Latest column's up! This week's rant is about Tourism:
" And, of course, it was déjà vu all over again this past August, when we went on vacation in David Thompson Country. David Thompson Country is this forgotten gem of the Canadian Rockies. It’s a stretch along Highway 11, extending from Rocky Mountain House to the Banff National Park border. Along the way, you’ll find the typical mountain views, a variety of pretty little campgrounds, and the centerpiece, Lake Abraham, the reservoir formed by the Big Horn Dam. But we were heading to the fabled David Thompson Resort. "
Read it all, homies!
Actually, I'm a little disappointed in myself. I didn't sit down and write a column today. My goal of forever staying three weeks ahead seems in jeopardy. I can still stay ahead, as long as I sit down in the next few days and write one. Don't let me forget, OK?
Been thinking alot about the future of the column and the website and all that. As I'm sure I've made clear many times, I've really grown to loathe all the pop-up ads and banners that Angelfire crams on my website, and as soon as I get a real job in radio, I'm going to shell out for proper server space.
But then what?
As my radio unemployment grows longer and longer, I'm really starting to like the idea of doing a podcast. For those who don't know, a podcast is an Internet radio show, varying in length from 15 minutes to half an hour, and usually available in MP3 format. Hence the term "podcast." iPod owners have taken to dumping these into their iPods for the radio experience.
What really makes them grow prominence is the new Internet trend of RSS, or "really simply syndication." It works like this. You have a fancy program on your computer called an "aggregator." You click on a website's link labeled "RSS Feed," and now, your aggregator goes to work. Whenever there's new content on that website, your aggregator will download it so you can read, listen, or watch it at your leisure. Some people are even rigging their aggregators and iPods so new podcasts are always automactically downloaded into the iPod.
Anyway, because of all this, podcasts are growing in popularity. A lot of them are made by amateurs in their basements. And, because of this, they sound like shite.
And, as one of my former NAIT instructors said, "You should do one, Mark. You can make one that sounds professional, and a lot better than what's out there. Maybe even get a sponsor, and drop a few ads in it."
It's an idea that has a lot of appeal. But I don't know how to make this RSS thing work. I look around, though, and the RSS thing doesn't seem to be an issue to some people. They just throw it up on their websites with, "Click here to listen." In that case, I can do that.
And, of course, there's always the issue of server space. When converting to MP3s, a stereo, CD-quality file works out to 1M per minute. A 15 minute podcast would be around 15M, which is almost everything I've got on Angelfire.
but I still think it's the way to go someday.
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