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Now, I am a fan of Apple’s music store. It’s the easiest way to buy music, the selection is great, and the quality is f-amazing. The only thing I’m not a huge fan of is my username and e-mail address being embedded in the audio files. (to see this screen head to FILE > Get Info)
To my mind anything other than the purchased audio accounts for DRM and I don’t want it. While I’m all for legal downloads, I’m not into being tracked, no matter how legal you make it. Lucky for you and me the account information is actually embedded at the last moment of the iTunes purchase and download process. Which means it isn’t hard embedded, it’s only some additional meta-data. I will have to mention, at this point, that this process only works on iTunes Plus (.m4a) files downloaded from the iTunes Music store. It will not work on older iTunes Protected files (.m4p) although protected files can be upgraded in the iTunes music store to iTunes Plus for a nominal fee.
To remove the meta-data, you need an program which doesn’t recognize the additional meta-information and a way to save the audio losslessly. The program that fits the bill is Rogue Amoeba’s amazingly versatile Fission ($32). It’s a lossless audio editor for the mac and it’s a seriously wonderful tool that I use on a daily basis for editing audio files and creating ringtones. To remove the meta-information, open the iTunes Plus file and re-save the audio.
That’s it. It losslessly saves a .m4a with no user information embedded and best of all, it doesn’t recode or transcode the audio (as with some other burn a CD and reimport methods). It is exactly the same quality coming out as it went in.
A few things you might notice about this process is that the file size will drop after saving. Not entirely sure why. Perhaps removing all that extra meta-data cleans house a bit. You will also notice that the bit-rate for the file will go from 256kbps to something else. This is normal and because Apple, in an attempt not to scare it’s users with different variable bit-rates from the encoding process, makes every file share the 256kbps regardless of it’s true bitrate. Lastly, Fission adds 0:00.032 of audio to the track? While odd, this shouldn’t actually effect the sound, as it’s 0.03% of a second, so unless you have crazy dog ears, you wont hear it.
Best of all, now you have an audio file that has none of your private data attached, which in my books is truly DRM free.
Show Notes
- Link of the Day: Regretsy
- lala.com
- My twitter
- My most favorite headphones Sennheiser PX 200
Songs
audio/mpeg (38 702 ko)
Another show? 2 weeks after the last one? That’s impossible. 5 years worth of podcasting and this is what it results in. This show.
- 5 Years of podcasting starting with the first show
- lala.com
- podcasts to listen to
- RISK! with Kevin Allison – like a dirty this american life
- Adam Curry’s Daily Source Code
- Whip it
- Podcast dont’s
Songs
audio/mpeg (36 547 ko)
Are you kidding me? A real honest to blog (joke!) Tracks Up The Tree? This must be some sort of mistake right? I mean… Funtime Ben and Just Josiah are dead right? Or are they?
Yes, yes. Get it out now before you’ve heard the thing. It’s TUTT. Back again for yet another stretch. and you thought we abandoned you? PSHAW! You know the drill, it’s talk about not podcasting, Josiah, girlfriends, cats and a smidge of that old time indie music. Hope you guys enjoy.
Le songs:
- All The King’s Men by Wild Beasts on Two Dancers (2009)
- Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out by Mayer Hawthorne on A Strange Arrangement (2009)
- Crystalised by The xx on xx (2009)
- Hazy (Feat. William Fitzsimmons) by Rosi Golan on The Drifter & The Gypsy (2008)
- Forever performed by Julian Velard on Another Guy’s Songs (2009)
Oh and on the reals, the fruit basket is awesome, I am just bad with fruit. Thank you to the lovely person who sent the fruit basket.
Speaking of my girlfriends cat… I give you my hilarious girlfriend, writing about her cat eating plastic. When it rains it purrs.
I still got it!
audio/mpeg (24 463 ko) Sitting in the terminal of Long Beach Airport and there is a family of birds living in here. Really seems that JetBlue should make it a priority to get rid of these things. I don’t mean kill them, but maybe leave a door open at night? They fly around and god forbid you have food as these things are pretty pushy. In any case JetBlue, at least give them a bird feeder.
It is truly interesting the way that my life has changed in the last few years and as I continue to think about how I have grown, I realize I have neglected parts of my life in exchange for other parts. Like this journal, for example, has been here since I graduated from college, or shortly thereafter, and I rarely look at it now. This is a shame because I often wish I had a place I could write down my thoughts. Where is my diary? Not really sure, but I kind of feel I should be recording this stuff somewhere.
The other night I was at a bar in Queens for a friends birthday party. I was my usual jovial self and was making rounds saying hello to strangers and such when I sat down next to my friend. We got to catching up and then all of a sudden some guy, a friend of my friend, sits down next to us. I knew immediately I didn’t like him. He was shifty eyed and seemed for lack of a better word like he was trying to impress by pointing out all the ways he could be violent to people who had crossed him.
For all those keeping score out there, I do not enjoy people like this and more so because well quite frankly he sounded like an asshole. My friend then mentioned that my wonderful girlfriend was moving in with me at the beginning of April. This is when, I will call him Turd, Turd decides to go on a tirade on how women are terrible and suck the life out of you.
“Oh, don’t do that. If I could take back my relationship I would.”
This post is to express to all of you people who feel the need to put your horrible relationships, the relationships you are in because you are a weak and incapable of being proactive in your life, on us people with relationships that work. While he was going off about how women are terrible, I couldn’t help but think how lucky I am to actually like my relationship. If it’s so bad Mr. Turd, why the hell are you in it? RIGHT?!
And so I speak to all you people out there look at your relationships and if you hate them, either fix them or leave them, but don’t put your relationship on other people because quite frankly it makes you sound sad. I have news for you, relationships,marriages , and friendships should make you feel great, not horrible. But some people have lost sight of that fact. So I urge you all to say, next time you are around someone is is bringing you down…
“Dear people who suck,
No thank you.
Sincerely,
Someone who doesn’t”
That about says it all.
Well if you’re waiting for an update to Up The Tree, well… they still happen… occasionally. But if you would rather keep tabs on me in fairly regular annoyingly sparse detail, why not saunter over to twitter and follow me? You’ll get all the information you are dying to hear, including how often I eat, how bad my indigestion is when I eat, and what sort of things I think about while I’m eating. I know, I know, you’re welcome.
Be sure to say hi if you do – I will almost certainly add fans… unless your name starts with “Just” and ends in “Josiah”
ZING!
If you choose to comment on this site, you’ll notice a little icon next to your name. That little icon is a “Gravatar” – it’s an avatar for every website that runs WordPress and hopefully more websites in the future. But unless you have a Gravatar you won’t have your own icon and instead I’ll give you a monster instead.
So why dont you do yourself a favor and get a Gravatar and then comment about how I never update the podcast.
Feels good to vote, although I am totally nervous about the outcome. C’mon America, don’t be dumb.
These kids were too young to vote, but decided to take their beliefs to the streets, urging people to vote because they couldn’t.
So occasionally, someone in my improv group LD & The Scientist gets an idea and we make a video. Dave, the voice behind the puppet, literally said “I have a puppet idea about a particle accelerator.” Everything from the particle accelerator information to my horrible German accent was improvised on the spot — the only thing not improvised were the chairs.
As many of you know, I have been taking classes at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre and performing comedy in New York for the last two years. I’ve stayed mostly quiet about this because, well, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with comedy. You guys all know me as the funnier half of Tracks Up The Tree (BECAUSE I AM THE FUNNIER ONE), but I haven’t really talked about my comedy on this site. Until now.
I’ve realized that comedy is one of the few things I really enjoy doing (other than needlework) and I have been purposefully avoiding talking about it. Partly because I have seen comedy as a hobby as way to pass the time between painful relationships, but also because I didn’t really know where my comedy fit into my life.
So the other evening, I realized that I want to talk a bit more about what I’ve been doing on this website. Talk about the projects I’m working on, write a bit more about what it’s like being a performer in New York, and let you all in on what I have been doing with my life for the past 2 years. In short, up the tree is going to be my weblog again. I will be posting more about my life and less about the stuff I never wrote about before. Sure I will talk about music and the podcast will continue with it’s same irregularity, but from now on Up The Tree is all about me - a performer, designer, and generally dreamy guy in New York.
…and needlework.
So a few of you have commented that the site is now in the default WordPress theme Kubrick. You are right. I noticed the other day that the site, now 6 years old, was loading the homepage in 30 seconds. I wasn’t sure what was making the site slow, so I went back to the default theme and low and behold 1 second loading time.
Is this making you hot ladies?
I am going to redesign the site eventually, but until then you can enjoy what this blog used to look like in 2002… old school.
So I rejoined a gym after a very long time, right across the street from my new office. I’m excited to finally get back in shape and loose some of those summer pounds. Summer pounds? You heard me right, I put on some weight during the summer. I’m not sure if it was because I really did nothing summery all summer, or because I found out how much I love Netflix on demand with Rocky Road on demand, but I’ve got a spare tire the size of a spare tire.
Fo’ reals
The most depressing thing so far has been the calorie counting food log my temporary personal trainer is making me do. I say temporary because I really can’t see having a personal trainer for an extended period of time — the gym is expensive enough without having to pay a lady with a thick neck $160 additional a month. I write what I eat and the approximate calories. This has made eating food like a game of Battleship, where each carrot stick brings me closer to sinking my own… battleship. The unfortunate part it has made eating annoying. I don’t always want to do calculus every time I want put something in my mouth.
So as much as I would love to keep a lady on my beck and call, especially for those moments when I need to open a particularly stubborn jar of pickels, I think she’s history after the first month. Plus she might say something about the on demand Rocky Road.
A New show packed with all the minutia you expect from your friends over at TUTT. We talk about Ice cream vans, sex dolls, Josiah as a roommate, Ben not being gay, Porn and Josiah as a critic of his own short film. When does the hilarity ever stop? Tomorrow.
Yet another problem this week. The podcast rendered missing the final 10 minutes. We’re very sorry about this and have re-output the file.
Links:
Funtime Ben Stars in a Music Video
Ahhh, just got it up in time. Josiah’s gonna provide the notes. TUTT 53, back in MP3 form (with link to AAC to come) Sorry ran out of time.
So, I tried to get the other site up and running, but it seems as though by splitting up the website into 2, it meant twice the work. 8 hours of editing source code later I’ve decided, why screw with a good thing? Let’s get this website pimped and we can see what happens in the future. What we like to call this is me coming running back… will you take me back?
audio/mpeg (57 336 ko) Okay, so as you’ll see to the right, we’ve got our “Listen to the Latest” showing our current show… Amazing right? You can download this till your hearts content. I want to get a mp3 player up there, but until I can find a player that doesn’t look like crap I’m going to keep it as a link.
Other news — true to our word, Josiah and I are getting together this sunday to record a new show. Normally I wont tell you before we record a show, but just thought I would mention that we are staying true to our word to own the indie podcast scene once again.
Look out, we’re back.
So, the new show is up. It’s been up for a while. Unfortunately our podcast host LibSyn, who are normally very reliable, screwed up and the show could not be downloaded.
This was both very frustrating and went unnoticed for 2 days.
Needless to say, we’re very sorry that the show didn’t hit people ears on St. Patty’s day and we hope to get this all worked out for future shows. We are also directing you all to the new website if you’d like to leave comments or download the show manually.
Tracks Up The Tree
Check it out and let us know what you think.
Show is in the can. Still need to edit it tonight, but it’s a St. Pattys day special full of fun music. Not the normal TUTT stuff, but fun all the same.
We will also be debuting a new site that will look suspiciously like this site, except we a moving over to tumblr as our weblog engine. Over the last few weeks I’ve started up a secret weblog on the system and I have to say, it beat everything on the market. Biggest drawback, no podcast support :(
Hence the separation of the weblog from TUTT.
All in all, I think you will be pleased.