Using Computer Audio as Microphone on Macintosh

Have you ever wanted to record a file of an online audio stream or something? Perhaps you don't like using youtube-mp3.org but still want to rip music off YouTube. Whatever your motive is, I do frequently record my computer audio. The process was unfortunately quite obscure and involved a lot of internet searches. And now I'm going to tell you how.

Step one: Download and install SoundFlower.

Once done, you should see it as a device in your sound menu.

But you can't stop here; there's one more crucial step for it to work properly. So...

Step Two: Open Audio Midi Setup

Step Three: Press the plus button in the bottom left to create a multi-output device.

In the list in the bottom, select only Soundflower (2ch),
(although I believe 16ch works as well), and Built-in Output.

Step Four: To record computer audio, you will need to do two things. First, go to audio settings, and under Output, select Multi-Output Device.

Then, go to Input and select either Soundflower (2ch) or (16ch), whichever one you chose for your Multi-Output device. If you're using stereo headphones, I don't think it makes a difference.

Note the registering audio input. I was listening to Nixon in China.

This worked very well for me. There doesn't seem to be any loss in audio quality. As a matter of fact, I used this system to obtain the album Naqoyqatsi (which isn't available for purchase online) from some chap who uploaded it to YouTube.

The good thing about this system is that if you use an application such as Audacity, then you can output it in whatever format you wish - for this particular case, I wasn't limited to not very good quality mp3 files - you can do whatever you want this way. FLACs, OGGs, AIFFs... Anything is possible!

OpenOffice, LibreOffice, NeoOffice, etc. Won't Restore Windows

I think many people have had this problem, and I've found a solution (thanks to forum-type people).

A few months ago, OpenOffice, upon opening, would prompt me to restore or not restore windows. However, clicking either of the buttons would just reset the window to its default state without doing anything. And the only way to quit was with force quit.

So I got LibreOffice, a piece of software almost identical to OpenOffice, but, well, Libre.

It worked pretty well for a few months, but at some point it prompted me with the same error message.

At this point, I had a few options: I could get another word processor, I could try to fix it myself, or just not have access to any of my files. I have Pages, it's a great word processor, but it can't open .odt format, so I still wouldn't be able to open any of my files.

The first option was to get NeoOffice (yet another word processor). On its site, the latest version, supposedly "free", has to be paid for. Well, they say that you have to become a "NeoOffice Donor". Basically, they want you to give them money.

The next option was to fix it myself. I fished around for a few options, and I found one. It told me to go to:

Users/Library/Saved Application State

And delete the file:

org.openoffice.script.savedState

Unfortunately, the folder "Library" didn't seem to exist inside "Users", so I kind of gave up on that.

So that took me back to option one. But Pages still doesn't support .odt format. So I searched for a solution again, and found one that works. I've compiled the solution into some easy to follow images, in case you have no idea what I'm talking about, and all you're trying to do is make a word document-

Also, I didn't have anything better to do. Anyway, here it is:

In Finder, open the "Go" menu.

Hold down option, and while doing so, click on Library, which just appeared.

Now, go to Library-Saved Application State-org.openoffice.script.savedState (if you're using libreoffice or neooffice, it will say that instead)

Move that entire folder to the trash, then empty it. Do you like my desktop picture?

Yes, it's supposed to say Blue Square - "K". Go away.

Infinite Screen Sharing

You know when you have two mirrors directly opposite each other, making an infinite display of whatever's around the edges? Well, today I did just that, but the technology way.
First, I went on to my computer, and shared the screen of another computer. I then shared the screen of My computer with THAT computer. Since each computer is staring at the other's screen, over and over and over, you get an infinite loop. I now present, infinite screen sharing, from the other computer's perspective:

So, yes. If you have two compatible computers with screen sharing enabled, you can try this any time. It won't harm your computer in any way; it's just a cool trick you can do.

A Thing

Here's a script for a video I might make, because I'm strange like that.

Hello.

You know who I am.

Indeed, my purpose here is probably quite clear.

And I guess what's off the screen is validated because I can see it.

Fluctuations in quantum space, I guess.

It's where something that's been observed, changes.

Without shifting realities.

Anyway, what I wanted to talk about is the big problem here.

There's a man on the loose who would kill you on sight.

Kikiwa.

You can't escape him; he has the fastest mode of transportation in existence.

The secret subway.

Actually- no, steve still uses physical thrusters. You can't beat material reconstruction.

Kind of like teleportation, but it's different.

Yeah, I guess, teleportation's impossible.

The space organ uses vibration to calibrate the internal workings of string theory.

There's more than one Walker Man.

They are ageless. They are alive forever, and they're dead forever.

See, that's it. I need people to validate it. Like- here. Here's the script I'm reading off of. Here's a little dalek made of plastiscene. It does a good job of exterminating bugs.

Anyway, Kikiwa. You have to get past the elephant. What's difficult about the elephant is that it has a really, really really long trunk.

And his children. And his hideous wife.

Once you're past them, find the brick. It's somewhere. It's like, you know horcruxes? From harry potter, yeah. He's put his being into that brick. Find the brick. Destroy it. I don't care. The world's in trouble, and someone has to stabilize reality.

No, his security system isn't great. He isn't smart.

He can change his look. You can tell it's him because he reeks of nitroglycerin.

He can change his look. The police can't find him.

Glory days or oppression days?

200 Views!

As of yesterday, my blog has received 205 views from all over the world! And, the rate of views per month is increasing, but I appreciate it if you share this blog, comment, or any such things! Anyway, thank you to all the people who have read my posts, and... um... yeah.

Machinarium

Hello. I realize it's been a while since I've posted, and one reason for that is that I have a computer anew. But enough about that. Since it's what I often do, I'm just going to talk about some random application or game that I like. And today, it has nothing to do Myst or Riven!

So, about this game. It's a point and click style adventure about this robot thingy. You must save your friend who is also the opposite gender, because apparently robots still have sexual attraction. Anyway, the whole thing is hand-drawn, and it solves a lot of the annoyances of other point and click games such as King's Quest. To name a few, you can't make the game unwinnable, and the implausible holding enormous amounts of stuff in your pockets theory is fixed by the robot eating everything, because apparently he's hollow. It also has a lot of neat ambient music, and the puzzles are usually not arbitrary. However, there are certain times that it seems like they put in a puzzle just for the sake of having a puzzle, unlike Riven where the team spent months trying to make everything seem real. That's not to say I don't like this game. It is a good game, but I'm afraid I still don't like it as much as the Myst series. Although Myst 5 wasn't that great. Anyway, yeah. It is a good game. If you're interested, you can play a demo or buy the full version here:
http://machinarium.net/demo/