The new episode of the podcast, 007b, is now ready for listening. Check out the blog entry for more info, or the mp3 to just listen.
February 2006 Archives
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh. I am a happy person. The Audio 100 has arrived, and it is amazing. When I was at the CBC Radio studios awhile back to talk about podcasting, I was awed by the quality of their setup. They are a professional place, of course, and had lots of tax money to get that great setup. The Audio 100 is much like the headset they have you wear there, except that they had the mic hanging from the ceiling on a complicated rig, where mine has the mic on the headset itself. I will have to take my time and see what it sounds like on shows and stuff, but I am so far very, very happy with the new headset. Thanks go to Heather for her awesome gift.
I hate waiting. I am one of the most impatient people you will ever meet. I am eager to get the new Audio 100 headset a friend has kindly bought me after I ruined my last one, and it is 'in transit' which to me means it is taking far too long to get here. Yup, I am one of those people. The day they turn the transporter from fiction to reality will be the day I am a very, very happy man. I just hope I live to see it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I am gonna go check at the door to see if the postman is here yet. For the hundredth time. This hour.
To say I am not a fan of the RIAA is a great understatement. That said, they have really gone too far this time. According to recent news stories, the RIAA has recently stated it's desire that instead of lessening their demands for monopoly copy protection by law, it wants even stricter laws to prevent possible copyright infringement, as well as a nearly complete destruction of the fair use tenets in US law. It seems that the RIAA wants to stop you from doing a few of the things now legal under US law, such as backing up your purchased music via a CD burner, and more.
It has, in all my time of watching this market, always been my belief that if a person wants to adequately protect their purchase from potential damage, especially audio tapes or CD's, it was suggested, in law, that they back them up via a copying mechanism. This was called Fair Use. If you have something you purchased, it is incumbent on you to protect your purchase. Apparently the RIAA wants you to stop doing that, instead simply buying a new one when your CD wears out, gets scratched, or otherwise becomes unplayable. Yup. Utterly delusional. You read my mind. What's next or do I even want to know?
Since I am 1/1, I was very tempted to end it there on a winning streak, but decided to go for it. I promise to have my next podcast out within a week of today. I don't think this will be too hard to do, to be honest. Stay tuned to the podcast site for more info.
Thanks to a good friend, yes, I seem to have many of them I find, I have a new headset en route to me. It is going to take awhile to get to her, then to me, but it has begun the process. The new headset, the Plantronics Audio 100, is an even better one than I had before, which is really awesome. The old one was, I thought, a really nice headset. When I was on CBC Radio, I was in envy and awe of their studio. It had awesome equipment. This headset reminds me a lot of the headphones they had there in the studio, though their mic's were apart from the headset, hanging from the ceiling. I am very excited to get this headset!
Ok, so I drafted this post after about 20 minutes of trying to get my camera to work. It was not getting power. It took about 3 minutes to figure out I had another bad battery compartment on my hands. The camera before this Fuji, the HP Photosmart 320 or some such, had the same issue, where the battery compartment wouldn't close right, and there wasn't enough juice to the camera. I was really worried that my one and only camera, which had had more problems than a Winnipeg demolition crew, was finally, and irreparably broken.
Alas, right after I drafted this post, I went back to it, trying everything I could think of to bring my camera back into operation. After a good long while, and a lot of coaxing and hoping, I finally got the camera to close right. I suspect what happened was hard impact when the battery compartment was in the wrong spot, pushing down the little ridges it is supposed to hook into. I spent about 3 hours trying to raise those ridges again. Now that i have it right, I am gonna leave it, compartment down, for awhile, so I can ensure the ridges stay right.
A short but hopefully good episode, numbered 007a, was released tonight. It's got a little tech rant, and a big update on why things aren't coming out quicker. As I state in there, I plan to have the next episode out in one weeks time, on Friday the 17th. In the meantime, enjoy the rant on Skype and two tiered internet.
I solemnly swear that within a week of this day, I will have a new episode, even if it is a bad one with the current mic setup, out to you all. I have been a bad, horrible, and delinquent podcaster, but I promise that I will change my ways. Err.. maybe.
Damn it. Long time readers know that a few months back, I had a Plantronics Audio 90 headset go dead on me, and had a couple I know in the US kindly order me a new one. Well, in a fit of my own stupidity and clumsiness, I am now on 2, yes count them 2 dead Audio 90's. I have worked up a rigged system where I am using the mic from one, and headphones from the other set, but this will not work in the long term. I hope to get a replacement soon, but I need to work out a go between and so on. Wish me luck!
Yes, I am a geek, and I have a social life. Please go see a doctor or your local emergency ward if you feel faint or otherwise are suffering any sever shock at this news. I have the pleasure and honor of heading out to a co-worker's social tonight. Leslie and her fiance are having a social to help pay for the wedding. For those not aware, a social is a big party a couple or group throws with raffles and other events, including selling booze, to raise money for an occasion or cause.
They have them for people who lost their homes, for weddings, for events and so on here in Manitoba. I expect to see many of my coworkers at their... well... drunkest. I plan to have almost no booze, and remain there for a very short time, but I suspect it will be a very eye opening experience. I am sure someone must have once commented on seeing the true person once you fill them with booze.
With most of our lot people in school, and our full timer out sick this week, I have had the... pleasure of getting a lot more hours this week than I normally do. I worked today, even though I had a show tonight, and have already worked a large number of hours this week. The problem is that my body isn't used to doing this stuff so much in a week. Yes, I have adapted to getting no or few hours. In the end it breaks down to the fact that I do not believe my body is cut out for this kind of work at all. I am not, and have never been, the manual labor type. I am a geek, not a blue collar worker. Now, if you will excuse me, I must sleep. Now.
