This time for great reasons.

In Aximsite's peak, we were up to 3 servers to handle the load.  Since the Axim has been discontinued, Aximsite's forums (now Aximsite/Mobilitysite Forums) have declined since we peaked at an Alexa Ranking of 5000 or so. That said, the need and financial means for 3 servers has gone away. We dropped down to 2 servers earlier this year and down to 1 in the last couple months. The one server is a kick ass server though. It has 2 dual core processors, 4g of RAM, and all the other fixings.

The problem is that we just are not ready to drop to one server. With Mobilitysite getting more and more traffic and my other sites like SECTalk.com, Gotzune.com, and others... we still need the power. Most of the time, the one server was ok, but I hate to have any slow time on the sites, so we are readding a new server. It will take some time to get the sites separated between the two. Hopefully I can get started on this Monday after the Thanksgiving festivities.

Hopefully we won't experience any addition downtime in the meanwhile and the move of some of the sites to the new server should be transparent to most.

In my search for the best info and news about the Zune, I ran across a post in google blog search with a couple tips that could really get you out of a jam with your Zune.

Four secret button tricks for your Zune player.
Yep, this is the title of the post, but they really aren't much of a secret, but they are good tips.

To reset your player - also known as a "reboot" - press and hold the Back button, while pressing "up" on the Zune Pad.

To reformat your player's drive, reset it as noted above. When it starts to reset, hold down the Back button, Center button, and Play button at the same time. Your player will inform you that it is deleting all media on device, and your Zune should revert to the "way it was" when you first pulled it out of the box. Careful! This will erase your player contents and you should rarely if ever need to do it.

Head over to Zunemediaplayer to get a couple more tips!

I am going to keep a running list of Zune 80 Cases available for purchase. I am not going to list multi device cases, just those that are made for the Zune 80. The list is going to be short for now, but as new models are released, I will add to it. If you know of one that is not listed, let me know.

So, I have 1000's of songs on my Zune 80 and guess what it does from 8am to 5pm... It's a radio. I have just come to the realization that all I am using the Zune for at work is as a radio. I have some pretty nice powered desktop speakers on my desk. I just jack in and tune in to Sports Talk! We are fortunate enough to have an FM sports radio station. All this music and functionality and I use it as a radio at work. Funny.

Previous to the Zune 80, I used a Sansa Connect at work to stream Yahoo Music Stations. I used the Zune 30 at home docked and a/v out jack to an older powered subwoofer 3 speaker desktop setup. I use my iPod 30g Video for cutting the grass. My iPhone sits there charging waiting for some accessory to review with it. The rest of my players sit in the graveyard waiting for a photo opportunity with a newer device.

How do you use your Zune?

I was going to post on how to do this myself, but no need now. An article over at Tech-Recipes (thanks Riko) shows you how with a nice collection of screen grabs to make it even easier.

It never fails, due to a typo or software snafu, some songs in your collection have incorrect information for the artist, album, genre, etc. This can make it difficult when you are trying to find that song you are looking for, setting up a playlist, or sharing music (not to mention that it doesn't look right). You can edit the song data from within the Zune software by doing the following:

Open your Zune software and go to the music section under collection.

From the browse view: (this is for a quick fix to a single artist, album or song tag) ...

Check out the rest of the article here

This weeks Cnet's Most Wanted Weekly has the 80gb 2nd Generation Microsoft Zune in the top spot!

Well, the time has come... The day a lot of you are waiting on. Who gets the 2nd Zune I bought?

The contest's rules were simple. A random commenter that made any comments from the 11th until today will win their very own 80gb Zune 2.

I wish I could have bought more than 1 for this contest because there are quite of few of you guys that are quite deserving. I just hope those of you that don't win take off into the wind when they realize they were not the winner. We have been working hard to make this blog one hell of a resource for you all. If the site does well, we'll be giving away more and more as the days go on. Heck, I don't need any more Zunes personally, might as well spread the love, right?

Anyhow, in order for the winner to accept delivery of their winnings, they must post a PROMISE in this thread that they will take photos and shoot them to me!

And the winner is...

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Because of the Zune 80 supply problems, are you constantly checking the online stores to see when you can order a Zune 80?

The site NowInStock.net makes things easier for you. They have a dedicated page for the Zune 80 and it will report when any Zune 80s start selling at a major online retailer.

The site not only tracks Zunes, but it can track other hard to find items, i.e. "Guitar Hero III",  Wii, etc., which may be convenient during this holiday gift season.

Source: http://www.nowinstock.net/zune/

There are lots of ways to get music onto your Zune. I will cover 4 of these ways in this post. This is for the community as well as a reference for member of the Zune.net forums.

Rip a CD
This is a no brainer, but since there is no guide within the software, i'll show you. When the Zune Software is loaded there are 4 upper tabs above the music category. Collection, Device, Marketplace, and Social. Put a CD into your computer and this screen pops up in Vista. Notice you have a choice for Zune to play or rip. Pick Rip or close this window out and go to the 2nd way. (which is also the 1st way, but initiating the rip from the software.

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