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NPR: Fix your podcasts

The following is a message that I sent NPR regarding the quality of their podcasts. I’ve been telling a lot of folks about the problems that I have with some of their offerings. So to put money where my mouth is, I’m taking the advice of writing them. Maybe there will be others out there who feel the same way.

Hi, NPR.

There is something I’ve been wondering about your podcasts. Actually, there are a couple of things. Maybe I’m just picky, but I wanted to let you know about some things that really bug me about the podcasts you guys are producing.

First off, the hourly news updates that you guys provide drive me nuts for a couple of reasons. At the very beginning, it takes nearly 20 to 25 seconds to get to the actual news. It’s prefaced by a sounder to introduce the podcast. That is then followed by a sponsorship announcement. Is that a big deal, maybe not, but let me continue.

When the little mp3 finally gets to the news, the decibel levels are much lower than that of all the stuff at the very beginning. Some days it’s worse, other days it’s better. The point is, when I’m out for a run, I have to crank up the volume to hear anything. Then when the next item on the playlist comes up, my ear drums are attacked.

This is not the only feed that is guilty. Maybe you guys are not the guilty party, but being that you serve up the feed for “Michael Feldman’s Whad’Ya Know? – All the News that Isn’t“, I’m lumping them into the same group. Unless you crank the volume up, you hear Feldman mumbling with some sporadic laughter from the crowd. Come on, guys. I love public radio, and you are making it suck.

Why is there no compression or normalization to these podcasts? This is an easy solution, but it’s been this way for a long time. After complaining about this to numerous friends, I’m taking the step of letting you guys know how I feel. As someone who lives outside of the U.S. but enjoys what NPR offers, you shouldn’t forget about people like myself. If you give us quality content, then we might just think about giving you some quality donations when you need it.

Sincerely,
John Bollwitt

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Darth Vader Violinist

Darth Vader Violinist
Rebecca is in Victoria, B.C. for the weekend, but I got this sent to me from her cellphone while I was out for a run this morning. Too freaking funny.

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WordPress 2.1.1 bad, WordPress 2.1.2 good

It’s a little late to be posting this, and my vision is slightly blurry from passing out on the couch. Still, just checked a few sites and some folks are passing this word on. I figure that I should pay it forward as well. Ugh… Did I just use a crappy Hollywood reference?

If you’ve upgraded to the world of WordPress 2.1.1, you are in considerable danger. Nothing life threatening, but before some dude from Turkey cracks into your blog, you need to update your installation to version 2.1.2.

A hacker was able to add a vulnerability to the version of 2.1.1 that was pushed out about a week or so ago, but those still in the world of 2.0.x are fine for now. Essentially, it was a back door that got in by some dude who really, really sucks. So do the right thing and get yourself covered. I’m sure they are trolling for whatever they can get into as you read this.

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The Crazy Canucks #23 – Trade deadline decompression

Recorded last night, posted today.

Dave was a healthy scratch for this episode, but the rest of us gather to take on the past three games against L.A.(W), Dallas(OTL), and St. Louis(L). Also, we dive into the excitement of the NHL trade deadline, look at what the Canucks got, and examine how other teams in the division made out.

Record as of this episode: 36-22-5
Northwest Division: 1st
Western Conference: 3rd

Ryan Smyth going to the Islanders took a bulk of that attention in terms of the trade deadline, but that doesn’t make us Oilers fans by any means. Also, Bertuzzi going to Detroit means that we still might see him back in Vancouver before the season is over. We also look into some listener feedback, especially about the topic of the Canucks playing a game next season in the U.K.(Note: NHL confirmed that the Kings and Ducks would be doing this next season as of today, not the Canucks as our European friends might have hoped.) Additionally, we were given a scoop to a rumor on the new uniforms for next season, fueling the fire for a potential change to the logo.

61:44 minutes
The Crazy Canucks

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Bum Rush The Charts

I’m not one to really get into movements like this, but this one involves a couple of things that I’m partial to: podcasting and music.

I’ll try to break it down as simple as possible, but you can get the long end of the story here. On March 22nd, the goal is to get an independent music artist to the top of the iTunes music chart. To do this, podcasters and enthusiasts alike have picked out who that would be and their particular song for this event. On that day only, the intent is to get everyone, that possibly can, to buy that song from the iTunes Music Store.

The band: Black Lab

The song: “Mine Again”

The purpose of this is to “prove the power of new media more than showing corporate media that not only can we exceed their reach and match their purchasing power, but that we can also do it AND make a positive difference in the world. If we can succeed with this small example, then there’s no telling what can do next.” (As quoted from the website)

The curious thing about Black Lab is that they were on a major label, only to get dropped. They have since moved into the independent realm of creating and promoting their music, adapting podcasting into their efforts. Therein lies a lot of the inspiration and consideration for choosing them for this effort.

If you’re interested in more of the details, then find more of the Bum Rush The Charts website. If you have US$.99 to spare on March 22nd, 2007, then you might be interested in joining the mob.

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The new daylight savings time

A recent update to my Mac came down. It was for the change to daylight savings time[wiki], being that it has changed as of 2007.

I’ve got some top secret news which won’t be revealed to the general public until March 11, 2007. Unwary people will be getting a rude awakening. On that day, in accordance with the Energy Policy Act of 2005, people in most states of the U.S. will turn their clocks forward one hour at 2:00 a.m. to take advantage of longer daylight hours and reduced energy bills.

Previously, Daylight Savings Time was implemented on the first Sunday of April and ended on the last Sunday in October for participating states (Indiana, split between two time zones, didn’t’ participate). The passage of the Energy Act of 2005 now puts the end of daylight saving time to the first Sunday in November. In total, Americans will have about a month of additional daylight to get their chores done. The change is expected to advantage children who celebrate Halloween by ‘trick or treating’, and also to cut down on traffic accidents, many of which occur in the twilight drive-time hours. [associatedcontent]

Now, you know that there are going to be a core of people who have no clue that this has changed, and it’s probably the same group of people who forget to set their clocks one hour ahead when the changes happened before. Still, this is a problem that is going to affect a lot of people. Their schedules will be messed up, and it’s a good bet that a lot of folks will miss church on Sunday.

That little update that came down is the kicker, and some people are screaming the return of Y2K[wiki]. We all know what happened then, but it was kinda hard to miss. This? I’m not so sure that throngs of people are aware that when the change happens, their computers and other electronic gadgets that normally change on their own will have missed the memo[cnet]. Will they still show up to work late on Monday? That remains to be seen.

Still, another thing to worry about with the changing of the clocks. First you lose an hour of sleep, then you have to adjust to the change. When it’s time for you to go to bed, your internal clock says you’re not ready. So with a whole month to change that, how much more can we get screwed up?

By the way, this is your warning. Just doing my part to spread the word because Canada is apart of this as much as the U.S. made the switch.

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Podcasting equates to tourism

At the meetup this past Sunday, a thought hit me about podcasting. In its simplicity, podcasts are highly useful in terms of tourism, especially for a majority of us in Vancouver. That doesn’t limit it to those who are anywhere else in the world, but what that small group of us are doing is what makes me think this. A lot of my thoughts here stem from the meetup, so you might find reading that post helpful to get the completely back story.

Take the Vancouver Weekly Underground Podcast, and if that’s a mouthful for you to say, it is to me as well. Let’s examine what they do though. They check out shows at some of the best, underground venues in town. Now, these are acts that don’t get a lot of press, and Dave, for the podcast, equated it to promoting more information about the bands that are listed to be at a certain club, on a certain day and time. So basically, you get a name, and that’s it.

With their podcast, and nearly every other music related podcast out there, they want to give you more about the artist in the hopes that you like them. If you like them, you’ll buy into their music, meaning a ticket to see their show when they play in town. In turn, that artist will be able to pay rent or, more importantly, eat.

Here is where the heart of my idea kicks in. What about that person who listens to or watches your podcast from a thousand miles away? Suddenly, one day, they want to get the hell out of town and go on vacation. Then it hits them. There is this podcast from Vancouver that has been going into all these great venues to see great bands. Said person is going to know where to check out some killer shows while filling Vancouver with their tourist dollars. Screw skiing, they want to rock!

It’s a slight stretch, but that’s just one angle to view it. I know and have met people who ventured up to Vancouver because of Dave Olsen and his Choogle On with Uncleweed. RadioZoom has garnered fans from various parts of the world who are trying or want to visit or move to Vancouver. The Crazy Canucks reaches to hockey fans around the world, so you never know if it’ll be enough to drive them to take a holiday here to catch a game at GM Place. As Dave O would say, we should be getting paid to do Tourism Vancouver‘s job.

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Vancouver Podcast Meetup: Feb. 25, 2007 (follow-up)

When I first heard about a podcast meetup in Vancouver on the Canadian Podcast Buffet, I was pretty interested in checking it out. Then I found out that it was on our anniversary, so the assumption, on my part, was that we were going to miss it. Then Rebecca expressed interest in going, so we decided to venture on down, especially after Mark Blevis offered a free round to the two of us. That’s like dangling a carrot in front of the horse.

You can check out Mark’s pictures here, and Derek’s pictures here.

That’s right. Derek Miller has been recovering well enough from his surgery that he was able to make an appearance. Sadly, he was on pain killers and unable to enjoy in the gallon pitcher of joy, but it was great to have him there.

Mark Blevis' photo on Flickr
Photo credit: electricsky (Mark Blevis) on Flickr

It was a really great night. And let me start out by saying that TC Lions is a pretty good location for a meetup like that. And holy crap do they ever have some massive, and I mean massive, pitchers of beer. One gallon jugs, to be precise. That’s 8 pints to one pitcher. We had to send the second one back when Blevis realized exactly what he just ordered for the whole crew. (Side note: I asked if they show Canucks games there on the TV’s, so this might be another location for us to catch a game.)

We did end up having the house lights turn on to shoe us out of there, but I think it’s safe to say that everyone there was having a good time. I pray that my jaw wasn’t that loose to talk people’s ears off, especially when it comes to podcasting.

Now, to recall all of those that I met at this meet up is a daunting task. I know for sure that we met the guys from Foreskin Radio. A true treat, let me tell you, but the content is not for the weak.

Derek Miller's photo on Flickr
Photo credit: penmachine (Derek Miller) on Flickr

And then Jeff from Swimming Up Stream was there with his recording gear, and I think he caught some good liners that you might even hear my voice on his podcast, as long as it turned out alright. Jeff’s got some good, local music from Vancouver, so I give him a hearty thumbs up.

I pretty much monopolized my time with Dave from the Vancouver Weekly Underground Podcast. He’s more of the silent partner to the podcast, but they are doing some good things with their stuff. In fact, we met at the podcast meetup nearly a year ago that Tod Maffin setup. I always find it fascinating to discover more about the local music scene, and this implies the nitty-gritty realms of it. They seem to be on top of it pretty well.

I’ll make a quick mention of some folks who I met but didn’t get much of a chance to talk to at length, of which I apologize. Tiki Bar TV and Far From Subtle Television are some of those folks, but after seeing your stuff, I wish I had. Sean Carruthers from Lab Rats was there as well, and we talked briefly. It wasn’t till we were leaving that I realized who he was and what he’s involved with. Very cool.

Even though we had about 75% turn out from those who signed up(where were Tod Maffin and Kris Krug?), it turned out really well. I don’t think I babbled on too much, and Derek spilled pico de gallo all over my right shoe(cleaned up easily, no worries). All in all, a great time. We have to do this again soon, but let’s not wait for some guy from Ontario to spark another gathering, no offense to Mark Blevis at all. A pleasure meeting him, and he’s a really great guy. However, I think the podcasters of Vancouver should do this more often. (Did I just volunteer myself for something?)

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Vista inspires people to switch to Apple

In the past few weeks, I’ve noticed something about the release of Windows Vista. Basically, there’s not a lot of excitement to it. People talked about it for years, saying that it was going to be this completely awesome OS that would rival everything Apple has been doing. This is exactly the type of thing that I.T. folks fear to hear, and with all the different flavors of the OS you can buy, it’s an unbelievable nightmare.

Truth be told, I have seen very little of what Vista can do. I have very little interest in doing so. Why? It’s the way Microsoft has been promoting it.

Global, a television network here in Canada, has segments where the announcer guy says, “This Gobal preview powered by the new Windows Vista.” Then they show previews for TV shows in various ways in that Vista must be so awesome. And… it’s not. I’m sure all of the computers across the entire network have it installed on every system and the whole ship is running smoothly as well.

Even more interesting are these posts by Chris Pirillo and Duane Storey. Quite simply, they’re both fed up and bought Macs. I guess Rebecca had a conversation with Duane about it at Northern Voice, and he joked about getting a MacBook soon. When we got home on Saturday, he already had that post up on his site, using his new MacBook, of course.

It’s an interesting trend. I’m sure there are a lot more people out there that can speak to this. My hope is to get Rebecca switched over to the Apple world soon, and all the “cute, little, white MacBooks” that she saw all over at Northern Voice has her chomping at the bit. Being a windows user all her life, she’s just as unimpressed with Vista as I am.

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The trenches of broadcast engineering

There are days that I miss being couped up in my window-less office, being a broadcast engineer, and working all the wires and parts to keep two radio stations in operation, every single day. When I read things like this, I have to say that I miss it even more.

KHKE Tower Collapses

The tower for 89.5, our classical service in Cedar Falls/Waterloo has collapsed – the victim of an inch-thick coating of ice and 30-40 mile per hour winds.

The latest from Wayne Jarvis, Iowa Public Radio’s Network Operations Director:

The tower and antenna are a total loss and the arc-over when the guy wires hit our power-feed connection may have damaged the transmitter and other equipment in the tower building. The building itself wasn’t damaged but there are other structural issues and we will want to replace it when the tower is rebuilt. I’m investigating to see how we might fund the rebuilding. [iowapublicradio]

This is a neighbor station to the north of where I used to be, but apparently this storm hit close to home as well.

AND THERE’S MORE: 91.7 in Iowa City/Cedar Rapids is at 50% power; the power is off at the transmitter site and we’ve been operating off of the generator since Saturday. IPTV over-the-air viewers on channel 12: we share the same tower and we’re working with IPTV’s engineers to get their service up at reduced power, too, as soon as possible.

UPDATE: IPTV-12 is back on the air with very low power, but enough to give many cable viewers access to the signal again.

I thought you’d like to see this note from Engineer Jim Davies in Iowa City, describing what sounds like the near-failure of the IPTV/IPR tower in West Branch:

On Saturday the tower was loaded bad enough with ice that it was bending out of plumb quite a bit. The winds would hit and the top guy wire on the NW side would droop down below the next guy wire. A very good indication that failure would occur soon. We watched the tower dance for over an hour at the end of the lane in my Yukon. When it got dark we decided to get home. Nothing we could do would keep the tower upright if it decided to fail. [iowapublicradio]

It sounds a little strange, but folks who work in the broadcast engineering world, this is what fuels hours and hours of stories over meals or just standing around. It’s like war vets sharing their tales of what it was like. I think I learned more about what stupid things to not do from things like that.

Why do we live for stuff like this? Well, how often do you get to see tons of steel come crashing down? When those guy wires snap or pieces of tower come down vertically, your life can end in an instance. Morbid and fascinating, all at the same time. Oh yeah, and that tower is approximately 1,200 feet tall. Also, people don’t like it when something they expect to be there isn’t, especially when you provide a public service.

I have faith in those guys, especially Jim, to get it all sorted out. I expect pictures, so you can check back in the next few days in case I hear anything.

Update: There are a variety of pictures of the KHKE collapse here. Also heard word from Jim that the KSUI/IPTV tower in West Branch held, but there is another storm approaching today(Wednesday).