How to remove a password from a USB enhanced removable storage device in Windows 7

This took /way/ too long to work this out... so posting here in the hopes it will help someone else.

So basically my friend has Windows 7 Ultimate and had 'set a password' on her cheapo USB disk. She then found out she couldn't use the disk on anyone else's computer. She knew the password, she just wanted it removing so the disk would work on other computers again. The disk had no files on it.

Turns out this password protection is IEEE 1667, and the only real world implementation of this appears to be in Windows 7. It's implemented at the hardware level, so if you try to use the disk on any other OS you get zilch. Nada. NOPE.avi

What we finally figured out is that if you type your password incorrectly upon plugging your disk in, you get an option to 'reset' the device. This wipes it clean and removes the password protection, and makes it work on other systems again. Obviously, note the 'wipes it clean' bit there -- you should back up the contents of the disk before resetting.

God bless Microsoft usability...

All Grown Up

It's been a while since I blogged about anything, so I thought I'd fill the void with some personal updates.

I've finished my degree at Imperial College London. Those of you who are close to me will know that the few months leading up to my final exams were some very difficult times for me, least because of the pressure to do well in exams. Turns out I made it through OK, but I owe a lot to the very good friends who lent me their support. You know who you are, and I love you all. Anyway, my mum is now in possession of a certificate saying that I'm an absolutely first class master at physics, or something. Graduation is in October and she can't wait. Super.

After my massive snowboarding credit card binge this year (two holidays in the Alps and countless trips to the Milton Keynes Sno!Zone adds up to a lot), I didn't waste any time after exams finding a source of income. Since the beginning of June I'm very proud to say I've been working for one of the major players in the world of CG visual effects - Soho-based Double Negative.

DNeg have worked on many major titles of recent times including my own personal favourites Inception, Cloverfield, The Dark Knight, The Bourne Ultimatum and Hot Fuzz. I work as a Research & Development Programmer, and hack on the software that we use to make sweet shiz like this happen. I learn so much every single day and it's awesome to be given the opportunity to solve such unique and interesting problems. Still getting used to the whole "waking up in the morning" thing, though - in fact, I'm lucky to be there before eleven. It's a good job they are flexible on working hours else I would have been P45'd a long time ago. (For our US friends, that's a "pink slip", not some kind of submachine gun.)

I think, without question, the best thing about working for DNeg is that I get to sit on this beast. I have not fussed about a chair so much in my life and I doubt I ever will again. You could probably buy a house in Darlo for the price of one of these, but believe me when I say it is worth every last penny. I actually get a bit of a semi just thinking about it. If there's one office chair you save up for all your life, make this it.

Music is still on a break. I banned myself from producing till my exams were over and then when I've tried to get back into it I'm still not making anything good, so it's time to shake it up a bit. I'm going to get hold of a pair of BeyerDynamic DT 880s (probably), Ableton Live, a few new synths (Sylenth, V-Station, Massive?) and some sample packs (probably get VEC3 because my drums feel somewhat outdated), and actually make a real effort to learn some theory and produce something good. I cannot actually believe I've let four years go by since my LXJ remix of Dan Stone - Road Test was released. While there have been a few tracks in the pipeline since, most of them have admittedly been pretty sub-par. Hopefully things will change if I get my act together. Wish me luck.

kthxbye!

PHP wart of the day

Just spent about a half hour debugging this. It's such a shame that if you try to do anything neat in PHP, stupid behaviour foils your plan:

php > $n = NULL;
php > var_dump($n['something']);
NULL
php > var_dump($n[0]);
NULL

How this makes any sense is beyond me. It even happens if $n is FALSE...

Python, for comparison, throws an exception sanely:

In [1]: n = None
In [2]: n['something']
TypeError: 'NoneType' object is unsubscriptable

Python tip: enumerate(list) vs. xrange(len(list))

For a long time, when wanting a counting variable with which to index some list in a Python loop, I've used for i in xrange(len(some_list)). However, I've since discovered the built-in enumerate function, so you can instead do for i, item in enumerate(some_list). This has the benefit of already giving you effectively item = some_list[i] for each iteration of the loop, and also working on iterators that don't necessarily have a length. (enumerate simply gives you an iterator that returns each item of the input collection back together with a counting number. Far too simple!)

Hopefully this will help someone, but if not, it’ll remind me later!

Some Short Tune Reviews from TATW 296

Thought I'd review the tracks played on this week's Trance Around The World to force me to listen properly! Here it goes.

Dan Stone "Fahrenheit" (Anjunabeats)

Arbitrary piano over stock pads and plucks with a standard bass progression. As expected from Dan Stone, crisp production, but can't help think that this track is born of a need to get another pay cheque in from Anjunabeats. 2/5

Hydro Aquatic "Moon River" (Monster Tunes)

Overused techy side-chain-compressed bass line with a Nitrous Oxide "North Pole"-style theme that Above & Beyond are absolutely caning right now (see "Anjuna Beach"). Nothing much going on here. 2/5

Angelic "It's My Turn 2009" (Darren Tate Remix)

Not much to offer over the older versions other than an updated sound set. Nothing very interesting above that. 2/5

Boom Jinx & Jaytech "Milano" (Anjunadeep)

Wouldn't expect anything less than lush, edgy sounds from Boom Jinx and Jaytech, and they deliver on those grounds. Reasonably funky bass pattern, but gets boring quickly. Good warmup material. 3/5

Mat Zo "Rush 2009" (Anjunabeats)

I'm still caning the original of "Rush", and I was surprised to see an updated version so soon. Borrows even more from the world of tech house. Mat's production is as always very refreshing, but I feel this remake deducts more than it adds. I will forego this one for the original. 3/5

Temple One "Sahara Nights" (Steve Brian Remix) (Enhanced Recordings)

Typical Anjuna-fodder. Good production, but totally generic sounds and theme. Also, the guy has two first names. 2/5

EverLight "Colours" (Cressida Remix)

Delightful themes with a blissful atmosphere. Adventurous accompanying parts give this track some nice originality. Great flow and solid production. 3/5

Everything But The Girl "Missing" (Greg Downey Remix)

Greg delivers a typically techy concoction balanced with the iconic breakdown lifted from the original Todd Terry mix. Absolutely fantastic take on the theme, I just wish he could have made something out of it for the main part instead of resorting to pretty generic tech trance beats. Regardless, how can this not go off in a club? 3/5

Edu pres. Time Traveler "Save The Planet" (Cramp Remix) (Levare)

Arbitrary piano and more boring plucks on the break, but the build up seems to pay off. The theme brings a smile to my face, even though it's quite simple. 3/5

Filo & Peri feat. Aruna "Ashley" (Alex M.O.R.P.H. Remix) (Vandit)

Heavy peak-time tech trancer with pretty good vocal work and disgusting(-ly good) bass programming. Not much love, but very functional. 3/5

Chapter XJ "Resurrection" (Jorn van Deynhoven Remix) (Monster)

Almost-arbitrary piano breakdown, but completely forgiven by a real crowd-pleaser of a theme. This is big-smile, textbook trance. I have been going absolutely nuts for this in the clubs. 4/5

Paul Keely "Cloud 9" (Anjunadeep)

Eighth-note progressive house. Functional, but somewhat uninspired percussion. A gorgeous and well programmed 4 bar theme, but not much going on other than that. 3/5

Jerome Isma-Ae "Hold That Sucker Down" (Pilot 9)

Tech house beats with a classic-sounding, dark and moody theme. Pretty cool, but I don't feel much emotional attachment. 3/5

Sunny Lax "Misgrey" (Anjunabeats)

Now this is a side of Sunny Lax I didn't expect to see. Techy beats and fresh, interesting sound work. I absolutely cannot resist the theme! Mesmerising bass, decorated beautifully and tastefully. Just try and keep me off the dance floor. 4/5

Markus Schulz "Do You Dream?" (Grube & Hovsepian Remix) (Coldharbour)

Nice theme with a big spacious sound. Ticks all the boxes, but somehow doesn't really do that much for me. 3/5

Mark Pledger feat. Melinda Gareh "Time Stands Still" (Solaris)

Gorgeous sounds and and a theme that, if a bit indulgent at times, practically melts my spine. Hypnotic, progressive and full of the trance sensibilities I long for. A genuine, refreshing arrangement and form, though, like "Fallen Tides" I am left feeling a little lost in the theme sometimes. Looking forward to remixes. 3 4 3 4/5

Today’s hack: CD wallet inlay track listings generator

If you’re a CD DJ, and, like me, you’re used to scrawling the names of the tracks you’ve just burnt down onto a piece of paper and slotting it into your CD wallet, you probably know how difficult it is to write legibly in a small space.

So, I hacked this Python tool together to generate a printable PDF from some simple text files. There is no graphical interface (yet), just a simple command line interface.

All you have to do is:

1. Create a folder full of plain text files like such:

   LABEL GOES HERE
   Artist 1 - Title 1
   Artist 2 - Title 2
   Artist 3 - Title 3
   ... etc.

   that is, the CD label goes on the first line, and then the track listing goes on each line after that. The file names do not matter, but it's probably a good idea to use the same thing for the label and filename.

2. Run the tool as such:

   python /path/to/tracklisting.py /path/to/tracklisting/files/*

3. Out pops the PDF “output.pdf” in the working directory. Print it off, and cut it out! Happy times!

The code is up on Launchpad at https://code.launchpad.net/~alex-weej/+junk/tracklisting. Please feel free to submit patches or suggestions for any improvements you may have!

A Protest Against “Wall-to-Wall” Conversations on Facebook

Do people realise that when they write a “private” wall post on their friend’s or loved one’s wall, that it shows up on all of their friends’ home pages? Does anyone really care to read half a conversation?

As a mild method of comical protest, I’ve started hitting “Like” on such posts to politely remind and simultaneously freak out people who do this. I think everyone should join in the fun.

Jane → Joe: night night darling ;) xxxxx

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Send a message instead! No-one else gives a shit!