My daughter looks after the websites for the organisation she works for. She's off on holiday in Australia. Hold that thought.
Her sites, along with www.podserve.co.uk and www.1scan.co.uk along with our in development service at www.freephotoscanning.com are all developed using the Mac html development platform RapidWeaver. We both love the product and have been impressed with how easy it is to build our sites. A couple of weeks ago, before she went on holiday, she was asked to add a Shockwave Flash movie to one of the sites.
Neither of us had ever done this before. The SWF movie had been made by a professional development house, and very swish it is too. They sent her the movie - an swf movie file - plus four little sub-movies in the form of four .flv files, nicely zipped up into folders along with some HTML code. RapidWeaver has a facility to make an HTML page, which is what was done, and the relevant HTML code was inserted. It didn't work.
So we hunted around and found a suggestion for code which was said to work, along with some suggestions to make it work. This is the code we found and used, with some mods:-
By changing the suggested HTML into the above (changing the url to point to the exact location of the swf file) we got the movie to start to play. But the whole movie simply wouldn't play. That Friday afternoon was a mix of pre-holiday rush plus frustration, we were out of our depth.
"Can you look at it while I'm away? she said. And I said, "OK".
I have spent two weeks, most evenings, getting nowhere. But today I cracked it. here's how it was solved in the hope that our experience will save you time.
First problem, RapidWeaver didn't do a great job locating the files we needed in the right directory on our ISP's servers. To overcome this I used Filezilla to FTP the swf file where it needed to be.
The movie developer had supplied us with a folder containing the flv files. the folder had to be located in the same directory as the main SWF file. Pay attention now, the folder was called movies. Using Filezilla I uploaded that folder to the same folder.
I misread the instructions and changed the value 'mymovie' to the name of our SWF file. Much fiddling later, that's wrong. leave it as 'mymovie'.
Then just ran into a wall, tried everything I could think of, wasted hours, got into a very bad mood. Finally thought to check with tech support at Supanames (they host our sites) just to make sure SWF is supported in our hosting plans. They confirmed that it is supported - and kindly pointed out where I was going wrong. Here it is.
SWF is sensitive to case in folder names. So the folder we were supplied with - remember it was videos - should have been Videos. Yes, that's it, best part of two weeks of frustration because 'v' should have been 'V'.
If you're having trouble getting shockwave flash to play in RapidWeaver, check the case of your Videos folder. Save yourself a lot of bother.
Friday, October 02, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
iTunes - Corrected - Freezing - Gone
We just love Apple, particularly their iPod and iTunes. Generally each new product marks a step forward. Generally, but not always.
At podServe, our CD ripping service, we rely heavily on iTunes. So a major new version, iTunes 9, seemed a big step forward. On closer inspection we've found a range of small changes that make the whole system much less intuitive. But the big problem we had is that it just keeps freezing, needing us to stop then start the program.
Thankfully we've just received the 9.01 iTunes update and I'm pleased to say (on the basis of the last 24 machine hours) the freeze problem has been solved.
At podServe, our CD ripping service, we rely heavily on iTunes. So a major new version, iTunes 9, seemed a big step forward. On closer inspection we've found a range of small changes that make the whole system much less intuitive. But the big problem we had is that it just keeps freezing, needing us to stop then start the program.
Thankfully we've just received the 9.01 iTunes update and I'm pleased to say (on the basis of the last 24 machine hours) the freeze problem has been solved.
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
Audiobooks - More Agony
You may recall the excitement a few months ago when a new version of iTunes gave us hope that the nightmare of audiobooks in iTunes was finally over. Sadly our hopes were premature. And I've got the searing email from an audiobook loving client to prove it.
I'll try to summarise where we are, and the problem we have. As far as Apple is concerned a book is a single entity, one that you start to listen to and continue with until the last page. In support of that iTunes now seems to work pretty well. You can make books bookmarkable, and they pop up in the Audiobooks zone. But ...
Most of the audiobboks clients send us are split into chapters. Clients want to access books by chapter just as you can dive into an album at any given track. If you buy downloads you'll find they're split up too. Take it from me, when you open an iPod with 50 or 60 audiobooks all split into chunks it's not a pretty sight. I'd go so far as to say it makes audiobooks on an iPod unworkable. Fine in iTunes, but for portable books you need to do something radical.
My thinking is that you take one of two courses. First, you join all the tracks together and force iTunes to make you 100 sections become a single chunk. That makes iPod navigation easy but if you just want to enjoy a favourite chapter that's going to be almost impossible. Second, you can leave the book in its various sections then just load that one book onto the iPod. This, I think, is less than ideal and still has problems but at least if you know what the best bits are called you can find them.
Overall Apple, sorry - still 2 out of 10 for audiobooks on iPods.
I'll try to summarise where we are, and the problem we have. As far as Apple is concerned a book is a single entity, one that you start to listen to and continue with until the last page. In support of that iTunes now seems to work pretty well. You can make books bookmarkable, and they pop up in the Audiobooks zone. But ...
Most of the audiobboks clients send us are split into chapters. Clients want to access books by chapter just as you can dive into an album at any given track. If you buy downloads you'll find they're split up too. Take it from me, when you open an iPod with 50 or 60 audiobooks all split into chunks it's not a pretty sight. I'd go so far as to say it makes audiobooks on an iPod unworkable. Fine in iTunes, but for portable books you need to do something radical.
My thinking is that you take one of two courses. First, you join all the tracks together and force iTunes to make you 100 sections become a single chunk. That makes iPod navigation easy but if you just want to enjoy a favourite chapter that's going to be almost impossible. Second, you can leave the book in its various sections then just load that one book onto the iPod. This, I think, is less than ideal and still has problems but at least if you know what the best bits are called you can find them.
Overall Apple, sorry - still 2 out of 10 for audiobooks on iPods.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
iAlbum Art - Suddenly No Cover Art
For many years we've used a great piece of software called iAlbum Art you can get it here - http://ialbumart.ipod-sync.com/index.htm. One of the aspects of the product that has impressed me is the quality of their support, and of course the ease of adding and embedding art in our music tracks.
Then on Monday - it didn't add art at all. Nothing, not a single image. Even the easy ones - The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Carpenters, even Oasis. So I tried a few things, eventually running it across Vista and XP, all with the same result. So I emailed support and very quickly got a reply. It seems Amazon has changed the way it handles album art enquiries so a new version of the program is needed. Looking at their site now it might even be that the new variant is there to be downloaded. Panic over.
But ....
It has just crossed my mind that there may be moves afoot to protect the copyright the labels guess they have in cover images. Could it be that Amazon are positioning themselves to make it impossible to download those little pictures in bulk? No, of course they're not. Or are they?
Then on Monday - it didn't add art at all. Nothing, not a single image. Even the easy ones - The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Carpenters, even Oasis. So I tried a few things, eventually running it across Vista and XP, all with the same result. So I emailed support and very quickly got a reply. It seems Amazon has changed the way it handles album art enquiries so a new version of the program is needed. Looking at their site now it might even be that the new variant is there to be downloaded. Panic over.
But ....
It has just crossed my mind that there may be moves afoot to protect the copyright the labels guess they have in cover images. Could it be that Amazon are positioning themselves to make it impossible to download those little pictures in bulk? No, of course they're not. Or are they?
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Error 48 / Error -48
Suddenly, after a period of normal working, our client’s iPod refuses to sync and reports Error -48. What is it? Why does it happen? How can you fix it?
I’m not aware of any official list of what various odd iPod / iTunes error messages actually mean. In this instance I think what your little device is trying to tell you is that it has found some corruption on the iPod hard drive. Looking at suggested fixes for the problem the hard drive seems to be the culprit.
In cases such as this my first suggestion would be to reset your iPod to factory settings. If you’ve never done this before it sounds drastic but really it’s straightforward. Just connect your iPod, then when iTunes recognises the unit from the main iPod management screen in iTunes select the option to restore to factory settings. This will take a few minutes and a couple of do-yo-really-want-to boxes and then the iPod will be wiped and a new operating system installed. Some more waiting and the flash memory will be refreshed and away you go. The final step should be an automatic re-sync of music, photos, contacts etc. It may take an hour but when done you should be back to a functioning iPod, problem solved.
Looking at other iPod users experiences (and these are mainly Windows rather than Apple Mac OS X) you can go a long way by using My Computer to locate the iPod and right clicking, then running the standard disc check facility. Many people have reported that this works for them and may be quicker than a full restore as it leaves the music etc on the iPod.
Personally the restore route is more attractive to me as it stays within the iPod / iTunes family, and that is developed by the people responsible for your portable music package.
What happens if the fault repeats? If this were my iPod and it was still within warranty I’d be inclined to lob the unit back to Apple. They’ll send you a new unit as a replacement and it might just be that your original iPod was the one bad apple in that days barrel.
I’m not aware of any official list of what various odd iPod / iTunes error messages actually mean. In this instance I think what your little device is trying to tell you is that it has found some corruption on the iPod hard drive. Looking at suggested fixes for the problem the hard drive seems to be the culprit.
In cases such as this my first suggestion would be to reset your iPod to factory settings. If you’ve never done this before it sounds drastic but really it’s straightforward. Just connect your iPod, then when iTunes recognises the unit from the main iPod management screen in iTunes select the option to restore to factory settings. This will take a few minutes and a couple of do-yo-really-want-to boxes and then the iPod will be wiped and a new operating system installed. Some more waiting and the flash memory will be refreshed and away you go. The final step should be an automatic re-sync of music, photos, contacts etc. It may take an hour but when done you should be back to a functioning iPod, problem solved.
Looking at other iPod users experiences (and these are mainly Windows rather than Apple Mac OS X) you can go a long way by using My Computer to locate the iPod and right clicking, then running the standard disc check facility. Many people have reported that this works for them and may be quicker than a full restore as it leaves the music etc on the iPod.
Personally the restore route is more attractive to me as it stays within the iPod / iTunes family, and that is developed by the people responsible for your portable music package.
What happens if the fault repeats? If this were my iPod and it was still within warranty I’d be inclined to lob the unit back to Apple. They’ll send you a new unit as a replacement and it might just be that your original iPod was the one bad apple in that days barrel.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Audiobooks _ even more
Earlier I've mentioned our ongoing problems with audiobooks. You'll recall issues fall into two categories, one actually recognising a track as being a book rather than music, the other being the chaotic nature of listings within the audiobook category.
I was impressed with the ease that tracks can be tagged as audiobooks in iTunes 8 and beyond, but one small glitch has been noticed since then. When you class an item as an audiobook it seems that this is placed within the iTunes local database files rather than embedded in the tracks (as was the case when converting from .m4a to .m4b). In practice if you only use your books on a single PC this is no problem, but if you transfer your audiobooks from one machine to another you will have to recategorise them all as audiobooks.
A step forwards? A step backwards? Take your pick.
I was impressed with the ease that tracks can be tagged as audiobooks in iTunes 8 and beyond, but one small glitch has been noticed since then. When you class an item as an audiobook it seems that this is placed within the iTunes local database files rather than embedded in the tracks (as was the case when converting from .m4a to .m4b). In practice if you only use your books on a single PC this is no problem, but if you transfer your audiobooks from one machine to another you will have to recategorise them all as audiobooks.
A step forwards? A step backwards? Take your pick.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Audiobooks - No Salvation Yet
Books on CD crop up from time to time, but its not massive for us as a music CD ripping business. It does have a part to play, indeed we have one client who has a massive audiobooks collection - nearly 300 CD equivalents. Ever since we first digitised this collection we've had a problem. To be blunt, audiobooks on iPods have been crap.
From the beginning the issues were evenly spread between iTunes and the iPod. Over the last few years Apple has made great progess on the iTunes side such that with iTunes 8 and beyond, I can't put my finger on any major faults. It seems that iTunes now handles audiobooks every bit as well as it handles music, well done Apple.
But when you sync your iPod, oh what a disappointment. Although bookmarking works better, the random nature of putting some tracks into audiobooks while leaving others in music, does appear fixed. But the basic issue remains - every single track of every audiobook is just tipped into a single pile and sorted alphabetically. the consequence of this is that every element of your talking book collection is jumbled. It isn't an over statement to say this renders audiobooks unworkable on the iPod.
So, what can be done? It doesn't seem to me that there is a good solution but until Apple fix the mess we have to do something. My first suggestion would be to manage your iPod such that there's only one book on your iPod at any time. Beyond that perhaps the only way is to rename every single track such that when they're loaded onto your iPod they fall into a sensible order.
The second route would be helped by merging the many various tracks into one single book (this is an iTunes feature). Just beware that if you do this you won't be able to jump to a favourite chapter although bookmarking will allow you to resume a book at the point where you left it.
Other than that, lobby Apple.
From the beginning the issues were evenly spread between iTunes and the iPod. Over the last few years Apple has made great progess on the iTunes side such that with iTunes 8 and beyond, I can't put my finger on any major faults. It seems that iTunes now handles audiobooks every bit as well as it handles music, well done Apple.
But when you sync your iPod, oh what a disappointment. Although bookmarking works better, the random nature of putting some tracks into audiobooks while leaving others in music, does appear fixed. But the basic issue remains - every single track of every audiobook is just tipped into a single pile and sorted alphabetically. the consequence of this is that every element of your talking book collection is jumbled. It isn't an over statement to say this renders audiobooks unworkable on the iPod.
So, what can be done? It doesn't seem to me that there is a good solution but until Apple fix the mess we have to do something. My first suggestion would be to manage your iPod such that there's only one book on your iPod at any time. Beyond that perhaps the only way is to rename every single track such that when they're loaded onto your iPod they fall into a sensible order.
The second route would be helped by merging the many various tracks into one single book (this is an iTunes feature). Just beware that if you do this you won't be able to jump to a favourite chapter although bookmarking will allow you to resume a book at the point where you left it.
Other than that, lobby Apple.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Glass Half Full?
A question I'm often asked at podServe is how much music should I put on my iPod? As in I'll sort through my CDs and decide which to put into my library. My answer is - all of it.
Today computers and iPods have such massive capacity that its quick, cheap and easy to have all your music in digital form. Having it all digital avoids the issue of whether deciding music contents on a CD by CD basis is the best way, if the CD you reject contains just one great track, think of what you're missing.
I just wish I'd taken my own advice. While ripping my collection I came across two CDs by Philip Glass, I know my wife loves his music but, well, I'd never got into it so I just skipped the CDs and pressed on with music I'm comfortable with. The easy choices. Well on Tuesday we went to Philip Glass's concert at the Barbican. I wasn't greatly looking forward to it but you can't deny Glass's position in modern classical music, and at around 70 there won't be many more chances for those of us outside America to hear him play his music.
From the first note I was held, right through to the dying last note. It was a brilliant concert, a great evening out and the music just wonderful. Finally I knew what I was missing. So there - do as I say, not as I do. Yesterday I dug out the CDs I'd previously skipped, put them into iTunes and I'm listening to them now.
Today computers and iPods have such massive capacity that its quick, cheap and easy to have all your music in digital form. Having it all digital avoids the issue of whether deciding music contents on a CD by CD basis is the best way, if the CD you reject contains just one great track, think of what you're missing.
I just wish I'd taken my own advice. While ripping my collection I came across two CDs by Philip Glass, I know my wife loves his music but, well, I'd never got into it so I just skipped the CDs and pressed on with music I'm comfortable with. The easy choices. Well on Tuesday we went to Philip Glass's concert at the Barbican. I wasn't greatly looking forward to it but you can't deny Glass's position in modern classical music, and at around 70 there won't be many more chances for those of us outside America to hear him play his music.
From the first note I was held, right through to the dying last note. It was a brilliant concert, a great evening out and the music just wonderful. Finally I knew what I was missing. So there - do as I say, not as I do. Yesterday I dug out the CDs I'd previously skipped, put them into iTunes and I'm listening to them now.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
iPod Camera?
Just because it can be done, doesn't mean that you have to do it. Well that was one of my Mum's homespun disciplinary lines, sometimes I think computer people should have been brought up better. Technically it can be done, but should you do it?
A phone built into your iPod? There's talk that the next release of Apple's iPod range will add this to one or more models in the line.
Frankly I can't see the point. I can hardly see the point of a camera in a mobile phone, for me listening to music, talking to people, taking photos all live in their own boxes. If I listen to music I'm not going to want to whip out my iPod to take a snap of the underground station I'm passing through.
But .... the iPod touch? Having a camera in that does make sense. I love Skype with its video chat function, particularly using the camera built into my MacBook. If the iPod touch enabled me to log onto a wifi network at home, in MacDonalds or Starbucks, and then get in touch with friends and family well, that does make sense.
A phone built into your iPod? There's talk that the next release of Apple's iPod range will add this to one or more models in the line.
Frankly I can't see the point. I can hardly see the point of a camera in a mobile phone, for me listening to music, talking to people, taking photos all live in their own boxes. If I listen to music I'm not going to want to whip out my iPod to take a snap of the underground station I'm passing through.
But .... the iPod touch? Having a camera in that does make sense. I love Skype with its video chat function, particularly using the camera built into my MacBook. If the iPod touch enabled me to log onto a wifi network at home, in MacDonalds or Starbucks, and then get in touch with friends and family well, that does make sense.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Sony X Walkman
Years ago, long before podServe and any thoughts of ripping CDs, my kids loved portable music players. They were cassette tape based and everybody called them a walkman. We went through many units, some cheap some expensive, but they all snapped or collapsed in some way. Irrespective of how they met their end they were all called walkman and were replaced by another walkman even though I don't think a single machine was made by Sony.
Sony just owned the concept of portable music with their walkman brand. Along comes the Apple device and they had a mountain to climb, which they promptly did, so now a portable music player is known as an iPod. Maybe Apple have done a better job as most iPods I see on the Underground are actually made by Apple. Then this morning I opened my newspaper and there's two mentions of Sony. First, at corporate level, it seems they're not doing too well. Second, there's an advert from John Lewis for the new Sony X series Walkman. My mind went back to Sony's last revised foray into the portable music market with a device they dubbed the "iPod killer". How does this unit stack up?
Price- wise they're pitching this against the iPod Touch, and their 16Gb unit is on a par with Apple's 8Gb, same with Sony's 32Gb version. Both devices have a touchscreen, hang on - Sony's is 3 inches compared with Apple's 3.5 inch. That's a mistake, sorry Sony that simply hands buyers the first justification they need to invest in Apple. Nobody in their right mind opts for the smaller screen. If a device needs a screen bigger is better. Sony will warble about all sorts of things but nothing overcomes that extra half inch.
Buttons. iPods have a click wheel, the iPod touch has an indentation. Sony has a button with a label on it. Why? Maybe it's an on/off switch but to label it "Home"? What kind of imbecile do they think's going to buy this? You need to be told it's Home just once, everytime you see this again it's just patronising. At the top of the Sony there are more buttons - one switches on noise cancelling, the other is a volume rocker. Sorry Sony, this is just a sad reminder of all those tacky plastic cassette tape players whose failed buttons and switches consigned them to to dustbin. If you have a touchscreen that's the interface, stick to it.
The Sony has a hole. The hole says Reset. Oh dear, I would have to reset this thing? Of course I'd do that when it goes wrong. So thanks Sony for pointing that out. Apple don't have a Reset button, buyers will conclude their unit doesn't need to be reset.
The Sony is iTunes compatible, it says. I bet its not. I bet if I open iTunes and plug in this Sony iTunes will not synchronise my music library with it, not least because my music is in AAC format rather than MP3.
Anyway, enough of the gripes. Digital Noise Cancelling is what sets this apart from Apple. I've tried DNC headsets - Bose for example - and they're fabulous. Sony have something here. All these units are, as described, portable and they play music. it's a modern miracle that they port all your music, thousands of tracks, but pretty soon you decide you want better sound. Who'd opt for inferior? We rip at twice the iTunes compression setting which delivers a step function improvement, but building digital noise cancelling into the unit, now that's a step forward. You don't have to do anything else, just use this device to improve sounds at a stroke. But will it overcome the other factors?
Here's the choice. Save some money, play MP3s, and get digital noise cancelling. Get a button ridden buggy black thing with a small screen. With a Home button. Or get a sleek white and chrome, bigger screen, button-less unit instead? With Apple's implied cool chic? yes, me too - the noise cancelling headsets are available as an extra. Invest. Sony - sorry.
Sony just owned the concept of portable music with their walkman brand. Along comes the Apple device and they had a mountain to climb, which they promptly did, so now a portable music player is known as an iPod. Maybe Apple have done a better job as most iPods I see on the Underground are actually made by Apple. Then this morning I opened my newspaper and there's two mentions of Sony. First, at corporate level, it seems they're not doing too well. Second, there's an advert from John Lewis for the new Sony X series Walkman. My mind went back to Sony's last revised foray into the portable music market with a device they dubbed the "iPod killer". How does this unit stack up?
Price- wise they're pitching this against the iPod Touch, and their 16Gb unit is on a par with Apple's 8Gb, same with Sony's 32Gb version. Both devices have a touchscreen, hang on - Sony's is 3 inches compared with Apple's 3.5 inch. That's a mistake, sorry Sony that simply hands buyers the first justification they need to invest in Apple. Nobody in their right mind opts for the smaller screen. If a device needs a screen bigger is better. Sony will warble about all sorts of things but nothing overcomes that extra half inch.
Buttons. iPods have a click wheel, the iPod touch has an indentation. Sony has a button with a label on it. Why? Maybe it's an on/off switch but to label it "Home"? What kind of imbecile do they think's going to buy this? You need to be told it's Home just once, everytime you see this again it's just patronising. At the top of the Sony there are more buttons - one switches on noise cancelling, the other is a volume rocker. Sorry Sony, this is just a sad reminder of all those tacky plastic cassette tape players whose failed buttons and switches consigned them to to dustbin. If you have a touchscreen that's the interface, stick to it.
The Sony has a hole. The hole says Reset. Oh dear, I would have to reset this thing? Of course I'd do that when it goes wrong. So thanks Sony for pointing that out. Apple don't have a Reset button, buyers will conclude their unit doesn't need to be reset.
The Sony is iTunes compatible, it says. I bet its not. I bet if I open iTunes and plug in this Sony iTunes will not synchronise my music library with it, not least because my music is in AAC format rather than MP3.
Anyway, enough of the gripes. Digital Noise Cancelling is what sets this apart from Apple. I've tried DNC headsets - Bose for example - and they're fabulous. Sony have something here. All these units are, as described, portable and they play music. it's a modern miracle that they port all your music, thousands of tracks, but pretty soon you decide you want better sound. Who'd opt for inferior? We rip at twice the iTunes compression setting which delivers a step function improvement, but building digital noise cancelling into the unit, now that's a step forward. You don't have to do anything else, just use this device to improve sounds at a stroke. But will it overcome the other factors?
Here's the choice. Save some money, play MP3s, and get digital noise cancelling. Get a button ridden buggy black thing with a small screen. With a Home button. Or get a sleek white and chrome, bigger screen, button-less unit instead? With Apple's implied cool chic? yes, me too - the noise cancelling headsets are available as an extra. Invest. Sony - sorry.
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