The Day The Music Didn't Die


  • Trolleybus Mechanic

    I mentioned recently I got a smartphone to replace my flipphone. I'd also like it to replace my Palm Pilot, which is me de-facto music player, and [url="http://ticc.uvt.nl/~pspronck/spacetrader/STFrames.html"]Space Trader[/url] console.  Since [url="http://www.darknova.net/"]Dark Nova[/url] exists, that just leaves the mp3 functionality.

    Wait, there's a Winamp for Android?

    $5?

    App store, buy, install, fucking done!

    Let's just hope it's not as a big of a disappointment as Firefox Android was. That's the attitude I was going in with.

    I listen to music mainly in my car, and it'll be nice to be able to listen to more than a CD's worth at a time. Plug the Android into the line-in on the dash, press the car's MODE button, hit play on the phone-- and in pours the sweet, sweet sounds of the Tron: Legacy soundtrack. It's beautiful!

    I hit "Next", and the screen loads the next track-- but the first one keeps playing. Weird. I hit next again. Same song. Next next fucking what thefuck next! Same goddamn song!

    Stop? Same fucking song is still going. Holy shit!

    Home button-- THE MUSIC IS STILL GOING! I guess Winamp is a TSR (Timepod-Style Reference).  I'm already mentally formulating the bug-report.

    Task Killer-- kill Winamp-- HOLY GODDAMN FUCKING SHIT THE MUSIC IS STILL GOING!

    I have the occasional nightmare where my clock radio alarm goes off, and no matter what I do, it won't shut off.  (It's because my clock alarm is actually going off). So I'm starting to irrationally freak out a bit. So I pull the audio cord out of the dash, and here's where my hindbrain literally scares the non-literal shit out of me.

    THE MUSIC IS STILL GOING!

    That's when I finally notice the car's dash says "Playing Track 1"-- and that you have to push the MODE button twice to get to AUX IN. Spiral-into-madness averted.

    So in conclusion, since obviously I'm incapable of being TRWTF-- what the hell is up with Open Source developers? What the living fuck didn't the people who make Winamp or Android program a way to handle this use case?



  •  Remove the part where you admit fault and you've mastered the blakeyrant.



  • So... you thought that you were playing music using your phone, but instead it was the car's stereo, and you found out when you changed tracks on the phone and the song playing did not change?

    Seems that the problem was in the car's sound system, and if _that_ was open source your problem would probably have been fixed long ago.

    Edit - woosh? I'm so used to blakeyrants that I no longer recognise sarcasm.



  • @robbak said:

    the problem was in the car's sound system, and if _that_ was open source your problem would probably have been fixed long ago.
     

       That's a good one!



  • Could be worse. You could have left the phone in the car, parked in the sun when it's 110F (that' low 40s for celsiusers). That way the phone goes in "I'm too hot let's reboot" mode and whenever it comes back on the car radio detects the bluetooth, switches from FM input and restarts the song it was playing before the crash. And then the phone is still too hot so it reboots again.

    Solution? Unplug the bluetooth wire! No wait there is no wire. Then divorce the fuckers. No wait you'll lose the audio book bookmark (and there is no way I'm fast-forwarding through hours of Danielle Steel to get back to the part where Johnny is about to open his heart to Maggie). Well the only solution is to pull the phone battery and hold the phone against the A/C vent until it's cold enough.



    Now try and do that while eating a McBurritos.



    Also: Winamp? What is this, 1999?



  • This is my favorite WTF in a long time. I especially like the part where you start freaking out and rip your car apart. I'd do the same thing, too.



  • @robbak said:

    Seems that the problem was in the car's sound system, and if that was open source your problem would probably have been fixed long ago.

    TDEMSYR.



  • 9.999999999998/20 would read again



  • @Ronald said:

    Also: Winamp? What is this, 1999?
    If you haven't used Winamp snce 1999, then I can understand that you might dismiss it.  However I use Winamp all the time and it works better than anything else I've tried . . . on a real computer.  Using Winamp on a phone is TRWTF.



  • @El_Heffe said:

    Using Winamp on a phone is TRWTF.

    Yeah, wouldn't it be "Andamp"? Like XML encoding: &



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    &

    No, that's ampamp.

    Or et-amp.



  • @Ben L. said:

    @morbiuswilters said:
    &

    No, that's ampamp.

    Or et-amp.

    So you pronounce ampersands as "amp" and not "and"?

    Do you just naturally produce such strong pussy repellent*, or do you have to buy it at a special store?



  • @Ben L. said:

    No, that's ampamp.
    No, this is ampamp




  • @morbiuswilters said:

    Filed under: *Not the kind that scares of kitties..

    Quoted for bad grammer





  • @Lorne Kates said:

    I'd also like it to replace my Palm Pilot

    Wait a minute... Palm Pilot? You just now replaced a device from the fucking 1997!?

    You have got to be shitting me for a second time.



  • @El_Heffe said:

    If you haven't used Winamp snce 1999, then I can understand that you might dismiss it.

    Winamp is a distant memory. It goes in the same bucket as ACDSee, Easy CD Creator, WinMX, HotMetal Pro, Audiograbber, WS_FTP, Soundforge and Frontpage Express.



  • @Ben L. said:

    @morbiuswilters said:
    Filed under: *Not the kind that scares of kitties..

    Quoted for bad grammer

    Quoted for pedantic dickweedery





  • @blakeyrat said:

    @Lorne Kates said:
    Space Trader

    You have got to be shitting me.

    That makes me immensely nostalgic.



  • @El_Heffe said:

    @Ben L. said:

    @morbiuswilters said:
    Filed under: *Not the kind that scares of kitties..

    Quoted for bad grammer

    Quoted for pedantic dickweedery

    Quoted for Community Server abusing <p> tags



  • @El_Heffe said:

    @Ben L. said:

    @morbiuswilters said:
    Filed under: *Not the kind that scares of kitties..

    Quoted for bad grammer

    Quoted for pedantic dickweedery

    Pedantic dickweedery is the last refuge of the scoundrel who's been called a pussy.



  • @Ronald said:

    Winamp is a distant memory.

    Let me guess: you use iToons.



  • @Ben L. said:

    @blakeyrat said:
    @Lorne Kates said:
    Space Trader

    You have got to be shitting me.

    That's the exact same link.

    The website uses a FRAMESET! Now I KNOW there is me-shitting going on.

    I was trying to link to the screenshots.



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    @Ronald said:
    Winamp is a distant memory.

    Let me guess: you use iToons.

    I prefer RealPlayer Plus.



  • @Ronald said:

    @El_Heffe said:
    If you haven't used Winamp snce 1999, then I can understand that you might dismiss it.

    Winamp is a distant memory.

    WinAmp is old, but still in production.  My copy is a year old, but they have released a newer version..@Ronald said:
    It goes in the same bucket as ACDSee, Easy CD Creator, WinMX, HotMetal Pro, Audiograbber, WS_FTP, Soundforge and Frontpage Express.

    I have Audiograbber but it's not installed any more. I use Winamp now for the rare occassion I need to rip a CD.

    Right now, on my computer, I have:

     ACDSee ( v3.1 circa 2000)

    WS_FTP (v9.0  circa 2004)

    Why?  Because they work, and newer isn't always better.  In fact, newer is often worse.

    Also:

    Soundforge (v10  circa 2011 -- was bought by Sony a few years ago and is still in active development)



  • @Ronald said:

    @morbiuswilters said:
    @Ronald said:
    Winamp is a distant memory.

    Let me guess: you use iToons.

    I prefer RealPlayer Plus.

    Now you're just being ridiculous.



  • @El_Heffe said:

    @Ronald said:

    @morbiuswilters said:
    @Ronald said:
    Winamp is a distant memory.

    Let me guess: you use iToons.

    I prefer RealPlayer Plus.

    Now you're just being ridiculous.

    Truth is, on computers I listen to streaming only. Shoutcast, Pandora, Slacker. I also tend to not install a lot of software because I'm addicted to buying laptops (sometimes I go to Staples to get a sharpie and I come out with a new ultrathin Asus) and installing a bunch of applications every time ends up being tedious. Whenever possible I use webapps or on-demand software like Office anywhere and I put all my shit in various clouds so I don't depend on a specific computer or device.



    I probably have old software like WS_FTP somewhere on a usb stick in a locker but it's been ages since I installed it.



  • @blakeyrat said:

    @Ben L. said:
    @blakeyrat said:
    @Lorne Kates said:
    Space Trader

    You have got to be shitting me.

    That's the exact same link.

    The website uses a FRAMESET! Now I KNOW there is me-shitting going on.

    I was trying to link to the screenshots.

    Guys, let's lay off Lorne; he's Canadian for Chrissake. He spends all day being picked on by the other Canadians for being so tech-savvy..

    [Scene: Lorne is struggling to lift a moose corpse up onto a crude platform made from cinder blocks. Underneath burns a weak fire.]

    Canadian: 'ey Lorne, eh? What's all the ruckus aboot, eh?

    Lorne: Now gosh darn, Rowsdower, if I've told you once, I've told you a t'ousand times! I'm cookin' my moose over a moose-dung fire.

    Rowsdower: Well why go and do summin' like that? Just take a bite right out of the raw moose corpse like the rest of us!

    Lorne: Rowsdower, I've already covered this in the past with you, from letter Eh to letter Zed: I prefer me meat cooked over a moose-dung fire. Really locks in the juices and makes it all savory-like, eh?

    Rowsdower: Ah, ya crazy old hoser! I bet you still use Winamp to listen to music, too, instead of IBM's RealCD, like the rest of us Canadians!







  • @Ben L. said:

    @El_Heffe said:

    @Ben L. said:

    @morbiuswilters said:
    Filed under: *Not the kind that scares of kitties..

    Quoted for bad grammer

    Quoted for pedantic dickweedery

    Quoted for Community Server abusing <p> tags

     

    Quoted for Hey guys, remember when we made a quote pyramid so large Community Server broke? I mean got even brokener?

     



  • @Lorne Kates said:

    That's when I finally notice the car's dash says "Playing Track 1"-- and that you have to push the MODE button twice to get to AUX IN. Spiral-into-madness averted.
     

    Don't feel bad. I used to do much the same every time I turned Bluetooth off on my old phone. What made it worse was that my phone was set to change tracks when tapped and stop when shaken. I'd end up tapping, slapping and smacking the pocket I had the phone in before violently manhandling my own crotch to try and turn it off.

    Thankfully, the only time I did it with a passenger in the car I managed to get out 'Uhhh. Just a bee. I uh, think I got it.' without too much uncomfortable silence. 



  • @Mo6eB said:

    @Ben L. said:

    @El_Heffe said:

    @Ben L. said:

    @morbiuswilters said:
    Filed under: *Not the kind that scares of kitties..

    Quoted for bad grammer

    Quoted for pedantic dickweedery

    Quoted for Community Server abusing <p> tags

     

    Quoted for Hey guys, remember when we made a quote pyramid so large Community Server broke? I mean got even brokener?

     

     

     Quote for I'm new around here. Don't remember it...

     


  • Trolleybus Mechanic

    @blakeyrat said:

    @Lorne Kates said:
    I'd also like it to replace my Palm Pilot

    Wait a minute... Palm Pilot? You just now replaced a device from the fucking 1997!?

    You have got to be shitting me for a second time.

     

    Nope, I'm serious. It's a [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_Zire_72"]Zire 72[/url], and it was fancypants when I got it in 2005. (It was released in 2004). I needed a scheduler and note-scrawler, and it doubled as a mp3 player and a portable gaming device.  I was still in school, so a cheapass on-clearance palm pilot was just the ticket.  It's been my go-to device ever since, going on a decade now. It's had a couple open-heart surgeries to replace the battery, but aside from that-- rock solid. And came with a (shitty) camera to boot!

    The one advantage it still has over the phone is the physical D-Pad.  If I'm going to use the phone as a music player in the car, I need a non-touchscreen way to jump to the next track. I'm hoping I can jury rig something with tiny Bluetooth keyboard, if I can find a music player that will respond to custom keyboard shortcuts from the phone's lock screen. No luck so far.

    And yes, Space Trader.  The Palm Pilot really wasn't an action platform, and there's only so much Cribbage I can lose at.  I loved playing a similar game as a kid. This version was perfect... quick to pick up, auto-saves the game as you go, turn-based.  I'd could play it a few minutes at a time when I had a chance, and still work towards the endgame. 

    Of course the author's page is a craptastic frames based site. Best I can tell is that it was put up in 2002 by a university student. The game's last update was 2005. The site's last update was 2009, with a message saying "I'm not making more of this, but here's the iOS/Android spiritual successor. Also, here's the C source code for the game. Have fun.".  Why would you expect an update to a site for an "out-of-print" game that's been officially shelved for 9 years?

     


  • Trolleybus Mechanic

    @El_Heffe said:

    However I use Winamp all the time and it works better than anything else I've tried
     

    Yup. A simple list of songs, and a few buttons to manage them. All songs stored as mp3s in a folder. Easy global hotkeys, and a beautiful queue system. And that's it. No "media managers", no listener services, no re-encoding fuckmagic. Love it.

    @El_Heffe said:

    Using Winamp on a phone is TRWTF.

    I'm learning that. =(  Is it a rule that good desktop software has to have completely catfucked portable software?

     



  • @Lorne Kates said:

    @El_Heffe said:

    However I use Winamp all the time and it works better than anything else I've tried
     

    Yup. A simple list of songs, and a few buttons to manage them. All songs stored as mp3s in a folder. Easy global hotkeys, and a beautiful queue system. And that's it. No "media managers", no listener services, no re-encoding fuckmagic. Love it.

     

    ...but... winamp has a media library...

    Have either of you looked at foobar2000, though?

     



  • I've only just started being able to use the joys of Bluetooth Audio on my shiny new car (never had it on the previous one), whilst parked up waiting for the wife, playing Candy Crush at full volume, with the windows open. Mmmmm, sweeeeeeet!



  • @Ronald said:

    @morbiuswilters said:
    @Ronald said:
    Winamp is a distant memory.

    Let me guess: you use iToons.

    I prefer RealPlayer Plus.

    I alsBUFFERINGo like to usBUFFERING*e RealPl BUFFERING ayer



  • So, was it cosmic luck that you had the same songs in the playlist as on the cd or are you really that inattentive that you don't even know what you just put in the playlist?


  • Trolleybus Mechanic

    @dhromed said:

    ...but... winamp has a media library...
     

    An optional one. You can get away with never using it. And it also is just basically a hyperdrived version of the regular playlist. You don't have to "import" things to it, then wonder where in Mystical Data Land your songs actually are.

    I have used it, and it's neat. I can see the benefits of it. It's just a bit of overkill for me.

    @dhromed said:

    Have either of you looked at foobar2000, though?

    Nope. I'll give it a look.

     


  • Trolleybus Mechanic

    @henke37 said:

    So, was it cosmic luck that you had the same songs in the playlist as on the cd or are you really that inattentive that you don't even know what you just put in the playlist?
     

    I had the Tron: Legacy CD in my car. It was what I was listening to recently. (CD players don't give you much variety :| ).  I loaded just a few tracks onto the phone, just to test it out and make sure it works. I grabbed the first bunch of MP3s that came to mind which where, of course, the rip of the Tron: Legacy soundtrack.

    If I had picked the American Idiot OST instead, we wouldn't have this thread. Think about that.



  • @dhromed said:

    ...but... winamp has a media library...
    Which is easily hidden and ignored.  I've used Winamp for years without needing to mess with the media library. @dhromed said:
    Have either of you looked at foobar2000, though?
    Foobar2000 is OK.  If Winamp didn't esixt I would probably use Foobar2000.  But Winamp has a much better UI.



  • @Lorne Kates said:

    If I had picked the American Idiot OST instead, we wouldn't have this thread
    Don't be so sure about that.

     



  • @Lorne Kates said:

    Nope, I'm serious. It's a Zire 72,

    The Zire 72 isn't a Palm Pilot. They retired the Pilot brand after like 2 devices, because the Pilot pen company "gently" urged them to use another name. So no, you do not have a Palm Pilot. You have a Palm Zire.

    RARE BLAKEYRAT PEDANTIC DICKWEED POST!

    I used to get annoyed at my boss who had a Palm VII, and it said Palm VII *right there on the screen*, and the word "pilot" didn't appear anywhere on the device, its packaging, or its manual. And he always called the thing a Palm Pilot. AND IT BUGGED ME! WHY DO PEOPLE DO THAT!? (I think timepods are involved.)

    (BTW: I had a Palm III at college and I loved that bastard to death. It had a LCD-inverter back-light so it was also my first e-book reader. I should dig it out and see if I can get it going again... I wonder if the sync cable is even USB.)

    @Lorne Kates said:

    Why would you expect an update to a site for an "out-of-print" game that's been officially shelved for 9 years?

    I guess I expected you to maybe, sometime during the decade, look for a new game.


  • Trolleybus Mechanic

    @blakeyrat said:

    The Zire 72 isn't a Palm Pilot. They retired the Pilot brand after like 2 devices, because the Pilot pen company "gently" urged them to use another name. So no, you do not have a Palm Pilot. You have a Palm Zire.
     

    Fair enough. I guess it's like-- umm-- something I'm completely blanking on. Where people call something the wrong thing, and it gets so pervasive that it might as well be known as that thing.

    @blakeyrat said:

    (BTW: I had a Palm III at college and I loved that bastard to death. It had a LCD-inverter back-light so it was also my first e-book reader. I should dig it out and see if I can get it going again... I wonder if the sync cable is even USB.)

    Does it have a web-browser?

    @blakeyrat said:

    I guess I expected you to maybe, sometime during the *decade*, look for a new game.

    I did. It's called Dark Nova. =)

    Honestly, though, I don't do much portable gaming. I drive, so I don't have down time on my commute. While I have been playing Space Trader for years, since it's only in few-minute chunks here and there, I've probably logged less gametime than some people do on a Pokemon release.

    Also, I have Angry Birds. That's only half-a-decade old, so I'm fucking modern!

     

     



  • @Lorne Kates said:

    @blakeyrat said:

    I guess I expected you to maybe, sometime during the decade, look for a new game.

    I did. It's called Dark Nova. =)

    Honestly, though, I don't do much portable gaming. I drive, so I don't have down time on my commute. While I have been playing Space Trader for years, since it's only in few-minute chunks here and there, I've probably logged less gametime than some people do on a Pokemon release.

    Also, I have Angry Birds. That's only half-a-decade old, so I'm fucking modern!

    Don't feel bad. I've been playing a game that takes place in the year 169. Today, I'll be killing hundreds of jelly cubes because a fairy named Chaeldar told me to.



  • @blakeyrat said:

    he always called the thing a Palm Pilot. AND IT BUGGED ME! WHY DO PEOPLE DO THAT!?
    Why do people say "dial the phone" or "dial that number" when phones no longer have dials.

    Why do people say "film" -- we filmed the concert and it will be released on DVD --  even though it was shot digitally and no film of any kind was involved

    Why do people complain about stupid shit.



  • @Lorne Kates said:

    Where people call something the wrong thing, and it gets so pervasive that it might as well be known as that thing.

    "people" don't. Just you and that boss I used to have. I think we call those "idiots".

    @Lorne Kates said:

    Does it have a web-browser?

    I honestly don't remember, but I highly doubt it. I don't think it had any kind of network connection other than the dock.

    @Lorne Kates said:

    Also, I have Angry Birds. That's only half-a-decade old, so I'm fucking modern!

    I have Angry Birds on my TV remote at this point. (No, seriously. It's a Roku. For some reason it came with Angry Birds.)


  • Trolleybus Mechanic

    @blakeyrat said:

    @Lorne Kates said:
    Where people call something the wrong thing, and it gets so pervasive that it might as well be known as that thing.

    "people" don't. Just you and that boss I used to have. I think we call those "idiots".

     

    Mini Cooper.

    @blakeyrat said:

    @Lorne Kates said:
    Does it have a web-browser?

    I honestly don't remember, but I highly doubt it. I don't think it had any kind of network connection other than the dock.

    Who needs a network connection? File > Save Page > Copy to PP > Browser > Open Page

    I need to see some forums on palm pilots. It's a very specific kink.

    @blakeyrat said:

    I have Angry Birds on my TV remote at this point. (No, seriously. It's a Roku. For some reason it came with Angry Birds.)

    I am not surprised.


Log in to reply