Theory on Overheard in New York

I’ve been getting caught up on some of the podcasts I’m subscribed to.  That’s not to say that I’ve been overly busy to catch everything that comes in, but this is the reality of listening to podcasts.  While taking a shower after my run along the Seawall this morning, I caught up with Benjamin Walker’s Theory of Everything a little bit.

Readers of Overheard in Vancouver will really find this episode interesting because Walker grabbed an interview with Morgan Friedman, the founder of Overheard in New York[wiki].  Friedman gets into the premise behind the site, how it started, and the things he loves about it.

While I’m at it, I have to give a big plug for podcast listeners out there to subscribe to the Theory of Everything.  Walker has been working the public media wheel for a while now, taking his works through the PRX and now with alt.NPR.  I’ve been listening to his stuff since his early days of venturing into podcasting.  Very good stuff.

New branding for the podcast

RadioZoomQuietly launched with the last episode of the podcast, RadioZoom now has a logo. Thanks so much to Trent at DigitalGumball for coming up with the design. Rebecca was the one who got in touch with him, being a long time friend of hers.

I gave very little insight into the concept, but the outcome impressed me. I always had lots of ideas in my head but was never smart enough to work through the graphics in order to come up with anything I was too happy with. Trent’s a very talented guy. Thanks so much for the creation!

The pitfalls of joining a podcast network like PodShow?

I often struggled with the thought of joining a podcast network and the benefits that it would give me with my podcast. Hot on the heels of my 100th episode, this issue with PodShow makes me rethink the whole idea as ever being a good thing.

Some podcasters are “pissed” at PodShow, a podcast portal founded by podcasting pioneer Adam Curry. The site appears to be republishing podcaster’s podcast feeds, with changes, under PodShow URLs. […]

The republishing of podcast feeds under different URLs has raised controversy in the past because it can infringe on podcaster’s copyrights, confuse listeners about the correct source for the podcast and make it impossible for podcasters to know how many people are subscribing to their podcast. […]

“There’s stuff to do and things to patch/fix/glue on PodShow.com,” said Podshow’s Adam Curry. “The most obvious being that external feeds should of course link to the original external feed.”

Some podcasters think the bug explanation is credible.

“We don’t know that it was intentional by any means,” said Ookles’ Scott Johnson. “Before we pile on lets give them time to correct it. If they don’t correct it then, by all means, flame away.”

Many podcasters aren’t buying this explanation, though, having seen similar approaches to retaining visitor’s attention previously.

“That is not an innocent mistake,” said podcast pioneer Michael Geoghegan, (Reel Reviews, Disney). “Someone had to plan which RSS channel elements to pull and which to ignore. The cast and crew at PodShow have been around long enough and, frankly, dealt with the issues of RSS feeds enough times to know better.” [podcastingnews]

Innocent mistake or not, it’s an issue to not take lightly when you are a podcaster. The heavy hitters are already weighing in on what’s going on, and PodShow really hasn’t had a chance to make the corrections necessary, if this is indeed an oversight on their part. However, being one of the first, “major” companies that has been created towards podcasting specifically, you would think that this would have been considered from day one.

The other element to this drama makes me draw a comparison to how record labels work in relation to the major recording corporations and independent labels or bands. You have to be careful when you go with the big guys because they can own your soul depending on the details of your contract. Going indie tends to gain you some generous breathing space in terms of creativity, but doubles your work.

You have to be careful when the popular group of kids in school come knocking at your door and want you to be apart of what their doing. If you’re not careful, you can get locked into something that might not be as cool as you thought it would. I understand that PodShow contracts are supposed to be pretty flexible and generous towards the content of your podcast. Of course, you’re still putting your name down in ink, and that’s legally binding.

Update: The “problem” seems to be resolved.

RadioZoom Episode #100 – The One Hundred Mark; RZ History; Beach Times

Episode #100 was, finally, edited and released today.

A long episode to mark this milestone, Rebecca and I talk about the history of this podcast, thoughts on the medium in general, and hang out without any plan in mind. Every method of recording that I have the capability for was used in this episode. We start out at in English Bay, head back home to the “studio”, and toss in a recording we did while sunning ourselves on the beach during Canada Day weekend.

I want to say thanks to everyone who has had played a role in the history of this podcast, from the beginning to now. You know who you are, and I will refrain from listing everyone out in the fear of omitting some one. It’s been fun, and I’ll keep on keeping on with the podcast.

71:58 minutes
radiozoom.net

iTunes revises their podcast categories

I got an email from Apple last week about some changes they applied to the way podcasts are categorized in the iTunes music store.

Today we launched a revised set of categories for podcasts listed in the iTunes Music Store. We’re sending you this email to let you know how to change your podcast feed to accommodate these changes. The revised categories and subcategories are listed at the bottom of this message. Please take the time to change your podcast feed as soon as possible. Please note that we will support the use of the old category names for the next few months, so there is no immediate deadline for making these changes. We will send another message before discontinuing support for the old category names.

When we read your RSS feed, we capture and store up to 3 category+subcategory pairs, and we use all of them to populate the browse lists that you see when you click the “Browse” link in the Music Store. However, the first category+subcategory pair listed in your feed is the most important, since it is the one listed as the Category field on your podcast page, and it is the only one used to map your podcast into the category feature pages.

Most of the old categories and subcategories are now automatically mapped to corresponding ones within the new system. For example, if your podcast was listed under “Arts & Entertainment > Photography”, it will now appear under “Arts > Visual Arts.” However, 3 categories have been removed and do not have a similar replacement: “International”, “Talk Radio”, and “Public Radio”. Those categories overlapped with others in the old system, making some podcasts difficult to find. If one of these categories is listed as the first subject in your podcast feed, that category information will be ignored and the second category will be used to determine eligibility and placement in that feature page.

It goes on to explain that these changes will take time to show up on their podcast directory, and any changes that I make will take 1-2 weeks before they show up in their system. No big deal, but you would think that making changes would be a bit more instananeous. It could be that they are hand checking every podcast as they come in. How would you like to have that job?

I’ll throw in the list of the new categories that they’ve added to the store, but you’ll have to click to the rest of the post to see them. I should add that even though the new categories are there, there might not be any podcasts that fit all of them yet. Continue reading “iTunes revises their podcast categories”

100th podcast to be released this week

I’ve mentioned it in the last few episodes, but the 100th episode of RadioZoom will be released this week. It is a faily large milestone in the history of the podcast, but I’m still a little confused as to how I should mark the occasion.

One thing I’d like to do is play some clips of the first few shows that I released. At that point, my intensions with the podcast was music. That has been the underlying focus on a lot of the things that I have done in my life. Beginning with high school and continuing to today, it’s a passion that constantly floats in the background of my everyday life.

The focus has shifted to being more about my life here in Vancouver now, not to mention the part time co-host, aka my wife, that joins me from time to time. With my current immigration status to this country preventing me from having the ability obtain employment here, she is more instrumental at making this podcast possible than you probably know. A lot of my discoveries about the amazing city that Vancouver is comes through a lot of experiences she introduces me to and we share. All the mistakes in terms of me calling people, places, and things by the wrong name are completely my fault. I’m still learning.

Coming up to the century mark, it makes me reflect on what I am doing and everything that has led up to now. I guess it’s something that I go through every so often, but the time and effort that I have put into this says something.  I like making things using the abilities that I have.  Taking an idea from conception to reality is an amazing reward we have as human beings.  And even if I fail or do it poorly, my synapses fire and make new connections for the next time.

I’m not planning on marking the 100th with too much hoopla.  My listeners might not notice the milestone pass by for the most part, but that might result in my own fault in maintaining a better base of contact with all of you out there that do check in(and this excludes my family).  There are plenty of ways to contact me if you wish to, and I try to do my best to reply directly to those who do send in comments, if not through mentions on the podcast.

I do the podcast for the same reason that this blog exists.  I like doing these things.  There are elements where this is work, but the reward one gets from it, albeit not for profit at this stage in my life, is what keeps me going.  And until the government of Canada allows me to do otherwise, this is about as full time as it gets.

RadioZoom Episode #99 – Soundseeing at the 2006 NHL Draft in Vancouver

Episode #99 was published today.

On another mobile adventure, Rebecca and I went to the 2006 NHL Draft at GM Place in downtown Vancouver. We did a lot of recording and did our best to share our experience through this episode. We got to the event a little late, only to get seats near the nose bleed section. We worked our way to the floor where we were in close proximity to some of the NHL’s decision makers, legends, coaches, and players. No music in this episode.

59:57 minutes
radiozoom.net

It is what you want it to be

I came across this blog post via Podcasting News:

I’ve been following some podcasts on and off for the past six months or so, and have begun to question whether it’s an efficient use of my time. The content of the shows I listen to are generally very high. […]

But, it begins to seem to me that this is an inefficient means of receiving information. In the time I can listen to an average podcast, I could have caught up on my 50 favorite blogs, or read a chapter in a book, or read the latest issue of Red Herring magazine. I do read super fast. It’s a habit I learned as a grad student. You learn to read fast in grad school, or you get crap for grades. Podcasts deliver information slowly. [petertdavis]

This raises a good question. There’s a large part of me that understands and agrees with what he is saying, but this is an age old argument being rehashed over a “new” medium.

For instance, why watch TV news when you can get in depth new coverage from a newspaper? TV is more timely while you have to wait for tomorrow’s edition to be printed. Well, why read a newspaper when you have the web? The news is timely and published by the same people pumping out info that shows up on the pages of your favorite newspaper. This argument has gone on for nearly a hundred years in various forms.

It’s all about preference. If you want timely info, then maybe podcasting isn’t for you. I doubt that there are people out there that love the news so much that they set their DVR to record the news every night so they can get dated information later. Radio can cover those gaps if need be, right?

By the way, radio broadcasting turns 100 years old this year.

RadioZoom Episode #98 – Canada’s Next Top Model; Corner Gas; Douglas Coupland; Hockey Talk; FIFA World Cup

Recorded tonight and published for the world, episode #98 is ready.

Rebecca joins me in the studio for this slightly long but still under an hour episode, not that there is anything wrong with that. We had planned on doing this podcast together, but we didn’t count on being all hopped up on sugar after making a slurpee run. We take some time to chat about some interesting things happening in the world of Canadian books, television, and film, run through some hockey news other than just the Stanley Cup, and discuss the 2006 World Cup in Germany since we’re anxious to win her office pool. [radiozoom]

WILT: geek.farm.life

I’ve been listening to geek.farm.life since the first episode. If you are wondering what this podcast is all about, then you’ve pretty much hit the nail on the head already. Andrew and Misty are a couple who left their silicon valley lives for the more simple life of the midwest. Podcasting from Indiana, they are two tech-heads that now raise a variety of farm animals that makes your trips to the store seem easy, if not cleaner.

The element of this podcast that first captured my interest was the fact that Andrew[blog] is a native Albertan while Misty[blog] is an American. They first met while being career geeks in California, only to get fed up with the west coast and the post dot-com boom. Somewhere in the fray of things, these two passed through a Las Vegas union on their way to creating their modern day farm that would make Old McDonald proud.

Three-Elms farm is located in north-central Indiana. We’re on the border of what many local call Michiana. Our hobby farm is 10 acres, of which we’re letting 6 return to trees and the the rest is the house and pasture. We have too much lawn and neither of us like mowing so we’re looking to do something with all that grass.

The reason we’re called Three-Elms is due to the three huge siberian elm trees in our front yard. The biggest three is several feet across. They dwarf our two story house, standing about 3 times as high. The provice awesome shade in the summer and we’ll get hundreds of birds sitting on the branches singing in the morning. [three-elms]

These are one of those podcasts that are more of the audio blog style. Each episode usually hits the three main topics that makes up the title, in addition to any of the other interests that the two have. Of particular interest was Andrew’s story of buying his father’s car in Canada and then driving it across the border from Manitoba. It’s not that it’s a great story, but it’s entertaining for anyone familiar to the joys of border crossing.

geek.farm.lifeThe way this podcast is recorded makes me more inclined to stay subscribed. Quite often, the barn is the studio, and the stereo effects of ducks, cows, geese, and goats is very cool. Listening with headphones, you feel like you are hanging out with the couple as they talk about how their animals are doing, the joys of their labor, and the pains of waking up in the morning to take care of the chores. If you are one to have lived through or, like me, experienced this type of lifestyle, the sounds can also trigger a sense of remembering what it smells like inside that barn as well.

The latest episode of geek.farm.life was published on Sunday, June 18, 2006. With nineteen episodes under their belt, the duo are getting more and more comfortable with their efforts, not to mention having done remote recordings while one of them is on the road. If you like true, simple reality, you might dig this.