New iLike.com Sidebar Release

We just released a new version of the iLike Sidebar for both Windows (released Dec. 17th) and Mac (released Dec. 18th). Thanks to your feedback, we were able to find and fix a few problems that some of our users were experiencing, namely errors while installing.

If you've been having problems with the sidebar, please try downloading and installing this newest version of the Sidebar, which can always be found on our download page. If you're not having any problems with the Sidebar, there's no need to worry about this - we will soon upgrade you to the latest version automatically. 

Please feel free to leave us any feedback in the comments to this blog post; and if you're having a technical problem, please contact iLike support. Your feedback helps us make iLike better for everyone!

From all of us at iLike, Happy Holidays!   :-)

- Cassie

Comments

[Jonah]

Thanks to Eugene for the support around getting these bugs fixed. I'm glad to say I'm happily creating my iLike profile as we speak.

Jonah

[Eric]

i get an error message during installation that says:

"Error writing to file: C:\Program Files\Itunes\Plug-Ins\ilikesidebarplugin.dll. Verify that you have access to that directory."

Anybody else get this? What does it mean?

[Matt]

I know you would probably prefer people to use your iLike sidebar app, but how about integrating some sort of last.fm support for logging the songs people listen to if they don't want to use your sidebar or use an unsupported music player (winamp)?

I think your service here is different enough from last.fm that you aren't direct competitors. Why not work together? How hard would it be to allow people to add their last.fm rss url to their ilike profile for logging the songs they listen to?

[glenn]

i really appreciate all that you do to improve ilike, but i really miss the "listeners of..." that used to show up on the sidebar. it was an easy way to find new friends. now we must go to the artists page to find out who likes the artists. please, please bring that back. thanks for listening!

[markw]

Seeing my recently played iTunes songs show up on my Facebook profile is very cool. Got me thinking...

I wouldn't mind a weekly pop-up box asking me to rate what I listened to, read, or saw that week... which would then be instantly displayed as the iTunes songs are.

I think including all forms of entertainment, nnot just music, is kinda crucial though.

[Eduardo]

hi Im a ilike user and yesterday i was thinking that ilike is one of the coolest pages on the net, but a mobile service will make better the page, think about it guys and happy new year

[glenn]

this question isn't related to the sidebar, but a question about the "activity" tab. has "my network" always been the default? and what exactly is the definition of "my network"? it includes friends and, it seems, some random strangers. who are the strangers and why do i care what they're rec'ing? is there a way to have only "friends" as the default? thanks and happy new year!

[Izzzie]

Hey guys - thanks so much for the update - I was having some issues when my computer fell over and I then tried to reinstall. But the newer version worked fine!

Just wondering - I'm a listener who's very much into my lyrics; often I'll want to look at lyrics when I first hear a song. Any chance that users (or even artists!) could submit lyrics as part of the package? It'd be awesome not to have to listen to a song six times and get sick of it just to type out the lyrics. :D

Thanks so much, and happy holidays!

[Ron]

This comment also sent via email, but I thought Mac users would like to read and comment:

iLike™ is bypassing Mac OS X's security by automatically installing iLike updates. First, iLike should include a preference (in iTunes or System Preferences) to check for updates automatically. Second, iLike should have a notification system that is an extension of the update checker. When iTunes and iLike are launched, a dialog box should alert the user that there is a newer version available for download, and it should ask the user to download the iLike installer. If the user chooses to download the iLike installer, an admin password should be required.

Currently, every OS X user is subjected to possible injection of virus, spyware, malware, etc. by iLike.

From your FAQ: "Spyware relates to software that becomes installed on computer without the informed consent or knowledge of the computer’s owner and covertly transmits or receives data to or from a remote host." This is exactly what you are doing with the automatic updates of iLike. Even though user consents to original installation of software, they are not informed that iLike will install updates in admin mode… by itself… undetected.

Here is the code from console.app:
2008-01-04 00:20:01.182 iLikeAgent[392] iLikeAgent launched
2008-01-04 00:20:01.183 iLikeAgent[392] Agent checking for updates: http://www.ilike.com
2008-01-04 00:20:01.184 iLikeAgent[392] moving to trash: /Users/username/Library/Application Support/iLike/Downloads/Updates/100
2008-01-04 00:20:01.484 iLikeAgent[392] update result: ok
2008-01-04 00:20:01.484 iLikeAgent[392] version OK
2008-01-04 00:20:01.485 iLikeAgent[392] iLikeAgent terminated

Please respond to this serious security issue.

[Hadi Partovi]

Ron,

at iLike we take our user's security very seriously. We have been running our iLike Sidebar software this way for over a year. Over a million users have installed it and this is the first time we've heard somebody complain about our automatic self-update.

Our self-updater uses code-signing to verify the authenticity of the code that is being installed to make sure it has only been certified and code-signed after human verification by iLike staff, thus preventing security attacks. This should eliminate any concerns about viruses, malware, etc

In our testing of user experience, we've found that users greatly prefer systems that 'just work' and update themselves without annoying the user with too many options, questions, and preferences. However, we do notify users with a dialog box to let them know that an update is available and they can choose to get it "now or later"

Note also that we cannot maintain backwards compatibility for older versions of the iLike Sidebar as the Sidebar requires tight integration with our web services to function properly. Thus a client-side update is required for the Sidebar to function properly for the long-term.

- Hadi Partovi, President, iLike.com

[Vincent]

I installed the update on one Mac and saw that you have removed the related section. Booo! I refuse to update my other computers until I see it make its return. The related section helped me find new listeners quickly and conveniently. Why was it removed in the first place?

[M1EK]

I also vote for re-instating the "who's a listener of this band" section. That's essentially all I used iLike for; and since you've taken it away, I haven't used it at all.

[PhoenixBh]

WinAmp Support, really i spend all day listening to music on WinAmp, i hate WMP for music, and only have iTunes cause of my iPod, so please make a release for WinAmp. Im sure im not the only one who uses WinAmp.

[nzhamstar]

Hey what about linux!!!!!!!!!!!! Amarok, Audacious, XMMS - if you ported it to mac already half the work is already done!

[Claire]

Not sure who to email this 'complaint' too, but I would like to report copyright infringement.

Russian duo Vilona has clearly not only taken the song "Irish Dances" from someone else but refused to acknowledge the original writers when specifically asked about it. (http://www.rockgeroy.ru/view/songs/16430.html?tag=comments)

The original song is by Gary Moore, called "Over the Hills and Far Away". He is a 1960s rocker from Northern Ireland (so these 'dances' are only 'irish/' in the very strictest sense). The song was later recorded by the Finnish band Nightwish. However, Vilona's arrangement of the song is virtually IDENTICAL to Nightwish, in the refrain.

Pure Plagiarism.

Compare the first 30 secs of each of these:
http://www.ilike.com/artist/Band+Duo+Vilona
and
http://youtube.com/watch?v=6UztEfwHt14

I think it is sad that they deny that they took this song from someone else. Covering a song is fine, but don't deny that it's someone else's song.

I recommend against you offering this song, as they will no doubt soon run into legal problems.

[Jimmy Wells]

I didnt have a lot only like 10, but why did all my fans get erased???

I gotta start somewhere if they erase em like that after a few weeks I'll never get any fans!!

[mark]

i think there should be a way to browse artists so that i dont have to remember every band i like... you should also put a dont like option on there that way artists get bashed and then you get more feedback... i dont know

[Reyes Torres]

I like it here and is cool. thank you.

[jhon]

hola atodos los malenates del mundo entero

[Regis]

Honnestly, iLike looks great. The web site design is brilliant, the artist database is huge, the social aspects is well thought of, but without a plugin for the Amarok player, I'm sorry to tell you that I'll keep with Last.fm which does a good job too.

[Chris]

It would be nice when in the sidebar you add a song to your profile, to be able to add the comments to it directly as well, rather than having to go to your personal page, insert comments, then delete the double entry.

[Aguinaldo]

Please, some people really needs a version that works on Linux!

[Chief geek]

Suggestion: when downloading free MP3's from new artists, and a day later you download it again (because it is similar to music you are playign in iTunes), it should ask if you want to download it again, or skip.
Similar to what itunes is doing when adding the same song to a playlist.
Thanx!

[Gabriela]

The sidebar is great, when will you have a version for Winamp?

[Karthik]

You need to do something for linux users. A plugin for Amarok won't be bad.

[anonawhat]

Congratulations on supporting the two crappiest media players ever created...

+4 for Winamp so I can try this thing.

[Russell]

Linux users are being ignored!!! Shame!

[Fred Smilek]

Completely agree with Glenn: "I really appreciate all that you do to improve ilike"

Fred Smilek

Fred Smilek is the acting president of the Society to Save Endangered Species. It was founded two years ago. http://fredjsmilek.com

[Reinaldo Nolasco Sanches]

We need iLike on Amarok! A webservices that we can devel one :D