Another iPod travel tip

It seems that every time I hit the road, I stumble across another tip for using my iPod on that self-same road. Here’s the latest:

I’m in New York talking iPods, iTunes, and podcasting at the MacLive learning conference for creative professionals being held the 11th through the 13th at Jacob Javitz Convention Center. I’m staying in a very nice, small hotel that offers a real TV in every room. What makes this Sony television so real is that it includes RCA input jacks under a flip-up panel on the front of the set—none of that funky jet-black nonsense that you find in most hotels and motels that offers only a locked-down antenna connector on the back.

So, this is cool. It’s specifically cool because I can easily jack my fifth-generation iPod into it and finish watching the first season of Weeds, a Showtime program I’ve become fond of. Problem is that my iPod’s battery is pretty well run down after watching three episodes of the show on the flight east and I neglected to bring a power adapter, figuring that I could just plug the iPod into my PowerBook when I wanted to charge its battery.

As you undoubtedly know, when you plug an iPod into your computer, it appears in iTunes and flashes its Do Not Disconnect screen. You can plug its video cable into the top of the iPod and the TV, but little good it does you when you can’t get past the Do Not Connect screen to access the play controls. So how exactly does one charge and play an iPod at the same time under such a setup?

Simple. Just click the Eject button next to the iPod in iTunes Source list. The iPod will unmount—thus allowing you to use its controls—but it will continue charging through the USB connection.