Anonymousy's Rants

My Personal All-Time Top 40

2011-11-12T10:33:00.001+01:00

I've been playing with data from iTunes and compiled a list of song rankings for the entire database. It turns out this is my "All-Time Top 40" for november 2011:

40 : All I Know - Art Garfunkel
39 : Grandma's Feather Bed - John Denver
38 : Dromen Zijn Bedrog - Marco Borsato
37 : Wherever You Will Go - The Calling
36 : Staff Credits - Nintendo
35 : Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon And Garfunkel
34 : Het Dorp - Wim Sonneveld
33 : Manic Monday - The Bangles
32 : Afscheid Nemen Bestaat Niet - Marco Borsato
31 : We Will Rock You - Queen

30 : You've Got a Friend in Me - Randy Newman
29 : Here Comes the Sun - The Beatles
28 : Wild Montana Skies - John Denver
27 : Poems, Prayers and Promises - John Denver
26 : Over de Muur - Klein Orkest
25 : Man in the Mirror - Michael Jackson
24 : Sweet Goodbyes - Krezip
23 : Amapola - The Spotnicks
22 : Always Look on the Bright Side of Life - Monty Python
21 : Scarborough Fair - Simon And Garfunkel

20 : The Beep Beep Song - Simone White
19 : The Boxer - Simon And Garfunkel
18 : Money for Nothing - Dire Straits
17 : Legs - ZZ Top
16 : Believe - Dima Bilan
15 : I'm Yours - Jason Mraz
14 : Brabant - Guus Meeuwis
13 : Opzij - Herman van Veen
12 : The Eagle and the Hawk - John Denver
11 : De Steen - Paul De Leeuw

10 : Where My Heart Will Take Me (Faith of the Heart) - Russell Watson
9 : Yesterday - The Beatles
8 : Halo - Beyoncé
7 : Brothers in Arms - Dire Straits
6 : Gimme All Your Lovin' - ZZ Top
5 : Walk Like an Egyptian - The Bangles
4 : Lollipop - Mika
3 : Apple Store Love Song - Fatty Spins
2 : Fuck You - Lily Allen
1 : Wat Zou Je Doen - Marco Borsato & Ali B

Common Passcodes for iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad (and other mobile devices)

2011-06-19T10:50:00.000+02:00

Do you think you have a safe passcode on your mobile device?

It turns out that many people think they have a safe passcode but in reality that passcode is so common it's no safer than having no passcode at all.

Here is the top ten of most common passcodes used on iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad:
1234, 0000, 2580, 1111, 5555, 5683, 0852, 2222, 1212, 1998

It stands to reason that other mobile devices that allow the user to set a four digit passcode will have the same issue. If you are using one of the above passcodes you should seriously consider changing it to something else.

(Read the full analysis here)

Syncing iCal with Google Calendar and vice versa

2011-01-08T20:13:00.000+01:00

How many people are aware that it is possible to sync a Google Calendar with Apple's iCal?
Probably many people know that you can get Google Calendar events synced into iCal. But the other way around is a different story. In fact, if you have iCal v4.0.4 or later it is now extremely easy to achieve exactly that.

Until not so very long ago it was not possible to add an event in iCal and have it automatically show up in your Google Calendar. Now, this is possible. Here's how you do it:

1. If you already have a Google account syncing into iCal using CalDav (that you set up previously) you may want to throw that definition away first. To do that click on the menu-item iCal - Preferences... and go to the Accounts tab. There: select the appropriate account and click the [-] button.

2. Now add the account by clicking on the [+] button (see the image above). In the window that appears select the Account type and choose "Google" from the dropdown-menu. Then enter your account's Gmail address and password. And click the [Create] button.

3. The connection should now be setup automagically. All events in your calendar will now be loaded into iCal. You can elect to also show delegated calendars by clicking on the tab [Delegation] in the Accounts setup window (see the first image above at the far right).

Now comes the part you've all been waiting for:
4. In the left border of the main iCal window select the calendar to which you want to add an event. Then double-click on the day/time slot where you want to add the event.

Give the event a description and double-click the event again to open up a window that lets you fine-tune the event's details.

5. Finally, open Google Calendar in your favourite browser to find that the event is also there. Changes made in Google Calendar are (obviously) also synced to iCal. However, please note that there may be some time delay seeing the changes in iCal. The default time for updating is 15 minutes.

Because iCal pushes all changes to Google Calendar, updates made in iCal are visible much quicker.

Tilburg - Bezoek de Binnenstad met auto of OV (parkeren of bus?)

2010-11-24T20:13:00.004+01:00

Met de komst van de OV-chipkaart worden veel mensen geconfronteerd met een (schijnbare?) prijsverhoging van openbaar vervoer. Hier in Tilburg heeft de introductie er in ieder geval voor gezorgd dat mijn vrouw en ik de gewoonte om, voor een bezoek aan de binnenstad, gebruik te maken van de stadsbus nog eens kritisch hebben vergeleken met de kosten van parkeren. Het resultaat was op z'n zachtst gezegd: verrassend.

Voor deze analyse hebben we de kosten van een reisje naar het centrum van Tilburg vanuit de Reeshof geanalyseerd.

Laten we eens beginnen bij de bus. Met de stadsdienst reizen we van Winkelcentrum Heyhoef naar NS station Tilburg Centraal. Dit ritje kost ons €1.62 per persoon. Als we na een dagje winkelen de bus terug nemen stappen we op aan de halte Stadhuisplein. Bij Winkelcentrum Heyhoef aangekomen rekenen we €1.80 af bij met de OV-chippas. Per persoon kost een bezoek aan het centrum van Tilburg ons dus ongeveer €3.42. Gaan we met het hele gezin (4 personen) dan rekenen we voor een retourtje Tilburg centrum dus bijna €13 af. Tjemig de pemig zeg.

Met de auto is het vast duurder.
Volgens tilburg.com blijken er meerdere mogelijkheden te bestaan om de auto dicht bij het centrum te parkeren. De mogelijkheden zijn: Emmapassage, Heuvelpoort, Knegtel, Pieter Vreedeplein, Louis Bouwmeesterplein, Koningsplein en Tivoli. Vanuit de Reeshof zijn Loius Bouwmeesterplein en Knegtel het dichtst bij.
Kijken we naar de parkeertarieven dan zien we dat voor alle parkeergarages een starttarief geldt van €0.50.
Verder hanteert men een uurtarief, dat sterk varieert:
€0.70 : Knegtel
€1.40 : Tivoli en Louis Bouwmeesterplein
€1.60 : Koningsplein
€1.80 : Emmapassage, Heuvelpoort en Pieter Vreedeplein

De meeste parkeergarages hanteren een maximumtarief van €14.50. Knegtel en Heuvelpoort zijn daarbij de uitzonderingen met respectievelijk €4.00 en €25.00.
Bij wijze van steekproef besluiten we naar de Louis Bouwmeesterplein garage te rijden. Op de uitrijkaart staat dat we om 9:59 zijn aangekomen. Als we ons (volgens de automaat) om 12:15 weer melden moeten we €3.40 afrekenen. Hoe ze na 2 uur en 16 minuten aan een bedrag van €3.40 komen, is ons nog niet helemaal duidelijk. Terug thuis blijken we 15km afgelegd te hebben. Gaan we nu uit van een kilometerprijs van 19 cent per kilometer dan heeft de autorit €2.85 gekost. Tellen we daar het parkeertarief bij dan komen we op een prijs van €6.25 uit. Met de bus zouden we €6.84 kwijt geweest zijn. Nauwelijks een verschil dus.

Maar wacht even. Zo simpel is het niet. Meestal blijven we langer dan 2 uur in de stad. Dus dan wordt de auto relatief gezien duurder dan de bus. Gaan we echter met het hele gezin winkelen, dan lijkt al snel de bus de duurdere optie.

blauw = Knegtel; rood = Tivoli / Louis Bouwmeester;
oranje = Koningsplein; donker groen = Emmapassage / Pieter Vreedeplein / Heuvelpoort

In bovenstaande grafiek heb ik de kosten van parkeren in de verschillende parkeergarages uitgezet tegen de kosten van busvervoer voor 1 (lichtblauw of cyaan), 2 (gele lijn), 3 (paars of magenta) en 4 (lichtgroen) personen.
In de berekening houd ik rekening met de autokosten (15km) en het starttarief van de garages. Vandaar dat de lijnen van de parkeergarages starten bij €3.35 en dan schuin oplopen totdat het maximumtarief is bereikt.
De interessante punten in de grafiek zijn die waar lijnen elkaar snijden. Links van zo'n snijpunt is parkeren goedkoper. Rechts daarvan begint de bus (bij het betreffend aantal personen) een interessante optie te worden.

Wat kan nu uit deze grafiek geconcludeerd worden?
Zo zien we dat wie alleen de stad in wil het goedkoopst uit is met de bus. Met twee personen begint de bus pas interessant te worden als we langer dan, pak 'em beet, 5 uur in de stad blijven. We moeten dan wel parkeren in de Knegtel parkeergarage en bereid zijn wat verder te wandelen. Willen we wat dichter bij het centrum parkeren dan zijn Tivoli en Louis Bouwmeesterplein slechts voor een verblijf tot 2½ uur goedkoper dan de bus.
Gaan we met vier personen dan kunnen we al gauw 5 tot ruim 7 uur in de stad blijven, voordat de bus weer een interessant vervoermiddel wordt.
Het transferium Kempenbaan (parkeren en shuttlebus naar het centrum voor €2.00 per auto) is niet in dit onderzoek meegenomen, omdat dit transferium binnenkort zal worden gesloten.

Wat ook nog mee kan spelen bij de keuze voor bus of auto is dat het in de bus vaak druk kan zijn. Een zitplaats is geen zekerheid. Moet je veel of grote tassen sjouwen, dan kan een auto ook wel eens prettig zijn. En... een auto rijdt wanneer jij dat wilt, stopt voor de deur en de chauffeur gaat niet nog ergens 10-15 minuten pauze nemen.

Just for the fun of it: Happy Numbers

2010-11-21T11:15:00.000+01:00

Here's an Applescript that determines whether a given number is a Happy Number. The script returns the final verdict (true or false) and the sequence of the sums of squares that led to that verdict.

HappyNumbers.scpt

This script determines whether a number is happy or not

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_number

display dialog "Enter any integer number" default answer 2 buttons {"OK"} default button {"OK"}

set k to text returned of result

set s to {}

repeat while k is not (1)

set sq to 0

-- determine the sum of squares of the digits

repeat with i from 1 to count of (k as text)

set sq to sq + (item i of (k as text)) ^ 2

end repeat

set k to (sq as integer)

-- if the result already occured: we're in a loop

if k is in s then

say "Unhappy"

return {false, s}

end if

-- remember the result

set end of s to k

end repeat

say "Happy"

return {true, s}

More iTunes Statistics

2010-10-16T16:24:00.000+02:00

I my previous post I shared an Applescript that allows you to get some basic statistics about your iTunes Library. I've expanded on that script and created the script shown below. The initial script produced a number of lists that showed count of songs per rating, per number of plays and per number of skips. I wanted to know if the playcounts or skipcounts were related to the song's rating. So, without further ado, here are the results that the script produced:

Number of tracks analysed: 7053

Distribution of Playcounts
cnt ----- ----* ---** --*** -**** ***** Total
0 0 3 2 78    0 0 83
1 0 23    156 3254 53    0 3486
2 0 11 130 1947 61 4 2153
3 0 6 44 512 33 4 599
4 0 0 9 150 28 8 195
5 0 2 7 85 35 15    144
6 0 0 2 45    107 18    172
7 0 0 1 26    49    11    87
8 0 0 0 9 19    10    38
9 0 0 0 6 7 13    26
10 0 0 0     11    13    6     30
11 0     0     0     3     7     2     12
12 0     0     0     1     2     3     6
13 0     0     0     2     3     0     5
14 0     0     0     1     1     0     2
15 0     0     0     0     1     1     2
16 0     0     0     0     2     0     2
17 0     0     0     0     2     0     2
18 0     0     0     0     0     0     0
19 0     0     0     1     1     0     2
20 0     0     0     0     1     1     2
21 0     0     0     0     1    1     2
22 0 0 0 0 1 1 2
23 0     0     0     0     0     0     0
24 0     0     0     0     0     0     0
25 0     0     0     0     0     0     0
26 0     0     0     0     0     0     0
27 0     0     0     0     0     0     0
28 0     0     0     0     0     0     0
29 0     0     0     0     0     0     0
30 0     0     0     0     0     1     1
cnt ----- ----* ---** --*** -**** ***** Total
Total 0 45    351 6131 427 99    7053

Distribution of Skipcounts
cnt ----- ----* ---** --*** -**** ***** Total
0 0 45 337 6076 413 96 6967
1 0 0 13    55    14    3 85
2 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
cnt ----- ----* ---** --*** -**** ***** Total
Total 0 45    351 6131 427 99    7053

Time taken talking with iTunes: 1s
Time taken analysing the data : 12s

Looking at the data, we see that at low playcounts the distribution tends towards the (my default) three-star rating. Songs with higher playcounts tend to have a higher rating aswell, but at the same time the distribution curve seems to flatten a bit.

For the skipcounts I wasn't expecting anything, since I've been re-setting the skipcounts periodically. In the future though, I expect to see a similar shift towards lower ratings. However, iTunes only counts a skip if you skip the song within the first, say, 10 seconds. If you skip it later the song doesn't get counted as played, but it also doesn't get counted as skipped.

If you like the script below and use it, I'd appreciate it if you could post the results here in the comments of this article.

-- Initialise variables/constants

set sep to tab

-- set sep to ","

set flgActTunes to false

set ptrPlays to 0

set cntPlays to 0

set cntPlaysMax to 0

set lstPlays to {}

set ptrSkips to 0

set cntSkips to 0

set cntSkipsMax to 0

set lstSkips to {}

set lstRates to {"-----", "----*", "---**", "--***", "-****", "*****", "Total"}

set lstRateCnt to {0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0}

set timings to {}

-- ** Fetch data from iTunes

set stime to (current date) --t1 start

-- Let's see if iTunes is running or not

tell application "System Events"

if (get name of every process) contains "iTunes" then set flgActTunes to true

end tell -- System Events

-- Interrogate iTunes to find out the information we will be needing

tell application "iTunes"

set {lstRatings, lstPlaycounts, lstSkipcounts, lstArtists} to {rating, played count, skipped count, artist} of the second playlist's tracks

-- If we started up iTunes for this, let's be nice and clean up after us

if flgActTunes = false then quit

end tell -- iTunes

set end of timings to ((current date) - stime) --t1 end

-- ** Analyse data

set stime to (current date) --t2 start

tell me

-- determine maxima

repeat with i from 1 to (count of (items in lstRatings))

set cntPlays to item i of lstPlaycounts

set cntSkips to item i of lstSkipcounts

-- find out the maximum playcount

if cntPlays > cntPlaysMax then set cntPlaysMax to cntPlays

-- find out the maximum skipcount

if cntSkips > cntSkipsMax then set cntSkipsMax to cntSkips

end repeat

end tell

tell me

repeat with j from 1 to (count of (items in lstRates))

set end of lstPlays to {}

set end of lstSkips to {}

end repeat

-- prepare lists for the playcount histogram and skipcount histogram

repeat with i from 0 to cntPlaysMax

repeat with j from 1 to (count of (items in lstRates))

set end of (item j of lstPlays) to 0

end repeat

repeat with i from 0 to cntSkipsMax

repeat with j from 1 to (count of (items in lstRates))

set end of (item j of lstSkips) to 0

end repeat

-- fill the list

repeat with i from 1 to (count of (items in lstRatings))

set Rval to item i of lstRatings

set cntPlays to (item i of lstPlaycounts) + 1

set cntSkips to (item i of lstSkipcounts) + 1

-- create a histogram of the ratings. Half-stars get counted as full.

if Rval < 1 then

set j to 1

else if Rval < 21 then

set j to 2

else if Rval < 41 then

set j to 3

else if Rval < 61 then

set j to 4

else if Rval < 81 then

set j to 5

else

set j to 6

end if

set item cntPlays of (item j of lstPlays) to (item cntPlays of (item j of lstPlays)) + 1

set item cntSkips of (item j of lstSkips) to (item cntSkips of (item j of lstSkips)) + 1

-- counting totals

set k to (count of (items in lstRates))

set item cntPlays of (item k of lstPlays) to (item cntPlays of (item k of lstPlays)) + 1

set item cntSkips of (item k of lstSkips) to (item cntSkips of (item k of lstSkips)) + 1

end repeat

end tell

set end of timings to ((current date) - stime) --t2 end

-- output the data to a file on the desktop

tell me

-- make a header

set headerText to "cnt"

repeat with i from 1 to (count of lstRates)

set headerText to headerText & sep & (item i of lstRates)

end repeat

write_data("Number of tracks analysed: " & (count of (items in lstRatings)))

write_data("")

-- Statistics of playcount vs Rating

write_data("Distribution of Playcounts")

write_data(headerText)

repeat with j from 1 to (count of (item 1 of lstPlays))

set lineText to (j - 1 as string)

repeat with i from 1 to (count of lstRates)

set lineText to lineText & sep & (item j of (item i of lstPlays))

end repeat

write_data(lineText)

end repeat

write_data(headerText)

-- Totals for each rating

repeat with i from 1 to (count of lstRates)

repeat with j from 1 to (count of (item 1 of lstPlays))

set (item i of lstRateCnt) to (item i of lstRateCnt) + (item j of (item i of lstPlays))

end repeat

set lineText to "Total"

repeat with i from 1 to (count of lstRateCnt)

set lineText to lineText & sep & (item i of lstRateCnt)

end repeat

write_data(lineText)

write_data("")

-- Statistics of skipcount vs Rating

write_data("Distribution of Skipcounts")

write_data(headerText)

repeat with j from 1 to (count of (item 1 of lstSkips))

set lineText to (j - 1 as string)

repeat with i from 1 to (count of lstRates)

set lineText to lineText & sep & (item j of (item i of lstSkips))

end repeat

write_data(lineText)

end repeat

write_data(headerText)

-- Totals for each rating

set lstRateCnt to {0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0}

repeat with i from 1 to (count of lstRates)

repeat with j from 1 to (count of (item 1 of lstSkips))

set (item i of lstRateCnt) to (item i of lstRateCnt) + (item j of (item i of lstSkips))

end repeat

set lineText to "Total"

repeat with i from 1 to (count of lstRateCnt)

set lineText to lineText & sep & (item i of lstRateCnt)

end repeat

write_data(lineText)

write_data("")

write_data(("Time taken talking with iTunes: " & (item 1 of timings) as string) & "s")

write_data(("Time taken analysing the data : " & (item 2 of timings) as string) & "s")

end tell

say "iTunes statistics ready"

return

on write_data(this_text)

set myName to name of (info for (path to me))

set the theLog to ((path to desktop) as text) & myName & " Log.txt"

try

open for access file theLog with write permission

write (this_text & return) to file theLog starting at eof

close access file theLog

on error

try

close access file theLog

end try

end write_data

iTunes Statistics

2010-10-03T13:20:00.001+02:00

I actively maintain my iTunes Library. Adding new songs, rating them and throwing away the garbage. After a while I wondered what the status was of my Library. How many songs are there in it? How is the rating of the songs distributed? Is it a normal distribution or is it slanted? How are playcounts and skipcounts built-up? In a first attempt to get a better insight into what is in my iTunes library I wrote the script below.

The output of the script on my system looks like this:

Number of tracks analysed: 6970

Frequency of Ratings
----- : 0
----* : 36
---** : 348
--*** : 6064
-**** : 423
***** : 99

Frequency of playcounts
0 : 122
1 : 3398
2 : 2136
3 : 591
4 : 190
5 : 144
6 : 173
7 : 83
8 : 38
9 : 25
10 : 32
11 : 10
12 : 6
13 : 5
14 : 2
15 : 2
16 : 2
17 : 2
18 : 0
19 : 2
20 : 2
21 : 2
22 : 2
23 : 0
24 : 0
25 : 0
26 : 0
27 : 0
28 : 0
29 : 0
30 : 1

Frequency of skipcounts
0 : 6886
1 : 83
2 : 1

Time taken talking with iTunes: 0s
Time taken analysing the data : 12s

New songs added to my library get a three-star rating. When I've listened to them I adjust the rating up or down appropriately. Songs rated with zero stars get thrown away. I find that I rarely have songs with just one star since they tend to be on the edge of zero and are often deemed unworthy of even the one star.

Looking at the data above, I was kind of surprised to see that the distribution of ratings is rather uniform. Most songs are plays only once or twice, due to the fact that I'm not playing music all day long. There's one songs with a playcount of 30. That's due to my son who likes to hear one particular song over and over... and over (Fireflies by Owl City).
Skipcounts are rather low, because I use another script to occasionally reset the skipcounts to 0 (subtracting the number of skips from the playcount). I'm on the fence as to whether that would be a good approach though. I wonder if skipping isn't more indicative of the song deserving a lower rating. But, that's something for another article.

If you like the script and use it, I'd appreciate it if you could post the results here in the comments of this article.

-- Initialise variables/constants

set flgActTunes to false

set ptrPlays to 0

set cntPlays to 0

set cntPlaysMax to 0

set lstPlays to {}

set ptrSkips to 0

set cntSkips to 0

set cntSkipsMax to 0

set lstSkips to {}

set lstRates to {"-----", "----*", "---**", "--***", "-****", "*****"}

set lstRateCnt to {0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0}

set timings to {}

-- ** Fetch data from iTunes

set stime to (current date) --t1 start

-- Let's see if iTunes is running or not

tell application "System Events"

if (get name of every process) contains "iTunes" then set flgActTunes to true

end tell -- System Events

-- Interrogate iTunes to find out the information we will be needing

tell application "iTunes"

set {lstRatings, lstPlaycounts, lstSkipcounts, lstArtists} to {rating, played count, skipped count, artist} of the second playlist's tracks

-- If we started up iTunes for this, let's be nice and clean up after us

if flgActTunes = false then quit

end tell -- iTunes

set end of timings to ((current date) - stime) --t1 end

-- ** Analyse data

set stime to (current date) --t2 start

tell me

-- fill the list

repeat with i from 1 to (count of (items in lstRatings))

set val to item i of lstRatings

set cntPlays to item i of lstPlaycounts

set cntSkips to item i of lstSkipcounts

-- create a histogram of the ratings. Half-stars get counted as full.

if val < 1 then

set (item 1 of lstRateCnt) to (item 1 of lstRateCnt) + 1

else if val < 21 then

set (item 2 of lstRateCnt) to (item 2 of lstRateCnt) + 1

else if val < 41 then

set (item 3 of lstRateCnt) to (item 3 of lstRateCnt) + 1

else if val < 61 then

set (item 4 of lstRateCnt) to (item 4 of lstRateCnt) + 1

else if val < 81 then

set (item 5 of lstRateCnt) to (item 5 of lstRateCnt) + 1

else

set (item 6 of lstRateCnt) to (item 6 of lstRateCnt) + 1

end if

-- find out the maximum playcount

if cntPlays > cntPlaysMax then set cntPlaysMax to cntPlays

-- find out the maximum skipcount

if cntSkips > cntSkipsMax then set cntSkipsMax to cntSkips

end repeat

end tell

tell me

-- prepare lists for the playcount histogram and skipcount histogram

repeat with i from 0 to cntPlaysMax

set end of lstPlays to 0

end repeat

repeat with i from 0 to cntSkipsMax

set end of lstSkips to 0

end repeat

repeat with i from 1 to (count of (items in lstRatings))

-- fill the histograms

set ptrPlays to (item i of lstPlaycounts) + 1

set ptrSkips to (item i of lstSkipcounts) + 1

copy (item ptrPlays of lstPlays) + 1 to item ptrPlays of lstPlays

copy (item ptrSkips of lstSkips) + 1 to item ptrSkips of lstSkips

end repeat

end tell

set end of timings to ((current date) - stime) --t2 end

-- output the data to a file on the desktop

tell me

write_data("Number of tracks analysed: " & (count of (items in lstRatings)))

write_data("")

write_data("Frequency of Ratings")

repeat with i from 1 to (count of lstRates)

write_data((item i of lstRates) & " : " & (item i of lstRateCnt) as string)

end repeat

write_data("")

write_data("Frequency of playcounts")

repeat with i from 1 to (count of items in lstPlays)

write_data((i - 1 as text) & " : " & (item i of lstPlays) as text)

end repeat

write_data("")

write_data("Frequency of skipcounts")

repeat with i from 1 to (count of items in lstSkips)

write_data((i - 1 as text) & " : " & (item i of lstSkips) as text)

end repeat

write_data("")

write_data(("Time taken talking with iTunes: " & (item 1 of timings) as string) & "s")

write_data(("Time taken analysing the data : " & (item 2 of timings) as string) & "s")

end tell

return {timings, lstRates, lstRateCnt, lstPlays, lstSkips}

on write_data(this_text)

set myName to name of (info for (path to me))

set the theLog to ((path to desktop) as text) & myName & " Log.txt"

try

open for access file theLog with write permission

write (this_text & return) to file theLog starting at eof

close access file theLog

on error

try

close access file theLog

end try

end write_data

AppleScript for iTunes: Generate a Playlist of Random Songs

2010-09-26T16:00:00.000+02:00

When I go for a drive, I like to listen to music on my iPod. For that purpose I usually create a playlist in iTunes. I've been using an Applescript to randomly fill a playlist with music. I only need to tell it the total duration I need (usually 3hrs worth) and it throws songs into the playlist until the time-limit is reached. But the problem was that occasionally I'd get playlists filled with songs that I don't like so much. Now for one or two songs, that's no problem. But when it gets more it tends to become annoying.

So, I looked at the script and tweaked it a bit. The Applescript below relies on the rating of the songs in your library. So, if you haven't rated your songs (between * and *****) then this script won't work. If you have, you'll find that the script will generate a playlist that tends to contain higher rated songs more frequently.

-- Default duration of the playlist (in seconds)

property reqDuration : 3 * 60 * 60

-- List with source(s) of playlists to use.

property listMusicPlaylists : {"Music"}

-- Name of the playlist to create

property myPlayList : "RandomMusic"

set cntM to count of listMusicPlaylists

tell application "iTunes"

set TrackCount to count tracks in (item 1 of every playlist)

-- create playlist if it doesn't exist yet

if not (exists playlist myPlayList) then

make new user playlist with properties {name:myPlayList}

end if

-- ask user the required duration of the playlist

set rslt to display dialog "Add to or replace the existing list? Enter number of minutes." default answer (reqDuration / 60) buttons {"Replace", "Add"} default button 2

set reqDuration to ((text returned of rslt) as integer) * 60

-- empty the playlist

if the button returned of rslt is "Replace" then

set thePlayList to item 1 of (every playlist whose name is myPlayList)

set cntSongs to (count tracks in thePlayList)

repeat cntSongs times

delete item 1 of (every track in thePlayList)

end repeat

else

-- action for 2nd button goes here

end if

end tell

try

tell application "iTunes"

set durPlayList to duration of playlist myPlayList

set LoopCnt to 0

repeat while durPlayList < reqDuration

set addFlag to false

set cntSongs to 0

set cntLoops to 0

-- pick a playlist with music

repeat while (cntSongs = 0)

tell me to set ptrM to random number from 1 to cntM

set selM to item ptrM of listMusicPlaylists

set musicPlaylist to item 1 of (every playlist whose name is selM)

set cntSongs to (count tracks in musicPlaylist)

set cntLoops to cntLoops + 1

-- prevent the repeat loop going infinite

if (cntLoops > cntM) then exit repeat

end repeat

-- determine a Rating-threshold for the next song

tell me to set rndm to random number from 1 to 99

set cntLps to 0

-- pick a song in the playlist

repeat until (addFlag = true)

tell me to set randSong to random number from 1 to cntSongs

set selSong to track randSong of musicPlaylist

-- get info on the selected song

set {dbid, onoff, ratSong} to ({database ID, enabled, rating} of selSong)

-- add the song to our playlist if:

-- 1. the song isn't already in our the playlist

-- 2. the song is enabled/selected

-- 3. the song's rating is higher than the Rating-threshold

if not (exists (some track of playlist myPlayList whose database ID is dbid)) and (onoff is true) and (rndm ≤ ratSong) then

duplicate selSong to playlist myPlayList

set addFlag to true

end if

set cntLps to cntLps + 1

-- prevent the repeat loop going infinite

if (cntLps > 5) then exit repeat

end repeat

set durPlayList to duration of playlist myPlayList

set LoopCnt to LoopCnt + 1

-- prevent the repeat loop going infinite

if (LoopCnt > TrackCount) then exit repeat

end repeat

end tell

say "ready"

on error the error_message number the error_number

say "Oh, Bother. An error occured while compiling the playlist " & myPlayList

my write_log("Error: " & the error_number & ". " & the error_message)

end try

on write_log(this_text)

set myName to name of (info for (path to me))

set the theLog to ((path to desktop) as text) & myName & " Log.txt"

try

open for access file theLog with write permission

write (this_text & return) to file theLog starting at eof

close access file theLog

on error

try

close access file theLog

end try

end write_log

Applescript - Demo changing a file label

2010-06-19T18:54:00.000+02:00

Files in MAC OS X can be given a label. This is a colored background in the Finder and on the desktop. There are 8 possibilities:
none, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and grey

That's also the order in which the labels are shown in the Finder menu. However, when experimenting in Applescript, I found that the order seems to have been randomised when trying to change the label color programmatically.

Copy and paste the code below into Applescript Editor and try it out for yourself on a file of your choice.

tell application "Finder"

set thisItem to selection as alias

if label index of thisItem < 7 then

set the label index of thisItem to (label index of thisItem) + 1

else

set label index of thisItem to 0

end if

end tell

0 = no label

1 = orange

2 = red

3 = yellow

4 = blue

5 = purple

6 = green

7 = grey

As you'll see, the order of colors is not as the Filer makes you believe it is.

If You Open Your Mind Too Much Your Brain Will Fall Out

2010-05-25T19:57:00.003+02:00

Lyrics of a song by Tim Minchin:

If anyone can show me one example in the history of the world

of a single psychic who has been able to prove

under reasonable experimental conditions

that they are able to read minds

And if anyone can show me one example in the history of the world

of a single astrologer who has been able to prove

under reasonable experimental conditions

that they can predict future events

by interpreting celestial signs

And if anyone can show me one example in the history of the world

of a single homeopathic practitioner who has been able to prove

under reasonable experimental conditions

that solutions made up of infinitely tiny particles of good stuff

dissolved repeatedly into relatively huge quantities of water

have a consistently higher medicinal value

than a similarly administered placebo

And if anyone can show me one example in the entire history of the world

of a single spiritual or religious person who has been able to show

either empirically or logically the existence of a higher power

that has any consciousness or interest in the human race

or ability to punish or reward humans for their moral choices

or that there is any reason, other than fear, to believe in any version of an afterlife

I will give you my piano,

One of my legs

And my wife

2010-03-18T18:13:00.002+01:00

Men heeft geen absolute zekerheid nodig om een atheïst danwel een theïst te kunnen zijn (of worden). Wat wel vereist is, is een aantal hele goede redenen. Zodat iemand de juiste keuze kan maken, voor eender welke richting.

Voor atheïsten is één van die redenen het onvermogen van theïsten om een goede, overtuigende casus te presenteren vóór theïsme in het algemeen, dan wel een specifieke vorm daarvan.

Theïsten, in het algemeen, denken dat zij goede redenen hebben voor hun geloofsovertuiging. Maar ik moet nog steeds een vermeend opperwezen tegenkomen dat mijn geloof waard is. Ik heb geen zekerheid nodig, dat die vermeende goden niet bestaan, om een atheïst te kunnen zijn. Alles wat ik nodig heb om niet te geloven, is een gebrek aan goede redenen. Misschien komt er een dag waarop dat zal veranderen. Maar ik draai al zo lang mee, dat ik dat ten zeerste betwijfel.

Waarom Flash nooit op de iPad/iPhone zal werken

2010-02-27T15:57:00.002+01:00

Waarom Flash nooit op de iPad/iPhone zal werken: "Steve Jobs laat geen gelegenheid ongelegen om rond te bazuinen dat Flash zo dood is als de dodo. We hoeven dan ook geen Flash functionaliteit te verwachten op de iPad, iPhone of iPod. Een ontwikkelaar van Flash websites heeft een hele andere uitleg van Steve's nukkigheid om Flash op z'n nieuwste speeltjes toe te laten: Flash kan gewoon niet omgaan met touchscreens!

[klik op de link om verder te lezen...]

White Christmas 2009

2009-12-25T09:33:00.006+01:00

For the first time in 28 years we're having a white Christmas. The last time this happened was in 1981.

The temperature this morning is just above freezing (1 degC), so I expect the snow to be gone soon.

Modes of Communication

2009-11-28T16:32:00.005+01:00

Within a business or project environment we distinguish different methods of communicating. There are:

Face-to-face
Phone (landline)
Phone (mobile)
SMS/TEXT
e-mail
memo/letter

These can be subdivided into recorded and unrecorded methods. Although it doesn't look like it, the SMS/TEXT method is an unrecorded method. That's because the text-message resides inside a phone and cannot (easily) be extracted. Also, in many cases the sender is not able to keep a record of sent messages.

Face-to-face communication may be used when both "sender" and "receiver" are geographically close to each other and information needs to be exchanged quickly or the message is short or requires immediate response. Also, this is a preferred mode in case of social, personal, private or confidential information is to be discussed. When agreements need to be formalised, this can be done by one of the recorded methods (e-mail, memo, minutes of meeting or a letter).

Phone calls cost money. Calls along landlines are less expensive than calls to/from a mobile phone. Additionally, sometimes people use a private mobile phone and may not appreciate it if you use their mobile-number for work-related calls, especially when they are not at work.

Phones are dictators. When I'm talking to someone and the phone rings, people are often compelled to interrupt the conversation and give the phone a higher priority. That bothers me. Especially, when the conversation seems to go on and on about nothing. Phone calls should only be made to discuss information that requires immediate response. That's why I personally hate phone calls. I like to think about what I'm being told and how to best respond to that.

SMS/TEXT messages are ideal for short and to-the-point status messages: e.g. ETA-information, Yes/No questions and answers. Stuff like that.

Memos or letters can be used to formally convey a message between parties. When distributed by conventional channels this is the slowest form. When you need to record delivery this can be done using a so-called transmittal-form. This is basically a list of the documents being handed over and a list of the persons who need to receive the information. The form is often used to record the delivery by way of signature of the recipients. Oftentimes a memo or letter can be sent digitally via e-mail.

Now, E-mail is my preferred mode of communication. It allows me to digest the messages I receive in my own time, give it a priority and plan a response (read this blog for a discussion on prioritising e-mail). E-mail enables me to think about my response, check and give supporting data and review my response before sending it.

2009-06-17T16:58:00.003+02:00

Today I was on a trainstation in The Netherlands and saw this OV-chipcard gate.

The OS running on it appears to be a french version of Windows CE. Time indicated was 10:47 while the actual time was 11:52.

Computers I've owned

2009-02-21T10:32:00.008+01:00

Sony HitBit HB-75P - MSX
Sony HitBit HB-F700P - MSX2
Acorn Archimedes A310 - Arthur > RISC OS
Acorn Archimedes A5000 - RISC OS
Acorn RiscPC - RISC OS
Laptop (forgotten brand) - Windows 95 (FriedAir)
Dynabyte Headstart - Windows XP (FriedAir2) watercooling installed; fried by lightning
* Medion micromaxx - Windows XP (Air8-->oxygen)
* iMac 24" - MacOS X "Lion" (AlphaMac-->fluorine)
* iPod 16GB (2G)
* iPod 32GB (4G)
* iPod 8GB (4G)
* Acer Travelmate (neon)
* iMac 21.5" - MacOS X "Lion" (sodium)

* = in active duty

Trends of 2009 - Naked Paintings

2008-12-30T18:23:00.002+01:00

Framing pictures and paintings is really something from the past. These days hanging frameless paintings on the walls is the hip thing to do.

Let's face it. If painters wanted you to frame their painting they'd leave a white border around it. A frame hides a considerable portion of the image. It's a pity.

So, take your pictures and paintings out of their frames and hang them on the wall "naked".

Still Alive

2008-12-30T18:06:00.003+01:00

Approximately 6 months have past since my last blogging. This was not without reason. I've been fighting esophageal cancer. The fight isn't entirely over yet, but the end is nigh.

I've had my esophagus removed and a piece of the stomach after three enduring chemotherapies. The remainder of the stomach has been resected into a tubular stomach. After the operation I've been scheduled for another three chemotherapies. I'm right in the middle of them now. So, the frequency of blogging won't be high right away.

Battles have been fought and won, the war is almost over.

I wish all of you a safe turn of the year and a healthy and care free 2009

-- Anonymousy

Imaginary friend

2008-06-14T16:28:00.005+02:00

Found this on http://agnosticatheism.files.wordpress.com:

Google found me!!

2008-04-17T19:27:00.004+02:00

Yoo-hoo!! Google's Web Search just found my blog for the very first time. I fed it my blog's name and it found me. Still, the blog doesn't seem to be completely indexed yet.
And what's even more strange, Google's Blog Search still doesn't find me... That's odd.

19-apr-2008 update: It seems Google's Blog Search has caught up with it's brother. Finally!

Goodbye ZoneAlarm!!

2008-04-16T19:34:00.002+02:00

I have been a long time user of the free ZoneAlarm Firewall. I think it is the most wonderful free firewall application for Windows since a very long time. In fact, I can remember using it before I got Windows XP. Today ZoneAlarm asked me to install their latest version. After having zigged and zagged around their commercial offers I downloaded the free version and installed it. After the obligatory re-boot I fired up my Firefox and to my surprise... I see an enormous fat ZoneAlarm Spyblocker toolbar. Did I ask for it? No, I didn't! I can't remember having seen and ticked an opt-in button! I really hate all those "free" toolbars. They disguise themselves as a handy search engine, anti-spyware add-on or what-not. But the bottom line is: I use Google for all my search-engining so I really don't need anything else, thank you! And most "free" toolbars are really just spyware anyway. So, when I found the ZoneAlarm toolbar staring in my face, I guess something just snapped.
I didn't just uninstall the wretched toolbar. No-o-o-o!! I just uninstalled ZoneAlarm altogether and went on to switch on the Windows XP firewall instead.

...

Talk about an unexpected turn of events, hey!

I tested the firewall on ShieldsUP!. It gave me a full stealth result. Well, obviously my NAT-router is definitely helping out a bit ;-)

So, from me, it's Goodbye ZoneAlarm and good riddance!!

Prioritising e-mail

2008-04-13T10:02:00.001+02:00

I had a discussion with some colleagues about the best way of handling e-mail messages. The most heared problem is that people tend to get distracted by the "you have new mail" signals their computers are configured to flash, whenever an e-mail message arrives in their inbox. Once new mail arrives, those signals coerce the user to immediately check to see what's new. This greatly distracts people from their task at hand.

E-mail is just like the telephone. A dictator of your time and attention. When I'm talking to someone and the phone rings, it's extremely annoying when the conversation is stopped in favour of answering the phone. It's even more annoying when the phone call drags on and appears to be of no added value whatsoever. The main problem is that this consumes time of at least two people who could have otherwise had a more productive discussion.

New mail messages take up only your own time. But, that doesn't make it less of a problem. Once you've dealt with the mail, you'll need extra time to get focused again on the task at hand. And the question remains whether you can get back on the train of thoughts that you jumped off of when the new mail arrived. I've known myself to get distracted so much that I couldn't remember where my thoughts were going for several hours. Talk about loss of productivity.

There is an alternative: Switch off the new mail announcements and make a plan. For example, plan to check your mail (1) in the morning right after starting up the computer, then (2) just after lunch and (3) just before going home. To help me process my mail as efficiently as possible I tend to classify my mail according the flowchart below.

(Click on the image for a larger view)

Have fun, don't get stressed out.

Nose to the Grindstone

2008-04-11T12:58:00.001+02:00

Keep your nose to the Grindstone ...

and a band-aid at the ready.

Ear to the Ground

2008-04-11T12:53:00.002+02:00

If you put your ear to the ground...

Beware of stampeding buffalo!

Firefox 2 settings optimised for broadband

2008-03-30T15:25:00.002+02:00

These settings should be changed to optimise Firefox for use on a broadband connection:

Go to the internal webpage about:config
Then enter the filter: network.http
Find and select the setting network.http.pipelining and toggle it to the value true
Find and doubleclick the setting network.http.pipelining.maxrequests and change the default value (4) to something like 15
Find and select the setting network.http.proxy.pipelining and toggle it to the value true

Change the filter to: nglayout
If it isn't already there, add the setting nglayout.initialpaint.delay by rightclicking and selecting the menu option New > Integer and set it to the value 0 (zero).