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PodPress 4.2 Update

A great WordPress plugin for podcasting, PodPress has been updated to version 4.2. I have yet to make the upgrade, but this was the major reason I made the jump to WordPress with RadioZoom. Publishing is that much easier with this plugin.

This update is a matter of days old and has gone from version 4.0 to 4.2 within a matter of days, updates fixing minor issues and bugs. Other details to the release:

– Full featured and automatic feed generation (RSS2, iTunes and ATOM)
– Auto Generation of enclosure tag
– Preview of what your Podcast will look like on iTunes
– Podcast Download stats
– Support for Premium Content (Pay Only)
– Makes adding a Podcast to a Post very simple
– View MP3 Files ID3 tags when your Posting
– Control over where the player will display within your post.
– Support for various formats, including Video Podcasting
– Supports unlimited number of media files.
– Automatic Media player for MP3, MP4, MOV, FLV, ASF, WMV, AVI, and more, with inline and Popup Window support.
– Preview image for videos
– Easy way to link to your podcast within iTunes

I hope to make the upgrade soon, but might hold off to make sure that there are not any major issues requiring a new update.

Update: As of March 31, 2006, PodPress is now up to version 4.3.

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I’m Signed Up For the Sun Run

Rebecca got us all hooked up for the Sun Run coming up on April 23. We’ve been doing our best to get her on a good running schedule, but her years of doing sports in high school seem to be getting her back on track pretty quickly. I am about ready to fall asleep as I write this because we were up at six this morning for a near 4km route.

For myself, it shouldn’t be too horrible, but I’m still going to train. I run about four to six days a week, alternating between long and short routes. On average, I’d say I run about 8km every day that I head out. That takes me about 30-40 minutes to complete. 10km for the Sun Run should be a nice challange, and I’ve never been in anything like this before.

I’ve found that people don’t like running with me because I either have too fast of pace or enjoy hills a little too much. I blame my brother Mike for this. He ran me into the ground when I was about to start football my sophomore year of high school, but I learned how to handle hills that way. And for those canucks out there reading this, that would be grade 10.

I’m looking forward to the Sun Run. Shortly after that, on May 26, we are looking to do the Run For Light. That’s a 4.3km course, but at night. And with glow sticks!

Time for bed now though. I’m beat. Also doing a long route tomorrow morning to keep with the training. Would like to do the Seawall as that is just over a 10km route, but we saw that they are doing construction on the side just down from Coal Harbor, from now till May. Might have to come up with a better route to train with.

Might have to try some of that music Don Deeley was talking about and see if it’s any good for keeping the pace.

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Spending Sunday in Fort Langley

Planet Java's ceilingThere isn’t a whole lot in Fort Langley, but sometimes that’s just what you need. A place where there isn’t a lot of hustle and bustle to get away from the city for a while. We were able to check it out a little more than just the drive through that I have experienced before. And if you are driving through, that doesn’t take too long.

Needless to say, it’s a small town with some character. Reminds me a lot of the small towns from where I grew up, but I think it’s a lot harder to get soy in your lattes back home than it is in Fort Langley. Even though there isn’t a Starbucks or Blenz in sight of downtown, there certainly is no shortage of coffee related establishments. You’ll have to wander past the numerous antique shops to get to them.

Autographed Tori Spelling photo at Planet JavaYou can tell that the town gets more traffic in the summer. People head out from the city to do the exact same thing that we did on Sunday. And if you do get the chance to get there, check out the little 50’s diner for a bite to eat, Planet Java 50’s Soda Fountain Café. They don’t do fries as a side to your sandwich of choice. The potato salad is just as good though, perhaps even better than the fried alternative. And it still tastes good for at least two to three hours after. How can you beat that?

And there have been movies film in this little downtown area as well. What kind of B.C. town would this be if it wasn’t used as a film set? It’s getting to the point where the game is spotting the place that has yet to be in a movie.

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Apple GUI Over the Past 30 Years

Wired.com is running this page of screen shots from various Apple systems from over the years.  This is all for the 30th anniversary of Apple Computer coming up the 1st of April.  Some of this will snap you back in your memories.  I know it did for me.

My family was one of the first to have a personal computer at home.  Apples were always apart of that.  In fact, it was about the mid-90’s that I can first recall dealing with Windows, and I was frustrated to no end.  DOS what?  Colon, back slash, who?

Boot disks.  RAM disks.  The sound of floppy drives.  Now I want to watch WarGames.

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Working the Podcasting Madness

I’ve been shoulder deep in my ongoing podcasting adventures. So much of it is behind the scenes and not very exciting, but they are details that all add up in the end. In all actuality, listeners probably don’t even notice. The fact of the matter is that I am learning with every little experiment that I do. You also have to keep in mind that not everything I do makes the final cut. If I don’t like it, I don’t do it.

There are so many varibles that keep popping into my mind. They come and go at all times of the day, and it’s important to keep them in mind or get them into material form before they’re gone.

This is what I get for leaving my roots in producing material and becoming a guy behind the scenes making it all work. I’m relearning everything. Producer, talent, and engineer. Nutty, eh?

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Congratulations, Japan

I don’t think anyone could have imagined that the World Baseball Classic would have been as successful as it was.  There was that small part of me that wanted Cuba to win it all, but I found myself cheering for Japan a lot more.

If it weren’t for the Yokohama Bay Stars game that I went to while in Japan, I probably would have never rediscovered a passion for baseball.  And the classic was some really good stuff.  Now I’m ready for opening day.

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Northwest From SXSW

I’ve only been to SXSW once, but it made me believe that there was an actual reason to go to Texas. And it is true what they say. “Don’t mess with Texas.” That’s not a clever bumper sticker. It’s a word to the wise.

We got the university to set us college radio kids up in a fairly swanky hotel for a few days. I saw a bunch of shows around the downtown area of Austin. It was like discovering rock and roll all over again. All sorts of great venues, people with a true love for live music, and easy going crowds. It’s where I saw Shiner twice in one day. They Might Be Giants, Clinic, Lo Fidelity All-Stars, Girls Against Boys, and one of the last performances by The Promise Ring, just to name a few.

Now SXSW is turning into something even greater than just a music and film festival. It’s attaching all this fun technology, geek stuff that seems to be growing year by year. I’ve moved to an amazing city with everything SXSW has to offer on a day to day basis, but there is just something about Austin that makes me want to go there again and again.

Next year, man. Next year.

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Pirate Radio in the Air Space

It’s one thing to have the FCC on your case because you are operating a pirate radio station.  It’s a whole different story when the FAA’s involved as well.  “Da Streetz” in Miami has that coming down on them right now.  The story is that they have been operating their broadcast on various frequencies, some of which have been interfering with airplane to control tower communication.

Sounds like the orgin of the broadcasts has been discovered and equipment has been confiscated.  No one has been charged with any violations.

I’m all for pirate radio and those fun things, but you take your chances when you do it.  Whoever is responsible for this is playing with a lot of fire.  Being that this music was  broadcast over multiple freqs, I’m betting that this setup didn’t consider the engineering aspect of watching your transmission so it doesn’t bleed and leap all over the place.  All intent was just to play some music.  If they get caught, this one will hurt.