Monthly Archives: August 2005

Brainwagon Radio: Podcasting via CompactFlash, and Google Talk

Today’s podcast gives some information about my experiments with getting podcasts transferred to a CompactFlash card so I can listen to them using my Dell Axim x50v PDA, which I also use to record podcasts.

  • This post on Social Customer Manifesto detailed how one guy used a cheapy mp3 player in a pretty creative way. The player simply looked like a harddrive, so he installed Doppler on it, configured it to save podcasts to the same drive, and then created an AUTORUN.INF file so that when it is inserted. There is one big problem though: Windows XP doesn’t automatically run AUTORUN stuff from removeable drives. You can hack the registry to get around it, but instead I just configured my podcasting client to save to the CompactFlash “drive”, and dropped a shortcut on my desktop. Now, to update my CompactFlash I jam it in my reader slot, double click on the icon to run Doppler, and then wait for it to fill it up. Not too bad.
  • The pity is that I really prefer iTunes, especially their new podcasting support, which I find really decent. I suppose I could try configuring it in the same way, but instead I tried using SyncToy, a new gadget from Microsoft that copies one directory over to another. It worked, but didn’t really streamline my workflow over the other method.

    • Google Talk

    Everyone is running articles about Google Talk this morning. Apparently Google has settled on the Jabber protocol for instant messaging (gasp, a standard) and has released a pretty nice little client for Windows. Following their instructions, I’ve actually connected to the server using gaim as well. I have yet to try any of the audio capabilities, but the base functionality seems fine, and unpolluted by vast amounts of advertising (ala AIM, which I just can’t stand anymore). Nifty.

    As an experiment, anyone wanting to IM me can invite me (brainwagon at gmail.com) and I’ll try to respond.

    Addendum: Make already already has a cool hack:

    Yes, it is possible to broadcast music, MP3’s, Podcasts, etc. from your itunes, computer cd or whatever. Don’t limit yourself to a boring microphone… share your music!

    Basically it is just what you imagine: you can send an mp3 out by configuring the recording inputs to GoogleTalk to listen to the stereo mix device. Still, a cool idea that might be useful to us podcasters.

    Brainwagon Radio: Watching my waist, and reality TV

    Me, in my Grumpy shirt

    Okay, for the second day in a row, I’ve got a new podcast. This one details my recent recommitment to losing weight and my views of the recent rash of shows featuring reality television “stars”. Probably boring, but hey, I’m trying to get back into the swing of things.

    Links:

    • Kill Reality is a strangely fascinating look at the worst of all that reality television has to offer. Oh, and what it has to offer doesn’t include “a compelling feature film” at the end.
    • You want a really good television show with a reality bent? Try Kathy Griffin’s Life on the D-List. Didn’t mention it on the podcast, but she is talented, smart and funny. The reality stars from Kill Reality have all but three of those qualities.

    Brainwagon Radio: Trying to get back into the swing of podcasting…

    Yow. It’s been over a month since I recorded a podcast. If anyone out there is still listening, then here’s a fresh installment, detailing some of my experiences at SIGGRAPH and a miscelleny of other topics.

    • Here is the paper detailing the RPU: an FPGA based raytracer. Very interesting work.
    • Blender is a combination modelling, animation and rendering package that I’ve toyed around with.
    • I bought a 512M CompactFlash card for my PDA, which I am going to rig up to be my podcasting client to replace my unreliable iPod.

    Enjoy.

    I’m converting to Pastafarianism

    I got a chuckle out of this.

    Anyone who looks to Kent Hovind as the intellectual juggernaut of Creationism is obviously about as smart as a bag of hammers. I mean really, be serious. Even that bastion of creationist confusion, Answers in Genesis has noted that many of Hovind’s arguments are simply untenable.

    Oh, and incidently, Kent Hovind doesn’t believe in Intelligent Design either, at least the kind that the The Discovery Institute is trying to claim is scientific (albeit with a wink and a nod).