Is there an alarm clock that plays an Itunes song?!?

[yOyOYoo]

Is there a program that allows my computer to wake up from "sleep" mode at a certain time and play an itunes song to wake me up??

It would be great.

 

[wrldwzrd89]

Is there a program that allows my computer to wake up from "sleep" mode at a certain time and play an itunes song to wake me up??

It would be great.

Getting the machine to wake up from sleep mode is actually, believe it or not, the hardest part about doing this. Once it's awake, a combination of iCal and AppleScript (or Automator if you have Tiger) will be sufficient - iCal's job is to start the AppleScript running at the time you want it to run; the AppleScript tells iTunes what to do and which song to play.

AppleScript, being a scripting language, isn't particularly difficult to learn, since its syntax is surprisingly English-like. If you're scared to death of programming, you've got several options. If you have Tiger, you can simply make an Automator workflow to handle the task. If not, I'm sure someone here (if not me) can make the needed AppleScript for you.

I'll admit that I haven't the foggiest idea on how to make a Mac wake up at a specified time if it's sleeping, though. If I wanted to do something like that, I'd just turn off the sleep mode (only when it's on AC power if my Mac happens to be portable).

 

[snkTab]

yeah, have iTunes just open a file, the file being a iTunes song. and just like WW89, I think you still have to wake it from sleep, which I think.... your SOL

 

[cube]

But then you don't get a snooze button.
I wanted an alarm radio with good sound and snooze, that's why I got a JVC-H330, which can play MP3 discs (although I never tried waking up to a disc, I don't know if the random play setting is persistent).

 

[Jaffa Cake]

Getting the machine to wake up from sleep mode is actually, believe it or not, the hardest part about doing this.

Can you use the Schedule tab in System Preferences' Energy Saver pane to do this – or does it only work if the machine is fully shut down rather than asleep?

 

[Bedawyn]

Or you could use iBeez. Sorry, it's too early in the morning to look up the link, but you should be able to find it at VersionTracker. It lets you schedule all sorts of things, including iTunes playlists and starting or waking the computer. It's not a perfect app, and I hope to replace it with Automator when I get Tiger, but it does the job.

 

[iSaint]

Can you use the Schedule tab in System Preferences' Energy Saver pane to do this – or does it only work if the machine is fully shut down rather than asleep?

Yes, there is a 'Wake' option under System Preferences>Energy Saver>Schedule

Never tried it myself, though

 

[Electric Monk]

It works but it was too much hassle for me.

Basically you can just tell it to wake up at a certain time every day (but make sure the lid is up when you send it to sleep if you're using a portable, otherwise it will go right back to sleep).
That's in System Preferences/Energy Saver/Schedule

Then you schedule an iCal event that takes place right after it's supposed to wake up. For the alarm sound you can select an iTunes song.

Simple as that.

However since I never wake up at the same time every day (ahhh University) it wasn't a terrible lot of use for me.

 

[cube]

But then you don't get a snooze button.
I wanted an alarm radio with good sound and snooze, that's why I got a JVC-H330, which can play MP3 discs (although I never tried waking up to a disc, I don't know if the random play setting is persistent).

Well, this sucks. The random setting is not preserved. What a supid design! Even a cassette is better, as you can wind it to a position other than the start of the tape. And I planned to make some MP3 CDs once I set up my burner...