Peter's Useful Crap

As I discussed in part 1 of the Zune review, having a convenient place to purchase songs is useful for Zune and non-Zune users alike. Unfortunately, Canadians likely won’t have access to the Zune Marketplace until late 2008.

Many people can continue to use Torrents, Lime Wire and so on. For those who want to pay for their music (yes, silly us) there is a workaround for buying music in the Zune Marketplace that worked for Canadian me. Whether this will work for you is not guaranteed, so reader beware.

First of all, the reason why I wanted to access the Zune Marketplace so badly is because Puretracks is currently my only option for buying DRM-free mp3s.

The problem is that the Puretracks selection of mp3s pales in comparison to the Zune Marketplace’s selection.

In order to purchase songs on the Zune Marketplace, you need to 1) be able to view the Marketplace; and 2) have Microsoft Points to spend.

The first part simply involves changing the location setting in Windows to “United States”:

That gets you access to the Marketplace in all its glory, where you can at least download free podcasts. However, in order to purchase songs, you need Microsoft Points. To purchase Microsoft Points directly through the Marketplace, you need a credit card with an American billing address.

Luckily, Microsoft Points are the currency for the Zune Marketplace, Windows Live Gallery, and most importantly, Xbox Live Marketplace. This means that you can purchase points for Xbox Live and apply them to your account to purchase mp3s in the Zune Marketplace.

The possibly quickest solution, which I explored, is to buy an Xbox Live points card from someone on eBay and simply have them e-mail you the points code. Update: as pointed out by Jason in the comments to this post, it is important that you purchase an American points card.

After I purchased the card via PayPal, the seller e-mailed me the code almost immediately. I was then able to apply this code through the Zune software.

Armed with some points, purchasing songs in the Zune Marketplace was a cinch, as they downloaded straight away via the software.

The freedom of the mp3 meant that I could access the file just like any song on my hard drive and even play it in old-school Winamp.

Finally, I can pay for my music!

If you want to purchase a Zune Pass (unlimited downloads for $14.99 USD a month), Canadians are still out of luck for now. However, that’s not so bad because the fine print says that DRM-free mp3s aren’t included in the monthly subscription fee.

One final note: Microsoft Points are deceptive in their value. For example, one song typically costs 79 points, but the cost to purchase those points is usually just over a dollar, not 79 cents.

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See also:

Zune review part 1: highlights and deal breakers
Zune review part 3: Sharing music with Zune Social

This is a guest post written by sleepy Thom.

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After reading Pete’s Zune Review Part 1, I was compelled to write about the virtues of the USB flash drive mp3 player. The best music player for you might have been made before the iPods and Zunes stormed onto the scene. I’ve been using the 512 MB Creative MuVo TX mp3 player for almost 5 years now. In addition to playing my audio files, it has FM radio, a voice recorder and can double as a USB mass storage device (flash / thumb drive). While 512 MB seems like a paltry amount of disk space these days, it certainly stores a few audio albums and some other data files.

The major appeal of any USB flash drive mp3 player is the simplicity of transferring files. There is no software or drivers to install. It’s simply plug-and-play. I’ve used my MuVo mp3 player with both my Mac (OSX) and PC (Windows XP), and it works flawlessly. Before the days of Dropbox, I’ve even used my MuVo to transfer files between my Mac and PC. Once you plug the player into a functional USB drive, your computer will detect the player as a removable drive. Then it’s just a matter of dragging and dropping files into the flash drive. The mp3 player will then detect any audio files so that you select them for playback.

There was a brief period where I lost my MuVo. During this time, I used a second hand 2GB iPod Nano (1st generation) that I bought from a pal for cheap. I’ll have to admit that the Nano definitely had a couple things going for it. It’s a sleek and sexy little number, the upgrade in disk space was nice, and the user interface was very intuitive. I also liked the larger color screen. If I wasn’t forced to use iTunes to transfer files, I still may be using my Nano more than my MuVo. Luckily, I found my MuVo behind my bed the following month and have been using it ever since.

There are some negative points about my MuVo that are worth mentioning. The controls are kinda small for my fingers, there’s no playlist option, the battery life isn’t anything to brag about, and the disk space is a bit on the Kate Moss side of fat. The USB flash drive based mp3 players may not be for everyone, but for those that prefer a light weight, sturdy, no-hassle mp3 player that can double as a mass storage device, it can’t be beat.

At the time of this writing, I did a quick search, and found that Creative still offers the MuVo (1GB and 2 GB versions) for sale on its website for real cheap. There’re also a ton of other branded and no-name USB flash drive mp3 players out there (2GB and 4GB storage to boot!) for about a third of the price of the flashier players.

Believe it or not, my current four-year-old, no-name 512mb USB stick mp3 player still compares favourably to many of today’s mp3 players. It requires no software and has FM radio, a voice recorder, and USB drive drag-and-drop capabilities. However, as I’m always interested in media player (ahem, iPod) alternatives, I was happy to receive a free 8gb Microsoft Zune as part of a word of mouth marketing campaign. The Zune, of course, has all of the modern conveniences of an mp3 player, such as video and picture support.

Microsoft officially released the Zune in Canada only in June 2008. Does it represent real iPod competition? I’ll be reviewing the Zune over the next few weeks and will probably devise some contest to give it away at the end of it all.

Here is an overview of the highlights, annoyances, and deal breakers in the Zune so far.

Zune highlights

Usability and sound quality

The physical player itself is a nice little size and very easy to use:

Instead of the popular iPod-like click wheel, it has a touch pad (where you can either slide your finger across or press down on it) and two buttons: one for navigating back and one for playing or pausing.

The screen is quite pleasant and bright and the user interface is slick. The controls are easy to learn. For some reason, music becomes more enjoyable when it is easily accessible and you can do other things while the music plays, such as scroll through the other songs, view the album cover, look at pictures, and so on.

Sound quality is impressive, and I haven’t even tried out the “premium headphones” that came with it.

Wireless sync

As I will discuss a bit later, the Zune requires you to install its proprietary software in order to move files between the device and the computer.

If you use a wireless network, you can update the Zune’s songs without having to plug it into the computer. Although you still need to access your computer to choose which songs and files to sync (not to mention that a wireless sync is slower than a wired sync), the wireless feature means that you do not have to always look for the correct cable.

Setting up the wireless access was simple and similar to connecting a computer to a network.

Once you have set up wireless access, you can run the sync from the Zune itself, with the pleasant interface:

This wireless capability makes me wonder whether the Zune will one day have a web browser installed…

FM radio

For years I’ve wondered why iPods do not have a built-in FM radio receiver. The Zune certainly does, and even displays extra information about the current radio station. I’ve seen the name, current song, and even current weather displayed.

Social aspect

While I haven’t tried this part out yet (I have since tested and reviewed Zune Social), Microsoft really emphasizes the social aspect of the Zune. You can send messages to other Zune users, and wirelessly beam songs to other devices nearby. Unfortunately, with the iPod’s dominance and the closed nature of this feature, you need a Zune nation in order to fully realize the benefits.

Zune annoyances

Installation process

Luckily the installation process only has to be performed at the beginning, because it was quite a pain for me and really made me realize how much this product tries to funnel more traffic through Microsoft.

First of all, if you are a Mac or Linux user, forget about it. While the Zune software has some strong points, it is mandatory and only available for Windows. If you search around, you will find some workarounds, but from what I’ve seen they provide you with read-only access.

Note also that Microsoft tries to make you sign up for a Windows Live account. I did, and there are eventual benefits to signing up, but in order to use the software to just transfer songs and other files, signing up is not necessary.

Before I could install the Zune software, I had to update Windows Update. Upon trying to update Windows Update, it informed me that I had other missing components.

Thankfully when I ignored these errors, the Zune setup program still allowed me to continue. But then it took a whopping half an hour to install on Windows XP. Finally, the Zune software was running and I connected the Zune to the computer via the included USB cable. Unfortunately, I had to restart the software again because while the Zune said “connected”, the software said it wasn’t:

The Zune software isn’t all that bad, though, as it’s intuitive to use and lets you maintain a media library of which certain parts can be synced with the Zune device without much trouble.

Zune Marketplace

After announcements that said that it would be ready in Spring 2008 in Canada, as of when I wrote this, the Zune Marketplace (similar to the iTunes store) still isn’t available. As always, Canadians will have to wait some more to have another good option on where to purchase music and videos. You’ll have to rely on your existing collection and other download places for now.

As detailed on this website, there is a simple workaround in order to be able to browse the Zune Marketplace in Canada. The Marketplace integrates into the Zune software and has a lot of potential. When you implement the workaround, you still can’t purchase any music unless you have a credit card with a US billing address. However, you can access the library of free podcasts. While you can of course get most of the podcasts by scouring the web, they’re nicely organized in the Zune Marketplace:

For now, the annoyance at not being able to purchase music is mitigated by the wealth of podcasts that you can drag and drop into your Zune library, from sports talk to funny videos to Spanish lessons!

No voice recorder

To complete the feature set, a built-in voice recorder would be nice. I agree that it is not an essential feature for most, but if my crappy USB stick mp3 player could do it, why not the Zune?

Deal breakers

Windows and Zune software only

Although I’ve already mentioned this, it’s more than annoying that Microsoft forces you to use the Zune software and Windows. To use the Zune, I am married to my computer at home, must always stick with Windows, and must install the resource hog Zune software. From what I can see, it is not possible to delete a file on the Zune itself — it must be done through the software.

Even though the Zune software isn’t completely evil, it would be nice to have a choice!

To be fair, though, I must applaud the Zune software for not forcing you to convert your files to a specific, protected format by default. Also, if you add files to your library from different places on your computer, it does not alter their location on the file system, simply adding images for album art.

No external drive capabilities

The Zune has the potential to be used as a mass storage device, but it purposely tries to prevent you from doing so.

Should we have been so foolish as to expect plug-and-play external drive capabilities from Microsoft? I implemented one of the hacks available but only ended up with a read-only drive.

Plus, if it’s so difficult to achieve external drive behaviour, then it isn’t so practical to have to do so on every computer you use.

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See also:

Zune review part 2: Zune Marketplace access from Canada
Zune review part 3: Sharing music with Zune Social

August 2014 update: I’ve decided to shut down planetwp.ca due to lack of time to maintain it

To complement the official Planet WordPress and the better, unofficial Planet WordPress, I have launched Planet WordPress Canada.

Planet WordPress Canada is an aggregation of blog posts about the WordPress blogging software, on which this blog is run. What makes this different from the existing (and excellent) Planet WordPresses is that planetwp.ca syndicates posts specifically about WordPress development, events, and news in Canada. As I experienced at Tazzu’s WordPress Camp Vancouver in April 2008, it is useful and a lot of fun to interact with local talent and catch up with what the other Canadians are doing! For community, business, and convenience purposes, you’ll be surprised at what’s going on in your own backyard.

Check out Planet WordPress Canada or find out how to get your blog syndicated on it:

http://www.planetwp.ca

August 2014 update: I’ve decided to shut down planetwp.ca due to lack of time to maintain it

Given the popularity of WordPress, it is regularly targeted by hackers. Even if you upgrade your blog immediately when a new version is released, your site might already have been hacked. Therefore, if there are known WordPress vulnerabilities, old or otherwise, your blog is susceptible to being exploited.

There are two main places for hackers to target on your blog: the files and the database. For them to run arbitrary code on your site (instead of just editing your content, which is mostly in the database) they usually have to hack the files.

(As an aside, for database changes, you could look into MySQL binary or master logs, although you usually need full access to your server to look into these. Also, if you have full access you should also look into more intense protection systems as suggested by Donncha.)

A lightweight way to be on the alert of potential hacks is to get notified whenever a file on your site is changed. Every hour, or more or less frequently depending on your needs, you can run a script (via cron or WP-Crontrol) to e-mail yourself a list of all of the files that have been changed since the last check. (If no files have been changed, no e-mail is sent.) If you or someone else that you know was making edits to the files, then you can just continue with your day. However, if unexpected files have been modified, you can investigate further.

The e-mail would read something like this:

Files modified in the last hour:

/path/to/your/folder/config.php
/path/to/your/folder/plugins/antispam.php
/path/to/your/folder/plugins/countdown.php

Here is some quick code that checks whether any files (including all sub-directories) have been changed beneath a certain folder within the last hour and if so, it e-mails the results to a specified address. The location of the script itself on your server is not important — it just needs to be run periodically. Also, it assumes that you are running Linux and can run the exec function in PHP:

<?php

/*
This file e-mails you a list of all modified files in a certain directory
Run this file via cron every hour

"Find" shell command code syntax from:

http://www.mydigitallife.info/2006/01/19/find-files-that-are-modified-today-or-since-certain-time-ago-in-unix/

and from:

http://linux.about.com/od/commands/l/blcmdl1_find.htm

*/

// Shell command that finds all files below a certain directory that modified within the last 62 minutes
// Replace the file path (absolute or relative to this script's location) as necessary
exec('find /path/to/your/folder -cmin -62 -print', $last_changed);

// Only e-mail the results if anything has changed
if ( count ( $last_changed ) > 0 ) {

    // E-mail settings
    $sendto = "E-mail receiver <[email protected]>";
    $sendfrom = "File change script <[email protected]>";
    $sendsubject = "yoursite.com file change notice";

    // Results of files last modified
    $email_output = 'Files modified in the last hour:';
    $email_output .= "\n";
    $email_output .= "\n";
    $last_changed_files = implode ( "\n", $last_changed);
    $email_output .= $last_changed_files;

    // Mail the file
    // You can also use the PEAR Mail package (http://pear.php.net/package/Mail) or a similar script for more robust mailing

    // Line break, which we will used for the headers
    $send_eol = "\r\n";

    $send_headers = 'From: ' . $sendfrom . $send_eol;
    $send_headers .= 'Reply-To: ' . $sendfrom . $send_eol;
    $send_headers .= 'Return-Path: ' . $sendfrom . $send_eol;

    // Send!
    mail($sendto, $sendsubject, $email_output, $send_headers);
}
?>

If you want to exclude or include certain folders and/or files from the results (for example, exclude a cache folder, since changes to that folder would happen frequently and are usually not the target of hackers), you can use the “prune”, “name”, “regex”, “iregex”, or “path” parameters of the “find” Linux command.

This code can also be applied to any folder, so it’s not just for WordPress installations!

June 17, 2008 update: see a Joomla discussion forum thread about this, which includes some tips on providing more information about the files that have changed.