Version Tracker?
I offer several of my scripts and applications through Version Tracker, the veritable software listing/tracking site. But lately, good ol' VT has been a disappointment. Strangely, I haven't seen a lot written about this, however this blog post by Ohanaware, the makers of an app called Funtastic Photos, pretty much sums up my feelings. Essentially, VT was purchased by CNET not too long ago and ever since its seems as if it is experiencing a chronic illness. Most frustrating to me is that I am no longer able to post updates to my software listings (I get far more downloads from my own site than software sites anyway, so it's not really a big whoop). I also understand that users of Version Tracker Pro software are not seeing regular updates. Additionally, there seem to be fewer and fewer actual listings. If you compare VT's newest additions to those at MacUpdate there's an obvious deficit.
VT has blogged about ongoing maintenance but info has been sparse and, judging by the comments, unsatisfactory. It would be a shame if VT, once the most authoritative Mac software listing site, were to be annexed--and therefore virtually euthanized--by CNET.
NEW: Search Amazon UK MP3
Search Amazon UK MP3 uses terms from the selected iTunes track as the basis for a search of the Amazon UK's MP3 site.
Boxee Now Does Netflix
I mentioned Boxee the other day, which we are enormously pleased with at my house. The newest alpha release of Boxee now gets Netflix (so long Roku player!), the WB, and improved Hulu and YouTube. Yowza.
Go Figure
I normally don't comment on (or care much about) Apple business news and analysis, but how can these two stories, which both appeared today, be reconciled?
- "Apple's iPod Problem: With fewer iPod users upgrading, the days of explosive growth are over. And that leaves iPhones and Macs picking up the slack" - BusinessWeek
- "Apple iPod sales surprise analyst: Analyst reports shortages of Apple's iPod as sales remain strong amid tough economy" - Associated Press
Huh?
NEW: Reset Tracks Start-Stop
Reset Tracks Start-Stop will reset the Start and (optionally) the Stop Time of the selected tracks--or all the tracks of the selected playlist--to "0:00" and (optionally) their entire duration, respectively. (Erg, that could have been written better.)
UPDATED: Reset Bookmarks to Start v2.0
(Formerly "Reset Bookmarks".) Reset Bookmarks to Start will reset the bookmark of each selected track to its Start Time, effectively clearing the bookmark from its position later in the track. Tracks which have been set to "remember playback position" or which are "M4B" types will have a bookmark position.
Boxee
We successfully installed Boxee on our Apple TV and it works like you read about. Couldn't be more pleased. Just thought I'd pass that along.
UPDATED: Gather Up the One-Hits v2.2
Gather Up the One-Hits had a persistent problem for some users whereby only a single track would be copied to the "One Hits" playlist. I believe I have fixed the problem, albeit at a cost of some speed; but it should only take a few seconds rather than a few moments to run.
iTunes 8.0.2 Released
Apple has released iTunes v8.0.2. As of this writing it is only available via Software Update; I prefer to download the installer from the download page, so I'll wait a bit. According to the release notes, iTunes 8.0.2:
- Addresses a quality issue creating MP3s on some computers.
- Fixes a connectivity issue with the iTunes Store when using some Internet proxies with Mac OS X.
- Improves accessibility with VoiceOver.
More info when and if available.
Rock Stars & Parents
When I was a kid and my family subscribed to LIFE magazine I remember they had a regular photo series of current "rock stars" and their parents. Google is now hosting LIFE's photo archive (H/T to Gruber) and I found one from that series I had never forgotten: Frank Zappa and his folks from 1970. Be sure to check out the "Related images" link on the page for more (Elton, Clapton, Ginger Baker, et al).