iTunes 9 update
Hey all - so in case you hadn't noticed - iTunes 9 broke the programs I had written. I've found the problem, and I've updated: itunes tagger, itunes tagger beta, and itunes lyric downloader. Let me know if you have any problems with any of these!
Itunes Lyric Downloader – Yet another update (sans api)
Lyricwiki has officially "joined the family of Wikia". While this is great news for the future of lyricwiki (or now Wikia Music I guess), it also somehow changed the api from the old Lyricwiki.org. For those who have been following the program in recent days, you'll know that they also had some troubles with the api and licensing deals. Anyways, I'm really hoping to find that the api is up and running again sometime in the near future. However, I do have an interim solution for you here. This just mashes together a url based on itunes artist and title info. As such, it will certainly NOT find all the lyrics you're looking for. It will not work well with special symbols like question marks and semicolons. But it might help you find some lyrics where you didn't have them before.
[Download Itunes Lyric Downloader (SANS API)] (downloaded 3999 times)
UPDATE: now works with iTunes 9!
Lyricwiki and the itunes lyric downloader
Some people have noticed that my lyric downloading program stopped working, and that was due to this announcement by lyricwiki.org.
The good news is that I originally wrote the program without the api service, using simple html calls. As such, I've revised the program so it works once again. Hopefully it works for you!
6 Apps that Make the iPod Touch Useful (Both Online and Offline)
This is a list of apps for the ipod that have proven to be extremely useful. Note that this list was compiled by an ipod touch user and not an iphone user, which means the apps will tend to favour those that are also useful offline. In order of amount used:
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1. Byline
By far my favourite and most used app on my ipod touch. It's no coincidence that it's also the only paid app on the list. It cost me $3.99 for the app, but it's paid for itself many times over.
Byline serves one purpose on my ipod: reading rss feeds. I use google reader, and byline downloads up 200 of my feed items from google reader, then archives the item and the corresponding web page for reading offline. This app can make any spare time productive - with or without a wireless connection.
2. twitterfon
twitterfon is the best twitter app I've used. It keeps track of unread items, separates replies and messages, and lets you reply to various messages with ease. It works, it works well, and that makes it numer 2.
2. Remote
No app list is complete without remote. Control your computer's music playback over a wireless network. Why are tools like this not more commonplace?
3. Facebook
Because it's better than using the mobile facebook page. No need to zoom in or go through login pages, etc. It's simple and easy to use for fast facebook updating and creeping. What more could you ask for?
4. Tap tap revenge
Maybe it's because I'm a sucker for those DDR-type games, but I sincerely enjoy this game. Now if only I could figure out how to do that up-down move...miss it everytime. Oh, and you can download new songs for free too. Not bad.
5. Stanza
A different kind of app for sure. This one gives your ipod the ability to display e-books in varying formats. I have one large problem with the app: it essentially requires you to install their third-party e-book app on your computer to sync books to the ipod. The good news is that you don't have to purchase anything (assuming you already have some e-books handy in any number of formats). The stanza app is great at converting formats to e-books that are readable on your ipod. Another great off-line addition to the list!
6. Wordpress
Because I have a blog, and because it allows you to store a draft locally until you re-connect to wifi. Great for downtime or when you have a post idea that just can't wait.
7. Sync GCal
Okay, it's not an app. That's why the title says 6. But this recent addition by google has made my google calendar actually useful. Solid 2-way syncing with gcal - it's what i've been looking for and hacking ever since I got an ipod and a google calendar. Now it couldn't be simpler. [LINK]
Honourable Mentions:
- now playing - For all your movie listing needs (complete with rotten tomato scores!)
- sudoku - Free, fun, and intellectually stimulating.
- lolcats - Just cause I like em.
- lastfm - Sometime useful if you have wifi and want to listen to new music
- evernote - for note taking. I haven't used it much (maybe I'm just too organized already), but those that use evernote love the app.
iTunes Music Discovery
With the recent release of itunes 8 and it's built in genius feature, it would seem that my work on similar playlist creation has become outdated. However, there is one thing that genius lacks: a feature that allows exploration of similar music apart from my own collection. Of course, there are suggestions from the itunes store, and I can preview 30 seconds from each of these songs, but that's not always a good indication of whether I'll like the song or not. So I decided to write a quick little program to combine the features of last.fm's similar tracks functionality and seeqpod's playable search. Here's the result. It's ugly, but it's functional (as far as I've tested it). As always, interest will dictate how much additional work goes into the program.
Requires .Net framework
To run the program, unzip the folder, run the .exe file, and select a track in itunes. Then click on the "Generate List" button to start listening to new music!
A new (working) itunes lyric downloader
With the recently released iTunes 8.0, it seems that my itunes tagger app's similar playlist functionality isn't a big priority anymore. While I sometimes like the results from last.fm's similar tracks better than itunes', having Genius built into itunes is just a lot more convenient.
The one thing iTunes is still (surprisingly) missing is automatic lyrics downloading. A while back I wrote a quick program to find some lyrics from lyricwiki and sing365, but it has since become terribly outdated and provided no relevant results. And since I still get a couple hits a day for that program, I thought I'd update it for y'all.
Updated itunes tagger program
The itunes last.fm tagger program has been updated. The old beta version has replaced the current itunes tagger program, and there is a new beta program on this page. The beta version has a couple cool new features that you might want to check out, including faster tagging, last.fm tag submissions, and similar tracks playlist generating.
itunes lastfm tagger now open source!
Alright, so it's all out there in the open now. If you download it, it'll probably be the worst coding you've seen. But maybe some people can fix that? We shall see. Anyways, have fun folks. Just goes to show that if enough people ask for open source, they'll get it.
Sidenote: I love open source and all it stands for. And I know it took me a while, but I really wanted to write this one by my lonesome, as it's my first ever program that's actually starting to be useful. But, I can see a lot of potential here as well, so it's time to let it run free 
New iTunes Last.FM Tagger Release
I've just put together a new beta release of itunes tagger. It includes a couple really exciting features, which took a little bit more coding under the hood, but I think it was worth it.
- saves a list of tagged tracks
- saves your options on exit
- can make a playlist from a selected tag
- better error catching!
iTunes Last.FM Tagger v1.4 beta
I just finished updating the last.fm tagger. It actually wasn't too bad finishing it off in vb.net. I'll be looking to add some other features to the program in the near future. Leave a comment if there's anything in particular that you'd like to see.