posted on July 18, 2001 11:19:58 AM
I know we had a lot of Napster fans here, and now that it's six feet under, I've been exploring the alternatives. Aside from good old FTP the best I've found (after trying 5 or 6 different things) is audiogalaxy.
You have to download a small program they call a 'sattelite' and it runs while you search for mp3s on their web site's search engine. It works very, very well. The best Napster alternative there is, I think.
posted on July 18, 2001 11:45:05 AM
Phooey...I just tried to connect to Napster and got this:
Statement of Hank Barry, Interim CEO of Napster
7/11/01
This morning, we appeared before the District Court with evidence that our new file identification architecture has achieved over 99% effectiveness in identifying and screening out noticed works. We told the judge that we were ready to resume file transfers.
The Judge issued an order prohibiting Napster from enabling file transfers unless Napster reaches 100% success. The Court delegated to the technical expert further examination and testing of the Napster system.
The Court's ruling today that Napster must block all file transfers threatens all peer-to-peer file sharing over the Internet and is at direct odds with the 9th Circuit's ruling. While we are disappointed by this ruling, we will work with the technical expert to enable file transfers as soon as possible and we are continuing full steam ahead toward the launch of our new service later this summer.
On June 27, at the direction of the Court and the Court-appointed technical expert on a court-ordered deadline, Napster switched its entire service over to a new file identification architecture. This state-of-the-art technology is brand-new and has never been attempted on such a broad scale. It is important not just for compliance efforts, but for our new system that will make payments to artists when their works are transferred over the Napster service. I am extremely proud of what Napster's team has accomplished in developing this technology.
Our initial testing showed that a limited number of noticed works were not being caught in the new screens. When we ascertained the need to fine-tune the database underpinning the new system, on July 1 we voluntarily suspended file transfers on a temporary basis in order to remain scrupulously compliant with the court's order. After further testing, our results improved to a level of near-perfection, with only a very limited number of works that had incorrect identifying information or had been noticed incorrectly.
Napster will obey this order, as we have every order that the court has issued. We believe the Judge's order is inconsistent with the 9th Circuit's decision and wrong on a variety of other grounds. We will appeal to the 9th Circuit on an expedited basis. We will continue to work with the technical expert and explore other options for resuming transfers as soon as possible.
We continue to believe in the future of file sharing and we are hard at work on our new membership-based service, which will launch later this summer. We are encouraged by the response of the Napster community and the many rightsholders who wish our work to go forward, and we very much appreciate their support.
posted on July 18, 2001 11:56:16 AM
Yeah, except you search for songs on the web site, click the little icon next to the song and with the program running it downloads.
posted on July 18, 2001 12:22:29 PM
Thanks, James!
Can you recommend an MP3 player? I'm using the free version of RealPlayer. As far as I can see, I can't make a playlist that will replay continuously. I really liked the Napster player because of that feature...
posted on July 18, 2001 12:41:54 PM
They'll never get that genie back in the bottle.
I'm not sure what ISP you use but some that provide a healthy selection of usenet groups will provide you with all the mp3 files you could hope for. Newsgroups like alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.celtic, or alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.soundtracks, or alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1960s, or alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.beatles, etc. have complete albums. With a program called NewsShark downloading them is a snap, you can download complete albums (with the CD artwork) off of the usenet, it will even log back on and resume the download if you're knocked offline. Even when Napster was at it's best I still preferred the usenet sources. A lot depends on your ISP on what newsgroups are offered, some ISPs just don't offer much and others offer a lot, my ISP offers over 62,000 newsgroups. An alternate solution is to subscribe to one of the newsgroup services. They usually run around $10.00 a month and will provide you with all the newsgroups fit to list, and the ones that aren't fit to list also.
I collect OTR (old time radio) mp3 files, I've got thousands of them, the Jack Benny show, Fibber McGee and Molly, Burns and Allen, Journey Into Space, Suspense, etc. they are public domain. I like listening to them on drives or when I'm laying in bed.
Toke, try WinAmp, a nice program in my option for playing MP3 files on your computer.
posted on July 18, 2001 12:48:04 PM
Thanks, uaru...I will. I didn't know about all the usenet stuff, either. I've downloaded the AG satellite and am trying to get it to work. I am really bad at this...
posted on July 18, 2001 12:54:30 PM
Hmmm. Everything seems to be fine with AG until I try a search...the song comes up on the page...I click on it and get:
Network error
Unable to read URL from host www.audiogalaxy.com: Not
in GZIP format
Anyone know what that is? Of the many errors I've received...that's a new one.
Edited to say...DUH! I was clicking on the wrong icon. I think the big X was a clue...
[ edited by toke on Jul 18, 2001 01:10 PM ]
posted on July 18, 2001 12:56:57 PM
It's not that hard to get to work, but it's not as intuitive as Napster was. If you've got any problems just ask! Click the little sattelite icon next to the song and not the song itself.
Also, I still use the internal Napster mp3 player since I'm used to it, but I also have musicmatch. I think the two most popular mp3 players are WinAmp like Uaru suggested and Sonique.
posted on July 18, 2001 01:33:21 PM
I downloaded Audiogalaxy last week--the next day I had to use "Go Back" to get rid of it--every time I tried *using* it it caused my computer to crash.
posted on July 18, 2001 01:35:30 PMI downloaded Audiogalaxy last week--the next day I had to use "Go Back" to get rid of it--every time I tried *using* it it caused my computer to crash.
Ah. Full disclosure. It's always good to hear both sides, don't you think?
posted on July 18, 2001 06:07:18 PM
I just installed Gnotella and Morpheus. Not only can you get sound files, but video, programs, text files, ZIPs, and much more. Nice that it is free and it does not cost anything to share files.
posted on July 18, 2001 06:29:58 PM
Maybe the spyware in Audio Galaxy is the problem? There used to be a thread around here somewhere that gave a link to a website that offered an Audio Galaxy program without the spyware.
I like Audio Galaxy better than Gnotella, Morpheus or Napster.
Maybe the program has changed recently. I was able to opt out of all the spyware... WebHancer (or a name akin to that) was one of them. Setup asked me to approve the download of several add-ons. I refused them all. After I had AG up and running, I double-checked with AdAware...it found no bugs.
James...
I just wanted to thank you for the new program - first GoBack, and now, AG... I figured it out, in spite of myself, and have been happily recording away. So...thanks!
posted on July 20, 2001 03:21:55 PM
Toke, maybe it has changed. When I last logged onto Audio Galaxy a few days ago, it said I had an older version of the software and to download something new (I didn't). My software is from a few months ago.
It used to be, when I installed my Audio Galaxy software, anyway, that it would ask you if you wanted to install two spyware-type programs. Yes, something like Webhancer was one and the other... gator something? I forget.
Anyway, what would happened was, even if you said 'no' to both of those, one of them would be installed anyway. But, maybe that's changed now.
posted on July 20, 2001 04:32:11 PM
Muriel - Please be very, very careful with iMesh! The site is notorious for viruses. MP3's are pretty safe, but .jpg's, .mpg's and other files can be altered to include viruses. Some people do this on purpose, knowing that others are downloading from their computers. A friend of mine recently got a nasty virus from downloading an "unsavory" Brittany Spears .avi. I told him he deserved it, (but it messed up his hard drive really bad.)
I figured it out, in spite of myself, and have been happily recording away. So...thanks! 