Tell me what you think. Paul

Episode 3 is up. Download it by clicking the link to the right or above. News:
Zone Labs
Cheap Stingy Bargains
Microsoft Emoticons Patent Application
Windows Vista
OS X makes inroads in business
Knoppix Distributions
Internet Speed Test
USB VGA adapter
Benlog Creative Commons Discussion
XP virtual disk creator How-to's:
"Poor Person's Production Suite" Other podcasts:
Podcast 411

I just found an advertizing link that was theologically incorrect. I put it on my "block list." If you find something similar, email me. Advertisers are not necessarily approved by me, so take any ad w/ a grain of salt. Many are quite good, though ;). Paul

News Links: Mitsubishi LED projector Secret Tweaks What's Killing Hollywood Disposable Digital Camera Interfacing Wiring Diagrams Wi-fi security Check Blogger Templates and Hacks FindSounds.com sound search engin Linux Podcasting Voice over IP: Vonage Music for Tech, No Babel FireFlight Telephone Intercom System article Telephone Intercom Paul

Click here to download my pdf on how to build an intercom system out of telephones. Paul

I'm still getting the hang of all this, but my next show is up. Click the title of this post to download it. Show notes to follow, shortly. Paul

I recorded a new podcast last night and went to edit it, but the quality was bad--too much noise. I don't know if the recorded file was corrupt or when I transcoded from Quicktime to .aiff, if that was a problem. I'll try again as possible. Sorry all. Paul

I just found "Tech, No Babel" in the iTunes music store under podcasts. I did a search for "Babel" and it came up. I don't like the feed I gave them, so I might have to change that, but it's a good start. Paul

The word "Podcast" is a conglomeration of the words "iPod" and "broadcast". So it's an "iPod broadcast". The thing is that you don't need an iPod and it's not a broadcast in the sense that it comes to you via the computer, not over the air. It's not exactly a webcast, in that you don't need to be tethered to your computer to participate either. Steve Jobs of Apple Computer said that it's like "Wayne's World for radio" or "Tivo for radio". That's true, but not quite adequate to describe what it is. Podcasting is what you get when you open up a powerful means of sharing information to everyone with the desire and money (which can be very little) to do it. It's prerecorded, niche "radio". Some day there will be a podcast about anything you can imagine. If you want to know about commercial flight from a pilot, there's a podcast. If you want to know what it's like to be a foster parent, there's a podcast. Many are really bad. Some are great. Now, how do you get it? Strickly speaking you can simply download the mp3 file from the link and either listen on your computer, burned to a cd, on an mp3 player (like an iPod), or even via tape or vinyl (if you wanted to record them in that format). But what if you could subscribe like you subscribe to the paper? What if every time a podcast was uploaded by it's author, it automatically got downloaded to your computer? See the RSS button to the right? Click on it and see the gibberish? If you paste that link into a special program called either an aggregator or "podcatcher", viola you get an automatic podcast download. There are tons of these podcatchers available, some cost money like NetNewsWire. Some are open-source like iPodder. One of the easiest ones, though, is iTunes. iTunes is available for both Mac and Windows. A great many podcasts are available for free download in the iTunes music store. If you find a feed that isn't yet in the iTunes store, click on "Advanced>Subscribe to Podcast" and paste the RSS url in there and you're done. If you're using Safari, you can also drag the url from the address bar in Safari into iTunes. Enjoy. Paul

My hosting company onejosh.com has generously allowed me to host my podcasts locally. As such, I don't anticipate further problems with my pod cast. For that feed, drag the podcast xml chicklet into your aggregator (such as iPodder or iTunes). Paul

My first "real" podcast is up. In it you'll find three segments: news, perspectives, and tips & tricks. Included is a tip on how to make seamlessly loopable video and a tech-related audio essay, "Why You Should Thank God You're Alive Now." Click the link in the title or subscribe using the rss feed to your right. I want to take questions in the next show, so email me "paul[at]trinitydigitalmedia[dot]com" (replacing [at] with @ and [dot] with . ). Paul

Special thanks to "Fireflight" for providing the music I use in my podcast. Visit them at http://fireflightrock.com. Thanks all. Paul

I'm worried that my feed might be compromised if the host goes out of business or something. As such, please update your aggregator (aka podcatcher). Paul

Click on the above link for my keynote from the ChurchMedia.net national convention. It includes content cut from the actual speech because of time. It's 20 megs, so keep that in mind. Stay tuned for another episode soon. Paul

1Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. 4For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. Romans 13:1-5 Isn't it pesky how just when we rationalize the use of "rule bending" behavior in the pursuit of evangelism or service, you find that God has addressed it, and the answer isn't the easy or fast way you've rationalized. We've known all along that there is a righteous way of doing things--a preferred way that God wants us to use for our benefit. Sure there is grace; but to quote the apostle Paul, "Should we continue to sin that grace may abound? MAY IT NEVER BE." Copyright is one of those cases. If a church willfully violates copyright law, remember that "he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves." Violating the law brings a risk that God never promises to protect against. Err on the side of caution. Be above reproach, our witness demands it. Can God use our errors? Yes. Does He ask us to violate what He says in His word? No. Paul

I had an interesting experience yesterday. My church did a one day version of the "Good $ense" seminar from Willow Creek. We had several members of a financial leadership team speak. Two of these changed the profided powerpoint slides. That's not an issue. I just changed my master presentation and all was well. During one of the sessions, one of the leaders began to speak. I followed where he was going and though he had added slides, he seemed to skip them all. During one of the individual activities, he had me advance to the "next" slide to see where he was. This was after he'd noticed that he'd skipped slides, so I knew to go back and hit one of his slides. This was toward the end of the section. Then it hit me. He was a Powerpoint follower. Everyone else was a Powerpoint leader. Everyone else was going a certain place and expected the slides to keep up. He needed the slides to help him see where he should go. I wish I'd known, but I didn't. We were each trying to follow the other and at the end, neither of us ended where we could have. People are different. Running media for different people doing the same presentations will often yield different results. Realize there's nothing wrong with that, but knowing what kind of person you're dealing with will help you be your best. Paul

Let's see if this flickr.com post works. Paul

Ideally, it's best to operate with a margin. Whether it's a with equipment, people or mentally, it's always better to have the ability to do more than to try to do more than you can. Let me give you an example, imagine trying to send four different video feeds from a single output switcher. Believe it or not, it can be done, but not easily. The more unknowns there are, the more bandwidth that's necessary. Coming into a service and being asked to fix a presentation, and troubleshoot the projector, and type in lyrics, can't be done by a single person, on a single computer. You can create bandwidth through the inclusion of better equipment, more people, and more time. Miracles can and do happen, but don't depend on them. If you do, you'll be dissappointed. One more thing, if you're in a situation where you don't have adequate bandwidth, there's another concept you need to know. I was at a celebration for our church's 6th anniversary. At the end, they added a song that wasn't in the computer. Since it was "Grace Like Rain" and I had literally one minute to create something, I typed the chorus only. The reason was that the verses were familar--the words to "Amazing Grace". The term for this is "triage". It's a French word meaning separation. In an ER, the doctors must separate the people who are uncomfortable from those who will die without immediate attention. Knowing the absolutely most important things, in order of importance, can save the day. Paul

I'm hoping to upload my first podcast soon. Check back. Paul