Using UMS DAP with iTunes in Mac

For those that are using Macs, the most logical choice would be to use iPods as your digital audio player (DAP). Well, what if you don't want to use iPods? You can always use any DAPs that are USB Mass Storage compliant (meaning can be connected to any modern OS without needing additional driver/software), and doesn't require a special software to transfer music (eg. pure drag-n-drop). Example of this kind of DAPs* are most cheapo flash players, Creative flash players, Sony NWZ series, PSP, rockbox enabled DAP, etc. Using these DAPs are easy, since they will show up on Finder just like an external drive/memory card. Drag-n-drop your music, and you're done. Easy right? But what if your library is managed by iTunes, and you already have a perfectly auto-cycling smart playlist? Transferring these tracks manually won't update their tags (last played, and playcount). What to do?

Apple scripts to the rescue. I found this website that hosts many kinds of Apple scripts for specific situations. There's one that will add a specified number to the playcount tag on selected tracks (called Add or subtract Play Count), and there's one that will update the last played tag of selected tracks to a specified date (New Last Played Date). Perfect! :)

So how do use these scripts? If you follow the readme included with every scripts, there will be a script menu shown in iTunes. First step is to create a smart playlist that you'll use. Then disable Live Updating (important, especially if the criteria for the smart playlist depend on the playcount and last played tags). If you don't, since we're going to apply the scripts in 2 steps, the set of tracks will already be different the moment you use 1 of the 2 scripts. Next is to run those 2 scripts (in my case, I set to add +1 to the playcount, and set the last played to today's date). You're free to drag-n-drop the tracks to your DAP. The next time you want to transfer fresh tracks, simply enable live updating and iTunes will refresh the smart playlist with new tracks according to the criteria.

Of course, the beauty of iPods are their automatic syncing. There another Apple script based utility called iTunemywalkman. It basically syncs a/multiple iTunes playlist(s) to a UMS device. I tried it, and it delete my ratings on the tracks. Weird, so user beware. For now, manually copying the tracks have to suffice for me. I'm sure somebody can/already created Apple scripts to automate the whole process.

So there you go. You can use your choice of DAPs, and still use iTunes' powerful smart playlist feature.

*Note that iPods are not these kind of DAPs (unless you use rockbox) because even though it is a UMS device, it requires iTunes (or 3rd party software) to transfer music.
**Note: Of course, non-iPod DAPs will not be able to play iTunes DRMed tracks. Simple put a criteria not to include tracks with Protected kind in the smart playlist. iTunes+ tracks (non-DRMed AAC) will play fine on any AAC supporting DAPs.

Lost Odyssey Packaging

I laughed at this. Microsoft has been touting that the Xbox 360 is fine with standard DVD-9 as its media when Sony is promoting the use of blu-ray and its 50GB capacity. Well, first we have Blue Dragon that takes up 3 DVD discs. Now there's Lost Odyssey. I simply laughed when I opened the packaging.

LOL. How tacky. Lost Odyssey comes at 4 DVD discs. Since the box can only hold 3 discs, they include the 4th disc in a cheap paper sleeve. So yeah, all of these would fit just fine into 1 blu-ray disc. This reminds me of PC games that sometimes come in 5 or more CD-ROMs.

Dave Rodgers - Above the Light Neuro Version

Wow, pretty snazzy remix. I have no idea where this version comes from. It's not in his recent album, Blow Your Mind, that has the original version. Anybody that knows is welcomed to post it on the comments. It's hard enough getting his album (only available in Italy).

This is the original rock version.

Gyakuten Saiban 4 for Nintendo DS

Finally, the 4th installment of Gyakuten Saiban series is out in the US under the title Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney. The names' translation sounds corny, just like all the previous Ace Attorney series, but the game's story is simply marvelous, even with obvious awkwardness due to censorship, I mean localization.

Here's a flash demo of the game, courtesy of Capcom.

Gekiranger becomes Power Ranger Jungle Fury

What can I say. Another moronic imitation of the previous super sentai series. Watch the OP:

Typical non-creative American entertainment. First, the focus are on animals (Jungle Fury) instead of the martial art. however, I'm sure they have to keep the martial art theme in it because that's the original material that they're copying from. Next, sunglasses? Are they trying to copy UltraSeven too? LOL How corny and stupid. Motorcycles? WTF? And don't get me started on the theme song. If you're wondering what is dumbing America, this is one of them.

Just to refresh the memory of those terrible scenes and song, enjoy the original Gekiranger OP:


Thank God for fansub, one way to get around the censorship in America.

Stupid blu-ray feature

Noticed this on the blu-ray version of Lord of War.

Wow, I can change audio, subtitle, and jump to any scene during playback. LOL Are the studios execs retarded? Is this something to be shown off as blu-ray's feature? I've been enjoying these "features" on VCDs and DVDs, it's called a remote control!

Meron Pan

Although I've seen Meron Pan frequently in manga and anime, I had not tried it, until now. I really wanted to try it, especially after endless temptation from watching Shakugan no Shana.

Meron (melon) Pan (bread). In reality, there's no melon at all. It's just a soft bread with a sweet crust on top. And it cost me $2.15. Oh well, lesson learned.

Bamboo Blade

I've been following this anime lately. Very funny. It's a story about Kendo and high school life. Usually, most sports anime are interesting in the beginning, but then stuck in an endless loop of boring and extended matches against yet another stronger opponent. I had a similar feeling when starting Bamboo Blade, but the story and characters are just too cute to pass, especially the innocent Tama-chan. And to think the whole story started because their teacher was so short sighted, putting up a competition for the sake of eating sushi. Simply hilarious.

And of course, a scene like this is quite commonplace:

Nodame Cantabile SP Part 2!

Sars-Fansubs finally finished the second part of Nodame Cantabile Special. Who abducted Chiaki? Nodame got abducted too? Can Nodame shine?

Poor Chiaki, being "tortured" by Elise. LOL

Played with the Macbook Air

My local Apple store finally have some Macbook Airs on demo. I had the chance playing with it.

First thing I notice is, obviously, how thin it is and things seems to be quite responsive (ie. starting apps, multi-tasking, etc). I thought wow, is it this good? Could it be due to the 2GB RAM? Maybe it's just because Leopard is that good? Or maybe because it's a fresh system, nothing in the iPhoto/iTunes library? Probably the latter.

Next thing I tested, boot up time. I turned it off, and turned it back on. This was the model with the 80GB hard-drive. Yup, it took like forever to boot up to the desktop. It seemed to stay pretty long on the "gray" screen. Expected, considering Apple put a slow 4200rpm hard-drive in it. My Macbook definitely boots up faster.

Yeah, I saw people's oooh and aaaah on how thin it is, and then they started playing with the seemingly responsive system (no music in iTunes, no photos in iPhoto, unlike most other demo units of other Apple computers). Wait till they buy one and wait for it to boot up... LOL

Yes, you can't deny how charming the looks of the Macbook Air. It's thin. It's so thin that you don't feel that it's a laptop, especially since most people have the paradigm of laptops/notebooks being thicker and heavier. However, this is just the baseline point for Apple. The moment 3G wireless and/or Wimax becoming more prevalent, SSD being larger and cheaper, 802.11n being more standardized and stable, the future revisions of Macbook Air might make more sense. Until then, you're buying an expensive toy.

1 Terabyte!

Added a 500GB hard-drive to my HP Windows Home Server unit, on top of the existing 500GB. Wow, can't believe I have a total of 1 Terabyte of storage on my network. I still remember the days of hard-drives being measured in tens of megabytes. Now we have drives in gigabytes and terabytes. Amazing!

Fansub FTW!

1. TV-Nihon just released the first episode of Kamen Rider Kiva. A violin playing Kamen Rider? What's up with the big dinosaur? And what's the connection between 1986 and 2008? First episode, and already so many questions. Anyway, check out the cool OP.


2. SARS-Fansub finally subbed the first episode of Nodame Cantabile Special. It's 2 hour long, continuing from the end of the TV series. Nodame and Chiaki are now in Paris. Not as funny as the TV series, but still plenty of "gyabo!" and very nice use of CG to simulate the feel of the manga. Can't wait for the 2nd part!

Delta records in iTunes Music store!

Finally! Eurobeat fans rejoice! Do a search for Eurobeat in iTunes Music Store, and you'll find albums titled Eurobeat Masters Vol. These are Eurobeat tracks from Delta records, previously only available as expensive Japanese imports from Avex Trax. Now only 99cents per track, and they are all DRM free AAC 256kbps! AWESOME! The only downside is that most of the tracks are "old." Hardcore fans (like me) are more likely to already have most of them. Still, some tracks are now available in extended version, previously only available as non-stop mix from Avex. Vol.9 contains pretty recent tracks, and 1 of them is not even available yet on Avex' Super Eurobeat series.

Hi-NRG Attack is the first Eurobeat label that joined iTunes. Although they have some awesome tracks, they are more "raunchy" and don't really represent the general Eurobeat flavor. With Delta joining in, Eurobeat fans outside Japan can now enjoy the more general flavor of the genre. Most of the tracks from Delta are featured in Initial D anime and para para paradise.

What are you waiting for? $10 per album is MUCH cheaper than $30-$40 per album for Avex Trax' Super Eurobeat series.

Now if only A-Beat-C joins in. I want my Dave Rodgers fix!

Another weird dream

Ever had a dream about your first love? The first love that you didn't realize until it was too late? Well, I had one. Although I don't remember the details, it was seems that I was trying to find/locate her, but failed. Hmmm, I wonder what that was all about.

Maybe because I've been watching too much J-dorama... LOL.

Eternal Sonata > Blue Dragon

Let's start with Blue Dragon for the Xbox360:
1. Bland visuals. Although the character models are excellent, the background and environment graphics are dull and bland. Characters' costumes are plain too. Not something you would expect for a multi-disc next-gen game.
2. Battles can be boring. Blue Dragon uses the standard old-school turn-based battle system. Many J-RPGs have tried to spice up the battle system, as shown in every Final Fantasy games, but Blue Dragon returns to old-school. Result? Kinda boring. There is no sense of urgency (unless you want to escape from battle). Also, the characters are mute during battle and victory sequence.

Now, Eternal Sonata for the Xbox360:
1. Beautiful and amazing visuals. Very colorful, kinda like a more cheerful version of Folklore. Character costumes are very detailed.
2. At first, the battle system looks like a standard turn-based system with AP points. You can move freely around the screen and do attacks until you run out of the AP meter, and the meter only drops when you move/do an attack. Sounds easy huh. Well, not too far into the game, the party level will go up, and it becomes interesting. At Level 2, the AP meter will also act as a timer. Once you start moving the character/doing an attack, it will deplete continuously, putting a sense of urgency to select attacks quickly because once the AP meter runs out, the character's turn is over. At later levels, the battles will become more like real time. It's more engaging and fun (although not as fun as Grandia II). Even better, the characters are fully voiced during battle, yelling special moves and have cute/cool victory sequences.

In short, if you're into old-school RPG, and like stats/class systems/monotonous leveling, then get Blue Dragon. However, for better visuals, more interesting story/characters, and fun battle system, get Eternal Sonata. Of course, you can always get both like me. Waiting to see if Lost Odyssey is worthy of the big names of Mistwalker.