Recently in Podcasting Category

I was listening to the 127th podcast episode of the Harry Potter podcast Mugglecast tonight. The hosts of the show were mentioning that their site, Mugglenet, had been hacked the week before. They made a remark about poor journalism in that no other podcast or Harry Potter site had reported on the hacking of the site, which is easily one of the top 2 fan sites out there. I flashed back instantly to when, over the holidays, the podcast from the other leading site, The Leaky Cauldron, had 2 parts of an interview with the famous author of the books, Jo Rowling, and Mugglecast made not a single mention of it.

Is this common in podcast genres which are so competitive? Is it possible that the fact that Pottercast, the podcast from Leaky, got this huge interview instead of the Mugglecasters, could this be the reason that shortly thereafter Mugglecast announced they would be stopping regular production in the spring? I know that the two podcasts have always been at odds with one another, competition so to speak, but to not even both to congratulate them for their interview? That's just downright spiteful. To then complain about them not covering something that happened on your site? Entirely too hypocritical for my tastes.

About a month ago I posted this about the debate over the terms netcast and podcast, and the treatment some in the podcasting community where giving it. Well, Rob Walch, the center of that post, finally found it, and thoroughly trashed me on the most recent Today in Podcasting episode. I have fixed the comments, and await Rob's response, but the Continue link below has my reply in an email to both Rob's Podcast 411 email address and the Today in Podcasting email addresses. I do not wish to start a flame war, I just wanted to get my views out, and now i ask that Rob answer the points I made, not answer half of them and then attack me and tell me to 'get a life', not when he says so often that commentary is always welcome no matter how old the episode.

Through the kindness of one of my listeners, I have been sent a few new things that I hope will make my podcasts sound clearer, even if my accused lack of talent likely won't match in improvement. The new setup is as follows: Behringer HPM1000 Headphones, a Samson Tech Q1U microphone on a Apex stand. I just recorded an Azerothian Addon segment for the Elf and Dwarf podcast, and I think it sounds a lot clearer and better. Hopefully I will have the chance to give the setup a real test when I record the next full episode of All Things Azeroth. Wish me luck, and thank you very, very, very much to the person who bought this, you know who you are. Oh, I also got a new MP3 player, but it's not found on the web, sadly

So I was listening to an episode of Podcast 411 a few weeks back, and Rob mentioned he was doing a show called Today in Podcasting. Having not heard of this show before, I decided to subscribe. There is a lot of shows, and I only recently got around, with all the other shows I listen to, to hearing the shows with Rob in them. I am now at the post PPME 2006 episodes, and I am kind of... getting annoyed. Now, this show allows Rob and the other hosts, Gary Leland of Podcast Pickle and Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting, to go on a bit about stuff they are passionate about. I have nothing against that. Really, I don't. The issue is that the show seems to be, in the last few episodes, a Netcast trashing ritual.

For those not in the know, there was some uproar about Apple sending a cease and desist notice to a company, Podcast Ready, for trademark infringement. Leo, at PPME, in his Keynote, suggested that the name of the art we all love should be called Netcasting, not Podcasting, to prevent Apple getting their panties in a twist. Well, many people, including Rob, got into an uproar, and Rob even put out a special episode over the topic. I wanted to point out that, while Rob had the benefit of time to research the matter, as I understand it this came up during the expo, and thus people where left with only two options, react from the heart based on what was being reported, or ignore it. These are podcasters, so they took the former.

Let me digress to my original topic. First, if I post something on Wikipedia saying that.. I dunno, Podcasting is fishing using a peapod, not a format for getting audio programming that can be listened to when one chooses to, that does not make it accurate or true. Nor does putting one's own personal definition on a site make it true. It is Rob's definition of netcasting, not the worlds. Rob also said on the TIP episode where Tee Morris hosted that "Netcast just reminds me of streaming and netcasting, it's everything podcasting was meant not to be. It was not to tie you to the internet, not to tie you to your chair, and it was to free tou up and let you listen when you want, where you want, and how you want. I don't think the name netcast conveys that. At all."

This is Rob's opinion, and he has a right to it, but to go so far as to push that definition on the rest of the community by including his definition of netcast into a site that so many people use like the Urban Dictionary is just dictatorial. I think Netcast isn't the best, but it is far less device specific than Podcast. Yeah, people will get smart and figure it out, assuming podcasting doesn't become as much of a joke to people as bloggging is now, but as one of those who has to explain every time I mention my show, I would rather not have to if there was an alternative. I just think that so far, in the shows I have listened to, that it has devolved into Rob Walch's second show about podcasting. I will keep listening to hope this changes.

Well, I have completed editing of the latest episode of my Know Your Role podcast at this point, but I do not feel safe in trying to upload the show and it's rss file, as well as posting about it from my computwer at work, since doing so is a serious violation of the rules, and I cannot get to my parents until Thursday in order to upload it from their PC. So the show is ready, soon to be released, and I have already begun to gather the plentiful bounty of information for the next show from the wide world of the internet and Warcraft. Therefore show number 3 should be recorded and hopefully edited as well on my upcoming weekend off. See you soon.

I just wanted to pop in before I start work quick to let you all know, across all my sites, that last night I recorded a new episode of Know Your Role, where I discuss some of the stuff in WoW, like the 1.12 patch, the news surrounding the upcoming expansion, Democracy in WoW's creation, and more. I hope you'll all take a listen, and pardon the echo. On the upside, I am told I should be into my new place by the end of next week!

You all, I assume, know or have noticed that my podcasts, both Know Your Role and Canadian Geek Podcast, have pretty much gone stagnant. Well, I hope that some new developments will change this fact. As I mentioned before, the reason that CGP pretty much pod faded since the beginning of the year was because I moved back to my parents, and my time and ability to podcast pretty much died.

I often do my info gathering and podcasting late in the evening, but when the rest of the house is asleep, the podcast either is forced to change, or ends up fading. I also found it hard to podcast when my shifts were so varied that I would often close one night and need to be back to work with barely enough time to take a bus home, sleep, wake up and go back to work.

Now I find myself in a job with a shift variance of no more than 2 hours from day to day, and I will be moving to my own place again within a few days. I am not sure yet when my internet will be up, but I do plan to at least do some podcast recording within a few weeks or even a few days. Look for new podcasts within the first week or two of August!

Ok, so it's been a little bit. It has been a fair bit since I did any podcast at all, and even longer since I did a CGP episode. I explained, rather poorly I felt, that I had felt that my creativity had become impacted by a variety of circumstances. The more things go on, though, the harder it gets. Hopefully, though, my new job will be able to get me into a position to return to my former podcast glory. I am not going to pretend I am going to be doing podcasts daily, or that it will change immediately, but I do hope things will improve in due time and things can get back to a decent level of podcasting.

I am not sure what will become of it, but last night I recorded my first episode of Know Your Role in several weeks, and now it is up on the KYR feed, and also available for download from it's site. Like I said, I am not sure what will come of it, nor how often I will be doing a show, but I will be sure to have something up as often as I can, even if it's a 5 minute rant about Raiding. Enjoy the first episode of the new Know Your Role.

I am on the proverbial fence right now. I have been living with my parents for about 2 weeks now, and I find myself lacking in the creativity needed, and the energy that is necessary, to make a podcast episode. I still look up the stories, I have dozens already, but I just can't seem to get a show done. The primary reason is, I think, because all my previous episodes were done in the late evening, early morning time frame. This is the same time frame my parents are in bed, so recording a podcast is not all that practical. I am going to keep trying to gather all the necessary stuff required to do a podcast, but I fear a hiatus may be in order.

Sorry. I am not sure where the Canadian Geek Podcast will go from here. I am trying to decide if I should put it on hiatus. I failed to keep my promise, and find my creativity, as I have said, sorely lacking of late. I would rather not assign blame for it, but I know the cause of it, and I know that, at least for now, the cause cannot change. At least for the time being, I cannot move out of here, and that, above all else, is the biggest hit to my creativity. Sorry to all my fans, I will try to put something out as soon as possible, try to give you info as soon as possible.

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.

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!

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.

Download Now!

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.

The Free Press article is in the Free Press today, and I am mostly happy with it, other than one small thing, that is the fact they got the URL for my Podcast, Canadian Geek Podcast, wrong. They put the original url, geekblog.net/geekcast, instead of the new url, cdngeekpod.com. Otherwise the article was good. She did mention my living situation, but somehow her mention was much less noticeable to me than the recording played on the CBC Radio One interview I did. *shrug* Check it out, and let me know what you think.

Update: Lance, of the Hipbase podcast and who founded the Manitoba Podcasting Association, has posted the text of the article if any of you without access want to read.

Finally, after weeks of trying and failing to get things worked out with the Free Press reporter, and just days before the piece goes to the presses, I was able to get a phone interview and a photo shoot in today for the Free Press article, which will be in the Free Press on Saturday, January 28th. The interview went well, we discussed my podcast a bit and the preparations I make for each show, and I was pleased to see that Gabrielle had come prepared with a number of excellent questions and insightful views on podcasting as an art. I hope the article represents the podcasting community well, here and across the net.

Update: Lance, of the Hipbase podcast and who founded the Manitoba Podcasting Association, has posted the text of the article if any of you without access want to read.

Yesterday was a very podcast filled day. I did not work yesterday, instead spending most of my day involved in podcast stuff that was anything but podcasting itself. I was up in early morning at 5:00 AM, far earlier than I or most geeks tend to do, and was out the door by 6 AM. Thankfully, I got a ride to my destination from my parents, who were grabbing a coffee until my mother had to be at work. I walked into the CBC Radio offices, and prepared to wait with a book while they came out one at a time to talk to me. I met the(I think) producer, the host Terry McLeod, and after about half an hour of waiting, I was in the room.

I was there to talk on podcasting a bit, and while I had only been called the night before to be asked on, though there was previous contact to get my views, I wasn't surprised, since later in the day was a major podcasting event in the city later in the day. I got sat down in the room, making as little noise as I could, while the host went through a few other things before my interview. I had a good chance to look around the studio, and I was honestly in awe. They had 4 studio mics, more equipment then I could ever imagine, and it was very professional looking.

Then they began playing the promo bit, which they had asked about before, but hadn't specified the exact clip they would be using. Of course, they may have mentioned the show they took it from, but i was too tired and out of it to be able to answer properly. They ended up playing a bit from my Christmas podcast. For those who did not listen, it is the one that I declared I was moving back home. Yeah. I got good mentions on CBC Radio One, but it includes me saying I am moving back to my parents. Uggh. I wasn't very happy, but by the time it finished, about 20 or 30 seconds later, I had already figured out it was best not to be mad about it, and just put the best face forward.

I was on for all of 10 minutes, talked a bit about my podcast, about how I came to podcast(I'll be getting into that on a show soon to come), and what this whole podcasting thing is about. After I was done, I waited an hour or so as a person i had emailed was going to be on an hour after me. I went home after sitting and talking to Tod for a bit, discussing podcasting, it's future, and so on. I slept for a bit, then waited to hear from another press type, a reporter from the Free Press who was also looking to cover podcasting. We were going to meet in the mid afternoon, but things didn't work out on the time side, so we said we'd meet up later at the event.

I left a little late for the event, and got to Rae & Jerry's on Portage by the Stadium a fair bit later than I had planned. I walked in, and went to the lounge to look a bit for the group, finding them hard to miss even if I hadn't met Tod, the planner of the event. I walked up and said hello to Tod, who works for CBC Radio nationally, and who was holding the event as part of a podcast road show, and met a number of people. I met Lance of the Hip Base podcast and his wife, Dasme of the PSP Podcast, who I heard shortly after I first heard of Podcast 411. i met a lot of cool and interesting people, and was there until about 11.

There was someone there from CBC's TV side, who was talking about possibly arranging to have podcasters use real studios to do their podcasts, and there was some very interesting and knowledgeable people there. I hope a few of those who got my card there see this. It was an awesome event, and I hope it will be a launching platform to a more closely knit local podcasting community. We talked about doing a podcast about podcasting in Manitoba, and there will be soon a site all about podcasting in Winnipeg and the province of Manitoba. *raises a glass* Cheers!

Hey all. If you live in Winnipeg, or can find a way online, I will be on CBC Radio 990 tomorrow morning(Jan 13) just before 7 AM to talk about podcasting. I hope a few people who can tune in, do. I also hope to get a recording of the show for those who cannot. I have a busy day tomorrow, with a meeting with a reporter from the Winnipeg Free Press in the early evening, then a meetup with a CBC Radio guy who is talking to podcast enthusiasts across Canada, Tod Maffin, tomorrow night at Rae & Jerry's. I will give a full run down of my time on the radio tomorrow on Geek Blog for sure, and will probably have a lengthy recording either way for my podcast with my thoughts. See you round.

Yup, still here. Nope, not abducted, disappeared, or dead. They say podcasts that last more than 12 episodes will likely last awhile. I want to preface this by making it clear I am not stopping. Yes, my last release was Christmas eve. Yes, my last real cast was the 21st. I am not sure when the next release was, but since I moved in here, with my parents, I have found my inspiration, my time, and my energy in far lower quantities than I would like. I would love to type a date, a guaranteed release schedule, but I can't. I am going through all the news I had at the end of last year, and picking through it with a very fine tooth comb, throwing out stuff that would be hard to talk about, or just not useful tech topics. This should make for a better podcast when it's out. I will try to have a new ep out as soon as I can.

Back in August of 2002, I was contact by Carolin Vesely from the Winnipeg Free Press for a story she was planning about blogs. The story was timed perfectly, as there was to be a blog meetup in a few days, and she said she would come out to it. Well, a comedy of issues arose, from the location being closed for the date and her being transferred to another department in the paper, worked to prevent that article. but she did contact me a fair time later to participate in a story about Meetup.com, back before it became evil. The story went ahead, and I was mentioned, though my site was not.

I figure if I got my name in the paper, and only had one problem, I am doing ok. In the span of a 48 hour period, from about 4 PM on Wednesday to 4 PM on Friday, I found myself shocked and surprised, but also very pleased, to be contacted by not one but 2 reporters form local media outlets. I was contacted by a person from CBC Radio and another from the Free Press, though not Ms. Vesely, to talk to them about podcasting. I talked to the person from CBC Radio for about half an hour on Friday, over how to make a podcast, how to publish one, and why podcasting is so cool, though there was more. I am still waiting to hear back from the Free Press reporter at this point.

I am very happy that my name has come up so prominently in the searches that not one but two reporters have decided to contact me. I will be sure to let you know how it all goes.

Nope, not a new look or design. We now have a new domain for the site though, so if you want to bookmark this page, either as the abbreviation CGP or as the full Canadian Geek Podcast, feel free to do so by simply dragging the link to your bookmarks. I was also contacted today by a reporter from the Winnipeg Free Press to partake in an article about this revolution in media, Podcasting, so I will be sure to get you all what I can from that article when it comes out. I will be trying to release a new episode Thursday or Friday of this week, which will be the end of '05 episode.

Sadly, life got in the way, so I haven't been able to get you the podcasts I wanted and planned to do this week. I can honestly say I don't know when I will be able to. Again, my apologies. I do have a podcast of my Christmas greetings up for you all to listen to. I hope to have an episode out between now and the new year, but I can't honestly say I would recommend expecting it. Have a good Christmas everyone, and see you soon.

Episode 6 is up and ready for download everyone! It's not everything I had hoped for, sadly, as I just wanted to get something out today as i promised. A lot of awesome content was left out, but you do have the group discussion I had with the Shadow Walkers a couple of weeks back, so hopefully it gives you some good content overall. I hope to soon have another such sit down, with eventual regularly scheduled ones, weekly or bi monthly, covering the latest news. The Show notes are here, and I will give links as soon as time allows on the various topics I discussed. Enjoy, and see you soon for another episode of CGP.