last.fm screensaver aggregator

Page 2 of 2Prev 1 2

- lukeweb said...
- Subscriber
- 13 Sep 2005, 15:23
Re: Re:

Quoth gerph:
Quoth lukeweb:
Oh it works for someone! Huzzah! :p
Well, works is a bit of a generous statement anyway.

Cheers for the bug report - I've noticed this too. For some reason last night I wasn't getting any top 10 charts info, but when checking the website I wasn't getting any charts data, just a 'lukeweb's charts' header.
I will work on transferring everything from parsing the webpages to using the new XML feeds very soon. This should be a lot more reliable and less like a labrynth of dodgy parsing.
I obviously want the data-end to be 100% reliable, then I'll work on refining the interface and adding more optional tidbits - more context-sensitive info could be a lot of fun (of a similiar type to the whole cover art/similiar artists dealey)

Stay tuned! Thanks for testing it :)

I'm generally using my network connection a reasonable amount here (just because that's part of what I do) and I've seen that when the configured proxy is not in use, the server can close the connection quite prematurely. Even with a proxy in use it can still get cut off. Are you using the configured IE proxy ? Or just doing the fetch directly ?

I think I saw earlier that you're scraping the webpage for the details; you might find it easier to request http://ws.audioscrobbler.com/1.0/user/gerph/weeklyartistchart.xml instead - the data to be fetched is much shorter, and it's easier to parse because the format's pretty much fixed.
No pre-defined proxies are being used, it's a direct fetch. I will look into adding support for proxies. And as I said, I will be making sure the RSS feeds are being used in hte next version.

Also, the disappearing mouse in the display applet is a known bug that I'll look into squishing.

Thanks everyone :)

[quote][b][user]lukeweb[/user][/b] said: [quote][b]Quoth [user]gerph[/user][/b]: [quote][b]Quoth [user]lukeweb[/user][/b]: Oh it works for someone! Huzzah! :p Well, works is a bit of a generous statement anyway. Cheers for the bug report - I've noticed this too. For some reason last night I wasn't getting any top 10 charts info, but when checking the website I wasn't getting any charts data, just a 'lukeweb's charts' header. I will work on transferring everything from parsing the webpages to using the new XML feeds very soon. This should be a lot more reliable and less like a labrynth of dodgy parsing. I obviously want the data-end to be 100% reliable, then I'll work on refining the interface and adding more optional tidbits - more context-sensitive info could be a lot of fun (of a similiar type to the whole cover art/similiar artists dealey) Stay tuned! Thanks for testing it :)[/quote] I'm generally using my network connection a reasonable amount here (just because that's part of what I do) and I've seen that when the configured proxy is not in use, the server can close the connection quite prematurely. Even with a proxy in use it can still get cut off. Are you using the configured IE proxy ? Or just doing the fetch directly ? I think I saw earlier that you're scraping the webpage for the details; you might find it easier to request [url]http://ws.audioscrobbler.com/1.0/user/gerph/weeklyartistchart.xml[/url] instead - the data to be fetched is much shorter, and it's easier to parse because the format's pretty much fixed.[/quote] No pre-defined proxies are being used, it's a direct fetch. I will look into adding support for proxies. And as I said, I will be making sure the RSS feeds are being used in hte next version. Also, the disappearing mouse in the display applet is a known bug that I'll look into squishing. Thanks everyone :)[/quote]

Permalink Quote
- stumo said...
- User
- 13 Sep 2005, 16:10
Worked for me, likewise the mouse pointer disappeared over the screen saver window, I also found that the username could not be changed that easily as I had to go into the code to change it and to exit the screen saver I had to use Alt+F4 as opposed to shaking the mouse. Also if you are playing music when it starts up the screensaver music plays over the top - but I know that you can turn this off, just thought it might be able to be automated so that the screensaver music only comes on when no music is being played. Don't mean to be offensive as I think it is a pretty good screensaver but I thought you might want to know if you wanted to improve it :).

The Funky Drummer

[quote][b][user]stumo[/user][/b] said: Worked for me, likewise the mouse pointer disappeared over the screen saver window, I also found that the username could not be changed that easily as I had to go into the code to change it and to exit the screen saver I had to use Alt+F4 as opposed to shaking the mouse. Also if you are playing music when it starts up the screensaver music plays over the top - but I know that you can turn this off, just thought it might be able to be automated so that the screensaver music only comes on when no music is being played. Don't mean to be offensive as I think it is a pretty good screensaver but I thought you might want to know if you wanted to improve it :).[/quote]

Permalink Quote
- lukeweb said...
- Subscriber
- 13 Sep 2005, 16:39
Re:

Quoth stumo:
I also found that the username could not be changed that easily as I had to go into the code to change it
You should be able to change this option, amongst others by pressing the 'o' key whilst it is running.

to exit the screen saver I had to use Alt+F4 as opposed to shaking the mouse
This is intentional operation, perhaps not quite advertised enough. Normal input - mouse and keyboard - is not enough to close the screensaver, because of the options screen etc. To close the screensaver, pressing the 'Esc' key is recommended.

Also if you are playing music when it starts up the screensaver music plays over the top - but I know that you can turn this off, just thought it might be able to be automated so that the screensaver music only comes on when no music is being played
If you are using Winamp this should already happen. Support for other popular media players will probably be added when possible.

Thanks for the suggestions, and for using it :)

[quote][b][user]lukeweb[/user][/b] said: [quote][b]Quoth [user]stumo[/user][/b]: I also found that the username could not be changed that easily as I had to go into the code to change it[/quote] You should be able to change this option, amongst others by pressing the 'o' key whilst it is running. [quote]to exit the screen saver I had to use Alt+F4 as opposed to shaking the mouse[/quote] This is intentional operation, perhaps not quite advertised enough. Normal input - mouse and keyboard - is not enough to close the screensaver, because of the options screen etc. To close the screensaver, pressing the 'Esc' key is recommended. [quote]Also if you are playing music when it starts up the screensaver music plays over the top - but I know that you can turn this off, just thought it might be able to be automated so that the screensaver music only comes on when no music is being played[/quote] If you are using Winamp this should already happen. Support for other popular media players will probably be added when possible. Thanks for the suggestions, and for using it :)[/quote]

Permalink Quote
- lozzd said...
- Alumni
- 15 Sep 2005, 10:21
This is gonna annoy you.

I'm using dual monitors.
hehehe.

Could you possible make the entire screen black, so that nothing shows on my other screen? The co-ordinates for the other screen are minus, because its left of my main screen, so I'm not expecting anything to appear on it but a black screen would be good!

I had a play, its pretty cool... I'm eagerly awaiting the version that uses the new RSS feeds though, as parsing from the page breaks a lot of things, such as & appears as & and the "'s" is missing off the end of "the white stripes" who were last on my chart. (although my weekly chart, not my top artists!)

With the new webservices, you can have different screens for weekly, and top, and you could even do silly things such as show us our friends!

Anyway, the other thing is, on displaying my Winamp currently playing, It looks very strange and appears with the same name many times. This is more than likely because I have the title of the song and the artist scrolling on my task bar, so that kinda breaks it. I will disable that though ;) just thought i'd let you know.

Very cool so far though :)

Laurie

Want a fully customisable sig (like above?) CLICK HERE!
Insert disclaimer here.

[quote][b][user]lozzd[/user][/b] said: I'm using dual monitors. hehehe. Could you possible make the entire screen black, so that nothing shows on my other screen? The co-ordinates for the other screen are minus, because its left of my main screen, so I'm not expecting anything to appear on it but a black screen would be good! I had a play, its pretty cool... I'm eagerly awaiting the version that uses the new RSS feeds though, as parsing from the page breaks a lot of things, such as & appears as & and the "'s" is missing off the end of "the white stripes" who were last on my chart. (although my weekly chart, not my top artists!) With the new webservices, you can have different screens for weekly, and top, and you could even do silly things such as show us our friends! Anyway, the other thing is, on displaying my Winamp currently playing, It looks very strange and appears with the same name many times. This is more than likely because I have the title of the song and the artist scrolling on my task bar, so that kinda breaks it. I will disable that though ;) just thought i'd let you know. Very cool so far though :) Laurie[/quote]

Permalink Quote
- lukeweb said...
- Subscriber
- 15 Sep 2005, 15:49
Re: This is gonna annoy you.

Could you possible make the entire screen black, so that nothing shows on my other screen? The co-ordinates for the other screen are minus, because its left of my main screen, so I'm not expecting anything to appear on it but a black screen would be good!
This should be possible - thanks for pointing this out - it hadn't crossed my mind at all!

Anyway, the other thing is, on displaying my Winamp currently playing, It looks very strange and appears with the same name many times. This is more than likely because I have the title of the song and the artist scrolling on my task bar, so that kinda breaks it. I will disable that though ;) just thought i'd let you know.
Yes, something I meant to mention - 'Scroll title in the Windows taskbar' MUST be unchecked for that to work.

Very cool so far though :)
Thank you :)

[quote][b][user]lukeweb[/user][/b] said: [quote]Could you possible make the entire screen black, so that nothing shows on my other screen? The co-ordinates for the other screen are minus, because its left of my main screen, so I'm not expecting anything to appear on it but a black screen would be good![/quote] This should be possible - thanks for pointing this out - it hadn't crossed my mind at all! [quote]Anyway, the other thing is, on displaying my Winamp currently playing, It looks very strange and appears with the same name many times. This is more than likely because I have the title of the song and the artist scrolling on my task bar, so that kinda breaks it. I will disable that though ;) just thought i'd let you know.[/quote] Yes, something I meant to mention - 'Scroll title in the Windows taskbar' MUST be unchecked for that to work. [quote]Very cool so far though :)[/quote] Thank you :)[/quote]

Permalink Quote
- [Deleted user] said...
- User
- 16 Sep 2005, 17:35
Re: last.fm screensaver aggregator

Looks very good (Installed and ran ok).

The problem you were having earlier was due to your previous installer using the 16-bit Windows sub-shell, which only works in Windows XP when the file you're executing has no spaces in its path.

Out of curiosity, what language did you write it in, and will you be releasing the source code?

Cheers,
Dave

[quote][b][user][/user][/b] said: Looks very good (Installed and ran ok). The problem you were having earlier was due to your previous installer using the 16-bit Windows sub-shell, which only works in Windows XP when the file you're executing has no spaces in its path. Out of curiosity, what language did you write it in, and will you be releasing the source code? Cheers, Dave[/quote]

Permalink Quote
- lukeweb said...
- Subscriber
- 16 Sep 2005, 18:32
Re: Re: last.fm screensaver aggregator

Quoth psycho275:
Looks very good (Installed and ran ok).

The problem you were having earlier was due to your previous installer using the 16-bit Windows sub-shell, which only works in Windows XP when the file you're executing has no spaces in its path.

Out of curiosity, what language did you write it in, and will you be releasing the source code?

Cheers,
Dave
Thanks for that interesting insight. I tracked down the error to be using the wrong variables for the installer determining the user's system directory.
And it's been created in Multimedia Fusion, and no the source will not be released (mainly because few could do anything with it).

[quote][b][user]lukeweb[/user][/b] said: [quote][b]Quoth [user]psycho275[/user][/b]: Looks very good (Installed and ran ok). The problem you were having earlier was due to your previous installer using the 16-bit Windows sub-shell, which only works in Windows XP when the file you're executing has no spaces in its path. Out of curiosity, what language did you write it in, and will you be releasing the source code? Cheers, Dave[/quote] Thanks for that interesting insight. I tracked down the error to be using the wrong variables for the installer determining the user's system directory. And it's been created in Multimedia Fusion, and no the source will not be released (mainly because few could do anything with it). [/quote]

Permalink Quote
- [Deleted user] said...
- User
- 16 Sep 2005, 21:21
Re: Re: Re: last.fm screensaver aggregator

Quote lukeweb:
Thanks for that interesting insight. I tracked down the error to be using the wrong variables for the installer determining the user's system directory.
And it's been created in Multimedia Fusion, and no the source will not be released (mainly because few could do anything with it).

Ah, fair enough.

Multimedia Fusion looks pretty good; I'll be sure to take a look at the trial version. By the looks of it, it's more graphically orientated than code.

[quote][b][user][/user][/b] said: [quote][b]Quote [user]lukeweb[/user][/b]: Thanks for that interesting insight. I tracked down the error to be using the wrong variables for the installer determining the user's system directory. And it's been created in Multimedia Fusion, and no the source will not be released (mainly because few could do anything with it). [/quote] Ah, fair enough. Multimedia Fusion looks pretty good; I'll be sure to take a look at the trial version. By the looks of it, it's more graphically orientated than code.[/quote]

Permalink Quote
- lozzd said...
- Alumni
- 22 Sep 2005, 15:24
Don't mean to bug you but I want that screensaver ;) hows the RSS feed/dual monitor support version coming along?

I reckon you could easily sell it as a product you know. Of course beta testers like me would get a free copy ;)

Want a fully customisable sig (like above?) CLICK HERE!
Insert disclaimer here.

[quote][b][user]lozzd[/user][/b] said: Don't mean to bug you but I want that screensaver ;) hows the RSS feed/dual monitor support version coming along? I reckon you could easily sell it as a product you know. Of course beta testers like me would get a free copy ;)[/quote]

Permalink Quote
- vikkilea said...
- User
- 22 Sep 2005, 16:38
yeah.. i woud buy it.. as long as its not very expensive, i woudl still be willing to donate

[quote][b][user]vikkilea[/user][/b] said: yeah.. i woud buy it.. as long as its not very expensive, i woudl still be willing to donate[/quote]

Permalink Quote
- lukeweb said...
- Subscriber
- 22 Sep 2005, 22:55
Apologies for the delay in sorting this and 'advisor' out - another project has come up, and my juggling act is quickly collapsing on top of me :p
Stay tuned...

[quote][b][user]lukeweb[/user][/b] said: Apologies for the delay in sorting this and 'advisor' out - another project has come up, and my juggling act is quickly collapsing on top of me :p Stay tuned...[/quote]

Permalink Quote
- lozzd said...
- Alumni
- 22 Sep 2005, 23:55
Re:

Quoth lukeweb:
Apologies for the delay in sorting this and 'advisor' out - another project has come up, and my juggling act is quickly collapsing on top of me :p
Stay tuned...

I'll check every day :D

Want a fully customisable sig (like above?) CLICK HERE!
Insert disclaimer here.

[quote][b][user]lozzd[/user][/b] said: [quote][b]Quoth [user]lukeweb[/user][/b]: Apologies for the delay in sorting this and 'advisor' out - another project has come up, and my juggling act is quickly collapsing on top of me :p Stay tuned...[/quote] I'll check every day :D[/quote]

Permalink Quote
- lukeweb said...
- Subscriber
- 24 Sep 2005, 00:26
In case anyone's interested there is a last.fm live group now. Admittedly it's an excuse to play with the whole group dealey, but it's good fun and might make it easier for you to notice new versions and so on. :)

[quote][b][user]lukeweb[/user][/b] said: In case anyone's interested there is a [url=http://www.last.fm/group/last.fm%2Blive]last.fm live group[/url] now. Admittedly it's an excuse to play with the whole group dealey, but it's good fun and might make it easier for you to notice new versions and so on. :)[/quote]

Permalink Quote
- [Deleted user] said...
- User
- 5 Apr 2006, 20:21
[quote][b][user][/user][/b] said: [b][/b][tag][/tag][/quote]

Permalink Quote