Looking for my ideal Android music player

I'm still looking for my (not necessarily "the") ideal Android player. It should be able to

• change tempo,
• shift pitch,
• change tempo and pitch while an mp3 is playing, and
• either
  • have a thumb scroll or
  • come up as an option when an mp3 is selected from a file manager

I need the thumb scroll because I have a folder with 1400+ fiddle tunes. My file manager has a thumb scroll, so it doesn't have to be built into the music player.

I've come across:

• Audioshift, which doesn't work with Android 4.0+
• Audio Speed Changer Pro, which has no thumb scroll and does not appear as an option when I select a music file from my file manager
• Maple, which doesn't allow pitch or tempo to change while a music file is playing.

The search continues!

Sandboxie, Part 2

No, you didn't miss Part 1. It was a part of Safe Computing, for real!, which introduced the notion of using a virtual computer (or sandbox) for safe surfing. But, there are a few assorted comments worth adding, so here they are:

• If you are surfing the web from within a Sandbox and decide to download a utility, say, the utility gets downloaded, but not to where it appears. For example, suppose you save it to a folder c:\downloads. The sandbox actually saves it to c:\{sandbox}}\downloads, where {sandbox} is the location of your sandbox. You can extract files the sandbox. You can do it manually, but Sandboxie, for example, will tell you that there are files that can be moved outside the sandbox and ask if you'd like it done.
• A sandbox can be used for things other than surfing the web. You can run programs in it. I often install evaluation copies of products in a sandbox. That way, it doesn't leave junk on my computer when I decide it's not worth keeping. (If I decide it is worth keeping, I install it in the usual manner outside the sandbox.) Also, if it installs additional software either without telling me or because I overlooked a check box, everything goes away when the sandbox is emptied.
• A sandbox will probably not protect your Facebook account. That is, there are a bunch of viruses and trojans whose object is to gain control of your Facebook account or mess it up in some other way. A sandbox can't help you here. If you start a rogue application within Facebook, it does its damage on Facebook's site. Facebook doesn't know if the program was invoked from a sandbox. It doesn't care. All Facebook knows is that it was instructed to run something. So, it runs something!

Safe computing, for real! (Part 2)

Scammers at work!

If you're surfing the web and, all of a sudden from out of nowhere, something other than anti-virus software that you yourself have installed greets you with a notice that your computer is infected and telling you to download a program to remove the virus, please don't do it. It's a scam. Clicking on the so-called remover is what puts the virus onto your system. It will then take a non-trivial payment to someone to have it removed. The same site that placed the virus on the computer will offer you a program to remove it. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice...uhm, shame on you again. You're not going to get me a third time, but should anyone chance a second time? Maybe better to give the money to a trustworthy professional.

However, if you are using a sandbox as we discussed last time, all you have to do is empty the sandbox as you thumb your nose at whoever was trying to get at you.

Online virus scans

Whenever your computer acts in a way that makes you uncomfortable, or every once in a while just for the fun of it, it's a good idea to run an online virus checker, such at Trend Micro's Housecall. (There are others. Google is your friend.) The advantage of these programs is that they do not reside you your computer, so it's harder for a virus to evade them.

Online program checker

Every once in a while, you may come across an online utility that looks too good to pass up. Some of them are. One of my criteria for whether such a program is likely to be safe is whether the site offering it has another source of income. If it does, then the utility is likely a form of advertising. If it does not, be afraid. There are some precautions you can take. You can type the name of the program into Google along with the word "virus" to see what pops up. Another option is an online program checker, such as Jotti's malware scan. (Again, there are others and Google is your friend.) These free services allow you to upload the program, which they then run against a suite of virus checkers.

Safe Computing, for real!

I cringe when I read articles about safe computing in the popular press, mostly because they are so off the mark that it's embarrassing...especially when it's so easy to do it right.

First, all the usual disclaimers apply.  I am NOT a computer professional.  I only impersonate one on the Web.  I assume no responsibility if thing go wrong...and at some point they will (if not today, then some other day) if only because one of us makes a typo.  However, I don't speculate.  Usually what I'm writing about are things I've done myself.  I'm happy to be your guinea pig. Maybe, just to be safe, I'll write in the first person.  That is, I won't tell anyone what to do.  I'll write about what I do, with the implication that anyone who feels so inclined should feel free to do likewise.  ("And if everyone walked off the roof, you'd do it, too?" "Thanks, mom.")

Oh, yes.  This is all about computers running Windows.  I don't have any experience with iOS or Linux.

That said, Norton and McAfee do not reside on any of my computers.  If someone asks for help and either program is installed, the first thing I ask is if it's okay to remove it.  If the answer is no, I respectfully decline.  Norton and McAfee take over a computer and make it very difficult, if not impossible, to do things.  I suppose that's the idea.  If you can't do anything, then neither can a virus. Except what often happens is that a computer gets infected and Norton and McAfee make it almost impossible to sort things out.

Instead, install Microsoft Security Essentials. It's free, stays out of the way, and generally does a great job.

But, here's the real secret.  There are three main ways people get viruses: (1) Installing infected software. (2) Email attachments. (3) Surfing the web. Contrary to popular belief, it's not porn and file sharing sites that are the cause of most infections from surfing the web, or so I've read.  They are caused largely by apparently benign sites, especially fan sites.  People who write these things want them infecting computers and what better way to get them out there than by creating your own Justin Bieber site?

The solution is trivial. Software that allows surfing from within a virtual computer, also known as a sandbox. Wait!  Don't let your eyes glaze over, because we're done.  You install the software and then instead of clicking on an icon to start your browser, you now have a different icon to click on which runs the same browser, but within a virtual computer or sandbox.  Every so often (days, weeks, or whenever your computer starts acting flaky), you press on a different icon to empty the sandbox and start over.  That's all there is to it!

So, I'm out there checking on the latest exploits of the Bieb at haha-gotcha dot com and the next thing I know my screen is filled with a picture of Cthulhu claiming my computer will not be freed until I send a large payment to an off-shore account.  I laugh, empty the sandbox, and...bye-bye, all gone!

Microsoft has some free software, but I've never used it.  I've used Sandboxie for years and am thrilled with it. I find myself traveling all over the Web in search of adventure and every so often all hell breaks out. No problem.  I empty the Sandbox and don't do that again!

More later...

Just Like The Other One

Back in November, 2007, I toyed with the idea of a blog, set up Jerry With a J, and then decided I didn't have anything worth saying, so it went nowhere.  Just one post.  Recently I thought a blog might be a good idea after all, so I went back to Jerry With a J, but found I no longer remembered how to access it.  Google has made it all but impossible for me to recover it, and I've spent more than a few hours guessing unsuccessfully how to get in.  So, I've given up for the moment and decided to start Another One, Just Like The Other One.