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I have been having a few issues installing software on my (old) Sony A197XP VAIO, notably Firefox 3 and iTunes 7.7 (which I wanted to install for MobileMe).
So before I re-install Windows (and all the headaches that will cause me) I decided to try and install XP SP3.
This did install.
I was then able to install Firefox 3.01 and was pleased with that.
However iTunes 7.7 still failed to install.
Not sure where to go now, but looks like I may need to reinstall Windows.
I have been trying out and installing some applications on the iPod touch now that firmware 2.0 is available.
Very pleased with Remote which allows your iPod to control your Mac’s iTunes collection which makes it perfect for using with an Airport Express.
Also tried the Evernote application which works really well for me.
Still to try out some others.
I haven’t bought one yet, but may do so soon.
I have no idea why, but my iMac can be so slow at times…
This is a 2.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo iMac with 2 GB of RAM, so I am guessing that this really should be a fast computer, certainly faster than my old G4 PowerBook!
However at times it slows down to a real crawl, so slow that all I get is the spinning beachball of death!
However all is not lost I know why.
I run too many applications at once and I run them hard.
For example I will usually have three browsers open all with multiple tags. I also visit sites which have lots of javascript and ajax in them (such as WordPress blogs and Jaiku).
I do run a few PowerPC legacy applications (namely Word and Firefox).
I will have iPhoto and iTunes running in the background as well.
I would suspect that running EyeTV and EyeHome in the background also adds to the load.
So it’s not really the iMac’s fault, I know it’s all mine!
In theory what I should do is run a single application only and then open the others as and when I need them.
In theory that is a good idea.
In reality I don’t work that way.
Maybe I need a stack of computers with multiple spaces on a single monitor that allow me to work the way I want to without loading the lot so much so slow it right down to a crawl.
After their success with Photoshop Express, we now see another web application from Adobe.
This is a media player application which works on the AIR platform.
Macrumors says about it:
In many ways, the Adobe Media Player mimics iTunes Video and Podcast functionality by providing users with an all-enclosed application that provides access to network shows and podcasts. Content is sparse at the moment, but Adobe has partnered with a number of content providers such as CBS, PBS, MTV and more. Unlike iTunes, however, Adobe’s Media Player is not presently a “store” and offers free and ad-supported content. Adobe, however, has said that it plans on adding payment systems later to offer purchase and rental options.
Certainly this looks like it could be a real alternative to iTunes for those looking for a way to play podcasts.
Just a quick mention that you can now buy episodes of BBC’s Robin Hood on iTunes, well in the UK you can.
Eventually we can now get BBC shows on iTunes.
The BBC reports
BBC shows including Life on Mars and Little Britain have been made available to download from digital store iTunes.
Some see this as unfair as we have to pay for these programmes and we have already paid for them in one way via our licence fee.
I don’t agree with this, I see BBC shows on iTunes in the same way that you can purchase BBC shows on DVD from Amazon
Those who complain or are unhappy about BBC shows on iTunes ought to also complain about BBC shows on DVD been sold by Amazon or WHSmith!
Personally I am pleased to see that if I want to I can purchase BBC shows for my iPod, particularly hoping that Hustle season one is available or will be available soon.
Sometimes depsite all your planning, it all falls apart.
Not living in San Francisco, actually I don’t even live in the US, I knew it was going to be impossible to attend the MacWorld 2008 Keynote in person. Though I didn’t realise until listening to MacBreak Weekly that it’s like an iPhone launch if you want to actually get in there in person, it starts at 9am, but you really need to start queuing at 4am – now that’s dedication.
So I couldn’t be there in person, like I was ever going to get there!
I didn’t really want to “view” the keynote by watching the Macrumors’ feed, or refreshing Engadget on a regular basis, or watching multiple tweets on Twitter (which I believe went down during the Keynote). I do like watching the stream (as though it was “live”. I subscribed the Macrumors spoiler free link. However fifteen hours after the Keynote, no e-mail giving me the link, I thought to myself, either there is no stream (there had to be, it said it was going to be made available on the Apple website) or (more likely) the Macrumors e-mail service had failed! It hadn’t completely failed, the e-mail telling me about the steam eventually arrived eighteen hours after the start of the Keynote!
So I went to the Apple website, obviously saw the MacBook Air on the front page and thought ah well, and clicked the link for the Keynote stream.
Now maybe it was my connection or my computer, but could I get the Keynote to stream? No.
I tried on two different connections with no luck. I tried on about four computers with no luck.
Probably too many people trying to access the stream.
I am not a great fan of streaming, as too often (with long videos) I want to pause the video as real life gets in the way, you know phone calls, coffee, e-mails, etc… I have found with some streaming, if I pause the stream it never restarts, so I need to start the whole stream from the beginning.
I even tried to find online a place to download the Keynote with no luck.
I was resigned to the fact that I was not going to be able to watch the Keynote this year. Ah well I had found out what was released and I had seen the sixty second version.
So imagine my surprise when looking at the top podcasts in the (UK) iTunes Store when there was the MacWorld 2008 Expo Keynote.
Well I am downloading all 900MB of that then!
I am surprised that not only was it available, but that Apple hadn’t really mentioned it on their main website.
Still downloading, and you know about everything that was mentioned, so leave me to enjoy that distortion field which is Steve Jobs.
One more thing…
Here in the UK it is (still) illegal to rip a CD to your computer (so when using iTunes or Windows Media Player you are technically breaking the law if you import a CD).
However the BBC reports that this may soon change…
Copying music from a CD to a home computer could be made legal under new proposals from the UK government.
Millions of people already “rip” discs to their computers and move the files to MP3 players, although the process is technically against copyright law.
This is of course of those things that we do on a regular basis, but is in fact still illegal, I would suspect most people don’t even realise it is illegal.
You know when you think you have a huge empty hard drive, and in reality after a year or so it is crammed full of audio and video files that you need to go in and do something about it.
When I got my iMac last year I decided that I would leave my iTunes library as it was in Apple Lossless format, even though it took up a lot of space, I wouldn’t lose anything in compression.
However after much thought (and listening to various views on MacBreak Weekly) I made the decision to convert my library to AAC 256kbps.
I had to do it in stages as my spare hard disk space wasn’t large enough, but I managed to reduce my library from in excess of 40GB to just 13GB.
I can always re-rip the CDs if I want to, so it’s not really like I have lost anything. Also I couldn’t tell the difference between Apple Lossless and AAC 256kbps.