Merry Christmas from Mod-Blog!

iTunes Problem: Won't add new items to library

I ran across a problem this morning and after scouring the internet found NO ONE who had an answer. So, I am posting it here in case anyone else has a similar problem in the future.

Running: iTunes 10.5.2 under MacOS X 10.7.2

Triggering Event: Due to my own lack of attention, I allowed my hard drive to run out of space. When iTunes tried to update its library file, it was unable to do anything due to lack of space and posted an error something like "Unable to complete operation because the file can not be found." (At the time, I did not know this would cause a larger issue, so I did not capture the exact text.)

Symptoms: After this point, new media (movies, TV shows, music) could not be added to my iTunes library. I could drag it onto the window, download it via Home Share, etc. - and it would go to the right folder - but it would never show as part of my library. Attempts to manually run the media via drag-and-drop from the file system were successful, but they were not visible in iTunes nor by AppleTV.

Resolution: It appears that the problem was a corrupted "iTunes Library.itl" file. To correct:

1. I identified the time of the last successful add to my iTunes library (select the movie, and select File/Get Info, check the Info tab)
2. I closed iTunes
3. I went to the folder %hard drive%/Users/%username%/Music/iTunes
4. I located the current "iTunes Library.itl" file
5. I renamed the file to "iTunes Libary Bad.itl"
6. I used Time Machine to navigate back to my backups to a time just AFTER that successful add.
7. I selected the "iTunes Library.itl" file from the backup, seleted it, clicked [RESTORE] (lower right of your screen)
8. When asked where to place it, I selected the same folder from step #3
9. There was a pause while the file was retrieved from backup
10. I opened iTunes and noticed all of my settings were back to before the hard drive issue
11. I went to %hard drive%/Users/%username%/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music
12. I located the media I wanted back in my library (movies are in the "Movies" folder INSIDE the "iTunes Music folder")
13. I dragged and dropped the media onto the iTunes window
14. The media appeared correctly in the window

That's it. Hope this is useful to someone, someday.

Happy Hanukkah!

The festival of lights begins tonight at sundown.

Me too

Merry Christmas, Santa Vader

Bumper Stickers: My Thoughts EXACTLY

Things that make you go "Hmmmm...."

I am one of a select group of humans on the planet who enjoyed Waterworld and who thinks it holds up well. But I must admit the Duck has a point.

Excellent review of eReaders (Kindle, Nook, etc.)

If you're in the market for an electronic book reader this season, there are a myriad of different options: Kindle, Nook, Kobo, iPad, Fire, etc. It is hard for a new consumer to know what to do. So, it is nice when someone sits down and really does the leg-work with a number of different readers, so consumers can see their real choices. In this case, the author focussed on the new eInk readers on the market.

The low-end, non-touch Kindle 4 is actually my favorite e-reader today. It lacks the easier text selection and periodical navigation of the touch readers, and it’s effectively impossible to type on, but neither of those interfere with the most common actions when reading. It’s faster, thinner, and lighter than all of the touch readers, the interface makes the most sense and is the most responsive, and it works best with Instapaper.

My own advice goes two ways:

1. If you are the kind of reader who needs to be able to sit down and read a book from cover to virtual cover in one sitting, or who reads dozens of books in the course of a month, buy a Kindle model. Amazon has the best selection, the best deals, and eInk is very easy on the eyes.

2. But if you're an average reader who reads a book for an hour or less a day, and tends to finish one book or less per month, consider an Apple iPad (or Kindle Fire, if you're cash-strapped). The iPad offers apps to read books from ALL the major bookstores, and offers you more options for non-book-related activities.

(3. The Kindle Fire is a cheaper choice if you want a color tablet that allows excellent web browsing. But since it locks you into the Amazon store, is much slower than the iPad, and lacks an eInk screen for long-term reading, it is not the better choice. Although if you want a 7" LCD tablet, it is your best choice.)

CarrierIQ Responds

Posted here in the interest of fairness - Carrier IQ's official response to allegations of wiretapping and spyware.

“The software receives a huge amount of information from the operating system,” Andrew Coward, Carrier IQ’s VP of marketing, told AllThingsD. “But just because it receives it doesn’t mean that it’s being used to gather intelligence about the user or passed along to the carrier.”

“It’s the operator that determines what data is collected,” says Carrier IQ CEO Larry Lenhart. “They make that decision based on their privacy standards and their agreement with their users, and we implement it.”

The operating system makers blame the carriers. The hardware makers blame the carriers. The software company itself blames the carriers. Verizon says "not us!" This may not be a good holiday season to be a cellular company that sells smart phones.

The Joy of Tech on CarrierIQ

CarrierIQ: Your SmartPhone Is Spying On You

I've been tweeting about his for days, but it is now big enough that this issue requires a blog post. Independent security researchers (and hackers) have discovered a rootkit installed to most smart phones sold by the major American cellular carriers. Called CarrierIQ, this rootkit monitors and captures nearly everything you do on your smart phone including your location, every phone number you call, every web request you make, every key you type, and every App that you run. It has been found on Android phones, WebOS phones, BlackBerry phones, and other Nokia phones. It is unclear what information is actually being sent to each carrier, but there is the capability here for your carrier to literally know everything you do with your smartphone, whether you're on their network or on Wifi.

(Apple iPhones appear to have less-extreme version that tightly controls what is gathered and can be turned off in the Settings app. It is important to note that Google's stock Android phones (Google Nexus line, etc.) are clean of this rootkit. It is being added by manufacturers and carriers.)

This scandal is still blowing up, and it is unclear what the final fallout will be. But it appears your wireless carrier - in the name of improving service - may have been spying on nearly every aspect of your online life.

NOTE: To turn off CarrierIQ on your iPhone, go to Settings, General > About > Diagnostics & Usage, click "Don't Send". If you want to see what is being sent, check out "Diagnostic & Usage Data" instead. (At this point, I am leaving mine set to "Automatically Send."