Just a super-quick update to let you know I'm alive and well. I used YouTube's direct-to-site upload to see how it would work out as a "quick and dirty podcast process"... and it seems to have some hope.
Let me know what you think -- e-mail me (eric) at ericast.com, or call 206-339-3742 and leave a comment. Enjoy!
This Ericast actually has video which, under ordinary circumstances, you'd see over in the YouTube channel (available through www.youtube.com/DweebThoughts.)
But you're not going to see it there.
UPDATE: You will see it there! Thanks to a bit of late-night editing, here's the official "Lost Episode"...
But you very nearly didn't see it on YouTube.
Why?
Because Visual Communicator completely hosed the audio. The intro was clipped at the end, the audio echoed throughout it, the levels were way off in what I recorded, and the video itself wouldn't even render the whole way through and stalled at 98% complete.
Hmmm. Something's not right.
The problem is that Visual Communicator (formerly from a great company named Serious Magic, which was bought out by Adobe) is a "live to hard drive" application with no options for post-production editing. The argument is, "Why do it in post when you can do it in real-time? After all, if you need to edit something, you can always open the output in a different video editing application and tweak it there"... which is true, but I'm not talking about a "tweak". Despite sounding fine in tests and despite there having been no problems indicated during the recording, the output is a total mess.
My only option to "fix the audio" in Visual Communicator is to re-record from the start, and I'm simply not willing to do that; an audio-only podcast this time will have to do.
(UPDATE: I decided that, as a matter of principle, I had to bring the video to you. That's how much I care about you, the dedicated Ericast listener/viewer/subscriber! What I ended up doing was force the Visual Communicator output to pubish as a DV .AVI, then brought that into Windows Movie Maker, then re-edited around the intro and outro, then manually balanced the audio levels across the whole thing, then rendered it out as a .WMV for uploading to YouTube. Surprisingly straightforward... but a smidge time-consuming.)
The reason I sound abnormally and atypically frustrated is because this is coming on the heels of a really good two-day EDUCAUSE web conference on the use of technology in higher education (for online collaboration, in this particular case). If I, an instructional technologist, can't leave a computer alone for three months without coming back to an application with a bunch of settings that somehow got hosed even though nobody has touched them... how can we expect faculty to embrace this stuff?!?
Ick! Let me know what you think. 206-339-ERIC is the ever-popular listener feedback line, and you can always e-mail me (eric) at ericast.com. Thanks for listening!
Just checking in with the dedicated Ericast listeners to let you know I'm alive and well. I'm hoping to get another YouTube video up, though I haven't yet decided on a topic. Feel free to call with a suggestion!
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
An experiment this week on the YouTube side of things: The video has a few DVD-style menus built in. The video will pause, and you get to make your choice as to what you hear (and see) next.
This means that the audio-only podcast will make slightly less sense than usual... but it didn't have very far to fall, so I think you'll be okay.
As always, comments are welcome -- an e-mail to me (eric) at ericast dot com or, better yet, a phone call to 206-339-ERIC (a.k.a. 206-339-3742).
Let me know what you think of this one; it was somewhat tedious to put together, but I think the concept has potential...
No, not "lyres" -- this really is as inflammatory a title as you think it is. You'll want to comment on this one, and here's the method: call 206-339-3742 (206-339-ERIC if it's easier to remember the spelling than the number), or e-mail me (eric) at ericast.com.
It's also on the old-time Ericast episode schedule -- a smidge over 20 minutes. What's the topic? This week's discussion is about Proverbs 15:4, as read from the Daily Audio Bible podcast. Want to know more? Stop reading this summary and listen to the Ericast episode!
I also mention in passing my little side-project where you can donate to the podcast: tip-joy.com (note the dash). More info on the story -- there's always a story with me! -- is available at the sister-site of the tip-joy.info blog. But whether you want to read the back-story or not, you can still click the donate button at tip-joy.com and give a few cents directly to me (as little as a dime!) as a "thank you" for the years of dedicated podcast entertainment that I've provided to you and the rest of humanity.
Hey, if you don't do "the ask," there's no chance that anyone will give, right? Let's see if it works...
This is the home of Eric M. Larson's podcasts, from Ericast.com! Here you'll find a mix of philosophy and technology (perhaps "philosophizing about technology"?) with a little talk of religion, current events, and daily living thrown in. Add the occasional RIAA-free song to give you a break from the monotony, and you've got the Ericast.
If (when!) you listen, be sure to e-mail or call and share your thoughts!
About Me
Name: Eric Larson
Location: Eagan, Minnesota, United States
I'm just a plain old guy -- a married geek with two daughters. Not into sports, don't watch much television. I've got an M.A. in Human Resource Development, which is a bit more practical than my B.A. in Philosophy. That gives me something to ponder while I'm strolling through parks listening to podcasts.
