Episode 17 - "Leadership, Part One"

Here's a "live-to-harddrive" experiment that I actually carried through to the very end... and you, the listener, get to suffer for it. Let me know what you think of the format, because it's a whole lot easier to get a show put together this way... but I don't want it to sound unbearably bad. I can work on improving the sound, but only if you like the much-less-"produced" feel of it.

Speaking of... the sound quality on this leads something to be desired, especially with the rain in the background, which is a cool effect but doesn't make things any clearer. Sorry! I actually ran the compression/hard-limiting/normalizing process on this twice, which leveled things off but really mashed up the audio in the process (technical term).

One final technical element; I normalized this particular recording to -.1 dB rather than -.01 dB, which means that it's slightly less "loud" but also less likely to clip on your MP3 player. I probably shouldn't be experimenting on a recording that's so radically different in so many other ways as well... but, point being, if it sounds "softer", that's probably because of the levels and not the "live" recording.

Topics

• A phoenix of an eMachines (metaphorically speaking)
• More projector-related exploits
• The Word of the Week returns!
• Leadership - how good is it?
• More music from Rianoir, live at Soulstice

Episode 16 - "Here's my robot!"

It's a day late and, if there were any money involved, it would be a dollar short. But since the very first Ericast was released on a Monday, I guess this is okay. Featuring thanks to Daniel Hook and Jon Low, miscellaneous discussion of what I've been up to the past few days, including cheap computing, heavy DLP projectors (and pondering their LCD counterparts), and a robot-related followup clip from an ITConversations.com program where Dr. Moira Gunn interviews Chris Anderson -- be sure to listen to the whole thing there!

And at only 18 minutes, I think this is one of my shortest podcasts ever! The term "mercifully brief" comes to mind...

Episode 15 - "Radio for All"

Released 50 years to the day after the launch of NBC's "Monitor" radio service, this episode is a tribute to "radio stuff", beginning with a discussion of the new voice of the Ericast. (No, I'm not going anywhere.)

We also include a podcast from PBC Liberal that talks about NBC's Monitor, raising the question of whether podcasts mark the return of "sponsored radio". It's a great, great piece. (Man, I wish I could tell stories as well as he does!)

Other topics range from Ken Barlow to Jon Low. Somehow, it all works out, and there's more than just a "low" theme there.

Be sure to comment (206-339-ERIC, or send e-mail to me at ericast.com), because it feels like I'm light on topics for next week... but I'm sure y'all will come through for me!

Episode 14.1 - Ericast Update

Just a quick update to let you know that the "radio-related 'ultra-cool thing' that's coming soon" really is coming soon! Soon, as in the next episode!

In addition to reiterating that it's about radio (which you already knew if you read the show notes from Episode 14, but not everyone does...) this particular update closes with the pivitol lynchpin of a keystone that undergirds the foundation of the upcoming show.

(I'm just checking to see if anyone pays attention to whether these notes make sense or not. In case it wasn't clear, these particular notes don't.)

Anyway, now you have something more to look forward to in Episode 15...

Episode 14 - "Podcasting Among Friends"

A return to a "shortish" podcast this week (coming in at just a smidge -- which is less than a tad! -- past 24 minutes) with a variety of miscellaneous thoughts. I guess, if anything, they center around the "diverse voices" concept. Maybe.

No news yet on the radio-related "ultra-cool thing" that's coming soon (I hope!), so you'll just have to stay patient for awhile longer. (Frankly, you probably have more patience than I do, becuase I know what's coming, and it's not here yet! I can't wait!)

In additional technically-related Ericast notes, I've discovered that Windows-native WebDAV support is... odd. Just because you cancel a file transfer, it doesn't mean the OS won't keep right on going, transfering the file. Good thing I keep these podcasts small! (And that I'm patient... though I guess we just established that I'm not?)

Topics:

• Surviving (and loving) our garage sale
• Coffee isn't frugal
• Meeting Chuck Tomasi!
• Fellow podcasters as PodcastMN.com
• Garrick Van Buren and his ideas
• Getting to the root of the Word of the Week

Episode 13.1 - Ericast Update

Wanted to toss out a quick update in case anyone was wondering what happened to lucky Episode #13 in the past couple of days. Long story short, the server was down, but for some interesting details on why the server was down, listen to the update!

I also mention the excitement of preparing for my wife's garage sale, which is getting pretty darn big. Details are on her blog. If you're at all interested in garage sales, come on down, because the big River Hills multi-family extravaganza is being held just a couple miles west of us -- so you can hit ours and theirs in the same swell foop, so to speak.

And, yes, those are birds in the background. I have my window open. I love Minnesota!