The home of Jack Tams an opinionated techie and mac user.
// May 28th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Computing, Interesting
In my continuing saga to be as lazy as possible, I have brought back my Apple Remote into use. It has practically no use except when away from the computer you can change the iTunes track. So been as I use Spotify almost as much as I use iTunes why can't I do the same.
Turns out you can with a little SIMBL plugin, http://themacbox.co.uk/smr/
// May 15th, 2009 // 14 Comments » // Blog, Computing, Interesting
Update Available: http://www.jacktams.co.uk/2009/10/09/spotify-applescripts-updated/
I have almost solely being listen to music through spotify for the last couple of weeks, sure it doesn't replace iTunes but its damn good at what it does, all you can eat music for free. http://www.spotify.com/
The Problem:
Spotify can use the built in shortcuts for play/pause, forward and reverse, but if like me you use a different keyboard and effectively 'dock' you Macbook its not much use. Enter Quicksilver, the perennial quick-launch and whiz-kid short-cutter for mac. http://bit.ly/yrlr7
I already have a load of triggers set up within quicksilver for everything from make an event in iCal to post a tweet or send email.
So getting Spotify in there, it turns out Applescript is here to help, using the System Events helper you can select a menu item without actually clicking it. Below is the code for the main actions you would want in Spotify. Simply save the apple script, then attach it to a trigger in Quicksilver. Hey Presto, magic! For more details on setting up triggers check the Quicksilver wiki, it explains it alot better than I ever could. http://bit.ly/134dnL
Play Next
tell application "Spotify" to activate tell application "System Events" tell process "Spotify" click menu item 3 of menu 1 of menu bar item 5 of menu bar 1 end tell end tell
Play Previous
tell application "Spotify" to activate tell application "System Events" tell process "Spotify" click menu item 4 of menu 1 of menu bar item 5 of menu bar 1 end tell end tell
Play/Pause
tell application "Spotify" to activate tell application "System Events" tell process "Spotify" click menu item 1 of menu 1 of menu bar item 5 of menu bar 1 end tell end tell
Notes:
Don't forget to activate assitive device support see http://www.macspeech.com/extensions/faq/kb.php?article=48
// February 23rd, 2009 // No Comments » // Computing, Music, Technology
Being the heavy user of Last.fm I was a little concerned when techcrunch broke the story that supposably, last.fm had given the RIAA, information pertaining to users who had scrobbled any tracks from the Upcoming and undrealeased U2 album. The fact I can't stand the rose tinted glasses wearing, Irish Hypocrite is beside the point.
Firstly, what got me there was no mention of the Data Protection act fair enough last.fm is a CBS company, but its still based in the UK (for the most part) and that would mean the passing of this data would be illegal. You cannot pass data to a third party without consent from the data subject.
Also it seems like there are alot of people and blogs posting unsubstantiated rumours to get traffic and therefore ad revenue etc. I know its always been there but it seems like everybody is at it even big news companies, what little credibilty these sites have is been quickly ruined by hastly researched stories and a all too trigger happy publish finger.
Last.fm - Keep up the good work.
// November 22nd, 2008 // No Comments » // Blog, Computing, Interesting, featured
The dust is still settling from Jerry Yang's announcement that he is to step down as Yahoos' CEO. I wonder if Yahoo! has any idea what it wants to be. Search, Advertising or Neither.
There is still talk of Microsoft buying Yahoo! Search, which is fair enough take the least toxic bit of Yahoo! But what are you then left with. Yahoo! Mail, Delicious & Flickr they are the only remaining big properties that Yahoo have on the books.
Delicious & Flickr have yet to be monetized and the user base on both platforms would kill the person responsible for upsetting the status quo. That leaves Yahoo! Mail, which has some ads but the willingness of Yahoo! to go with the Google advertising deal means they are likely making no money on that either.
So how is Yahoo making money?
Sure its got deals with BT in the UK providing the homepage and mail service to all BT Broadband customers, and it has some News properties which are well trafficed. User growth is going to be negligible anybody who would want to sign up for a Yahoo! Account probably have, its a problem many big companies face and sure there have been attempts to get the workforce re-invigorated but so far nothing new and astounding has made it through the door, and what has been something a bit different had to be bought in.
I have said many times before that Yahoo! doesn't have a clear sense of what it wants to be; Search, Advertising, Content or Video, it just doesn't sit nicely anywhere and it can't be the agregator for all because Google has sewn that one up however, thats not to say Yahoo! couldn't compete - they could if they become a strong leader in the tech sector again.
If I where Yahoo! I would invest heavily in cloud computing services, rather than following try and jump ahead. Just like Apple did in 1997.
// October 5th, 2008 // No Comments » // Apple, Blog, Computing, Technology
There has been lots of talk about Apple is doomed to fail with the iPhone as a software Platform and the Android platform is going to be so much better, simple because its open.
Firstly, take a look at the iPhone. Its a fantastically designed device, and the attention to detail is insane - that's not to say the Android platform isn't. But it is a sensible justification that the platform needs to slightly closed to allow a continuity of quality to be maintained. Secondly, the iTunes to iPhone facility has yet to face any real competition, its far from perfect but there is a seamless connection from buying to using. You click buy and the app or music is downloaded and synced to your phone, without having to drag and drop, move or do anything manually. However there is growing concern that the closed nature of the platform will be its undoing see Pull My Finger [1] (more...)
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