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It would be hard to find someone who at one time or another did not fall prey to the latest trends in kitchen equipment. A special blender to create smoothies. A gadget to help you chop vegetables. A knife set whose manufacturers claim can saw through metal. We all have at least one "wonder gadget" collecting dust in our kitchens.

The truth is, these gadgets seldom live up to their claims. The commercials, while not overtly deceiving us, somehow manage to make the product look and seem a little better than it is. So we buy it and in the end we waste our money.

If we embrace the latest trends in cooking gadgets whenever we see something that we think will make our lives easier, we end up spending more money than we need to. This is not a cost effective way to stock our kitchens with helpful and useful tools.

Your best bet is to stock your kitchen with tools and appliances that are time tested. Your goal is to spend your money on the basics. You will learn that a high quality chef’s knife, for example, is one of the most versatile tools in the kitchen. The smoothie blender, on the other hand, will likely collect dust.

However, that does not mean that you should not purchase a kitchen tool that you fell will make your life easier. There is a time and a place to purchase these items. But you run the danger of making a bad decision and wasting your money. So, it is a good idea to only buy these items if you already have a well stocked kitchen. The error is when people think they are going to replace the need for a high quality knife because they purchased the latest shopping gadget.

If you look at the kitchens of top chefs, you will likely only see the basic tools and equipment that have been time-tested and are incredibly durable. This is something that you should consider as you feel yourself being swayed by the hype.

Your goal is to save money. A good way to do that is to steer clear of the latest trends and purchase only those things that are absolutely necessary. And, if you spend all of your money on gadgets, you will not have enough left in your budget to purchase durable things that are higher quality which will actually help you save money in the long run.

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Apple Computer, maker of the iPod, has a cultural phenomenon on their hands. The iPod is the single most popular personal music listening device on the market today. Its ability to store large amounts of music, coupled with its tiny size and ease of use, has made it a hit across all age groups. Not even PC giant Microsoft's competing Zune has even put a dent into iPod sales. And the market for iPod accessories has grown along with it's popularity.

What does all this have to do with auto sound systems, you ask? Well, since the iPod is such a popular product, it was perhaps inevitable that auto sound system manufacturers would begin adding the ability to interface your head unit with your iPod. It just makes too much sense, both from a business and a usability standpoint. There are a quite a few products aimed specifically at integrating the iPod with your vehicles sound system. Heading the pack are head units that allow the iPod to be plugged directly into the head unit face. These types of units allow the user to control their iPod through the standard interface, often displaying all the meta-info that is included, such as song title, artist, album, length, bitrate, et cetera.

If your head unit already has a USB port, you are good to go as well. There are adapters to allow your iPod to act as any other USB music storage device while connected to your auto sound system. Playback can either be controlled from the head unit itself, or through the iPod, depending on your specific system and the adapter used.

If your head unit doesn't have either of these ports, don't despair. Most aftermarket head units will have line level inputs on the back, or a jack for an external cd player input (this jack often looks just like a headphone jack) that can be used with a special cradle for your iPod to allow you to playback through your auto sound system. These types of systems require you to select the song you want on your iPod directly; they simply provide a line-level output of whatever you are playing at the moment on the iPod.

All of the above systems can provide power to your iPod as well, both charging its internal batteries and keeping it running for as long as you care to listen.