Finally! It's been agonizing. I've been trying to jailbreak my brand new iPod Touch 32GB for the last couple of weeks. In fact, I've been trying with no success since the day I bought it.

Ironically enough, the first time I did it successfully, nearly right out of the box, using ZiPhone. Sweet, right? I dunno. I was watching some video on YouTube on how to jailbreak the 1.1.4 firmware. Of course me, having A.D.H.D. a short attention span and no patience, I got to doing half the steps before the video even mentioned them. For example, when it said, "Close iTunes" I didn't close iTunes. When it said, "iTunes will show you a dialog, just dismiss it and continue." I decided to Restore my iPod back to the 1.1.4 firmware after I had jailbroken it. Ooops, well whatever.

I figured I'd just jailbreak it again, right? Wrong. I tried jailbreaking it using the exact same ZiPhone method and ... holy shit! Oh, man did I eff this thing up. I saw the diagnostic info as usual during the alternate boot sequence, just like I did when I jailbroke it before, but this time when it got up to the MAC Address of the device, all I got was an infinite loop of messages reading, "BSD root: md0, major 2 minor 0"

Awww shit!

It took me a good long while to figure out how to even get my iPod to even boot normally after that. Dammit!

So I spent the last 3 weeks trying, ever so futily, to jailbreak my iPod. Every method I came across said, "Oh, that method doesn't work for the 32GB" or "This method only works on the iPhone, not the iPod" Oy vey! Most methods were derivations of the same method. Most told me to launch some combination of iPhuc and ZiPhone multiple concurrent times. Some of them told me to downgrade to a lower version of the firmware, jailbreak it and then upgrade through an installed app.

All of them claim to have been confirmed. Most of them even had video proving it. None of them worked for me. Every single time I get to the point where I'm trying to actually jailbreak it, I got the BSD error.

All of a sudden this Saturday I decided to go out and see of there was newer version of ZiPhone. Sure enough, there was! They must have released it in like the last week. Yay! I downloaded it installed it. I ran the jailbreak and sunnuvabitch it worked! I'm so happy.

The first thing I installed was BSD subsystem and OpenSSH. I don't actually know why, but that's what they tell me so I did. I installed all kinds of neat stuff. iPhysics is the most addictive game EVER. It's great. I've got all kinds of guitar and piano stuff for the musician on the go. Now that I've unlocked my iPod, I can install a plethora of meaningless crap. It's awesome!

Unfortunately whenever you jailbreak an iPod, it wipes all of your music and settings, so now I have to wait another 3 hours for my music to finish sync'ing. Oh well. Still worth it.

Labels: iPod, iTunes, Music

I know this has been out for a long while, but I just felt that I had to comment on it. Have you seen that new Boost Mobile commercial?

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PLvuwKRBj4" target="youtube"><img src="http://www.waldoland.com/images/blogimages/boostmobile2.jpg" alt="Boost Mobile Commerical with Jemaine Dupri, Young Jeezy, and Mickey Avalon on YouTube" style="border: 2px solid #666666;" /></a>

I'm not mad at all about Jermaine Dupri or Young Jeezy in the song. They're alright. Not nearly as hot a track as the first one with Kanye West, Ludacris, and The Game, though. I actually downloaded that and played it constantly. I memorized the lyrics. I even learned how to play it on the bass. The track was hot. This one's kinda weak and commercial, but ... it's a commercial.



Anyway ... What the hell is that skinny transgendered-looking white dude(?) that thinks he can rap at the end of the commercial? It's no wonder this thing only got 2 lines. Whatever the hell it is, it spits out two lines of the weakest, second grade shit I've ever heard. Who the fuck are you and why did you think that was appealing? Who's dick did you suck at Boost Mobile to get in this commercial? I mean seriously.

I'm that dude that got whatchya need.
Eyes on the prize. Pickin' Up speed

I'm not sure, but I think dude(?)'s got a perm, makeup, hip-hugger jeans, platforms, and has midriff showing. He couldn't be more feminine if he were actually a woman. Who actually thought that this would sell phones? It's another in a long line of stupid-ass advertising ploys that they believe that America will swallow like tripe. And sure enough, we do.



Come to find out that's Mickey Avalon. Dude, your shit is weak. What the fuck? I'm that dude that got whatchya need? I'm glad I don't need flow. Maybe I need hormone therapy.

You know, I had ONE track from this dude, Jane Fonda. I downloaded it because I thought it was pleasant and the little club rat kids seem to like it. But after seeing and hearing this dude(?), I assure you there will not be more.

Labels: Advertising, Music, TV, Videos

You know, I was watching TV this weekend and saw the movie Money Train.

I was just thinking, remember how beautiful Jennifer Lopez used to be?

What I mean by that is back in 1995, she was this pretty down chick from the Bronx with curly hair. She was approachable even if you only had a little game. So attractive, and the apple of everyone's eye.

Now she is the entity known as J.Lo, a millionairess with champagne tastes, who marries other celebrities at will. Yes, she's still got the onion booty (it may have even been enhanced since then), but basically a Hollywood starfucker.

I remember the lyric, "Don't be fooled by the rocks that I got. I'm still Jenny from the block.". Nothing could be further from the truth. With her makeup and hair product lines that people pay fortunes for, she is so superficial and artificial, it makes me wanna puke. And yet she has been deified as a Hollywood/Music industry diva, nay, queen, nay god. Her music isn't that good and neither is her acting. She ain't even all that cute anymore.

I would have preferred she remain humble. Every time I see those commercials for her new album, it makes me wanna gag and throw up in my mouth a little. I feel physically ill. She is so fake.

Labels: Hot Bitches, Movies, Music, Philosophizing, TV

The song playing in the Transformers movie when Bumble Bee picks up Sam and Mikaela and begins the car chase with Barricade is:

The Used - Pretty Handsome Awkward

Check out the Transformers Soundtrack on WALDOLand Music.

According to Google Analytics this is the #1 search term that gets you to WALDOLand.com

Labels: Movies, Music

Since I've been watching the Heroes marathon on G4, I missed what the premier movies on cable were tonight. As I'm flipping through the channels after midnight looking for replays, I caught Smokin' Aces on Cinemax.

I must admit, I had been wanting to see this movie. I like the occasional bang-bang shoot-em-up. It's a relief from the truly cinematic films I watch. I saw with this one, that it not only had a huge cast of names and faces that I know, but that cast included two of my favorite musicians in bad-ass roles; Common and Alicia Keys. I love it when my people like Mos Def and Jill Scott, become actors and do it well. I have yet to see Talib Kweli in a role, but I suspect he's out there.

Common was just a bad ass muh fucka named Ivy. Just a do-dirt nigga. Bad to the bone. I love it.

My Sexy beautiful girl Alicia Keys plays a hit man, er, hit woman named Georgia who comes ready for war. Not only is she ultra sexy, posing as a hooker to infiltrate security, but she carries some mean guns, and cusses like a man.

I'm already in love with Alicia Keys, but hearing her cuss like that, turned me on like a switch. Sometimes I like a girl with a really dirty mouth. Not so much because it's a part of her everyday speech pattern because it's part of her environment (A.K.A. - Ghetto Mouf), but because she's confident enough and comfortable in her own skin, enough to not have to censor herself around those she's comfortable with. My one caveat to that is you must be a lady in the streets.

That's the kind of shit I could roll with.

Labels: Hot Bitches, Movies, Music, TV

Congratulate me, dammit!

I've acheived over 10,000 songs in my personal music library. We have the acquisition of Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace for putting me over the top.

Come check out my music library. If I like you, I may even share some of it with you.

Labels: Music

I was downloading some music the other day And if any of you know me, I MUST have my album artwork for every track.

So I got some Alicia Keys remixes. To be more specific, Dance Vault Remixes - Diary. That's when I saw it. Oooooh.

The cover to this album has Alicia Keys topless (with her back to the camera). In the small of her back, which incidentally is THE sexiest part of a woman, next to the nape of her neck, she has a tattoo of two bass clefs opposing each other to form the shape of a heart.

Oh. My. God.

Damn, that's sexy. By now you should know my personal policy on female tattoos: in moderation. That's perfect. Already I'm in love with Alicia Keys, because Lawd Jeezus she's beautiful, and she's an amazing musician with a beautiful soul. The tattoo was merely the culmination. It matches perfectly with my treble clef on my own arm. Doesn't that sound like a match made in heaven? Alicia just made the top of the wifey list.

Now it would seem that the tattoo isn't real. Still. Just the thought of it is damn sexy. Here's another example of a temporary tattoo she was sporting in the small of her back that reads THINK 4 URSELF.

God Damn she is sexy. Think of the kind of person that would get a tattoo (permanent, magic marker, or otherwise) that would make a bold intellectual statement, not just a fashion statement.

Labels: Hot Bitches, Music, Tattoos

Hey kiddies :)

Got some new stuff over at WALDOLand music.

• Amy Winehouse
  Back To Black
  Rehab
• Common
  The Game
  The People
• DJ Krush - Stepping Stones - The Self-Remixed Best
• Gym Class Heroes
  As Cruel As School Children
  Clothes Off!!
  Cupid's Chokehold / Breakfast In America
  The Papercut Chronicles
• Joe Bataan
  Bataan!
  Call My Name
  Riot
  St Latin's Day Massacre
  "Our Latin Thing" 2
  Soul Sides Volume One
  Soulful Thangs Vol. 3
• Joss Stone - Introducing...
• Rihanna - Umbrella [Travis Barker Remix]
• J.Period - The Best Of The Roots
• Various Artists
  Transformers Soundtrack
  Verve Remixed [Box Set-Deluxe Edition]
  What Is Hip-Remix Project Vol. 1
  GO Soundtrack

Check it out if you get a chance.

Labels: Music

I recently updated this article with new information and new code samples. Enjoy.

I've been developing some projects relating to iTunes lateley. iTunes 7.0.1 has a new feature called CoverFlow. It is the ability to view your music library by its album art. I thought this was phenomenal. In fact it almost has made a convert out of me, using iTunes almost exclusively now.

Having the ability to see all of your album art at once is fantastic, but it also shows you how woefully incomplete your library is. Of course, me being the obsessive-compulsive perfectionist/completionist that I am, I had to find album artwork for EVERY song in my library.

I used the 'Get Album Artwork' function in iTunes to obtain my missing artwork. Everything was going swimmingly. iTunes found and downloaded high resolution album artwork for nearly every album I had in my library (over 8,500 songs). I was doing fine until I began playing those same songs in MusicMatch Jukebox and noticed that the artwork that iTunes had just downloaded was not showing up in MusicMatch.

Was this a coincidence? I had to be sure. I discovered that the 'Get Album Artwork' function in iTunes DOES NOT save the downloaded artwork into the actual MP3 files. Instead it creates .itc files in the folder

%USERPROFILE%\My Documents\My Music\iTunes\Album Artwork

The .itc files contain images and metadata for each album which has downloaded artwork. CoverFlow reads the files into memory and holds them there until the application quits, so that it can display album art images quickly and smoothly.

That's fine. Good for Apple. They have their own system for optimizing album artwork images. But what about poor little ole' me, who wants those images embedded in his MP3 files?

There have been a number of suggested ways to accomplish this thrown about the web. The easiest I can think of is to use the 'Get Info...' command in iTunes, switch to the Artwork tab, Cut the downloaded image from the viewer and re-paste the same image. This will embed the image in the actual MP3 file. This is effective, but also very tedious if you have a large number of files.

Another suggested way was to write a program which hacks the .itc files themselves. For some reason, this appealed to me.

Many places where I've found ways to carve up an .itc file suggest simply removing the first 492 bytes and the rest of the file is JPEG/PNG image data. That would be great if it worked consistently. What I've discovered on my own is that it does not work 100% of the time. Frequently I have found .itc files where the image data did not start until after the first 500 bytes, or other variations on that number.

Based on that inconsistency, I decided to inspect the format of an .itc file myself and see if I could infer a file specification myself. The .itc file seems to consist of four sections: a File Signature, a "Null Buffer", a Data Header, and Image Data.

File Signature

The fourth byte of the file would seem to be self describing, indicating the length of the entire File Signature. In the sample file below, the fourth byte has a value of 1C (28). The File Signature itself seems to have a fairly consistent structure, which has the sequence 69 74 63 68 (itch) beginning at index 4 and 61 72 74 77 (artw) beginning at index 24, terminating the File Signature.

"Null Buffer"

Following the File Signature is 256 bytes of 00 (null).

Data Header

The Data Header contains metadata about the file/artwork itself. So far, every .itc file I have inspected has had the fixed-length signature of 28 bytes, followed by the fixed-length null buffer of 256 bytes. Here is where the variable file size comes into play.

Just like the File Signature, the Data Header is self-describing. The length of the Data Header is a factor in determining where the actual image data begins. This is important because this is where the .itc files I have inspected may vary from the norm.

NEW!

Disposable information (4 bytes)
The first four bytes of the Data Header would seem to be disposable information for our purposes.

"item" sequence (4 bytes)
The next four bytes of the Data Header is the sequence 69 74 65 6D (item).

Data Header Length (4 bytes)
The next four bytes are an unsigned integer value indicating the overall length of the Data Header. In the sample file below, the Data Header length has a value of 00 00 00 D8 (216).

Disposable information (16 bytes)
Immediately following the Data Header length is 16 bytes of disposable information.

Disposable information (0-4 bytes)
When the value of the Data Header length is 212, the next section of metadata begins immediately. If it is 216, the next section is offset by an additional four bytes of disposable information.

Library Persistent ID (8 bytes)
The next 8-byte sequence is the iTunes Music Library Persistent ID to which this track belongs. The Library Persistent ID is a hexadecimal string converted from those bytes. In the example below, you can see the sequence D4 CC CA A6 22 F6 CD DC, which corresponds to my Library Persistent ID (which is the first part of the .itc file name).

Track Persistent ID (8 bytes)
The next 8-byte sequence is the Track Persistent ID if this track. Like the Library Persistent ID, Track Persistent ID is also a hexadecimal string converted from those bytes. In the example below, you can see the sequence 3D 82 AC 91 DD 2D 58 B0, which corresponds to the Track Persistent ID (which is the second part of the .itc file name). You can use the Library and Track Persistent IDs together to discover information about the track, using the iTunes Music Library.xml file.

Download/persistence indicator (4 bytes)
The next 4 bytes are either the string sequence 64 6F 77 6E (down) or 6C 6F 63 6C (locl), which when "down", indicates that the CoverFlow artwork was downloaded and not persisted in a music file's tag information. It also corresponds to the appropriate subfolder beneath the Album Artwork folder. The opposite is true of "locl".

Pseudo-File Format (4 bytes)
The next 4 bytes would seem to give a hint as to the format of the embedded image. When the four bytes equate to the string sequence 50 4E 47 66 (PNGf), the image format will be of PNG (portable network graphics) type. When the sequence is 00 00 00 0D, the image is a JPEG (joint photographics experts group) image.

Disposable information (4 bytes)
Four more bytes of disposable information.

Image Width (4 bytes)
The next four bytes are an unsigned integer value indicating the width of the embedded image.

Image Height (4 bytes)
The next four bytes are an unsigned integer value indicating the height of the embedded image.

Image Data

Once the size of the Data Header has been determined, the next block is the actual Image Data, starting immediately after the Data Header, and continuing to the end of the file. In the sample below, the next four bytes are the sequence FF D8 FF E0 (ÿØÿà) which, as some of you may know, are the signature for a JPEG image.

So far, I have been able to consistently extract the image data from .itc files on my own machines. This has been very useful to me in collecting album artwork downloaded from iTunes without having to automate iTunes itself.

Since this is by no means official and an inference of the structure, it is entirely possible that you may find the structure to be different. I simply look for patterns in the chaos. If you find that this does not give you the ability to consistently extract album artwork then please let me know.

Labels: C Sharp, iPod, iTunes, Music, Programming, Technology, VB.Net

Yo, this clip is too funny! My uncle sent it to me. Check it out.

Labels: Comedy, Music, Videos

Let me tell y'all about Naeemah.

I came across this artist on MySpace, just cruisin around looking for anything on MySpace to do with Phoenixville. Naeemah played on of the Phoenixville summer street fairs. Came across her profile completely by accident.

Being a musician myself, I am always on the lookout for fresh talent to check out. Let me tell you, I was not disappointed. I checked out Naeemah's site, NaeemahRocks.com and downloaded some sample tracks. Nice.

Naeemah's got an alternative rock sound with an edge. Very reminiscent of Tracy Bonham. I actually went on to iTunes and BOUGHT her album. Yes, I BOUGHT it. Now this is me. The guy who has zero compunction about ripping, downloading, burning and sharing music. Screw Lars Ulrich. There is the rare occasion that I will actually pay for an album. Either when I want to show support for a local artist, or I really think that the artist is far beyond talented. The last album I actually bought was The Roots, The Tipping Point. Starting to get the picture? In this situation, both cases were true. I see tons of potential in this artist.

Naeemah, if you should so happen to read this, I would love to meet you and jam with you.

Oh, yeah. And did I mention she is BEEEEEA-U-TI-FULL!!!
Naeemah on WALDOLand Music.

Labels: Music

So I picked up Guitar Hero II for the XBox 360 on Saturday. Damn, that's fun! Hours upon hours of gameplay in HD. :)

I played for about 6 hours on Saturday and another 4 on Sunday. I've already completed the game on Easy and nearing completion on Medium difficulty. I've been shredding my face off.

I know I look like a 'tard with that little itty bitty guitar, but the game is way too fun for me to care. I'm jumping around and doing all kind of tricks and stuff :D (tee hee!) Occasionally I catch myself messing up on songs I know by heart, because I know what the guitaist is doing in the actual song is contradictory or not applicable to playing the game. Dude, the guitar is not real! D'uh :)

I just wish there were more songs though, dude. Or some way to get some more other than through XBox Live. Like I know if they released some sort of API through Microsoft XNA for creating songs, I'd be all on top of that! Come on, how hard could it be? You get an audio file and, I don't know, some XML file that indicates tempo changes and note indications, upload it to some server, and there you go! Your own custom Guitar Hero II tracks. Rock your face off!

I would make songs like:

• Alice Cooper - I Wanna Rock!
• AC/DC - Back In Black
• Metallica - Enter Sandman
• Billy Idol - White Wedding
• Cheap Trick - I Want You To Want Me
• Black Crowes Hard To Handle
• Blink 182 - The Rock Show
• Fuel - Jesus Or A Gun
• Generation X - Ready, Steady, Go!
• Guns N' Roses - Welcome to the Jungle
• Kiss - Detroit Rock City
• Lit - Ziplock
• Lit - My Own Worst Enemy
• Living Colour - Cult of Personality
• Mighty Mighty Bosstones - You Gotta Go!
• Mighty Mighty Bosstones - Allow Them
• Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out
• The Mooney Suzuki - Alive & Amplified
• Ozzy Osbourne - Crazy Train
• P.O.D. - Boom
• Presidents of the United States of America - Cleveland Rocks!
• Rage Against the Machine - Testify
• Rage Against the Machine - Sleep Now In The Fire
• Ram Jam - Black Betty
• Soundgarden - Superunknown
• Van Halen - Right Now
• Stone Temple Pilots - Vasoline
• Sugar Ray - Mean Machine
• Velvet Revlover - Slither
• ZZ Top - Sharp Dressed Man

Of course, I'm sure they had to contend with licensing and royalties, etc. But if it's for your own personal amusement, who cares?

Oh well. Maybe in Guitar Hero III. But for now, Bang Your Head! Hey, post a comment and let me konw what songs YOU would want to have in Guitar Hero.

Labels: Games, Music, Programming

Non-Techies need not read further

Hmmm...

I've been building a VB.Net library for reading ID3 tags out of MP3 files. I'm wondering if I find a version 2 tag, should I completely discount the information found in the version 1 tag?

Should I treat it as "Highest Version Wins", or should I do a type of merge, where if artist is not found in version 2, use the one found in version 1?

Please comment if you have some input.
Thanks :)

Labels: Music, Programming, Technology, Web Development

After spending the last month or two upgrading the infrastructure/architecture of my sites which include waldoland.com and robertmayo.com, I've finally reached the point where I can officially say I'm at a stable release point. .Net 2.0: code complete! Woo Hoo!

As some of you may know, I've been working feverishly on new content and features for my site. I had spent so much time coding, that I forgot to have fun on the site. Of course for me, coding is fun so, there you have it. Here's a sneak peek at some of the new features forthcoming.

• Hottie of the week

  Every week I'm going to post about who is the hottest little number in music, movies, & television. You can check out a brief bio, vote and rate the hottie.

• Drunk movie of the week

  Everyone needs to know what the best movie to watch on a Friday night when you're drunk is.

• MP3 Library

  I'm going to list EVERY track in my vast MP3 collection. Guests will be able to browse and search the tracks in my collection. Registered users will be able to build personal playlists of tracks which I might compile for them.

• Surveys

  I frequently see surveys out there, for example on MySpace, which are just fun to read. I've decided I'm going to take some of them and share with the world. A preview of one of my favorite surveys is here.

• Polls

  I'm going to put up opinion polls, shooting for about one a week. Topics would range from personal experiences to the latest trends in media, fashion, & entertainment.

• Reviews

  I'm going to give my reviews of the latest movies, music, & video games I've acquired. People need to know if things are a good buy or not.

Labels: Hot Bitches, Movies, Music, Web Development

I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE the coverflow feature. It has made an iTunes convert out of me. My album artwork is very important to me. I absolutely love the ability to view my entire library by its artwork. It makes me spend HOURS making sure I have the best quality album artwork for my thousands of songs. (I haven't broken the 100,000 mark quite yet, but I'm close.)

I feel a great swell of disappointment when I connect my 80GB iPod to my machine, or any other, and I can't view it by its artwork, like I can my library. All that work manicuring my album artwork goes for nothing. Yes, I can see the artwork for individual songs when I play them, but that's it.

I do all that work, take my iPod on the road with me, then when I connect it to iTunes, the two CoverFlow buttons are disabled. It's such a drag, man.

Why would it be so hard to give that same feature that exists on the library, to the iPod?

God, that's a feature I really really want and I'm patiently waiting for Apple to implement it.

Does anyone else feel the same way?

Labels: iPod, iTunes, Music, Technology