About time. And product. And being more deliberate.
Later this month, Jen and I are taking a quick road trip west to break in the PT Cruiser. We’ll be getting as far as Boulder, CO and swinging through Kansas City, KS on the return trip.
I’m itching to see some mountains, and I’ve heard great things about both Boulder and Denver. Outside of that, we’re open.
Got any suggestions on must-see, must-do, or must-meet? I’m open.
Out of context, the above statement seems so optimistic.
In context, my radio alarm clock offered reports of the London explosions just as I was waking up. Blair’s address from G8 to be precise.
The WP-iPodCatter plugin help podcasters running WordPress create a valid feed for iTunes’ podcast directory. WP-iPodCatter adds 2 iTunes specific fields to WordPress’s post page; one for itunes:category, and one for itunes:explicit.
The zip file also contains a replacement wp-rss2.php file with all the iTunes specific tags in it.
For suggestions, comments, and all other ongoing concerns with this plugin, head over to the WP-iPodCatter dedicated page
Previously, I’ve talked about the a Business Model for Abundance and what price means in an age of abundance.
Seems like a meme going around.
Yes, I see Attention.xml playing a big role in this. And I’ve got the napkin sketches to prove it.
David Weeks from Peppermint CDs invited me to join him at a talk by David Isay of the StoryCorp project as part of MPR’s Broadcast Journalism breakfast series.
It was an amazing way to start the morning. Inspiring. I see StoryCorp and podcasting solving the same problem – getting everyday stories heard. Your family’s stories, your friend’s stories, the stories more important and more powerful than those on the 10 o’clock news. Inspiring stories told by these people in voices filled with honesty and authenticity. These are not stories interrupted by car ads and they won’t be repeated every 15 minutes for to keep the Arbitron ratings up. These are our stories.
I urge all of you to grab a microphone, sit down with someone close to you, hit record, and listen. StoryCorp has set up a Do-It-Yourself intervew and recording guide.
David Weeks, thank you again for allowing me to join you. This was an inspiring way to start the day.
Our CDs, DVDs, and VHS tapes are still in the boxes we packed them in when we moved from Chicago 3 years ago. The other night, Jen and I were trying to figure out the lyrics to Kenny Rogers’ Gambler, so we dug out the boxes.
Most of the CDs in our collection went right back in the box. There were a handful I had fond memories of, yet they weren’t in my iTunes rotation.
In that list:
A good chunk of the tracks on these albums immediately landed in my ‘Getting Things Done’ Smart Playlist. I smiled each time I rated those songs – knowing they’ll be there, like an old friend, when I need them. Not something possible back when I originally purchased the CDs.
If you have a waiting room, where people are likely to sit for longer than 5 minutes (doctor’s offices, corporations, hotels) you need to offer free wireless internet access.
From personal experience, it’s the difference between continuing check things off my daily to do list and the frustration of being held hostage.
This file has been rolled into the full WP-iPodcatter plugin for easier maintenance and more flexiblity.
Apple’s iTunes 4.9 looks for special tags in podcast feeds [pdf] to populate their directory and categorize the podcast.
Despite my mixed feelings on them adding new tags that seem to duplicate old tags, they’ve done it. Edd Dumbill has a great review of Apple’s RSS extensions. No need for me to repeat it here.
That being said, WordPress is my podcasting system of choice. With that in mind, Kevin Devin put together a replacement wp-rss2.php file for WordPress including the iTunes tags (this is the file that creates the RSS 2.0 feed). I wasn’t able to get his version to validate so I tweaked it and offer it to you.
Download the WordPress replacement wp-rss2.php file
This file has been integrated into the WP-iPodCatter plugin, download it here
If you’ve understood what I’ve said thus far, this file shouldn’t give you any trouble.
Update 30 June 2005: This replacement file now supports the “itunes:keywords” tag.
Update 4 July 2005: This replacement file now validates at the Nobody Likes Onions iTunes FeedCheck. Updates include better images handling, subtitles, and more standard RSS 2.0 tags.
Caleb and Katy McEwen, the artistic directors at Minneapolis’ legendary Brave New Workshop comedy theater and I discuss the challenges of running a comedy theater. The ongoing struggle to strike the balance between challenging material and filling seats. Additionally, Caleb’s definition of good improv feels an awful lot like a good podcast.
Listen to the Challenges of Comedy Theater at the Brave New Workshop [30 min]
On Tuesday, July 12th, I’ll be evangelizing podcasts, wikis, RSS, and weblogs as part of MN-ASIS’s “And Now for Something Completely Different” brain food sampler series.
Date & Time: 5:00 – 6:30 Tuesday July 12 (speaker starts at 5:30)
Place: Pad Thai 1659 Grand Ave just west of Macalester College
RSVP atreacy@ treacyinfo.com that you’ll be joining us
Cost: None