Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with shuffle

My iPod Touch wants to be a Shuffle.

prinado — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 15:16:14 -0800

My new iPod Touch will not sequence an album in the proper order. I cue an album, push play, and it shuffles randomly from song to song. Any ideas to get me back on track? Yes, I'm sure it's not in shuffle mode. Yes, I double and triple checked. Yes, I use standard file naming that has worked flawlessly for my iPod Classic and Nano (i.e. 01_songname) and have populated the Track field, too (i.e. 1 of 10). And yup, I've cleared the drive and re-uploaded the files, updated the iTunes and Touch firmware, googled, yahooed, asked other Touch owners and so on to no avail.

I tried living with it for a week, but, you know, Dark Side of the Moon just isn't the same all discombobulated.

Anyone else experienced/fixed this issue?

How long have people loved randomness?

obliquicity — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 11:17:23 -0800

What are some (and some of the earliest) instances of people shuffling things on purpose to get a random result? Is it possible to create a genealogy of the human desire for randomness? Are there academic studies of that desire/impulse?

This came up as a slightly goofy dinner topic which has since been hounding me, so I figured I may as well ask all of you. The basic premise of the question came up when someone posited that the iPod/equivalent's "shuffle" feature took advantage of a cultural preference for randomness over order. When, we asked collectively, did that preference first manifest itself?

Shuffling cards is an obvious answer -- but with cards, the randomness is simply the essential precursor to the creation of order through playing a game. In other words, the intended outcome of shuffling cards is to allow card players to re-create order for fun.

Similarly, fortune-telling techniques that rely on randomness (throwing bones; tea leaves; etc.) all seem to be about creating order out of randomness, rather than producing randomness for its own sake.

In fact, we're having trouble coming up with examples of randomness for its own sake at all -- can you?

How to shuffle test items in random order in Microsoft Word?

esolo — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 13:03:21 -0800

how do i shuffle questions in a Word document in random order? I am writing an exam that consists of multiple choice questions. I write questions after reading each chapter. What happens as a result is that I have a test which has all the question items in order (by chapter). Is there a way to shuffle these test items so they appear in random order? (I guess it would be the same function that would help me generate multiple versions of the same test with same questions but different order).

Shuffling a pile of papers

Wolfdog — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 06:54:06 -0800

I have a moderately-sized pile of papers (say, several dozen) in front of me. What's a quick way of getting them thoroughly shuffled by hand? I am familiar with lots of shuffling algorithms, but they don't work well by hand, and techniques like riffle shuffle that work well with small, stiff cards don't work well with standard sheets of paper.

IDing where a song was skipped

andifsohow — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 09:39:25 -0800

I have two iPods - a 60 GB for general use and a shuffle for exercise. I want to create playlists that delete songs I skip on the shuffle, but not songs I skip from the 60 or in iTunes. I just got the shuffle recently and am still crafting a master playlist for it. So I put a lot of stuff on there, but since 1) I have more music than I have time to listen to and 2) there's no screen on the shuffle to tell me what I'm listening to, songs I've skipped are often the only way to know what I want to delete. But my "Recently skipped" list is cross-pollinated by iTunes and the 60. I can't find anything in the Smart Playlist menus to indicate the source player that skipped a given track. What can I do?

shuffling around

jourman2 — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 13:28:56 -0800

I'm thinking about getting an Ipod shuffle for working out. It seems to be the best choice, but am I missing any other great candidates? Over the past couple of months I've started running with great success. However, I recently started running inside due to the cold weather and find myself increasingly bored during the running sessions. So, I've made the decision to get an Mp3 player. I don't have much to spend (probably in the range of 100 dollars or so - less is best, of course)

So my thoughts on the shuffle
1 - 1 gig is plenty for working out
2 - it's really, really tiny
3 - it's 79 bucks
4 - it's got a clip

My concerns are
1 - the lack of replaceable battery
2 - the lack of screen
3 - small storage size when I use it while not working out (i.e. in the car or something)

So my question to the mefolk(s) is should I get the shuffle? Is there some cheaper alternative that's just as reliable and is just as light?

Bonus for any anecdotes about personal use. Did you kick yourself after for not buying a different mp3 player? Or are you happy with your purchase?

Does the new iPod shuffle do hand-picked playlists better/faster/differently from the old one?

Doctor Barnett — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 08:19:34 -0800

I have an old shuffle. When I first got it, I could arrange its playlist on the iMac it syncs to without it actually being plugged in. This was fast, since it all happened on the computer. Then, I could plug in the shuffle and the actual synchronization would churn for about 30 sec (which I would not need to be present for). But in one of iTunes' famously regressive "upgrades," the ability to arrange tracks on my shuffle without it being plugged in vanished. Now, arranging tracks is a laborious process with delays between every user interaction. It sucks. No way am I buying a cute tiny colorful new one if it has the same crappy synchronization method. Does it? (I'm aware of iTunes' ability to pick random tracks from my library. No thanks!)

Nano shuffle: exclude tracks?

charris5005 — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 04:13:19 -0800

I have an iPod Nano and I love the 'shuffle' feature -- except -- I can't figure out how to make 'shuffle' EXCLUDE certain types of tracks. I.E.: I have audio book chapters on the iPod, kept in playlists; but during music 'shuffle' these random chapters get thrown in to the music mix and I don't need that! Anybody got a clue? Thanks.

Please help me with the shiny thing

spinturtle — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 20:56:52 -0800

I currently have iTunes 6, and am reluctant to change to 7.0.2 based on all the horror stories I've read/heard. The problem is, I'd like to buy the new shuffle, but it lists system requirements as '7.0.2 or later.' Is this fact or crap? Can I use the new shuffle while remaining on version 6? I'm rather dim when it comes to stuff like this, so any insight is appreciated.

Why can't I upload podcasts onto my new 2G iPod Shuffle?

alidarbac — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 19:52:06 -0800

Why can't I upload podcasts onto my new 2G iPod Shuffle? I recently purchased a 2G iPod Shuffle for the sole purpose of being able to listen to NPR podcasts while I go jogging. However, I'm having problems uploading these podcasts if I try to update through playlists.

Whether if I create a smart playlist with the podcasts or a regular playlist, when I go to Autofill with that playlist, it erases all the music. Autofilling with playlists with my regular music works like a charm. I can even manually drag the podcasts over and they copy, but if I click on Autofill again, it'll erase them.

I know it's a relatively minor problem, but I want to be able to have a smart playlist automatically update my Shuffle with unplayed podcasts, gosh darn it.

I'm on OS X 10.4.8, iTunes 7.0.2

Shuffle not shuffling

pettins — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 12:59:06 -0800

iPod Filter: A colleague's iPod Shuffle no longer shuffles after he clicked on a column in iTunes to SORT the files into album order. Is it possible to "un-sort" them? He has tried clicking on the column headings but to no avail. Is there a way to un-do the sort as at present the shuffle just plays the songs in a straight listing basis and not in a random shuffle.

Skip from Shuffle for Spoken Word

pettins — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 14:11:37 -0800

iPod/iTunes Filter: Is there a quick way to mark a large number of audio files (spoken word) as "Skip from Shuffle" in iTunes? I am running iTunes 6 on Windows XP with an Ipod Nano.

I would like all my spoken word items to be de-selected from any shuffles but find I have to go into Get Info for each track.

Ideally this would just be on the "Multiple Selection" dialog box but for some reason it appears to not be present forcing an individual update.

Any options for me (eg scripting or is that only available on Mac?)

fm radio + ipod = crazy delicious (?)

CRM114 — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 10:07:23 -0800

Is there some gadget that will allow me to listen to FM radio on my iPod Shuffle? I've absolutely fallen in love with my Shuffle, but if there's one hitch in our relationship it's that I'm starting to miss my old girlfriend, NPR. Is there some way that the three of us could all get together? I've looked around on electronics sites and what not to no avail.

Nerd by day, musicican by night

reformedjerk — Fri, 17 Feb 2006 17:21:00 -0800

Can I use an iPod Shuffle as a normal thumbdrive in Linux and a music player in Windows? I've been wanting to get a USB thumbdrive to transfer files, and it appears that the iPod Shuffle (with a very attractive edu pricing) is just a glorified thumbdrive. Now, I'm wondering if I could store music on the Shuffle from my Windows machine at home with iTunes and still transfer files to it from my Linux workstation at the lab. Anyone with experience on this? Thanks!

Shuffled playlists for iTunes podcasts

jchgf — Sun, 02 Oct 2005 22:09:05 -0800

iTunesFilter, part I: Why can't podcasts downloaded from the Music Store play in shuffled playlists? Is there any way around this? If I'm in a shuffled playlist mixed with podcasts and regular MP3's, it will only go from regular MP3's to regular MP3's and skip the podcasts downloaded from the MS altogether. Of course, if I go back to linear play mode, the podcasts play allright. iTunesFilter, part II: Is there any way to make the podcasts always start at the beginning of the track (i.e., to remove the bookmark function)? Part I: I use PowerController as my iTunes alarm clock and I would it to boot up with a playlist of recent podcasts playing on shuffle, since I like the surprise / random element in the morning.

Part II: I like to scan through the podcasts when I first download them to check out the audio quality / voice of the host, etc. If I forget to rewind before going to the next track, once I'm in my room actually listening to the podcasts that made the cut, the podcasts start right in the middle, at the last point where I was scanning them. Since my speakers are in my room and the computer is in the living room, this is annoying.

iPod Shuffle Won't Charge

eurasian — Thu, 28 Jul 2005 14:08:16 -0800

My iPod Shuffle just doesn't charge off my PC. I disabled the "Use iPod as an external drive" or whatever that option is so that the computer uses it like a Shuffle (which I assume means charge it).

Everything on the web talks about connecting it to a high power USB (i.e. not a USB port on a keyboard). But I'm connecting to the actual computer. Tried out every USB port as well. What's up?

One caveat, when I plug it into my work computer (which is a bit newer), it seems to charge.

The computer where the shuffle isn't charging is an AMD1600XP, 512DDR, 30Gig HD, running on a.. ah, so long ago, .. MSI motherboard. A good one at the time. Anyone have any fixes to this?

Why does Party Shuffle in itunes not work?

crewshell — Thu, 28 Jul 2005 12:21:18 -0800

Why does the random feature (party shuffle) on my itunes SUCK, IE work very badly.. I just want to hear ALL of the songs on my computer... not the same damn 100 or so... I do not have the button click "play higher ranking songs more often" and I have the library properly set ... so what else can it be? Is there anyway to fix this?

Will Shuffler break my Shuffle?

obiwanwasabi — Mon, 16 May 2005 19:26:37 -0800

If I use Shuffler to copy music to my iPod Shuffle, will it still work with iTunes? I'm worried the database rebuilder will break something, or that iTunes will know I've been unfaithful to it and refuse to speak to me.

Can I charhe my Shuffle on other computers?

tr33hggr — Tue, 15 Mar 2005 08:57:46 -0800

iPod ShuffleFilter - can I charge my shuffle on a computer without iTunes? I'd like to leave it to charge on my work computer while out for lunch, but despite my Google Fu cannot find out if this is ok for the device.

Question number 6605

the fire you left me — Sun, 18 Apr 2004 14:33:46 -0800

Does anyone know/can anyone approximate what shuffle algorithm iTunes uses?