Two Really Good Apps

No, we are not turning this site into a tech blog but this long lay-off has produced some writer's block. Although the primary focus of this blog has been politics I did report frequently on the development of the Utica Shale gas fields and occasionally took on the contentious subject of Bluegrass music. Now before returning to the grind that is contemporary politics allow me to share my opinion of two apps I found to be useful.
I installed this app on my wife's Samsung and liked it so well I installed it on my phone. The shopping list app from TK Solution with voice to text is simplicity squared. Just tap the speaker icon and say " pork chops" and the text appears. Once you have the item in your shopping cart tap the delete icon and the text is gone. It doesn't get any easier.

Remember the glory days of Napster when you could download about any music you wanted for free, copyright restrictions not withstanding? Napster went on to become a streaming service, where, for a price you can listen to but not keep the music. Pirate Bay and other torrent sites are still around if one can endure their periodic disappearances, some very malicious malware and nasty email from one's internet provider threatening to suspend internet access. What's a body to do?
Hiding in plain sight is YouTube which boasts of 1700 years of content but downloading music has always been a tedious chore. No more. Playlist Downloader from Microsoft's Store allows the user to download entire playlists, extracting the audio portion ready to be played on your favorite device. If one wants to keep the video that option is available.
 Once you have installed the program go to YouTube and search your favorite artist. For instance a search for Judy Collins might produce this result.

Now click on the first playlist "Mix - Judy Collins. It will open the page below. Copy the URL from the address bar and paste it in Playlist Downloader.

Playlist Downloader will look like this. Select audio (mp3) then click on Import to download list.

Review the pending downloads. If there are any songs you do not want just uncheck the respective box. Open Windows Exployer on your computer and create a new folder somewhere on your computer where you can find it. Now click start in Playlist Downloader and select the folder you created. That's it.

Once the mp3 files have been downloaded they may be listened to on your computer or burnt to a cd. I cannot speak to all automotive media players but if your car has Ford Sync 3 you can play them from a thumb drive via a USB port. Enjoy!