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2007

A month with Quod Libet

For the last month I’ve been runnign Quod Libet instead of Banshee. I had run in to two critical problems with Banshee about a month ago:

  • Banshee was taking 80 minutes to start. (Since fixed, I think it was something with Foresight, as Banshee hasn’t had a release in a while).
  • Banshee’s Last.fm reporting plugin hasn’t reported songs correctly to Last.fm for a long time. This is a known bug in the plugin, without a known fix that I’m aware of.

Banshee’s Last.Fm integration may sound like something trivial, but I really enjoy browsing my profile to see what I’ve listened to. Unfortunately, my profile isn’t close to accurate as all the music I listen to at night via Banshee isn’t being reported. Between that, the old data that is still in my Last.fm profile from my wife listening to music via the Xbox (yes, the James Taylor in my profile isn’t from me listening to it), and the Last.fm radio streams, it’s not really an accurate reflection of my music tastes.

Quod Libet is a GTK+ music player, that also includes Ex Falso, a tag editor. Quod Libet is a favorite of a couple of Foresight users, so I thought I’d give that a try. A simple:

<br /> sudo conary update quodlibet

And it’s installed in Foresight!

My first impressions of Quod Libet, is that it comes across with a basic view, but once you start digging, it’s quite the powerful player. The default view includes a search box, People (artist) Album, and then the song list. Search is fast, feels a touch faster than Banshee.

Other views you can choose from include Playlists, Search, File System, Album, Internet Radio and Media Devices.

I tend to listen to full albums at a time, and not create playlists or listen to random songs, so Quod Libet has worked well for me. I’ve been impressed with it’s simplicity, and as I’ve dug deeper, even more impressed with the number of features and advanced funtionality it has. While it doesn’t have the visual appeal of Banshee, it just works, and that’s all I’ve asked it to do.

The only minor complaint I had, was that due to a DDOS attach, the Quod Libet team lost some it’s website, and the documentation on plugins is non-existent. While there is a nice list of plugins available, I had to get some help to figure out how to setup the sub-directories on where to put the plugins, and only one or two have worked out of the five or six I’ve attempted to install. Granted I haven’t spent that much time trying to configure the plugins, but it was just a small disappointment.

If you’re looking for an alternative to Rhythmbox or Banshee on a GNOME desktop, give Quod Libet a chance, the best thing I can say about it is that it “just works”. And works well.

Packers vs. Bears (10/7/07)

I was at Lambeau Field this past Sunday to watch the Packers eventually beat themselves and lose to the Bears on national TV.

Having grown up in Wisconsin, and now living in Minnesota, the residents of Minnesota think they have a rivalry with the Bears, but any true Packer fan will tell you the only rivalry we have is with the Bears. It was my first Bears game, and the normally nice crowd was just mean when it came to the Bears.

It didn’t help that the Packers had almost 100 yards of penalties, 6 turnovers, and didn’t rush the ball in the second half to eventually let a 10 point lead slip through their fingers.

I’ve added two sets of pictures from the game to my Flickr pages. I’m still having issues with focus on my DSLR when using my zoom lens in sports mode, I apologize if any are still blurry.

If you’re a Packer fan, join the Packer group on Flickr.

We were graced with the University of Wisconsin Marching Band before the game, during halftime, and during the second half doing their routine they also do at Camp Randall.

Here’s my favorite picture from the evening:

IMG_0950.JPG

Foresight Website Maintenance

The Foresight website, including the home page, wiki and issue tracker are under going some much needed maintenance this weekend. We are getting Confluence, our wiki, upgraded to handle more users and have the latest version among other things.

Our apologies for the inconvenience.

A bug-hunting we will go

We had a really good Foresight developer meeting a few weeks ago, and one of the outcomes is to start scheduling week long sprints to accomplish some tasks.

First up, is Bug Hunting Week.

Foresight Bug Hunting Week

With 2.0 on the horizon, it’s time to get JIRA, our issue tracker, cleaned up, and tackle all the outstanding issues in 1.4 (and older) and make sure that if the issue hasn’t been resolved, it’s at least assigned to a developer.

Want to help? Join us in #foresight-qa on Freenode or visit the wiki pages to learn more.

Buying Spree

I’ve been on a bit of a buying spree for CD’s over the last month or two, especially picking up a lot of indie bands.

In no particular order:

  • The New Pornographers, Challengers: One of the best albums I’ve bought in a long time. I’ve always like the New Pornographers, but it wasn’t a disc I would spin over and over. This disc is amazing – Neko Case and the whole gang did a heck of a job writing some very memorable songs that are guaranteed to get stuck in your head. My favorite track by far is All the Old Showstoppers.
  • Rilo Kiley, Under the Blacklight: I bought this and the Challengers on the same day, and both of these have vied for the same playing time, with Under the Blacklight probably getting the edge in total playtime. I was introduced to Rilo Kiley a few years ago on 89.3 The Current, and ended up getting their last release free from the station at a volunteer opportunity. I really liked, but this disc is a major step forward. The title track, Under the Blacklight, 15, Smoke Detector and Give a Little Love are standout tracks. (I also picked up Take Offs and Landings, their second album but first released commercially.)
  • Interpol, Antics: Very similar to their last album, but it seems a touch more mellow. I need to listen to this one more.
  • Tegan and Sara, The Con: I absolutely adored their last disc, but this one doesn’t live up to that. The Con is more of a concept album, and while not a departure from the twins’ signature sound, it doesn’t have the 2 or 3 songs that you couldn’t get out of your head that So Jealous did.
  • Fountains of Wayne, Traffic and Weather: I don’t think these guys get the credit they deserve. They write catchy pop alternative songs with interesting lyrics, but all that everyone remembers them for is “Stacy’s Mom”. Good album, on par with their last effort.
  • Dolores O’Riordan, Are You Listening?: The former frontwoman for the Cranberries unleases a solo album that was 3 or 4 years in the making, and it was worth the wait. If you ever liked the Cranberries even just a little, pick this up. Ms. O’Riordan’s songwriting and lyrics have matured, and this album has it all, from mellow to rockin’ out.
  • Garbage, Absolute Garbage (Special Edition): Greatest hit collection from the alternative band from Madison, WI. I’ve seen Garbage live a few times, and they have always been one of my favorite bands. From Butch Vig’s catchy pop sound to Shirley Manson growling or purring, Garbage is the real thing. I made sure to pick up the Special Edition and get the second disc of remixes, which were a bit of a disapopintment. But I’ll give it to Garbage, the songs collected for the greatest hits album were perfect.
  • The Donna’s, Bitchin’: The follow up to Gold Medal, this all girl band left their label and is publishing this independently. They’ve cranked the amps up to 11 for this album, and are rocking even harder. What I love about this album is the classic 80’s hair band feel The Donna’s bring. While not over the top, most songs are anthem rock songs without going too over the top. I highly recommend this album. (I have a friend who digs The Donna’s for the song Take it Off from the Gold Medal release, as he can play it on Guitar Hero).
  • White Light Riot, Atomism: This local band from Minneapolis has been getting some airplay on 89.3, and have an indie sound that’s a little harder than some of the current indie favorites out there, and a couple of the songs are pretty catchy. Due to some of the favorites above I haven’t listened to it as much as I’ve wanted, but I’ve been happy the few times so far that I have.
  • Bruce Springsteen, Magic: I was blown away by Radio Nowhere, the first single from the album, and unfortunately the rest of the album doesn’t sound like it. I’m a Springsteen fan though, and while the rest of the songs don’t rock as hard as that one as it mellows out a bit, the rest of the album is good. If you liked The Rising, you’ll like this release.

I need to go buy the new Radiohead album off their website now. I’ve also been poking around Amazon’s store, and they are promising an album downloader for Linux. I’m really looking to give that a try. But more on physical vs. digital another time.

More on the waiting game aka Quake Wars

I, like Phoronix, thought the Linux client was days away, but it’s weeks according to a post I saw on Linux-Gaming.net this morning:

I’ve also been making steady progress with the Linux Client, and it’s coming along really well. We’ve been running a closed-beta test for ‘friends and family’ for a little while, and for the past couple of weeks have had a fully functional version of the demo running. The closed-beta testers are now able to play alongside Windows players on the same version, with full Punkbuster support. The major systems including the renderer and audio are working great, and performance has been good on both the NVIDIA and ATI graphics cards.

Alongside my other responsibilities at id, my focus now is on optimization for the Linux Client. If everything goes to plan, we should have the Linux Client ready for release in just a few weeks.

Read TTimo’s full post here.

Darn. Well, I have tons of stuff to do with Foresight right now anyway, but it would have been fun to have some time to play before my new job starts in a couple weeks!