johnbollwitt.com

If there is anything more annoying to me when it comes to website browsing, it’s Snap previews. It’s completely a matter of preference, but I cannot help but express my disregard for something that is supposed to be helpful.

When I’m looking at a site, I don’t want to see a tiny preview in a pop-up bubble of the link that I think I might like to click on, from said site that I am already looking at, especially when it has a bunch of links on it. Maybe it comes from the fact that I get a lot of content from RSS feeds, not bothering with loading websites unless I find it necessary. However, if I want to view a web page, I want to see the whole thing. I don’t want to peek through the keyhole. I’d rather just kick the door down and go in to see what I can find.

Thankfully, BoingBoing has pointed to a great post about what you can do to stop this helpful service from functioning on your browser. Rock!

I’m going to completely admit it. Before I moved to Vancouver, I had no knowledge of CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada other than its existence. I also had no clue, as a loving hockey fan, how good their coverage is. Of course, I lived my whole life in the U.S. This is Canada. There’s your difference.

To my dear friends who also love hockey and don’t get the coverage that you should, especially in the states, take this information that comes off of Inside the CBC. If you’re not checking out the Don Cherry[wiki], then you’re not getting all the hockey you could be.

CBC.ca will launch a special online version of Coach’s Corner tomorrow with new content, design and features. Enhancements include an improved and larger video picture and an online forum allowing hockey fans to submit their remarks regarding Don’s, uh, “legendary” weekly commentary.

Episodes from the 2006/07 season are available online, and in the coming weeks, a full-screen viewing option and a revamped archive consisting of some of the most memorable Coach’s Corner moments from the past will also be available exclusively on CBC.ca/coach. [insidethecbc]

I was chatting with my buddy, Sushi, back in Iowa about the coverage he gets back there. Even with digital cable, mostly likely the basic package, he hardly gets any hockey on TV. Comcast SportsNet shows Blackhawks games from time to time, and combined with the weekly games on NBC, that’s about it. His cable package doesn’t include OLN (who the NHL has the explicit contract with for broadcasts in the states), and there isn’t an extra package he can buy for the NHL Network, NHL Center Ice, Versus, or an “Ice Pack”.

How’s that for someone living within a four hour drive to Chicago, five hours to Minneapolis, and five hours to St. Louis?

If anyone is complaining about the lack of success that the NHL is experiencing in the U.S., then there’s your reason. Hockey fans can’t get what they want, and there is very little for new fans to get exposed to. If it wasn’t for the NHL on ESPN[wiki] while I was in high school, I don’t think I would have ever come to love the sport. And yes, that was before Fox ever did the glowing puck thing[wiki].

Additional Note

I was just checking out the Coach’s Corner site and had a thought, so let’s see if anyone at the CBC is paying attention to me(which I highly doubt).

Why not publish all this video content to YouTube? Or do Google Video or whatever. The point is, make it so that anyone can embed the video on their website or blog. On top of that, and to sweeten the deal for you guys, tack on a five second ad for CBC programming at the very beginning. Nothing too flashy, but a quick voice over and a slide for a CBC program.

This way, we can share Coach’s Corner with the world, and you CBC folks get to promote your stuff. TV, radio, podcasts, or whatever. Have at it, but just make it simple and to the point. Go beyond five or ten seconds, and I am fast forwarding to the good stuff.

I’ve recently discovered Pacific Metropolis, and while it might old news to some, this site has quickly become a daily favorite of mine. I can’t recall how I stumbled upon it, but the RSS feed has clued me into numerous construction projects going on in the city. Trust me, there are a few of them. Every time I walk by one, I’m always curious as to the background of what’s going on.

I’m particularly interested in the Southeast False Creek development that they have regular reports on. This will be the Olympic Village for the 2010 winter games, but I’m more concerned about what will result from the overhauling of that area. The post about the preliminary design plans and the zoning for areas outside of the village speak well on this.

There isn’t much listed on their about page, but the header reads, “Tracking the Development of Vancouver’s Urban Environment”. That’s pretty spot on. It might not have all the information in the world, but I do appreciate what I’ve seen over the past month. If you wonder about all the cranes and scaffolding around Vancouver, then you might check the site out once and a while.

This is something I’ve been considering posting about for a long time, but just after filling out this survey, I’ll hold off on posting about it for a little while. However, if you’re a blogger, Darren Barefoot has setup this site to gather some information about folks like us.

Why do you blog? Why do I blog? Why does anybody? As the medium enters its pubescence, it’s a question that I wonder about all the time. I’ve talked about it with a lot of different bloggers, and everyone offers a different reason.

In February, I’m giving a talk called “Why We Blog” at Northern Voice here in Vancouver. In preparation, I’m launching this ad hoc survey to gather more opinions and voices from the blogosphere.

The survey is 16 questions, and hopefully won’t take you more than 10 minutes. I really appreciate the time you might take to complete it. As a token of that appreciation, I’m giving away a few prizes [whydoyoublog]

I know that I think about this topic a lot on a personal level. I can’t be the only one that drifts off to sleep at night while thinking, “why do I do this?” Still, whenever some one asks me this question, I have a hard time giving a solid answer. Once you start, it’s just hard to stop. And I’m just talking about blogging. Podcasting is a whole other topic, but not too far off the mark.

Rebecca and I are trying to get things in order to attend Northern Voice. Hopefully it will fit in the budget. There are some interesting sessions about podcasting that I wouldn’t mind dropping in on, and Travis is hosting a session on citizen journalism that would be cool to check out. We’ll just have to see if it’s in the cards.

There has been a bit of news today regarding one of our collaborators to The Crazy Canucks podcast. Alanah, of Vancouver Canucks Op Ed, posted a fairly major announcement this afternoon, ending a three year run of her blog.

No, you didn’t read that wrong — Vancouver Canucks Op Ed will be closing down very soon, probably in the next week or two. I’ve been putting off posting this, but it’s time to explain what’s already happened and what’s coming up.

I’m afraid it’s a bit long-winded, but I’m sort of sentimental about this blog, so cut me some slack…;-) [vancouvercanucksoped]

Read the rest of her post to get the reasoning for the end of VCOE, but the good news is that her hockey blogging adventures will continue. Expect bigger and better things from Alanah in the very near future. Also, be sure to catch the next episode of The Crazy Canucks as we will be sure to expand on this topic further.

Rebecca hit the nail on the head when she called this boil water advisory blogging gold[miss604]. You might be saying that this is getting old and not worth reading about anymore. If that’s true for you, then skip this post. You can say that I’m whining, but this is more about documenting a short lived nuisance to exhibit potential bigger problems that I highlighted in my last post about this situation.

I bit the bullet today and started in on the pile of dishes in our kitchen. Quite honestly, it’s been driving me nuts. I blame my mother for instilling this element of a neat freak in me, nicely balanced by my dad’s ability to achieve zen through delicately controlled messes.

I did boil a large pot of water to fill up an empty gallon jug for various needs, mainly to make coffee. The water still smells a bit funky, even after boiling. I’m not brave enough to ingest it, and that includes cooking. Once again, it’s a matter of the smell translating into funky taste that steers me away just slightly.

A recent post on Metroblogging Vancouver caught my attention when someone posted the following comment.

I was talking to a hydrological engineer yesterday, and she speculated that the current water “crisis” has been blown out of proportion and prolonged to drum up public support for the expensive $600-million water filtration plant that’s currently under construction on the North Shore. She’s been drinking the water out of the taps for the past week and she tests water quality for a living. No contamination has been discovered in our water and no one has been reported ill. That’s pretty amazing considering 2 million people were under the boil water advisory at one point. Health officials have only ever reported “increased risk” of contamination.

Interesting theory, and one that she said was widely held at her office. I should note too that she supports the new plant, probably because it will create more work for her and the engineering consulting company she works for.

Posted by: Chris at November 20, 2006 07:42 PM [mbv]

I was waiting for the “theories” to start popping up, but there is a lot of truth in that statement. No one has been getting sick from the water, and there hasn’t been any evidence of harmful bacteria being found through testing.

On the same post, a recent resident to Vancouver from France is amazed at the poor response the city has given to the locals. They site that the city has done poorly to provide water to those in need, which is somewhat true. I’ve heard more reports of radio stations and businesses giving out free water than local authorities. I’m not going to lay blame anywhere, but it is interesting to note.

The advisory, for the most part, is basic over caution, but it’s expected to go on for a while longer than I imagined[cbc]. Several days? Couple weeks? Ridiculous. I doubt that all of this has been done intentionally for the support noted above. However, it has much more support than ever before, that’s for sure.

It’s just nice to have clean dishes again. With Thanksgiving coming up, of which we will be celebrating in this household, it will make cooking a tad interesting. Like I said, I’m not ready to drink it, and the leg of lamb we intend to make might take some careful prep. The side dishes will need a little finesse as well. Would the water give potatoes a strange tint?

I was raised within an easy drive of where the Field of Dreams[imdb] was filmed, and the ballpark in the middle of a cornfield is still there, albeit a tad bit of a tourist trap.  This post on BlogCritics addresses one of the key characters of the film.  It’s an interesting background about why Shoeless Joe Jackson was banned from baseball for life.

We all remember the movie Field of Dreams. Shoeless Joe Jackson comes back from the dead to stroll around in a cornfield and play a little ball. He’d been banned from the sport in the infamous 1919 Black Sox scandal, but was now being portrayed by Ray Liotta as representing the heart and soul of our national pastime. In reality, the 1919 Chicago White Sox were one of the greatest baseball teams ever to take the field, and “Shoeless” Joe Jackson was their superstar left fielder. But when the team made it to the World Series, two gamblers — “Sleepy Bill” Burns and Billy Maharg — backed by gangster Arnold Rothstein, bribed eight players with $100,000 to throw the championship.

The fix was a success: the Sox lost, and nobody really suspected a thing until late in the next season, whereupon the eight players were indicted. Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis suspended them all from baseball for life — a justified punishment, as they were all guilty. All but one, that is. Shoeless Joe, for his part, did all he could to avoid being involved He told Sox owner Charles Comiskey about the scam, but was ignored; he asked to be benched for the Series, but was refused; he even batted .375 for the Series, with the only homerun and 12 base hits (then a Series record), but was still considered guilty. The official judgment against Jackson has never been overturned and he’s still barred from the Baseball Hall of Fame — a sad fate for a player who could hit the dickens out of a Kevin Costner curveball.  [blogcritics]

Lifetime ban from baseball means lifetime.  Even after death, you can still be a star on the big screen.

Seth Godin pointed out that there might be more than one YouTubes in the world, especially after NBC Universal launched their own form of video sharing. Instead of it being user generated content, this stuff is actually coming from the corporate folks themselves.

DotComedy is full of various clips of NBC programming, but I believe there are clips from other networks as well. For the most part, it operates a lot like YouTube. There is an embed function that is not working yet, and the “coming soon” doesn’t give much of a time line for when that will be operational. Still, it creates some competition for fans of YouTube, as long as the content is fresh.

Just looking around the site on my first time through, a Late Night with Conan O’Brian clip of “Satellite TV”, and this Double Dragon short was highly enlightening. Lord knows I wasted time on that game in my youth.

I’ve been a long time reader of PodcastingTricks.com, and the site is very resourceful for those looking for ways to get into podcasting. At the same time, there are folks, such as myself, who like to stay up to date with other things going on in the medium. Trust me, you are never a true professional, no matter how much you’ve seen and done. If you are not constantly learning and trying new things, especially in podcasting, then you are bound to have a rude awakening at some point.

Everyone has tips for doing things, and podcasting has about a million of them. PodcastingTricks.com just posted “Seven Steps to Successful Podcasting” that, for the most part, are very useful to anyone new to all of this. You can check it out for yourself, but the part I want to highlight is step number seven.

7) The only piece of gear advice in this post - get a great microphone. I know some of you were hoping this was an article describing the seven pieces of gear you need to buy in order to be successful at podcasting. If only that it were just a question of gear. Unfortunately, just as buying the same golf clubs used by Tiger Woods won’t help you shoot under par, using the same gear as Howard Stern won’t make you a star. But there is one piece of gear that can make or break a podcast, and that’s the mic. There’s no undo button for the microphone. It’s the most important part in your audio chain. If the sound coming into your computer is bad from the start, you’re swimming upstream the rest of the show. That’s why this is the place to spend the lion’s share of your budget. Buy the best mic you can afford first. Then everything else can follow over time. If you’re miserly here, you’ll regret it later. [podcastingtricks]

To all newbie podcasters, tread lightly on this point. I have heard so many people in podcasting say that if you are going to do this, then go buy the most expensive mic that you can. Based on my experience of buying equipment for radio stations, price does not account for quality products. Let me say that again. Expensive does not mean that you are buying a great microphone.

There is a lot of technical mumbo-jumbo that can make your head spin when you get into the gritty details of how a microphone is engineered. Omni-directional versus uni-directional, and so on. If you are uncomfortable with all of that and don’t know where to start, think about it on a consumer level.

Where ever you buy something from, find out their return policy. Can you buy it, try it out, and then get a refund if you don’t like it? Worst comes to worst, you can always try to sell it on eBay or Craigslist. However, getting your money back might make you feel a little less like you’re going all in on an unsure hand.

There are a lot of things that you can do to aid in your disadvantage of not having great equipment. If you are big on post-production, meaning editing your audio after recording it, learn the software that is available to you. Applying filters and effects can change the quality of your audio dramatically. You might not be able to get it broadcast booth quality, but in podcasting, does that really matter? Just get it to where it sounds good to you.

Mixers can also do a lot for a mic. Adjusting the gain and messing with the EQ’s can make the cheapest microphones sound just as good as, if not better than, the most expensive stuff. Additionally, mixers can also do a lot for your space, reducing background noise and room echoes. Think about that before you start stapling egg crate foam to your walls.

The point is, be careful, do your homework, and see what other people are doing. Chances are, if you email a podcaster about their setup, they’re going to get back to you. At the same time, get started on your own project, with a bare bones setup, and just get used to it. No one is perfect out of the gate.

When it comes to equipment, you want to make sure that this is something you want to stick with over the long term. Think about that before anything else. If you lose focus and stop doing this after your third episode, you’ll have a $600 mic sitting around and a story you’ll share from time to time of, “Yeah, I had a podcast once.”

This pisses me off to no end. Being a recent victim of a hacker myself, I can totally sympathize to as to what happened to Matthew Good. In fact, there’s a little bit of my help that I gave him that was a victim of an attacker to his site as well. Good needed some help getting PodPress to work on his site, so I was more than happy to help him out. None of that seems to matter a whole hell of a lot now.

I’m not sure what the complete story is, but the hack seemed to go deeper than just getting into WordPress and making a stupid post, like what happened to me. According to a post by his friend Sonny, another person who has helped him on numerous aspects of his site, files were compromised and are missing. I really liked the recent design to his site, but all of that is lost.

I’ve always been one to proceed with restraint, but right now, lynch mob is the phrase that immediately comes to mind.

I caught this on Podcasting News and had to pass it on. Drivl.com posted “The Seven Phases of Owning an iPod - An Illustrated Journey“, and I laughed.

The 7th is completely true. My green iPod Mini has served me very well, even though its battery life is starting to dwindle. I’m content with living in the old school age for now. You cool kids with all your fancy color LCD displays and long battery life can go on enjoying what you got.

Speaking of, my parents just got a new iPod Nano. Adding even more to my jealousy, my dad even picked up the Belkin TuneTalk Stereo for it. I doubt he’s going to start podcasting anytime soon, but that’s a setup that I could easily use for my ventures. He’ll use it more to record voice notes for himself.

This is what we do in my family. We try to out geek each other.

Has anyone noticed a massive increase of internet spam[wiki] in the last few days? In my email and the comments on my sites, the numbers have spiked quite a bit. Some of the stuff got through, but even those numbers have been trailing off over the past 24 hours. Think the filters and blockers are catching on to whatever it is that is going on. I’d really like to knock down these people’s doors and throw a few haymakers.

Update: Looks like I’m not the only one who noticed this. Akismet made this recent post on their blog regarding amounts of spam lately. This is a WordPress must of a plugin to run on your site, and they processed three million pieces of spam in one day last week.