Month: August 2005

Monday, 22 August 2005

CollegeRecruiter.com is Podcasting

by Garrick van Buren Comments Off on CollegeRecruiter.com is Podcasting

Over the weekend we set up and launched the CollegeRecruiter.com podcast using BetDirCaster.

Integration into their existing site went quickly. More quickly than I anticipated. I’m excited about podcasts like this; timeless information to a niche audience in 10 minutes or less.

    This also gave me an opportunity to tweak BetDirCaster. It now;

  • formats the duration correctly for itunes:duration (HH:MM:SS).
  • displays the tracks’ artist in the itunes:author tag, before it grabbed the podcast Admin’s name.

If you’re using BetDirCaster and having problems with the track description displaying correctly, download the latest BetDirCaster. Progress has been made on that bug, and I could use some feedback on how far along we are.

Friday, 19 August 2005

Where Everyone Prefers Your Name

by Garrick van Buren Comments Off on Where Everyone Prefers Your Name

I’ve been a customer at RCU for as long as I can remember. For all those years, our relationship has been just as I like my relationships with financial institutions – uneventful.

They’re upgrading their system and sent out a letter alerting customers to the changes they might be expect and when to expect them. The biggest change – account numbers. The account number you’ve been accustomed to has changed. In the letter, RCU consoles;

“Please know that our staff will be able to assist your quickly if you provide your current Account Number, however we’ll know you better by your NAME!” (emphasis theres)

Such a refreshing change from the customer as account number mentality.

Thursday, 18 August 2005

What’s Your Favorite Open Source Project?

by Garrick van Buren 2 Comments on What’s Your Favorite Open Source Project?

Hello gentle reader, I’m looking for your favorite open source projects; applications, websites, services. If the code is available for free and you’re a big fan, throw them in the comments.

    I’ll start:
    WordPress – weblog engine and content management system
    Ruby on Rails – web application framework
    CocoaMySQL – OS X desktop MySQL database manager
    Adium – Multi-protocol Instant Messaging client

Wednesday, 17 August 2005

The Vastness of America at 10 MPH

by Garrick van Buren 1 Comment on The Vastness of America at 10 MPH

One of the reasons we drove to Boulder was to remind ourselves of the vastness of this great country. Miles and miles of little more than telephone line. Maybe a house. Maybe a gas station. Dirt road intersecting the highway.

Even in the most remote areas, someone has a house. With electricity and a phone.

The fact ribbons of highway run multiple directions through every state with phone and electrical line spun even tighter is a remarkable feat. Something we take for granted far too often.

If you haven’t yet, check out the trailer of Hunter Weeks and Josh Caldwell 10 mph Segway journey from Seattle to Boston.

Kansas at 80 mph was a long day. At 10mph? That’s plenty of time to think.

Business Podcast Sighting: Cisco

by Garrick van Buren Comments Off on Business Podcast Sighting: Cisco

Had another conversation yesterday about how podcasting can help business communicate and connect both internally and externally. One thing coming out of these conversations – there’s probably audio or video somewhere in your organization that is collecting dust and could be more used and more useful in an RSS feed. Aside from the convenience, there’s an accessibility aspect to podcasting.

Steve Rubel at Micro Persuasion pointed to News@Cisco Podcast the podcast from Cisco’s PR team.