Little Storping-in-the-Swuff

Though I’ve got a new Mac Mini plugged into my hifi, I’ve kind of assumed I’d end up having to buy an Airport Express to plug in next to it if I want to stream AirTunes from my MacBook (which I do, and yes I know there’s NetTunes etc. but all the music is organised on the MacBook).

So I got pretty excited to read this interview with Rogue Amoeba CEO Paul Kafasis about Airfoil 3. This is a new version of the app that lets you send any audio to an Airport Express and “one of the major announced features is Airfoil Speakers” which, basically, let you use any Mac to receive AirTunes, ie. act as an Airport Express. Yay!

Except that the link to Rogue Amoeba is broken and just states “the forums are no longer online”. Nothing else. No mention of Airfoil 3 elsewhere on the site. But it’s mentioned elsewhere on the net in posts between July and September ‘07, like this one and this one (which states the update will come in September).

So it seems reasonable to assume, since all the original announcements at Rogue Amoeba are “no longer online” that the upgrade and new features have been quietly swept under the carpet. Still, there’s only one way to find out: I asked them if they’re still supporting Airfoil and they said “we’re still here and development continues on Airfoil”. But they the chap who sent the email professed ignorance of the “Airfoil Speakers” referred to by the CEO.

What’s going on?

I found a solution to this along time ago, but forgot it and couldn’t find it when I got the problem again today.

The problem is: after I change the artist or album for certain MP3 tracks, as soon as I play them iTunes changes them back. I’ve got read and write access. I’ve used iTunes to convert to every version of the ID3 tag I could think of.

The solution turns out to be: remove the ID3 v1 tags. iTunes is only editing the v2 tags, and then reading the v1 tags and overwriting the v2 with that info. It’s totally weird and illogical but removing the v1 tags solves the problem.

Whilst not really an excuse for not posting for a month, I’ve been hindered in my blogging by the loss of my MacBook. Perhaps loss is the wrong word - I knew where it was - but after I dropped a CD on the screen (don’t ask) things didn’t look so pretty anymore.

Whilst my insurers were taking their time, I took the opportunity to buy the Mac Mini I’ve been intending to use as my Apple TV equivalent, linked up to a Sanyo PLV Z5 projector. Then the insurers got back to me offering a replacement, which is great, having iLife ‘08 and the Santa Rosa chipset (the only fly in the ointment is that in the end I did buy Apple Care and they don’t seem clued up on how to replace this). Now I’ve got two Leopard machines, there’s plenty of fun to be had with screen sharing, plus learning the new iChat, iMovie et al…

I’m having a strange experience with Safari 3 (which I was already using in Tiger with no problem) where everything on a page seems to fade to grey, possibly as I scroll.

I can only find this unanswered post and video as assurance that it’s not just me.

Is this a feature? Strange…

The BBC’s selection of Podcasts is growing (slowly), but if you want to listen to most of their shows you’ll be glued to your computer because they’re still only streamed in Read Audio.

Unless you know a way to grab Real Audio streams and stick them on your iPod. I’ve used the following method to get “listen again” streams for shows I’ve missed. It’s a two step process: you need to download the Read Audio stream and then convert it.

1. Grab the stream with the nifty CocoaJT. Go to Recorder>Record A Stream. You can find the address whilst listening to the programme by using the Real Player application rather than the browser plugin (click the “Listen using stand alone Real Player” link in the BBC Radio Player window) and then going to Window>Clip Info.
2. Encode the stream to an iTunes format with ffmpegx, having followed the preliminary steps (needed to get it to handle Real Audio correctly) as outlined in this handy macosxhints.com hint.

Happy listening.

One of my biggest gripes when I got my Macbook was the region locked DVD drive.

Today, it is locked no more!

When I got the Macbook it seemed not just that there was no firmware hack, but that it would be impossible to generate one for these drives. This thread charts the unravelling of the saga, and the breakthrough achieved by Ben11.

If you’ve got a Macbook (Pro) and want to give it a try, there’s a decent article at
powerbook-fr.com but please note, interrupting a firmware update will brick your DVD drive and this is not covered by the warranty, Applecare or no.

Running DVD Info before and after will be informative.

Whilst I can’t really see myself buying an iPhone until Apple sticks the camera in the front and offers fully functional iChat AV plus “call out” connection over WiFi/Voip to the POTS, the fact that Truphone are apparently getting ready to offer a voip application does make it start to look a lot more useful. Truphone is partnered with Google, allowing you also to call Google Talk users.

Of course, if Apple release this, I’ll pay them whatever they want for it.

Totally unnecessary, but a fabulous gesture to iPhone owners who bought at $200 above the new price. Any computer consumer or gadget freak will have felt the envy as newer and better models come out cheaper, but Apple rarely go for radical price cuts, generally increasing the spec or introducing a low-end model, and by anyone’s standards, that price drop was huge given it’s exactly the same model.

So, nice one, Steve.

What the hell’s the deal with ringtones? My phone (SE k700i) lets me just choose any song as a ringtone. Why does the iPhone require you to pay another $0.99 in addition to the purchase price to use it as a ringtone?

I’m clearly missing some enhanced functionality here. I mean, I just thought a ringtone was a noise (ie sound file) triggered by receiving a call…?

This is, of course, in response to the announcement that new iTunes lets you pay to make a ringtone out of a song you’ve already had to pay for.

I’m playing with the beta.

It seems a little snappier that 2, but that’s difficult to see. I’ve also had trouble with 2 hogging memory, which 3 hasn’t done yet. But then, give it time…

I notice, whilst writing this, that the WordPress buttons all look flatter, now, like they do in Firefox. Hang on - no, neither Googlemail’s GoogleTalk in-browser client nor the Custom Admin Menu WordPress plugin work with 3.

One really cool thing: try hitting cmd-F and searching for something.