Steve Holden's Blog

Podcasters Helping Podcasters

One of the main joys I am getting out of podcasting, is actually the relationships and friendships associated with other podcasters.  The relationships with listeners is great also but it isn't the same.  In many ways it is the same great feeling I got working with other Newton enthusiast with NewtNews.

A couple of weeks ago I was able to help fellow podcaster Denise Howell with her 'Leo Laporte Skype Capturing' implementation.  Others also helped including Paul @ The Point and Victor Cajiao.  It was a group effort with everyone work together to try to get things working.  It was also done all remotely which is very cool.

I do have to give a big kudo to Mackie for posting high resolution pictures of their audio gear on their website so that even though I didn't have a Mackie unit like Denise had, I could see what all the features and options that were available from every angle.

Child Safety Flier from FriendsInTech.com

George Starcher at Kevin Devin's In The Trenches podcast created the following Internet Kids Safetly Flier (in PDF format) document for members and listeners of FriendsInTech.com to distribute: 

We have noticed an increase in issues with children and the Internet. Cyberbullying, various rammifications of social networks like My Space etc. Several of our members also have young children who are using the Internet more and more. So we have assembled a flier for parent education. The flier contains various sites and information to help parents educate themselves on the issues today’s children face online. Friends in Tech is providing the compiled information on the flier as a guide to resources on the Internet. Different sites may be more appropriate to your children based on age and issues they face. We hope at least some of them provide the information suitable to your family needs. All logos, descriptions, links and information are copyright of their respective owners.

Click the thumbnail of the flier below to download the PDF:

FriendsInTech.com Bloggers, New Podcast, & Improved Forum

FriendsInTech.com has recently added the following bloggers to our site to provide some great technology topic posts and discussions: David Wertz, Mike McBride, and Andy Helsby.  You can subscribe via this RSS feed in your blog reader of choice [mine is Newsgator].

The collection of podcasters at FriendsInTech.com has also recently grown to include Matt Hull and Rich Nason, hosts of Casting from the Server Room.  I highly recommend checking out their show and consider subscribing via your favorite podcatching client [mine is Juice].

In addition, if you haven't been over to the Forums.FriendsInTech.com recently, I highly recommend it.  We have upgraded the software, and the look, feel, & function is much improved IMHO.  You can get directly to TechNewsRadio.com's area via this link.

Del.icio.us Links in RSS Feed

A couple of days ago I started adding my del.icio.us feeds into my RSS feed after I figured out from Douglas Welch that it was a check box option in Feedburner.  Both Douglas and Eric Rice have been doing it for a while and I enjoy see what they tag vs. blog.

Chad Dickerson also recently turned on his del.icio.us feed into his RSS stream.

I think the feature is pretty cool.

New How To Podcast Pointers

A couple of new "how to" podcast pointers have crossed my inbox:

• Phil Windley has posted his setup details.
• Doc Searls points to a this example.
• Podcast Brother's are recommending this video from Craig Syverson.

Podcast Directory News

Dave Winer has announced that he is willing to support a new community based podcast directory similar to the original one we had when this wild ride all got started.

Myself and other members of FriendsInTech.com are solidly behind this idea, and have agreed to donate $200 to the effort.

UPDATE: The number has jumped from $200 to $250.

Sign-Up for RSS Feeds from Firefox to Newsgator Inbox

I would love for a way to sign up to an RSS feed via Firefox directly into Newsgator Inbox (Microsoft Outlook plugin) on my Toshiba M400 Tablet PC.

Anyone know a way?  Am I just a bad Google searcher?!?

UPDATE: Thanks to Kevin Devin, I did some more searching directly in the Newsgator forums and found an answer.

Missing Pieces for MindJet's MindManager on Mac

I have been trying to do more and more with MindManager on the Macintosh the last couple of days because I wanted to migrate from OmniOutliner to MindManger for doing Jersey Boys Podcast pre-production and show notes on my iBook.

Some things that I really like on the Windows version of MindManager appear to be missing.  They include:

• Outliner view
• Input and output OPML
• Output to rich web content (or even simple HTML) [only works with current version of IE]

The integration of the Windows version with Office, especially with Outlook, is also something I use a great deal on Windows but that is pretty platform specific, and I can forgive that.

But the other ones are pretty important for future releases, especially the rich web content to other browsers and operating systems.

On a side note, as a Beta test of MindManager for the Macintosh I didn't see these missing features because I guess I didn't really do a great job as a Beta tester.  I'll need to make sure the next time I sign up to Beta test, I actually have a proposed plan in my mind for really using the tool other than installation and mild canned testing.

MindManager for the Mac

I have been very excited about finally getting to blog about beta testing MindManager for the Mac.  Today is the day that Mindjet announced the product.

One of the best pieces of news, is that this was one of the best beta testing experiences that I've had.  I rarely had any issues, and from what I could tell all the issues that people had were addressed.  Feedback to me felt two-way vice one-way.

As a heavy Windows user of MindManager, having the tool on the Mac has been very helpful.  It has given me some great tools for managing my personal to do lists, and for brainstorming podcasting ideas, and I've also done some experiments using MindManager vice OmniOutliner for podcast show notes during recording.

Some other things that I quickly want to toss out:

• Moving files back and forth between Windows and the Macintosh is a great feature for people who use both platforms.
• The Mac version feels "simpler" and "easier" to get thoughts captured without a lot of the Windows and Office integration capabilities found in the Windows version of MindManager.

I still think that using MindManager like tools with a TabletPC is significantly more productive in brain storming sessions or in taking notes, but having just the keyboard and mouse with MindManager for the Mac has been very useful over the last couple of weeks during the beta period.

Lastly, Mindjet did a great thing in giving away to Beta Testers a free copy of MindManager for the Macintosh.  Thanks!

Eventful Demands Gets Wil Wheaton To Boston

I did a podcast interview with the CEO of Eventful Demands at eTech 2006 this past March, and at the time I was wondering what kind of impact the service would make for both fans and artists.  It maded an impact on Wil Wheaton ... he is doing a Boston event because of the demand.  Very cool!