New Software
While I was in Idaho, I tested out two pieces of new software—one I bought online and one I bought at Fry’s.
The first was Audio Hijack Pro from Rogue Amoeba, purveyors of audio software that you can’t talk about in airports. I got it to record a radio show, as well as tweak audio, grab samples from other sources, and maybe record some of my own stuff. So, the test case was an FM radio grab.
On KBSU, Boise State University’s public radio station, Arthur Balinger has hosted an ambient music show called “Edges” for so many years that he’d already been doing it for a while when I last lived in the area (in 1991). The show only airs on Tuesday nights and doesn’t broadcast over the internet. So, you kind of have to be there to hear it. I was about 58 miles (as the car drives) from KBSU’s tower (probably only 30something by air). I checked my feed to make sure I had good signal from Grandma’s stereo, jacked a line into the mic jack of my Powerbook, filtered out some static hiss, and set it to go.
Audio Hijack didn’t even hiccup. It snagged the stream perfectly and got the whole show. It was marvelous. The Low Pass Filter cleaned the sound up enough that I am confident now that I’ll be able to digitize and create CDs out of the tapes I recorded from that show almost 2 decades ago.
The other piece of software was PrintMusic from Finale. I bought it to install on my son’s iBook in order to teach him to transpose piano or violin music for his alto saxophone. So, in order to see if it would work on Tiger, I installed it on my PowerBook first. Okay, so I can’t really use the software without an Activation Code. That’s fine. I’ll call the 800 number (having no internet access in Idaho), register it, get an activation code, delete it from my machine, and install it on the iBook.
Oh, no, I won’t. I got the number, authorized it on the PowerBook, but when I attempted to install it on the iBook, the secondary code (whatever it was called) CHANGED. My new Authorization Code is no longer valid on the iBook. After attempting to edit some obscure files that contained the Sales Code (or whatever it was called), I failed to get it to authorize the iBook. Okay, Finale, here’s the thing. This is $50 software you are, ahem, trying to sell to educators, parents, and students. Not Silicon Valley professionals like me. Students. Kids. What the hell were you thinking?
Now, I have to come up with a solution that, hopefully, doesn’t involve me purchasing another copy of Finale. Because it wouldn’t work. Why? Because the Authorization Code is a combination of the serial number and the secondary code. Which is installed on the iBook already. Purchasing another copy would likely prove fruitless because deleting the old one wouldn’t remove the Preference in the library (which I failed to find) that has the number in it.
You make me want to find a crack for your wonderful software with the piece of shit registration system. I did my due diligence. I purchased the software at a store, like a good citizen. If you want your potential customers to download your softare illicitly, make sure you keep this system in place. It works well for families that have multiple computers or for kids who get new computers and have to call in to reregister the software each time they do. Then, they just jump on Limewire or BitTorrent and download your shit for free. I could understand if this was the procedure for Logic or ProTools at $1000 a pop. This is $50 software.
So, big ups to the folks at Rogue Amoeba for Audio Hijack Pro. You guys rock. And the big middle finger to MakeMusic. You guys suck ass.
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