Jaseeq alternative – Webseek

It is my pleasure to introduce the newest member of the “seek” family: Webseek. Webseek does the same thing that jaseeq did but in a different way and from a different place. Actually, the place is completely variable. Webseek uses plugins instead of one site hard coded into the application. I took the guts out of jaseeq and stuffed it with a plugin engine. The results so far have been promising. There have been some interface changes, like the removal of the playlist and related menu items. I am calling this an early beta, so don’t expect perfection. I’ll soon follow up with a guide to writing plugins, so maybe there can be some contributions in that area. If not, I’ll take suggestions for new plugins. I wrote two plugins for this version: playlist.com and hypem.com. By default, Hype Machine is disabled. You can enable it from the Plugins option under the Edit menu.
If you use this version of Webseek, consider yourself a tester and feel free to post any bugs/glitches. Also, if you do post a bug, please state what plugin is being used along with what OS you’re using. I’ve tested with Windows XP and Ubuntu Jaunty, so I can’t say how a Mac will perform.

Here it is: Webseek<Beta>

seeqpod.com is no more!

seeqpod.com is down and has been for a while now. They are being sued and filed for bankruptcy. Since jaseeq uses seeqpod’s search engine it also is down. The likelihood that seeqpod.com will be back is extremely low at this point. I have been considering alternatives for a bit now. I’ll update the site if I come up with anything.

I hope you all enjoyed the software while it worked.

Update: There is a jaseeq alternative: Webseek. Get it from here

Jaseeq v0.4 – ‘Maseequms’

Maseequms is now outdated – see http://modsyn.wordpress.com/ for alternatives/updates

It’s been a long time coming and it’s not complete (yet), but I’ve decided to release a preview (still fully functional) version of the jaseeq update. Quite a few things have been fixed, and even more added. Here’s the short list.

• Added album, bitrate, and song length to the returned results.
• Uses seeqpod’s cached versions of the songs when they are not found in their original location.
• Added ability to change the output folder (directory for non-windows people)
• Added option to use a proxy
• Caches files and added configuration for days to keep in cache
• Added configuration for number of download parts to use (for supported files)
• Beta iPod support (if you are willing to test, send a request and I’ll tell you how to enable)
• Search within results by artist, album, and/or title*

For a more detailed explanation of options and how to use them (or for general help) see this post

*To use the new sub-search option add any of the following after the search term-

• artist:
• album:
• title:

For example, searching for Generic Song Title may return songs with the same name by numerous different artists. To search within these results for a specific artist, change the search term to Generic Song Title artist: Specific Artist

There is quite a bit more I would like to do for this release, but it’s my birthday so I’m releasing what I have for now and will work on the rest for later. There is no Windows or Mac versions this time, just the jar file. If anyone wants to make one on their own I’ll link to it from here, but I’ll wait until the final v04 version before I spend any time doing that sort of thing.

Here it is: jaseeq v0.4 – ‘maseequms’

Feature requests

If you’re looking for the prelease version of v04 see this post

Hi all,

It’s been a while since I’ve had any time for personal projects and that’s evident in the lack of activity here by me. However, I have been working on some new features for Jaseeq. Most of them come from the comments I’ve seen, so if you can think of a feature that is not listed below let me know and I will try to include it in the next release version.

New features added so far (hearts mean I have already got it, diamonds mean I mostly got it):

• View bit rate of songs. ♥
• Automatically remove dead links from the list. ♥
• Playlist improvements

Planned features:

• Change download directory ♥
• Automatically add to iTunes/iPod ♦ (need brave beta testers)
• Cache system to save from unnecessarily downloading stuff over and over again. ♥
• Settings window to change/deactivate optional features. ♥
• New skin (using Nimrod LAF ) ♥
• Playback icons (send ‘em if you got ‘em) ♦

Bugs:

• On a Mac the load/save playlist feature doesn’t quite work as expected. Again, since I don’t own a Mac I’m not sure how elevated this issue should be. Let me know if it’s a big deal. Personally, I use playlists a lot (that’s really why they’re there).
• Playlist has a lot of them, probably needs rewriting… Anyone ever written a playlist if Java? Help!
• Temporary files don’t get deleted some of the time (well, most if not all of the time). Fixed with the new caching system

Those should keep me pretty busy for now. If you wish Jaseeq would do something it doesn’t, let me know. KTHXBAI!

Jaseeq update

Prelease version 04 available – see here to get it

Here’s a small update to the jaseeq application, mostly cosmetic. I got rid of the NapkinLAF that got some complaints. It now uses the system look and feel. Also, I made a windows launcher using the method described in my previous post.

DOWNLOADS
Cross Platform JAR File

Windows Only EXE File

Mac Only APP*
*Thanks to Chris

New version coming soon, see feature request thread.

Music, Sweet Music

“Soon enough a site will open that is like a Google search for music downloads — downloads that are not copy-protected…” – David Byrne

Enter SeeqPod. SeeqPod works by grabbing music from wild, disparate areas of the Web and presenting them to you in one nice, easy, scrolling interface.

SeeqPod really is amazing. It’s hard to believe how much music is on the Interweb just waiting to be grabbed. From classics to indie you can find plenty of music in your preferred genre. The website provides the ability to create your own playlist that will play right out of your browser (using Flash, of course). The old version of the site would let you download the songs, but last time I checked that feature was removed. You may be saying, what good is tons of free music if I can’t download it? JASeeq is your answer.

Download JASeeq now, or continue reading about why you should.
See this post for download link

[EDIT]
It seems that I’ve received a lot of traffic from this Lifehacker article, and there are some people who don’t know what to do with a .JAR file. You must have Java installed to use it. Most of the time you will have it installed already. You must download this file (jaseeq.jar) and save it somewhere on your computer when your browser asks you what to do with it. Otherwise you’ll be running the application from your temporary internet files. There is no installation, just download and double click. The files go in a folder named MUSIC that the application creates in whatever location you save it. Hope that helps. Maybe I’ll make an article with an explanation of the features and how to use them if it’s necessary.

First the obvious, JASeeq will let you download the files that you drool for from seeqpod.com
Other great additional features:
> Returns ALL of the results of a search. SeeqPod.com returns 9 per page by default. Paging to result 1,019 nine items at a time can get tiring!
> Uses download accelerating technology for FAST downloads. Since downloading at all is an added feature this is just icing on the cake.
> JASeeq ISN’T Flash-based and DOESN’T run from your browser. Some people think that running from your browser might be a good thing, but it’s really not. I usually have a browser open all day, and fancy applications running from one of its many tabs start to suck up RAM and/or just generally slow things down. Also, Flash applications tend to screw up the whole CTL-Tab switching between tabs. Having it as a stand-alone application keeps your personal workflow smooth.

You can also play the songs using JASeeq, although there is no playlist feature just yet (expect playlists in the next version).

UPDATE
I have a basic playlist built and have reworked the UI.

UPDATE 2
Reskinned with NapkinLAF

UPDATE 3
Added a requested feature. Type a URL that has links to MP3 files in the search box to see it in action. Got a feature you’d like to see? Ask me and maybe I’ll add it.

UPDATE 4
See this post for the latest updates.