One Day At A Time

Pandora

2006-12-18T21:43:00.000-05:00

Thanks to lifehacker's post this weekend, I have rediscovered Pandora. Pandora is:

"a music discovery service designed to help you find and enjoy music that you'll love. It's powered by the Music Genome Project, the most comprehensive analysis of music ever undertaken. Just tell us one of your favorite songs or artists and we'll launch a streaming station to explore that part of the music universe."

I set up a free account with Pandora quite some time ago...so long ago that I actually forgot about it. For the music lover out there, I highly recommend that you go set up an account now! It's like having best friend with an awesome musical taste. You set up a "station" and Pandora automatically begins playing music that has similar characteristics. All I can say is, Pandora is AWESOME! I have used Pandora all day and I have found so many great bands that I didn't even know existed. Look out iTunes, here I come...!

Check out my Pandora profile here. If you take a look, leave me a comment!

See ya.

allofmp3...so long!

2006-11-30T02:03:00.000-05:00

Say goodbye to allofmp3.com. Looks like Russia wanted to be in the WTO really, really bad. I'm not too worried though. Something just like allofmp3 will pop back up...the question is, where?

See ya.

I'm Back...again!

2006-11-28T23:54:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been quite some time now since I have posted to this blog. Life has been happening...'ya know what I mean? I have been busing myself with reading, raising a new puppy (which I will expand on here in a moment), and diving head first into some new ventures. While I have been away, I am sorry to inform you that our first puppy, Webber, passed away on August 21st; he was hit by a car in front of our house. The bastard that hit him didn't even stop. My guess is that he was drunk and afriad of what had happened. After Webber was killed, we found that something was lacking in our home. We made the decision to get another puppy. The picture in this post is of our new pup, Tucker. He is a purebred AKC Black Lab. We got him when he was 7 weeks old. He is now approximately 4 months old and is getting bigger by the minute. You will notice (or not) that I have updated the format of this blog. On the right of screen you can see a picture of Tucker. If you click on that picture you will be magically whisked away to a picasa web album that I have set up for picures of him. Please enjoy them.

I am going to try an post to this blog on a more frequent basis...I had forgotten how much I enjoy it. Stay tuned...

See ya.

Summer

2006-07-19T00:12:00.000-04:00

More Flowers!

2006-06-09T22:08:00.000-04:00

2006-06-02T23:31:00.000-04:00

How I Spent My Vacation (Part 2)

2006-05-06T09:09:00.000-04:00

My wife and I had this idea that our house was the ugliest house in the neighborhood. As you can see it was pretty ugly. I'm not sure when this color combo was considered cool, but I am sure that I'm glad I missed out on that trend. I'm not even sure what color that yellow hue is. Our neighber calls it "harvest gold", and joking ly says that he will miss it. Anyway, I decided that during my vacation that our house would get a "face lift" with an updated color.

That's me putting a coat pf primer on the house. Before I did that I powerwashed the house and scrubbed it with soap & water.

Me again. Don't I look professional with all that gear?

This is what the house looked like after it was primed. I will post some pictures of the final result when I get the shutters painted. Hopefully I will get that done this week.

Thanks again Dad for all your help!

See ya.

How I Spent My Vacation (Part 1)

2006-05-02T13:52:00.000-04:00

This sidewalk used to lead up to our front door. When the previous owners rebuilt the porch, they decided to build it so the stairs angled off towards the driveway. In doing this they made this sidewalk completely useless. I have been mowing around it for the last 3 years. Recently I decided that I was tired of getting pissed off about the lava rock that once lined the sidewalk; so I removed it. Then I decided that the sidewalk itself had to go!

With my Dad's help, one jackhammer, 3 hours, 2 truckloads, and about 6 bottles of sports drinks later, we had removed the whole sidewalk and filled it in with...

...2 yards of dirt.

Thanks Dad for all your help!

See ya.

Summer is on it's way!

2006-04-25T10:33:00.000-04:00

Spring Has Sprung!

2006-04-10T23:28:00.000-04:00

Well, it's been over a month since I last posted to this blog. I have my Pearl Jam tickets and I'm waiting for the new album. Kate and I took a walk yesterday and I snapped these pics. I am so excited for the spring and summer. I can't wait to get the camera out and take tons of pics this season! Stay tuned...

See ya.

Pearl Jam - NEW ALBUM IS ON IT'S WAY!!!

2006-03-05T23:19:00.000-05:00

I am so excited. Pearl Jam is coming out with a new album soon and they are giving away the first single for free on March 8th starting at 6am. Get ready Pearl Jam fans...tour season is on it's way!

WORLD WIDE SUICIDE SINGLE FREE!

March 8th, at 6:00 A.M. Eastern time

What's even cooler is that they won't be including any DRM with the song so you can do whatever the hell you want with it. I wish all bands were as fan oriented as PJ and would realize that DRM is the work of the devil and that it infringes on our fair use rights.

I'm so excited about this that I am also posting this on my other blog Nothing's Sound.

See ya.

Edge of the Ice

2006-02-24T01:07:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I saw a guy sitting right on the edge of the ice. I went back today to see if I could get a picture of his stupidity, but when I got there he was nowhere to be found. Instead I took this beautiful picture of the evening sun setting over the Saginaw River. Who would have thought our river could look so great?

Sue the T-Rex

2006-02-09T23:42:00.000-05:00

Last weekend we went to see an exibit at the Midland Center For The Arts. It was of Sue, the largest, most complete skeleton of a T-Rex ever discovered. This was one of two traveling replicas and we were fortunate enough to have her visiting Midland. We took our neices to see it. It was a very educational adventure!!!

2006-02-09T23:41:00.000-05:00

Her skull was enormous!

2006-02-09T23:40:00.000-05:00

2006-02-09T23:39:00.000-05:00

2006-02-09T23:38:00.000-05:00

Lonely Winter

2006-01-22T10:35:00.000-05:00

Winter Trail

2006-01-22T10:32:00.001-05:00

The Sun Shines Thru

2006-01-22T10:32:00.000-05:00

Blowing Snow

2006-01-22T10:31:00.001-05:00

I took this shot just as the wind blew some snow off the branches above. It turned out pretty cool.

Snowy Oak

2006-01-22T10:31:00.000-05:00

Winter Berries

2006-01-22T10:30:00.001-05:00

Covereded Bridge at Delta

2006-01-22T10:30:00.000-05:00

2006-01-22T10:29:00.000-05:00

Wax

2006-01-22T10:28:00.000-05:00

I thought I would see what it felt like to wax part of my leg. It wasn't so bad, but I'm glad that I don't have to do it on a regular basis!

Broken Retainer

2006-01-22T10:27:00.000-05:00

I got my braces off about 11 years ago. Ever since then I have worn these retainers. At first I had to wear them 24/7 but as I got older I began wearing them once or twice a month. Last week the lower retainer broke. I am suprised that it lasted this long!

Snowy Fence

2006-01-22T10:26:00.000-05:00

Cool Blog Post

2006-01-18T20:40:00.000-05:00

I just read this blog post and I wanted to share what it said. The post on 10,000 Birds and was titled, "Birders are Known For." Here's the part that I liked:

"According to Google, birders are known for...
...picking apart records sent to them, counting and listing the birds they identify, their tolerance of difficult situations, if it means seeing the object of their obsession, their wonderful script and sketches taken in the field, their constant what?, their penchant for collecting or listing new birds for their lifelists, for traveling halfway around the world to see a particular species of bird, waiting days or years to catch a glimpse of a rare bird. "

Go take a look at the blog post and click on Predjudice Map to to see how they came up with this interesting thought.

See ya.

Happy 25th!!!

2006-01-07T12:01:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday Katie! This could be a very exciting year!

Happy New Year!

2006-01-01T14:24:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year! I hope this year is as good if not better than the last!

See ya.

Interesting

2005-12-26T13:01:00.000-05:00

Last night we went over to a friend's house for for a Christmas party. While we were there I got to talking with my friend Erika and she told me that she still, from time to time, reads this blog. This got me to thinking that maybe I should resume making posts here and try to come up with some sort of strategy for having two blogs. I'm not sure what the hell I'm going to do but I'm sure something will come to me.

To anybody out there that has been reading/checking this blog, I thank you. It means a lot to me that you think highly enough of what I am writing here to check back every so often.

See ya.

Trying Something New

2005-12-11T22:17:00.000-05:00

For awhile now, I have been considering trying out something new. I decided recently that I wanted to start looking into a new blogging service, not for a permanent switch, at least not yet, but just to learn something new. I have heard a lot about PHP so I figured I would try out WordPress...and damn, there is an awful lot to learn.

Check out the look of the new blog here. If I decide to make the switch I will list the new feed here so you can change your subscription an not loose track of me.

See ya.

Help Posting Daily del.icio.us Links

2005-12-02T13:26:00.000-05:00

HELP, HELP, HELP! Is there anybody out there who has figured out how to make a thingy from del.icio.us work in blogger. I followed some directions that I found thru a google search but so far I have been unsuccessful in getting the thingy to work. I want to be able to have del.icio.us send a post to my blogger account each night that contains all of my newest links. Help! Leave a comment with suggestions or send me an email. Thanks

See ya.

The iPod Has Landed!

2005-11-27T23:28:00.000-05:00

34 Podcasts...
109 Shows...
2619 Songs... and,
5 New Albums....I'm going to be very busy for a while. So much content, so little time!

Check out the Frappr! map that I set up.
Click here to add yourself to my map of readers!

See ya.

Congratulations Patti & Jeff

2005-11-22T23:40:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to Patti & Jeff who were engaged on November 20, 2005. Also congratulations to Patti, who was just hired to a great job. We are very happy for you!

iPod Disconnected...again... UPDATE

2005-11-17T22:40:00.000-05:00

As I am sure that you all guessed, HP pretty much refused to do anything for me except exchange my iPod again. I called, and called, and finally I spoke to a thrid level manager in the iPod department and he repeatedly told me that all he could do was send me a replacement. What he did do was give me his personal telephone number, directly to his desk, to call if I have any more problems. With this number I can bypass tech support and go straight to the top. Hopefully there will be no more problems.

I recieved the shipping box from HP today and sent the iPod back via FedEx. I can't wait 'till my new one gets here!!!

You'll see some new things on the sidebar. I'm testing out del.icio.us. So far it's pretty cool. I heard about it a while ago. It wasn't untill this week that I found it might be beneficial to have access to all of my bookmarks while away from my home computer. I also have added an auto subscribe button for Newsgator.

iPod Disconnected...again...

2005-11-14T21:21:00.000-05:00

Guess what? I've somehow managed to break another iPod. Can you believe it? I can't. For all of my new readers (damn, that sarcasm never gets old), I have had many problems with my iPod from HP. You can read these: iPod down, iPod down, the iPod lives on, iPod down, iPod down...again, and more iPod troubles & my lack of faith in HP support, to catch up my iPod ordeals. Let me explain my new situation:

On Thursday I was so excited because the new PodcasterNews Network was unveiled. As soon as I knew that it was up and running I immediately went to the site, joined, and subscribed to almost every feed available. I did this so I could test out all of the feeds and then unsubscribe from the ones that I didn't like. Anyway, I entered my custom RSS feed into iPodder (which I hear is now going to be called Juice). I then plugged my iPod into the USB 2.0 cable to charge it and let it update over night when iPodder fetched all of my feeds. I went to bed excited that I was going to have lots new content to listen to the next day while at work. Little did I know that I would wake up and be pissed off that my iPod was no longer working. When I woke up the next day, I went into the computer room to have iPodder do one more run before I left for work, and all I could hear in the room was the sound of my iPod clicking away. I was furious. I was furious (1) because I would not have enough time before work to trouble shoot the problem, and (2) because my damn iPod was broken yet again! What a let down!

When I got home on Friday, after work, the first thing I did was to try and fix it. I tried all of the troublshooting tricks that HP support had me do last time I called them. I tried to restart it...no luck. I tried to run the updater...no luck. I tried to update it with iTunes...no luck. None of this worked because each time I plugged it into my computer it bogged down my computer so bad that it just froze up. So I just gave up.

Today I called HP to see about getting another unit shipped to me. I spoke to a service rep named Matt who I informed about all of the above. He then had me try to run the updater utility, which we both understood would not work, and then he said that they would have to ship me another unit. Strangely enough, their policy has changed since the last time I had this problem. Last time I had to pay to ship the unit to HP. I FedEx'ed it which cost me about $6. This time however, they will send me a shipping box at no cost, along with all of the proper labels and what not. Once I receive the box I am to call FedEx to come pick it up. The whole process should take about 7 days, Matt said. I agreed that this was acceptable and hung up the phone. After I hung up the phone I started to ruminate about what had just happened. It occurred to me that I have 10-20 friends that all have iPods, none of which have had problems like I have experienced. I called HP back and spoke to Steve. I again explained my situation to Steve and then told him that I felt like I was entitled to an upgrade due to the fact that I have had so many problems with the last 2 units. I asked him if he could upgrade me to an iPod Photo or offer me a refund. Steve told me (you won't believe this) that HP would only consider compensation after 3 service calls. This means that they would only consider an upgrade before having to send me a fourth unit. Can you believe this? I was completely baffled by this. I asked if there was anyway that he could bend the rules in order to save a customer. He apologized and said that he couldn't do anything for me at this point. I then asked if I could speak to a manger. Steve then transferred me to Randal whom I am sure was just the guy that sits next to him in the office and has no more authority at HP then Steve did. Steve told me that he couldn't help me either and that I would have to speak to his supervisor who conveniently had already gone home for the night. I thanked Randal for his help, got his extension, and you can be dam sure that I will be calling his supervisor tomorrow morning.

Stay tuned...

See ya.

PodcasterNews Network - Sneak Peek Review

2005-11-07T23:10:00.000-05:00

The podosphere is about to change. It's about to change in probably the biggest way since the invention of podcasting. How is it going to change you may ask? The answer is the PodcasterNews Network (PCN). The developers at PCN have designed an awesome application that is going to change the way podcasters come together and create their own networks. You think Adam Curry had a great idea…you haven’t seen nothin’ yet!!!

Are you interested in news? Have you found some news podcasts, but they are not giving you the news you want or enough great content? Ever wished that you could tailor an rss feed that’s just for you? Believe it or not, soon you will be able to. I was fortunate to receive an invite to the first sneak peek of the yet to be released PCN website.

PCN is the brain child of Todd Cochrane and his group of developers. Let me give you a brief run down of what this network will provide you the podcast listener…

Todd and his team have invented a new way to experience news in the podosphere. Upon arriving at the site you will be need to give your zip code and email address. That’s all that will be required for you to begin creating your own PodcasterNews Network experience.

The PCN showcases many different areas of news including: business, science, health and sports. Each show will be limited to five minutes or less. You will be able to subscribe to as many shows as you would like. When you subscribe, a list of all the shows you are subscribing to is generated under the section entitled “mycast”. The “mycast” section is like your PCN shopping cart. You load up the shopping cart and when you are done shopping, a custom rss feed is generated for you. This custom rss feed can then be dropped into any aggregator of your choice. When that aggregator checks your feed it will catch all of the shows that you have subscribed to within the PCN network.

I just have to say that I am so excited to see something like this being created. If you have ever listened to Geek New Central you would know that Todd is probably the most honest guy in podcasting. What he and his developers have done here is to give us, the podcast listeners, a place we can go to customize our listening experience. He has assured us that it will not be a promo network and that all of the content will and must be original. This news content will not be news from the major networks. It will be news from the people, for the people, and by the people.

I am so excited about this that I am not sure what else to say. RawVoice and the PodcasterNews Network will be putting out a press release soon. They will be doing the full release of the website on Monday. If you are reading this please be sure to go check out the site on Monday and begin creating your own personal PodcasterNews experience.

See ya.

Don't Let Jesse Jackson Preach At My Funeral!

2005-11-02T22:34:00.000-05:00

On my way home today I turned on the radio, like I normally do, to listen to whatever CD happened to be in the CD player. I decided today however, to listen to the radio. I have pretty much given up on FM radio, but I still like NPR and some AM channels. I first turned to AM 1250, which is the AM station for WNEM-TV 5, one of our local CBS affiliates. Upon tuning in I heard someone singing a looooooooooooong drawn out version of "Wind Beneath My Wings". I immediately recalled that today was the day that Rosa Parks’ funeral was being held in Detroit. I listened to this long winded song for a bit and when I had enough, I changed the channel to NPR to check out All Things Considered. When I didn’t find the news story interesting I turned back to AM 1250. I was interested to hear the Rev. Jesse Jackson preaching to the attendees of Rosa Parks’ funeral. I decided to listen to him preach for a little bit. I have always found his type of preaching very interesting. At my church when the priest does his thin there is little to no excitement or passion in his voice. When Baptist minister preach you can feel the excitement and passion in every word they say, and that is what I find intriguing. Anyway, I listened to the Reverend preach and he said some very moving things. He spoke about Rosa Parks in very high regard. He talked about her n relation to Dr. Martin Luther King and other civil rights leaders. It was a great sermon…or at least that’s what I thought until he started talking politics. He began by saying that we should put a life size statue of Rosa Parks in the halls of congress. I agreed. He then said we should honor her along with the men we honor each day that were associated with slavery and segregation. Again, I totally agree. Then Jackson started on a tangent of attacks on President Bush, all of which I happened to also agree with. Jackson spoke of how Bush just selected a candidate for the Supreme Court who is anti Rosa Parks thinking. Jackson also spoke of how a couple of years ago Bush went and placed a wreath on M.L.K’s grave ant then the next day began fighting to eliminate affirmative action. Again, I totally agree that Bush is a turd. What I don’t agree with is Jackson’s choice to use the death of Rosa Parks, and her funeral, as a platform to promote his political agenda. A funeral is a time of mourning, or a time to get some closure. For other a funeral is a time of celebration. It’s a time to celebrate that the deceased has left this earth and gone to a better place. I was not aware that for some, a funeral is a place to stand on a soap box and promote a political agenda. I believe in civil rights and I agree with many of the things that the Reverend spoke of, but I found it completely disrespectful, even offensive, that he chose this day and place as his venue to voice his political agenda. I lost a lot of respect for Jesse Jackson today!

Wow! I believe that was my first real rant on this blog. For anyone reading this who might one day attend my funeral: Please, do not let Jesse Jackson preach at my funeral! (or do my eulogy). Instead, encourage everyone to remember me with a smile, and have a drink…on me!

See ya.

Red & Yellow

2005-10-30T10:03:00.000-05:00

Autumn is here. We took a trip to the Chipewa Nature Center this weekend to do a project for Katie's biology class. After we finished the project it was time to take some pictures of the fall colors.

Looking Up

2005-10-30T10:01:00.000-05:00

Webber w/Bandana

2005-10-30T10:00:00.000-05:00

Katie likes Webber to look festive. A dollar store bandana always does the trick!

Fall Colors

2005-10-30T09:57:00.001-05:00

Autmn Blanket

2005-10-30T09:57:00.000-05:00

2005-10-18T23:29:00.000-04:00

Farmland Sky

2005-10-18T23:28:00.000-04:00

Teepee?

2005-10-18T23:27:00.002-04:00

Pumpkin Farm Landscape

2005-10-18T23:27:00.001-04:00

Gourds

2005-10-18T23:27:00.000-04:00

Webber meets the Goats at the pumpkin farm.

2005-10-18T23:26:00.002-04:00

Windmill #1

2005-10-18T23:26:00.001-04:00

Webber loves to lay in the sun!

2005-10-18T23:26:00.000-04:00

Lot's of Leaves

2005-10-18T23:25:00.000-04:00

It's Fall

Electrical

2005-10-18T23:23:00.000-04:00

iPod Update...

2005-10-14T19:49:00.000-04:00

I'm sure you'll understand why I haven't posted an update to "My iPod is Home." I've been too busy listening to about 100 podcasts that I missed while the iPod was down. So here's the update: After finding out that the iPod had arrived over at my parent’s house, I left work and drove as fast as possible to their house. I was so excited when I finally arrived at my parents and saw the box on the kitchen table. I immediately opened the box and was even more excited when (this is the point where you can pretend that in the background, when I finally open the box and see the iPod, a chorus of angels begins to sing and the iPod magically floats out of the box. As it floats out of the box there is a heavenly glow around it, the glow begins to appear larger and larger as the iPod starts to float to my hand until it finally rests in my grasp...) I removed the packing material to find that they had actually shipped me a brand new iPod. The case and screen had no scratches or finger prints and it looked just like my original iPod did the first day I got it. I want you to know that even though I was excited to see a new iPod I was still a little skeptical. I was just a little worried that when I plugged it into my computer I would find that this iPod was also corrupted. I am very happy to say that that was not the case. Anyway, after seeing that I actually had a new iPod, I showed it to my parents. They had never seen an iPod and they were both pretty interested. I answered all of their questions and showed my Mom how to work it.

The Update

When I got home I immediately went to my computer and plugged the iPod in. Again, I didn't have high hopes that everything would work. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the iPod Updater pop-up on my screen. I updated the software, plugged in to the power source for a reflash, and then plugged back in to my computer to add all of my music. At the time of the update I had 2045 music/mp3 files in iTunes. I began the update at 8:03pm and amazingly my iPod was completely updated by 8:49pm. I disconnected it from the computer and did a test listen to some random songs and podcasts just to see if there was any skipping. Everything worked fine and the rest is history. I have had my earbuds in my ears for the most of the last 4 days, and I have loved every minute. I missed a lot in the podcasting world and I have been very eager to get caught up.

I am thinking of adding a list of my top ten favorite podcasts to the sidebar of my blog. Many of my friends have been asking me questions of which podcast I would recommend. The best I can do is to tell them which podcasts are my favorites, tell them about podcast alley, and let have them take a listen. We'll see what happens.

See ya.

My iPod is Home!

2005-10-10T15:31:00.000-04:00

I just found out that my "new" iPod has been delivered via FedEx. It's at home and I can't wait to see what they sent me...will it be a brand new iPod or a refurbished one? We'll see. You can be sure I'll let you know what they sent me. I am so excited!!! I haven't been able to keep up on all of my podcasts and I can't wait to catch up. There's lots of listening to be done! Stay tuned.

See ya.

2005-10-01T07:21:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday! Capone

Finally

2005-09-30T12:54:00.000-04:00

So I am finally getting around to sending in the iPod... it is pay-day after all. How long do you think it will take HP to send me my "new" iPod. It doesn't matter I suppose. I just want to have an iPod that works and that doesn't let me down when I need it the most. In the interim, I have been using my iRiver to listen to my Podcasts and a small number of mp3's. I have to say, I like my iRiver almost as much as my iPod. The only downfalls of the iRiver are the small dispaly screen and battery life. Anyway, I can't wait to get my "new" iPod. I will be a very happy boy the day it arrives at my door.
Fall is here, and with fall comes the time when the trees explode with beautiful colors. Since I have developed love for photography I have spent most of my time taking pictures of flowers and other summer things. I am excited for the fall because it will give me the opportunity to take photos of the color changes, leaves, leaf piles while raking, and eventually the "naked" forest. The colors are changing fast here. I am hoping to get out on Sunday to take some pic's at one of our local nature centers. Stay tuned...

See ya.

Sorry, I didn't Realize

2005-09-23T22:40:00.000-04:00

Sorry I didn't realize that somebody was actually reading this. I received an email asking me if I had an update on the iPod situation. Well if you are wondering that too, the answer is, not yet. Since that post I have not been feeling very good and have spent a majority of my time at home on the couch. So needless to say, I haven't packed the iPod up yet to send to HP. I miss it everyday though. I will get off my ass this weekend, get it packaged up, and I'm thinking I will ship it FedEx only because there is a Kinko's or FedExKinko's near where I work. Stay tuned.
You may notice that I have removed the link to my Buzznet site. I clicked on the link today and found that it redirected me directly to the login page at Buzznet. I then double checked the html template for my blog to make sure that the code for the link was correct. After verifying that it was indeed correct, and trying to figure out what the hell is going on, I have given up. It is my assumption that the people over at Buzznet want people more people to join and are redirecting any traffic to their homepage. That's a bummer. It's unfortunate that they have resorted to that type of tactic because I know there are quite a few people out there who have started Buzznet accounts because they were first able to see what Buzznet looked like by clicking on my link. So, screw you Buzznet. Maybe I'll start using your service again if you make it more blogger friendly.

See ya.

P.S. I just used the spell check utility within Blogger, and to my suprise, it didn't know the words: iPod, blog, blogger, Kinko's, or FedEx. That's funny that the Blogger spell checker doesn't even know the word blog. What's up with that?

Podcasting Education 2nd Edition

2005-09-15T21:12:00.000-04:00

Podcasting Education 2nd Edition – Here is an update to my original post Podcasting Education. The original was written after I found out some of my friends had iPods but hadn’t discovered podcasting yet. I’m posting this second edition as an update to the original. I found out more of my friends are either getting iPods (Danny), other mp3 players such as an iRiver, or are just tired of me talking about podcasting and want to check out some podcasts using their existing media players such as Windows Media Player. Finally, I have also added instructions for those of you who want to use iTunes to pick, subscribe, and listen to podcasts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcast - this gives a great definition of what podcasting is.

http://www.ipodder.org/ - click on the download ipodder link to download the ipodder program. You can set this program up to automatically download new podcasts and send them to iTunes or Windows Media Player. There are many other aggregators out there, but this one is free and very easy to use and understand.

http://www.podcastalley.com/index.php - Podcast Alley is probably the best place to do some research into different podcasts. It is also the place where everyone goes to vote for their favorite podcast(s), and where the podcasters go to see who is rated the best. When you start listening to podcasts you will hear most of them ask you to go to Podcast Alley to vote for them.

I highly recommend getting your podcasts using an aggregator other than iTunes. From my experience iTunes doesn’t update the shows fast enough and has a lot of problems. I prefer to get the shows as soon as they are available. Also I’m just not a big fan of the amount of commercialized podcasts that iTunes has on the main page, or the way they have categorized the podcasts within their music store. That’s just my opinion. If you prefer to use iTunes I have included directions at the bottom of this post.

Here is a list of some of my favorite Podcasts:

The Dawn and Drew Show

5 Minutes with Wichita

Geek News Central

Podcast 411

Earthcore

The Typical PC user

The Skinny on Sports

Daily Source Code

Living on Earth

Science Fridays

Just click on the links above and you will be magically whisked away to each of these podcast’s websites. Look for a little orange button with the letters XML on it. There may also be a button that says Subscribe or Podcast. When you click on one of these buttons a new page will appear. This page is full of strange looking code…this is an RSS feed. The only thing that is important to you here is the URL (web address) at the top. Copy the address and paste it into your new aggregator (usually titled Add Feed).

Using iTunes:

Open iTunes like you normally would

Click on Music Store

Click on the Podcasts link in the Inside the Music Store section on the left.

Choose a podcast.

Click on the Subscribe button.

Check the Podcasts playlist on the left side of your iTunes to make sure that you are subscribed.

I am hopeful that these instructions will help you finally hear your first podcast. Enjoy your journey into the podosphere!!! If you need any help just let me know.

If you are reading this and are not someone that I know, please let me know if this information was helpful, and thanks for taking a look!!

See ya.

More iPod troubles & My Lack of Faith in HP Support

2005-09-14T00:35:00.000-04:00

I just got off the phone with HP support and now I am pissed off!!! As all of you will recall (again, with the cynicism) I have been having troubles with my iPod. You may be asking why I called HP if I own an iPod. Well, that’s because I made the dumb decision of choosing to purchase the “Apple iPod + HP.” You may also be asking why I made that decision. The answer is that at the time I became interested in purchasing an iPod I was worried that the Apple version would not be as compatible with my Dell PC as the HP version would be. All of my research told me that the HP version of the iPod would be much more user friendly to a PC user. Now I want to set the record straight here and say that I love my iPod like I gave birth to it myself. My iPod used to be my source of sanity in an insane world that is my job. My iPod was my treasure chest of beautiful music that fit all kinds of moods and could magically whisk me away to a different world where anger, stress, and frustration ceased to exist. My iPod was the holder for all of my favorite podcasts and the cause of much laughter. It has been broken now for about two weeks. I am the kind of person who likes to fix things on my own, and that’s what I attempted to do…unfortunately I failed and had to call HP for help, again.

Here’s what’s happening:

iPod, although loaded with 2500 songs/podcasts will only play some of the songs/podcasts some of the time.

When it does play a song/podcast it frequently only plays ¼ to ½ of the song or podcast.

When I plug the iPod into the USB 2.0 port the computer will recognize that I have plugged something into it, but not that it is an iPod. This causes all the iPod software to fail to recognize the iPod. That means that the iPod updater is unable to assist me in reformatting the iPod and then updating the software

When the iPod is plugged into the USB 2.0 port and the computer fails to recognize it, the internal mechanism of the iPod makes a clicking noise, then I get pissed that it’s not working and leave the room in hopes that something will happen and when I return it will have fixed itself. When I do actually return however, the iPod is warm, even hot to the touch which tells me that something is definitely wrong!!

I contacted HP Support on August 30th and thought that, with their help, we had solved the problem for good. I was able to reformat the iPod and update all of the software, and it worked great for about 4 days. Then it started freezing up and skipping thru songs. I have had to restart the iPod more times than I care to remember.
I finally found time to call HP today. I spoke to a very nice woman named Karen. She guided me through all of the normal trouble-shooting steps, mainly those that I had already done, and then she proceeded to tell me that she would just arrange to have a “new” iPod sent to me…she just needed my credit card number. I understood why but I asked anyway. She told me that it was their (HP’s) insurance that they would get the defective iPod back after I received my “new” one. I asked her if HP would be putting a hold on my credit card for a certain amount and she told me “no, it just incase”. I proceeded to inform her that I just paid for a semester of college on my card and that if they were going to place a hold on my card that it would get denied. She again told me that HP would not be placing a hold on my card. I gave he my card number, and guess what…it was denied just like I told her it would be. Can you feel me getting more pissed off? The only alternative is to send it in myself and eat the shipping charge. Karen gave me all the instructions on sending it in to HP and I just let the issue go.
My next question was concerning the term “new”. I paid approximately $300 for my brand new iPod. I wanted to make sure that they weren’t going to send me a refurbished one, due to the fact that my money was spent with the intent of getting a brand new iPod that performed perfectly out of the box. Her response to my question was that they may send me a brand new iPod, or they might send me a refurbished one; she would not guarantee a brand new one though. She did her best to assure me that the refurbished models are just as good as a brand new one. I proceeded to apologize for my frustration and again informed her that I was pissed off because of the principle of the matter. Again, my money was spent in good faith that I was purchasing an iPod that nobody else had used before me, not a used one that has been erased. I told her that I would send in my iPod but I was very disappointed that I had made the bad decision to choose to purchase an iPod from HP. I also told her that I wished I would have bought the iPod from Apple so I could have just taken it to the Apple store and have them resolve the matter right away. She apologized again, and I understood that she really didn’t give a shit; she was just doing her job! Anyway, it looks like I won’t have a functional iPod for another 2 weeks. Fortunately for me I have my trusty iRiver IFP-899 as a backup.

Hopefully someone out there has had an experience like this one and can offer me some guidance. I have very little faith in HP. If you are reading this and can offer me a word of hope, please send me an email to birderboy@gmail.com.

Stay tuned.

See ya.

ReAct

2005-09-11T00:23:00.000-04:00

If you did not watch the MTV, VH1, and CMT Katrina releif fundraiser go here and watch it now. I am sure that you will be as moved as I was while watching it. Check it out now! More to come tomorrow. Time for bed.

See ya.

P.S. I have never been so impressed with TV in my life. Great job Viacom! You will probably never hear me say that again...

iPod Down, iPod Down...AGAIN!!!

2005-09-09T16:11:00.000-04:00

To start, let me just say that I am pissed off. My iPod is down again. For $300 dollars this maching should not break. I'm going to call HP again and see what they say. I hope they can tell me how to fix it, and they better not send me a refurbished machine. Angry Scott is not a nice person...stay tuned.

See ya

Shadows

2005-09-05T21:03:00.000-04:00

Me & Webber

Old Barn

2005-09-05T21:01:00.000-04:00

Tuttle Marsh

2005-09-05T21:00:00.002-04:00

Narrow Bridge

2005-09-05T21:00:00.001-04:00

Flag

2005-09-05T21:00:00.000-04:00

Chacos....Again!

2005-09-05T20:59:00.000-04:00

I love my Chacos!

I'm SO Proud!

2005-09-01T10:45:00.000-04:00

I am SO PROUD of my sister today! I just found out that she has decided to send my nieces to one of the best schools in town. Because of this incredible decision, the girls will receive a wonderful education with individualized attention. I am so incredibly happy about this, and I am so excited for the girls. WHAT A GREAT DECISION!!!

See ya.

The iPod Lives On

2005-08-30T23:28:00.000-04:00

Due to the overwhelming response to my last post (yes, that is cynicism!) I caved and contacted HP to get my iPod up and running again. I was convinced that there was something wrong with the hardware of the iPod but I was wrong. Like I said, I contacted HP (I have the Apple iPod by Hp) and spoke with a Canadian guy named Louis. Louis reminded me that the iPod uses USB 2.0 and instructed me on how to figure out if my computer was even equipped with USB 2.0. After some minor remodeling of the configuration of USB cables in the back of my computer, the iPod started loading faster than it ever had before. Louis also informed me that this is the biggest troubleshooting issue they have with the iPod. Louis was very friendly and knowledgeable...I thanked him again and again. I was lost without my iPod, but now I am found. Thank you Louis!

I decided today that I am getting pretty bored with the layout of my blog. I have begun looking at other blogger's blogs in order to get some new ideas. There is some pretty cool shit out there. Stay tuned...

See ya.

iPod Down, iPod Down

2005-08-28T23:39:00.000-04:00

Is there a doctor in the house? An iPod doctor? My iPod is broken and I am lost without it. I have done everything I can think of to get it up and running again with no success. I have restored it, restarted it, reformatted it, completely removed iTunes and the iPod software from my hard drive and reinstalled it...etc. If you are reading this and have some suggestions please send me an email or leave a comment. The only thing I have left to try is to call Apple and probably send it to them for warranty repairs. I don't want to do that. I'm worried if I do that they'll just send me a refurbished one which will just lead to more and more problems. Please, if you know anything else I can try, let me know! Thank you for your help...if you are out there.

See ya.

2005-08-24T23:28:00.000-04:00

This is one of my most favoite pictures yet. The black & white gives it a very dramatic effect.

2005-08-24T23:27:00.000-04:00

John's Butler

2005-08-24T23:26:00.001-04:00

Sepia Sky

2005-08-24T23:26:00.000-04:00

Hibiscus

2005-08-24T23:25:00.000-04:00

B-I-N-G-O!

2005-08-24T23:24:00.001-04:00

Inside the Hibiscus.

2005-08-24T23:24:00.000-04:00

I have no idea what this is but I think the color is just beautiful. It looks like pink and purple baby's breath.

2005-08-24T23:23:00.000-04:00

This is what happens when you abandon your house and let the bank take over. The house that this was placed on has been abandoned for more than a year.

Webber's World

2005-08-22T23:25:00.000-04:00

Did you know that our dog Webber was famous. Yep, he has his own magazine now. It hits news stands this weekend!

Home Improvement

2005-08-15T18:29:00.000-04:00

Home improvement is very time consuming, and doesn't leave much time for fun or blogging. I'm remodeling our bathroom and laying new floors in the bathroom, kitchen and dinning room...I'm a busy boy! More to come...and picutres....stay tuned. If you'd like to see some picutres from our trip to the U.P. last weekend click on the flickr link on the right or click here.

See ya.

Confusing Sign

2005-08-09T17:53:00.000-04:00

Katie and I weren't sure if this sign meant that you could go and look at hadicapped people, or if there was hadicapped access to the lookout point ahead.

Poe Lock - No Joke!!

2005-08-09T17:51:00.000-04:00

Taken at the Soo Locks. When I first saw this I thought it was a joke. Turns out that it wasn't! The Poe Lock...that's hilarious!! The guy who named this Lock was a true comedian.

Save Our Prison

2005-08-09T17:48:00.000-04:00

How many times in your life are you going to see a sign like this? This picture was taken in downtown Newberry where they must truely value their prison...I'm guessing it's because of the jobs, not because of the prisoners! The disturbing thing about this sign is the shackle that frames it ever so nicely. While we were in the Upper Penninsula there was actually a prisoner that escaped. He was assisted by a food service worker. They were both caught in Wisconsin the next day, at a hotel.

Happy Anniversay!!!

2005-08-07T17:53:00.000-04:00

On this day, one year ago, I said "I do" and married my best friend. Happy anniversary Katie, I LOVE YOU! I hope the rest of our lives together are as wonderful as the last year!

Podcast Review: Geek News Central

2005-07-31T11:37:00.000-04:00

As I have said in a previous post, I have been listening to podcasts since February. I began listening to podcasts almost as soon as I received my iPod. One of the first podcasts that I subscribed to is Geek News Central. GNC is a podcast that is produced by the now infamous geek, Todd Cochrane. Todd has been doing GNC since September of '04. Todd rose to podcasting fame when he published the first ever podcasting how-to book, "Podcasting: Do it yourself guide". GNC is a podcast about tech news/happenings. On Podcast Alley GNC is described as, "...a tech show for the common man...”

Geek News Central is for the common man, however that man must be willing to do some research. When I started listening to GNC I was very, very new to the tech world, and I didn't even know what the blogosphere was. I can remember listening to Todd for the first time thinking, "I have no idea what this guy is talking about!” Keep in mind that since I was new to this world I was not familiar with terms like HTML, Adsense, FireFox, Linux, CCS, and Gnomdex...etc. I kept listening. During each show I would make little notes about things I didn't understand or hadn't heard of. When I would get home at night I would spend a couple of hours on the computer learning about all these new things. After a month or so I could listen to GNC and feel like I had some understanding of what Todd was talking about.

Some things that I enjoy about GNC are: the show is well produced, with a great format; Todd explains things in a way that are easy to understand; by listening to GNC I can stay up to date with new happenings in the tech world; I like how Todd makes you feel welcome and the way he welcomes new listeners to each and every show; GNC is a very honest podcast, Todd always informs you if he is being sponsored or is employed by a manufacturer of a product that he is recommending. There are many more reasons that I enjoy this show, too many to list!! I recommend this show to all of my friends and will continue to do so. For anybody out there reading this - If you have not subscribed to the Geek News Central podcast you are really missing out on an awesome podcast! GO SUBSCRIBE NOW!!!

See ya.

Biker Bash & Born

2005-07-29T00:20:00.000-04:00

Thank you to Born for allowing me to come and take pictures. You guys rocked!! The sound outside was very crisp; I was very impressed!

Here's Wyatt!

2005-07-27T22:44:00.000-04:00

Patti gave me permission to publish Wyatt's picutures on the blog. These were all take by Katie on 07-26-05, Wyatt's second day in the outside world.

Day 17

2005-07-27T15:09:00.000-04:00

Excitement/Disappointment

Excitement: Wyatt was born on 07-25-05. A healthy baby boy, 10lbs 12oz, 22in long. He is a big guy!! Katie and I went to the hospital to see him for the first time and to check on my sister Patti. While we were there visiting Wyatt did what babies do best; he slept. While he slept Katie and I unwrapped him so we could look at this hands and feet and feel his soft skin. I also took advantage of this situation to snap approximately 50 pictures. Katie and I took turns holding him and getting our pictures taken with him. It was all very exciting! It is amazing to me how incredible the miracle of birth is. The whole time we were there Wyatt was calm & cool, but Patti on the other hand was beginning to feel the pain of her C-section.

Disappointment: The birth of Wyatt went well. Patti did not experience any pain during the process except for the initial spinal that she was given to basically numb her bottom half. She told me that the pain meds she was given during the procedure contained some amount of morphine. The meds did their job...and then they began to wear off. (I should interject here and let you know that of my two sisters, Shelly received all of the genes for pain tolerance. Needless to say, Patti is not good with pain. Now I don't want you to think that I'm insinuating that what Patti went thru was not painful. I understand that a C-section is major surgery and is/can be extremely painful; I'm just saying that Patti doesn't handle pain well.) It is my understanding that after a C-section has been performed, the woman is supposed to be up and walking 6-8hrs into her recovery. This is supposed to be done to help with fluid removal, keeping the skin around the wound stretched out, and to reduce gas build-up. On this particular point, the nursing & doctorial staff dropped the ball. When we arrived at the hospital (around 7:30pm) one of the nurses came in the room and in passing, mentioned to Patti and my Mom that she [Patti] should have been up and walking by now. Due to the fact that she hadn't been cared for properly her belly (which is now void of the baby) is so full of gas bubbles that you would never know she had delivered the baby. Her doctor came to check on her yesterday and was pissed that the nursing staff hadn't cared for her properly. I guess he should have taken better care to keep track of his patient! Anyway, her doctor informed her that she will have to stay at the hospital for an extra 2 days due to the problems created by their lack of care.

See ya.

Bubbly Toes

2005-07-25T22:34:00.001-04:00

Welcome to the world Wyatt!!

Baby Bigfoot

2005-07-25T22:34:00.000-04:00

That's a big baby foot!!

Wyatt's Birthday

2005-07-25T09:36:00.000-04:00

Wyatt will be born today around 9:00am. We can't wait. More pictures to follow...

UPDATE: Wyatt was born today at 9:35am. He weighed an amazing 10lbs 12oz. and was 20in long. Wyatt was born via C-section because of his gigantic size!

Rita

2005-07-25T07:14:00.000-04:00

Happy Bithday Memie. We love you, we miss you!

Bate or Bait

2005-07-23T13:13:00.000-04:00

Bate: to reduce the force or intensity of
Bait: something used in luring especially to a hook or trap
Somebody needs a spelling lesson!!

Duke

2005-07-23T13:12:00.000-04:00

We are dog sitting for the weekend. This is Duke. He poops in the basement and has a wicked case of separation anxiety.

Vacation

2005-07-23T13:11:00.000-04:00

Dragonfly

2005-07-23T13:10:00.000-04:00

Dahlia Backside

2005-07-23T13:09:00.000-04:00