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Hey. My name is Russell Holliman. I'm a professional project manager by day, and one of the founders of Podcast Ready by night. This is my blog about life on the web, life in general, and random things I find here and there.



Good News, Bad News
Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Good News: Forums are back on-line

Bad News: No data

Working on it, but don’t hold your breath… I think it’s gone.

Comments

posted by Russell @ 8:31 PM, links to this post




Convergence
Tuesday, August 30, 2005

I saw this in the store today and just had to try it out, so check for a review in the next podcast...

It's a 5.8 digital cordless phone that comnects to your land line and your Treo 650 (via Bluetooth) and let's you send and receive calls from both. No more paying $0.10 a minute to forward my cell to the office...

posted by Russell @ 2:04 PM, , links to this post




Curry Violates "Terms of Service"

Checking out the Podsafe Music Network, at first glance it seems like a pretty cool idea: unsigned artists register their music, and registered podcasters can download anything from the library and use it in their shows without paying any licensing fees or royalties. What’s the catch? According the the site, the “catch” is that they ask participating podcasters to

All we ask is that when you play music on your show that you found and downloaded here that you say so. You can do this by either:

  1. Saying during your show “Some of the music provided tonight from the PodShow Podsafe Music Network. Check it out at 'music.podshow.com”
  2. Playing one of our bumpers during your show. (Coming soon!!)

We also ask that you link back to PodShow podsafe music network in your shownotes for those shows that include music from this site. http://music.podshow.com.

Seems simple enough, and fair. But then when you actually go to register, you are presented with a much longer Terms of Use document that contains some very interesting requirements. For instance, as a podcaster using music from the Podsafe Music Network, you are not allowed to

promote or reference software piracy (warez, cracking, etc.), hacking, phreaking, emulators, ROM's, or illegal MP3 activity

That seems pretty harmless, until you consider that practically every “tech” podcast and a lot of just plain “culture” podcasts routinely reference software piracy and illegal MP3 activity… they don’t promote these things, but they certainly get referenced often enough.

Also, there is a clause in the terms that don’t allow the podcaster to

promote illegal activities, deceptive practices or violations of the intellectual property rights of others

That’s the one that I find most interesting. Adam Curry often references his pot smoking habit, and even talks about bringing marijuana into the United States on his trips from Europe and the UK.

He has in the past bragged about stealing his neighbor’s broadband connection when the local telephone company was not reacting quickly enough to install his own…

And on virtually every daily episode of his podcast he plays a “mash-up”, a compilation of various songs, which is a clear violation of copyright laws... a violation that he acknowledges and discusses regularly.

I’d be interested to see if "The Network" actually enforces these terms when the company’s own founder so blatantly violates them himself.

posted by Russell @ 11:00 AM, , links to this post




Forums and Comments Hacked

It seems that mobilepodcast.org’s forums/comments section has been hacked:

Hacked

Sorry for the inconvenience, which is all it really is… I’ll get it back on-line as soon as I can.

Comments

posted by Russell @ 9:59 AM, links to this post




High-powered Lasers
Thursday, August 25, 2005

Remember all those reports of people aiming high-powered lasers at airplanes? The panic it caused… and the pilot that was injured?

Now you too can own your very own high-powered laser. Just cruise on over the the Chronicle's tech blog and check out their new advertisers.

Laserpower

Comments

posted by Russell @ 10:01 AM, links to this post




Funny
Wednesday, August 24, 2005

posted by Russell @ 11:25 PM, , links to this post




Podcasting Update

Recently I have received a lot of questions about what I am using to podcast. So I thought I would sum it up quickly here. To record, I use P.A.R. Pro 3.0 from Toysoft. It’s an excellent recording application that allows you to paste audio clips together to create a show.

And my headset is just a cheap (under $30 I think) Plantronics unit I bought at the local Sprint store:

DSC05022

And of course, you need a few refreshments to consume prior to and during the actual recording…

DSC05023

And for podcast listening, I am sold on Pocket-Tunes Deluxe. It’s a very flexible, easy to use MP3 player for your Treo 650. And this this high-res skin you get “skip” buttons – so you can jump ahead 15 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute, 2 minute, and 5 minutes instantly.

Hifijump

Comments

posted by Russell @ 7:23 PM, links to this post




Gmail accounts

Want a Gmail account? Well, you don’t need an invitation anymore. At least, you don’t if you have SMS on your cell phone.

Gmailsignup

Just go and put in your cell number and Google will SMS you a code for an account. Some sort of anti-spammer system I’m guessing.

Comments

posted by Russell @ 6:15 PM, links to this post




PPM Can Track Podcast Listening
Tuesday, August 23, 2005

So you want really good stats? Well, it seems that Arbitron has a little gizmo that can track actual podcast listening… count on something like this to be included in the next generation iPods.

Comments

posted by Russell @ 4:07 PM, links to this post




Selling Himself Short

last october john was blasting podcasts as being like listening to painful conversations between the host and his dog. today he's pimping his own "tech" podcast (like there aren't enough of those out there, right?):
If you like listening to five blowhards and a weenie ramble on and on about cool stuff in the news, then this is the hour long weekly show for you.

c'mon john, don't sell yourself short. its perfectly acceptable to describe yourself as both a blowhard and a weenie... we do.
Comments

posted by clyde @ 8:50 AM, links to this post




Cheap Hard Drives
Monday, August 22, 2005

If you're in the market for a new hard drive, Microcenter (Houston) seems to have some pretty good deals today.

posted by Russell @ 10:23 AM, , links to this post




Texas ranked 4th meanest state
Wednesday, August 17, 2005

The National Coalition for the Homeless reports that Texas is the fourth meanest state, preceded by California, Florida, and Hawaii. Specifically, Austin rates as the 10th meanest city in the country, followed by Dallas as the 15th, and San Antonio the 17th.

Number one? Little Rock…

Little Rock received this dubious distinction due to its efforts to close 27 transient camps for homeless people around the city. Although the plan was tabled after advocates for the homeless objected, the coalition is concerned that the city could still move forward with the plan.

Comments

posted by Russell @ 2:34 PM, links to this post




Podcast from hell?
Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Normally I don’t ask for people to go vote for me over at Podcastalley, but I only need one person to change this monthly rank:

Monthly666

Thanks.

Comments

UPDATE 08/17 07:42 - three votes over night and the rank has changed... thanks again. I can now sleep soundly again.

posted by Russell @ 9:02 PM, links to this post




08/14 TPC "Podfading"
Sunday, August 14, 2005

Treo 650 vs. 600

Houston and Podcasting

Speaking of Mac:

Adam Curry on Dolly Parton

When geeks aren't geeks

Comments

posted by Russell @ 12:22 PM, links to this post




"Podcast" makes the dictionary
Friday, August 12, 2005

I saw this oner at cba.ca: Technology-inspired terms like "podcast", "phishing" and "wiki" are among the newest additions to the revised second edition of the Oxford English Dictionary.

I thought it took longer for words to make it into the dictionary…

Comments

posted by Russell @ 4:25 PM, links to this post




We're on a mission from God...
Friday, August 05, 2005

...to get tickets, that is. For the first time in 25 years, the original “Blues Brothers” is coming to a theater near you… maybe. But it is coming to a theater near me.

Bluesbrothers

It seems that at two locations in Houston (and elsewhere), on August 29th, there will be a digital broadcast of a presentation by Dan Akroyd from Mann’s Chinese Theater, followed by a showing of this classic - all to celebrate the 25th anniversary DVD.

Comments

posted by Russell @ 1:27 AM, links to this post




State Sales Tax Holiday
Wednesday, August 03, 2005

Yea, its this weekend. Seems like I always find out at the last minute. If the consumer’s saving estimates are accurate:

Strayhorn predicted Texans will save $47.4 million in sales tax during the tax-exempt period from Friday through Sunday.

I can see why they don’t advertise it a lot.

Comments

posted by Russell @ 8:53 PM, links to this post