Fran and Ira go to Las Vegas

Here it is friends. Our soundseeing trip to Las Vegas. We hope you enjoy our highlights podcast

Rivercast #7 Interviewing the "Lookalikes" Click Here

Time to Blog AND Podcast??

Do I actually have time to write this blog? I positively do not know. Three major time takers are in my life everyday. ONE: Job. I work eight hours travel 30 minutes each way, take 45 minutes to prepare to go to work. TWO: Wife. Yes I have a wife. She wants attention, chores done, home upkept, attention (ohh...I said attention).
THREE: Read email, keep up to date on everything going on in the tech world (yeh right). Then somehow take time to blog (reference and write: 1 hour) and podcast
(reference, prepare, record, upload (2 hours). Plus I need to sleep (7 hrs ave.). So adding up the non-wife time: Leaves me with possibly 5 hrs., weekdays of course. But here's the catch, every 1 hour online multiplies by 50% on how long it FEELS!!! So if I'm online 1 hour, it feels like an hour and a half to my wife. Two hours feel like three and four hours feel like six. Then you have the late night multiplier. Yes that's when the "feels like" percentage goes through the roof. One hour feels like four, two hours feels like six hours. Finally you have the floating time limit. This is the amount of time the wife can tolerate a given amount of "feels like" time. I say it floats because some days 30 minutes feels like six hours, other days it's less. So back to the original question...do I have time to write this blog?? Apparently so since you are reading it. But podcast, hah that I will have to work in while driving to work tomorrow. Cross your fingers for me.

Gnomedex info from Technorati

The following post was taken directly from the Technorati.com blog:

What a great thing to hear from the "Gilmor Gang" panel discussion at Gnomedex 2005. Dave Winer challenged Adam Curry to use BitTorrent to solve his bnadwidth issues. Adam responded that he does not want to become the "poster child" for a technology that is viewed as bad or illegal. While I understand Adam's concerns, I love the challenge he received from the rest of the panel. Dave Winer reminded Adam that his use was completely legal and non-infringing. Consequently, he asked Adam to accept the same challenge that Adam made to Steve Jobs.

So who wants to bet on whether Adam will use BitTorrent as a distribution option for The Daily Source Code?

BitTorrent will be a subject of discussion in an upcoming Rivercast.

News from Gnomedex 5.0

No I'm not at Gnomedex 5.0 However I am watching this event very close this year. There is anticipation that several important announcements will be made at this gathering of the geeks. I do have one headline though. Apparently Adam Curry and Dave Winer have shook hands and mended their "tiff" that was dividing the podcast community. This kind of thing can do no good to an emerging media such as podcasting, so we are happy to hear that. More headlines as they become available.

Rivercaster #6 June 22, 2005

Rivercast #5 for June 19, 2005 Click Here

domain redirect

Today I completed the redirect of my domain name: www.therivercaster.com - so now this blog is the official website. This is all in the name of keeping that low to no budget. My original plan is to show anyone that wants to podcast that it can be done VERY inexpensively. Blogger offers plenty for the new person. Anyone wanting to podcast should blog and vice versa. Podcasting is, in my opinion a powerful extension of blogging. Here is how to podcast TOTALLY FREE. Go to http://audacity.sourceforge.net and download their free audio editor. Once you have this software on your computer (I always put this stuff on the desktop when downloading so it's easily accessable) click on record and talk into your mic. When you have your say click stop and then listen to your first podcast. Now you need to go back to the audacity and type LAME in the little google window. Next click on "how do I download and install the LAME mp3 encoder - Follow the directions for your operating system. With LAME installed you can export your audacity file as an mp3 file. Once again I export to desktop for easy location. Now you are ready for software that will add the rss and enclosures necessary for your podcast to be downloaded. I use http://blipmedia.org for this (FREE). Once your account is setup you can upload and get your rss feed. Submit this feed to the various directories of podcasts and you are rolling as a podcaster. A great site to find a list of directories is http://podcast411.com. Click on Directory of Directories and submit to as many as possible. Good Luck.

Update

Hello, today I started two new steps in the total development of The Rivercaster Podcast. There is now a gmail account as follows: therivercaster@gmail.com All mail relating to the rivercast podcast should be sent to this address for fastest response. Second I have purchsed the name therivercaster.com and in the near future will begin developing the website for The Rivercaster Podcast.
Thanks, I'll be talking to you soon. Ira Shoff

Hello Folks

The latest edition of Rivercast has been uploaded. It should appear on your ipodder or your doppler very soon, if not already. I have to admit I am enjoying doing these 15 minute shows. I'm trying to model my show after Dave Winer's Morning Coffee Notes show. Pure chat, no edit, just record-upload-and go!! I still believe that there's a place for this kind of pure podcast in this new community. Plus I firmly believe there are plenty of listeners to this kind of podcast. I'm not against a bit of music and will eventually have some kind of music mixed in somewhere. Feel free to let me know your thoughts on the subject. Tonight Fran and I went to a local Dutch Family Buffet. Great food and of course I ate too much. But it's part of the fun.
Tomorrow is Friday...TGIF!!

Rivercast show #3 Click here

That's right friends, show number three. With each show I get a little better at speaking and at planning the show. Let me get a dozen shows under my belt and this will be running smooth as a new mouse. It's really the right format for me, technology and all that. Not that I'm a geek, far from it. But my passion is in this stuff. The most recent podcast I'm listening to is Dave Winer's Morning Coffee Notes.
This format is similar to mine. Dave does a podcast similar to a blog. The podcast is actually quite different than his blog, but non-the-less
MCN (Morning Coffee Notes) is very much like a blog. That is exactly what I feel it should be. Furthermore, I think everyone that is active online should do a podcast. I try to tell you in my show how easy it is. But unless you look into it, listen to a variety of podcasts you will never get the sense of what it's all about. Have a great week.

Rivercast #2 Sunday June 12, 2005 Click Here

Here it is folks

Excitement is in the air. The very first Rivercast has been launched. I have full cooperation from both iRiver and Blipmedia.org to promote thier products. This does not mean I am paid by them. I'm just so happy to have access to this needed hardware and software that I want to spread the word. These two companies plus Audacity are instrumental in keeping podcasting simple for me, and highly affordable I must add. If you want to make a Podcast, this is a great starting point. With the iRiver I have interviewed a group of "lookalikes" in Las Vegas, plus recorded my first Rivercast in my backyard and in both cases the sound quality was "damn good." Number two Rivercast will be out soon. Many thanks to all.

Rivercast #1 Saturday June 11, 2005 Click Here

With all the "damn" announcements going around lately about Apple and Steve Jobs, Microsoft has been noticeably quiet. We realize that Apple is both hardware and software, while Microsoft is predominately hardware. (Notice I said predominately). However there is one area that Microsoft should address soon and that area is Podcasting. It is a force gaining momentum similarly to the way blogging snowballed. To be in the forefront of a movement should be every major company's desire. Those of us listening to the various tech podcasts are kept very up to date on these matters. From this authors point of view Microsoft is well behind the fray so to speak. Perhaps Microsoft needs a better communicator in Podcasting than they currently have. It seems that everyone including Chris Prillo who has Microsoft as a sponsor, does more to talk down Microsoft than to advertise for them. This author personally has always used Microsoft products and with no problems. True I'm not a geek, but then most of us out here in the world are not. If you need to be a geek to use Apple then it's a good reason why they remain so far behind manufacturers such as Dell and IBM. Back on the subject of Podcasting, I suspect that it will equal or pass the written blog very soon. If Microsoft comes up with a podcast listing on Windows Media Player I will be right there. If not soon though I will be forced to list on iTunes for the audience potential. Keep listening.

Why the name Rivercast

This Podcast is recorded exclusively on an iRiver IFP799. Currently I use no external mic, just talk right into the built-in mic on the iRiver player. I highly recommend iRiver mp3 players. Long battery life, excellent sound both listening and recording. Plus, iRiver gives you software that allows you to upload your voice content to your computer in mp3 format. My opinion of Podcasting is that it's entirely amatuer and it's uploaded just as it is recorded with no editing. Burps, gliches, etc. included. Currently I upload to Audacity software (free) then to the desktop. From there I upload to Mark Hopkins r.Podcaster, a free service from http://BlipMedia.org Once r.Podcaster attaches all the necessary RSS and enclosures, I submit the show to the various directories. Listen to Rivercast and join this great cutting edge revolution with your own Podcast.