A Life of Constant Flux » ITunes http://joelmarcey.com Being Self-Employed, Technology, Raising Kids, Life's Journey Thu, 19 Aug 2010 16:27:24 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Top 25 Played Songs In My iTunes Collection As of April 2009 http://joelmarcey.com/2009/04/07/top-25-played-songs-in-my-itunes-collection-as-of-april-2009/ http://joelmarcey.com/2009/04/07/top-25-played-songs-in-my-itunes-collection-as-of-april-2009/#comments Wed, 08 Apr 2009 05:17:06 +0000 Joel Marcey http://joelmarcey.com/?p=316 It has been about a year since I posted a list of my favorite music at a given point in time. I always like these sorts of lists because it gives me a chance to reflect on my personality when it comes to music. I also like when I see other lists like this because it reminds me that I am missing a bunch of great songs in my music collection, even though I have well over 3000 songs. So I go and buy some.

Anyway, I was looking at my iTunes playlists today and found one called “Top 25 Most Played”. I looked in there and was surprised what I saw. Now these are the most played since I moved my music to iTunes in May 2008. Here is the list:

  1. Last Name — Carrie Underwood (Played 33 times)
  2. Walk Away — Kelly Clarkson (31 times)
  3. Life Wasted — Pearl Jam (29 times)
  4. SIgned, Sealed, Delivered — Stevie Wonder (25 times)
  5. All Mixed Up — 311 (25 times)
  6. Killer Queen — Queen (24 times)
  7. Hello (American Idol Performance) — David Cook (21 times)
  8. Seasons of Love — Rent the Musical (20 times)
  9. Comfortably Numb [Live] — Roger Waters with Van Morrison (19 times)
  10. Gloria — Van Morrison (18 times)
  11. Because of You — Kelly Clarkson (18 times)
  12. Killing Me Softly With His Song – Fugees (16 times)
  13. Since U Been Gone — Kelly Clarkson (16 times)
  14. Drops of Jupiter — Train (16 times)
  15. No Diggity – Blackstreet & Dr. Dre (14 times)
  16. Higher Ground – Stevie Wonder (14 times)
  17. Don’t Know Why – Norah Jones (13 times)
  18. Wanted Dead or Alive – Bon Jovi (12 times)
  19. Jump Around — House of Pain (12 times)
  20. Illusion, Coma, Pimp and Circumstance – Prince (12 times)
  21. It’s So Hard To Say Goodbye — Boyz II Men (11 times)
  22. Don’t Let Love Go — En Vogue (11 times)
  23. Upside Down — Jack Johnson (11 times)
  24. Behind These Hazel Eyes — Kelly Clarkson (11 times)
  25. Verse Chorus Verse — Nirvana (11 times)

(Moving up quickly: Independence Day — Martina McBride, Kiss from a Rose — Seal, Alone — Heart, On the Other Side of the Truth — Sex Police, Animal — Pearl Jam)

So what does this list show? Well, that I have a pretty diverse musical taste. I like American Idol (yes, I admit that with no shame). Kelly Clarkson seems to be my favorite artist (although it really is Pearl Jam). And…..that I let my kids listen to the Curious George Soundtrack a little too much (WHAT THE HECK IS JACK JOHNSON DOING IN HERE :) )


]]> http://joelmarcey.com/2009/04/07/top-25-played-songs-in-my-itunes-collection-as-of-april-2009/feed/ 0 MacBook Pro Slot Drive Is Finicky – It was the CD-R Brand After All http://joelmarcey.com/2008/12/22/macbook-pro-slot-drive-is-finicky-it-was-the-cd-r-brand-after-all/ http://joelmarcey.com/2008/12/22/macbook-pro-slot-drive-is-finicky-it-was-the-cd-r-brand-after-all/#comments Mon, 22 Dec 2008 18:46:52 +0000 Joel Marcey http://joelmarcey.com/?p=182 UPDATE: It ended not being the brand necessarily. I used a CD drive cleaner and all seems fixed: http://joelmarcey.com/2009/01/05/macbook-pro-superdrive-burn-problems-update-fixed-with-laser-lens-cleaner/

This weekend I went to the Apple Store Genius Bar to see if they could find a resolution to my slot drive problems.

Well, it was the CD-R brand after all! I showed the Genius Bar representative my problems with my Sony (Brand A – I don’t need to protect the innocent anymore) and my Memorex (Brand B) CD-Rs. She popped in a Staples brand CD-R (Yes, a Staples Brand!!!), and it burnt an iTunes playlist flawlessly.

Thus it seems the MacBook Pro slot drive is finicky; but better than having it sent in for repairs. ;-)

I am heading to Staples soon. :-)

]]> http://joelmarcey.com/2008/12/22/macbook-pro-slot-drive-is-finicky-it-was-the-cd-r-brand-after-all/feed/ 3 MacBook Pro Slot Drive Problems: Premature Ejections and Laser Power http://joelmarcey.com/2008/12/19/macbook-pro-slot-drive-problems-premature-ejections-and-laser-power/ http://joelmarcey.com/2008/12/19/macbook-pro-slot-drive-problems-premature-ejections-and-laser-power/#comments Fri, 19 Dec 2008 17:37:34 +0000 Joel Marcey http://joelmarcey.com/2008/12/19/macbook-pro-slot-drive-problems-premature-ejections-and-laser-power/ So I want to burn a CD of Christmas music in ITunes. Seems harmless enough. Place the CD-R in the slot drive, click on a playlist and click the burn button.

At least I thought it was harmless.

I have two brand of CD-Rs, let’s just call them Brand A and Brand B in order to protect the presumed innocent.

 

Brand A: Premature Ejection (and I did use this term purposely to see what “personal problem” jokes I could get ;-) )

When I insert Brand A, the slot drive spins and whines for a few seconds and then the slot drive just spits the CD-R out. No message box, no questions, and definitely no answers.

 

Brand B: Laser Power Levels

When I insert Brand B, the slot drive teases me and actually allows the CD-R to remain inside. I then try to burn my playlist and it actually starts to go through the process. However, my glee is short lived because as soon as the process starts, it ends and I get this wonderful message.

Picture 1

 

 

 

 

The slot drive will read/play already “burnt” CDs just fine. It will read DVDs when I install software. So initially I thought it was the brand of CD I was using. Other people thought the same thing. Take a look at some of these threads:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=333966

http://forums.macosxhints.com/archive/index.php/t-31974.html

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=233×5280

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=7540512

 

There was also this strange fix that worked for some people:

http://bura-bura.com/blog/archives/2005/07/11/a-fix-for-my-superdrive-problems/ (initial post from this person: http://bura-bura.com/blog/archives/2005/07/05/uh-oh-superdrive-problems/)

(It didn’t work for me)

 

I am not convinced it is the media. I think it is hardware related. The downside of a slot drive I guess.

So I have an appointment with the Genius Bar at my local Apple Store this weekend. I have AppleCare for my MacBook Pro, and assuming I am right that my slot drive is all messed up, it will be replaced at no cost.

 

Anyone else have this problem???

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