nerdcast

TWiT to Fans: Pay Up to Comment?

2006-01-31T22:48:00.000-08:00

We've clearly outgrown the commenting capabilities of Drupal. Many folks have asked me for forums, so I think it's time to set these up and close down comments here. In an effort to avoid the mess that public forums have become elsewhere, and to thank supporters, I am going to limit access to TWiT contributors. I don't have an automatic way to do that just yet, however, so I guess you'll just have to apply for an account. ... I think by making the forums accessible only to donors we'll ensure a lively but respectful message board. And I do owe donors something above and beyond the shows!

There is speculation that it was due to the alleged massive amount of negative feedback from the most recent episode of TWiT; episode 40, titled Yellow Lasers. The tone of the show gets into a political discussion starting at about 10:30(minutes seconds). Getting noticeably (you can hear it in his voice) disturbed by Leo and Woz' political discussions, Patrick jumps in at 15:48 and says:

Well yah but doesn't that undermine the entire hacker ethos? If we say, if we say freedom of information is bad is that not undermining the entire hacker ethos that we've been promoting?

Leo states, at 16:10:

No I'm not against censorship. I think, though, that Google is not - should not be in the position of censoring. Google is not a ...

John C. Dvorak(at dvorak.org/blog) interrupts, adding that he(Dvorak) is against censorship. Kevin Mitnick mentions that it can be circumvented, Leo agrees then Mitnick adds that "politically [Mitnick] do[es] not believe in censorship but that is [Mitnick's] own personal view" What do you think? Was it a calculated effort to kill negative feedback, a ploy to get money so ads would not have to be placed, a bandwidth overload, or some other factor? Let us know at nerdcast [at] gmail [dot] com.

Video from over the pond!

2006-01-31T18:44:00.000-08:00

If you're looking for more video content to add to your sexy, new video iPod then we have the site for you! My good buddy Lee hosts Exposure Shorts which hosts a collection of short, low budget indie films from the UK! Each film is about 6-7 minutes long, and a new one will be out every Sunday. Enjoy! Here is the feed! http://feeds.feedburner.com/exposureshorts

Feed Problems Fixed

2006-01-30T14:43:00.000-08:00

Thanks to all of you that sent instant messages, left comments, and sent us e-mails alerting us to the problems you were experiencing with the Nerdcast Video feeds. I goofed in coding them. I found and fixed their errors so we should be good now. FeedBurner and iTunes will take a few hours to update the feeds so please just bare with us on that. I apologize for having goofed this up. But thank you for wanting to check us out! We really appreciate that and all of your feedback! There are two feeds for Nerdcast Video:

H.264: http://feeds.feedburner.com/ncvh264
MPEG-4: http://feeds.feedburner.com/ncvmp4

If you use iTunes you may want to remove Nerdcast Video from your subscriptions and then re-add it. However it will take a few hours at the least for the changes to propogate. Again, I am very sorry for the problem and thank everyone for their interest in the show! We have another video coming out later tonight so stay tuned! :)

Nerdcast #11 - Marty from Juice Receiver

2006-01-28T01:53:00.000-08:00

In this episode I interview Martijn Venrooy, the Design/User Interface Developer for Juice Receiver. Juice Receiver (formerly iPodder) is an open-source podcast receiver, podcatcher, podcast catcher, program. It allows you to manually add the web address of a podcast's feed or to find them through the integrated directory. If you have only ever used iTunes, now is as good a time as any to give this free (donations are graciously accepted), fast, light client a shot. Grab it at JuiceReceiver.com. Huge thanks to Marty Venrooy and Andrew Grumet for the t-shirts, interview, and hanging out at the Portable Media Expo. From all of us at Nerdcast and AMP to all of you at Juice Receiver, keep up the great work! :) Stay tuned for episode 3 of the video. It is available in two, healthy flavors:

MPEG-4: http://feeds.feedburner.com/ncvmp4
H.264: http://feeds.feedburner.com/ncvh264

And don't forget that you can win a video iPod. Scroll down to episode 10's show notes to find out how. Host: Brian DeWitt Runtime: 07:42 Download: nerdcast011.mp3 Subscribe to the Show: iTunes | Odeo | RSS

nerdcast #10: The FeedBurner Interview

2006-01-13T22:38:00.000-08:00

WARNING: Video is coming down at you this time as well as an mp3 file. You may remember that I went to Los Angeles for the first Portable Media Expo in November 2005. I did some work while I was there and now we're starting to see (and hear) some of what I did. You know, besides drink and geek out. Here we present my interview with John Zeratsky from FeedBurner. You might have heard of them. They're kind of a big deal. John educates us a little bit about what exactly FeedBurner is. Did you know that there Struts help it out? Neither did we until we gave John a sneak peek of the video version. I want to thank John and Traci from FeedBurner for their support and just all around awesomeness while we were at the expo. It was great to meet some of the hard-working people behind a service I'm sure most of us podcasters and bloggers take for granted. If you use FeedBurner, take a moment to say thanks for all their hard work. And I want to thank them for letting me do the interview. Thanks so much John and Traci! =) Oh that reminds me! We have it available in not one but TWO flavors of video in addition to the mp3. We also have two new feeds to accomodate the two formats we will be releasing video in:

The H.264 version - http://feeds.feedburner.com/ncvh264
An MPEG-4 version - http://feeds.feedburner.com/ncvmp4

We have a listener's survey as well and would love it if you would please fill it out . :) Host: Brian DeWitt Runtime: 3min 24seconds Download: nerdcast010.mp3 Subscribe to the Show: iTunes | Odeo | RSS | IRN Superfeed! Host: Brian DeWitt Runtime: 3min 24 seconds Download: NCV002_FeedBurner.mp4 Subscribe to Nerdcast Video: MPEG-4 | H.264

nerdcast #9 : Yes, an Apple Product F'd Up.

2006-01-06T18:58:00.000-08:00

Well, as I explain in the cast, I lost my side of the conversation, so we had to start all over. I'm playing around on my new computer, and I lack the proper audio editing gear, so I had to throw this together in...iMovie. So, it's a basic, raw show. We took an extended holiday break, so we have a long show for you.

Let's make fun of Ben.
Now we make fun of Brian
The best Peanut Butter in the world! Honey roasted Chunky.
Site traffic, and lack of feedback.
RaptorX 150GB hard drive! Has a clear cover for you case modders. $350.
Clear cases for your computer is lame. Lian Li PC-V1100 is the way to go.
Davis and Droz are selling their old nerd toys on eBay! The Rich Geek's Move Out Mystery Auction!
Davis keeps his word. James, you're getting five dollars.
Stripper what? Stripper what?
Droz reaches a cross road and almost quits drinking.
The "Mike Davis Loves His Girlfriend," segment. We almost missed it.
We have a listener's survey. Please take it :)
This small company called IBM has slowed down light.
nerdcast the movie.
Super Mario Bros. The Movie ruined my childhood.
We almost ended the show here.
Nerd gift round up.
Beer break.
LMwSA! Sergio talks about the new Nintedo DS games from JAPAN!!!
Talk about Nintendo things.
Ben pees in the closet and more funny stories. OK! We think they're funny.

nerdcast is giving away a free iPod video. Here is what you do...

Register for a account at our messageboard. Make sure you leave you contact information in your profile.
Post a message in this thread.
If we get 200 unique posts in this thread, we will randomly select a person and give them the iPod.
Remember, you must be a registered member. No guest posts.

Good Luck! Hosts: Ben Taylor, Mike Davis, Brian DeWitt, Mike Droz. Runtime : 1hr 6min Download: nerdcast009.mp3 Subscribe to the Show: iTunes | Odeo | RSS | IRN Superfeed!

Happy Year New!

2006-01-04T18:10:00.000-08:00

Well, well. We took an extended holiday break it seems. We work hard, and we deserve every break we get. Like, I would apologies for not deleviering a holiday special, but screw it. Anyways, here is some info on what I'm calling... 2006 : the nerdcast empire.

A new site design is in the works as well as a new logo. It should be online in a week or two.
More episodes of nerdcast! It depends on how well CES goes. We might release little daily sniplets of what we think of the day's announcements. Our opinions matter.
More nerdcast video on its own feed.
A dash of focus.
New characters to the show
More stories of Davis' underage girlfriend.

Stay tuned, campers.

nerdcast #8 : Baby Dick (nsfw Brian, you retard)

2005-12-20T13:40:00.000-08:00

Here it is. Christmas is almost here, and we have a special planned, so we are releasing #8 early.

This week's beer. Schlicht! We like it
TVTAD. It's Tivo you don't pay for.
"Um, nah, that's it. We're done. That's all we have for this episode."
Ben gets a Black, 30GB iPod video.
Ben rants about FM tuners and CNET while Davis cuts him off.
Davis is a shoe in for the iPodderX contest.
"Are we that drunk already?"
Adam arrives
"You want to record nerdcast tomorrow? Nah, fuck Adam he sucks."
The Vienna Sausage off. 5 months and two days until Sausage Day.
Adam gets to hold the bowl. Which is for the juices.
Baby Dick.
Hormel WINS!
Davis tells Adam what a podcast is.
Baby Dick.
Whatever dead hooker in the matress situation you get in, Adam will get you out of it. He's gonna be a lawyer.
The Legitament Minute with Sergio.

Hosts: Ben Taylor, Mike Davis, and Mike Droz w/ Sergio, Dave, and Adam. Runtime: 34:58 Direct Download: nerdcast008.mp3 Subscribe to the Show: iTunes | Odeo | RSS | IRN Superfeed!

nerdcast #7 : The Original Number Seven part 2

2005-12-15T19:42:00.000-08:00

Hurry kids! Get part 2 of show number seven! It's a hack job, I know. No bg music and no show notes! Hosts: Ben Taylor, Mike Davis, and Mike Droz Runtime: 31:25 Direct Download: nerdcast007pt2.mp3 Subscribe to the Show: iTunes | Odeo | RSS | IRN Superfeed!

nerdcast #7 : The Original Number Seven part 1

2005-12-10T20:48:00.000-08:00

Wow, we took an extended Thanksgiving break. So, on to the notes.

We like to pick on Brian a lot. We do it all the time. Even when he isn't here.
A new feature. Mike and Mike buy a new beer. And get drunk.
Aeon Flux lacks...well, it sucks. Don't waste your time.
"Keep it in England. That's what I got to say."
Davis' girlfriend discovers nerdcast.
The Path of Neo for X-Box is personally insulting.
How is the X-Box 360 doing?
Vidcasting...lame or cool?
More ideas for the show.
Smallville is sucking, and I wet my pants during the Superman teaser trailer.
We don't research shit before we talk about it.
Davis shares his experience with the BEST VIDEO GAME EVAR!

Hosts: Ben Taylor, Mike Davis, and Mike Droz Runtime: 30:47 Direct Download: nerdcast007pt1.mp3 Subscribe to the Show: iTunes | Odeo | RSS

Mario Kart DS

2005-12-04T07:42:00.000-08:00

We've been playing a litle game called Mario Kart DS for, obviously, the Nintendo DS and OMFG it pwns j0000!!

*ahem* What I mean to say is that MKDS is a TON of fun. We'll spare you the long review you'd find at a gaming site, but the mix of tracks from all previous Mario Karts (SNES, N64, Gameboy Advance, Gamecube) with some new tracks is, just like a complete breakfast, perfectly balanced. Navigating each course could not be easier thanks to the second screen displaying a complete overview of the course or a zoomed in view. Especially handy for when that damn squid inks you! =)

What really got me hooked was the built in support for play over Wi-Fi using Nintendo's Nintendo WFC. You can play other Mario Kart DS players using a wireless connection to the Internet. FINALLY!! You can even get stats by linking your DS to your My Nintendo account. It is similar to Halo 2's website that shows you a ton of stats, only your My Nintendo/Nintendo Wi-Fi account info shows stats at one place for all Nintendo WiFi games you've played online.

Well that and the Friend Code function so you can add buddies. Ben and I have raced a few times and he say I hax, but no hax here i'm 2 1337 4 j00! LOL! j00 r 0wn3d!

*COUGH* Good lord where did that come from? Anyway, if you would like to race me in Mario Kart DS, my friend code is 047304896990. The name that will show up is briand. Add me and let's race sometime!!

Want a Free Video iPod?

2005-11-29T06:25:00.000-08:00

Who wouldn't, right? Well now you have a chance to win one. All you have to do is visit www.ipodderx.com/contest and suggest a new name for the program.

Thats it. Nothing else.
Why? Well we have a video interview with August from iPodderX to explain just that.

MPEG-4: Download | 12.6MB -will work with PSP, video iPod, etc.

Don't forget to visit www.ipodderx.com/contest to enter and see a complete list of prizes. Good luck and keep listening!!

Hosts: Brian Dewitt Runtime: 02:39 Download: ipodderxcontest.mp4

It's a Thanksgiving Special, nerdcast!

2005-11-23T22:00:00.000-08:00

This Thanksgiving, the ncroundtable has a lot to be thankful for. Join us as we try to throw together a Thanksgiving special for our listerners. I found out a few interesting facts about the guys that I didn't know before. We also discuss the things we are thankful for, and what we want for Christmas. Davis gets a bomb dropped on him.There is some bonding, some tech/sex talk, and a very, very special moment between Davis and Droz. Someone's fist makes contact with someone's face. That happens around 46min into the show. We also introduce a new character named The Guy on the Couch. He perks up to talk about the X-Box 360 and the Best Buy launch that happened. Hosts: Ben Taylor, Mike Davis, Brian Dewitt, and Mike Droz Runtime: 58:55 Download: thanksnerdcast2005.mp3

nerdcast #6 : The $10 Podcast part 2.

2005-11-22T14:26:00.000-08:00

Here we go, girls. This episode features the song Guitar Shaped Swimming Pool by Brother Lowdown

Davis' milestone and how God is finally paying him for his good deeds
Westside Story nerdcast edition starring Chuck Norris.
Davis and Droz get gay over Smallville.
Dewey talks more of the video casts
"What do you mean by down to earth. Do they fuck a lot?"
Fuck You Leeroy Jenkins
College kids not knowing who Mr. Jenkins is
Brian dips out early
We're kind of a big deal
"WE GOT ASS FOR DAYS BABY!"
More on Hold onto Your Crotches
Sports?
Some Sci-Fi talk
Why we're nerds

Hosts: Ben Taylor, Mike Droz, Brian DeWitt, Mike Davis Runtime: 31:20 Download: nerdcast006pt2.mp3 nerdcast is part of the Insomnia Radio Network, and is brought to you by The Prime Meridian Media Group.

Hold On To Your Crotches!

2005-11-21T20:04:00.000-08:00

The Prime Meridian Independent presents to you a cartoon for your downloading pleasure. You'll need DivX to watch this sucker. http://www.pmind.com/crotches/episode0.avi

nerdcast #6 : The $10 podcast part 1.

2005-11-19T02:08:00.000-08:00

Because that's how much it cost to get me drunk! IMSOKEWL I bring you show #6 in two parts.

Brian talks about the expo he went to in Canada, erm, California. He met a lot of cool people there.
More on the Hold onto your Crotches cartoon.
Chuck FUCKEN Norris!
Davis looks for a silly job as a contortionist (Not safe for work)
We plug our message board at forums.pmind.com
Soccergirl added us to her contact list on Flickr. She is cute! nerdcast rating is 7. For protional reasons, she gets a 10.
We're drinking Bud Select while Brian drinks some "expensive beer," from a "far off land."
Tyra Banks, the fat suit, and her going street on a girl.
Mario Kart DS. It's online with Nintendo Wi-Fi!
Hands on X-Box 360 talk. Not liking it much.
Droz shares a PSP exploit.
Wow! The World of Warcraft expansion!
The Prime Meridian is back in World of Warcraft! PvP ownage on the Bleeding Hollow server.

Hosts: Ben Taylor, Brian DeWitt, Mike Droz, and Mike Davis. Runtime: 32:00 Download: nerdcast006pt1.mp3

Back from the Portable Media Expo

2005-11-14T06:45:00.000-08:00

Hey kids, I'm back from the Portable Media Expo. So many cool people were there and so much great stuff happened. I got some interesting interviews, footage, and even lost my voice a total of 8 times!!

I'm working on editing all of the footage now so expect some short little bits from the expo floor later on this week!!

DS Wi-Fi is Live

2005-11-07T18:58:00.000-08:00

Thats right gang. Nintendo's wireless access for the DS is live. YOu can access it at www.nintendowifi.com. We'll be test driving it soon and reporting our findings. And if you're nice, we might even give you a way to find us. =) giggidee gigidee goo!!

nerdcast #5 : High On Diet Pills

2005-11-06T07:12:00.000-08:00

Why don't you spend your morning with your favorite podcast, a cup of coffee, and a handful of diet pills. That's how Davis rolls. In today's, week's, month's show we discuss

the nerdcast vidcast ideas we have
Microsoft products going online with Windows Live.
AIM and AOL are like a virus
PSP hacking
More on the next gen video game boxes

Hosts: Ben Taylor, Mike Davis, Mike Droz, and Brian DeWitt Runtime: 29:20 Download?: nerdcast005.mp3

People like us. Really.

2005-10-31T17:52:00.000-08:00

Just to let you guys know. This show is now a part of The Insomnia Radio Network. Check it out.

nerdcast #4 part 2: And we bring you the rest!

2005-10-29T18:46:00.000-07:00

A more no show notes type of show. Brian shows up and we tell him about all the things we already talked about, and we go more indepth about some of the topics. We talk about more video games, Davis' burning podcasting question, porn on your iPod video or PSP, drinking, RSS feeds for beer, girls on meth, and more. I tried to cut this cast down to 30minutes, but there is just too much good shit in this one. Word? Host: Runtime: 51:52 Download: nerdcast004part2.mp3

nerdcast #4 Part 1 : The Most Epic Podcast EVAR!

2005-10-25T14:36:00.000-07:00

You know what happens when you get two drunk guys, another guy who is square, and one who is late for the recording? A podcast show of epic proportions! The final recording clocked in at an hour and a half, so we figured that we would release this show... IN TWO PARTS! This show is flying without show notes, and it breaks the format that the first three shows used. Basically, we talk about the iPod nano and video, the real story of how Mike and Mike really met. Quake 4, Lost, the GameBoy micro, Serenity, how the PSP is better than the new iPod (when it comes it porn), Adventures of a Geek Squad employee checking out high school girls, porn in the Best Buy bathroom, beer coasters of the future, We want sexbots, World of Warcraft, and online girlfriends. You'll have to excuse the random AIM and computer sounds that I couldn't edit out. Also, Dewey was a bit late to the recording, but he will be in part 2! Hosts : Runtime: 34:16 Download: nerdcast004part1.mp3

God hates me and this is proof.

2005-10-24T09:23:00.000-07:00

A month or so ago, I announced that I would be attending the Portable Media and Podcasting Expo held in Ontario California this November with Brian. It was going to be great fun for all. I was going to get in for free. I was going to hang out with the great people over at AMP. I was going to hang out in L.A. I was going to see some of the who's who in tech news and tech in general. I was in the final process of setting my arrangements in stone. I could taste the plane tickets. Then, something came up that prevented me from going. Shortly after, Brian scores a press pass to the event. And, Leo Laporte had to post this on his website.

Our next live TWiT will be at the Podcast Expo in Ontario, California, November 12. (I'll also be doing my KFI radio show there on Saturday.)

If you're into computers and podcasting, you'll know that TWiT is like the biggest podcast EVAR. You would also know that Leo Laporte, Patrick Norton, and Kevin Rose use to host the TechTV show The Screensavers, and they will all be there in Ontario. :(

Open call for BETA testers!

2005-10-13T09:33:00.000-07:00

Oh, that must mean we're developing something. You're so effin' right, then. We're making a nerdcast/De-Fi Radio widget for konfabulator. We have a few ideas of this widget that we'd like to test out. Right now, we basically took the code for another widget, added our RSS feed, changed the background image, and about section. We'd like to release it to a few people to see what your thoughts are and what neat features you'd like to see. We're also working on developing this widget from scratch, but we had to start somewhere. Interested? contact us nerdcast @ gmail.com

New iPod, iTunes, and revised iMac announced.

2005-10-12T11:06:00.000-07:00

Apple is launching new products today that include...

a slimmer iMac with a faster processor and a built in iSight and remote device called Front Row that lets you can control your photos, music, and videos from your couch..

The iPod. An iPod that has a wider screen and plays videos. Has TV/video out. 150 hours of video.

iTunes 6. We spent three years at version 4 and one month at version 5. WTF? You can buy music videos and Desperate Housewives at the updated online store. People should realize that this thing should play other videos such as episodes of CommandN, Systm, and nerdcast. Will there be a vidcast directory soon?

Photos You can watch the Apple Event where these were unveiled online at http://www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/specialeventoct05/. We suggest you watch it, however, you will need a broadband connection to do so.

Note from Brian: Front Row looks like Apple's "answer" to Windows Media Center Edition PCs. I like the idea, however I didn't see any television let alone PVR (think TiVo) functionality. Other than that, I'm in love. The remote for Front Row has only 6 buttons as compared to the 40+ on a Media Center remote. To be fair, Media Center PCs do allow for recording and watching television, channel changing and all that so of course more buttons will be needed. But i do agree that 40+ is a little much.

Note from Ben who is > than Brian: Apple likes to phase their new features into their products. Look at the iPod. It's goes from strickly a music player with a few features, to a music player with a color screen that can display photos, to a music player that can display photos and video. They don't dive right into putting out a full featured iPod. They test the waters. The iPod photo was pretty succesful and that line of iPods was merged into the iPod line. I think that if it didn't sell well, and the market wasn't into it, they would of discontinued it. They also released the Airport Express last year. The main gripe people had was that they weren't able to control their iTunes library from their bathroom. Ok, that was mine, but look what we got. Front Row. Awesome. Thanks, Apple. <3 Now, I think they are going to phase new features into Front Row. Again, Apple is testing out the waters, and there is no better machine to test it on than the iMac. The iMac is marketed as the digital hub computer. Sure, you can throw it on the PowerMacs, but the people who buy PowerMacs are power users who freaken' compress large audio and movie files while chatting to their mom. The iMacs are more geared towards the, "I like to rip CDs, take photos of me and my 16 year old friends drinking beer LOL and chat OMG!" That's why I'm getting one. Ok, the main reason I want one is because they're pretty powerful all-in-one machines now. They use to be the crap Macs, but the Mac mini has taken that place. I see Apple adding Front Row into the Mac minis and laptop line sometime down the road. No duh. Apple will see that this thing is a hit, so they will add Media Center like features such as the ability to watch your TV shows, record your TV shows, and stream your TV shows to your TV. Or take them on the road with you. Also, since Apple has a sweet deal with ABC, who has the two top rated shows on TV, do you think other companies and buyers will want to stick with Microsoft's vision of the the media PC? Ben thinks NO!

nerdcast #3 : Attack of the Sleepy Host!

2005-10-10T16:07:00.000-07:00

After getting off from a 14 hourish shift, I stayed awake to give you guys another nerdcast show. Since I was hella tired, I let Dewey steer this boring conversation. Ok, it's not really boring. It has some useful information in it. Give it a spin! HARDCORE HARDWARE!

-Gameboy micro is out. (Also a new Gameboy Advance SP with brighter screen is out $79)

Size of iPod mini (RIP)
Face plates (2 per box)
smaller screen
brighter screen
light up buttons.
$99
Nintendo says its "for the style conscious gamer"

-Nintendo DS Wi-Fi to hit this November

Nintendo is releasing a USB adapter that lets people who do not have a wireless network access to the DS net. You too can pwn middle school n00bs from your bathroom.

-Google Wi-Fi wants to cover 95% of San Francisco with 300kbps wireless Internet access... AT NO CHARGE! http://www.linuxpipeline.com/blog/archives/2005/10/google_in_the_a.html

From search engine to portal to global domination
Monopoly? Not really since you can pay to get a faster, better, more constant connection thus not putting the other businesses out of business
How can this be free? Ben thinks that when you log on, your browser directs you to a Google type targeted ad page. Like the time I was in the Pensacola Airport trying to get onto one of the wireless networks, connected to a secure network that redirected my browser to a login screen.
Brian thinks it uses a special targeted ad bar (think adwords but better)
Sucks to be that 5%
Ben moves to San Fran
Brian looks for job in San Fran, plans to roomie with Ben

SOFTCORE SOFTWARE!

-Podbat and Odeo tools quick review. (Reminder. They are still in beta!)

-Spread Firefox Hacked!
The Spread Firefox Team became aware this week that the server hosting Spread Firefox, our community marketing site, has been accessed by unknown remote attackers who attempted to exploit a security vulnerability in TWiki software installed on the server. The TWiki software was disabled as soon as we were aware of the attempts to access SpreadFirefox.com.

VIDEOS THAT ARNT PORN!

-Channel 9 has some great and long videos on different things being developed at Microsoft. http://channel9.msdn.com/

Development on Vista
Development on the new Hotmail (called mail) with neat things. Includes AJAX (reading pane changes, not the rest of the page. Works like FRAMES but it's all on one page.), hides phishing e-mails from you, and a click or so unsubscribes you from mailing lists. Keyboard shortcuts. Works like Outlook. Boring video at the beginning. You don't see anything neat until 12min in.

Stuff mentioned quickly! Wrietly, the online word processor that lets you work on documents with friends. That podcast directory that is like Odeo is called podOmatic. Songlist for the show! Chad VanGaalen - Clinically Dead The Changes - When I Wake (yes, again) easter egg song! what is it? Voxtrot - The Start of Something The following songs are free downloads off of the artist's or label's website. Click on the links above to download these awesome tracks. Coming Soon! Mike Davis and Mike Droz will sit in on the next show. We'll talk about our hands on experiences with the iPod nano, projects they are working on, and how they love to drink and play video games. Hosts: Runtime: 25:07 Download: nerdcast003.mp3

There goes Odeo.

2005-10-10T15:50:00.000-07:00

Well, not really, but Yahoo! did launch a podcast directory and media program to subscribe and download your favorite podshows . I really, really like this directory that Yahoo! has thrown at us. Honestly, I use to think Yahoo! had crappy services, but they've been turning around lately. You know, putting my old foot into my mouth. Like Odeo, once you submit a podcast show you can, "tag," it by associating certain keywords to a show that make it easy to search and find what they are looking for. For instance, I tagged nerdcast with a lot of keywords, the word technology being one of them, and if one were to search for shows tagged with the word TECHNOLOGY, nerdcast will pop up somewhere in that results page. I bet it's lost in the vastness of Yahoo! The great thing about the Yahoo! service is you don't have to download the Yahoo! Music Engine to subscribe and download podshows. I mean, if you want to you can, or you can use iTunes. This shocked me for a bit. Once you hit the SUBSCRIBE button for a show, you will download a little file that contains information about that podshow. You can open this file in Yahoo! Music Engine or iTunes 5.0. I think it's a good move on Yahoo!'s part because it does not require the user to download yet another program to subscribe to podshows. Do I smell a konfabulator widget that will tie into this service?

Read Me A RSS Story, Google

2005-10-08T22:01:00.000-07:00

Its Really Simple, Silly

RSS, if you don't know, is a way to have your favorite websites come to you. You need a program or website that can read RSS. Everytime one of your websites gets updated, you don't need to visit it. Just tell the RSS reader the location (the web address of the RSS file) and then everytime you run the RSS reader, it will ahve all of the newest posts waiting for you.

Well Google - that great search engine and so much more that we here at Nerdcast love to love - has released a site that will take care of your RSS needs. But I have just one question:

Is Google Reader the beginning of something bigger?

RSS is the technology that makes podcasting (and vidcasts) what it is. So is this Google Reader really an entry step into something bigger? I mean, Google dabbles in everything: IM, Wi-Fi, Video and now RSS aggregating.

Could it be that they have plans to integrate Reader with Video so we can get our vidcasts (like Command N) without having to download a thing? Lets have an example.

Lets say you add Command N's RSS feed (or Open Alpha's, Systm, or any other vidcast) to your Google Reader. Then whenever a new episode is available, it could just load it up from the page on Google Video. So the next time you stop in at Google Reader, it has a link or a small video window that you can click to start the show.

Of course it could just be an online RSS aggregator. That would be cool with me too. Because come on, its GOOGLE!! =) <3!

Get Konfabulator NOW!

2005-10-07T16:28:00.000-07:00

I'm just going to come out and say that I'm not a big fan of Yahoo! I haven't used their search bot in years, and I've always found their services to be lacking. Their chat program looks nicer, their update to mail looks ace, and buying out Flickr and Konfabulator was a great move indeed. Konfabulator is anything you want it to be. It's a Windows and Mac OS X program that runs in the background, which displays widgets that provide you with information that you want to see. These widgets can sit on your desktop, or you can set it up so that they're hidden until you hit the magic button that calls them all to the screen. (Think Mac OS X's Dashboard, but they don't zip-zoom in and it came out years after Konfabulator did.) Now, there are a lot of usful widgets out there, and there are a lot of widgets that are the same but with a different color scheme. I mean, come on, how many seperate RSS readers do you need? So, I've made a little list of the widgets that I use. Wunder Radar - shows current radar with images from www.wunderground.com TachClock - displays the time with a tachometer look Sun Clock - shows which part of the world is in light or darkness Dictionary CPU Meter People Finder Showtime - displays showtimes from MovieTickets.com I hope you have a big monitor!

I will sex The Changes

2005-10-06T07:15:00.000-07:00

I featured the title track off of their demo album in epsiode 2 of nerdcast, and the song When I Wake just wasn't enough. I needed more. I love pirates, and I use to be a big music pirate back in the glory days of Napster, and it did carry over to Kazza, but with my legit flow of cash, and gift certificates from Best Buy I started doing the right thing by buying music. I mean, I could of found ways to obtain more for free, but I bought The Changes demo album because I think the band is just that good. Now, I'm not going to write up some boring, long review of this album, write about how it might of changed my life, or how I lost 5lbs everytime I gave it a spin. All I can say is that if this band from Chicago (4hrs down to road. ROAD TRIP?! OMG I WILL BE GROUPIE!) gets signed, they'll go places and make a lot of cash. And has sex with a lot of midgets. (I had to throw a midget joke in there. Sorry if it's lame. It was a last second addition.) The Changes : Self Titled EP Website: http://www.the-changes.com/ MySpace Profile: http://www.myspace.com/thechanges Buy The Album: http://www.awarestore.com/index.php?op=view_item&item_id=12132 Tracklist: 01. When I Wake 02. If I Tried 03. When I Sleep 04. The Machine 05. No One Needs To Know 06. Her, You, And I 07. You Want It

No Needles Involved

2005-10-05T22:51:00.000-07:00

I have a little secret. I like that recommendations part of Amazon.com when I'm shopping.

But you know what? I don't want to have to browse around Amazon just to find one or two things that I might be interested in.

Enter LivePlasma.com. Its really simple to use and has a smooth, clean interface. Type a band or movie name into the Search box. Then click one of the buttons below the Search box. LivePlasma then searches for other subjects related to your search.

Once it is finished finding suggestions for you, LivePlasma displays the suggestions as connected orbs called a map. The larger the orb, the more popular that thing is. The closer a recommended orb is to your search's orb, the better the chance that you will like the suggestion.

For example, I typed in Hot Hot Heat into the Search box and got this Map:

You can also do what I call quick searches by clicking on an orb. It takes you to the Map for that particular subject. For example, in the Map above, I clicked on the The Flaming Lips orb and LivePlasma gave me the map that I would have received by typing in The Flaming Lips into the Search box.

Super easy and super spiff.

LivePlasma even helps you out more by providing a discography on the LivePlasma bar (which you can move you would like it). The discography list is also linked to corresponding pages at Amazon.com. How cool is that? Not only can you find new stuff based on something you like, but you can easily purchase it! =)

There's more! You can share your Maps with your friends by e-mailing it to them. Send us your Maps at nerdcast at gmail dot com with the subject LivePlasma Map. Enjoy!

Bitch, I'll cut you.

2005-09-28T17:12:00.000-07:00

Record companies want more money. A fact that hasn't changed since the dawn of time. Apple releases a cool digital music download model that works and it's proven to be successful. It sells Apple a lot of iPods, and it somehow got me to purchase tracks online. Something I said I would never do. Some record companies want to raise the price of a track and charge you more for newer music because "it's better." HAHAHA ok, whatever. Mr Jobs tells the record companies that he will not raise the price, and that by raising the price, it will promote piracy. Record companies don't like it when someone tells them no, so they look into other options like taking a percentage of iPod sales of just cutting their library away from Apple. Then they start the mudslinging! Steven Jobs called the labels greedy. Michael Nash, Warner's digital strategy chief, had this to say about Apple.

"The industry got together and said 'We don't want another MTV'. Well, now we've got another MTV, in Apple. And we have to deal with it."

Oh, when did the iTunes Music Store stop selling music and start selling us reality TV shows starring the annoying sister of someone who wasn't that big in the music industry who also has their own reality show on the same channel? There is probably more meaning to his comment, but I mean, come on. Really? Addition on 01 Oct 2005 I would also like to add that iTunes has sold over 500million tracks and they're estimated to hit the 1 billion mark sometime in April 2006. It's not like the iTunes music store isn't doing well.

nerdcast #2 : What kind of sandwich is Brian?

2005-09-26T17:19:00.000-07:00

After a two week break, nerdcast #2 is here and in your face. On this episode I took over the editing duties from Brian. Let's see how bad I mess this one up. Totally cool intro song.

The song we used in the intro is called When I Wake by The Changes. You can visit them at http://www.the-changes.com/ to find out all sorts of information about them and download a few, free mp3s if you want.

Brian and I are heading to Ontario California for the Portable Media Expo & Podcasting Conference which is taking place November 11-12 2005. We'll be at the AMP booth. Hardware

-We talk about the Nintendo Revolution's controller and how we want to sex it. -Google is buying up a lot of dark fiber so they can browse the web from a pizza shop down the road. -I want a new digital camera for our upcoming trip to California.

Software

-Opera is now free and our websites don't work right. We're sticking with Firefox -Office 12 looks ugly and bloated. Coming from Microsoft, this shouldn't surprise us.

Entertainment

-The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is out on DVD and I love it. Listen to me tell Brian a thousand times to check it out. -Bestbuy has an exclusive Office Space DVD coming out 11/01/2005. NOW WITH FLAIR! -Also, get a Chris Farley bobble head doll when you buy Tommy Boy on DVD.

Hosts: Runtime: 24:10 Download: nerdcast002.mp3

How Opera is the best talk show ever.

2005-09-24T14:00:00.000-07:00

If this was the year 2002, you would probably be viewing this page in Internet Explorer and it wouldn't look this pretty either. Well, you could have been one of the three people still hanging on to Navigator Gold hoping for a Netscape revival. Microsoft pretty much dominated the world and forced Internet Explorer on us. Once they were done feeding us the Microsoft song and dance, they stopped all development on IE by freezing it in an ice block preventing website developers from taking advantage of all the new HTML code and standards that were coming down the pipes. So I'm basically saying that we were stuck in an ice age. MS no longer updated IE and we suffered. Lack of standard support and security holes are no one's friend. So God gave us things like Mozilla's Firefox and all was well in the world. Now, keep in mind. I'm not going to touch the Mac side of the fence. With only 5% of the market share, a browser developed only for the Mac can't really dominate my face and remove IE from the top. Anyways, Firefox came out with a bang. It received a lot of downloads along with the attention, and word was flying that the next browser war had started. Thank God. Firefox has better standard support, looks sharp, functioned real nice like, less security concerns, and tabbed browsing. Because Firefox was so swell and not square like IE, Microsoft reformed their IE team to work on a new browser to compete with Mozilla's offering. However there was a third browser out there named Opera. Now Opera was from a different breed. Oh, it was better than IE and on par with Firefox, but its business model called on the old days. The days before the first browser war. If you wanted to use Opera without the built in ads, you had to pay for it. That's why I called Opera the, "Rich kid's browser." I'm sure people bought it. Actually, I'm positive a lot people bought it. I'm pretty sure those kids that were suckers felt they were a part of some special group that's better than everyone else. Just like the kids who buy iMacs. But during the first browser war, I vowed never to pay for another browser again, so I never bought Opera even though it was a great browser. I also told myself that if Opera wanted to stand a chance against IE and Firefox, they have to adopt the free model. Which they did, and they received over one million downloads in two days because of the switch. Now we're entering another browser war.

I'm buying new pants.

2005-09-17T16:28:00.000-07:00

Oh my God, John. Have you seen the controller for the Nintendo Revolution? Oh Em Gee. When E3 hit this year, and the three major console makers showcased their next gen offerings, I sat down and made a priority list. The kind of priority list that said something like, "which one of these upgrades am I going to purchase first, and the other two I'll pick up when they are in the bargin bin at Tommy's Pump an Go?" Well, the Xbox 360 was at the top of the list and that was going to be my first purchase come this November. Then Nintendo had to introduce this little remote, sometimes confused with a sexual toy for a controller. Do I think it's revolutionary? Do I think it has all the characteristics of being innovating? Hells yes. Coming up with new ways of gameplay and immersing us into the game play is innovating. Upgrading the processor, graphics card, recoloring the controller, and slapping it in a new box isn't. At first glance, I was thinking, "what the fuck?" like many of you were. After reading (key word is reading) about what it can do, how it was to be implemented, and watching the video with cute Japanese girls jumping up and down while having a grand ol time. I was sold. This is what the gaming industry needs. While you have the companies on the other side of the fence giving us repackaged crap from five years ago, Nintendo steps up to offer us something a bit different. Now, keep in mind. The games can be devloped using the new remote-like controller, but they don't intend on ignoring the current controllers we've been used too since we was kids, yo. This new controller does have a possiblity of failing and probably bring the Nintendo Revolution along with it leading people to believe that it was all a gimmic. It's up to Nintendo and the game developers to step up and make games that take full advantage of the controller. That's the main thing that gets me about the DS. There are two screens and a mic to work with. Most developers use that second screen as a map that displays character information. There are a few games out there that exploit the potential of having two screens, but again there are only a few. Meteos comes to mind and that's a great puzzle game. One thing I love doing in my spare time is seeing the reaction the gaming crowd has. I will say that it's mostly positive. Mostly. But you do have the kids who just don't get the point. Now, this isn't an exact quote or a real person. I'm taking the general responce made by the negative crowd.

This is stupid. How are you supposed to use this? - Spencer Yates. Age 13. Idaho.

Let me point you to a page that answers your burning question. I'm assuming you just looked at a picture and quickly jumped on the hate train, which was ready to pull out of the station.

That thing does not look comfortable. That will tire you out after only a few minutes of play. - Jacob Jingleman Age 25. Arkansas

If that's the reason you think this controller sucks, then you are a true gamer. You wake up at three in the afternoon. You have a few slices of cold pizza to get the day started, and your body is fueld by Bawls. Yes, if you play a baseball game, you will have to swing the remote like a bat to hit the ball on the screen. Yes, you will have to use more than you thumbs to play a game. I can guarantee that you will work up a sweat. Feels great to be alive, doesn't it? Now, for the Cliffnotes version. I think the new Nintedo controller is the bee's knees, and owning a Revolution will be swell. And for another interesting read. Check out this write up at Lost Garden. GOBOKS!!

Real time chat us in the face!

2005-09-16T05:08:00.000-07:00

We finally signed up for an AIM screen name, so all you kiddies can chat to us when we're on, and you can send us those hot photos of your neighbor if you want. (We prefer getting pictures of your sister, but the neighbor thing will be fine.) Sadly, the SN nerdcast was taken, so we had to settle with... nerdcastlovesyou There you go. Add that to your buddy list and spam away. Pay close attention to the away messages. If you see that we are recording a show, you may send us a question and we'll try to answer it. Thanks, -The Management

Please check with your local community college

2005-09-13T13:20:00.000-07:00

So, get this. Bill Gates is giving his keynote speech at PDC 2005. During this keynote speech he's talking about all the uninteresting features for the long over-due update to Windows, and on top of that, he's showing off GUI features that got my pants wet back in 1999. Yeah, I said it. I'm not going to get started on how Windows Vista is going to be the most boring thing to happen in 2006 (MS still has time to put my foot in my mouth for me). But I will get started on this new version of Office with an overhaul done to the GUI. You know, I thought they would simplify it for us. I thought they would get rid of the buttons we don't need and you could add them later. I thought I thought I thought I thought wrong. The new GUI looks horrible. But what could I expect; it matches the horrible Vista GUI. I understand the principle behind it. You click the WRITE tab and it brings up all the tools you would need to write a document. Don't get me wrong, I think the ribbon idea is swell, but does it need to take up that much screen space? Does the binocular icon for the find function need to be life size binoculars? After scouring this great tool known as the internet, I found the best quote that sums up my feelings for it. It's short and to the point.

It looks like ass.

So please Microsoft. Send your GUI developers to a graphic design class or two. Do whatever it takes to get this thing to look sexy and functional. Thank God for my 19in monitor running at blazin' high resolution. NOTE: I am totally aware that these programs are still in development and that they can change. From past experience, whatever MS showed off at their conferences is what went final.

nerdcast : Show #1 THE PILOT!

2005-09-12T00:46:00.000-07:00

The pilot episode of nerdcast is here. We are still in the test phase of the show. We're trying out new things, and different set ups so bare with us. We're still fleshing this out. We are also listed on Odeo. Leave comments or send us e-mail nerdcast @ gmail.com Hardware

-First up, we talk about this little thing called the iPod nano. You might have heard about it. It's kind of a big deal. You see, everyone is covering the damned thing, so we didn't talk about it much. Like the girls we are, we discussed which color we liked.

Software

-The Firefox 1.5 Beta is out and I love it. We have faster rendering, improved back and forward buttons, and tabs that you can arrange. I'm not loving the Internet Explorer 7 Beta. Basically it's IE 6 with tabs. We're hoping it gets better. Well, it doesn't matter because I'm sticking with Firefox. -We're recording this show through Google Talk. I know my side of the conversation might not sound too hot right now. My mixer is new and my levels aren't right yet. Other than that, we think it's a great program that you should try out. We said so. -Brian tells us about the OPML editor and how he wants to date it. It's a blogging tool that takes a bit of elbow grease to get it up and running. Looks like we won't see Jane blogging about how she's under age and likes to drink and do X.

Entertainment

-The new season of Family Guy premieres on Sunday night. It comes on during Desperate Housewives, but it should be no contest on which show we'll be watching. But there is always TiVo. -Then there is this movie called Doom coming out. Yes, it's based on the video game. It involves a group of people checking something out and they start dying off. We've seen this movie when it was called Alien, but it has The Rock in it, and we all love him.

Lifestyle

-Brian needs a new car. I show Brian the new Chevy HHR. Brian likes it because he likes things like that. Imagine a Toyota Matrix mating with a PT Cruiser while a TrailBlazer watches. The end result would be the HHR.

Hosts: Runtime: 33:28 Download: nerdcast001.mp3

New iPods and iTunes make my pants tight.

2005-09-07T11:43:00.000-07:00

Today marks the day that Apple killed off the iPod Mini and replaced it with the NEW iPod nano (that's Spanish for nano). As you can see, it looks a lot like the current iPod, but it's about as thick as a pencil, and you can get it in white or black. It looks like Apple has also killed off the multi-colored look, which is sad because it reminded me of the first gen iMacs. To read more about the features and to see how sexy it is, go to the iPod nano site. Also, iTunes finally hit version 5 today. It sports a redfined look, and it's the first major upgrade to the software in two years. It's introduced a lot of features in its 4.x lifespan, but can you believe iTunes 4.1 came to Windows almost two year ago? It's crazy I tell you. And of course, the iTunes download is taking eight years. It should be no surprise to me that it's getting hammered! Hammered like a thirteen year old boy at his older sister's wedding reception! Then there is that Motorola cellphone that can play iTunes music. Make love to that too.

Shares are down!

2005-09-06T22:38:00.000-07:00

I had a feeling I should of paid attention in college. Then I would understand this. http://blogshares.com/blogs.php?blog=http%3A%2F%2Fbataylor.blogspot.com%2F I have no idea what the hell this thing is.

2 day shipping = 1 week.

2005-09-06T18:32:00.000-07:00

The mixer is in the mail. I wish I could say that it was delivered on the 3rd like it was supposed to be, but uh, it was moved to the 6th. I wish I could say that it got here today like it was supposed to be, but it was moved to the 7th. You see, 2 days shipping takes a week, while 7 day shipping takes 2 days. Imagine That. Once that mixer comes in and I buy the cables, it will be time to rock podcasting's face. FACE!

nerdcast is Blogger.com powered!

2005-09-02T12:24:00.000-07:00

Yes! Getting Blogger's bloggy blog program to post to the pmind.com server was easy peasy. This is a totally upgrade from the MT 2.6something program we were using before. As of now, the only link that works is to the forums. ENJOY!!! Ben Taylor <3

A new fad.

1994-07-15T14:40:00.000-07:00

This new internet thing coming down the pipeline isn't going to last. I'm going to go see The Lion King again. brb.