Songbird -- My New Love

So, it happens that once in a while I stumble upon a new program and try it out.  Sometimes I fall in love with it.  Other times, I hear of a program and simply refuse to try it out for one reason or another.

And sometimes, I hear about a program, refuse to try it but finally do, and fall in love with it asking why I never tried it earlier.

Enter Songbird.  This is, in my mind, undoubtedly better than iTunes.  As a media player, it does everything I have ever wanted, and so much more than iTunes.  Some of the great features that swung me include:

1. Global Shortcuts.  Now, just like in Linux and OS X, you can hit some keys and have the music go to the next track, previous track, or pause, without actually going back to the application.
2. Launchy/Quicksilver functionality.  While it isn't perfect, I can choose my next tracks without going back to Songbird because it too has a global shortcut.
3. Add-ons!  Songbird is made by Mozilla, the same people who make Firefox.  So, of course, there are many addons which add important functionality to the Media Player.  One of my favorite is the automatic Lyric finder.  Anyone sing?
4. Built in web browser.  While I still use Firefox, the built in web browser is very useful for installing addons and finding music.  Since it is essentially Firefox, perhaps I may stop using the two different applications entirely.
5. Open Source.  'Nuff said.

There are a few things lacking in this program which I would like to see in the future.  I would like to see better "Launchy" integration, which could come in the form of an addon.  Having it be a little more streamlined and effective would be excellent.  Also, better iPod support.  While there is an addon for iPod's, it only works on the older models, the one's that allow "Disk Usage."  My iPod touch is not supported, which means I will need to keep iTunes around.... for now.

Vista and iTunes and Firefox

You know, I've noticed something.

Vista Sucks.

Okay, moving on.  I've actually noticed something else, and I am wondering if it is my computer, or if it actually is a bigger problem.  But when I am running Firefox and iTunes on Vista, Firefox constantly freezes, crashes, and glitches.  Yes, all of the above.  And it is every time, constantly.  If I close iTunes, the problem goes away.  If I close Firefox, the problem goes away.  If I run a different browser (I only have 4 others), the problem kind of goes away.  So I really do this is an issue with iTunes and my internet.  There have been reports earlier of iTunes network problems, but I never thought it would affect Firefox so badly.  So tell us, do you have a similar problem?

iTunes New Pricing Hierarchy

No more 99 cents per song at iTunes. As of 2 days ago, iTunes changed it's pricing system for songs. Now, instead of a nice 99 cents for every song you want, you have to pay 79 cents for older songs, $1.29 for new popular songs, and 99 cents for everything in between. Amazon and Wal-Mart quickly followed suit, as is only to be expected in the business world.

The music industry has been asking iTunes to change their pricing scheme for a while to motivate the sale of older songs as well as gaining a larger profit for newer songs. It's a good plan for getting more money for the artists, in theory. Too bad it ends up costing us more money for that new song we've absolutely got to have. I sense a rise in piracy in the future...

iTunes Likes to Sneak Up on You

So, I have iTunes.  For some reason, most other media players don't do it for me.  iTunes, as big and unwieldly as it is, does a good job of playing music.  Hahaha.  Now all we need is Quicksilver intergration.

And, duh, Quicksilver for Windows.

But, here is the interesting thing.  Whenever you happen to install iTunes and Quicktime, Apple goes ahead and messes around with your computer configuration.  For example, when their Mobile Me went live, Apple decided to install to many people's computers, a Mobile Me part to their control panel.

Very annoying.

What is also annoying, is that after every iTunes installation, it always come back to your start-up programs.  If you got to your start menu, and click "run" (can be found in the accessories folder) and type in: msconfig

You may be surprised.  Most users never use this part on windows, but I always do.  You can do some messing around with boot options and your services, but really, leave that alone.  The good stuff is in "Startup."

Do you wonder why your computer starts up to slowly.  Why it takes for ever to open Firefox the first time, right after you log in, but not after half an hour.  It is because (usually) your computer is loading a whole slew of programs.  This list contains all those programs.  By checking and un checking them, you can tell Windows to start some up when you log on, and others to shut up and die.

Like iTunes.  This was my list before Installing iTunes 8.

 

And then after installing iTunes 8.

Very obnoxious.  For this reason, it is very important to clean out your Startup lists often.  Make your computer faster!

iTunes 8 Makes Vista Crash

Really?  It does?  According to this blog post.  However, as a great example of  "Don't trust everything you hear," I decided to run a test myself.  The results?

Epic win.  Suck on that Bloggers.  Sometimes you just have to test things yourself.  There is no substitute for the Truth.