dumb playlists
I’m still waiting for an update from Apple on fixing the pod’s smart playlist feature. I came across this site that sums up the problem very well.
2nd coming of teny’s iPod
Well, actually, it’s the 3rd …
iPods have a feature called smart playlists. The playlists dynamically update according to criteria I set for it. So if I want to listen to songs rated 3 stars or higher, played in the last week, but not in the last 2 days, the pod creates the list accordingly and updates as the list plays.
Last June, Apple released an update to the pod’s firmware to coincide with the podcasts function in the iTunes software. So, now I have a separate category called “Podcasts” on the pod. Unfortunately, this new firmware disabled the pod’s ability to use a “smart” playlist. In fact, the smart playlist was now a plain, simple playlist that repeated whatever was in it. The playlist would not update unless I plugged the pod to my PC; iTunes would then update the playlist.
The smart playlist feature is one major reason I wanted an iPod. Apparently, the newer Nano and 5th generation “video” iPods do not have this problem. And Apple has acknowledged the problem, but has neglected to do anything about it. There are many owners like myself who are frustrated with this situation.
What some of us have done is gone backwards by pulling up an old firmware update and restoring the iPod to that firmware. But you have to format the pod’s hard drive. Which meant, I needed to back up my songs. I did do this a few weeks back. I ran the old firmware update, and plugged in the pod to restore the older version. Once it wiped the hard drive clean, I went to restore all my songs.
The songs were gone. I felt like a fool.
So … I’m rebuilding my library, bit by bit. Thankfully, I had backed up songs I purchased off of iTunes on a CD. Once you’ve paid and downloaded a song on iTunes, you cannot do it again without buying it again. Retarded. But now I have my smart playlists back, so I can’t complain.
What’s rocking the pod:
Pretty Vegas – INXS
Blue Orchid – The White Stripes
Ch-Check It Out – Beastie Boys
My Doorbell – The White Stripes
Love Removal Machine – The Cult
Square Dance – Eminem
Betty – The Lascivious Biddies
(if you use iTunes, get the mix)
2nd coming of teny's iPod
Well, actually, it’s the 3rd …
iPods have a feature called smart playlists. The playlists dynamically update according to criteria I set for it. So if I want to listen to songs rated 3 stars or higher, played in the last week, but not in the last 2 days, the pod creates the list accordingly and updates as the list plays.
Last June, Apple released an update to the pod’s firmware to coincide with the podcasts function in the iTunes software. So, now I have a separate category called “Podcasts” on the pod. Unfortunately, this new firmware disabled the pod’s ability to use a “smart” playlist. In fact, the smart playlist was now a plain, simple playlist that repeated whatever was in it. The playlist would not update unless I plugged the pod to my PC; iTunes would then update the playlist.
The smart playlist feature is one major reason I wanted an iPod. Apparently, the newer Nano and 5th generation “video” iPods do not have this problem. And Apple has acknowledged the problem, but has neglected to do anything about it. There are many owners like myself who are frustrated with this situation.
What some of us have done is gone backwards by pulling up an old firmware update and restoring the iPod to that firmware. But you have to format the pod’s hard drive. Which meant, I needed to back up my songs. I did do this a few weeks back. I ran the old firmware update, and plugged in the pod to restore the older version. Once it wiped the hard drive clean, I went to restore all my songs.
The songs were gone. I felt like a fool.
So … I’m rebuilding my library, bit by bit. Thankfully, I had backed up songs I purchased off of iTunes on a CD. Once you’ve paid and downloaded a song on iTunes, you cannot do it again without buying it again. Retarded. But now I have my smart playlists back, so I can’t complain.
What’s rocking the pod:
Pretty Vegas – INXS
Blue Orchid – The White Stripes
Ch-Check It Out – Beastie Boys
My Doorbell – The White Stripes
Love Removal Machine – The Cult
Square Dance – Eminem
Betty – The Lascivious Biddies
(if you use iTunes, get the mix)
Pandora – FREE streaming music service reads your mind
Enter your favorite artist or song and Pandora creates a playlist of music that is eerily and accurately similar. Sound quality is great and it runs inside your browser; it’s free! Great digg.
biddies
I don’t listen to jazz a whole lot, but thanks to Adam Curry, I’m now listening to the Lascivious Biddies. Their music is a lot of fun. They are talented musicians; listen to their podcast to hear them live. Not since Harry Connick Jr have I listened to something this good that wasn’t rock.
what i’ve been listening to …
We used to listen to Y98, but the music has been repetitious. I love the music, but you can only hear so much of the same songs. Some of us listen to KEZK; good stuff too, but most of the time, it’s soft rock. Lately, I listen to these stations only when I want to win a contest.
We started listening to the Arch, a new station that plays “70′s, 80′s, and whatever we want”. When I first heard the stuff they played, I was impressed. I was hearing good music, an eclectic mix of today and yesterday. You’ll hear Little River Band, Black Eyed Peas, ELO, Avril Lavigne. And they never play any song twice in the same day. Almost like listening to one’s iPod.
But I must say the Arch has its faults. They are heavy on the 70′s stuff. Not that I don’t like the music. It’s just that maybe 7 out of 10 songs you hear is from the 70′s. The Eagles. Lots of stuff by the Eagles. They are right in saying they don’t repeat their music that day. I heard “My Sweet Lord” by George Harrison the other day; hadn’t heard that on the radio in over a decade. I heard it again yesterday. I’ve heard several songs 2 or 3 times this week and haven’t heard them in over 10, maybe 20 years! It’s like their playlist repeats itself after 2 days. They need a more balanced mix. But it is whatever they want.
Instead, I’m listening to podcasts on the pod. I’m trying new shows to get a feel for what’s out there. But I love the tech stuff. TWiT-This Week In Tech is my favorite right now. I love Leo Laporte’s KFI show – I learn a lot from other people’s problems! And Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht do a great job with Diggnation, a recap of the top stories on Kevin’s creation, Digg.com. If you haven’t listened to podcasts, give them a try.
what i've been listening to …
We used to listen to Y98, but the music has been repetitious. I love the music, but you can only hear so much of the same songs. Some of us listen to KEZK; good stuff too, but most of the time, it’s soft rock. Lately, I listen to these stations only when I want to win a contest.
We started listening to the Arch, a new station that plays “70′s, 80′s, and whatever we want”. When I first heard the stuff they played, I was impressed. I was hearing good music, an eclectic mix of today and yesterday. You’ll hear Little River Band, Black Eyed Peas, ELO, Avril Lavigne. And they never play any song twice in the same day. Almost like listening to one’s iPod.
But I must say the Arch has its faults. They are heavy on the 70′s stuff. Not that I don’t like the music. It’s just that maybe 7 out of 10 songs you hear is from the 70′s. The Eagles. Lots of stuff by the Eagles. They are right in saying they don’t repeat their music that day. I heard “My Sweet Lord” by George Harrison the other day; hadn’t heard that on the radio in over a decade. I heard it again yesterday. I’ve heard several songs 2 or 3 times this week and haven’t heard them in over 10, maybe 20 years! It’s like their playlist repeats itself after 2 days. They need a more balanced mix. But it is whatever they want.
Instead, I’m listening to podcasts on the pod. I’m trying new shows to get a feel for what’s out there. But I love the tech stuff. TWiT-This Week In Tech is my favorite right now. I love Leo Laporte’s KFI show – I learn a lot from other people’s problems! And Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht do a great job with Diggnation, a recap of the top stories on Kevin’s creation, Digg.com. If you haven’t listened to podcasts, give them a try.
“untitled” by simple plan
I heard this song on the radio, and I was so moved by the lyrics. Click on the pic to see the video. A very powerful song. If you have teenagers, please talk to them about the dangers of drinking and driving.
Untitled
How could this happen to me?
I made my mistakes
Got no where to run
The night goes on
As I’m fading away
I’m sick of this life
I just wanna scream
How could this happen to me?
- Simple Plan
(for complete lyrics, click on Comments)
"untitled" by simple plan
I heard this song on the radio, and I was so moved by the lyrics. Click on the pic to see the video. A very powerful song. If you have teenagers, please talk to them about the dangers of drinking and driving.
Untitled
How could this happen to me?
I made my mistakes
Got no where to run
The night goes on
As I’m fading away
I’m sick of this life
I just wanna scream
How could this happen to me?
- Simple Plan
(for complete lyrics, click on Comments)
i’m posted on FM99!
Thanks to Harvey “Big Bird” Kojan at FM99 WNOR for posting my e-mail to their website! I was reading some of the listener comments, and I had to put in my 2 cents. Of course, I didn’t sign it with my name, so you can’t identify me (keywords – Virginia Beach and Illinois).
i'm posted on FM99!
Thanks to Harvey “Big Bird” Kojan at FM99 WNOR for posting my e-mail to their website! I was reading some of the listener comments, and I had to put in my 2 cents. Of course, I didn’t sign it with my name, so you can’t identify me (keywords – Virginia Beach and Illinois).
work
Why does Monday have to suck so badly? Why does it have to suck period? This morning was awful with 4 staff members being off (1 unscheduled). I take care of so many people, yet it’s more difficult to do when there is less of them here (figure that one out). I’ve been growling out loud and swearing under my breath, begging for the pain to end (physical and mental).
It makes me wonder if this department will ever get to the stage where everyone was fully trained. I was asked to create a spreadsheet listing each staff member, and it would include areas they are experienced with and areas in which they need training. We still have a long way to go, and summer is upon us with vacations scheduled all over the place. I wouldn’t be surprised if we were still training and it was January 2006.
Listened to a great song on my iPod while I worked – it felt appropriate:
All I can say
I should have said
Can we take a ride?
Get out of this place
While we still have time
-Work- Jimmy Eat World
I need to dig deeper for an opportunity to get out of this place.
successful test
I think my audio test with Audioblogger went well. Sound quality isn’t great because I was on my cell phone. It definitely served its purpose, and I’m quite happy with the result. Is that how I sound everyday?? I sound like a dweeb! Until I figure out how to do my own “podcasts”, I will go with Audioblogger for the time being. I will definitely use them when we’re on vacation; it’s free!
A shout-out to Sonja at FM99 for playing “Ten Years Gone” by Led Zeppelin during Free Form Lunch! Unfortunately, I didn’t request it. Someone called in and asked for any song by Zep that you wouldn’t normally hear on the radio. And this is what Sonja dug up. It was awesome to hear this gem played by someone else other than me.
Gonna go rest; hope my foot heals in the next day or so or I’m off to see a doctor.
catching up
My left foot is killing me. Woke up yesterday with pain, and I can’t put much weight on it. As the day goes on, I can walk (I try to ignore the fact that it hurts). It really hurts when I haven’t been on it for a long period of time; I practically fell out of bed this morning. I don’t know if it’s a pulled muscle or a sprain or if something’s broken (CL laughs at me). This has happened before, and it took a week for it to go away.
Pepsi/iTunes promotion – Free songs to date: 70! This ends Monday, 4-11. After that, I’ll try to clean up whatever caps are still on the shelves (caps expire in May). Thanks again to everyone for their donations.
Vacation is a little over 2 months away. We’ll do the Disney thing the first week with the family, then everyone leaves while CL and I head on to Tybee Island, Georgia for some serious RnR. I can’t wait to not have a care in the world for 2 weeks.
Work has been ok. I hate it when I’m there. I feel I’ve rubbed several people the wrong way since I got in trouble, and there’s this cloud over me when they see me coming. I shouldn’t worry what others think, but they were my friends, and now I feel like I’ve been shunned. I’m sure someone’s been talking about me. Damnit, I hate gossip.
Reality check
What a long day. I spent the majority of the day working on the dept’s orientation manual. We have 2 printers that don’t work well and the copier is a piece of junk. So needless to say, the manual looks like crap. The bosses would like one ready for a new employee who starts Monday. My daily charges were put off to the last minute. I was so busy with the stupid book I forgot to eat lunch. And I was so tired I was craving a nap. The end of the week continued the trend of “busy” and “slow”.
No pranks took place, nor did I attempt any (I’m not that creative). The local radio station did something neat and changed their format from adult contemporary to basically whatever they felt like playing. It was kind of neat to hear Jimmy Buffett, AC/DC, Green Day, MC Hammer, and Leann Rimes all in the same hour.
FM99 also pulled a fast one on its listeners by allowing their intern to take over the station and play whatever he wanted. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to listen to the stream because it was so friggin busy.
CL and her mom are out playing bingo. D and Grandpa are waiting for me to finish so I can join them in a game of “007 Scene It”. Whoopee. That’s ok, D’s such a Bond expert it’ll be over so quick I won’t feel any pain. Have a nice weekend!
Blogger up, Blogger down
Don’t know what’s up with Blogger’s server – I’m having difficulty getting anything to respond tonight.
I lacked serious motivation today. Another beautiful day, sunshine, 70′s, and a bonus in-house vacation day (due to illness; forgive me for being cold). As much I have to do at work, I’m losing interest in the job fast. Need to get on the ball if I want to move on.
I finished reading Ren’s blog today on his holiday travels in Southeast Asia. Wonderful stuff with excellent pictures to accompany them. It’d be even better if I could hear him tell the stories himself. Could make a great podcast, eh? Hmm, don’t know if he’d get into that.
FM99 WNOR, Norfolk VA. Living in Virginia Beach as a teen, and later as a student at Old Dominion University, I would tune in to 98.7. The greatest rock station I ever listened to. I was happy to discover they’re now streaming live on the Web! The music ranges from Zeppelin to Metallica to Linkin Park. It’s great to listen to them again. I like KSHE in St Louis, but the music just doesn’t consistently rock like it does on FM99. I’m probably biased being from Hampton Roads, but who cares?
Pepsi/iTunes promotion – Free songs to date: 66. I’ve stalled big time with my caps. The last 6 have come from donations (thank you again!). Everything else I come up with are losers. The other downside: contest ends on 4-11, and the shop that I buy my Pepsi’s from are no longer selling bottles with the contest caps. I don’t really know why I’m complaining; I’ve got $66 worth of songs. It must be the caffeine bitching.
Gonna hit the sack – til the next time!
Good Friday
It’s early this morning. It’s cold, and I don’t want to go to work. It is Friday, and an in-house vacation day, so that should be plenty of incentive for me to get going.
A note/reminder to those who read this (particularly those I work with):
This blog is my journal. It is a means for me to communicate, speak my mind, and vent my frustrations. Because it can sound depressing at times, I try to talk about things I have interests in – fun stuff for me (and maybe for you too). Only a select few have access to this. I am discreet when I discuss the workplace, and I will only talk about things that happen in my presence (no hearsay). I please ask for discretion from you as well. Thank you.
I haven’t been watching college basketball (what is wrong with me????). Here’s the updated bracket. This weekend, I’d like to pack up the winter clothes and rearrange my dresser; I’ll try to watch as I work on that.
With the end of Lent coming, I am so ready to add more music to the iPod! I have 63 free songs from iTunes, and I don’t know where to begin! A very special “Thank You” to everyone who has contributed their winning caps! I greatly appreciate them!!!
Gotta get ready for work – blog at ya later – Happy Easter!!
Too tired to think of a title for this post …
Not much to say today. Accomplished two things at work – the minutes for yesterday’s staff meeting (I hate doing minutes) and charges. I never got to scans, and my planned database maintenance was postponed due to lack of cooperation (it happens).
Pepsi/iTunes promotion – Free songs to date: 63!
It’s late for me, and I’m tired. We went out to eat for dinner, then stopped at Target to pick up a few things. I hope tomorrow lives up to its name. Good Friday begins the Easter weekend.
I wish everyone a Blessed Easter 
Too tired to think of a title for this post …
Not much to say today. Accomplished two things at work – the minutes for yesterday’s staff meeting (I hate doing minutes) and charges. I never got to scans, and my planned database maintenance was postponed due to lack of cooperation (it happens).
Pepsi/iTunes promotion – Free songs to date: 63!
It’s late for me, and I’m tired. We went out to eat for dinner, then stopped at Target to pick up a few things. I hope tomorrow lives up to its name. Good Friday begins the Easter weekend.
I wish everyone a Blessed Easter
My playlists
The job search has been difficult. I’ve found another technical apprenticeship in Southern IL that I applied for (cross your fingers). I may have to start looking for “assistant” type jobs instead of techie ones. I certainly need to go back to school.
I mentioned yesterday that the playlists on my iPod were gone. I noticed when I got into the car that there weren’t any, and it made me think my home PC wiped it clean again. The music and podcasts were on it, but not a playlist was to be found. Once I got to work, I plugged it in. Thankfully, they reappeared!
I don’t just listen to songs or albums anymore. The beauty of using an MP3 player is the playlist feature. You’re basically creating your own mix. I like to use random playlists, so you never know what you’re going to hear (sort of like listening to my own radio station).
- What’s on Teny’s iPod
- Pepsi/iTunes promotion – Free songs to date: 60!
- The Scribbler – if you like to draw, try this out
Spoke to Sandy this evening. She’ll be at Severs tomorrow evening after 5! Hope to see you there!
“Tenyrsgon”
I thought I’d discuss the origin of the name “Teny”. When I first ventured online nearly 9 years ago, I was really into chatting. Particularly in chat rooms on AOL. I made lots of friends in a 2-year span. I don’t really chat anymore. It got old pretty fast.
Instead of the usual JSmith0704 format, I created a different screenname. Seeing all the different names people had, I couldn’t come up with anything real creative. I decided on taking my favorite Led Zeppelin song and making it my name. Ten Years Gone was the song, but due to the character limit imposed by AOL at the time, my name was Tenyrsgon. My profile was another play on Zep tunes (Name: Poor Tom, Location: Over The Hills And Far Away, you get the idea).
When chatting, people tend to cut your name short if it’s too long to type. Instead of calling me “Ten”, it was “Teny”. And it stuck. A circle of friends knew me by that name, and it spawned various screennames: TenysBack, TenysHere, and CL’s favorite, TenyBear. After moving to the Midwest, I couldn’t use TenyBear (at the time AOL had restrictions with using names on different accounts). So Teny jr was created and is still used to this day.
Next time, I’ll tell you how Teny met CL.
"Tenyrsgon"
I thought I’d discuss the origin of the name “Teny”. When I first ventured online nearly 9 years ago, I was really into chatting. Particularly in chat rooms on AOL. I made lots of friends in a 2-year span. I don’t really chat anymore. It got old pretty fast.
Instead of the usual JSmith0704 format, I created a different screenname. Seeing all the different names people had, I couldn’t come up with anything real creative. I decided on taking my favorite Led Zeppelin song and making it my name. Ten Years Gone was the song, but due to the character limit imposed by AOL at the time, my name was Tenyrsgon. My profile was another play on Zep tunes (Name: Poor Tom, Location: Over The Hills And Far Away, you get the idea).
When chatting, people tend to cut your name short if it’s too long to type. Instead of calling me “Ten”, it was “Teny”. And it stuck. A circle of friends knew me by that name, and it spawned various screennames: TenysBack, TenysHere, and CL’s favorite, TenyBear. After moving to the Midwest, I couldn’t use TenyBear (at the time AOL had restrictions with using names on different accounts). So Teny jr was created and is still used to this day.
Next time, I’ll tell you how Teny met CL.
Free songs!
I’ve been drinking Pepsi since the iTunes promotion began on January 31. I’ve bought between 6 to maybe 10 sodas a week. I’ve won around possibly 12 free songs (out of maybe 30 sodas??).
Including everyone’s contributions and my winnings, to date, I have 41 free songs from iTunes! Last year, I won 14 songs. A very special thanks to everyone who’s been donating their caps from their soda bottles (Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Diet Mountain Dew)! I’m only taking caps from people who won’t have any use for the free music, so please, keep them coming!
Unfortunately for me, I gave up putting new stuff on my iPod for Lent. I can download songs to my computer, since I’m not putting them on my iPod. And I do have until May to redeem a free song (but I’m sure I’ll have done that well before then!).
Obviously, I changed the way my blog looks. I thought the other one a bit bold at first site, then more “blah” as you read on. I like the one I have now; it looks a little more organized with an even balance of color. As I said before, I plan to include more links and pictures as time allows.
As for Severs on Wednesday night (3-9-05), I’ll have to cancel my plan to hang out. I will post the next time I plan on being there.
I’m missing 24!! Gotta go …
Teny’s iPod
You know lately I’ve been wearing headphones while I work. It’s a way to keep my focus, keep me sane, and enjoy my day. My parents gave me an iPod for Christmas, and it’s certainly my favorite toy right now. It’s a 4th generation 20 GB iPod.
I currently have 5 gigs of music on it. I originally had 15 GB filled up, but our new PC wiped it clean. So I’m just taking my time filling it up now. What’s hot for me right now: Hoobastank’s The Reason. Their ballad is a great one, but the album itself rocks. Kelly Clarkson’s Breakaway is my wife CL’s fave, and I enjoy it as well. Other current faves: Alanis Morissette’s So-Called Chaos, Eminem’s Encore (I’m sure I’ll hear about this one), U2′s How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. My favorite song at this time: The Killers “Mr. Brightside”.
What I really enjoy listening to are podcasts. Basically an audio show (usually 30 minutes) broadcast over the Internet. They’re downloadable and usually played back on an MP3 player like an iPod, hence the name. There are many types of podcasts, ranging with subjects from sports to movies to music.
One of the podcasts I listen to is the Daily Source Code with Adam Curry. Curry was an MTV VJ in the late 80′s, and he’s the pioneer behind the podcast revolution. He usually talks about music, technology, and helps promote other podcasts. Curry would occasionally take the listener on a “soundseeing” tour, like South Beach, Florida, as he walks past restaurants and clubs, and talks to people on the street as cars drive by. It’s entertaining, educational (for me, anyway), and honest.
The other is The Dawn and Drew Show. This is a couple sitting in their living room talking about anything, or, in most cases, nothing. Dawn likes to shock while Drew plays the straight man. The show tends to get a little risque, so … I won’t get into it. I love listening to them because they’re funny, down-to-earth (sometimes), and honest. With their honesty comes TMI (too much information), so beware (pay attention to their site’s disclaimer).
The thing I like about podcasts is the honesty. It’s unscripted, uncensored, and anything happens. Mistakes are all over these programs, and you hear them as they happen, like a painting falling off the wall or Curry queuing up the wrong audio bit.
Well, I rambled on too much here. CL wants me to quit so I can watch 24 with her. See ya …
