Filed under: Audio, Web services
ajaxTunes: Ajaxy music player widget
ajaxTunes is a new product from Michael Robertson's ajaxLaunch (also known as Ajax 13, also responsible for ajaxWrite, ajaxXLS, and ajaxSketch) that lets you stick a little music player on any web page, similar to Flash MP3 Player but, of course, with Ajax. The player is attractive and works as advertised, but the ajaxTunes web site does a very poor job of explaining how to use it with your own playlists and music. The instructions are on this page and require you to code your own playlists in XSPF, an open XML playlist format. ajaxTunes also comes with a "music locker" service that gives you access to some 40,000 tracks from independent (read: uknown) artists. ajaxTunes isn't as customizable as Flash MP3 Player, but if Flash isn't your thing (and Ajax) is, it might be worth checking out. Update: Reader Kim points out that ajaxTunes does use Flash, which makes that last sentence pretty much moot. Thanks, Kim.
The criticisms are, in part, the same problems you find with any web-based application. Namely, keyboard shortcuts
don't always work (or get implemented), browser-specific technology (in this case, Firefox 1.5), and of course some
folks raise security issues with the whole ajax thing... But Extremetech gets very specific in 
So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do.
Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game.
The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...
