Andy Chase

Last summer I devised an AppleScript to generate a fixed-length, one track per-artist iTunes playlist. This worked pretty well, but I’ve been using this script long enough and frequently enough that I started to notice that my supposedly random playlists contained clumps of tracks that had all been played on the same date a few months ago, as though my previous random playlists were just getting recycled into new ones.

So I added some additional logic to enforce a one track per artist, one track per-date rule - no more clustered tracks.

The updated script also contains a couple of other niceties:

• It tells iTunes to focus (in case you’re running the script via some sort of launcher like Quicksilver)
• It presents you with a choice of durations.

The next logical iteration would be additional interface allowing you to select source and destination playlists, but I haven’t gotten irked enough by that problem to solve it yet.

-- Mix Tape iTunes playlist generator
-- by Andy Chase | http://andychase.net
-- January 11, 2010


tell application "iTunes" to activate
tell application "iTunes"
    set theSmartPL to playlist "Unrecent Alt/Rock Faves"
    set theDumbPL to playlist "Unrecent Faves Cassette"

set cassetteLengths to {30, 45, 60, 74, 90, 120}

set theDuration to 60 * {choose from list cassetteLengths with title "Cassette Length" default items {45} without multiple selections allowed}

set allArtists to {}
set allDates to {}

delete every track of theDumbPL

set selectedTracks to every track of theSmartPL

repeat with aTrack in selectedTracks

    if (the duration of theDumbPL ? theDuration) then

        set theArtist to the artist of aTrack
        set theDate to the played date of aTrack
        set theDateString to the date string of theDate
        if (theArtist is not in allArtists and ((duration of aTrack) + (duration of theDumbPL)) ? theDuration and theDateString is not in allDates) then
            duplicate aTrack to theDumbPL
            set end of allArtists to theArtist
            set end of allDates to theDateString
        end if

    end if
end repeat

set the shuffle of theDumbPL to true
reveal theDumbPL
play theDumbPL


end tell

This seems to do the trick when run in a terminal from the top level of the working copy:

svn info -R  | grep Revision | sed "s/Revision: //g" | sort -n | tail -1

Updated
Or, you could just use the svnversion command.

11 Months ago I bought a cheap fiddle from Ebay. I took it out of the case when it arrived, tuned it up as best as the slippery pegs would allow, picked up the bow, and realized that I had no idea what to do next. It was a feeling I hadn’t had since getting my first banjo 7 years ago, knowing basically how the thing works but just having no sense of generally recommended technique or where to start. I did spend a bunch of time trawling the internet for beginner lesson videos, tips, and techniques, but I was skeptical of the cheap thing’s utility as a starter instrument and inclined to heed my own advice to other people looking to start a new instrument: Take at least a few lessons with a human being so you don’t develop any bad habits.

Not having had money to spend on a better instrument or lessons, my fiddle has spent most of the interim in its case. Once every couple of months I would get it out, bow a couple of notes, and put it back in the case like I’d just touched a hot stove; without buying a mute there’s no way to play quietly until you gain a little bit of confidence, and I’ve lacked the gumption to fight through the “sounding like a cat skinned alive” stage. As the colder weather and long nights chase me back indoors, though, my thoughts are returning to the fiddle and how I’ve really kind of been wanting to learn for a few years now. Since a nicer instrument or lessons are not in the budget right now, back to the internet I have gone.

I realized today that I didn’t even know whether my instrument was properly strung, and after watching a few how-to videos I’ve determined that it is not. The current strings are wound every which way and overlap each other, which may be half the reason the pegs slip as much as they do. Some peg drops and a new set of properly applied strings and I could be in business.

Here’s the thing: people were teaching themselves fiddle on crummy instruments without benefit of formal instruction for generations before the internet, and in many cases were probably happier for not being subjected to the blather of self-styled discussion forum authorities. Should I let the knowledge that a nicer fiddle and lessons would give me a leg up stop me? I’ve decided I should see how far I can get with common sense and youtube before making that determination.

After reading the prologue of "The Lost Symbol" you might get the idea that its setting, The House of the Temple at 1733 16th Street NW, is either fictional, or at the very least all secret and private and foreboding and open only to guys who skulk around and drink wine from human skulls.

Actually, no. It's open to the public, even the ponderously-described "Temple Room." Also, they have a gift shop. I was there this past March, and while this solemn building does leave quite an impression, please don't take Mr. Brown seriously.