Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[MrC]

Hi,

Sometime ago, I installed Media Center, and didn't have the time to evaluate.   Now I have the time, and was wondering if it is possible to get a couple day extension on the license?  If so, please let me know how.

TIA.

[JimH]

There isn't any way to do that.  You could try it on another PC.

[KingSparta]

You Could Also

1. Format Your Computer Every 30 Days And Then Reinstall All your Software For The Next 2 Days Including MC11
2. Wait Til Version 12, 13, 14 etc....
3. The Easiest Is To, Buy It (Recomended)

[MrC]

There isn't any way to do that.  You could try it on another PC.

Yes, I suppose that's possible too.  Thanks.  It's unfortunate that the honest folks like myself who always pay for all our software (and that's probably well over $8k worth - I'm a developer too, so appreciate the predicament) end up paying the price for such measures.

Perhaps you'd be kind enough to answer a couple of questions.

1) Does MC support a unique, user-defined reference ID for CDs (ie, 0001, 0002, etc. to allow for convenient reference in storage cases?  If so, does it do auto-increment; if not, any chance of it appearing in a future version?

2) Can MC create a relationship (hopefully automatically) between ripped tracks and the CD media from where they were ripped (i.e. so that there is one entry in the database for a CD title, which includes the CD id, perhaps bar code, and of course the tracks ripped to disk.  Other programs seem to want to distinguish between ripped tracks and physical media, so that you have two entries in the database - one for the CD, one for the on-disk ripped music.

3) Does MC support bar-code readers, such as cue-cat?

Thanks again,
MrC

[MrC]

You Could Also

1. Format Your Computer Every 30 Days And Then Reinstall All your Software For The Next 2 Days Including MC11
2. Wait Til Version 12, 13, 14 etc....
3. The Easiest Is To, Buy It (Recomended)

1. If the author does not support extenstions beyond 30 days, I will not work around that limitation.  I'm morally obligated to abide by JRiver's terms and policies.  Aren't you?  :-)

2. I'm not sure what this solves, since I doubt the free trial terms reset, but I don't know.

3. I'm happy to purchase a product that meets me needs, and always do.  See my post right before this one.

[KingSparta]

3) Does MC support bar-code readers, such as cue-cat?

I Had One, It Did Not Work Well At That Time, I Thought They Went Under

The correct title of this article is :CueCat. The article title conflicts with an existing namespace.
 
CueCat barcode scannerThe :CueCat is a cat-shaped handheld barcode reader developed in the late 1990s by the now-defunct DigitalConvergence Corporation, which connected to computers using the PS/2 keyboard port and later USB. The :CueCat enabled users to link to an Internet URL by scanning a barcode appearing in an article, catalog or on some other printed matter. In this way a user could be directed to a web page containing related information. The system which supported this functionality is no longer in operation

In late 2000, advertisements containing :CueCat barcodes briefly appeared in some high-circulation U.S. mass-market periodicals, notably PARADE magazine. For a time, RadioShack published catalogs containing these barcodes, and even distributed :CueCat devices at no charge. :CueCats were also bulk mailed (unsolicited) to certain mailing lists, such as subscribers of technology magazines, notably Wired magazine. For roughly a year, starting in October, 2000, The Dallas Morning News and other Belo-owned newspapers added the barcodes next to major articles (Belo had invested in DigitalConvergence).

Joel Spolsky speculated about the apparently large sums invested in the unsuccessful launch of the device, noting that according to the DigitalConvergence website, the company claimed to have 200 employees as of 2000. Spolsky estimated that the "postage costs alone" of mailing :CueCats to every subscriber of Wired, as was apparently done, must have been $1 million [1].

The data format was proprietary, being scrambled so as not to be usable as plain text. However, the barcode itself is closely related to Code 128, and the scanner was also capable of reading EAN/UPC and other symbols. Due to the weak obfuscation of the data, the software for decoding the CueCat's output quickly appeared on the Internet, followed by a plethora of unofficial applications.

Commercial failure
The :CueCat device was controversial, initially due to privacy concerns. Each :CueCat has a unique serial number, and users suspected that Digital:Convergence could compile a database of all barcodes scanned by a given user and connect it to the user's name and address. For this reason, and because the demographic market targeted by Digital:Convergence was unusually tech-savvy, numerous web sites arose detailing instructions for "declawing" the :CueCat — blocking or encrypting the data it sent to Digital:Convergence.

The company's response to these hacks was to assert that users did not own the devices and had no right to modify or reverse engineer them. Threats of legal action against the hackers swiftly brought on more controversy and criticism. The company's licensing agreement was changed several times, adding explicit restrictions, apparently in response to hacker activity. Hackers argued that the changes did not apply retroactively to devices that had been purchased under older versions of the license, and that the thousands of users who received unsolicited :CueCats in the mail had not agreed to nor were legally bound by the license.

The :CueCat's failure to catch on in the early adopter market to which it was marketed prevented any chance of wider acceptance.

Although Digital Convergence and the :CueCat system are generally assumed to be defunct, the Digital Convergence website remained as a "ghost site" through 2004. Formerly, the website contained the following statement:

The dream was to connect items in the physical world to the Internet, automatically. In January that dream hit a bump in the road and the servers were taken offline. They will scan again... If you have a Cue Cat, save it. The patents and technology created by DigitalConvergence will again be available for business and consumer use.
In June 2005, a liquidator offered two million :CueCats for sale at $0.30 each (in quantities of 500,000 or more) [2][3].

Security Breach
In September 2000, security watchdog website Securitywatch.com notified Digital Convergence of a security vulnerability on the Digital Convergence website that exposed private information about :CueCat users. Digital Convergence immediately shut down that part of their website, and their investigation concluded that approximately 140,000 :CueCat users who had registered their :CueCat were exposed to a breach that revealed their name, email address, age range, gender and zip code.

Digital Convergence responded to this security breach by sending an informative email to those affected by the incident assuring them that it was correcting this problem and would be offering them a $10 gift certificate to Radio Shack.

[KingSparta]

since I doubt the free trial terms reset

They Have With Each Version

I think with early Alphas The Trials Work Longer because the software expires.

I am not sure if they still do that.

[MrC]

I Had One, It Did Not Work Well At That Time, I Thought They Went Under

I recall finding and reading the cuecat information you provided.   I suppose we each have different results.  I found mine saved hours of data entry and worked with another cataloging program very well.  I was mostly meaning any bar-code reader, not necessarily the cuecat.  Thanks for the info.

[KingSparta]

I don't think there is anything for the bar-code reader.

some of these devices are coming back like the fingerprint reader credit card reader, etc....

I am not sure that they would be built onto each keyboard in the near future. sometimes this is ashame if they work and it makes our life easier.

A few weeks ago we were talking about voice command software. it may be easier to just use that.

Dave: Media Center

Media Center: Yes Dave!

New CD: OK Dave, Whats The Name? (Insert Barcodes Here)

Etc....

[graves182]

Just saw your thread, and I have a barcode scanner, so I did some testing.

In about  1 minute I got it going.

You can create a user field, 'Barcode' for example, which can be set to store inside the file.
You can set Barcode to be a default search field. And a default display field.
Once you've entered some barcodes into some records, just put your cursor in the search box (which is always visible in the main view) and scan your barcode.
The record comes right up.

This will work with any in-line barcode scanner as they are really just another form of 'keyboard'
What you may have trouble with, is advanced features, like scanning several barcodes to get a list. My method causes a new search after each scan.

Hope this helps in your decision-making.

[Alex B]

Thanks Graves182, that's good information.

Otherwise, I wouldn't bother adding CD numbers. Personally, I have boxed and moved my original CDs to a storage room since my main audio player is a PC, but if I had them on a nearby CD self they would be in alphabetical order. It would be easy to find the original CDs since MC can show the albums e.g. like this


Click to enlarge.

(The top button row has changed to a text based drop-down list after I made this screenshot.)

or like this:


Click to enlarge.

[MrC]

Just saw your thread, and I have a barcode scanner, so I did some testing.

In about  1 minute I got it going.

You can create a user field, 'Barcode' for example, which can be set to store inside the file.
You can set Barcode to be a default search field. And a default display field.
Once you've entered some barcodes into some records, just put your cursor in the search box (which is always visible in the main view) and scan your barcode.
The record comes right up.

This will work with any in-line barcode scanner as they are really just another form of 'keyboard'
What you may have trouble with, is advanced features, like scanning several barcodes to get a list. My method causes a new search after each scan.

Hope this helps in your decision-making.

Yes, agreed this is good info.  I should have been more clear in what I was asking for with respect to a bar code scanner.  Personally, I have little use other than for insurance reasons to have the barcode.  What I was really looking for was the ability to read the barcode, and then do a *ddb lookup to populate the title/artist/track/etc. info automatically.  The current app I'm using does this, and the feature is wonderful.  However, I'm trying to find something to replace that app, because its support and maturation is, to say the least, glacial.

I'm still interested in learning if there is/will be support for my items 1 and 2.  These are much more important to me.

[Alex B]

Yes, agreed this is good info. I should have been more clear in what I was asking for with respect to a bar code scanner. Personally, I have little use other than for insurance reasons to have the barcode. What I was really looking for was the ability to read the barcode, and then do a *ddb lookup to populate the title/artist/track/etc. info automatically. The current app I'm using does this, and the feature is wonderful. However, I'm trying to find something to replace that app, because its support and maturation is, to say the least, glacial.

For some reason a bar code based CD database is not common. MC uses a CD audio content based online database like all other well-known rippers.

I'm still interested in learning if there is/will be support for my items 1 and 2. These are much more important to me.

1) Does MC support a unique, user-defined reference ID for CDs (ie, 0001, 0002, etc. to allow for convenient reference in storage cases?

MC supports user-defined fields. You can freely make custom fields that are visible in the CD ripping dialog and add values like 0001 or a bar code obtained from a bar code reader. The ripped HD files will have the same database fields.

However, I don't see much practical difference between e.g. "0043" and "Adiemus - Vocalise" (which happens to be #43 in my collection when sorted in alphabetical order). All sorting systems can use text based sorting as well as numeric.

If so, does it do auto-increment;

No.

if not, any chance of it appearing in a future version?

Some kind of an automatic CD ID system would be nice to have. Previously people have requested a re-rip function. An ID system could keep the HD files tied with the original CD. When re-ripping MC would then replace the old HD files with new files, but keep the database information.

2) Can MC create a relationship (hopefully automatically) between ripped tracks and the CD media from where they were ripped (i.e. so that there is one entry in the database for a CD title, which includes the CD id, perhaps bar code, and of course the tracks ripped to disk.  Other programs seem to want to distinguish between ripped tracks and physical media, so that you have two entries in the database - one for the CD, one for the on-disk ripped music.

MC can maintain a database of the inserted CDs besides the possibly ripped tracks. As I explained you can connect the ripped tracks with the CD media by using a common value in a custom field.

Actually, MC doesn't have separate Album items in the database. The database is completely based on track information. However, MC has splendid tools for displaying track based albums as single entities.

[MrC]

For some reason a bar code based CD database is not common. MC uses a CD audio content based online database like all other well-known rippers.

Actually, freedb has bar-code based lookups.  The program i'm currently using supports CD lookups via ascii bar-code readers.  That parts works brilliantly.

MC supports user-defined fields. You can freely make custom fields that are visible in the CD ripping dialog and add values like 0001 or a bar code obtained from a bar code reader. The ripped HD files will have the same database fields.

However, I don't see much practical difference between e.g. "0043" and "Adiemus - Vocalise" (which happens to be #43 in my collection when sorted in alphabetical order). All sorting systems can use text based sorting as well as numeric.

That's good to know - thanks.  Here's the value and difference.  I have 1,100 CDs all filed away in multiple 320 slot CD holders.  Each page holds two CDs and artwork.  Each slot is numbered 1-n.  When I need a CD, I can look it up in the database, and go pull it from the numerically ordered cases 1-159, 160-319, etc.  I've done away with 1,100 jewel cases, the CD racks, and significantly cut the space requirements to store them (160 CDs in an 11x13x6 inch space in the closet bookshelf).  I would not be able to quickly find "Adiemus - Vocalise" in the cases without the CD <--> number relationship.

Some kind of an automatic CD ID system would be nice to have. Previously people have requested a re-rip function. An ID system could keep the HD files tied with the original CD. When re-ripping MC would then replace the old HD files with new files, but keep the database information.

MC can maintain a database of the inserted CDs besides the possibly ripped tracks. As I explained you can connect the ripped tracks with the CD media by using a common value in a custom field.

Actually, MC doesn't have separate Album items in the database. The database is completely based on track information. However, MC has splendid tools for displaying track based albums as single entities.

Thanks again for your responses.  I'll test it out on another system this week and see how it works in my situation.

[Alex B]

That's good to know - thanks.  Here's the value and difference.  I have 1,100 CDs all filed away in multiple 320 slot CD holders.  Each page holds two CDs and artwork.  Each slot is numbered 1-n.  When I need a CD, I can look it up in the database, and go pull it from the numerically ordered cases 1-159, 160-319, etc.  I've done away with 1,100 jewel cases, the CD racks, and significantly cut the space requirements to store them (160 CDs in an 11x13x6 inch space in the closet bookshelf).  I would not be able to quickly find "Adiemus - Vocalise" in the cases without the CD <--> number relationship.

Well, I should have added "your mileage may vary". 

For me, MC and some other software tools have made the old CDs quite redundant. During the last couple of years I have ripped most of them in a lossless format. I have also scanned complete cover art sets (front, back, booklet, inlay and CD). Besides the front cover images I have the other image files included in the MC database too. I can show them in a slideshow while listening to the music or open with an external viewer for reading enlarged liner notes.

Thanks again for your responses.  I'll test it out on another system this week and see how it works in my situation.

Here is how you can make a view scheme for a CD database: http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=31061.0

You may need more help with creating custom fields and that kind of things. MC has vast amount of features, but some of the advanced features have a steep learning curve too. Don't hesitate to ask for help.