Insights Into and Meaning of Lady Gaga's "Judas"

I have been very critical of Lady Gaga’s music videos in the past due to their perverse content, but I was pleasantly surprised by Judas. Not only do I like the song, but the music video is a theologically sound, artistic masterpiece. To start, Gaga's portrayal of herself as Mary Magdalene (“Fame hooker, prostitute wench vomits her mind”) as well as the all around acting is very well done. The plot of her having an affair with Judas where he cheats on her works (“When he calls to me, I am ready…Even after three times, he betrays me”). The music video strongly implies a sexual relationship with Judas, but it is not stated. Indications of this sexual nature are Judas’ aggressive womanizing in it, the distance he keeps from Gaga, the phrase "when he calls to me, I am ready", Gaga calling herself a prostitute, and Gaga's stoning at the end. The incorporation of biblical references is really incredible and indicates Lady Gaga knows a lot more about the Bible then would be indicated by her body of work. Here they are:

• After Gaga says "I've learned love is like a brick/you can build a house" see taps Peter on the back who is, under a certain interpretation, the rock Jesus says he will build his church on (Matthew 16:18). The church is not a building in this context but the metaphor here is a building so it works.  Interestingly enough, the interpretation that Peter is the rock is held by the Catholic Church rather than most Protestants (as the founding of the Catholic Church is attributed to Peter). Protestants mostly interpret the rock as being what Peter said rather than Peter himself. This indicates Gaga is experienced with Catholic theology rather than Protestant theology. Another indication of this is the phrase “I am beyond repentance”. Catholics view some sins to be beyond repentance, while Protestants outside of debate over the Bible’s mention of the unpardonable sin, believe Jesus wipes away all sin after salvation. Yet another indication is Gaga wears purple and red at the beginning, which are common colors worn by the Catholic clergy (this shows that regardless of what you think of her style, she is conscientious of what she wears).
• Jesus is portrayed with a golden crown of thorns throughout.  Since Jesus received a regular crown of thorns after his trial, this is just one example where the chronology has been altered to fit the music video, which is perfectly legitimate.
• The disciples are portrayed as a biker gang, which is fitting, since they were rebels rejected by the establishment, though there message was not the exactly the same.
• Gaga states “Forgive him when his tongue lies through his brain/Even after three times, he betrays me”. In the Bible, Peter lies when he denies he knows Jesus three times after Jesus is captured, and Jesus practices great forgiveness throughout His ministry. Gaga puts herself in the same position of forgiving Judas lying about affairs with other women. Despite forgiving his three lying denials of affairs with other women, which demonstrates amazing love, Judas still cheats on her.
• When Gaga points her gun at Judas, she indicates she wants to shoot him for his womanizing earlier, but Jesus in it shakes his head no and she rolls her eyes and puts the lipstick on Judas. This would make her complicit in the crime of killing Jesus since Judas uses the kiss to mark Jesus for death. The Bible has us all as responsible for Jesus’ death since our sins necessitated He die on the cross to forgive all our sins.
• Jesus is seen reaching out to people and people can be seen reaching out to Jesus throughout the music video. This happened throughout the gospels and people are described as being healed of their sicknesses as a result of touching Him.
• Gaga washes Jesus feet in it in a bathtub and says of Judas earlier “I'll wash his feet with my hair if he needs”. It is traditionally held that Mary Magdalene is the one that poured out fragrant oil and washed Jesus feet with her hair and tears., but it is attributed in the Bible to Mary of Bethany. Another indication of Gaga’s Catholic viewpoint is that Mary Magdalene and Mary of Bethany are considered one person unlike most Protestant viewpoints.  Maybe the water taking Gaga away represented Magdalene’s sadness overwhelming her.
• Gaga suffers being stoned at the end. According to a portion of John that was likely not in the original manuscript, one reason for stoning in ancient times was committing adultery.  Gaga seems to be likening an affair with Judas to that. This is backed up by  an MTV article saying that the wedding gown in the final scene represents the spiritual wedding Christians have with Jesus (see this link).
• “King with no crown” refers to Jesus being a king but not an earthly king but a Heavenly King
• “Judas kiss me if offensed” seems to point to Judas being offended at Mary Magdalene (also attributed to Mary of Bethany) pouring out the perfume to anoint Jesus head for burial, since He was about to die (in the Bible, it is indicated this is a divine foreshadowing, but if Mary Magdalene was part of a scheme to kill Jesus as is presented in the video than this would have been done knowing of Jesus future death). The irony is that Judas kiss was a mark for death, so Gaga is saying that if she offended him for him to kill her.
• “I couldn't love a man so purely/Even prophets forgave his goofy way” It seems to be that Gaga here identifies her love for Judas is closer to that of  1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NIV) than that she could have for any other man:
• Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
• Prophets throughout the Bible were not known as forgiving people, so for Gaga to say that prophets would forgive him is saying that it is so easy, at least for her, to ignore Judas' faults like not showing love in return for her love. 

Differences between Indiana Chemistry I Standards from 2000 and 2010

The new standards are more than just an organizational change as can be seen by the below comparison. The Indiana Department of Education came out with its initial proposal for Indiana's Science Standards in April of 2010. They are still tweaking it and will come out with a final version in March of 2011. The new changes will take affect in the 2011-2012 school year. 

2000 Indiana Standards	2010 Indiana Standards
C.1.1         Differentiate between pure substances and mixtures based on physical properties such as density, melting point, boiling point, and solubility.	C.1.1    Based on physical properties, differentiate between pure substances and mixtures.
C.1.2         Determine the properties and quantities of matter such as mass, volume, temperature, density, melting point, boiling point, conductivity, solubility, color, numbers of moles, and pH (calculate pH from the hydrogen-ion concentration), and designate these properties as either extensive or intensive.	C.1.2   Observe and describe chemical and physical properties of different types of matter and designate them as either extensive or intensive. C.8.4   Given the hydronium (H3O+) ion concentration in a solution, calculate the pH and vice versa.  Explain the meaning of these values.
C.1.3         Recognize indicators of chemical changes such as temperature change, the production of a gas, the production of a precipitate, or a color change.	C.1.3    Recognize observable indicators of chemical changes.
C.1.4         Describe solutions in terms of their degree of saturation.	Not expected
C.1.5         Describe solutions in appropriate concentration units (be able to calculate these units), such as molarity, percent by mass or volume, parts per million (ppm), or parts per billion (ppb).	C.7.3   Describe the concentration of solutes in a solution in terms of molarity.  Perform calculations using molarity, mass and volume.
C.1.6         Predict formulas of stable ionic compounds based on charge balance of stable ions.	C.3.4    Write chemical formulas for ionic compounds given their names and vice versa.
C.1.8         Use formulas and laboratory investigations to classify substances as metal or nonmetal, ionic or molecular, acid or base, and organic or inorganic.	C.3.5   Compare and contrast ionic, covalent network, metallic and polar and non-polar molecular crystals with respect to constituent particles, strength of bonds, melting and boiling points and conductivity; provide examples of each type. C.8.1   Use Arrhenius and Brønsted-Lowry definitions to classify substances as acids or bases.
C.1.9         Describe chemical reactions with balanced chemical equations.	C.4.2   Balance chemical equations using the law of conservation of mass and use them to describe chemical reactions.
C.1.10       Recognize and classify reactions of various types such as oxidation-reduction.	C.4.5   Describe, classify and give examples of various kids of reactions-synthesis (i.e., combination), decomposition, single displacement, double displacement and combustion.
C.1.11       Predict products of simple reaction types including acid/base, electron transfer, and precipitation.	C.4.1   Predict products of simple reactions such as synthesis, decomposition, single replacement and double replacement.
C.1.12       Demonstrate the principle of             conservation of mass through laboratory investigations.	C.1.6   Explain and apply the law of conservation of mass as it applies to chemical processes.
C.1.13       Use the principle of conservation of mass to make calculations related to chemical reactions. Calculate the masses of reactants and products in a chemical reaction from the mass of one of the reactants or products and the relevant atomic masses.	C.4.3   Given mass of the sample, use the mole concept to determine the number of moles and number of atoms or molecules in samples of elements and compounds.
C.1.14       Use Avogadro’s law to make mass-volume calculations for simple chemical reactions.	C.5.3   Given the equation for a chemical reaction involving one or more gases as reactants, products or both, calculate the volumes of gas when assuming the reaction goes to completion and the ideal gas law holds.
C.1.15       Given a chemical equation, calculate the mass, gas volume, and/or number of moles needed to produce a given gas volume, mass, and/or number of moles of product.	C.4.3   Given mass of the sample, use the mole concept to determine the number of moles and number of atoms or molecules in samples of elements and compounds. C.4.4   Using a balanced chemical equation, calculate the quantities of reactants needed and products made in a chemical reaction that goes to completion. C.5.3   Given the equation for a chemical reaction involving one or more gases as reactants, products or both, calculate the volumes of gas when assuming the reaction goes to completion and the ideal gas law holds.
C.1.16       Calculate the percent composition by mass of a compound or mixture when given the formula	C.4.7   Perform calculations to determine the composition of a compound or mixture when given the formula.
C.1.17       Perform calculations that demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between molarity, volume, and number of moles of a solute in a solution.	C.7.3   Describe the concentration of solutes in a solution in terms of molarity.  Perform calculations using molarity, mass and volume.
C.1.18       Prepare a specified volume of a solution of given molarity.	C.7.4   Prepare a specific volume of a solution of a given molarity when provided with a known solute.
C.1.19       Use titration data to calculate the concentration of an unknown solution.	C.8.5    From acid-base titration data, calculate the concentration of an unknown solution.
C.1.20       Predict how a reaction rate will be quantitatively affected by changes of concentration.	C.7.5   Explain how the rate of a reaction is qualitatively affected by changes in concentration, temperature, surface area and the use of a catalyst.
C.1.21       Predict how changes in temperature, surface area, and the use of catalysts will qualitatively affect the rate of a reaction.	C.7.5   Explain how the rate of a reaction is qualitatively affected by changes in concentration, temperature, surface area and the use of a catalyst.
C.1.22       Use oxidation states to recognize electron transfer reactions and identify the substance(s) losing and gaining electrons in an electron transfer reaction.	C.4.6   Determine oxidation states and identify the substances gaining and losing electrons in redox reactions.
C.1.23       Write a rate law for a chemical reaction using experimental data.	Not expected
C.1.24       Recognize and describe nuclear changes.	C.2.7   Compare and contrast nuclear reactions with chemical reactions. C.2.8. Describe how fusion and fission processes transform elements present before the reaction into elements present after the reaction.
C.1.25       Recognize the importance of chemical processes in industrial and laboratory settings, e.g., electroplating, electrolysis, the operation of voltaic cells, and such important applications as the refining of aluminum.	Not expected
C.1.26       Describe physical changes and properties of matter through sketches and descriptions of the involved materials.	C.1.4    Describe physical and chemical changes at the molecular level. C.1.5   Describe the characteristics of solids, liquids and gases and changes in state at the molecular level.
C.1.27       Describe chemical changes and reactions using sketches and descriptions of the reactants and products.	C.1.4   Describe physical and chemical changes at the molecular level.
C.1.28       Explain that chemical bonds between atoms in molecules, such as H2, CH4, NH3, C2H4, N2, Cl2, and many large biological molecules are covalent.	C.3.5   Compare and contrast ionic, covalent network, metallic and polar and non-polar molecular crystals with respect to constituent particles, strength of bonds, melting and boiling points and conductivity; provide examples of each type. C.9.2    Illustrate the variety of molecular types formed by the covalent bonding of carbon atoms and describe the typical properties of these molecular types.
C.1.29       Describe dynamic equilibrium.	C.7.6    Write equilibrium expressions for reversible reactions.
C.1.30       Perform calculations that demonstrate an understanding of the gas laws. Apply the gas laws to relations between pressure, temperature, and volume of any amount of an ideal gas or any mixture of ideal gases.	C.5.2    Using the ideal gas equation of state PV = nRT, calculate the change in one variable when another variable is changed and the others are held constant.
C.1.31       Use kinetic molecular theory to explain changes in gas volumes, pressure, and temperature (Solve problems using pV=nRT).	C.5.1   Use kinetic molecular theory to explain changes in gas volumes, pressure, moles and temperature.
C.1.32       Describe the possible subatomic particles within an atom or ion.	C.2.2   Describe how the subatomic particles (i.e., protons, neutrons and electrons) contribute to the structure of an atom and recognize that the particles within the nucleus are held together against the electrical repulsion of the protons.
C.1.33       Use an element’s location in the Periodic Table to determine its number of valence electrons, and predict what stable ion or ions an element is likely to form in reacting with other specified elements.	C.2.6   Use the periodic table and electron configuration to determine an element's number of valence electrons and its chemical and physical properties. C.4.6   Determine oxidation states and identify the substances gaining and losing electrons in redox reactions.
C.1.34       Use the Periodic Table to compare attractions that atoms have for their electrons and explain periodic properties, such as atomic size, based on these attractions.	C.2.2   Describe how the subatomic particles (i.e., protons, neutrons and electrons) contribute to the structure of an atom and recognize that the particles within the nucleus are held together against the electrical repulsion of the protons.
C.1.35       Infer and explain physical properties of substances, such as melting points, boiling points, and solubility, based on the strength of molecular attractions.	C.3.5   Compare and contrast ionic, covalent network, metallic and polar and non-polar molecular crystals with respect to constituent particles, strength of bonds, melting and boiling points and conductivity; provide examples of each type.
C.1.36       Describe the nature of ionic, covalent, and hydrogen bonds and give examples of how they contribute to the formation of various types of compounds.	C.3.1   Describe, compare and contrast the characteristics of the interactions between atoms in ionic and covalent compounds.
C.1.37       Describe that spectral lines are the result of transitions of electrons between energy levels and that these lines correspond to photons with a frequency related to the energy spacing between levels by using Planck’s relationship (E=hv).	Not expected
C.1.38       Distinguish between the concepts of temperature and heat.	C.6.2   Distinguish between the concepts of temperature and heat flow in macroscopic and microscopic terms.
C.1.39       Solve problems involving heat flow and temperature changes, using known values of specific heat and latent heat of phase change.	C.6.4   Solve problems involving heat flow and temperature changes by using known values of specific heat, phase change constants (i.e., latent heat values) or both.
C.1.40       Classify chemical reactions and/or phase changes as exothermic or endothermic.	C.6.3   Classify chemical reactions and phase changes as exothermic or endothermic.
C.1.41       Describe the role of light, heat, and electrical energies in physical, chemical, and nuclear changes.	Not expected
C.1.42       Describe that the energy release per gram of material is much larger in nuclear fusion or fission reactions than in chemical reactions. The change in mass (calculated by E=mc2) is small but significant in nuclear reactions.	C.2.7   Compare and contrast nuclear reactions with chemical reactions.
C.1.43       Calculate the amount of radioactive substance remaining after an integral number of half-lives have passed.	C.2.9    Understand that the radioactive decay process is random for any given atom but that this property leads to a predictable and measurable exponential decay of a sample of radioactive material. Know how to calculate the initial amount, the fraction remaining or the half-life of a radioactive isotope when given two of the other three variables.
C.1.44       Convert between formulas and names of common organic compounds.	C.9.1   Use structural formulas to illustrate carbon atoms’ ability to bond covalently to one another to form many different substances.
C.1.45       Recognize common functional groups and polymers when given chemical formulas and names.	C.9.2    Illustrate the variety of molecular types formed by the covalent bonding of carbon atoms and describe the typical properties of these molecular types.
C.2.3         Explain that John Dalton’s modernization of the ancient Greek ideas of element, atom, compound, and molecule strengthened the new chemistry by providing physical explanations for reactions that could be expressed in quantitative terms.	C.2.1   Describe how models of atomic structure changed over time based on available experimental evidence and understand the current model of atomic structure.
C.2.1         Explain that Antoine Lavoisier invented a whole new field of science based on a theory of materials, physical laws, and quantitative methods, with the conservation of matter at its core. Recognize that he persuaded a generation of scientists that his approach accounted for the experimental results better than other chemical systems. C.2.2         Describe how Lavoisier’s system for naming substances and describing their reactions contributed to the rapid growth of chemistry by enabling scientists everywhere to share their findings about chemical reactions with one another without ambiguity. C.2.4         Explain how Frederich Wohler’s synthesis of the simple organic compound urea from inorganic substances made it clear that living organisms carry out chemical processes not fundamentally different from inorganic chemical processes. Describe how this discovery led to the development of the huge field of organic chemistry, the industries based on it, and eventually to the field of biochemistry. C.2.5         Explain how Arrhenius’ discovery of the nature of ionic solutions contributed to the understanding of a broad class of chemical reactions. C.2.6         Explain that the application of the laws of quantum mechanics to chemistry by Linus Pauling and others made possible an understanding of chemical reactions on the atomic level. C.2.7         Describe how the discovery of the structure of DNA by James D. Watson and Francis Crick made it possible to interpret the genetic code on the basis of a sequence of “letters.”	Not expected
	New Standards: C.2.3   Determine the number of protons, neutrons, and electrons in isotopes and in those isotopes that comprise a specific element.  Relate these numbers to atomic number and mass number. C.2.4   Calculate the average atomic mass of an element from isotopic abundance data. C.2.5   Write the electron configuration of an element and relate this to its position on the periodic table. C.3.2   Compare and contrast how ionic and covalent compounds form. C.3.3   Draw structural formulas for and name simple molecules.  C.6.1   Explain that atoms and molecules are in constant motion and that this motion increases as thermal energy increases. C.7.1   Describe the composition and properties of types of solutions. C.7.2   Explain how temperature, pressure and polarity of the solvent affect the solubility of a solute. C.8.2   Describe the characteristic properties of acids and bases. C.8.3   Compare and contrast the dissociation and strength of acids and bases in solutions. Process Standards

Taylor University Silent Night FAQ

Being a Taylor University student, I feel it important to answer some questions regarding Taylor University's Silent Night that have emerged in the wave of national attention it has received.

They weren’t completely silent. Doesn’t this make it a fail?
To clear up the misunderstanding, the Taylor Men's Basketball Team itself cheers every year for the whole game (as does the opposing team and opposing team’s fans of course), and is not expected to do otherwise; only the Taylor fans are. On a dunk this year (it was not the one in the video; it was this one), though, some Taylor students couldn't restrain themselves from cheering (one student basically communicated he had to give him props after a stern look from us). This year was probably the worst at keeping the silence that I have been here. Keeping 1,500 people that quiet for that long (which is the approximate Silent Night attendance) is an accomplishment regardless of whether it is “perfect” or not. Based on the video alone, this is not a fail, unless you apply an extreme view of the word "silent". There is a video of the 2009 Silent Night on the Taylor website that shows the Taylor fans stay silent during the event.

That has got to really creep out the opposing team. Am I right?
As far as the players, it does seem to rattle them. Given the 112-67 win for Taylor this year, it definitely seemed to work. It seems the opponents fans don't really know what to make of it. They mostly have a deer in the headlights look during the times I have looked over at them. Many of their fans seem to secretly enjoy the craziness including the four OSU Marion cheerleaders that came, which participated in a dance-off at half time in which two Taylor students did backflips simultaneously (which was not included in the video along with distracting tactics we used when OSU Marion was shooting free throws, which there is a picture of here).

What is with the dudes with toilet paper on them?
A lot of the paper seen in the video is paper shards from a sign they made that parodied the replacement of paper towels in the restrooms with Xcelerator air dryers and the addition of woodchip paths on campus. It said "Taylor University uses high speed, obnoxiously loud, energy efficient blowers to save money for the ever-expanding woodchip path project...Xcelerator". They ripped it to shreds when the 10th point was scored. The other paper is paper towels and there is some toilet paper (even though it is not directly related) used as part of this "Revenge of the Paper Towel". BroHo (3rd floor of Samuel Morris Hall) in past years has also parodied an Echo article (the school newspaper) referring to their dorm as the "lost boys" by dressing up in Peter Pan regalia, created a giant gingerbread house (not made out of gingerbread of course), and created a full nativity scene (in order from most recent to older). They hide until the 10th point is scored as mentioned in the Silent Night Yahoo article and then erupt in cheering like the rest of the fans.

Alcohol and drugs must have played at least a small part in the event, right?

Since Taylor is a Christian college where students agree to uphold the University's no alcohol use for all undergraduates rule (not just those under 21) and narcotics are illegal, they would be breaking University policy (and the law depending), which is codified in the Life Together Covenant (LTC), if those were involved (not that that keeps all students from doing it). Despite that, life in the dorms often resembles Greek life at public colleges with Penthouse (4th floor of Samuel Morris Hall) going around campus having people do root beer keg stands on Cinco de Mayo in toga outfits to name an example.

Very Strong Evidence That The Legendary Shots Faked At Least One of Their Baskets

I had seen some videos of the Legendary Shots and they seemed legit (as if you do something enough times, even low probability events become possible), so I checked them out further. In this video, I came across a trick shot that was obviously fake, as it defied the laws of physics. In Amazing Basketball Shots: The Legendary Shots 4 at point 2:28, without putting any spin on the ball, the Chicago Bears shirt wearer throws the ball in one direction, it hits a relatively flat service, and then it bounces back to him. As I was looking carefully, I realized a big detail that none of the 100,000+ viewers apparently picked up. The middle of the basketball pole is gone. You can clearly see the brick wall continue behind where the missing part of the pole is supposed to be. Here is the best evidence: the brick wall overlapping the ball:

It seems part of what they did was combine two different camera shots. One from the top and left and one from the bottom right. Notice how this ball properly blurs when in the bottom right area because of the speed it is traveling at (that is why you can see the brick within the ball area):

But when it is in between areas moving down at a fast rate it doesn't:

Also, notice the elongation of the ball as it travels upwards:

The first downward path seems to check out, but the upward path is fishy. It seems they digitally elongated the ball to make it appear to be going left and then shot a separate shot to change the angle of trajectory when the ball got back into the top camera view, which included digitally elongating the ball to sync it with the first shot. This is just a guess of how they faked this shot, but the lack of a middle of the pole shows the video has been altered without any likely motive besides tampering with the basketball shot itself.

Proposed Mosque Near Ground Zero

All this outrage over building a mosque near ground zero has made me angry. How is building a mosque near ground zero thumbing a nose at the people who died there and their families? People live near ground zero; it is not like they want to build a mosque near the site in rural Pennsylvania where United Airlines Flight 93 went down. That would be insulting. Should Muslims in Manhattan have less religious freedom because they live or work next to a place where they claim their religion was twisted (whether it was is unimportant for this discussion) to create a national tragedy? It is not insensitive to the heroes of 9/11 or their families to build it, but it is insensitive to the deeply held religious beliefs of the Muslim community of New York not to allow it to be built. It is not like the extremists that attacked us on that day are setting up a terrorist center there. This mosque is not for the extremists. If this mosque ever harbored extremism, it would be even easier to drag the culprits into Federal Court to face punishment like they deserve (or if the extremism is below the criminal threshold, prevent it from being spouted in public areas nearby). This is not Minority Report; you cannot deny law abiding citizens their religious freedom because of the potential for a crime to be committed in the future. Is it right to lump all Muslims into one category here: those that hate what Al-Qaeda did on 9/11 with those that supported it? It is not. It is no better than Middle Easterners lumping all Americans into one category outside of those held by every American (such as nationality). It would be a shame if 9/11 curtails the religious liberty that separates us from those that attacked us on that day.

iPod Nano 4th Generation Clone

My iPod nano 3rd generation hard drive failed in the second half of 2010. It had lasted since Christmas 2006, if I recall correctly. This may seem like a good amount of time for it to last, but I had been experiencing corruption problems with the artword.db file in the iPod since summer 2008. I decided during the November 21, 2009 eBay search outage to use the woraround to it (when I came across it) to get a good deal on a replacement MP3 player. Why did I get a better deal than I usually would? Economics dictates that the less bidders, which in this case was caused by others not knowing the workaround (an information advantage), the lower the price will be if the supply stays the same. Based on 22 feedback posts, these "8GB 1.8"Touch 4th Gen MP4 MP3 More Feature Than Ipod” sell on average for $43.81 (the min was $26.00 and the max was $76.00, so the price varies widely). I got this iPod nano clone from eBay user zzahuan for $26.oo due to the outage, however. This item is pretty good once you figure it out, but the poor quality of the instructions, lack of a specific name, and the hacked memory will prove too time consuming and frustrating for all but the most tech-savvy to deal with. This page should be helpful in dealing with these problems, but if you are not tech-savvy and patient, it will be less time consuming and frustrating to buy a 2 GB Sandisk Sansa Clip on eBay for less than these iClones go for. Why are so many people paying outrageous amounts for iClones? The answer is simple: keyword spamming, deception, and lying. This is not 8 GB even if it is taken to mean Gigabit instead of Gigabyte (more on that later); it does not have a touch screen but it does operate off touch (instead of say voice); it is not a 4th generation MP3 player (though it is in the style of a fourth generation iPod nano); it is not an MP4 player (try it; it won’t work) unless MP4 means something other than MPEG-4 Part 14 format; and it may well have “More Feature Than Ipod”, but that should be in your description rather than your title unless you want people thinking it is an iPod. Let us also go through some of the features that are put in its description that it supposedly has:

• It does play MP3s and WAV sound files, but I haven’t tried WMV.
• It does have "ultra-high quality stereo sound".
• It does have a 1.8” effective pixel LCD screen.
• It does have a photo viewer that allows the viewing of JPEG images, but I haven’t tried BMP images.
• It has about a 1.5-2 hour battery life if you mostly use it with the LCD screen off. (A timer called “DarkMode” found under “LCD set” under “Settings” controls the given period of time the LCD will turn off after the iClone is left alone. This is a maximum of 30 second.) I will give them the benefit of the doubt and say it uses a “high-capacity lithium battery”.
• It is nano size.
• It does have a working voice recorder. It records in WAV format.
• It does have a built-in FM radio, but it took me a while to find in the firmware, because it is filed under “Podcast” even though radio is not a podcast. It will record from the radio in WAV format.
• It does have a player that can play files recorded from the voice recorder or built-in FM radio.
• It does have a text reader that reads .txt (plain text) but not .rtf (rich text format) or .doc (97-2003 word documents). It is not a good text reader, however.
• It does have games including a customizable version of Minesweeper, a version of Tetris, a box moving game, and a colored bead game that doesn’t seem to work.
• It does play videos as long as they are AMV files.
• It does work like a USB removable disk.
• It is listed as working with Windows 98, ME, 2000, and XP, but it works with Vista as well.
• It does have a large amount of language support.

I understand that it was free shipping from Honk Kong, but it took me at least two weeks longer to receive this package from zzahuan  than a laptop bag that shipped from Honk Kong with free shipping from ihome852 (a user I would highly recommend) during the same busy time of year before Christmas of 2009. I say “at least”, because I left on Christmas vacation before it got to my dorm, which meant it was not until I came back from Christmas break that I was able to use it. I immediately noticed something fishy. I would try loading 8 GB of music on it and only some of it would be on the player when I used it. After researching it, I found out that my iClone might be hacked to say 8 GB when it really wasn't. Good thing I stumbled upon this forum discussion right here. I ran H2testw on it and sure enough, I only had 1.8 GB of memory; those clever Asians had hacked my iClone. I used the 13 step process involving Check Flash outlined in the thread to fix my iClone to give the memory it actually has (except I used 1.6 GB just in case H2testw had overestimated it). Even if they meant 8.0 Gigabits, this comes out to at most about 1.3 GB, so this is not what they meant (unless they meant for the partition to be smaller than the capacity and intended to partition it as 8 Gigabits instead of 8 Gigabytes, but this is highly unlikely). Besides this, it is actually a pretty decent MP3 player. I was surprised how good the firmware on it was. The firmware listed is MP4 Player 9.5.54 by CBD Co., Ltd. on 2009-10-05 . I cannot find any information about the company, however. I want to run through the Pros and the Cons of the MP3 player now:

Pro:

• Sound Quality - I haven’t noticed any problems with sound quality so far.
• Doesn't Require iTunes - This does not mean that you cannot still have your music in iTunes, but it does mean you need to transfer your music using Windows Media Player, by simply dragging and dropping, or some other non-iTunes way. iTunes music and some of the data for it is not stored in the iTunes library file, so if you use iTunes, you can still use this MP3 player to play your music.
• Tempo Change Feature - This is my favorite feature. Do you like a song but feel it would be better if the artist had taken it up tempo? Now you can artificially fix that. Do you feel that a song would be better if the artist had taken it a little slower? This can artificially fix that. I personally like my songs fast.
• Built-in Radio – Even though it takes a while to get to, since it is filed under “Podcasts” despite radio not being a podcast, it has it. It also allows you to record from the radio.
• Other Features - Fade in when you press play, fade out when you press stop (they are the same button for both just like the iPod), SRS WOW, 7 equalizer settings (natural, rock, pop, classic, soft, jazz, and DBB), “repeating” (normal (play through all songs and stop), repeat one (repeat song), folder (play folder and stop), repeat folder, repeat all (repeat all songs), random (shuffle), intro (plays first 10 seconds of songs)), segment replay (A-B), how many times to replay that segment before it goes on, and how long to wait between segment replays
• On/Off Switch –In iPods, the switch at the top or bottom works to turn on and off a locking system, but since the iClone has a timed locking system (more on that below), the switch on the top is to put the item into a deeper sleep (based on the time it takes to load when using it) than by holding down the play button. This is likely a useful feature for saving battery, but it does not negate the fact that a physical locking system rather than a timed one should exist as well.
• Accessories – The iClone comes with a rubber protector that fits pretty well (though not perfectly), very similar looking to iPod earbuds, and a very similar to iPod USB cable.
• Orientation Sensor – This is not important for listening to music, but it is to view photos and videos, because most videos and photos are more wide than long. For some reason the firmware shows a cover art view initially when you change orientation even though viewing by cover art is not a feature it has.

Con:

• Shake To Next Song - Possibly the worst MP3 feature ever invented. Don't feel like pressing the next button to go to the next song? Then you can just shake the iClone. This is great for working out (Not!).
• Timed Lock - And you thought the iTouch's locking feature was annoying. How about a lock that goes about every 5 seconds to compensate for the shaking feature that shouldn't exist to begin with? That makes perfect sense. Good thing you can hold the middle button to access your MP3 player again.
• User Interface - There are two ways to switch songs: the next button and the folder system. The folder system can only be accessed when the song is stopped (unlike the iPod). When it is, by clicking the menu button, on "local folder", and on the "/" you can access the upper level folder, which will have folders of your albums if you used Windows Media Player. If you click on the album, you can click on the song, and off you go. It is not the multiple views that the iPod has, and it takes a while to get to the top view of the folder, but the folder system is customizable.
• The Manual - This and the next one don't have to do with the actual iClone, but they are valid complaints. Not only is the manual not that helpful, it is in awful English. Take for example "You can move your privacy into the encrypted part; they will be protected by password" or "You can set time in minutes on 'Sleep Menu', allow the player shut down automatically when the player become idle (regardless current status) for the period you have set. It is designed for listening music before sleep." Maybe they just used an auto-translator to be fair.
• The Included Mini CD - This is essentially useless. It is not clear what each thing on the disc does. I did use one of the installers (the one labeled Msien), which was basically for an AMV converter, but I am sure you can find those online just fine. I am still unsure why there is a picture of a panda bear with one eye shut on the CD.

I do not know for sure if zzahuan knows he is selling hacked goods, because he may not understand the angry feedback in English that he is getting from some of his buyers, but I do know that he should not have a 98.4% positive feedback rating (at the time this was written). Part of it is that eBay's new checklist, which comes us before negative feedback is submitted, discourages negative reviews too much (though I understand that disputes need to be resolved first, things like very slow shipping don't involve a dispute). Part of it may be collusion with eBay (the negative feedback I left mysteriously disappeared from zzahuan's page). Part of it is likely that people don't examine what they get enough or at all before they leave feedback. Whatever it is, it has increased my skepticism of eBay feedback ratings, and increased the threshold for positive feedback percentage that I consider safe when buying on eBay.

How to use your iPod Nano 4th Generation Clone Part 1 of 2

How to use your iPod Nano 4th Generation Clone Part 2 of 2