Ericast 121 - Picking up Piano

A quick-ish episode this week with thanks to my listeners, a bit of feedback, and comments on the new CoCo collaborative working space (links here and here) and my new-used Yamaha PSR-270.

Comments to 206-339-ERIC (a.k.a. 206-339-3742) or e-mail me (eric) at ericast.com.

Ericast 120 - Coping Without Cutaways

A discussion this week on the lack of an easy way to do "cutaways" in video editing, which is a super-basic concept that used to be really easy. All this was spawned by a video comment from Digital Dan Hook, which has great content but could have been even better if the video examples of Blackberry apps didn't need to break up the original track.

Yes, I know it's technically possible to hack apart your video in Windows Movie Maker and emulate a cutaway, but if it was a piece of cake on a linear system in 1995 it should be even easier 15 years later!

Rather than me trying to flesh out what I talk about in the podcast itself, here's Dan's video (so you have an easy way of knowing what I was talking about). And, speaking of talking, do leave a message at 206-339-3742, e-mail me (eric) at ericast.com, or make a YouTube video like Dan's:

Ericast 119 - "Formative Teen Years"

You know, I just spotted that last week's episode had its ID3 tags completely messed up because I was off one row -- so the "year" was http://www.ericast.com/, the "track number" was 2010, the "genre" was 118, the "lyrics" were podcast, etc.

Anyway, this week's episode is about where I spent my teenage years. In hindsight I guess I don't talk much about my actual life and adventures there... but at least you get the basic geography of the place.

Let me know what you want to know: call 206-339-ERIC (206-337-3942) right now, or e-mail me (eric) at ericast.com.

Links/locations/things mentioned:

• Matt Beckwith and PizzaGoHere
• K7.net
• Cornucopia, Wisconsin
• Hayward, Minong, and Solon Springs
• Cedar Lake (with its nearby speedway) and Boner Lake
• Poet David Kubach and our old 40 acres
• A 1979 Ford Fiesta
• Blueberry Lane in Cornucopia
• A blue Huffy bike (with blue tires!) like what my friend Jeff owned
• Knotty pine paneling similar to what we removed
• A really well-done write-up of Cornucopia (scroll past half-way down for it)

Ericast 118 - "Inside Eric's Brain"

I just realized what an interesting date it is today -- 20100110. That's undoubtedly binary for something-or-other (except for the "2")... but I'm not going to bother to figure it out.

That alone might tell you something about me, as this week's podcast explores my personality. As always, messages at 206-339-ERIC (a.ka. 206-339-3742) or e-mails to eric at ericast.com are eagerly anticipated and appreciated upon arrival.

So, what do I do? I support learning, explore solutions, battle entropy, and explain reality. The podcast goes through all that in a bit more detail. What energizes me is using technology to preserve history so it's accessible to others... but, in reality, I end up pondering "solutions in search of a problem." But I like producing a "product" too, which is almost the exact opposite. In some ways, my brain is a mess.

Links related for this week's topics...

HRD again
Apostle Paul's writings in Romans 7
WebTrends, Google Search and MovableType
New Shelter magazine from the 1980s (example article)
A "Crossette" fireworks shell

Yes, that list is as random as it looks; that fits this week's topic just fine.

Ericast 117 - "Who Am I?"

Welcome to 2010!!! This week's Ericast is a brief overview (which turned out not-so-brief; I think it's going to be a two-parter?) about my background -- the stuff that made me "me."

As always, 206-339-3742 is the way to get in touch (a.k.a. "206-339-ERIC"), or e-mail me (eric) at ericast.com.

A few relevant links:

• Jon Gordon and Future Tense
• The INTP personality type
• The Montessori Method of education
• Handbook of Christian Apologetics
• The American School (of Correspondence)
• Cornucopia, Wisconsin
• Don Shelby of WCCO
• "Pro-Life Democrats"
• Apple II+
• Human Resource Development
• Super-obscure furnace-related SNL reference