Archives by Tag: iTunes
Geek Force Utterz #064 - Scorned by the JobsGod
On Monday evening, I bought all of the content I’d been collecting in my iTunes Store shopping cart over the past week. On Tuesday morning, Apple announced that all of the music in iTunes was now DRM-free, with thirty-cent upgrades available to customers who had purchased songs before the switchover.
Even to those of us who had purchased songs mere hours before.
If ever there was a sign from the JobsGod, this was it. How dare I remove Apple from my Geek Force Five? Blasphemy, my actions were. And punished accordingly, I would be.
Today’s episode of Geek Force Utterz is all about this EPICFAIL on my part. Listen in via the embed above, or by visiting Utterli.com.
Top 25 Most Played Songs in 2008
The New Year’s Eve post was something of a tradition on my old blog, so it seems only fitting to me that I continue the tradition on this first New Year’s Eve of the Geek Force Five era. I’ll be back with some pretty substantial (and, I hope, exciting) announcements about the future of the site in the coming days. In the meantime, here are the top 25 songs I listened to the most in 2008 (according to Last.fm).
- “Crushcrushcrush" by Paramore
- “Everything I’m Not” by The Veronicas
- “Never Again” by Kelly Clarkson
- “Misery Business” by Paramore
- “That’s What You Get” by Paramore
- “Dreams" by Letters to Cleo
- “Summerlong" by Kathleen Edwards
- “Free" by Plumb
- “The Pretender” by Foo Fighters
- “Discipline" by Nine Inch Nails
- “It’s a Shame About Ray” by Lemonheads
- “Hot N Cold” by Katy Perry
- “I Kissed a Girl” by Katy Perry
- “Runaway" by Avril Lavigne
- “Let The Flames Begin” by Paramore
- “Hot" by Avril Lavigne
- “The Moneymaker” by Rilo Kiley
- “Music Is My Hot Hot Sex” by CSS
- “Over It” by Katharine McPhee
- “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey
- “Umbrella (feat. Jay-Z)” by Rihanna
- “Echoplex" by Nine Inch Nails
- “Clothes Off!!” by Gym Class Heroes
- “Caught Up In You” by .38 Special
- “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” by Dropkick Murphys
Whereas last year was the year of Nine Inch Nails and the Pluto Tapes (if you want to see last year’s list, beg for it in the comments), this year is all about Paramore. Four of their songs appear on this year’s list, making it absolutely clear that I am still very much a pop bubblegum whore.
It’s also worth noting that the trend of me becoming more and more “out of it” continued this year. Last year, only nine of the twenty-five songs were songs released in 2007. This year, only four of the songs that made the list were released in 2008.
Lastly, if there were a “Most Listened to Album of the Year” it would probably be, despite its length, Ghosts I-IV by Nine Inch Nails. I’ve listened to it in full nearly every week since it came out early in 2008 (sometimes twice a week). I hope that redeems me in your eyes.
At least a little bit. 
Topics: Nine Inch Nails, Geekforce Reserves
Geek Force Utterz #053 - Change-Hate
Hey, boys and girls! Today’s episode of Geek Force Utterz features a whole heckuva lot of bellyaching from our old pal ChrisClark. Please consider yourself forewarned. But please, also, do give the episode a chance. There’s loads of fun to be had in listening to Chris complain about inconsequential things like podcasts not syncing to his iPhone and comics coming out a day late this week, thanks to Thanksgiving. You can listen in via the embed above, or by visiting Utterli.com.
Geek Force Utterz #040 - Thriller
Veterans Day offers me a day off from my primary gig, but it does not absolve me from the paper-grading responsibilities I have for my secondary gig. So, I’m frustrated that I can’t just spend the day in bed, but I’m also aggravated with life in general. And that has me listening to some pretty weird stuff in iTunes. Listen in to today’s episode of Geek Force Utterz to see what I’m talking about. You can hear the call via the embed above, or by visiting Utterli.com.
DVD or Digital Download?
I celebrated my thirty-first birthday yesterday and the most pressing question to come out of that blessed event was this: DVD or M4V?
In the Clark household, movie-watching happens exclusively through an Apple TV. It started with the massive DVD conversion project I undertook earlier this year, and it’s continued with occasional purchases from the iTunes store (Juno and Gross Pointe Blank most recently). But those movie purchases have been few and far between, and the true test of my willingness to go entirely digital has arrived in the form of a much-beloved Marvel Comics movie which I, personally, have yet to see. You see, Iron Man is out now, kiddos. And I can’t decide if I want the DVD or not.
Now, I know what the easy answer is: Buy the DVD and rip it and you’ll have the best of both worlds. And sure, converting a DVD to an iTunes/Apple TV compatible file is a breeze with HandBrake, but that doesn’t address the core issue. And the core issue is this: Do I need the DVD, or do I just need the movie?
I used to be a glutton for special features. I ate all that shit up. But times change, and I don’t have as much time as I used to. I could count on one hand the number of times I’ve watched a DVD’s special features over the last three or four years. All I really need is the movie. And the truth is that I watch movies more often, now that I’m able to get to any movie in my collection with just a couple of clicks.
Aside from that, there’s the fact that, while HandBraking a DVD is simple enough, HandBraking a DVD to a file that’s compatible (and looks good) on both my Apple TV and my iPhone is next to impossible. The files purchased directly from the iTunes store work on both devices, and look good on both devices, but I’ve never been able to create that kind of file myself. And, really, part of why I want digital copies of everything is so that I can take movies on the road with me, on my iPhone. I can’t tell you how frustrating it is that all of the movies I spent my spring converting are incompatible with the iPhone.
Then, there’s the issue of space. We had way too many DVDs taking up way too much space in our living room, and the Apple TV helped solve that issue. I don’t want to contribute to its resurgence by buying more physical products when their digital equivalents work just as well.
But that DVD, that physical package, it’s still alluring, to a certain extent.
How about you, Geek Forcers? Are you ready to make the move to digital movies in the way that many of us have made the leap to digital music? Let us know in the comments.
