Hacking Your iPod To Snag Your Outlook Data
Apple's iPod is an innovative tool that consumers love, as proven by the lines of people waiting to get their hands on the mini-iPod. The iPod is also turning into a tool that developers love to try and hack. This article provides the resources you need to hack your way into your iPod.
NOTE
When I say "hack your iPod," I don't mean the malicious, get-under-the-collar-of-the-local-software-lawyer hack. I'm demonstrating ways in which you can extend your use of your own iPod, using software that's already in there. In other words, this stuff is legal. (So get off my case, Mr. Jobs, as you've already told me that this is okay.)
Finding the Best Hacks
One of the most valuable places I've found in my quest to hack a way into the iPod is a web site called iPodHacks. The focus of the site is to provide all the relevant iPod news, rumor, and speculation, along with any new software that enables you extend your iPod or iTunes. You'll find a lot of Mac software and a growing number of Windows software hacks. The blogs and forums are particularly entertaining, as people try to second-guess what Apple will do next.
Largely because Apple is so driven by the iPod, the Apple section of Slashdot also provides a lot of information and tidbits. This section is ostensibly Apple-only, but because Slashdot is driven by rumor and gossip, you can find a lot of people throwing out techniques you should be using with your iPod.
The best source for information on hacking the iPod is straight from the horse's mouth: the SDK section of Apple's developer web site. Select the appropriate iTunes links to download sample code snippets to your computer.