Andrew Luecke's dashboard

Whats wrong with it.. I think it looks nice – Andrew Luecke, on December 16, 2009 00:10

You guys chirped, they listened it seemed.. Latest 1.4 build:



Probably time to mark this as complete...

Woot.. About time..

Would there also be a way to perhaps automatically flag posts as spam with specific keywords? All of our spam comes is for a specific site.

I don't think the spam is automated yet, but we should assume it can be, and need a way to handle that assumption.

G'day,

Firstly, I used to work at an Apple reseller / service centre, and so I'll tell you what I told every customer. NEVER use the iPod's as a primary storage device!!! Technically, you can't safely store your data on an iPod. In fact, you should be backing up ALL your data anyway (if you aren't, you are potentially cruising for a bruising).

The iPod's reliability has improved in recent years, but the reality is that magnetic harddisks were never designed to be carried around, so they are more prone to failure when they are used on the go. Since they are carried around everywhere, they are also more prone to being dropped

Finally, there is no way to recover the data of an ipod without voiding the warranty. They must be torn open to do so, so if a cable becomes loose in the iPod, even if there is 6 months warranty remaining, you must decide between opening the iPod and voiding the warranty, or losing the data and send the iPod back to Apple (who will generally send back another refurbished unit).

Ignoring the fact that the iPod's aren't designed to be used as primary storage device, no program works works perfectly with the ipod's. Sometimes they can get corrupted and such, however, I would strongly advise you use iTunes if you do want the best chances for your data to survive. Pioneers of the inevitable are no longer actively supporting iPod's directly (instead using itunes sync instead), and because the specs for communicating with the iPod's aren't officially documented, everything was worked out through reverse engineering (which can cause problems).

So I'd say use two way sync with iTunes, or just iTunes. However, you'd be crazy if you don't consider purchasing a proper harddisk for your computer to hold your music. Otherwise, you are risking your iPod's data anyway!

Just my thoughts....

Excellent :D

G'day,

1.4 isn't final yet, so if it isn't on the addons website, its probably for that reason.

Otherwise, if it isn't, you could give a later nightly a try from http://developer.songbirdnest.com/bui... which comes which has the gracenote plugin within the addons directory (you have to open that xpi file from the songbird browser though)..

However, at this point of time, waiting may make the most sense, because 1.4 is expected to be SERIOUSLY close to release.

G'day,

Just wondering if you have the Gracenote addon installed..

G'day,

Actually, I like the new icon for other reasons NOT described here. Those of us who are long term users have been following the evolution of the icon since the beginning.

At the beginning it began an egg, which cracked, changed into a chick, and then grew older (no joke, the icon REALLY changed this way), and I think the black visually represents its coming of age. So I think the new icon is great ;)

G'day,

Not really sure what you mean because you can still prioritise which names would be used. Do you mean you'd like multiple pictures to be accessible as album art?

Egh, look, I'll drop it (because theres no point me trying to help here anyway). I'll just summarize my points and stop watching the idea:

1) If the Songbird devs do choose to implement ASIO in the future, they will test it first to see if there is a genuine benefit. So for starters, they will probably perform blind testing. The only difference as to whether users do it now and prove the benefits (as well as post the conditions) or not, is the attention the idea will receive. The increased number of users who do so, the greater attention.

2)Nobody disputes the theoretical benefits, and they never have. But development with limited resources has a cost and what's important are practical benefits. A good example of theoretical vs practical benefits is if a gamer upgrades 6GB of RAM to 12GB of ram. Even if he never uses more then 6GB at a time, there are theoretically performance benefits to having the extra ram (less memory fragmentation). However, in practical terms, the difference is unlikely to be noticed by the gamer (because the frame rate increase might be so small that the human visual system may be unable to notice the benefits. The question here is if people can notice the difference, and how many people.

3) The reason I am encouraging the use of a blind test so heavily, is that it has been made quite clear multiple times that many users are unable to identify the difference because they require expensive equipment (its owners would presumably need to be higher income earners than most) and above average hearing. So already effectively, its been made clear that laptop users are unable to notice the benefit, and probably, the majority of users. So its a limited audience and cost/benefits must be taken into account (EVERY software development company operates this way). Nothing can be done regarding the costs, however blind tests can prove and increase notable benefits..

4. At this point of time, the requirements have also changed a bit though. Because an ASIO plugin would now be supplementing the existing community supported WASAPI plugin (both API's are designed for the same purpose technically). So it also needs to be proven that ASIO is notably better than WASAPI, especially since WASAPI offers a greater level of compatibility than ASIO. Whilst at least one person has already stated they have observed better quality on ASIO over WASAPI, but we don't know if it was Windows 7, or possibly due to dodgy drivers. Thats why testing is so important, especially now with the introduction of Windows 7 (which has an improved audio stack, I know, because I can now change the shared audio format on the fly without issues, whereas before sound streams would drop, so it isn't the vanilla code from Vista).

5) Its well known that the human psyche can be easily tricked which is why pilots spend an enormous amount of time studying human factors and identifying the mental and physical effects on human pilots. A major lesson which is taught is that what is "obviously true" isn't necessarily true, and many of these lessons were taught by making mistakes or/and scientific modelling. I'm simply saying, "technically" doesn't always translate into "practically" (when considering human factors), and we can't always trust our own senses, which is why proper scientific processes are often required.

6) I don't believe topics should be left alone by those with little interest. Otherwise you end up with a thread that is biased in one direction, without hearing the other side of the story.. There are always two sides of a story, and I think they should both be represented, so that people voting can make an adequate decision.

Like I said though, whether or not this happens doesn't affect me (because I don't have ASIO compatible equipment anyway), and I wont play devil's advocate if I'm not wanted.

That being said, considering the insistence that average speakers cannot produce a noticeable improvement, and the target audience is apparently limited to richer folk (with great hearing) running desktop computers, my decision has been made. I believe that the resources POTI puts in should benefit everyone, not just an elite few.

And as mentioned, I'm community and not affiliated with POTI at all, so what I say has nothing to do with what the developers do. (So no, my statements aren't official acknowledgement that it wont come). Anyway, feel free to post blind tests or whatever from now on, because there won't be any opposition from me. However, those who promote this idea should first consider performing blind testing as I suggest, as it adds more credibility to the idea, and its always best to ask yourself if something is real anyway.

Good luck guys, maybe if you are lucky someone will cook something up :P

G'day,

Just wondering if the following topic helps:
http://www.getsatisfaction.com/songbi...

G'day,

Unfortunately, I don't believe its possible to do so in Songbird 1.2, but it is available in 1.4 (Kanye/korn). However, if you are feeling risky, you can give a development version of Songbird 1.4 a shot. Keep in mind its a development version which isn't endorsed by Pioneers of the inevitable (so bad stuff could happen), but the final version is expected to be released very soon. Furthermore, whilst it is almost guarenteed that you will be able to upgrade your profile to 1.4 final (it is WAYYY to late for POTI to break profiles). When 1.4.0 final is released, you wont be prompted to upgrade automatically (so should keep your eye on the Songbird site, and download the final copy when its released).

If you choose to go 1.4 now, simply go to tools (top menu bar), options, album artwork, and enable the file fetcher. Its disabled by default because many people accidentally blend all their music files together, and would be provided with wrong album art if they do so. Keep in mind I don't work for POTI so I may be wrong (just a community member).



Hope that helps ;)