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!

Woof!

You see, this is why I shouldn't be allowed to use electronic devices late at night.

Part of this picture was forged. Can you figure out which part it was?

External SuperDrive

As some of you may know, I currently own an 11" MacBook Air. It's a great, portable, powerful computer, but the lack of a disk drive can (occasionally) be a bit irritating. You can sort of "borrow" someone else's disk drive, but it hogs the bandwidth on that network, and it's often laggy. But anyway, I didn't really think I'd need a disk drive much, but there have been a few times where I'm sitting somewhere, and I see a DVD I'd like to watch, but then I remember, "Oh that's right, I can't.". And then I have to go get a big heavy computer that can. But now there's a solution to that dilemma:

THE EXTERNAL SUPERDRIVE.

This thing is great. It's this tiny aluminum case, with just a small slit for the CD to go into. It can read and burn CDs and DVDs. It's actually kind of neat, because it takes in the CDs a lot faster than the one on the MacBook Pro and the iMac. The first time I put a disc in, I was quite surprised when the disc just shot in there. It reads the discs really fast, and it's quite quiet after the first little bit. It's almost as if it reads the whole entire disc in the first few minutes, then just lets you watch without noise for the rest of time. Anyway, I got one, so here are some photos of it and (for the first time on this blog, actually) my computer: (I apologize that these are rather low quality images, but I took them with my iPod under low light)

There they both are.

Now the laptop is open, and the DVD for "Naqoyqatsi" is sticking out.

And the DVD being played, flawlessly.

So, summary: Another great product from Apple. Works beautifully. The end.

Oh and by the way, just a quick message, I encourage you (whoever you are) to comment! Go ahead! It only takes 30 seconds, you don't need an account, and I want to know that these hundreds of views aren't just robots that randomly browse the internet.

Image/Teaser Thing For Blog

I've recently created a little image to advertise this blog. Well, not advertise, but it's essentially just an image that represents it, or something. Maybe you can use it as a desktop picture. I don't know. It's not as pretty as I'd like it to be, but if I can get my hands on Photoshop, I'll be able to make better stuff. You see, I used to have Photoshop Elements, but since my computer runs OSX Lion, I can't use that particular version (it's a PowerPC application). Anyway, image:

Yeah. It's just a Chromey-wave thing in the side, with the blog's title in the top. I think I might use something like this for the top pane in the future, because the glow sticks never really looked that good anyway. If I get photoshop. EDIT: Well, maybe sooner. I don't know.

Resisting SOPA and PIPA:

How To Play Riven On Mac OSX

I apologize in advance if I've accidentally already made a post like this one.

If you're a Myst-loving Mac user like me, you'll be very frustrated that you can't play most of the Myst games on modern Macs. When it comes to Riven, unless you're willing to wait for realRiven (StarryExpanse.com), there's only one option:

Thanks to the work of a few dedicated individuals, there is now a simple application which allows you to insert your Riven disc(s), and it then installs it so you can play it any time. It's very good, it works with Lion, Snow Leopard, Things, Stuff.
Anyway. So I tried installing it a few months ago, but, much to my dismay, when it finished processing all the discs, the files would self-destruct without warning. So I thought, well, I'll just copy the files over manually. It can't be that hard. I did so, and it was able to play. However, I hit yet another roadblock. Whenever it got to the point where my five-disc version would ask you to insert disc 1, the game crashed. So I decided, arr, the loot belongs to us, matey! In other words, I gave up and pirated the DVD version. It was so much easier. I have no idea why I didn't just do that in the first place. From there, I did the automatic install, and it worked perfectly. Summary: don't use CDs. Use the internet.
Anyway, I'd recommend this method for anyone who doesn't want to spend time looking for their disc(s), trying to get the formatting right or whatever you might have to do. Or, if you have a MacBook Air like me, or any other computer lacking an optical drive, do it as well! So, here are the necessary links:

Riven X:

Click me!

Riven DVD Edition Torrent:

Download!

And, if you've been in a coma for the past 10 years:

Shame on you! (just kidding)

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.