A survey of playlist formats

Grok Headline matches for A survey of playlist formats

E-mail Marketers! You're Invited to Take
an Email Marketing Survey. Permission,
List Growth Techniques and Spam Filter
Triggers are Covered in the 5-question
Survey.

E-mail Marketers! You're Invited to Take
an Email Marketing Survey. Permission,
List Growth Techniques and Spam Filter
Triggers are Covered in the 5-question
Survey. 08/04/2004 11:24 AM
With the Can-Spam law allowing opt-out, how have previously staunch permission emailers changed their practices...or have they? The online survey asks 5 simple questions about permission practices, growing email address lists, and marketer's understanding of anti-spam filtering. The survey is anonymous and results will be published. [PRWEB Aug 4, 2004]

QuestionPro Survey Software Becomes One
of the Few Web-based Survey Providers to
Allow for Conjoint Analysis for
evaluating Product Profiles and New
Product Development

QuestionPro Survey Software Becomes One
of the Few Web-based Survey Providers to
Allow for Conjoint Analysis for
evaluating Product Profiles and New
Product Development 07/21/2004 02:45 AM
QuestionPro Inc., a leading provider of online survey hosting and market research services, today announced the release of its Conjoint Analysis module for measuring product profiles and customer intentions. QuestionPro now offers a simple web interface for creating Conjoint surveys and analyzing response data. Conjoint Analysis techniques allow product managers to analyze and research how customers make trade-offs. Conjoint Analysis is also used to measure brand-equity and brand-interaction. [PRWEB Jul 21, 2004]

Playlist

Playlist 03/15/2003 11:29 PM
SELECT * FROM `Library` WHERE 'LastPlayed' > `1 Week` AND 'MyRating' > `3 Stars`

Playlist to DVD

Playlist to DVD 01/08/2004 08:45 PM
Apple has released a very cool new application called Playlist to DVD for iLife 04.

Not In Any Playlist To Playlist v1.0

Not In Any Playlist To Playlist v1.0 12/27/2004 11:06 PM
Searches your iTunes or iPod Library for tracks which have not been included in any Playlists and copies them to a new discrete Playlist. Also see Not In Any Playlist and Not In Any iPod Playlist which generate text lists of "orphan" tracks.

The Evolution Of The Playlist

The Evolution Of The Playlist 03/17/2005 03:09 AM

A mixed tape can be a personal statement of hipness or a declaration of love. The technology is merely the means. By Beth Macy, Roanoke Times

Apple: Playlist to DVD 1.0

Apple: Playlist to DVD 1.0 01/09/2004 09:51 PM
Apple released Playlist to DVD, an AppleScript Studio application that turns an iTunes playlist into a DVD.

Playlist is the new medium

Playlist is the new medium 08/17/2004 03:24 PM

Lucas Gonze writes....

Playlis t Magazine. What strikes me is the continued rise of the playlist meme. The playlist -- not the MP3 -- is the new unit of delivery after the 78, the LP, and the CD.

Marc expands upon......

Or maybe it's 'collections' - 'cause let's not forget the visual folks.

Technically it's a list of unique URLs (called URIs) of individual image sequences (video, animation, slide show) or audio items - all having a name, length, order position and any other sort of meta data - attached.

I remember first understanding this - back when I was learning OOP. Everything was an object, you double clicked on the object to learn about it and you lined them up (sequenced them) - into an EDL (edit decision list) - which we then mapped onto a timeline.

So now - MP3 playlists are the cat's meow.

Coolio.

Let's standardize the schema, come up with some APIs to access it and add it to the Open-Media.org base specs.

b4s Playlist Parser

b4s Playlist Parser 11/04/2003 10:58 AM
b4s Playlist Parser

Playlist: That's the way the money goes

Playlist: That's the way the money goes 09/20/2004 08:41 AM

Your Playlist is not Presence

Your Playlist is not Presence 04/20/2004 02:13 PM
One of the great features of Instant Messaging clients is that they provide an easy to use way of communicating presence: Out for a bit, Eating lunch, At work, On a conference call, Don't bug me, and so on. But as of now, I count 4 different people on my buddy list who are using some sort of automated program to update their status every time their MP3 player switches to a new song. Ugh. I really don't care what...

Got playlist anxiety? You're not alone

Got playlist anxiety? You're not alone 04/06/2005 05:38 PM
Researchers study the practices of iTunes-sharing office workers, in effort to improve music listening everywhere.

Mac Office 12 to Get XML Formats, Too

Mac Office 12 to Get XML Formats, Too 06/05/2005 11:59 PM
Rick Shaut, a member of the Macintosh Office team, wrote in his Web log that the Macintosh version of Office 12 will also support the Office Open XML format announced Thursday for its Windows counterpart. He also admitted Microsoft Mac Business Unit had fallen behind on XML support within the Office Suite.

Take Along the Music in All Its Many
Formats

Take Along the Music in All Its Many
Formats 09/15/2004 10:58 PM
New York Times Sep 16 2004 2:44AM GMT

Understanding HD Formats

Understanding HD Formats 01/19/2004 08:29 AM
High-definition television (HDTV) first arrived on the national stage in the late 1980s, but even today only a minority of consumers in the United States and a much smaller minority in other industrialized nations have HDTV systems. However, high-definition (HD) production for video and film is increasing rapidly, as is the installed base of high-definition-capable displays. Consumers are demanding higher-quality content that takes advantage of these better displays. In addition to the content delivered over the airwaves, a significant amount of content will be delivered to the displays through computers. This demand will help to further drive the increasing availability of HD content.

Today@Playlist: iPod EQ and you

Today@Playlist: iPod EQ and you 04/18/2005 04:40 PM
Confused by how EQ settings are implemented on your iPod? Here’s the dope.

XMMS playlist reloader

XMMS playlist reloader 01/05/2004 07:18 AM
XMMS-Reloaded Version 0.1.0 released

AppleScript: iTunes Playlist to DVD

AppleScript: iTunes Playlist to DVD 01/09/2004 09:58 PM
The Playlist to DVD application creates a QuickTime movie containing the audio tracks and album art from a chosen iTunes playlist. The newly created movie, and an album art slideshow, are automatically added to the currently open iDVD project. And since the added 640x480 movie is created with chapter markers, it's easy to sequentially navigate its tracks using standard DVD controls.

Playlist Review: DLO iBoom

Playlist Review: DLO iBoom 03/17/2005 04:02 AM

Playlist: Set Your Music Free

Playlist: Set Your Music Free 03/14/2005 04:37 PM
Are you constantly tethered to the headphone jack of your computer or iPod--even when you're home alone? You clearly need a good set of speakers. Whether you're lounging around the house or relaxing at the beach, we'll help you cut the headphone cord and find a set that can do your tunes justice. We've provided recommended systems at a number of different price points, so you're sure to find something appropriate for your tastes and budget. (You can find longer reviews of many of these systems in our Product Guide.)

Playlist Spotlight: Exemacs

Playlist Spotlight: Exemacs 12/27/2004 01:02 PM
Spymac is now having an iTunes Playlist Spotlight every week from a select Spymac member! The new feature will showcase playlists consisting of 10 songs with descriptions, some lyrics, as well as links to the songs on the iTMS. If you, or someone you know, would like to be featured in the Playlist Spotlight, please send an email to kristie@spymac.com. Exemacs' Playlist: Livin' On a Prayer by Bon Jovi I have been a Bon Jovi fan since I was fourteen and the first album I purchased was Crossroads, released in 1994. Many of the lyrics in the band's songs I can relate to, either from old passions or to rockin' parties that don’t stop until it gets light. "Tommy’s got his six string in hock. Now he’s holding in what he used to make it talk - so tough, it’s tough. Gina dreams of running away. When she cries in the night, Tommy whispers baby it’s okay, someday..." O Fortuna by Carmina Burana (Carl Orff) I got into classical music and opera around 6 months ago. I just love the passion that is shown in this orchestra; O' Fortuna by Carl Orff shows this more than anything I think. "Fate monstrous and empty, you whirling wheel, you are malevolent, and always fades to nothing." Brothers in Arms by Dire Straits For me this song is perfect to listen to whilst on a long journey. I often hit the repeat button and listen to it 3 or 4 times; I can listen to the whole album all day long.  The music is heart-felt and can make you happy or cry. "Now the sun’s gone to hell, and the moon’s riding high. Let me bid you farewell; every man has to die. But it’s written in the starlight and every line on your palm. We’re fools to make war, on our brothers in arms." Wonderfull Tonite Afroman This song is just plain funny - makes me laugh everytime I listen to it. It's been around the office a few times as well. "Eric Clapton aint gonna clear it? Damn, tell him sue me this stuff is tight." Lilac Wine by Katie Melua Listen to Katie Melua and you wont here from me untill the album has finished. She is so damn gorgeous as well; that was the first reason I went and got the album. "I lost myself on a cool damp night. I gave myself in that misty light, was hypnotized by a strange delight." My Way by Frank Sinatra This song often comes on when me and a few mates are down the pub enjoying a football match or just propping up the bar. It's one of those songs that just grabs you by the scruff of the neck and drags you through the day. Everyone knows this song and everyone sings along. "Yes, there were times, I’m sure you knew, when I bit off more than I could chew. But through it all, when there was doubt, I ate it up and spit it out." Who Wants to Live Forever? by Queen Who does want to live forever? I don’t. Not in this world anyway. So many wrong things and so little being done about them. "But touch my tears with your lips, touch my world with your fingertips and we can have forever and we can love forever." Sharp Darts by The Streets Sharp Darts is a song that every driver wants to shout at those annoying back seat drivers that we give lifts to. The Streets are something 'out there': you either like them or you don’t. "Sharp darts spitting masters; Spitting darts faster. Shut up I’m the driver, you’re the passenger I’ll reign superior." Breath Easy (acoustic version) by Sugababes I like acoustic music but even more so when it is a tune that is not normaly in acoustic style. These three girls have very good voices and more than one song makes the hair stand up on my arms. "We talk about the places that we intend to be but if we were there would you be you? And baby would I be me? I don't want to be somewhere and realise this feeling's gone..." Everybody Hurts by R.E.M. Another song that I am sure many people will know about. This song can mean so much; it depends on what I feel like when I am listen to it but normally it's when I am in a depressive mood. "When the day is long and the night, the night is yours alone. When you're sure you've had enough of this life, well hang on. Don't let yourself go, 'cause everybody cries and everybody hurts sometimes..."

Playlist: Brilliant Playlists

Playlist: Brilliant Playlists 02/05/2005 09:19 PM
As our music libraries swell to gargantuan proportions it can become increasingly difficult to manage the music we listen to (or would like to listen to if we could just find half the tunes we possess). Thankfully iTunes offers a leg up with Smart Playlists -- a tool for automatically creating playlists that contain exactly the kind of music you want in iTunes and on your iPod.

XMMS-InfoPipe-Playlist-0.01

XMMS-InfoPipe-Playlist-0.01 12/07/2003 06:25 PM

Dealing With Playlist Anxiety

Dealing With Playlist Anxiety 04/06/2005 09:36 PM
It's been a few years since the concept of playl ist anxiety was first discussed. With the ease of sharing playlists via iTunes or other music software, it appears that some listeners freak out over what others might think of their music-listening tastes, and some even change what they listen to in such environments to protect how others might view them. Apparently, that concept is interesting enough that some researchers are doing a study of how playlist anxiety impacts people in an office environment. The study is pretty simple, so far, and only looked at a very small group of people, but it is an interesting subject. It appears that at least some people do change their listening habits out of fear of what others might think, and it seems likely that some have crafted different "public" and "private" playlists to protect their own egos from being slammed for listening to too much Britney Spears. The research also found that people generally aren't that interested in browsing through other's playlists, but will take a recommendation from someone and go searching to hear that particular artist or song. It seems that random browsing is too hit or miss to be worthwhile. Either way, the various download music stores might find such data useful in figuring out what kinds of things to promote. It also raises interesting questions about the whole issue of "the long tail." Will people shy away from certain niche artists for fear of being considered outside of the norm? Or is that canceled out by listening to niche artists to prove that you're independent and cool when it comes to music?

Setting Up a Playlist on Your PocketPC

Setting Up a Playlist on Your PocketPC 07/12/2004 07:01 PM

Office 12 to use XML for file formats

Office 12 to use XML for file formats 06/05/2005 10:53 PM
Microsoft is embracing XML as the default file format for the next version of Microsoft Office. Is that good news for competing office apps?

Free Culture formats

Free Culture formats 04/09/2004 04:06 PM
The free Free Culture was released as a pdf under a Creative Commons attribution-noncommercial license. Some complained about the format. Others, relying upon the freedom granted, created derivative works in other formats. So far, 36 hours after the book was released, I know of 9 versions available, including: MS-re ader, Rocke t e-Book, zippe d, iSilo , Mobip ocket, EasyR ead, PostScri pt, Pl ain Text, html. Most of these are from Blackmask, but thanks to Firas, Mike and Josh as well.

Binary data formats? Just say NO!
(XML.org)

Binary data formats? Just say NO!
(XML.org) 06/26/2002 01:00 PM

Speaking of Image Formats

Speaking of Image Formats 07/22/2004 03:06 PM

The lame UNISYS LZW patent has kept GIF support out of free software for some time. The patent has now expired worldwide, so the popular GD Graphics Library now has GIF support again, after a very long absence.

gd 2.0.28 has been released. gd 2.0.28 restores support for reading and writing GIF images.

So now you can fire up PHP and render your on-the-fly 'Punch The Monkey' animated banner ads.

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Versioning and extensibility in XML
formats

Versioning and extensibility in XML
formats 09/20/2004 12:26 PM

On the Atom-Syntax list they're talking about versioning and extensibility, two problems that are very easily solved in XML.

For versioning, define a required version attribute on the feed element, a string in the form x.y, where x and y are two numbers. X is the major version, and y is the minor version. So a version 0.3 feed would have a version attribute whose value is "0.3". A version 1.0 feed would have a version attribute of "1.0".

For extensibility, allow the format to be extended through namespaces and trust the W3C, who is the owner of the namespaces spec to tell you how to do it. Build on the works of others.

For extra credit, the format should evolve by adding new elements. A processor can tell whether it should expect the new elements or not by checking the top-level version attribute.

I honestly don't think there's another way to do it, so all the arguing and fussing is just going to end up there, so you might as well just do it. Of course this is just my opinion, I have no position re the Atom working group, or the RSS advisory board.

Web Page Date Formats

Web Page Date Formats 07/12/2002 10:44 AM
A general survey on date format usage.

Re-ripping CDs to new formats in iTunes

Re-ripping CDs to new formats in iTunes 06/24/2004 11:26 AM
If you want to rip a CD in AAC format, but have already ripped it in MP3 format, insert the CD in your Mac and click Import in iTunes 4. It will tell you that some songs are already in the library, and will give an option to ...

Office 12 to Get New File Formats

Office 12 to Get New File Formats 06/05/2005 10:58 PM
Microsoft is making XML-based file formats the default in its next-generation Office suite. Will users bite or take flight?

Microsoft on Patenting XML Formats

Microsoft on Patenting XML Formats 01/27/2004 11:30 AM
I recently asked whether Microsoft's moves to patent the XML formats it's using in new versions of Office were, once again, a customer lock-in ploy. Here's a (slightely edited) reply from Mark Martin, who's employed by the Microsoft's PR company:

Open document formats

Open document formats 06/17/2004 11:33 AM
Last week Tim Bray wrote about his (and Sun's) involvement in the European Commission's investigation into the OpenOffice and Microsoft flavors of XML office documents. The upshot:

You can find the Committee's conclusions here; they're short, readable, and defy summarization. [ongoing]

The conclusions are indeed concise, and the bulleted recommendations even more so. I'll quote them here, changing only <ul> to <ol> for ease of reference:

Therefore, it is recommended that:

1. The OASIS Technical Committee considers whether there is a need and opportunity for extending the emerging OASIS Open Document Format to allow for custom-defined schemas;
2. Industry actors not currently involved with the OASIS Open Document Format consider participating in the standardisation process in order to encourage a wider industry consensus around the format;
3. Submission of the emerging OASIS Open Document Format to an official standardisation organisation such as ISO is considered;
4. Microsoft considers issuing a public commitment to publish and provide non-discriminatory access to future versions of its WordML specifications;
5. Microsoft should consider the merits of submitting XML formats to an international standards body of their choice;
6. Microsoft assesses the possibility of excluding non-XML formatted components from WordML documents;
7. Industry is encouraged to provide filters that allow documents based on the WordML specifications and the emerging OASIS Open Document Format to be read and written to other applications whilst maintaining a maximum degree of faithfulness to content, structure and presentation. These filters should be made available for all products;
8. Industry is encouraged to provide the appropriate tools and services to allow the public sector to consider feasibility and costs of a transformation of its documents to XML-based formats;
9. The public sector is encouraged to provide its information through several formats. Where by choice or circumstance only a single revisable document format can be used this should be for a format around which there is industry consensus, as demonstrated by the format's adoption as a standard.

...

Bridgewater Formats GPRS

Bridgewater Formats GPRS 05/05/2004 08:28 AM
Unstrung.com May 5 2004 12:38PM GMT

Tired of being locked into formats?
Well then don't!

Tired of being locked into formats?
Well then don't! 01/18/2004 01:39 PM

I'm not a fan of OPML, I think it's a truly awful (and unnecessary) format - other people have found < FONT color=#333366>it problematic too - but I did think Dave Winer's Share Your OPML! site looked interesting, especially when there was a little SDK available. But then yesterday I read Eric's post pointing to the floater Dave had left in the pool :
If you wish to use the data for a different kind of application, or convert the data into a format other than OPML, for redistribution, it's likely we'll say yes, but you must ask first.

Anyone that's had dealings with Dave in the past will know what this means. Leigh asked (in comments) but had his request deleted. Basically Dave wants control, and he believes the formats will give him that control (remember the RSS patent application?).

I'm all for republishing, but not with strings attached. I don't want material under my copyright abused in this way. So I politely asked Dave to remove references to sites I maintain from his data. Anyhow, Dave's response was:
Do you want to make a legal case out of this?

Personally I thought that was pretty sad, but that might in part be cultural bias - being English I tend to think of etiquette before litigation. Whatever, unfortunately for Dave, and fortunately for the rest of us, formats aren't such a lever any more because the web will either ignore or work around attempts at lock-in.

I think the most sensible thing is to simply ignore Dave's site, but for purposes of demonstration, here's a workaround. The key obstacle is that Dave insists that you can't republish his data unless it's in OPML format. If it is OPML, you don't even have to ask. Ok, here is another version of the index file that points to all the others at "Share Your OPML!". This is still OPML format. Please do with it what you like. Incidentally, this new file is also valid RDF/XML.

Given that OPML is as thinly specified as it gets, and RDF/XML is designed to make it easy to make XML formats RDF compatible, it wasn't particularly difficult. Here's what RDF-compatible OPML looks like:

<opml opml:version="2.0"
xmlns="http://opml.scripting.com"
xmlns:opml="http://opml.scripting.com"
xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#">
< ;head/>
<body rdf:parseType="Resource">
<outline opml:text="John Blog" opml:ctUpdates="8" opml:type="link" opml:url="http://example.org" opml:whenLastUpdate="Wed, 14 Jan 2004 03:28:00 GMT" />
</body>
</opml>


I first had to add some attributes to the <opml> element to give the XML namespace support. That top element becomes a resource in the (stripey) RDF interpretation, with head and body as properties, their contents being other resources. To keep things simple I just ignored the contents of the <head> element, so that gets interpreted as a triple with an empty object (I must check on the semantics of that). The element itself is mandatory in OPML, so that has to stay.
The <body> in effect contains a set of resources of type outline, which is easy to express by adding the rdf:parseType="Resource" attribute on the parent. The attributes of the <outline> elements all slip neatly into being RDF properties with literal values.

Couple of points that probably need explanation - since the spec update there's been no need to include a root <rdf:RDF> element. If the consumer knows it's RDF, that's good enough (the W3C's validator has check box: "RDF is NOT enclosed in <RDF>...</RDF> tags"). Also the use of unqualified attributes has been deprecated, so it should be opml:text="..." rather than just text="...". This makes the code look a bit uglier, but if you're using a lot of namespaces it does make mistakes much less likely.

I made the changes using search and replace, but this could easily be automated using XSLT. But if you are planning on using Userland format data from anywhere else, it's probably a better bet to use something a little less generic than the approach above (stylesheets for OPML to OCS and Userland RSS to RSS 1.0 are linked in the comments here).[Raw]

New Digital Audio Formats

New Digital Audio Formats 06/13/2004 12:16 PM

Playlistism: judging others by their
iTunes playlist

Playlistism: judging others by their
iTunes playlist 11/12/2003 02:57 PM
"Thanks to the ability of Apple's iTunes to share music collections over local networks, it is now possible to judge someone's taste in music -- or lack of it -- in a way that previously required a certain level of intimacy," reports Wired's Leander Kahney...
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A survey of playlist formats

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