Blog@Case Topics: applehttp://blog.case.edu/topics/appleGregory Szorcgregory.szorc@case.eduhttp://blog.case.edu/gps10Jeremy Smithjeremy.smith@case.eduhttp://blog.case.edu/jeremy.smith2008-04-28T06:32:14ZiTunes Genius FAILhttp://blog.case.edu/gps10/2008/09/10/itunes_genius_fail2008-09-10T06:55:29Z2008-09-10T07:11:02Z
I downloaded iTunes 8 today in hopes that it would fix the 1+ hour sync times with my iPhone (it did). I saw the news blurbs about the new "Genius" feature, so I thought I'd give a try. First, I had to transcode a few albums from FLAC to MP3 (because iTunes can't read FLAC files, sigh). So, I quickly converted the complete Led Zeppelin studio discography (all 10 discs from the Complete Studio Recordings collection) and imported them in iTunes. I clicked on a random album, and things got funky. A screenshot can best illustrate. genius_fail.jpg Um, yeah. Not only was I playing Stairway when it said I was missing it, but I also had every single track in the list of "missing" tracks. Helloooo? It got even better when I imported Abbey Road from The Beatles (published on the Apple label, of course).
Genius sidebar could not find matches for your specific selection, but here are the Top Songs and Albums in the iTunes Store.
In all fairness, Genius did seem to work pretty well for a few more recent artists (like Coldplay and U2). Since recommendations appear to be limited to what is in the iTunes Store (I don't want this to sound like criticism because it is likely a calculated business decision), I think I'll stick to Last.fm's recommendation engine for now. It may not be as pretty, but it has a wider scope of coverage and more than one player can Scrobble to it.
Gregory Szorcgregory.szorc@case.eduhttp://blog.case.edu/gps10Fluid.apphttp://blog.case.edu/jeremy.smith/2008/04/28/fluidapp2008-04-28T06:31:59Z2008-04-28T06:32:14Z

Fluid.app is good stuff. That is all.

Jeremy Smithjeremy.smith@case.eduhttp://blog.case.edu/jeremy.smithLeopard Destroys finkhttp://blog.case.edu/jeremy.smith/2008/03/13/leopard_destroys_fink2008-03-13T06:41:41Z2008-03-13T06:41:42Z

A piece of information that would have been really nice to have about 12 hours ago: upgrading to Leopard completely messes up fink. I'm in the process of trying to repair things now. It's been a very time intensive process, and it doesn't look like it's going to be getting any easier any time soon.

Jeremy Smithjeremy.smith@case.eduhttp://blog.case.edu/jeremy.smithJava Doesn't "Just Build"http://blog.case.edu/jeremy.smith/2007/10/31/java_doesnt_just_build2007-10-31T21:47:05Z2007-10-31T22:17:35Z
Shipping Means Prioritizing
Because that's how [Perl, Python, and Ruby] are designed and engineered – they're made to "just build" on any Unix-like OS. It's not Apple's responsibility that Java isn't like that – it's Sun's.
I find that to be the perfect response to Tim Bray's No Java 6 on Leopard?
Jeremy Smithjeremy.smith@case.eduhttp://blog.case.edu/jeremy.smithObligatory Post on the iPhonehttp://blog.case.edu/gps10/2007/06/25/obligatory_post_on_the_iphone2007-06-25T14:00:00Z2007-06-25T14:00:02Z
First off, congratulations to Apple and Steve Jobs for creating such a frenzy over a device that only few have actually seen being operated. There are few companies in the world that can generate this much anticipation for a product. Hats off to you. Because I live in Silicon Valley, everything tech is amplified about 100x compared to most parts of the country/world. And, since Apple's headquarters are only a few miles away (I think it is less than 3 miles from my apartment), the iPhone hype here has been almost untolerable. Everywhere you look, iPhone this, iPhone that. Every blog. iPhone. iPhone. iPhone. June 29 is almost here. Cingular (I guess it is the "new AT&T" now), is preparing for people to be camping out overnight to be the first to get their hands on the devices. It is sheer madness. All of this excitement over a portable electronic device! Fortunately for my sanity, I've managed to remain calm about the iPhone. The reason is I don't want one. Well, technically, I'd like one, but I won't be buying one. My reasons are plentiful. Here are the top three:
  • The iPhone doesn't have a detachable battery -- Seriously, WTF? It is one thing for my iPod to run out of battery (which it does very often since I have almost exhausted the usable life out of the battery), it is another to run out of battery on my phone. Even if the battery life is great (I'm a little skeptic about the advertised battery life), I still want the ability to change the battery. When the battery eventually loses its charge capacity, I want the freedom to replace it without replacing the whole device.
  • No 3G -- The non-WIFI network speed of the non-3G iPhone will be pathetic. Currently, most of AT&T's EDGE network averages about 40kbps -- slower than a 56k dial-up modem! AT&T has been upgrading their network lately to try to boost performance to 80kbps -- slightly faster than a 56k modem. Even if they max out, they can only get max performance at about 4x 56k speeds. The WIFI connection is a different story. It will probably be able to go over 1Mbps (5x faster than max EDGE speed). Of course, when you are in the store doing all the cool online activities with the iPhone, it will be going over WIFI. I picture many customers walking out of the store and saying, "why is the network so slow now?". They will find out that they have to use WIFI for a better browsing experience. Of course, WIFI will drain your battery like nothing else. So, you will either get great network performance or longer battery life. I don't want to make that decision! It will be interesting to see how many initial buyers complain about the EDGE network speed. With Google Maps on EDGE now, I find it barely usable. Will it be the same on iPhone? Time will tell.
  • It is the first model -- If I've learned anything about Apple products, it is to wait for the second model. There will be so many software refinements and hardware improvements, that you will be glad you waited. I wouldn't be surprised if a second generation was available by February 2008.
In summary, being an early adopted of this product is just too risky or foolish for me. I commend Apple at designing an amazing product and building anticipation, but I just can't buy one just yet. Once the dust settles and iPhone survives the test of time (and adds a few more features, like 3G), I will probably be in the market for an iPhone, or any of the numerous competitors that are quickly entering the market. Finally, I wish the early adopters good luck. You will drop and good chunk of change on the device and service plan. I hope you get a great return on your investment.
Gregory Szorcgregory.szorc@case.eduhttp://blog.case.edu/gps10Freshman Mac Usagehttp://blog.case.edu/jeremy.smith/2006/10/23/freshman_mac_usage2006-10-23T19:31:37Z2006-10-23T19:31:56Z
I've recently heard a number being bandied about that the incoming Freshman's usage of Apple computers is up to 16%. I'm assuming a survey or something was done by ITS (maybe?) or the Registrar or Student Life or somebody... Does anyone have the scoop on this? Is this number posted online anywhere? Because if it is not posted on the Internet, it simply isn't true.
Jeremy Smithjeremy.smith@case.eduhttp://blog.case.edu/jeremy.smithUbuntuhttp://blog.case.edu/jeremy.smith/2006/09/11/ubuntu2006-09-11T22:53:19Z2006-09-11T22:58:20Z
I have no "religious" ties to any piece of software or "software philosophy." Many think of me as an open source zealot, but I'm not. I think of software as nothing but tools, and I don't care how the hammer is made; it just needs to work for me. In a lot of situations, I tend to think of software as cars in that I like to be able to tinker with its innards, but it's not a make-or-break thing for me. Afterall, on my two desktops, I use Windows and OSX (epitomies of closed source systems); and I have impossibly high expectations. And, yes, I have read Mark Pilgrim's Freedom 0 and When the bough breaks; and yes, I agree with everything he says... to a point... I just want stuff that works – and Windows and OSX have always fulfilled that requirement for me and I have never been bitten by the data lockin problems that Mark has experienced (maybe I just don't generate a lot of locally stored data?). So anyways, as I was saying, I use Windows on the desktop located in my office. But what I should be saying is "I used to use Windows on the desktop located in my office." It finally came to the point where I was spending too much time grooming the tool rather than using it to get my stuff done. It was time for it to go, and go it did. I'm typing this post up via Ubuntu. I'm going to follow this post up with some others such as "What Broke the Window's Back," "Why Ubuntu," "First N Things a New Ubuntu User Should Do," etc. If you are already a Ubuntu user and have any tips or tricks to dish out, please do (for example, how to make it not so ugly).
Jeremy Smithjeremy.smith@case.eduhttp://blog.case.edu/jeremy.smithApple To Release Wiki Serverhttp://blog.case.edu/gps10/2006/08/08/apple_to_release_wiki_server2006-08-08T07:00:41Z2006-08-08T07:05:13Z
Wiki server part of Leopard
No syntax or markup knowledge is required — the Wiki Server comes with full drag-and-drop support
you can also access a group calendar to track meetings and deadlines or send messages to a mailing list to keep others informed. There is a blog feature that’s perfect for brainstorming or commenting on work. And there’s an option for subscribing to a podcast
Apple, you never cease to amaze me.
Gregory Szorcgregory.szorc@case.eduhttp://blog.case.edu/gps10Announcing the iTunes@Case Projecthttp://blog.case.edu/jeremy.smith/2006/03/20/case_itunes2006-03-20T19:59:59Z2006-03-20T20:00:47Z
Case has been accepted into Apple's iTunes U program. What this means is, eventually, users at Case will be able to distribute their digital media through iTunes: course related material, public lectures, podcasts, videocasts, etc. And people will be able to download it, subscribe to it, access it, preview it via iTunes. To get a sense of this, you can check out Stanford on iTunes. The project is just beginning. And we've decided to handle shepherding this project to implementation in a different manner than we normally do with our IT projects. We're going to experiment with a more open style of running the project. In this vein, we've drafted a charter for a working group that will operate much like an eduCause, Internet2, or IETF Working Group. The charter basically consists of the following:
This WG is supposed to implement iTunes@Case. Everybody play nice. A few co-chairs are around to make sure everyone is playing nice and to steer the group through ruts. The meat is in the discussion. Have at it.
Let me add some emphasis to this is an experiment. I think that this project lends itself well to attempting to manage a project in this manner. But we will see. So, if you are a member of the Case community (be you faculty, staff, student, what-have-you), and you would like to participate in the WG — go sign up to the mailing list: itunes@case.edu. We've setup a wiki (this time, I thought I'd try out TWiki 1) that is readable by everyone and editable by the members of the mailing list 2. We've got a basic Roadmap fleshed out. But we don't have much more than that. Like I said, we're just getting underway. So... you interested? Sign-up. We've got to figure out what to call it — iTunes@Case, iTunes U @ Case, Case iTunes? How exactly does authentication happen? What about authorization i.e. how does it know to only allow students actually enrolled in a course access to that course's digital media? We need to generate documentation. We need to identify facilities that can help generate digital media. We need to determine the best use cases. We need to identify ways to foster adoption. Plus, it's cool. Bringing iTunes to the campus... It's a neat idea.

1Yea, this is directly related to experimenting with the usefulness of a wiki farm service. 2Synchonizing who is on the mailing list and who can edit the wiki is done by hand. There's no magical mod_authz_sympa I could use, but I wish there was.
Jeremy Smithjeremy.smith@case.eduhttp://blog.case.edu/jeremy.smithPlanet Case Mac Widgethttp://blog.case.edu/jeremy.smith/2005/12/05/planet_case_mac_widget2005-12-06T04:47:47Z2005-12-06T04:53:51Z
Casey Kearns creates a Mac widget for Planet Case. Nice!
Jeremy Smithjeremy.smith@case.eduhttp://blog.case.edu/jeremy.smith