Pssst... Hey, iTunes Store not opening for ya?

So for the past several weeks my iTunes hasn't been up to snuff. iTunes starts up okay... but when it comes to the iTunes Store it did nothing but show a blank white page with "iTunes Store" printed in the center. And whatever has been the problem with that, it also has kept iTunes from properly updating my iPad. I'm still using Windows Vista (no jokes, please :-P)

I tried everything but nothing worked to make iTunes Store functioning on my computer. I even uninstalled and re-installed iTunes... three times! And still the iTunes Store wouldn't come up. When I ran the Diagnostics tool it gave me some crap about how iTunes Store couldn't make a secure connection.

Well, as of about an hour ago it's finally working again! It took me the better part of three days of actively addressing the issue and a whole wazooload of Google searches. Lo and behold the solution came from a YouTube user named audsmithl15, who posted it as a comment on a video demonstrating the exact same problem.

Here is what audsmithl15 came up with. I'm re-posting it here, for sake of anyone else who might be searching for the fix...

1. Go to C:\ProgramData\Apple\Installer­Cache\AppleApplicationSupport 2.0.1

2. Right click

3. UNinstall

4. Go to C:\ProgramData\Apple\Installer­Cache\AppleApplicationSupport 1.5.2

5. Right click

6. INstall

7. Restart PC

Took less than 10 minutes to apply the fix and after that, iTunes Store comes up fine!

Bigtime props to audsmithl15 on YouTube for hitting on the solution :-)

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TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON: THE SCORE is on iTunes!!!

Well, that didn't take very long, did it? :-P

Seibertron.com is reporting tonight that Transformers: Dark Of The Moon: The Score is now available on iTunes!

All of you know what I will be doing for the next few hours :-) And now you know where to find it too. So go buy Steve Jablonsky's epic score now!!! Or, perish in flame.

It's your choice. But, not really.

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DR. HORRIBLE'S SING-ALONG BLOG: Pure genius from the mind of Joss Whedon!

Last week, around the time that we were in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, I started hearing about something called Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly creator Joss Whedon wrote, directed and even composed the music for this three-act comic opera about Dr. Horrible (Neil Patrick Harris), a down-on-his-luck mad scientist trying to gain both respect as a supervillain and the girl of his dreams (played by Felicia Day). I couldn't get to its website in time to catch the streaming video of the three chapters as they were being released, but based on the good buzz and the positive word of several friends (including Phillip Arthur) I went to iTunes two nights ago and checked it out.

People, if you haven't already, you owe it to yourself to watch Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog: it's one of the funniest, most clever and even thought-provoking things that I've watched all year. And the songs are catchy! I've had "My Freeze Ray" playing in my head almost constantly since Wednesday night, and I even found myself singing it this afternoon while driving around with my wife.

Click here to purchase Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog from iTunes. You can either get each act individually for $1.99, or all three for $3.99 (which is what I did). And let us hope that this is not the last that we have heard from the nefarious Dr. Horrible!

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iTunes now has first three seasons of new DOCTOR WHO

A lot of us have been wanting it, and the BBC has delivered: the revived Doctor Who series is now available on iTunes! The first three seasons can now be purchased and downloaded, and hopefully the incredible fourth will be coming soon as well. Strangely, none of the Christmas specials are included, an oversight which I hope will be remedied soon, since "The Runaway Bride" introduced Donna Noble. The BBC has also put all the episodes of Torchwood up on iTunes as well, if you're aiming to be a completist on the modern Doctor Who saga.

I wonder if this means the Beeb would be up to putting the original Doctor Who series on iTunes also. They stand to make a fortune from "The Deadly Assassin" and "Genesis of the Daleks" alone.

And thanks to Geoff Gentry for passing along the news!

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All kinds of DC Comics video goodness hits iTunes!

In the words of Geoff Gentry who first passed along word of this: "Get your debit card ready."

iTunes has just added the DC Comics Collection to its vast video library. You can now purchase and download the first several episodes of Batman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond and Superman: The Animated Series. It's also got Max Fleischer's animated Superman shorts from the 1940s, the first season of The Adventures of Superman starring George Reeve, the first season of Super Friends and the complete 2008 Aquaman series. Geoff adds that hopefully iTunes will soon add Justice League and I heartily concur.

But in the meantime, if you've never watched "Heart of Ice", the episode that first hurtled Batman: The Animated Series to critical acclaim, you can now enjoy it for two bucks via iTunes. And as soon as they make "Apokolips... Now!" Parts 1 and 2 from Superman: The Animated Series available, I'm gonna be acquiring those, too!

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Michael Giacchino's "Roar!" from CLOVERFIELD is now on iTunes

Scott Kelly sends word that after three months of a lot of people wanting this, that "Roar!", the instrumental piece by Michael Giacchino that plays over the end credits of Cloverfield (and the only original musical score composed for that movie) is now available for purchase via iTunes as of today. If you have iTunes already loaded on your computer then aim here to go straight to "Roar!".

I just bought it and am listening to it now. "Roar!" is both monstrous and majestic. I thought that in addition to complementing Cloverfield, that it was a beautiful piece in its own right and a terrific homage to the classic Toho "giant monstah" movies that Cloverfield was inspired by.

Incidentally, the version of "Roar!" that you can download is five minutes longer than the one used in the movie. After listening to both - someone sent me a very clean (i.e. no theatrical noises) copy of the movie's version a few weeks ago - I must say that I prefer the edition from iTunes.

I also got the Cloverfield DVD yesterday. Haven't watched all of it yet but it's a beautiful transfer. I can't wait to put both it and "Roar!" on my iPod... and then I can take Cloverfield with me wherever I go :-)

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