The GeekPod 100 is a lithium ion battery pack, about the size of the iPod itself, which charges the internal iPod battery while providing 100 hours of audio playback, and about 12 hours of video, on a single charge. The GeekPod takes about 3-4 hours to fully re-charge, about the same as the 5G iPod's battery. There's a fuel guage in the form of 4 LED lights, so you know when it's time charge up again. It does essentially double (even a little more, as the GeekPod weighs 6 oz, a hair over the iPod) the size and weight of the iPod, but in exchange you get quintuple the battery life, and the whole setup is still completely portable. You can also get optional adapter tips to use the GeekPod for powering up and charging your cell phone or PDA. It's compatible with 5G, 4G, and 2G iPods, as well as the Nano, but doesn't work with the Shuffle or the 3G models. The best part is, the GeekPod 100 is normally $150, but is on sale for $69.99 at the moment at Battery Geek.

Another extended battery, XtremeMac's Micropack, will be available in the spring and will provide 80 hours audio playback and 8 hours of video, as well as doubling as a stand for easy video viewing. The Micropack is compatible with all dockable iPods, and there's a dock connecter so you can charge up while syncing the iPod with your computer. There are also dual amplified headphone jacks with individual volume controllers for watching or listening à deux. Sounds like it will be great for using at home, but the docked structure will make it harder to carry around than the GeekPod. The MicroPack will cost about $100 and be available from XtremeMac.

Oh yes- the program I'm using for ripping DVDs is Podmaxx Video. It not only rips DVDs into iTunes 6, but will let you copy everything in your iPod onto your computer, overriding that blasted inability of iTunes to let you maneuver music that originated on a different computer. No it won't rip copy-protected DVDs, because that's wrong and no one wants to do that.