iTunes App Store No Credit Card

Saturday, May 24, 2014

How to download free apps and OS X updates etc. from the App Store and iTunes without a credit card.

Apple's answer:
 
Well, it sounds easy enough -- when you sign up for an account, choose "none" as your payment option,
[VISA] [MASTERCARD] [PAYPAL] [NONE]
but I already have an apple id from registering my computer.  When I log in, there is no [NONE] option.

So, you have to:
1. add your credit card info, then go back and delete it and supposedly the option of [NONE] will appear (but, they already have your credit card info, do you think that if you delete it that it just disappears?  I don't think so.)

2. create a new account.  But you can't do this with the App Store.app, you have to use iTunes.app.  Create a new account, put in any fake info you want, and surprise surprise, the [NONE] option is there.  Once you've done that and verified your account with the link that was sent to your alternate email, you can now login to download free stuff through iTunes.  But, what if you want to download OS X updates, those are not listed in iTunes, only the App Store.app  So, find the free app you want to download, login with the same info you used with iTunes, and it will say something like, "you can't use that account to download stuff from here, only through iTunes" and it will redirect you to the iTunes version, or whatever that means, and it now works.  Super stupid and convoluted, but if you don't want to give the your credit card info, or you don't even have a credit card, these are hoops they make you jump through.

Posted by Scocasso! at 11:06 PM
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Add Subtitles to Your Own Video

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Want to add subtitles to your own videos?

In this example of how to do it, we'll use a video found online, Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke.
1.  Download a copy of the video; I use Download Helper plugin for Firefox.
2. Copy and paste the text below into a regular text file.  Save it as the same name as your video file, but change the extension from .txt to .ass  (Advanced SubStation - subtitle file). That's it.  Open the video with something like VLC media player.
Note: You can edit the text file to make simple changes, or use something free like Aegisub (better) or Jubler to edit the sub files or create your own from scratch.

Posted by Scocasso! at 2:04 PM
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Mac - Batch Rename Files

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Apple Mac OSX 10.6
Automator
How to Batch Rename Files
With a Right-Mouse-Click

Quick Answer:
Here's the file you want to download:
http://automatorworld.com/downloads/batch-rename.zip

Drop it into your Services Folder [user/Library/Services]
Start using it by selecting the files you want to rename, then
1. Right-Clicking (or control-click) and choosing Services > Batch Rename.
2. or in the Finder Drop-Menu, choose Services > Batch Rename.

You can edit the file above in Automator, or create your own such as I did.  I made two Batch Rename services.  One for renaming photos and one for renaming music.


Explanation:
Mac is able to do such things with the built in Automator.  It Automates tasks - usually tasks that people do repetitively can be Automated to be performed with the click of one button.  In this case, I want to rename many files all at once.  Why would one need to rename so many files at once?  Well, for me, I have a couple reasons:

1.  I just downloaded 200 photos from my digital camera over to my computer.  They are all named such as this:  DSC0009876.jpg, DSC0009877.jpg...

2. I just copied a whole bunch of random photos of sunflowers off of the net for a study on sunflowers and they all have various names such as:  sunflower_007.jpg, sunny-day-flower.jpg, garden-009.jpg...

But, I want them to look more like this:
Summer Holiday - Banff National Park - 001 - (2010-08-30).jpg
Summer Holiday - Banff National Park - 002 - (2010-08-31).jpg
Summer Holiday - Banff National Park - 003 - (2010-09-01).jpg
Summer Holiday - Banff National Park - 004 - (2010-09-02).jpg

or

sunflower01.jpg
sunflower02.jpg
sunflower03.jpg
Wouldn't it be nice to be able to just highlight the files, right-click, choose Batch Rename Photos, select a few parameters, and presto?  Sure, if you want to add some details of the file, you'll have to do that manually, but that's easy, such as this:

Summer Holiday - Banff National Park - 003 - Swimming In Lake Louise (2010-09-01).jpg

An automated task in Automator is called a "Workflow".  I know I know, so much bloody jargon with computers.  Stay with me.  There are different types of Workflows you can create:

  • Workflow - just an automated task that will open Automator, and you run it with Automator
  • Workflow Application - will create a separate application that will run your automated task, that way you can have it sitting in your app dock or on your desktop for frequent use.
  • Workflow Service - will add your automated task you created with Automator to the Services Folder [user/Library/Services] and this will make it available to you as a right-click-choice or in your Finder Window Drop-Menu under Finder > File > Services.
....and there are a few others too, but you get the idea.

Making a Workflow automated task is as simple as dragging the actions from the Actions Library on the left over to your blank workspace on the right.

Just download the file (at the top of this post), open it (will open automatically in Automator), and have a look.  Each Action is represented as a box.  Really simple and easy to understand.  You can change it and fool around with it to see how it works (and that I haven't inserted any unwanted Automated Tasks in there such as Format Disk) and customize it for yourself, if need be, because that's exactly what I did to create this file - I fooled around with someone else's to suit my own needs.


Make your own:

Steps:
  1. Open Automator
  2. Open a New file
  3. Choose a template for your workflow: choose "Service"
  4. Drag Actions from the left pane to the right where is says "drag actions or files here"
  5. Actions > Files & Folders > Get Folder Contents
  6. Drag the "Get Folder Contents over to the right pane
  7. Then do the same for: Get Specified Finder Items, Sort Finder Items, Make Finder Item Names Sequential, Add Text to Finder Item Names, Add Text To Finder Item Names, Add Date or Time to Finder Item Names, Add Text to Finder Item Names
  8. All in that order.
  9. At the very top choose Services receives selected "files and folders" in "Finder"
  10. this is what it should look like:
(Click for Larger Image)
(Click for Larger Image)

    10. Now go to each window and format everything the way you see it in the above picture.
    11. Once you are done, save it as "Batch Rename Photos.workflow"
    12.  Move or copy the file into your [home] > Library > Services folder.
    13.  And that's it.  You may have to restart your computer or restart finder (force quit) and now you can select a number of photo files you have, right-click > Services > Batch Rename Photos.


Batch Rename Music Files:

Okay, now that you did that, it's really easy to make one for renaming music files:


(Click for Larger Image)


Posted by Scocasso! at 11:25 AM
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Terra Spider X Shoes 608115 / 0A4NPYA14 Review


This construction work shoe review currently spans from my first purchase of this shoe in 2012 (reviewed it one year after purchase) till 2021, 9 years and 7 pairs of the same shoe.

It's very difficult to find a decent pair of work footwear these days.  I've tried many different styles and brands over the years and few, if any, make the cut.  Usually the first thing to go is the stitching on the sides at the ball of the foot.  Then it cracks and soon there's a hole.  Every pair I've owned have had this problem and from there it's an assortment of different aspects of wear, tear, and generally falling apart.  
 
This pair of Terra Spiders have held up surprisingly well over the last year.  One thing I hate about most shoemakers is that when you find something you like and go back to get another pair, they've discontinued it.  Rather than improving on the footwear they have and making them better year after year, they instead focus on making a continuing array of new styles.  Good idea for trendy fashion attire, but not for work footwear.  When it comes to work, we want reliability, durability, and comfort -- we care not for style.

This is what one year of wear looks like
(click for larger picture)

These Terra Spider work shoes have lasted me one year; almost exactly one year, from July 30, 2012 to my new pair August 04, 2013.  Although, I would have purchased them a few weeks earlier if I had the time.

In the first week of wearing these the stitching under the ankle bone was really hurting me.  I cut two small pieces of carpet to put in there to keep it away from my ankle which I finally removed after the the break-in period, which was between 1 to 2 weeks.  With my new pair, I'm keeping the laces loose for the break-in period so that the stitching isn't touching my ankle. (never happened on subsequent pairs, must have been an anomaly)

(click for larger picture)

The first thing to wear out were the yellow coverings on the insoles.  It really didn't take very long for them to start peeling off at the heel and toe.  I became very annoyed at the feeling that there was something in my shoe when it was merely the material folding back, so I just peeled them right off.  Surprisingly, it was a much better insole that way.  The yellow top layer holds dirt and water and by taking it off the insole became resistant to dirt and water.  If any dirt got int here, I'd simply dump it out and put my show back on.  Also, I like the non-texture of the plain insole because my socks didn't cling to it but had the freedom to slide around a bit therefore reducing any rubbing between the bottoms of my feet and my socks.  I recommend smooth texture-free insoles.  I think I will peel the top layer off even before they start to peel on my new pair.

No cracking; stitching in excellent shape
(click for larger picture)


The reason I purchased these in the first place was because I needed a light flexible safety shoe as I do a variety of tasks in the field of home construction and landscaping, many of which require bending down repeatedly and most safety work footwear is neither light nor flexible at all.  I tried many hiking style safety boots and after awhile they become quite flexible, but fall apart easily.  These Terra Spiders need no break-in period for flexibility; they are flexible and comfortable and bend easily upon purchase.  Look at that, you can hardly tell where the shoe bends as the stitching is still in place and there are no holes or cracks; it really held up well in this regard; I've had other Terra footwear in the past and none have done well in this regard before: peeling, cracking, soles separating from the upper, etc. are all typical of every boot/shoe I've tried (even non-work footwear).


(click for larger picture)

I also purchased these because I was looking for metal-free footwear.  Where I live, it gets cold and wet in the winter for a good many months and I actually got frostbite on my toes due to my steel-toed footwear.  Metal-Free footwear is not only much lighter, more flexible, but also much warmer.

Do these have sole puncture protection (someone commented that they actually do -- well that would explain how I stepped on a nail and it didn't go through).  In the past I was dubious about metal-free shanks (that prevents nails and such from penetrating through the sole of the shoe, but it says nothing on the Terra website nor the box) as I've used metal shanks in the past and had to give them up due to my Frankenstein Walk and the very poor flexibility, but this new stuff actually works.  I've stepped on some nails etc. using shoes with metal-free-shanks and nothing went through.   Update: the new pair I bought now states that is has a "metal-free composite plate".



(click for larger picture)


The first thing of actual significance to actually wear out were the soles.  You can see the heel and toe of one shoe has much greater wear than the other.  I can explain the large chunk missing from the toe area.  It started as a very small piece that was missing due to my stepping on a raised nail-head; when I lifted my food, it popped a little chunk out about the size of 1cm-squared.  It seems that this missing initial piece allowed greater wear to occur in that area.  Or perhaps I just pivot etc. more on that foot.  I think if I didn't lose that initial piece, I could have worn these for another couple months, maybe, but as you can see, similar wear is happening on the other foot and the heel area is almost worn through as well.  The soles are very comfortable and flexible and this may by a trade-off when looking at more durable soles.  I was surprised to see that the parts of the sole that fold up onto the sides of the upper didn't peel off or anything; especially where the shoe bends at the ball of the foot.

(click for larger picture)

The toe-kick rubber started peeling off about a month before I got my new pair, but nothing some PL Premium couldn't fix.  The year-old ones pretty much look the same as the new ones, minus the dirt.

Overall, a very good shoe.  It has a 6 month warranty by Terra, and a 100 day warranty from the store I purchased them at.

Reasons to buy:

  • metal-free sole puncture protection
  • composite 'steel' toe
  • durable
  • light
  • warm (metal free)
  • flexible
  • comfortable

Areas of improvement needed (updated):

  • more durable insole (seems to have been improved)
  • Made In Canada
  • more durable sole (unless hiders flexibility/comfort)
  • animal-product free (non-leather uppers and glue)
  • more durable laces (they are garbage, replace them upon purchase with waxed hockey laces)
I also hate when shoes are marketed as being "Water Resistant" or "Water Proof" when all they do it spray on some water-repellent that washes off in the first rain.  Stop that - they're not water resistant or water proof unless they are rubber boots.

It would be nice if companies made shoes that were 'resolable'.  I have a great pair of Redwing shoes, and they are 'resolable'.  They are made as work shoes, but I use them casually and 9 years later, I'm still using them (and I abuse the hell out of them).  I'd love to see that same quality in the Terra shoe, and I'd also love to see the Terra show Made In Canada as I bought that pair of Redwing shoes specifically because they were Made In the U.S.A. (most of their shoes are not made in the U.S.A. now, only a select few).  I remember when Terra boots were made in Canada; I wonder if they also have a selection that still are.

Update: Second Pair: 2014 October:  my second pair of these shoes have lasted longer as I didn't step on a nail-head popping a piece of rubber out of the sole.  Although the sole has worn under the large toes on both shoes in the form of crack-shaped holes -- water was seeping in through there (similar to the cracks/holes seen on my right-foot shoe above), but I filled the holes/cracks with PL Premium and that solved that (I also used PL Premium to fill a hole in the bottom of my waterproof boot heel that was letting water in and two winters later, they're still good!!  As with my first pair, the yellow fabric coverings on the insoles started to come off almost right away -- this time I just peeled them both off -- they're useless anyway... when they get wet, it takes longer to dry than without them.  I should add that if you use these shoes in wet conditions, you should make sure to use waterproofing spray regularly -- otherwise, the shoes take a long time to dry.  If I put them in the summer sun, not so long but if there is no sun... then what?  I bought a pair of in-shoe/boot dryers -- I got the maxxdry brand, but that's only because I had no choice of other brands.  Takes about a day to dry these shoes with said dryers when they're soaked.  I imagine that non-leather shoes would dry much more quickly.  The laces wore out after about 6 months, so you might as well buy a pair of sturdy tough laces at the same time as buying these shoes. They were also too short to tie in a good double-knot for me and would sometimes come undone.

Still a good pair of shoes -- just bought a third pair Oct. 2014 and probably won't start wearing them for awhile as the old ones are still hanging in there, longer than last year's pair.

Update: 2014 October: There is a new Terra shoe/boot called that VENOM that is pretty much the same as the SPIDER, but with a few upgrades:

• TERRA FIRMA-FLEX Metal Free composite toe cap and puncture resistant plate
• Removable shock absorbing PU FOOTBED®
• Heel pull-on loop 

2016 October:  Yes, I'm am still continuing to use the Terra Spider shoes.  I now change the laces to waxed hockey laces (Canadian Tire).  Just buy the shortest ones in whatever colour you like, and after you've cut them to length, the ends melt very nicely to be able to form an aglet with your fingers.  Why?  The laces which come with the shoes are too short, not durable enough, and do not stay tied well - for my liking. The hockey laces on the other hand are fantastic, far better than any so-called 'durable' laces I've tried from work-wear stores in the past. the pai I currently have have lasted two years and still look brand new. I should add that I don't tie and untie my laces, I merely slip these shoes on and off and keep my laced double-knotted.

2018 August:  Continuing to use the Terra Spider shoes.  I still recommend getting rid of the laces and use hockey laces; the hockey laces I currently have on my shoes have lasted two years and look great and I will move them to my new pair of shoes (I considered getting new laces just so they'll look nice and clean to match my new shoes, but no need, the shoes will dirty up in a few days to match). My latest pair of shoes have held up pretty well, very similar to previous ones, with one exception, the insoles held up far better than in all previous ones I've owned. Usually the top fiber layer of the insole which is glued onto the foam part starts to peel off within a month and sooner or later I just have to peel the whole thing off because it's very uncomfortable. But this time, I didn't even wear a hole through as I usually do and it didn't peel at all. Hopefully this is an improvement they've made in the manufacturing and not an anomaly. The stitching on either side of the toe started coming apart so I put some PL Premium on there to stop it coming out any further. Not pretty, but worked. It has been almost two years for this pair of shoes now. The likely reason they've lasted longer is due to doing more driving and more indoors work compared to my first pair in 2012 which I thrashed working nearly 90% of the time outdoors. If you work in, say, a warehouse job indoors, you can expect these to last at least two years, more if you are careful about not pivoting or spinning too much in them and keeping the wear on the sole at the large toe to a minimum. I do not pivot on or drag my heels and that's evident by the lack of wear in the heel area.

2018: No peeling or holes; insoles in excellent shape
(click for larger picture)

2018: Stitching on either side of toe came apart
(click for larger picture)

2018: Major wear points on upper
(click for larger picture)

2018: Major wear points on lower: large toe
(click for larger picture) 
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2018/19 PAIR UPDATE
 

(click to view larger picture)

As you can see, this pair fared very well, perhaps from doing a lot more indoor work during that time. That's my best guess.  But, if you look at the soles, you can see where there is wear and cracking at the heels and large toes. Because of these 'breaches" in the outer sole, water gets into the mid-sole, which soaks up water like a sponge. That's fine, but this allows water to get into the inside of the shoe as there is no barrier between the mid-dole and the inner-sole-board. If I was working exclusively indoors or an otherwise dry environment, I could have continued to wear these shoes without any problem. But, I had to get a new pair of shoes simply because of the water problem. Stepping in a shallow pooling of water is all it takes. Or multiple trips across a wet driveway. Doesn't take much.


Makeshift arch support
(click to view larger picture)

Man, I had a terrible problem with sore ankles in this pair of shoes.  Maybe it was the type of work I was doing, or maybe it was the shoes, I don't know, but I just felt like there was no horizontal support and my feet/ankles would 'fall inwards' if you know what I mean. I stopped at a few places to see about getting some insoles or other kind of arch support, just some foam inserts or something cheap, but when it comes to arch support, nothing is cheap. Complete ripoff. So, I just made my own with cardboard, taped them to the inner sole-plate and put my insoles back on top. Worked really well. But, another reason I wanted a new pair. Once I got a new pair, and I've had those for over a year now, no ankle problems. So, no idea what was going on.

Minimal wear but shoelace wear still evident
(click to view larger picture)

As you can see, the stitching at the toe is coming apart and the shoelaces are pretty much ready to fall apart at this point.  As I've said before, these shoes last about a year, and these were already over a year old and fared much better than previous pairs perhaps due to working more indoors. The major points of wear were the soles (heel and large toe), shoelaces, and toe stitching; same as previous pairs, but the additional new problem of sore ankles with no definite cause.




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2021 UPDATE
 
The Terra Spider shoes have had their name changed to Terra Spider X. There have been some design changes.
 
Got the Terra Spider X over a year ago. Perhaps 1.5yrs old right now. I will continue to wear these through the summer until the rain comes again. The outer sole is already breached, so that means water entry.  I recommend always getting a new pair in the fall before rain/winter starts, then you can extend the wearing time through the dryer summer months even if you have wear in the outer sole where water would normally get in.
 
First and foremost, with this new design, they have removed the shoelace eyelets. This seems to have been the cause of major shoelace wear.  As you can read above in my previous posts, the laces did not last very long until they broke, so I had been replacing them with hockey skate laces.  Now, without the plastic eyelets, I haven't had any lace breakage problems.

2021: new design and improvements
(click for larger picture) 

The top layer of materiel under/around the eyelets has been removed also, save for the bottom-most eyelets which still go through the toe material.
 
Another thing they seem to have fixed is the glue used to adhere the fabric to the foam insole. Previously, the fabric would start to peel off almost immediately so, instead of being annoyed by the peeling fabric, I would just peel the whole thing off myself and be done with it. I didn't experience any peeling with the new X version or my previous pair. Yes, there was wear, but no peeling.

Insole much better, no peeling
(click for larger picture)


The Heel Collar part of the shoe, just under the ankles, has been improved, also.  This part of the shoe has often been quite stiff and really hurt my ankles until they broke-in, so now this part of the shoe has been replaced with soft padding all the way around the back of the heel. Very good improvement. Much more comfortable right from the start of wearing a new pair.

I'm not certain, but I think the main leather part of the shoe has been changed to a different kind of material, it seems a bit more swede-like on the surface.

The major wear-point for these Terra Spider X shoes has been the back of the heel. The material has totally worn away and the inner stiff backing material has slowly been breaking away in pieces.  This point certainly needs improvement. I keep thinking that the back of the heel should have no material at all, and be completely smooth to prevent rubbing between the heel/sock/back-of-shoe.  Would save me getting holes in my socks as well.  Since I do a lot of bending down, there's really no way to prevent the heel from lifting up a little when bending down, so I think it would be best to limit friction instead.  Of course, this might be a bad idea, because it might allow the heel too much freedom of movement to life up. But if the top of the heel curves in, and the shoe does as well, that should prevent the heel from lifting out of the shoe.

Heel backing support and wear needs a design change 
(click for larger picture)
 
 
The soles of the shoes haven't changed. The Terra Spider X soles are no different. Still very good, very flexible upon purchase, great for squatting and foot flexibility etc. Still love the soles.  The major wear points seem to be on the pivot points, i.e. the large toes and heels. Same as any footwear. Not sure if this can be improved upon without affecting comfort in a negative way.  Since it rains around here a lot, once the sole is either punctured (by a nail for example) or worn through a little by regular wear, water get into the squishier inner part of the sole and once that happens, water enters the shoe and your foot is wet. Would be nice if they could but some kind of coating between the rubber sole and the inner insole footbed board to prevent water getting in. Once the outer sole is comprised, the midsole just soaks up water like a sponge.

The soles are still comfortable and flexible in design.
(click for larger picture)
 
Arch support. These shoes have zero arch support. They are totally flat. With at least one previous purchase of Terra Spider, I have added my own arch support in the form of cardboard cutouts that I taped in place.  I found that adding arch support really helped with ankle stability. My ankles were getting sore. The arch support helped. Maybe it was the specific work I was doing, not sure, but with this current pair of Terra Spider X shoes, arch support never occurred to me. So, not sure what was going on there. But, if you typically like arch support, you will have to add your own with these shoes or replace the insole with ones with arch support.

Old design on top, new design on bottom.
(click for larger picture)
 
Looking at the picture above, you can see some differences between the new version and the old.
 
The heel collar being the main design change and a great improvement. 
 
The plastic eyelets removed. 
 
The stitching at the toe is still a weak point. I am still having that stitching come out and having to glue it to prevent it coming fully apart. They really need to do something about this. Stitching is not enough, it needs to be glued down.  
 
Toe-kick rubber on the nose has been good in previous years. It hasn't come off at all. In the past, it would eventually start peeling forward and I'd have to glue it back on with PL Premium (just because that kind of glue is usually kicking around on every jobsite). So, maybe they improved upon that by using better glue in the manufacturing because I haven't had any problems with that issue for awhile now.
 
The pull-tab loop for putting your finger in to pull your shoe on is a good idea, but, it's WAY too small. I can't easily get my finger in there and my fingers are pretty thin. So, regular man-hands will not fit in there.  Plus, takes too long to try and get your finger in there, and imagine that you are wearing gloves, as I usually am, I just want to take my shoe off, shake out the debris that's in there, and put it back on, it would be better that it was a thicker piece of material, more of a pull-tab, not a pull-loop. You know, something a guy can just grab onto with no need to try to find the hole.

The area where the shoe bends at the ball of the foot, I haven't had any problems with cracking and splitting, so that's good. That was a problem on my previous pair.  Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't, so not sure if it's luck of the draw in manufacturing, or if it has to do with something else. Such as, getting the shoes wet and muddy then drying them out, causing the material to become less flexible. Not sure.

Anyway, still a great shoe. I highly recommend them, and look forward to further improvements on their design.  If I had to choose only one improvement, hm... I'd say to prevent water from getting into the shoe through an outer-sole breach -- a brand new pair of shoes can be turned into soggy sponges by a puncture through the outer sole allowing water in.
Posted by Scocasso! at 9:59 AM
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James Drake Mitchell

Sunday, January 20, 2013

If the following bits of information is familiar to you, please contact me.

James Drake Mitchell
Jane Denise Evans
1951/1952
Nanaimo British Columbia, Canada
Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England, U.K.
Grace
December 02, 1972
Vancouver, BC
Posted by Scocasso! at 2:51 PM
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VLC - AutoPlay Music CD

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

VLC - AutoPlay Music CD - iMac OSX Applescript

I do not use iTunes, nor do I have any desire to do so.  I do, however, enjoy using VideoLAN's VLC Media Player, but with my current OSX 10.6.8 operating system, my VLC Media Player doesn't have the option upon instillation to make it the default media player.  I have no idea why.All I know is that whenever I insert a Music CD into my drive VLC will not play the disc.

It may be different for you, I don't know.  But, if I open my System Preferences > Hardware > CDs & DVDs > "When you insert a music CD:" and change this option from "Open QuickTime Player.app" to "VLC.app", it will not play.  I must choose the option to "Ignore" then manually open VLC and choose to Open Disc.  Even then it will not play properly as it will try to play the CD at the exact same time as trying to populate the VLC Playlist with the contents of the CD, therefore the music stammers and stalls at the two operations fight over control of the disc drive.

What solved this was to open the Audio CD disc folder, select all of the audio files, and drag them to the VLC PlayList, and play them from there (drag-dropping them to the player interface would also cause a fight over the drive by as described above).  This works, but the tracks are out of order 1, 10, 11, 12, 2, 3 ... 9. Very annoying to someone who likes to listen to an album in order.


So, here's the solution.  Open your AppleScript Editor (system app) and paste this into the window:


on music CD appeared d
   
    tell application "VLC"
        OpenURL "/Volumes/Audio CD"
        play
        delay 1
        stop
        set numberOfFiles to count of "/Volumes/Audio CD"
        delay (numberOfFiles * 1)
        play
    end tell
   
end music CD appeared

Save the file as a Script file, suggested name "VLC Autoplay CD.scpt", put it somewhere on your computer.  Maybe in HD > Library > Scripts or MyComputer > Library > Scripts.  Now, simply go to your "When you insert a music CD:" preference and choose "Run Script" and select your "VLC Autoplay CD.scpt" file.  That's it.  The next time you insert an Audio Music CD, it should play automatically with VLC.

The above script assumes that you are using an iMac desktop computer, you have VLC Media Player already installed, and that your Audio CD drive  is indeed located at the "file:///Volumes/Audio CD" directory or "/Volumes/Audio CD".  If you are using a laptop or an external drive etc. it may be in a different location.  I'm sure there's a way to have that drive path automatically detected by the script, but I haven't the time nor the motive to figure it out as the above is simple works for me and is easy for others to edit for their own needs.

If you have any useful changes or additions to this script, let me know, make a comment.

Update:  hm, seems that this only works if the playlist is clear to start with.  If there are other items in the playlist, it will start playing the last item to be played, such as a movie you watched before trying to listen to this music CD.  So, I updated the scripts like this to quit VLC (which clears the playlist) then restart it:

on music CD appeared d
   
    tell application "VLC"
        quit
        delay 2
        OpenURL "/Volumes/Audio CD"
        play
        delay 1
        stop
        set numberOfFiles to count of "/Volumes/Audio CD"
        delay (numberOfFiles * 1)
        play
    end tell
   
end music CD appeared

Posted by Scocasso! at 8:36 PM
1 comments

Laser Turntable

Friday, July 8, 2011



I really love analogue sound when listening to music.  Sure, digital music is very convenient and practical compared to current methods of storing analogue sound, and most music is just not worth listening to on a quality anything above that found in the typical portable player or car stereo.  But, for that music which you deem to be worthy of multiple listening, deep thought, and emotion it would seem analogue sound (that is, the sound which we hear with our own ears) would be most pleasing to listen to.


For many reasons records have great quality of sound; the little continuously swirling groove in the record is filled with bumps created by the vibrations of sound; not a computer's interpretation of sound into digital then reinterpreted back out into speakers.  Trying to convert a sound wave into a digital format has proved to be difficult since a sound is a resonation [sic] caused by a physical disturbance such as something hit.  That amount of information in that 'hit' is massive as a resonance can conceivably go on for ever such as, when a bell is rung, when does the ringing stop?  It seems to fade and fade into oblivion beyond the capability of human hearing.  Or do we still hear it, but merely do not recognize it due to other overlapping sounds such as the wind in the trees, the hum of the refrigerator, our own breathing, or heartbeat?  Why not cut out all of the sounds below and above the range of human hearing?  This has been done with digital music, but somehow people can tell something is different; something is missing.  Often people describe this missing 'something' to be a lack of warmth or purity, or dare I say, soul.

The little 'bumps' in a record's groove are little 'hits'.  Each bump is a wave, and when that wave is amplified and pushed out through speakers, the wave hits the air, unchanging from it's smaller form, only bigger now, then through the air and onto our ear drum; onto our body; resonating through our whole body and soul.

The digital representation of these waves are cut off at the top and bottom, thus the resonance is lost.  The wave will reach a certain peak, and that's it, it cannot continue further.


Well, this is the way I see it.  I see sound waves as I do any other form of energy, as a resonation that affects everything around it.  Yes, similar in mind to the so-called Butterfly Effect.

Unfortunately, using the traditional record player where a needle physically sits in the groove of the record getting 'hit' by the bumps as they pass-by underneath has some detractions in the form of physical wear, static electricity build-up, foreign particles in the groove, and so forth.

Wouldn't it be great to be able to encase a record in-between two pieces of glass or clear vinyl and read the bumps on the grooves with a laser instead, as is done with a laser disc (CD, DVD, etc.)?  Well, a small company in Japan decided to take that idea to its first step, that is, a record player that uses lasers rather than a needle to play the music.

The company is called Edison Laser Player, now shortened to ELP as their product is now called Edison Laser Turntable.

In the two-sided V-shaped groove of a record, there are two separate recordings, one on each side of the groove; one for the left channel and one for the right to create stereo sound.  Two lasers, one for each side of the groove are used to accomplish this same feat.

I couldn't help but note from the ELP company's website that, "1991 Sold the Laser Turntable to the first overseas customer, the Canadian Library."  Good on Canada!


Another problem found with traditional record players that is eliminated with this laser player is the needle picking up sounds from beyond the record, such as taps or bumps on the table, floor, and even sound coming from the speakers if they are nearby (essentially, feedback) - I have all of these problems plus static build up clicks and pops on dry summer days.  I remember reading the story of one person who was walking across the room when his footsteps were amplified by the turntable and such was the deep reverberation of the sound that it blew out his speakers.  Apparently, no more with the laser turntable.

Official Website: www.elpj.com
Photos By: Kell
Posted by Scocasso! at 3:34 PM
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