who doesn’t care what he or she looks like in public. The goggles contain a widescreen video screen (in 16:9 ratio) allowing the wearing to watch movies from their iPod, directly in front of them no matter what direction they face.

Of course this does mean you can’t see anything else, so you can’t really use them when riding your bike or down the gym. Plus if you were to wear them on the train you may find you’ll miss your stop, or have your bag stolen altogether when you take them off.

The goggles also work with other portable digital audio players, MP3 players and video cameras. Anything that emits a Pal or NTSC signal can be plugged into the goggles. The video screen, while tiny, is the equivalent of a 52 inch TV screen because of the closeness to your eyes (though of course you don’t need the same space).

They only run for 5 hours though, so you won’t be able to get through the Lord of Rings Trilogy.

With Christmas approaching many people will be looking at the new range of iPods announced by Steve Jobs last week, wondering if they can grab themselves one for their stocking. However some people might be saving up for a wedding, as their impending marriage to their bride-to-be takes precedent over a portable digital music player, or MP3 player.

However they shouldn’t, for an iPod is much better than a wife. Here are just a few of the ways that an iPod is superior to a wife.

An iPod ages better
While an iPod will age and new models will look better in time, it won’t look any worse itself. A wife however will age badly, and show signs of wear and tear. Plus, as your wife ages you’ll notice newer models much more easily. So an iPod is definitely better for you.

Expensive wife, cheap iPods
iPods cost a maximum of a few hundred pounds for the top models, a top model wife costs thousands to keep, and requires constant maintenance.

You can wipe an iPod’s memory
If you’ve made a mistake (as we’re all prone to do from time to time) with your iPod you can simply erase its memory. Have you ever tried erasing the memory of your wife?

You can backup your iPod
When you lose your iPod, you can rescue all of the tracks by having it backed up from your computer, but if you lose your wife you’ll find backups very difficult to come by.

In these times of heightened interest in green matters, and people leaving their cars behind for other forms of transport such as cycling or walking, it was only natural that someone would come up with a battery for MP3 players and iPods that was charged by the motion of walking. So instead of plugging your iPod into the wall, or into your computer via USB, simply go for a walk!

The new power source is called M2E Power, and means you won’t need to plug your MP3 player or mobile phone into the wall if it’s running a little low. It saves energy and money, which is good for the environment, it helps to keep you fit and it’s more convenient. How many times has your MP3 player gone dead in the middle of a track, or your mobile run out of power in the middle of a call? No more, not with the M2E Power, it’ll recharge with every step.

Still in the concept stage, the M2E Power gets charged by kinetic energy as you walk. It doesn’t generate huge amounts of power, just enough for a MP3 player, iPod or a PDA.

The makers of M2E have high hopes too, as they say it will create anything from 300% to 700% more energy than any current kinetic energy power on the market today.

It’ll be a few years before we see this on the high street though, but the military are expected to receive it very soon.

This is quite possibly the most useless invention ever, but definitely one that’s worth talking about. Some Japanese scientists, presumably with far too much time on their hands, have invented a solar panelled bra that outputs enough ‘juice’ to power an MP3 player, iPod or a mobile phone.

Hmm, interesting.

The bra is being touted as being very ‘green’, as being solar panelled it’s kind to the environment. The bra comes equipped with a detachable solar panel that the woman proudly wears around her stomach.

Yuko Ishida is one of the girls who have been modelling the bra:

It is very comfortable and I can really feel involved in eco-friendly efforts as well.

As you can probably imagine, there are one or two drawbacks with this invention. For it to actually work you would have to go outside, wearing just your bra, in the sun. There aren’t too many women that do this, sadly.
Also, because of the material used on the bra it is easily damaged by water.

The Photovoltaic Bra, as it has been dubbed, is still in the concept stage so it’s unlikely to be on sale any time soon. You’re probably best just charging your iPod in the conventional manner before this invention is released and revolutionises the market of underwear rechargeables.

One of the best things about the iPod and the iPod range is the level of accessories you can buy for them, such as earphones, covers, clips and even speaker systems that turn an iPod into a full fledged stereo system.

However not everyone wants to spend money on the accessories, preferring to buy their iPod and spend their money on iTunes downloading their music, the reason for having an iPod after all.

Therefore if you want to turn your iPod into a stereo system without buying an extra set of speakers or an iPod dock, you’ll be interested in what the Instructables came up with. They’ve invented a new iPod speaker system, made from a Tupperware box. It looks cheap and simple, largely because it is, but it makes for a great speaker system.

Using the box, and the sound that it can reverberate, you’re able to create a sound system for your iPod. Check out the full instructions on how to make one at their website here.

You can’t help but have noticed the latest series of Big Brother on channel 4. Love it or hate it, and most of us have an opinion one-way or the other, it’s hard to escape it everywhere you look.

This series even comes with a wealth of merchandise that you can buy, and pretend you’re one of the housemates yourself… if you’re in to that sort of thing.

One particular piece of merchandise is the Big Brother Lanyard, which is a material strap that you can put around your shoulder, neck or wrist and carry things such as ID passes, car keys, or even small MP3 players.

The Big Brother Lanyard comes adorned with the BB logo, showing all of your friends just how much you love the show. With some MP3 players being so small these days, it makes sense to have something to attach to them so you don’t lose them.

The BB Lanyard is available from the official Big Brother website.

If you know someone who has a swimming pool, an iPod and generally everything, what do you get him for Christmas? It’s the age old question of what do you get the man who has everything; why, a floating iPod speaker for his swimming pool of course!

Grace Audio have just released a waterproof iPod speak system which connects wirelessly to your iPod (obviously) and not only survives a few splashes from over excited pool dwellers, it actually floats in the pool. What better way to provide music for your pool party than to toss the speaker system directly into the pool?

It’s even submersible, so you can play with it in the pool, toss it around and even dunk it under the water. Don’t expect the sound quality to be particularly crisp when it’s under the surface of the pool though. You can actually take the speaker under the water down to a depth of nine feet, for half an hour.

It’s the perfect way to bring the music directly into the pool party, just in case your normal speaker system isn’t quite loud enough at its ‘safe’ distance from the water.

It has a range of 150 feet from the music source, and will last 6 hours on its battery. The cost in the US is reported as being $150, and you can even buy additional speakers for $100 each, creating a network of up to 10 speakers for those really noisy pool parties.

No doubt you’ve always wanted a speak system for your iPod that you can listen to in the garden, in all weathers, without the need for wires. You have? Then you’re in luck, because Grundig have the answer. They’ve just launched a new, all weather (and by that we mean waterproof) wireless iPod speaker system that’s sure to make any party go with a bang, even with the British Summer weather.

The new wireless, weatherproof speaker system from Grundig is called Emanate, and comes with a rechargeable battery that Grundig say will give you up to eight hours of musical playback. The wireless speaker system also comes with a carry handle so you can move it easily from the house to the garden, and back again should the rain become too much even for your party.

The speakers are apparently able to produce a very clear stereo sound.

The Emanate also charges the iPod in its inbuilt iPod dock, which can also be covered in a weatherproof cover.

The system even comes with a remote control, so you don’t have to disturb your partying by walking over to turn the volume up.