APOD, EPOD, iPod, oPod, uPod, yPod and More

- 2005.01.03

A POD, by the way, is a "Picture of the Day" or a "Problem of the Day," and in the case of our favorite music player, it's a "Pretty Original Design."

Anyway, have you ever wondered about the other PODs out there? Wonder no more and read on, patient reader.

APOD. I frequently visit the APOD (Astronomy Picture of the Day) site. I use it to start the day in my astronomy classes. APOD is a website managed since 1995 by Robert Meniroff and Jerry Bonnell. In the site's own words, APOD "...contains the largest collection of annotated astronomical images on the Internet." I agree, and that includes NASA. NASA's sites are sometimes a little long on splash and short on content. APOD shows how to get it right.

EPOD. This is one I didn't know about until I wrote this article. Seems other folks like the example set by APOD. In this case, it is the Earth science Picture of the Day. EPOD features annotated random images of the day, just like APOD. EPOD is run by Jim Foster and Martin Ruzek. EPOD "highlights the diverse processes and phenomena which shape our planet and our lives. EPOD will collect and archive photos, imagery, graphics, and artwork with short explanatory captions and links exemplifying features within the Earth system." They give due credit where credit's due - kudos to them for that.

iPod. Lots of iPod sites out there in the world now. Notably Apple's, iPod InfoZone (part of MacSpeedZone), and iPodlounge. Any quick Google search on "iPod" will turn up many more, I'm sure.

oPod. oPod is a protective case specifically designed for your iPod. I haven't seen one, but I'd review it if one of them should come across my doorstep (hint, hint).

uPod. This one is either a book on the Universal Principles of Design, a portable satellite uplink, or a fake-out iPod media skin for Windows Media Player, or a home mortgage company. Basically, no one has a clear claim on uPod so far.

yPod. Another schitzo case with it being represented by some sort of a plugin for Quake, a business club in Decatur, YeePei's iPod, or an airport. Since Y is only "sometimes" a vowel, I guess that's okay.

That's all the vowels I know.

So then it occurred to me there could be consonant Pods, too. Here's a quick rundown, for the funniest Pods for the other letters of the alphabet. Some of these are not acronyms, and for some the connection to "Pod" is not clear, but still funny.

If you want to track down other variants, you can use Google too - whaddaya need me for?

APOD - Astronomy Picture of the Day
bPod - someone's Blog
cPod - your personal black box in case you crash while trying to fly
dPod - Digital Print on Demand company in New Zealand
ePod - Earth Science Picture of the Day
fPod - Flaming Pasta of Death (no link because it is NSFW due to crude language)
gPod - Gravity based arcade game for Pocket PCs
hPod - the Headquarters Procurement Operations Division or the HP iPod, take yer pick
iPod - Goes without saying. Interesting to note that Mail (in which I am composing this) does not flag iPod or APOD as a spelling error. Everything else is. I probably added APOD to my personal spelling list....
jPod - Some sort of Java utility
kPod - KPOD radio's website, which needs some help
lPod - Lunar Photo of the Day
mPod - Mars Picture of the Day
nPod - iPod ripoff MP3 player (now unavailable)
oPod - protective case for iPod
pPod - Pelvic Pain and Organic Dysfunction - possibly NSFW
qPod - Tiny little eco-car (http://www.3wheelers.com/qpod.html)
rPod - Children and Youth Performance Outcome System, which somehow becomes an acronym spelled RPOD
sPod - a pointless click counter - I am 6480606.
tPod - a glow-in-the-dark, obviously unauthorized iPod T-shirt
uPod - a home mortgage company
vPod - Association of Press and Broadcasting Librarians (in Dutch, Vereniging van Pers- en Omroep Documentalisten)
wPod - A nonexistent band someone is really upset about
xPod - Microsoft's "answer" to the iPod or a utility to copy iPod music files to your local hard drive
yPod - Young Professionals of Decatur
zPod - A component of a device purporting to suck free energy out of your left nostril and use it to power all sorts of things

Now that I've done all this for you, do something for me. Smile!

If you smile today, four other people at whom you smile will receive good luck.

You can then start your own SmilePod. ;-)

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