This version is a bit faster than the old one. It does the import in one batch so you get a nice progress bar in iTunes. Finally you can now edit the script to tell it where you store your music. This is the answer for people with complex music storage hierarchies that were not seeing new things being imported.

Download iTunes Folder Sync 0.2

Here is a link to how this script got started and how to use it. As always you need the Windows Scripting Host (aka wscript) installed and the .js extension set to be executed using \windows\system32\wscript.exe

These enhancements were made possible by Howard Darwin who did the beta testing and contributed ideas. He has a wish list for future enhancements that I would love to accommodate but I’m not sure that the iTunes SDK makes this practical with the WScript engine.

You can manipulate iTunes on Windows with Javascript! This was a shock & a relief to me, on Mac OS they have Apple Script but I thought we were SOL on Windows. Anyway this has helped me fix one of the most vexing problems with iTunes: It can’t find new music on your hard drive automatically.

The Problem: iTunes Music Library isn’t as super fly as Winamp’s just yet. With Winamp you can store your music in any way you like, say: full albums in their own folder, singles in their own folders separated by genre. Winamp scans these folders (as many as you want) on startup looking for anything new. New music is automatically added to the Winamp library, not so with iTunes. You have to go in and re-import each folder. So I was looking for a way to make iTunes do this automagically.

The Solution: iTunesFolderSync.js

The script performs the following tasks:

• Scans all your library and remove any tracks that iTunes cannot find on your hard drive.
• Collect a list of all the folders you store music in.
• Import all those folders back into iTunes, catching all the new stuff in the process.
• Initiate a sync with your iPod if one is attached.
• Lets you know how many tracks were added and removed from the library.

Folder Sync is great for getting new stuff into iTunes that you have just downloaded, like podcasts. Its also great when you are organising your music, moving/renaming files and you want to sync up the library. You can have the script run after downloading podcasts using iPodder.

Technical Notes:

• You need the Windows Scripting Host and the .js extension set to be executed using \windows\system32\wscript.exe
• If you have music in formats that iTunes cannot read you will be asked to convert those tracks, even if they already exist in the library. The best thing to do here is to convert the tracks once and replace the originals with the conversions. This way you won’t get asked twice. You could also by lazy and just press ‘skip’.
• The iTunes SDK is here for you more intrepid hackers. You don’t need the SDK to run the script though.

Winamp will soon succumb to bit rot. Sad but true, the last of the Winamp developer staff has followed Justin Frankel in leaving Nullsofts offices for greener pastures. This leaves AOL free to do as it must with the Winamp player. I have personal used Winamp for as long as I’ve had MP3′s and a computer to play them. I have also aggressively evangelized the program to others as a good replacement for Windows Media Player and Real Audio. I could never recommend Winamp 3 to anyone but Winamp 5 has gone far beyond those issues. It can play video and is a much nicer user experience that Windows Media Player. I just hope that AOL wont pervert a good thing to the point where I can no longer recommend it or use it myself.

Thats right people can fly, all it takes is a little music.

First up: OpenOffice. I decided that I had used Word enough in the past to know better than to try and write my thesis in it. It was going to screw the formatting right up. I wanted something that worked like CSS. You make styles, you apply styles, stupid program doesn’t change those styles. Well OpenOffice Writer is supposed to be the ticket.

And then the problems. Writer cant continue a block of numbering so if you break a block you are SOL. The good news is that the bug is fixed in the beta 2.0 code. It sort of works! But there is a crash bug with the Table of Contents feature in build 680_m45.

I haven’t yet investigated LaTeX of Doc-Book but I might do that before this is over. I want to publish HTML & PDF (shudder) versions of the thesis. I’m also looking at putting the mighty tome under a Creative Commons License.

Next up: Music. Endre – Kallocain (Robert Nickson mix) rocks my world. Very uplifting trance, reminds me of Paul Van Dyk’s For an Angel, just that good. Well worth the listen, I advise playing it LOUD! I would point you to info about the artist/remixologist but I cant find it anywhere., which brings me to the rant:

And now its time for a breakdown: <rant>Posting the above track here is part of something called “MP3 Blogging” (search of google). As such it may not be entirely legal to post the above track. However I think that by endorsing the track I am at least in some way acting to promote the artist. Note that said track is not available ANYWHERE for legal download that I can find in US currency. It certainly isn’t on iTunes/PressPlay/Napster etc. I cant run down to Best Buy and score me a copy either. In Cayman I would be totally SOL. Give me a service that has the music I want and Ill gladly pay the artists.</rant>

P.S. This is just made my day: FUH2.com.