Top 10 ways to organize your mp3 music collection with tagging and playlist software

After many years of gathering mp3 music files I'm tired of searching for super song(s) I know I had in my collection.
"Search Everything" is a good generic search tool to find the mp3 file.
However if I want to listen to say only kishore kumar song's etc. I need to add mp3 tags to the song files.
I've got a big hard-disk on which I can store all the music files and keep updating my collection so that it becomes more organized over time. All I need is the right software for the job

Note: Work in Progress - I'm still trying to re-organize my collection.
So I'll be updating this blog on my progress on the following
a) get rid of the bad or wishy-washy stuff
b) let the good stuff bubble to the top
c) reorganize the mountain into manageable chunks
d) view the same collection in many ways -

• genre, 
• mood, 
• 90's collection, 
• kishore-kumar,
• r.d.burman,
• hindi-film-songs,
• indian classical
• carnatic
• hindustani
• instrumental
• vocal
• by-raga
• by-time

Feature-wish-list:

• auto-tagging - via mp3dbs
• search by tag - artist, album, genre
• playlist - make playlist based on mood/genre/artist/90s/tag etc. Kinda like running an sql query on titles
• tag-bundles - sad songs, peppy songs, dance-numbers etc.
• directory reorganizing - reorganize titles to folders
• duplicate remover -
• lyrics finder
• cover-art
• context info - auto search context info based on title selected/playing
• suggestions - if you like this you may also like

=================
Articles:
http://lifehacker.com/5266613/six-best-mp3-tagging-tools
http://lifehacker.com/246118/screenshot-tour-the-beautiful-and-varied-world-of-foobar2000
http://lifehacker.com/245359/hack-attack-roll-your-own-killer-audio-player-with-foobar2000

http://www.techradar.com/news/software/applications/best-free-mp3-software-11-programs-for-playing-and-managing-your-music-1143479
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-04-24/computing/31391986_1_tags-files-windows-media-player
http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-windows-media-player-replacement.htm

Software:

• mediamonkey (player cum tagger): http://www.mediamonkey.com/
• monkeyrok (context info view clone of amarok for mediamonkey) : http://www.mediamonkey.com/addons/download/371/
• foobar2000 (customizable player cum tagger): http://www.foobar2000.org/
• Amarok (player cum tagger): http://userbase.kde.org/Amarok
• mp3tag (free mp3 tagging software) : http://www.mp3tag.de/en
• musicbrainz-picard (tagger with db): http://musicbrainz.org/doc/PicardTagger
• free make converter (convert audio formats) : http://www.freemake.com/
• advanced renamer (file renamer): http://www.advancedrenamer.com/

Tag-DBs:

• foobar2000 : http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Foobar2000redirect:C16D48EE-39BE-4C91-9A35-441BEFA286D2
• musicbrainz : http://musicbrainz.org
• freedb : http://www.freedb.org/
• discogs : http://www.discogs.com/

list of mp3 tag editing s/w for windows : http://en.lo4d.com/windows/mp3-id3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_online_music_databases

Cover Art:
amazon.com

Tune Recognizing software:
soundhound (hum your song on phone)
shazam (play song snippet)

Youtube offline playing:
VLC youtube playlist extension:
http://addons.videolan.org/content/show.php/Media+Context?content=143241
http://lifehacker.com/5963274/play-any-youtube-playlist-with-vlc-media-player-for-ad+free-listening

Serendipity:
Indian Collections on discogs : http://www.discogs.com/explore?country=India

How to do Name Change in PAN Card After Marriage

Update:
We tried all the below things and still NSDL people didn't accept the certificate of address. 
Took 2 years before we finally got the PAN card name change done via UTI offices through an agent. 
In hind-sight, seems like less of a head-ache given that we wasted almost 2-3 years without name change. Still if someone is successful in name-change using the below steps the post would still be worth it.
======
A) Fill up the online application form at NSDL for PAN Card Name change correction.
   https://tin.tin.nsdl.com/pan/correction.html
   Guidelines for documents to be submitted: https://tin.tin.nsdl.com/pan/InstructionsCorr.html#instruct_documents
   Important instructions: https://tin.tin.nsdl.com/pan/cr_imp_instruction.html
  You can pay online using netbanking, debit card, credit-card etc.
  You can also pay via Cheque/D.D. (you'll have to mention the cheque/DD number in the application form.)

B) Documents need to be sent along with printout of the Final Acknowledgement pdf.
For example:
1) Proof of identity : passport (example)
2) Proof of address : telephone bill (example)
3) Proof of PAN: copy of PAN card
4) Proof of Name change: example
   Marriage certificate (links the old name, new name and husband name)
5) Official Name Change Prescribed Format by IT Dept: Verification_Certificate_CBDT_20072012.pdf


C)  Signature change:
   You also need to sign within the box for signature in the printout.
   This is for signature change if any.

D) Application Status:
You can use this link: https://tin.tin.nsdl.com/pan/index.html, to view the status of
a) NSDL Transaction using 9 digit TRANSACTION NUMBER
b) Track status of PAN Card change IT Department using 15 digit ACKNOWLEDGMENT NUMBER given by NSDL.
E) Fill out the form as per the instructions given in the acknowledgement pdf.
   Mail with the supporting documents to the address mentioned in the instructions.
F) Postage:
The post/courier should reach NSDL Pune within 15 days from date of online application
G) Clarifications:
Contact NSDL regarding documents
i) TIN Call Center: 020-27218080 (change last 2 digits for their other busy numbers)
ii) email at tininfo@nsdl.co.in
==================================================

The Name change/Address change certificate needs to be given by a Grade 1/Grade A Gazetted officer only as per the Certificate format above:
You need to get the Name, Designation, Signature(green ink?), Stamp, Registration Number and office address

Gazetted officers deemed fit are as below:
1) Additional District Civil surgeons,
2) Executive Engineers and above,
3) District Medical Officer and above,
4) Principals and faculties of government degree colleges:
5) Readers and above of UniversitiesGrade 1 officers as below:

Who is a gazetted officer in India:
http://crusaderspace.blogspot.in/2008/07/who-is-gazetted-officer-in-india.html

Gazetted officer at wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gazetted_Officer_%28India%29

Grade A or Class I gazetted officer:
"Class I or Group A-Executive power vested in these categorised public servants with decision making powers:

Lieutenant and above in Indian Army,All India Services, though posted to states;
State Government Services (selected through Public Service Commissions in States)
or promoted public servants/ officers from states to the cadre of Assistant Commissioner or above and to the cadre of All India services;
Police officers of Circle Inspector and above;
Additional District Civil surgeons,
Executive Engineers and above,
District Medical Officer and above,
Principals and faculties of government degree colleges,
Patent Examiner (Official Designation- Examiner of Patent and Design),
Geologists of Geological Survey of India etc are Gazetted officers and have the authority to verify and attest documents.
Further, Group A Gazetted officers are not required to sign attendance registers unlike their subordinates and are expected to be on duty 24X7.
This post may be considered as being equivalent to managerial posts in the private sector."=========
From http://crusaderspace.blogspot.in/2008/07/who-is-gazetted-officer-in-india.html
"Class 1: Executive power vested officers,with decision making powers.

All India services, though posted to states;
promotees from states to the cadre of Assistant Commissioner and above and to the cadre of All India services ;
Police officers of Circle Inspector and above;
Additional District Civil surgeons,
Executive Engineers and above,
District Medical Officer and above, Lt.Col. and above,
Principals of Government colleges and above,
Readers and above of Universities, etc.

Nationalised bank officials are not gazetted officers but protocol ranks exist.

Among the powers and responsibilities of a Gazetted Officer, are the certifications and authentification of photo copies etc.
That's why we go to them for attesting our copies where they actually have to see an original of that and certify that the copy is the actual copy of the original as seen by them."
NOTE: Educational Institutes esp. "Deemed Universities" like NIMHANS, Rajiv Gandhi Institute turned out to be dead-ends.

Apparently if you can't find any of these people to certify we heard that ACP and DCP Police also can give the certificate.

Finally we got the signature from a Government Hospital at Jayanagar 4th T Block, Bangalore.
==================
Note: Now you need to use the official certificate format given above and NOT the below format which I retain for future purpose just in case.

This is just a sample certificate that I made up myself and is not a "Standard form". You may use/edit it for your own purposes if you want.
Name/Address Change certificate from Grade 1/Grade A Gazetted Officer   Template for sample certificate: https://docs.google.com/open?id=1WHPJGQnFSTAF2739LPHPZWvna3aQ3i7Bu5ePa_XqxLMMeZHMILmMCwFZMlX8

Other links for certificate examples:
1) http://www.rtiindia.org/forum/45765-gazetted-officers-certificate.html
2) http://uidnumber.org/aadhaar/628/documents-needed-for-enrollment/
"Certificate of Address having photo issued by MP or MLA or Group A Gazetted Officer on letterhead"
3) Application for Residential Certificate: http://www.loksattamovement.in/RES.HTM
    http://www.loksattamovement.in/res-certificate.rtf
4) Certificate of Identity by Gazetted Officer:
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/65705118/Certificate-of-Identity-by-Gazetted-Officer
5) Certificate of Character by Gazetted Officer:
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/23712419/Certificate-of-Character-by-a-Gazetted-Officer

Bye-Bye Meru Cabs and Thanks for all the Fish

I really enjoyed using Meru Cabs for the last 2 years or so.
Initially, it was really good service at a cost-effective rate.

What Meru Cabs was providing:
1) It saved me the hassle of haggling with an auto-wallah who might take advantage of my situation (20-30 Rs extra, remote address, time of night, rainy season, traffic-jams, busy-routes).
On top of all this the meter was many times rigged to run at double the speed. Then the predictable  last-minute insistence that I'd not bothered to mention the backwaters I'd trapped the autowallah into driving into. An extra 20-30 rupees would assuage his nearly broken trust in humanity though. The "Auto-Stands" where literally you see the autos standing around, auto-wallahs so busy chatting with one another that they can only be "bothered" to put on their brown coats for "miserly sums" of anywhere between Rs. 200 to 500 to ply to a busy area like Forum mall.

2) I'd been using CitiTaxi services for nearly a year when my wife was pregnant and needed to travel safely over Bangalore's worsening roads. The glorious (un)certainty of booking a cab which didn't show up at all. Calling the Citi-Taxi guys till the last possible minute or booking the cab the day before didn't help any. Every call to them got a promise "Don't worry Sir!! The cab will be at your door-step 30 minutes before only". No sign of the cab at all!! Despite giving driving directions to 2 or 3 different people (staff and drivers) it was interesting (to say the least) that the said cab had not even been dispatched. The fact that the Airport has now shifted to such a convenient close by location (NOT)!! only made things better.
 
Till I found the efficient Meru Cabs. I could now avoid All the glorious certainities above for the guarantee (almost) that I'd get a cab when it was convenient to me and my family.  I ended up paying  more but got an A/C car on time and conveniently by phone booking.

Unfortunately the Golden-Era has ended with a change for the worse.

Meru Cabs Level of Service Today:
1) Since some time now I've noticed that Meru Cabs has taken a "Take-it Or Leave-it" attitude towards its own customers. They're essentially doing the same things and more than my earlier dear Citi-Taxi used to do. If you're off the trade-routes you're out of luck. Meru Cabs mostly refuses to service anybody in HSR Layout. We'll see what we can do is the usual answer. The additional charge of Rs. 25 for short term booking and Rs. 50 for advance bookings on using the call-center is laugable at the least.

2) Meru-cab drivers ask to go through the call center even though they're just waiting around. The concept of a taxi which is not plying the roads is quite interesting. Quite similar to the auto-wallahs

3) They do provide an free offline SMS service (which I presume is serviced at off-peak times) where the call-center guys call you when you send an SMS. But this is only a few hours later so no good if you're in a hurry. Also seems like they give advance booking for airport based booking but not otherwise though the distance may be enough to give good business i.e. HSR to Airport is ok, but not HSR to Malleswaram?!!

4)The online net-based booking system also operates on the same offline model with replies taking 5-6 hours for a taxi booking.

It seems Meru-Cabs doesn't need the business that's coming its way.
Well Goodbye and Best of Luck,

The Wisdom of Paradoxical Quotation Pairs

Whenever I see inspirational mails with quotations (often conflicting ones) I used to get a bit confused....
Many quotations advise you to do Exactly opposing things and you agree with both views.
It's all a matter of perception/opinion or circumstance.
I've thought a lot about this and just wanted to share some of the thoughts.
Example:
1) "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world, but the unreasonable man tries to adapt the world to himself - therefore, all progress depends upon the unreasonable man." [Samuel Butler]
    Hmmm... Seeing something positive that can be done in something negative.

2)"The happiest people in the world are not those who have no problems, but those who learn to live with things that are less than perfect." [Anonymous]
    Ok. See something positive in something that can't be helped.
 But if you had to choose between Progress OR Happiness it's somewhat confusing.
Other Conflicting and Paradoxical common-sense advises but on the same topic:
1) "Look before you leap" or "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread"
    Simple Interpretation: Be careful.
    Negative Interpretation: Don't take risks in anything.
2) "Luck favours the brave"
    Simple Interpretation: If you're brave, things will work out
    Negative Interpretation: Success is a matter of luck
    This was kind of confusing me for a long time as I could see the sense in both statements.
Then I found some quotations which seemed to join both these "opposites".
1) Unifying Interpretation:
    "Look before you Leap" i.e. look before but don't forget to take a leap also (if required)
2) Unifying Interpretation:
        "Brave are those who fight their Fear." i.e. NOT those who are ignorant of fear
    This allows the brave to attempt things other people don't even try.
    So they MAY choose a way of doing things which succeeds. This is the LUCK factor.
Rationale for Luck Factor:
1) Brave people fight their Fear.
2) People don't try new things because of Fear (=> So they have 0% chance of succeeding at it)
3) Brave people attempt things which other people don't.
4) Some Brave people may chance upon a way which succeeds. => %age of Success is between 0-100%
5) THAT is why you should fight your fear => so you can free your mind to do all kinds of approaches.
6) It increases chances of Success from Zero Percent to X%.
7) So you can Learn from Failure since you are being positive about it.
8) More importantly since Failure is also possible => makes your life more positive
9) And Use it later to increase your chances of Success
10) If you repeat this process over many such new things you will Average out.

Your performance would follow a Normal Distribution or Bell Curve i.e.
        a) 60% chance of moderate success in untried things over your lifetime.... NOT bad at all !!!
        b) And of course 20% chance of failure (from which you can learn something with a +ve attitude)
        c) And a further 20% chance of Super Successes!! NOT BAD AT ALL....
So if we add it all up we come up with:
        a) 80% chance of success (moderate or super)
        b) 20% chance of failure which again feeds into future successes due to what you learn from it.
This gives a very good picture of being innovative/fearless.
Then why is it that we don't follow this principle?
    a) It has more to do with Weightages we attach to Failure and Success.
    b) That is why most religions/philosophies ask you to be detached from Success/Failure i.e. give Equal or NO weightage.
Different cultures also seem to influence this:
    1) In India the Weightage applied by society to Failure "almost" outweighs any gain through Success.
        "If you don't succeed with a Nobel Prize its just a fluke"
        If you fail however it gives you the stamp of failure which becomes very hard to live down.
        Other peoples perception affects you and you start believing in the stamp/label you're given.
        A self fulfilling prophecy.
    2) From what I've heard/read about it -
        In the West esp. the U.S. people don't think much of an earlier failure so they keep trying.
        Sooner or later they find something that they can be good at.
        I heard of a truck driver/fitter who became programmers!! in the US/Israel.
        How many times would you hear that over here. It's seems to be not so rare there.

Backto the Tradeoff between Progress OR Happiness:
I've observed that Wisdom is in knowing when to apply which kind of CommonSense.
Wisdom deals with paradoxes esp. unifying opposites.
So let's attempt to unify these two opposites
One Interpretation could be:
1) To be happy - learn to accept things which are less than perfect.
2) To progress - learn to NOT accept things which are less than perfect
"Things you NEED to change be unreasonable about, otherwise accept them and move on to a happier life".
Key is to - "Choose your battles (time,place and scope)."
I know that this is a rather long winded and too detailed analysis of advice any grandma could give in seconds.
But then that's the problem with being too analytical.... you feel the need to break down things too much!! :-)

Sights and Symbols

I'd read a modern Indian short story named "The Mighty Hand of Hanuman".
This scene made me think back to that story.
Driving by on the way to office on my scooter, I saw a strange sight.
On a 90 degree turn parked in a thicket alongside this bylane off the road was a huge Yellow Claw lying extended and prostrate as if in a prayer of supplication.
Its Chunky metal facets, dull yet metal bright, resting the massive weight on to the scattered "murram-matti" on the black tar road.
The feeling was as if this behemoth were slowly sinking its teeth into the black skin of this road.
The Orange colored body of this gentle giant with a single claw telescoping forwards, Bright Yellow in color.
Like a Crab coming up from the ocean swells to rest on land before foraging for food along this "sandy" shore.
Praying to the blue sky with wisps of a white cloudy beard for a good harvest of rocks and boulders.
Tons to be shifted by end of day. The peace of prayer before the work ahead.
The human laborers soon swarming like the Sucker Fish beneath a Great White Shark.

Today I looked out the window and saw a Picture-Perfect scene!.
A Lone Tree, trunk knotted with bark rough and tawny wood inside.
Quite lopsided, its branches on one side near totally lopped off.
A small 'tala'/pool of water near it, reflecting the sheets of rain-drops falling in drapes of white.
The mud around brownish red, with tracks of heavy vehicles forming small sluices of water.
The only contrast was a hard cut dam of granite blocks forming an artificial ridgeback mini-mountain
Near the horizon were some trees looking like shrubs, misted over by the waving curtains from the clouds
This whitened scene with a road running through it, black tar and the zebra signs contrasting against the wet outside.
From inside my cozy a/c quarters I could look out on this beautiful scene.

Good Quotes

Good quotes some of which made their way into my email signature.
Too good to be lost!!

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step." [Lao Tzu]

"After all is said and done, more is said than done." [Aesop]

"Small Minds discuss People,Middling minds discuss Events,Great minds discuss Ideas." [Anonymous]

"It is not who is right, but what is right, that is of importance." [Thomas Huxley]

"There are 2 things you can give your children - Roots.... and... Wings!!" [Anonymous]

"Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood." [Marie Curie]

"Good Decisions come from Experience. Experience comes from Bad Decisions" [Anonymous]

"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans" [The Beatles]

"Television is a medium because anything well done is rare." [Fred Allen]

"Complete abstinence is easier than perfect moderation." [Saint Augustine]

"When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained."
[MarkTwain]

"TV is chewing gum .... for the eyes" [Frank Lloyd Wright]

Silvery Fishy Story

Many years back I'd read an Article in Newstime (a local paper).
It talked about how people in West Bengal had come up with a novel way
to make use of Sewage using simple techniques.

They would make use of wasteland/barren land.
Initially bunds are created and sewage water is flooded into this.
The water is allowed to rest for a month or so.
Gravity leads to settling of the particulate matter which forms a layer over the barren land.
Exposure to Sunlight with its UV rays leads to sterilisation of the waters.
Once the waters become clear, fish eggs are put into them.

The growth of algae and insects due to nutrient rich water leads to fat fish growing.
Soon they are harvested and sold off at the market.
The layer of sediment broken down due to oxidation and bacteria makes
the barren land fertile over a few repetitions. This can later be used for farming.

I don't clearly recollect the articles take on the presence of Heavy Metals and pollutants in the sewage. What happens to those? Or is the sewage not having these things. I wonder...