What are gray circles with white X's in iTunes?

On Aug 15, 4:11 pm, PumpkinEscobar <pesco... DeleteThis @nospam.net> wrote:
> In article <1187144974.372080.199... DeleteThis @z24g2000prh.googlegroups.com>,
>
> Sarah <sarah_sonder... DeleteThis @hotmail.com> wrote:
> > Hello, I want to download some podcasts. I subscribed in iTunes, but
> > even though it has a long list of episodes for the podcast, they all
> > have a gray circle on the right with a white x through it. It doesn't
> > seem like anything is happening in terms of getting the podcasts. What
> > does this mean, these podcasts are no longer available? Then why do
> > they list them?
>
> > Thanks
> > Sarah
>
> It means that those files are not currently available.
>
> --


Thanks. They are old I guess. But then why do those selections appear
at all, if they are no longer available? Doesn't make sense....


Thanks
Sarah

On Aug 15, 5:58 pm, Calum <com.gm....RemoveThis@scottishwildcat.nospam> wrote:
> PumpkinEscobar wrote:
> > In article <1187144974.372080.199....RemoveThis@z24g2000prh.googlegroups.com>,
> > Sarah <sarah_sonder....RemoveThis@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> >> Hello, I want to download some podcasts. I subscribed in iTunes, but
> >> even though it has a long list of episodes for the podcast, they all
> >> have a gray circle on the right with a white x through it. It doesn't
> >> seem like anything is happening in terms of getting the podcasts. What
> >> does this mean, these podcasts are no longer available? Then why do
> >> they list them?
>
> >> Thanks
> >> Sarah
>
> > It means that those files are not currently available.
>
> Really? On my iTunes, the grey circle/white cross is the 'stop' button,
> and only appears for podcasts that are currently downloading.

Sometimes there is a button for "GET" and when I click it it turns to
a gray circle with white x. These are on the right on the row of a
particular selection, and the selection is grayed out too and the
checkbox is empty and on the very left there is a gray circle with
gray dot in the middle instead of the blue dot.

Sarah

PumpkinEscobar wrote:
> In article <1187144974.372080.199370.DeleteThis@z24g2000prh.googlegroups.com>,
> Sarah <sarah_sonderson.DeleteThis@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hello, I want to download some podcasts. I subscribed in iTunes, but
>> even though it has a long list of episodes for the podcast, they all
>> have a gray circle on the right with a white x through it. It doesn't
>> seem like anything is happening in terms of getting the podcasts. What
>> does this mean, these podcasts are no longer available? Then why do
>> they list them?
>>
>> Thanks
>> Sarah
>
> It means that those files are not currently available.

Really? On my iTunes, the grey circle/white cross is the 'stop' button,
and only appears for podcasts that are currently downloading.

> > Sarah <sarah_sonder....TakeThisOut@hotmail.com> wrote:

> > > Hello, I want to download some podcasts. I subscribed in iTunes, but
> > > even though it has a long list of episodes for the podcast, they all
> > > have a gray circle on the right with a white x through it. It doesn't
> > > seem like anything is happening in terms of getting the podcasts. What
> > > does this mean, these podcasts are no longer available? Then why do
> > > they list them?

After looking at the multiple and in some cases conflicting responses
to this query, one might ask the more fundamental question: How come
there isn't a clear, definitive, printed, well-illustrated users' guide
that comes with iTunes **and answers this (perfectly reasonable)
question**?!?!?

[And before anyone points to the online Help file for iTunes as a
replacement for such a users' guide, why don't they try drilling down
into the iTunes Help file, pretending they're a naive user trying to
find the answer to this question, and explaining just what branch they
followed at each stage in this search; why a *naive* iTunes user would
have chosen that branch; how many false steps they took along the way;
and how many potential false paths there are to get lost in while trying
to get this answer.]

In article <siegman-83A921.07501916082007.DeleteThis@nntp.stanford.edu>,
AES <siegman.DeleteThis@stanford.edu> wrote:

> > > Sarah <sarah_sonder....DeleteThis@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > > Hello, I want to download some podcasts. I subscribed in iTunes, but
> > > > even though it has a long list of episodes for the podcast, they all
> > > > have a gray circle on the right with a white x through it. It doesn't
> > > > seem like anything is happening in terms of getting the podcasts. What
> > > > does this mean, these podcasts are no longer available? Then why do
> > > > they list them?
>
> After looking at the multiple and in some cases conflicting responses
> to this query, one might ask the more fundamental question: How come
> there isn't a clear, definitive, printed, well-illustrated users' guide
> that comes with iTunes **and answers this (perfectly reasonable)
> question**?!?!?

The grey circle with a white X shows up in a lot of apps, not just
iTunes. It's a button, and its general meaning is "click here to
cancel".

When you import a CD in iTunes, it appears next to the progress bar;
click it to stop importing the CD.

In some Mac apps (iTunes, Finder, Safari, OmniWeb, etc), if you type
into the rounded Search box, the X symbol appears at one end; click it
to cancel the search.

When a podcast is being downloaded or waiting to be downloaded, iTunes
shows the X symbol beside it; click the X to cancel the download of that
podcast. (iTunes also displays a small circle with curved arrows beside
podcasts that are to be downloaded -- orange and spinning if it's being
downloaded now, grey and motionless if it hasn't started yet.)

I never had to be told what the X meant, or look it up in a manual or
online help. X is frequently used in non-computer contexts to mean No,
Stop, Don't, Wrong, etc., so when I first saw the grey & white X symbol
on my Mac, it just seemed obvious to me that it must mean something like
"stop" or "cancel". And when I tried clicking it, I found I was right.

In article
<wayne.morris-EADF4D.15165916082007 RemoveThis @shawnews.wp.shawcable.net>,
"Wayne C. Morris" <wayne.morris RemoveThis @this.is.invalid> wrote:

> > The grey circle with a white X shows up in a lot of apps, not just
> iTunes. It's a button, and its general meaning is "click here to
> cancel".

Aha! Makes sense. (Except for the deeper and really very discordant
inconsistency that in a much broader set of Mac interface elements, grey
universally indicates "greyed out", i.e. "not at the minute active or
usable".)

And also note: It more broadly seems to be used for "cancel AND ALSO
ERASE" -- as contrasted to "cancel current operation, but retain the
initiating text input".

As a topic drift off into other Mac interface inconsistencies, doesn't
"Favorites" usually mean a user-selected or heavily used subset pulled
out of a larger list of possible elements (bookmarks, styles, fonts,
songs, etc.)?

If so, then why does TextEdit, as best I can tell, refer to the _total_
set of available named styles as the Favorites?

AES <siegman.DeleteThis@stanford.edu> wrote:

> As a topic drift off into other Mac interface inconsistencies, doesn't
> "Favorites" usually mean a user-selected or heavily used subset pulled
> out of a larger list of possible elements (bookmarks, styles, fonts,
> songs, etc.)?

Yes.

> If so, then why does TextEdit, as best I can tell, refer to the _total_
> set of available named styles as the Favorites?

Well, it's true that it starts with all styles listed as Favorites, but
there are only four of them, and of course you can add or remove at
will.

--
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In article <siegman-FFDC86.14193116082007.TakeThisOut@nntp.stanford.edu>,
AES <siegman.TakeThisOut@stanford.edu> wrote:

> As a topic drift off into other Mac interface inconsistencies, doesn't
> "Favorites" usually mean a user-selected or heavily used subset pulled
> out of a larger list of possible elements (bookmarks, styles, fonts,
> songs, etc.)?
>
> If so, then why does TextEdit, as best I can tell, refer to the _total_
> set of available named styles as the Favorites?

Because they're all Favorites. Apple gave you 4 Favorites to start, but
you don't have to keep them. To get rid of one, select it in the Styles
dialog and click Remove from Favorites.

Calling them "Favorites" doesn't necessarily imply that there should be
named styles that aren't favorites. In this case, it just means they're
favorite combinations of font, size, etc.

In article
<wayne.morris-E0EA1E.19552616082007.RemoveThis@shawnews.wp.shawcable.net>,
"Wayne C. Morris" <wayne.morris.RemoveThis@this.is.invalid> wrote:

> > If so, then why does TextEdit, as best I can tell, refer to the _total_
> > set of available named styles as the Favorites?
>
> Because they're all Favorites. Apple gave you 4 Favorites to start, but
> you don't have to keep them. To get rid of one, select it in the Styles
> dialog and click Remove from Favorites.
>
> Calling them "Favorites" doesn't necessarily imply that there should be
> named styles that aren't favorites. In this case, it just means they're
> favorite combinations of font, size, etc.

Well, OK -- I guess.

Except that this is directly inconsistent with _Apple's_ own use of the
term Favorites in the Font Panel and Font book -- and in the Favorite
Servers folder -- and in the Go to Favorites menu command -- and the use
of Favorites in Quicktime -- and in the Favorites menu of Internet
Express -- and Favorites in Adobe Acrobat.

Not to mention being inconsistent with the essentially consistent
interpretation of the same term in many other third party applications
-- and with the ordinary commonsense meaning of the word in English.

My view is that its inconsistent use in textEdit is just one more
example of a whole minor horde of other interface stupidities in
TextEdit, which mar an otherwise basically very useful and potentially
valuable app.

On Aug 16, 2:16 pm, "Wayne C. Morris" <wayne.mor....RemoveThis@this.is.invalid>
wrote:
> In article <siegman-83A921.07501916082....RemoveThis@nntp.stanford.edu>,
>
> AES <sieg....RemoveThis@stanford.edu> wrote:
> > > > Sarah <sarah_sonder....RemoveThis@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > > > Hello, I want to download some podcasts. I subscribed in iTunes, but
> > > > > even though it has a long list of episodes for the podcast, they all
> > > > > have a gray circle on the right with a white x through it. It doesn't
> > > > > seem like anything is happening in terms of getting the podcasts. What
> > > > > does this mean, these podcasts are no longer available? Then why do
> > > > > they list them?
>
> > After looking at the multiple and in some cases conflicting responses
> > to this query, one might ask the more fundamental question: How come
> > there isn't a clear, definitive, printed, well-illustrated users' guide
> > that comes with iTunes **and answers this (perfectly reasonable)
> > question**?!?!?
>
> The grey circle with a white X shows up in a lot of apps, not just
> iTunes. It's a button, and its general meaning is "click here to
> cancel".
>
> When you import a CD in iTunes, it appears next to the progress bar;
> click it to stop importing the CD.
>
> In some Mac apps (iTunes, Finder, Safari, OmniWeb, etc), if you type
> into the rounded Search box, the X symbol appears at one end; click it
> to cancel the search.
>
> When a podcast is being downloaded or waiting to be downloaded, iTunes
> shows the X symbol beside it; click the X to cancel the download of that
> podcast. (iTunes also displays a small circle with curved arrows beside
> podcasts that are to be downloaded -- orange and spinning if it's being
> downloaded now, grey and motionless if it hasn't started yet.)
>
> I never had to be told what the X meant, or look it up in a manual or
> online help. X is frequently used in non-computer contexts to mean No,
> Stop, Don't, Wrong, etc., so when I first saw the grey & white X symbol
> on my Mac, it just seemed obvious to me that it must mean something like
> "stop" or "cancel". And when I tried clicking it, I found I was right.

Thanks. Why is it that when iTunes has finished all its downloads, and
won't do anything more, the gray circle with white X on extreme right
is still there?

Thanks.