disassociated thoughts

iTunes Match: Smart Playlists Cannot Nest Playlists

If you are in the process of migrating your iTunes library to iTunes Match and have encountered issues with ineligible songs and playlists then here is why the latter is considered ineligible: smart playlists using the “playlist” option simply do not work. For whatever reason, iTunes Match is unable to nest playlists, thus removing the option of creating playlists based on other playlists (ie. “Playlist is playlist”).

One way around this is to use the option of nesting conditionals within smart playlists, a feature introduced in the release of iTunes 9. This should alleviate most scenarios where you may want to nest a smart playlist within another, but not everyone.

I have run into a situation where I am unable to use my “jarkolicious Radio” playlists because it is built off of a combination of five playlists. Here is how the playlists are broken down:

• 3-Star Radio: “Rating is ***” and “Last Played not in the last 10 weeks”
• 4-Star Radio: “Rating is ****” and “Last Played not in the last 3 weeks”
• 5-Star Radio: “Rating is *****” and “Last Played not in the last 2 days”
• New Music: “Date Added in the last 1 month”
• Favorite Music: Not a smart playlist

My “jarkolicious Radio” smart playlists is merely a playlists that combines all of the above five playlists into a single playlists. The idea is to get a good mix between old, new and favorite music, a job the playlist does pretty well. It is my most widely used playlist.

Unfortunately because it is a playlists built off of nested playlists it is ineligible for iTunes Match. I have tried to migrate the combination to a smart playlist using nested conditionals but it just does not produce the same results.

Try as I might, the fact of the matter is so long as “jarkolicious Radio” contains the conditional “Playlist is playlist” then it will continue to remain ineligible until Apple adds this functionality of there is a good way to get the nested conditionals to work properly.

Bottom line: if you are wondering why you have smart playlists which are showing up as “ineligible” for iTunes Match then consider checking to see if you are nesting playlists as your conditionals. If you are, you might have to look for an alternative method.

So obvious, it’s kind of surprising nobody released a product like this sooner.

From Asiajin:

BCN Ranking counted the carriers share only within iPhone 4S [J], Softbank took 51.7%, whilst KDDI au gained 48.3%.

BCN Ranking collected the number of sold units from shops, which it claims to cover 40% of Japanese retails. The retail shops do not include Apple Stores and carriers stores.

The metrics could surely use a little more accuracy, considering a great deal of phone purchases are done at carrier stores here in Japan.

Either way, this is an interesting picture being painted. au/KDDI did not have run-away sales like some thought they would. SoftBank does appear to be holding its own until the au/KDDI assault - for now.

I wonder how the landscape will change throughout year. SoftBank’s network, for better or worse, is already proven with the iPhone. The au/KDDI network, while offering far better coverage throughout Japan, has not had to deal with a huge amount of smartphone-based traffic. It will be important for au/KDDI’s network to withstand the exponential resource utilization they will see from iPhone users if the company expects to remain a player in the smartphone arena.

drdrang on iMessage, a new feature of iOS 5:

Here’s the thing. I already have an unlimited texting plan from AT&T that covers everyone in my family. I don’t, however, have an unlimited data plan, so this looks like something that will eat away at my monthly data allotment while giving me virtually nothing in return.

That sure is an interesting perspective on iMessage compared to SMS texting. I find it hard to believe that even 10000 texts a month will have a significant impact on a monthly data plan. This is just a misguided rant against a feature the author misunderstands.

In the end, after an update to his essay, the author does seem to realize that maybe he is in the minority:

My point—possibly not as clear as it would have been had I not written this post late on a Saturday after a couple of Harp Lagers—was not so much that iMessage would add a huge load to my family’s data usage, but that whatever increase in 3G use it creates would come with virtually no benefit to us. Your mileage, as they say, may vary, and I’m not suggesting iMessage is a mistake.

The Next Web Asia reporting on opening day iPhone 4S sales in Japan:

The opening day of iPhone 4S sales in Japan did not start well for Softbank. According to the Wall Street Journal, the operator was forced to suspend the sale of all smartphones, including the new device from Apple, at 0200 GMT this morning after a computer glitch affected customer registrations.

The issue was fixed three hours later with the operator optimistic that it did not cause any loss of sales.

I was at au/KDDI from 0300 GMT to approximately 0700 GMT and I assure you the supposed computer glitch was not fixed three hours later. We left empty handed and were asked to wait for a call. We received that call at 8:30pm - four hours after leaving au/KDDI - and were asked to come back the following morning at 1000 when the shop opens.

When we arrived at au/KDDI we first had trouble obtaining a mobile number portability (MNP) reservation number from SoftBank’s automated system due to high demand. This took roughly 45 minutes before we were finally off and running. It was at this point that everything fell apart.

The au/KDDI shop clerk, who was very helpful, was having trouble with the MNP process. This part of the purchase requires au/KDDI to touch SoftBank’s computer systems, to validate the MNP reservation number and account holder’s name and number for accuracy. This entire process kept repeatedly failing. Unfortunately, the clerk was uncertain of the specific reason.

It was at this point that I decided to walk three blocks down the street to the SoftBank shop to find out what was going on. As usual, the SoftBank clerks were somewhat clueless. All the one clerk could tell me was that their system was down so she was unable to print my account information. As I was about to walk away, another clerk mentioned to a customer that their systems were down and she would not be able to deliver pre-ordered iPhone 4’s until tomorrow, when system restoration was expected.

Are you kidding me?

I walked back to au/KDDI and told the clerk. She decided to try a few more times just to see if she would be able to deliver our phone that day. While I was waiting I called SoftBank customer service and asked them what was happening. The kind lady on the other end of the phone told me the same thing - SoftBank was experiencing a catastrophic systems failure so new sales and MNP would be impossible until the next day.

I spent a little over four hours in au/KDDI trying to secure my wife’s iPhone 4S to no avail, all thanks to SoftBank and their not being prepared for the exodus to their rival.

I am unsure where TNW got their information but it sure does not match my experience. It is worth pointing out that existing au/KDDI customers upgrading their existing handsets to an iPhone 4S were unaffected. The only customers affected were existing SoftBank customers who were upgrading or trying to port their number to a different mobile carrier.

Brilliant! (via Shit That Siri Says)

John Gruber:

This is the easiest product review I’ve ever written. The iPhone 4S is exactly what Apple says it is: just like the iPhone 4, but noticeably faster, with a significantly improved camera, and an impressive new voice-driven feature called Siri.

Need anything else be said?

"Steve Jobs, the pioneer of the computer as a jail made cool, designed to sever fools from their freedom, has died. As Chicago Mayor Harold Washington said of the corrupt former Mayor Daley, “I’m not glad he’s dead, but I’m glad he’s gone.” Nobody deserves to have to die - not Jobs, not Mr. Bill, not even people guilty of bigger evils than theirs. But we all deserve the end of Jobs’ malign influence on people’s computing."

Richard Stallman, self-appointed free software movement spokesman and toejam lover, on Steve Jobs’ death.

What an asshole. (via The Loop)

"You hear people talk about television actors as the people we don’t know who we let into our homes, since they show up in our dens each night. Every Apple event, Steve showed up in my home too, wherever my Mac was. I would read the liveblog first, then watch the video as soon as Apple made it available. I’ve watched countless interviews with the man, too. So part of the reason I think his death hits me hard is because I really do feel like I knew him—even if he didn’t know me."

Why Steve Jobs’s death feels so sad by Lex Friedman of Macworld.

Friedman captures the essence of how I feel by eloquently articulating why so many people felt a connection with Steve Jobs, a man they never once met. I took a stab at translating my emotions into words but completely missed this outstanding theory.

"I’m pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn’t been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle."

Stanford Commencement address delivered by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, on June 12, 2005.

How many people can truly say they love what they do for a living?

While I enjoy what I am currently doing, even though it has its daily challenges, I cannot honestly say I love my job. I strive to work towards doing what I love. In due time methinks.

How Steve’s Death Has Affected Me

Since I learned of Steve’s death I have been struggling to write how I feel about it. I know deep down in my heart how I feel, but translating those emotions to words has been challenging.

I was at work when I learned of Steve’s passing. It was around 8:45am when I heard. We were in the middle of an “assist visit” from a group of auditors rifling through our networks and network documentation. I was sitting at my desk when a colleague walked through our office door and screamed my way, “did you hear the news?”

“What news?” I had been engrossed with work, and although we had two televisions tuned to the MLB playoffs, I had not been paying attention.

“He’s dead. Steve Jobs just died dude.”

“Shut the fuck up dude,” I screamed back, while a small chill slowly crawled down my spine. I did not really believe my colleague. We are always joking about various things so it was not out of the realm of possibility for someone to say something this fucked up. My co-workers like to tease me about Apple, so I thought this was just another one of those pranks.

“No, I’m serious. It’s on the news. He just died!”

About all I could muster up was a, “whoa, that fucking crazy.” I quickly switched to the internets and jumped over to CNN. Sure enough, they had one of their “breaking news” alerts at the top of the site. It was short: Apple Co-Founder, Steve Jobs has passed away. Twitter was overflowing with tweets about Steve’s passing

Wow. Just wow.

As a human being hearing the news of another’s death, a wave of sadness immediately washed over me. I had no personal interaction with Steve but I was still upset to hear he passed. Although his health was in a precarious position, his death felt sudden.

For reasons I am still unable to fully comprehend today, as the reality of the situation set in, this huge wave of sadness hit me as if I were being smacked in the face. I believe I did a pretty good job hiding my emotions at work – something I think I am good at overall – but I am still pretty upset and even more confused. In fact, I do not normally consider myself an emotional person. I have only ever felt this way when a family member has passed away.

But why so much emotion for a man I have never met? Anecdotally, I do not appear to be the only one who feels this way. Many people are just as surprised and saddened by this loss. I have read a good deal of tweets and facebook quips from people who feel similarly.

Even as I write this I can feel the emotions. For some peculiar reason I am hugely sad to see Steve pass. This is a man I had never met once in my life but who is seemingly having a huge impact on my emotions.

I have never felt this way when someone I did not personally know has passed away. This is the type of impact Steve had on the world, on people, even without personal interaction. He touched people’s lives in ways that others have never come close to. Surely this is why Apple is so successful at creating products with such emotional appeal. Steve’s best product was himself.

Steve Jobs will be missed. Rest in peace m’friend.

"Steve knew that his people were his company. And while he made us work hard, never settle, never accept mediocrity, he also made us feel like people. Like we were as much a part of Apple’s success as he was."

The Rundown by Matt Drance.

Although this quote does not entirely reflect the tone of the story it is worth pointing out. This is quality rarely seen in our leaders. Most fail to recognize the importance of their people, falsely assuming leadership is only responsible for the success of a company. If only more of our leaders were like Steve.

"Steve Jobs, the visionary co-founder of Apple Computers and the only American in the country who had any clue what the fuck he was doing, died Wednesday at the age of 56."

Last American Who Knew What The Fuck He Was Doing Dies.

Only on The Onion.

"Steve Jobs, the visionary in the black turtleneck who co-founded Apple in a Silicon Valley garage, built it into the world’s leading tech company and led a mobile-computing revolution with wildly popular devices such as the iPhone, died Wednesday. He was 56."

Steve Jobs, Apple founder, dies.

RIP.

Steve Job had a huge impact on so many lives. He will be missed.

"Of course you should. The iPhone 5 is an improvement on what is already the best mobile phone ever created. So why wouldn’t you jump at the chance?"

Why Wait? The World’s First iPhone 5* Review by Sam Biddle.

Only at Gizmodo.