Mobilecasting or Podcasting

So I have been doing an experiment for the last couple of days. That experiment has been with podcasting. I don't own an iPod. I am not sure I want to buy one. I like the thought of being able to use a receiver or satellite service to listen to the music that is new and then old stuff or listen to talk radio or whatever...I really like music and audio and I don't want to have to buy it all.

So that being said one of the things I like about iPods is the ability to use them as a podcatcher. For those of you that don't know about podcasts they are audio blogs--if you will. Many of them have become advertising vehicles which sorta sours the format in my opinion. It's designed for the masses and for anyone with an opinion they want to share.

Anyway...Someone has defined podcasting as mobilecasting and that has sorta stuck with me because podcasts are designed to be used when mobile. I want to be able to download something new when I am mobile. You can't do that with an iPod. You can with a smartphone.

So I have a Palm Treo 700wx that I am trying to use as a podcatcher for mobilecasting. I have a 1 Gig SD card (shoulda gotten the 2GB card) and I am trying to find a podcatching client that works good. So far I haven't found a single podcatcher for windows mobile that works well. So far they are either very complicated to configure OR cause massive problems with the device OR will not auto update. It's very frustrating. Right now I am using Voice Indigo--which is a beta and requires you to browse the files with Pocket IE on the windows mobile device. It works pretty good and the cool thing is that they resize the files so you don't have have some rediculuous 50 meg file for an hour worth of SOMEONE TALKING about stuff! With Voice Indigo that same file will be a 6 meg file. Yeah, voice quality isn't amazingly awesome but it works good. The only thing I wish they had was a client for the device...which they say is coming.

Now I just have to figure out a good way to record podcasts using my PC and produce it so I can start a podcast! I was on another podcast called Wireless Walla--It had a whole 7 episodes. :) The guy that was producing it can do amazing things with audio and video and it was very well produced but the 4 guys on the show couldn't find the time to record it. We tried to find other ways to record the broadcast but didn't find a way to make it work. I had a blast doing that and would love to do it again...but more on that later.

-Paul

Politics as usual

I have been noticing the volume of political advertisements for the upcoming elections that are in the media. It is amazing to me the amount of money that candidates spend to be elected. Last night while watching the news just about every ad was political in nature. Many of them back to back bashing each other. It was sort of amusing. We all know that most of the ads this close to election focus on negative information about other candidates and mostly blur the facts to try to paint a bad picture of someone else. I am sure there is some study that was completed that helps the campaign managers understand what works in a campaign of this sort and most of them just run the playbook and this is why we see the negative ads.

I would guess that most people are not well informed about candidates and their TRUE colors. I would guess that most people don't have any way to get accurate information to make a good decision when voting and frankly that scares me. Alot.

There are websites whose mission is to inform voters about the candidates in current elections. One such site is www.vote-smart.org. They claim to be a group of volunteers that do not have political affiliations. However, if you have taken Psych 101 you know that your filters will color anything you do or say. This means that the information cannot be totally objective. Also they ask candidates to take a quiz or a survey. That being said I think sites like this are the closest thing we are going to get to pure information on candidates and the service they provide is invaluable in a sea of mis-information and bashing. It is important to vote and make an informed decision based on your beliefs and what the candidate has done historically in order for us to elect people who will do our bidding. Make sure to take a look at websites like this and make decisions based on as much information as you can get your hands on.