PodCheck Review [Inactive]

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Show from Thu Aug 03 23:55:49 CDT 2006

PCR 2006-08-03 #031

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(Updated 2006-08-21 to make shorter, change frmatting.  Sorry if this shows up in your newsreader again, but I am troubleshooting a WordPress problem that is causing the admin and posting system to freeze and time out.)

Doin’ the show solo today, letting Jeff enjoy his summer, and giving myself a chance to pace myself in this swealtering heat.

From February 8th, 2006 - Merlin Mann posted a great response on the 43 Folders site regarding the Wired article about podfading, and he unknowingly created Podcheck’s new slogan.

Raising the bar for quality, and way lowering the bar for frequency.

So, we have a new slogan/tagline, and we’re going to use it until we get bored with it. Thanks to Merlin!

(Removed the ‘more’ link for troubleshooting)

I am reveling at smiling at life in our little corner of the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Podfader http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Podfading

…and finally, the word Podfade made it in. Feel free to augment the very short article over at Wikipedia.

Certainly, not important enought to land me a Nobel Prize: http://technology.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1738511,00.html Back in March, Lennart Carleson, an 80-year-old Swedish academic whose work on the complexities of soundwaves has subsequently been used in the electronic components of iPods, won a Nobel prize for his efforts, as well as 500,000 francs? (What is that little curlie-q L symbol, and why aren’t we all using Euros now?)

In the 1960s Carleson showed that any sound, no matter how complicated, can be represented as a series of sine waves. “That translates in the real world as the idea that any sound can be reproduced using the sound of a tuning fork,” said a University of Oxford mathematician, Marcus du Sautoy. “The sound of a lion roaring can be broken down into just simple tuning forks.”

It is always good to remember that, “If we can see farther, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”

http://www.tekrati.com/research/News.asp?id=7434
The study says that young people between the ages of 18-25 are twice as likely than older people to publish a podcast, but… how old are the hosts of YOUR favorite podcasts? Are the hosts of your favorite podcasts under 25 years old? We must ALWAYS question these statistics and seek out the deeper meaning, beyond simply the “so-and-so ages are more likely” or “less likely” to do something. The full news article is available here: http://www.tekrati.com/research/News.asp?id=7434

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/07/20/scitech/pcanswer/main1819789.shtml

Buzzwords created, even if you don’t agree with them.. According to the CBS story, the term “Mobcasting” refers to a podcast created on a mobile device.

Dave Gray from the Global Geek Podcast turned me on to a cool website that offers free survey/polls - www.zohopolls.com/

Thee aren’t any Mobcasts nominated for the 2006 Podcast Awards. Voting opens July 28th, 2006 and closes August 28th. Todd Cochrane and crew will then very anticlimatically announce the winners weeks before the Podcast Expo, and everyone will *sigh* See my July 30th post for my Miss America rant.

Apparently, most of the 3,200 podcasts submitted for nominations for he Podcast Awards had really crappy RSS feeds. Read the gory details at www.podcastconnect.com/archive/2006/07/the_state_of_rss_feeds_in_podc.html

Much more relevant to a ‘community’: In July, The Mep Report, a podcast about emus, beat out 9,000 others to win Podcast Pickles’ “Cast Wars.” http://www.podcastpickle.com/app/cast_wars/

Holy crap - Rob Walsh wrote some glowing words about me and Podcheck Review in his latest book “Secrets of the Podcasting Masters,” Read the sample chapter here

Big milestones for podcasters - Christoph Marquardt reached 150 episodes with Tips from the Top Floor,, Scott Johnson and crew will be at 100 episodes of Extra Life Radio on Saturday, and many other shows are reaching similar milestones. I’ll just be happy if Podcheck makes it to Episode #34.

Podshow… Podshow… Podshow… all you had to do was ask. -I tried out the new Podshow web site, and I must say that it has all of the pizazz of an abacus with none of the pesky hinderences of being particularly innovative or useful to me. Really. It’s main attraction is the fact that it (wait for it)… recommends a handful of ‘approved’ podcasts in a handful of categories, all without considering who I am or to which podcasts I’m already subscribed? Did I miss something? OK, I must have missed something. More about Podshow in a few minutes.

Blubrry, Blubrry, Blubrry - Al you had to do was ask… and I would have given you a couple of spare vowels I had laying around the house (sound of russling through desk drawer…) Again, ditto on the Podhow comments. The Blurbrry website is so advanced that you have no idea how cool it is or how to use it until you log in, because all it seems to do is list… uh… some podcasts. So, I logged in and I was about to sign up for the Blubrry service, but decided to read the Terms of Service. So, they admit that they are not a “podcast directory,” but their slogans at the top of the page display sayings like “The Mack Daddy of podcast sites” and “Cool as a cucumber.”  It looks like its built very much for PODCASTERS to pat each other on the ass and sniff each others’ advertising farts, and not at all built for listeners to discover podcasts.

Everyone just stop and listen. If you are not stealing Dav Slusher’s idea for Amigo Fish ad integrating his collaborative filtering idea into your system, you are wasting your time.

Podshow Pro - Press Release here. It’s a cross between podcasts, voicemail, blogs, audio newsletters, and other stuff that I can’t think of. They’ve got some major-league buy-in from AOL:

PodShowPRO is also the Podcasting module within AOL’s new AIM® Pro service, which is available free of charge at http://www.aol.com/aimpro.

I had a much simpler, more centralized version of this idea last year, and couldn’t get anyone excited about it. “Podcasting? What the heck’s podcasting?” - So I’m glad to see someone getting some traction with it.

I have signed up as a member of the Podshow community, and I am considering listing the Podcheck Podcast over there.

Meanwhile, PodTech generated a low rumbling noise when they announced they’ll be the podcast provider for two major conferences: http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060803/sfth007.html?.v=62

Calif., Aug. 3 /PRNewswire/ — Dow Jones VentureWire announced today that PodTech, a social media company dedicated to delivering Fresh Voices(TM), has been selected to be the official podcasting company for two upcoming conferences: HealthCare Innovations 2006 and Consumer Technology Ventures 2006.

Funny, I was just looking for a healthcare-related podcast for my day job, and voila! Scoble’s company comes through for me!

I heard Leo over at TWIT say that this last week marked the lowest TV ratings for the major networks… ever.

Heaven knows that I’m only watching a few shows on TV, and they are NOT network shows. My favorite New show - Eureka - also has a podcast. Clerks II has a director’s commentary from Mr. Smith that you can listen to on your iPod/player in the movie theater NOW.

Too busy to do anything but doodle! See my doodles at www.mydrawings.com - I even bought a couple of domain names related to Bar Napkin Warfare, but I have no idea what I’m going to do with them yet.  (UPDATE: www.barnapkinwarfaredesigns.com

Amanda Congdon of Rocket Boom is going to L.A. Best wishes. I guess that now they can call the show Rocket Bust without worrying about any possible double entendre. Amanda, getting an extension on her 15 minutes of fame, soon to be seen on VH1 Best Week Ever… or the future installment of VH1’s “I Love the Zero-Zeros…

Going to the Expo - I’ve reserved my plane ticket, hotel room, and expo pass - so I’m committed now. I doubt that David Eick will be at the Podcast and Portable Media Expo, but boy, that would be cool to meet the Executive Producer of the new Battlestar Galactica, and the host of the behind the scenes podcast: http://www.nowplayingmag.com/content/view/4175/

Frappr Map Sightings: Welcome the (ALL)! NOte about the Podcheck map. Theirs ME, and then there is the Podcheck GROUP. Be sure to sign up for the GROUP!!! www.frapper.com/podcheck

From Brandon Rosage:

“How did you get the old-time radio sound for the “Yes, We have no Podcheck” song. You mentioned that you removed the bass and the mid using your EQ, but what else did you do?”

I use Sony ACID Music Studio to mix my audio productions. I can usually achieve any audio effect that I want through a series of EQ and distortion filters, combined with multiple layers/tracks. One of my more memorable uses of Sony ACID Music Studio was my re-enactment of an imaginary 2005 Gnomedex speech.

Got my Redboy Podcast Refridgerator Magnet in the mail a few weeks ago.

Speaking of inanimate objects related to podcasting - how about an actual PC computer that is shaped like a giant Sure microphone?  http://slipperyskip.com/page20.html

A reminder to each of us who have experienced that “hightened focus, oblique serenity, and acute awareness of others” that comes as the result of losing someone close:  Be good to yourselves, and be better to strangers.

voicemail (206) GAG-iPod  –  (206) 424-4763