Image from houstonpress.com – click to learn 5 reasons not to use IE… beyond that it simply sucks.
After receiving and answering what seems like hundreds of questions that are similar to Kristi's below, I'm offering a radical solution that I feel will dramatically improve your experience using Spotify.
Hi John! Thank you for your quick response…I’m just now finding time to get back to my “spotify training” 🙂
When I click on the first link in your email below, an Internet Explorer dialog box opens and asks if I want to allow the application to open, to which I click on Allow (I’ve also tried clicking on Cancel, and have the same result). Then an error dialog box opens that says : “spotify: user:johnmac11:playlist: {followed by lots of letters and numbers}. Unspecified error” and then another error dialog box opens that says: “Unable to open this helper application for spotify: user:johnmac11:playlist: {followed by lots of letters and numbers}. The protocol specified in this address is not valid. Make sure the address is correct, and try again.”
When I clicked on the second link in your email, the playlist actually opened in spotify!
I’ve never been able to open the link from the ICI/PRO website. I thought it wouldn’t work because I didn’t have the premium spotify account, but now I have a premium account so I know that’s not the issue.
Thank you for your help!!
Kristi
Dump IE (Internet Explorer)
That's it. That's my radical solution.
IMO: IE is vastly inferior to Google's Chrome or Mozilla's Firefox Internet browsers for PC users and the root of many of the problems Kristi describes above. Those links take you to where you can download either (or both) on to your machine.
I primarily use Chrome and never experience any problems opening the links to Spotify playlists. Amy has used Firefox for years (before Chrome existed) and there's no reason for her to switch.
IE comes with any new PC and I've talked with a number of Instructors who were under the impression that they needed to use IE – not true!
BUT WHAT ABOUT ALL MY FAVORITES AND SAVED PASSWORDS JOHN?
Not to worry. Once either has been installed, both will ask you if you want to import all of your IE settings > you'll say yes and that should end your relationship with IE > which will bring a big smile to my face 🙂
Sure it may take you a little while to get used to a new browser, but it will be worth it.
If you are a Mac user I would encourage you to try either browser as an alternative to Safari – although Mac users report that they are very satisfied with Safari. One advantage to using Chrome – If you are a big user of Google's suite of products like Gmail, Google Docs or Google+, Chrome ties very tightly together with their other software.
You'll need to excuse me as I wrap myself in some favorite drug music of my youth today. I've been building a playlist to use with the new Pensacola Stage Race video.
The first half was easy. Basic stuff; a warmup + a few openers for the 10 minute Road Race. Then a steady, 90ish ten minute track for the Time Trial. Easy.
But where I'm struggling is deciding on the perfect music for the 30 minute Criterium…
A warm up song is like a first impression. The first song that your students hear is going to set the tone for the rest of your class. You always want make sure you put some thought into your first song. I like to choose fast paced tunes with a great beat that make people smile.
I most often will choose songs that are familiar for the warm ups. Some times it's a newer release, but I also like to find classics that people may not have heard in a while. One way to keep familiar songs fresh is to use a remix or a mash-up. I love this Led Zeppelin/Doobie Brothers mashup. It combines two old favorites: Led Zeppelin's Trampled Under Foot, and the Doobie's classic Long Train Runnin'. At 4:27, it's perfect for a fast paced, in the saddle warm up.
I am glad to be back this week. The gremlins in my computer touch pad mysteriously disappeared after I turned it off for 18 hours. I bought a USB mouse now for emergencies. Computers…love them and hate them all at the same time.
On to the Free Friday Favorite…Our oldest, Abby, played on the MN State winning softball team a few years ago and their “team” song was by this band. Their sound is just a bit country and may remind you of Fleetwood Mac from days gone by. This is a great 3:47 motivating, down and dirty 74 rpm fast climb. Try using the pause at 2:36 to your advantage and add a little something of your personality there that keeps your class engaged. I usually do a quickly inserted cue like, “Ready sprint”, “Go strong”, or “Catch that guy”. Once in a while, I will even just do a guttural “huh” and my class gets a laugh out of it. (We used to have an instructor at our club that overused that cue when teaching, and many in my class remember him).
I hope you have some fun with Little Big Town’s “Bones” from the HBO series True Blood.
“John my mouse doesn't work anymore!” “That would be your touch pad Amy”, was my response. “What ever it's called it doesn't work and I can't do the Free Friday Favorite!”
OK – I've been saving this song for just such a situation.
Actually, the situation is my own situation… Life Time has what they call “teach backs” which we (meaning me) need to preform to show our GF Dept Heads that we know, understand and can teach a specific class format. I'm scheduled for my “teach back” on September 10th and the format is a Speed Play Profile class.
Here's part of the evaluation criteria:
So I need a song that:
Sets the rhythm
Complements my profile
Set the mood and elevates the energy
Don't tell anyone but I think I'm going to use Cathedral from Crosby, Stills & Nash.
It's possibly the perfect track because it runs at ~ 70RPM for the first half where I'll have everyone get comfortable with a big gear until the chorus, when all hell breaks loose at 100RPM. Perfect for a musicly driven set of high cadence intervals… I hope. I'll let you know how I do 🙂
For your free track, here's a fun little something you maybe able to use as the lead-in to your teach back.
As an Indoor Cycling Instructor one of the biggest challenges to me is satisfying so many diverse music needs in class and as well know you can't please all the riders all of the time. That's why for me mash-ups are a must to give my riders something they know mixed in a way that is new, entertaining and motivating, especially when you take something from the past and mix it up with the rhythm and energy of today.
In this case six different INXS tracks (I can still remember the first time I saw them play opening up for Men At Work's first world tour) with Magic Fly – Two Planets, for a nice 5min 125BPM track.
It gives you lots of potential for a variety of movements on the open road, and best of all if you use Mixmeister to put your play lists together with, you can tweaked the BPM down or up; 116-118 for use on a climb or setting up some jumps or try raising it up to 128BPM for some speed work.
You'll need to excuse me as I wrap myself in some favorite drug music of my youth today. I've been building a playlist to use with the new 