Just use Silent Bob <http://www.programurl.com/silent-bob-basic.htm>; it
catches what's playing on your spekers up to a minute before you hit
"record." Also fun for live recording w/ music software. -Vijay

On 25/09/06, Pall Thayer <p_thay@alcor.concordia.ca> wrote:
>
> Here's a fun Mac OS X/last.fm hack I came up with a couple of days ago.
>
> I'm sure that many here are, like myself, users of last.fm If not,
> you should check it out. What I find best about it is its ability to
> introduce me to new music that I've never heard of before but is,
> according to some funky algorithm, of a similar ilk as the music I
> prefer. But the big bummer is that I can only hear it on last.fm and
> at random intervals. I can't think, "Oh, I'd like to listen to that
> again." or "I'm in the mood to listen to that song right now." Of
> course, I could buy the CD but we all know how old-fashioned that is.
> Remember the old days of taping from radio. Those were fun. But the
> stuff that I like to listen to is already obscure enough so that
> things I'm being introduced to via last.fm are even more obscure.
> This stuff isn't being played anywhere on the radio. The other day, I
> even went to my local humongous music store and they didn't have
> anything by the band I was looking for. So, that's my dilemma. I'm
> hearing good music on last.fm and I want to be able to listen to it
> whenever. I want it on my iPod so I can listen to it as I bike around
> town. So, where do we start? Well, we know the last.fm client is
> communicating via the network and we can safely assume that it's
> playing mp3's. That's all we need to know.
>
> This is a bit complex, but if you don't already know how all this
> stuff works, then think of it as a learning experience.
>
> First, you're going to need two things; time, and a few tools (you
> need the time to install the tools. After everything is installed,
> everything is simple). First thing to install is X11 (that is if you
> don't already have it). You can get this from http://www.apple.com/
> downloads/macosx/apple/x11formacosx.html or your OS X cd. Next,
> install DarwinPorts, a nice tool for installing *nix tools on OS X:
> http://darwinports.opendarwin.org/getdp/
>
> Now use darwinports to install "ethereal". It's a handy GUI-style
> network packet sniffer and logger. After that, use darwinports to
> install wget, a network file-fetcher.
>
> When you've got these installed you're ready to begin. Open X11
> (you'll find it in /Applications/Utilities). Now, darwinports should
> have created a new folder on your system called /opt programs are
> found in /opt/local/bin You'll have to run ethereal as root for it to
> have access to your network interfaces. So, in the X11 window type
> "sudo /opt/local/bin/ethereal", hit enter, it asks for a password,
> type in your password and hit enter again. ethereal opens up with a
> complicated looking GUI. Towards the top of the window is a row of
> weird looking buttons. Click the second one (if you let the pointer
> hover over it for a second, it says "Show the capture options…") A
> new window opens. The only thing you have to do is select the
> interface. At the top, where it says "interface", select "en0" if
> you're using ethernet or "en1" if you're using airport.
>
> Now leave ethereal for a little while. Open your last.fm client, type
> in what you want to listen to (for instance, select "Search by
> Artist" and type "Nucleus") and hit enter. Then click the green play
> button. Now last.fm knows what you're looking for. After it begins
> playing the first song, hit the stop button. Go back to ethereal and
> hit the "stop" button on the little window in front of the big GUI.
> Then go to "file" and hover over "export" and from the side menu,
> select 'as "Plain Text" file'. Give it a name, like netcapture.txt
> and make sure you're saving it to a place where you can find it again
> and save it. Next, open the netcapture.txt file in TextEdit (standard
> on all OS X). Select "Edit - Find - Find…" and type ".mp3" in the
> text box and hit enter. It should jump to a part of the file that
> looks something like this:
>
>
> No. Time Source Destination
> Protocol Info
> 244 27.284989 192.168.0.100 83.142.226.82
> HTTP GET /last.mp3?Session