SWC Computer Services

As has been already reported in Macworld, Automator actions that talk to iTunes all broke upon the release of iTunes 10.0. This is because each action specifies in a text string in its Info.plist file that it requires iTunes version 4.6 or higher, and alphabetically, ’10.0′ is smaller than ’4.6.’ I frequently use ‘Add to iTunes as a Spoken Track’ (activated in System Preferences » Keyboard » Services). Here is how I got it working again.
‘Add to iTunes as a Spoken Track.workflow’ is found in /System/Library/Services. Navigate to that location and double-click the workflow file. Don’t Panic! We are not going to modify this file; we’re just looking for error messages when it’s opened in Automator.

Automator complains that the actions ‘Import Audio Files’ and ‘Add Songs to Playlist’ could not be loaded because the application iTunes is the wrong version.

Navigate to /System/Library/Automator. WARNING: Do not modify files found under …

Go to Source

iTunes 10 includes a QuickTime X-like controller available right from the album art!

I was playing around with iTunes 10 today and happened to click on the album art in the Now Playing section (lower left corner) and the album art window popped up full-size like normal. I noticed that there wasn’t a title bar and alas, there was a controller, just like the one on QuickTime X videos, that you can use to play/pause, skip, scrub, fast forward, rewind, and change the volume of the track! So now there’s one additional way to control your music in addition to the mini player. I’m not sure if this is a Snow-Leopard only thing, but it’s very nice.

[crarko adds: I tested this, and it works as described. Was this available in 9.2.1 on Snow Leopard? I never use the Now Playing drawer in iTunes so I didn't notice if it was or not. I looked on Leopard and it wasn't there in 9.2.1. How about in iTunes 10 on Leopard? I doubt it, since it looks like it uses QuickTime X. ]

Go to Source

In iTunes 10, Apple has removed the filter/search field from the Sync Apps window for an attached device. The text field allowed you to search for a string and filter your list of apps like in Spotlight. It’s not really missing; it has just been replaced.

Just like in any iTunes window — whether browsing the App Store, Music Store, etc. — the universal Search field in the upper right can now be used to filter/search through your own apps in the Sync Apps list.

[crarko adds: I tested this, and it works as described.]

Go to Source

A lot of people find the new iTunes 10 icon unattractive and out of place. This hint goes well together with other hints about restoring what was preferred about iTunes 9.

This simple trick will restore your old iTunes icon (or you can replace it with another of your choice), and will work for any other app as well.
Right-click on iTunes.app and select ‘Show Package Contents’, browse to Contents/Resources and copy the file iTunes.icns to a safe location.

Now take the the old icon and overwrite the new icon with it. You will need to authenticate from an admin account to do this. The old icon can be obtained from an old version of iTunes, if you have access to a non-upgraded machine or a Time Machine backup.

You need to start and stop iTunes a few times before it picks up the new icon, and you might even need to reboot your computer.

A demonstration video can also be found on …

Go to Source

The iTunes Classic Visualizer is great. For starters, it keeps you interested, and it seems uncannily good at matching the mood of the visuals to the style of music. The new Visualizer style just doesn’t make sense to me — pulsating orbs?

Anyway, the problem with the Classic Visualizer is that it would always force a low resolution on you when using full screen mode.

I’m happy to point out that the Classic Visualizer in iTunes 10 now uses your current display resolution when you go into full screen mode. Now it looks absolutely awesome on a nice 720p/1080p TV set. Unfortunately it still blanks secondary displays in full screen mode.

I know I’m not the only one to have searched for an answer to this, only to be disappointed with the ‘Use screen zoom’ solution that’s been around for years.

[crarko adds: I tested this, and it works as described, although I didn't try the external output. Thanks to Tom Karpik for this hint.]

Go to Source

iTunes 10 provides a different layout for the Close, Minimize and Maximize buttons. Instead of being ordered horizontally, in iTunes 10 they’re arranged vertically, like a traffic light.
Reverting the buttons to a horizontal layout can easily be done. With iTunes not running, open Terminal and enter the following code:

defaults write com.apple.iTunes full-window -1

To restore the vertical layout, simply use this command:

defaults write com.apple.iTunes full-window -0

[crarko adds: Thank you very much. iTunes 10 has a lot of good points, like better performance, but some of the UI changes are perplexing.]

Go to Source

Since iTunes does not give you a lot of information via print or export of your apps, I wrote a little shell script to retrieve information from the app files themselves.

The script creates and opens a .csv file. To correctly display the columns, choose ‘semicolons’ as the column delimiter in your csv viewer (e.g. OpenOffice Calc).
You can choose what information to retrieve by commenting/uncommenting them in the Attributes definition at the beginning of the script.

To run the script do the following: [crarko adds: Note that the path to the Mobile Applications folder may be different depending on your previous upgrade path(s), for example mine was located at ~/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music/Mobile Applications. Just be sure to put the script in the same folder as the app (.ipa) files.]

• Save it as getproperties.sh in your Mobile Applications Folder at ~/Music/iTunes/Mobile Applications.
• Open that folder in Terminal and run …

Go to Source

Whenever I go to a website that asks for my location I wonder what exactly I am giving out. I found a neat Safari 5 extension from Upper Atmosphere called FindMe. FindMe displays your location in a tool bar. Your location is just a button press away. You can also click on the result to display it on a map.

Interestingly, Mac OS X Location Services are only available if you have a wireless connection enabled. I would’ve expected Apple to default to your external IP if it couldn’t determine your location based on your wireless connection, but it doesn’t.

Most people probably already know where they are but this tool is surprisingly useful.

[crarko adds: I tested this, and it works as described. It asks for permission to find your location just like an iOS app would.]

Go to Source

This hint is an update to this rather old hint which explains how to record HDTV signals from a FireWire capable box.
For the most part, everything is the same as in the original guide, however there are a few differences.

First, with the rise of FireWire 800, you should note that cable boxes supplied by your provider will have FireWire 400, so if you only have FW800 cables, you’ll need to get a 400-800 cable or adaptor.

Second, Apple’s Firewire SDK is rather old, and its contained applications, like VirtualDVHS, are designed for Tiger, and are rather buggy and difficult to use. A better choice is FireRecord, a simple app that does most of the work for you, including detecting which channel to stream from, which can be frustrating to do manually. (63, 0, and 1 are the common channels).

Third, while the file format (MPE …

Go to Source

Apple made it quite easy and intuitive to quit out of apps in iOS 4; however I have not seen this method mentioned anywhere.

Double tap the Home button to bring up the multitasking applications view, then tap and hold on an app (as if you were arranging your home screen). A small red circle will appear on each app; tap one to close that app. And, of course, you can still swipe through the list to see more.

[crarko adds: I can't test this one on my iPhone 3G. Please confirm that this works.]

Go to Source