Antivirus "False Positive" problem with NOD 32 / tunesBag uploader

Some users reported that the anti virus scanner "NOD32" alerts the user about a virus in the uploader application. This is a so-called false positive alert because there is no virus in the tunesBag uploader application - both the exe file and the setup file are scanned before they are uploaded to the webserver. As an alternative scanner for Windows, I can recommend Free Antivirus from Avira (or switching to Mac OS as I never had any virus problems there ;-)).

Pie Chart of popular artists in tunesBag

This pie chart shows the share of the most popular artists at the moment in our database - as you can see some independent artists are in front followed by well known acts and bands.
Alltogether, the top 20 artists take about 9% of all tracks in tunesBag - a typical long tail story.

Breaking: Beta #3 is out with new social features

We are proud to announce that beta #3 of tunesBag just went live - in this release we put the focus on the enhancement of social features.

What's new? A better interface of course

Just log in - you will notify the new, slicker interface for sure. Here you can see a screenshot of the new library view with our new community bar - this little bar always shows you information about the track you're currently listening to - average rating, comments, playlists or fans.

Facebook-style MiniFeed

To make it easier to follow any actions performed by your friends we have introduced a Facebook-like MiniFeed where you're always updated with the latest information (see a screenshot here).

MiniFeed offered as RSS feed and ready for integration with Friendfeed

Tipp for experts: You can subscribe to this fees using your favourite RSS - reader! You can export this feed to Friendfeed as well.

What else is new?

• We fix various bugs (mainly on displaying issues)
• You can take a look at your private charts
  

Of course we will cover the new single features in detail within the next few days!

tunesBag design - fluid vs fixed width: Your opinion matters

We're working very hard on finishing the next release of tunesBag and one nasty question at the moment is what should be the default design width - fluid vs fixed.
In the past it was much easier ...
In the earlier times of the web this was no big deal as most users where using a screen resolution of 800x600 so every website has been optimized to this screen size.
Today I can see the following data in Google Analytics, however:

• 1280 x 800: 26%
• 1024 x 768: 22%
• 1280 x 1024: 17%
• 1440 x 900: 10%
• 1680 x 1050: 9%
• ...
• 800 x 600: 1%

I am using two resolutions, one time 1280x800 when I'm using my MacBook without an external screen and 1680x1050 with an external screen. A website that always looked crappy on the big screen is Facebook, just too much white space around (does not mean that they should place ads everywhere just to fill up the free space ;-)).
Your opinion?
So please let me know your thoughts on this issue; below you can already see a screenshot of what it might look like. Fluid definitly reminds me of an "application", not sure if this is the way to go.
Of course it will be no problem to switch between the two versions using a skin but there has to be a default style.
Post your opinion here or in the Google Group
The best way to talk about this decision is to talk about it in our Google Group - so join today!

Napster says almost Good Bye to DRM infected WMAs

I just came across this Mashable post covering the news that Napster signed a deal with all major labels to distribute DRM - free files instead of protected WMA files. This could be called some sort of final nail in DRM's coffin to quote the author of this post.
We quite often receive feedback about the support for protected AAC files (purchased in the iTunes store). To be honest we currently don't have any intentions to support these "infected" files - maybe this will change one day but right now please stick to formats like the popular MP3 format or unprotected WMA files. Of course you can also try to convert the files on your own computer, please do a Google research for this issue.

tunesBag is now an official twitter - client

Just a short notice - all comments about tracks posted to twitter are now marked with the client name "tunesBag" - twitter has accepted tunesBag als own client source (see the example here). No big deal but nice ;-)
To add your twitter account, just go to the preferences and enter your username / password for your twitter account. If you don't know what twitter is, just check out my twitter stream to get an impression.

Working on some exciting new features

Last week I had to fight with a really nasty cold so more or less everything came to a stop. This weekend I was able to spend time developing new features again, however. Stay tuned - the next version of tunesBag will be released in the upcoming week - including some really awesome features and improvements.

Important bug fix: Integration of 3rd party services now working properly again

We've added a mechanismn to detect invalid access data for last.fm, facebook etc to prevent needless requests to the other services. If performing an access fails for several times, the account is disabled (maybe the user does not exist any more, the password has changed or such issues).
So far so good - but every new account added by our users has been automatically set to a "not working" mode by a wrong default database value - this has now been fixed and all last.fm, facebook or twitter accounts added in the last few days should be working fine now!
Important: There is no need to re-enter the access data.
-- Update: Facebook API changed as well so another bug fix was necessary ;-)

tunesBag now available in Deutsch + Español

Most people understand English but they feel much more comfortable when working with localized software. We understand this very good and therefore we've added now the first two additional languages to our system - Deutsch (German) and Español!
While the translations are far from perfect this is an important step for us. If you get to know any very funny translation please let us know this issue (by email to office(at)tunesBag.com or here in our Google Group).
How to change the language?
To switch the language, just open the preferences and change the language in the select box. After a reload, you can enjoy tunesBag in the new language!

Improved look of playlists - check it out now

We've enhanced the playlist view in order to bring you a more comfortable view - just take a look at the screenshot below, all stuff in the playlist mode is much brighter and easier to read.

Also, we've introduced a new pagination system - in case you have more than 100 tracks for a certain selection, you can now browse through all result pages!

Why cloud computing/storage is good for you

I guess 99% of all internet users are already using cloud computing/storage services on the net - just think of your Google Mail or Yahoo! account.
What is so beautiful and new about cloud computing and why does it make you happy?

• It's damn easy for users - cloud / storage services are about offering simple services to maximize the value for it's users. So most of the services require just a web browser to access the data - that's fine with Ajax, Flex/Flash and such stuff.
  
• Your data is freed from the ties of certain devices. You can access your data just about anywhere - today I used three computers with two different operating systems to access my email - all I needed was a browser. Mobile access to a lot of data will come soon in a huge manner!
  
• It's better for the environment. Image thousand home computers storing and computing data - instead this could be done by a single server. What we need are more energy efficient devices.
  
• It's cheaper for vendors and consumers. No local setup means lower costs of ownership and lower support costs.
  
• It's a backup - in most cases data still exists on the local machine, so it's a good way to create a backup as well.
  

So what's to do in order to make Cloud computing / storage a real success?

• Faster internet connections, especially better upload rates
• More energy efficient devices for maximum power saving at the client
• Some sort of general guidelines for the layout of online applications (now every web app introduces it's very own layout and imageset)
• Better access for mobiles