To my mind anything other than the purchased audio accounts for DRM and I don’t want it. While I’m all for legal downloads, I’m not into being tracked, no matter how legal you make it. Lucky for you and me the account information is actually embedded at the last moment of the iTunes purchase and download process. Which means it isn’t hard embedded, it’s only some additional meta-data. I will have to mention, at this point, that this process only works on iTunes Plus (.m4a) files downloaded from the iTunes Music store. It will not work on older iTunes Protected files (.m4p) although protected files can be upgraded in the iTunes music store to iTunes Plus for a nominal fee.

To remove the meta-data, you need an program which doesn’t recognize the additional meta-information and a way to save the audio losslessly. The program that fits the bill is Rogue Amoeba’s amazingly versatile Fission ($32). It’s a lossless audio editor for the mac and it’s a seriously wonderful tool that I use on a daily basis for editing audio files and creating ringtones. To remove the meta-information, open the iTunes Plus file and re-save the audio.

That’s it. It losslessly saves a .m4a with no user information embedded and best of all, it doesn’t recode or transcode the audio (as with some other burn a CD and reimport methods). It is exactly the same quality coming out as it went in.

A few things you might notice about this process is that the file size will drop after saving. Not entirely sure why. Perhaps removing all that extra meta-data cleans house a bit. You will also notice that the bit-rate for the file will go from 256kbps to something else. This is normal and because Apple, in an attempt not to scare it’s users with different  variable bit-rates from the encoding process, makes every file share the 256kbps regardless of it’s true bitrate. Lastly, Fission adds 0:00.032 of audio to the track? While odd, this shouldn’t actually effect the sound, as it’s 0.03% of a second, so unless you have crazy dog ears, you wont hear it.

Best of all, now you have an audio file that has none of your private data attached, which in my books is truly DRM free.

Show Notes

• Link of the Day: Regretsy
• lala.com
• My twitter
• My most favorite headphones Sennheiser PX 200
  
• Phrazes For The Young – Julian…

Songs

Another show? 2 weeks after the last one? That’s impossible. 5 years worth of podcasting and this is what it results in. This show.

• 5 Years of podcasting starting with the first show
• lala.com
• podcasts to listen to
  • RISK! with Kevin Allison – like a dirty this american life
  • Adam Curry’s Daily Source Code

• Whip it
• Podcast dont’s

Songs

TUTT 56

Are you kidding me? A real honest to blog (joke!) Tracks Up The Tree? This must be some sort of mistake right? I mean… Funtime Ben and Just Josiah are dead right? Or are they?

Yes, yes. Get it out now before you’ve heard the thing. It’s TUTT. Back again for yet another stretch. and you thought we abandoned you? PSHAW! You know the drill, it’s talk about not podcasting, Josiah, girlfriends, cats and a smidge of that old time indie music. Hope you guys enjoy.

Le songs:

1. All The King’s Men by Wild Beasts on Two Dancers (2009)
2. Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out by Mayer Hawthorne on A Strange Arrangement (2009)
3. Crystalised by The xx on xx (2009)
4. Hazy (Feat. William Fitzsimmons) by Rosi Golan on The Drifter & The Gypsy (2008)
5. Forever performed by Julian Velard on Another Guy’s Songs (2009)

Oh and on the reals, the fruit basket is awesome, I am just bad with fruit. Thank you to the lovely person who sent the fruit basket.

Speaking of my girlfriends cat… I give you my hilarious girlfriend, writing about her cat eating plastic. When it rains it purrs.

I still got it!

For all those keeping score out there, I do not enjoy people like this and more so because well quite frankly he sounded like an asshole. My friend then mentioned that my wonderful girlfriend was moving in with me at the beginning of April. This is when, I will call him Turd, Turd decides to go on a tirade on how women are terrible and suck the life out of you.

“Oh, don’t do that. If I could take back my relationship I would.”

This post is to express to all of you people who feel the need to put your horrible relationships, the relationships you are in because you are a weak and incapable of being proactive in your life, on us people with relationships that work. While he was going off about how women are terrible, I couldn’t help but think how lucky I am to actually like my relationship. If it’s so bad Mr. Turd, why the hell are you in it? RIGHT?!

And so I speak to all you people out there look at your relationships and if you hate them, either fix them or leave them, but don’t put your relationship on other people because quite frankly it makes you sound sad. I have news for you, relationships,marriages , and friendships should make you feel great, not horrible. But some people have lost sight of that fact. So I urge you all to say, next time you are around someone is is bringing you down…

“Dear people who suck,

No thank you.

Sincerely,
Someone who doesn’t”

That about says it all.

Well if you’re waiting for an update to Up The Tree, well… they still happen… occasionally. But if you would rather keep tabs on me in fairly regular annoyingly sparse detail, why not saunter over to twitter and follow me? You’ll get all the information you are dying to hear, including how often I eat, how bad my indigestion is when I eat, and what sort of things I think about while I’m eating. I know, I know, you’re welcome.

Be sure to say hi if you do – I will almost certainly add fans… unless your name starts with “Just” and ends in “Josiah”

ZING!

If you choose to comment on this site, you’ll notice a little icon next to your name. That little icon is a “Gravatar” – it’s an avatar for every website that runs WordPress and hopefully more websites in the future. But unless you have a Gravatar you won’t have your own icon and instead I’ll give you a monster instead.

So why dont you do yourself a favor and get a Gravatar and then comment about how I never update the podcast.