Mike Polson's WebLogA day without Metadata is like a day without Sunshinehttp://blogs.msdn.com/b/mike_polson/atom.aspxTelligent Evolution Platform Developer Build (Build: 5.6.50428.7875)2004-01-09T18:59:00ZUnknown Album, Unknown Artist???http://blogs.msdn.com/b/mike_polson/archive/2004/01/14/58841.aspx2004-01-15T05:47:00Z2004-01-15T05:47:00Z<P><FONT face=Georgia color=#808080 size=2><BR>Ever insert a CD into Windows Media Player, only to see it display Unknown Album, Unknown Artist, Track 1, Track 2, Track 3, etc? This happens when metadata information is not available for the CD. However, this situation can be corrected.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Georgia color=#000000 size=2><STRONG>How? You ask.</STRONG></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Georgia color=#808080 size=2>Easy. In Windows Media Player, just click the Now Playing tab, look for the playlist on the right side. Here you will see a picture of a CD. Notice the Find Album Info link below it. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Georgia color=#808080 size=2>Click this link and you will be presented with a wizard that will allow to quickly key in your album information. “Unknown Album” will be replaced with the correct album title. Pretty cool!</FONT></P><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=58841" width="1" height="1">Mike Polsonhttp://blogs.msdn.com/Mike-Polson/ProfileUrlRedirect.ashxMy First Post!http://blogs.msdn.com/b/mike_polson/archive/2004/01/09/49256.aspx2004-01-10T02:59:00Z2004-01-10T02:59:00Z<P><FONT face=Georgia color=#808080 size=2><BR>Hello !</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Georgia color=#808080 size=2>My name is Mike Polson. I'm a Program Manager here @ Microsoft working in the Windows Digital Media Division. My colleagues in the division develop the ultra-cool:</FONT></P>
<UL>
<LI><FONT face=Georgia color=#808080 size=2>Windows Media Player </FONT>
<LI><FONT color=#808080><FONT face=Georgia size=2>Windows Media Encoder</FONT> </FONT>
<LI><FONT color=#808080><FONT face=Georgia size=2>Windows Media Services (server)</FONT> </FONT>
<LI><FONT color=#808080><FONT face=Georgia size=2>Windows Media Center Edition</FONT> </FONT>
<LI><FONT color=#808080><FONT face=Georgia size=2>Microsoft Plus! Digital Media Edition</FONT> </FONT>
<UL>
<LI><FONT color=#808080><FONT face=Georgia size=2>PhotoStory</FONT> </FONT>
<LI><FONT face=Georgia color=#808080 size=2>Sync'N Go</FONT></LI></UL>
<LI><FONT face=Georgia color=#808080 size=2>Windows Movie Maker</FONT></LI></UL>
<P><FONT face=Georgia size=2><FONT color=#808080>I use and<STRONG> Love </STRONG>all these products. Most are available as </FONT><A href="http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/download/default.asp"><FONT color=#808080>free downloads</FONT></A><FONT color=#808080>!</FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Georgia color=#808080 size=2><STRONG><FONT color=#000000>Ok-- so what do I actually do?</FONT> </STRONG></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Georgia color=#808080 size=2>I design systems and databases for providing Metadata Services for Windows Media Player. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Georgia color=#000000 size=2><STRONG>What's a Metadata Service?</STRONG></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Georgia color=#808080 size=2>Well, metadata is “data about data”. We provide several metadata services. Our most popular service in terms of usage is CD metadata. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Georgia color=#808080 size=2>Hopefully, you've noticed that when you insert a CD into Windows Media Player, it displays the album name, artist name, and all your track (song) titles. In addition, you may see a pretty picture of the actual CD jacket.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT color=#808080><FONT face=Georgia size=2>Although it may appear too, that “metadata“ doesn't actually reside on your CD. Instead, it is provided via our online service. </FONT><FONT face=Georgia size=2>If you computer is connected to the internet, when you insert a CD into Windows Media Player for the first time, it will query our database. If we have a match for your CD, we will send you fresh and shiny metadata.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Georgia color=#808080 size=2>Our goal is that this service “just works“ -- so how are we doing?</FONT></P><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=49256" width="1" height="1">Mike Polsonhttp://blogs.msdn.com/Mike-Polson/ProfileUrlRedirect.ashx