Considerably buzz is building around a rumored April 1 announcement by Apple, recently fueled by continued chatter reported in the Ars Technical Infinite Loop blog about retailers being notified that 60GB iPods are at risk of something (presumably obsolescence).

There are two possibilties: either we'll get some new treat(s) on the 1st, or there will be a lot more April fools.  

Looks like we've got ourselves a winner for the iPod shuffle giveaway (name to be announced soon).

Be sure to enter to with the nano!  

I've been mildly annoyed that the website iPodHacks.com has just about everything EXCEPT hacks. While I'm not sure I'm going to rip apart my iPod to do nasty mods anytime soon, I do like reading about those more adventuresome than me.

Playlist's Mathew Honan fills the bill however, with Eight great iPod hacks, mods and tricks. Some of them have been reported here before; others are new. All are cool. Check it out.

My favorite one is to use a regular video cable instead of Apple's proprietary cable to connect your 5th generation iPod to a TV to play video. (Apple's $19 proprietary cable is just an ordinary cheapo cable with the plugs color-coded differently. Shame on them.)  

Silicon.com is reporting that France is considering doing away with all DRM, which would ensure that music buyers would have the freedom to copy their music for their own use, and use music freely among their own devices. iPod users would be able to buy music from Buymusic.com (for example), and owners of other MP3 players would be able to buy music from the iTunes Music Store. The vast changes are currently making their way through the French parliament.

Expect opposition from content producers and purveyors, including Apple.