Tag Archive for 'iTunes'

Bitten by DRM on iPhone Applications

Published on August 13, 2008 in Apple and Tech. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Although this is a very bitter blog post, I won’t make it angry. I’m just disappointed in one of my favorite companies. Continue reading ‘Bitten by DRM on iPhone Applications’

iTunes Review of the Mac Observer’s Mac Geek Gab

Published on May 24, 2008 in Apple, Links, Social Media and Tech. 2 Comments Tags: , , .

If you’re a mac person and like fixing stuff, check out this quick review I wrote up on the iTunes Store earlier. It’s really a wonderful podcast.

Time is scarce, knowledge isn’t. Today, in an ever-decreasing timeframe, we need to know more about our computers. Although the Macintosh is worlds ahead of the PC, it has its problems. The Mac Observer’s Mac Geek Gab tackles these problems and explores new uses for our macs in an entertaining and informative way.

Its greatest asset? The podcast is divided into chapters so that listeners can quickly scan for questions that they’re interested in. Sick of hearing about networking? Skip it and move onto hard disk problems! A very well-done show, worthy of subscription.

Cleaning an iTunes Library

Published on February 18, 2008 in Apple and Tech. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

I’m the proud owner of a shiny new iPod Touch. It’s a considerable upgrade from my previous portable music player – a 6GB iPod mini with a broken headphone port. It served me well as a car iPod, though.

The iPod Touch is both a blessing and a curse. It’s a wonderful media player and an even better Internet and email device. But, when you’re looking at your iTunes library on its superb screen, you realize just how badly your ID3 tags and album art are.

I spent a large part of this holiday (happy President’s Day!) cleaning up the cruft from years of accumulating music. Luckily, there are some great pieces of software on the Mac and web services to do this.

  • iEatBrainz (Freeware) – The Mac OS X client of MusicBrainz analyzes any tracks you feed it and compares its musical ‘fingerprint’ with a known database.
  • Album Art Thingy (Shareware) – This inexpensive app looks up your currently playing track on Amazon.com and tries to find artwork. It does lyrics, too.
  • Amazon.com (Service) – Whatever Album Art Thingy doesn’t get, you can get yourself by searching the MP3 store.
  • Last.fm (Service) – This social network site helps see if you’ve done your ID3 tags right.

It’s really worth it to clean up the cruft from your iTunes library. You’ll not only delete music you don’t like anymore, but you’ll have a greater appreciation for the music you do like. The album art browsing in iTunes, Front Row, and an iPod is really great looking, too.

Good luck, and be sure to share your experience in the comments.