Toast 8 Titanium is now blurry. I'm not sure why this is. Some of the GUI is very clean and quite "Tiger"-like in its appearance. And yet, for some reason, when you're setting up a disc to burn or are actually burning it, the type seems like it's been washed in a pair of pants. I mention this because there's hardly anything else wrong with Toast 8 Titanium, and I figured I'd get my main complaint out of the way early.

Apple's been busting its stem for quite a while now to make the computer the center of your "digital lifestyle." And, of course, it's not just Apple. Every year at CES, there are dozens more companies with dozens more claims that they're finally bringing your computer into the living room. And every year, the products and claims fizzle away as computer users calmly explain, "Thanks, but we don't want the computer in the living room." That's not to say all of these products are worthless. Thankfully, some companies, such as Elgato, are smart enough to reverse the strategy, and choose to bring the living room to your computer. Such is the case with EyeTV Hybrid.

You know how when you're watching a software demonstration and the company rep makes it look pretty easy, and the whole time you're thinking, "It can't be that simple," and then you try it on your own and it's not? Of course you do, because that's every program that's ever been created. I most recently felt that way when watching the Musicbed DV Screencast. Was it that simple when I tried it? No. Don't be ridiculous. But it is much easier than any other audio program I've used, and yes, that includes GarageBand.

The ExpoDisk is a small circular lens cap-like device to assist the photographer obtain true color when taking photos. More specifically, the ExpoDisk helps set the camera's custom white balance for a specific camera set up so that no white balance adjustments need to be done in Photoshop or other photographic type of program. The whole process to use the ExpoDisk takes less than a minute and can save time of post photography color adjustments.

Why pay the auto dealer for a DVD player when you can buy an iLuv for less, get iPod compatibility, and be able to remove it from the car when you to watch it elsewhere. The battery life isn't great, but as long as you're near a power source either at home or in the car, that won't be an issue. Again, you can do better for a portable DVD player, but the iPod compatibility and overall portability make this well worth it.

The earphones included with Apple's iPod are barely good enough for the iPod, for example. I have a pair of Altec Lansing headphones that are decent for music, but not so much for movies and games (unless I press them against my ears). I recently reviewed the Griffin EarThumps, and found the lower ranges a bit muddy, but the highs and mids were quite clear. That's pretty much how it is with the Icemat Siberia In:Ear Headset, but there's more here to consider.

Before Apple sits down at the table this Thanksgiving for food and festivities, they better give thanks to Digital Lifestyle Outfitters (DLO) for the HomeDock Deluxe, which easily connects your iPod to your television via an AV or S-video cable. The benefit of the HomeDock Deluxe over most other iPod to TV devices is that it actually displays the iPod information on your TV. Kind of.

SteelSeries is making it quite clear to shoppers that the SteelSound 5H v2 headset is an "...optimized version of the original SteelSound 5H headset," featuring "...improved microphone quality, a longer microphone cord, bigger (and more comfortable) ear cushions, additional frame pressure and numerous other technical design improvements." Fair enough, I suppose. I never tried the previous version, but if it took SteelSeries the mistakes of v1 to get here, then it was worth it. For gaming purposes, this is one of the best headsets I've ever used.

Before you read this review, I want you to go to Blue Microphones' website and took at look at their microphone designs. Tell me those aren't some of the coolest looking gadgets you'll ever see sitting next to your Macintosh. Apparently, Apple agrees, as they chose Blue's Baby Bottle Mic to sit in front of Bob Dylan in their latest iPod commercial. Of course, aesthetics wouldn't amount to much if the microphones didn't deliver good sound, but that's not a worry here. The Snowball mic captures great sound and detail. Not stellar, but for the $150 price tag, great.

EarThumps are so named, I'm guessing, because of the deep bass they deliver. Deep bass. When I first tried these out, I was amazed at the amount of bass I was hearing, especially when compared to my somewhat tinny Altec Lansing OYOYO YO302WHT headphones. My music suddenly had a completely different feel to it, and I loved it...until the next album started.

Despite its lack of a cool moniker, the MPEG-4 Recorder 2 (MP4R2) is a super-cool device that makes it fairly simple to get video from an external source onto your computer, which you can then format for your iPod, upload to the web, bring into iMovie, etc. It works the same way as a VCR, only with memory cards instead of VHS tapes. You plug your playback device (camcorder, VCR, TV, cable box, etc.) into the MP4R2, then plug the MP4R2 into your TV. For the most part, it's then just matter of hitting record on the MP4R2 and play on the playback device, and you're all set. When you're done recording, removed your memory card from the MP4R2, plug it into your Mac, drag the files to your computer, and you're done. It's that simple, kind of...

Sorenson Media is now offering WMV output courtesy of Flip4Mac from Telestream. This comes in either WMV Studio or WMV Studio Pro for $99.00 or $179.00, respectively. With either of these, Squeeze can now import and encode Windows Media 9 audio and video. They're also now supporting the On2 VP6 Pro Plug-in for high-quality video compression for Flash 8, which is available separately for $149.00. It's somewhat frustrating that Sorenson Media doesn't roll this support into the Sorenson Squeeze 4.3 Compression Suite, but that they support it all is a step in the right direction.