Ericast.com Podcast - DWEEB THOUGHTS

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"Rather than trying to get people to see their mental incongruity... and we didn't quite flesh this out."

How's that for a teaser quote?

Yes, we need your help to fill in the gaps of this week's Ericast.  Call 206-339-ERIC (a.k.a. 206-339-3742) with your thoughts and contributions.

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"Back in the day," computer users built a community -- or, built multiple communities depending on their platform of choice.  Today, we can carry on the tradition by reminiscing about those computers and the communities they fostered.  It's circular, but in a totally good way!

Today, TRS-80 and Commodore lovers can live in harmony.  I love Chad's reference to Jim Butterfield, by the way.  Rest in peace, Jim.

Share your own computing or packrat stories (or a combination of the two) with a call to 206-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC).

By the way, I briefly mentioned three podcasters you should be listening to.  Those were Ray Edwards, Michael Hyatt and Hans Finzel.  In that order.  Then, put the Ericast fourth on your list.  I'll do a podcast on those guys sometime in the future -- they're great additions to your podcatcher subscriptions.  Throw Dan Miller in there, too, if you have lots of extra time -- his podcast is good but tends to run 45+ minutes a week and that adds up.

Enjoy!

BONUS CONTEST:  Call in with the time-stamp of when you can hear my wife step out the front door (which is located right above Ericast Studio A) and win a fabulous prize.  I don't know what that prize will be, but since there's no fee for entering this non-contest I don't think I have to worry about disclosing that.  Closest time wins and in the event of a tie the winner will be chosen randomly, all rights reserved, contest void where prohibited by law, contents may have settled in shipping.

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What better way to celebrate the coming of Christmas than by watching a train-based concert in the cold?  Well, actually, I suppose there are lots of different ways and some of them might be better (or, at least, more theologically relevant to the season) but nonetheless we had a spectacular time in Hastings, Minnesota watching The Claytones perform this month.

Someone else was in the crowd recording the performance, so if you want some context of what I'm talking about, you can find some videos on YouTube:

Canadian Pacific 2013 Holiday Train Hastings, MN 12/12/13 HD

(arrival and departure)

Willy Porter Canadian Pacific Holiday Train Hastings, MN 12/12/13 HD

(concert)

And one more that gives an idea of what it looks like as it travels across the countryside:

The Canadian Pacific Holiday Train 2013

(scenes from Canada)

Questions? Comments? Call 206-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) and share!

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Got any old 1980s-vintage classic 8-bit computing memories of your own to share?  Call the listener feedback line (206-339-ERIC) or drop a note to me (eric) at ericast.com -- or via any number of other social media channels that 30 years ago we couldn't have dreamed would exist in the future.  We live in amazing times; let's take advantage of them as a medium to reminisce about times that were amazing in a different way for different reasons!

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No, we're not talking about a beer commercial from 20 years ago.  Instead, after a long-winded summary of the past couple months of daily life in the Ericast world, we question whether it's helpful to ask "why" a technological problem happened.

No, we don't ask "Why do people do that?!?" ...Because that would be hypocritical, right?

Insights? Call 206-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) and share them!

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What happens when there are no show notes? Let's find out. Call 206-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) or email me (eric) at ericast.com and let me know if you noticed.

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After last week's Listener Feedback episode I got serious (again) about talking about audio compression.  So, that's really all that this week's episode is about.

For those that are curious, this episode's Audacity settings are:

Threshold: -12 dB

Noise Floor: -70 dB

Ratio: 6:1

Attack Time: 0.2 secs

Decay Time: 1.0 secs

(As outlined by billw58 in a post on the Audacity Forum)

What do you think?  Does it sound better?  Worse?  About the same?  Call with your input -- 206-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) or email me (eric) at ericast.com

Click here to listen to this week's episode!

Making a mess of the editing experience thanks to my return to Adobe Audition and my circa 2004 PC (which, for some reason, I thought would make things easier; I really need to get my compression options in Audacity figured out a.s.a.p.!) to the point where my ancient computer is actually dropping out entire words, here's our Listener Feedback Week

If I had more than an hour free before I'm publishing in the wrong week entirely -- it's bad enough I'm doing my July episode in early August! -- I'd tweak and re-edit it... but, this is what you get.

Listeners Steve and Matt are audible, and that's what counts.  Thanks for calling, guys!

Questions? Comments? Encouragement for a down-trodden and frustrated podcast recorder?  (No, it's not that bad... but I feel bad for the clicking and popping you're about to listen to... or already have listened to, depending on when you read show notes.)  Call 206-339-3742 or email me (eric) at ericast.com and join the crowd of people sharing their thoughts!

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This episode recaps my surprisingly busy week last week with a couple highlights from MinneDemo 2013:  A nonprofit/church community management site called FreshVine.co and Jerry Belich's Choosatron storytelling gadget.

I also touch on Sorin's Bluff in Red Wing, Minnesota, Lark Toys in Kellogg, Minnesota, buying peaches at the Pepin (Wisconsin) country store, driving through Stockholm, Wisconsin during their Art Fair, the Waconia, Minnesota rodeo (having discovered that the Professional Rodeo Association apparently has no connection and doesn't talk to or work with the Minnesota Rodeo Association when they're in the state), and the 2013 Aquatennial Fireworks in Minneapolis.

That made for a busy Saturday.

Questions, comments, or ideas?  Share them by calling 206-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) or drop an email to me (eric) at ericast.com.

By the way... what do those Aquatennial fireworks look like?  Well... here's the show on YouTube

A shakier video taken from near where we were standing (to give you an idea of the first-person experience) is also on YouTube

Click here to listen to this week's episode!

A walk in the woods provides the background to this week's episode, where I talk about an awkwardly bad customer service interaction I witnessed at the Home Depot Kids Workshop (which has pretty much always been a fun experience for us... but not for the poor dad I saw last Saturday...), contrasted with an outstanding Tweet-driven interaction with Enom.

Questions? Ideas? Leave a message on the Listener Feedback Line at 206-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) or call my direct number that I mention in the podcast.  Whatever you do, don't email me (eric) at ericast.com.  (In the spirit of poor customer service, I'm trying reverse psychology in these show notes...)