…well there you go
Rich
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Homepage: http://www.techsupportrich.com
Jabber/GTalk: techsupportrich@gmail.com
Posts by Rich
OK, so now I think podcasting is dead, sort of.
Sep 4th
Have you ever had one of those incidents where you look in the mirror one morning and suddenly realize that you’re a bit fat? I’ve had a few of those. It just sneaks up on you, it’s not something you notice on a day to day basis. In a similar way I’m beginning to think that something like that is happening to podcasting. I woke up one morning and realised it was fat.
You might have read my previous post about the idea of running a podcast forever, but I’m a lot more wound up by stuff than that.
To begin with I’d like to adress the issue of video shows. They’re very hard to do you know. In all my years of podcasting I’ve never attempted it because of the time and resources necessary to produce a weekly video show forever. Since it was decided to no longer live by this ongoing torment method of production we can start to look at the viability of video content again. For starters it’s a lot easier to make a series than it is to make a long running show. If we were to make six episodes of something we could put much more effort in to those six episodes. But now lets not stop there. We’re breaking the rules remember? How about we mix video and audio together. That’s right, I’m talking about having a show that has video and audio episodes. I know you’re just supposed to pick one format and go with it but hey, I don’t care.
Everything must be free forever. Sorry but I’m not really up for that. There are two ways you can make money in this business. You can sell advertising to businesses, or you can sell content to consumers. I really truly believe that people are happy to pay for content as long as they know they are getting value for money. That value can come in many forms. It could be the number of episodes of a show that you get for your pound. It could also be the effort that has gone in to creating something. Really what I’m saying is that as long as people aren’t having the piss taken out of them (Pirates 4) then you can sell content to happy people. I like happy people. Traditionally podcasts are all available forever. That doesn’t really work if you want to sell content. However it’s important to have your work out there so people can start to enjoy it. I’ve found that getting the balance between what’s free and what isn’t is very important. Take Movies You Should See as an example. On our RSS feed the last 25 episodes are always there, so the first time you listen you’ve already got just short of 25 hours of content available to you. On top of that you can subscribe to the feed and get every episode that comes out from that day on for free. What you don’t realise is that we’re really tempting you. We know that one day you’re going to want to listen to a new episode of the show and there won’t be one available. Then you’ll find your way into the store and buy a Year 1 box set, 44 episodes at £9.99 and be very happy with it. At least we’ve had no complaints so far.
So far then we’re eliminating long running shows, shows that are one of either audio or video, and committing to reasonably priced content with most of it being free. Not bad. All of this makes you realise something. The new media company of 2010 is nothing like the new media company of 2005. I feel like things are moving on and it’s time to move along with it. Let’s talk apps.
Without noticing it we’re suddenly living in a world of apps. I think it’s about time we had an iPhone/iPad/Android app. We’ve got all these great little mobile devices and no easy way to get Simply Syndicated content onto them when you’re out and about. That’s certainly something we could achieve with an app. Apps for the forum would be awesome too.
This is all still in idea form, but I think it’s time for a reboot of serious podcasting. That’s what I mean when I say podcasting is dead. It is to us, because it’s not enough any more. There will always be podcasting in some form or other, but I think the gap between professional and amateur is going to really open up.
I’m watching Moonraker
Aug 30th
I’m watching the James Bond film Moonraker, and it’s rubbish. Right from the start this movie makes no sense. Basically it starts out with a very bad model of a space shuttle being transported on the back of a big plane. Two guys nick the space shuttle by flying it off the back of the big plane. This is the first big WHY? moments of the film. Why are they transporting this shuttle when it’s full of fuel? Even if it wasn’t stolen, if it just crashed, surly it would be better if that crash didn’t involve a load of rocket fuel.
So ignoring the fact that the space shuttle doesn’t actually fly like a plane does we move on. Ignore the pre-credit fight bit. It’s pointless and makes no sense. Now we get to the main plot of the film. It turns out that Mi6 don’t know where the space shuttle is and they’d like James Bond to find it. Fair enough. So Bond goes out to California to visit the bloke who made it. They have tea and Bond gets introduced to two ladies who look like they just might be high class hookers. Bond says sorry for losing the space shuttle and says he’ll do his best to find it, then goes for a tour of the space shuttle factory. In a classic bad guy moment Drax, the bad guy, makes a call and gives the order for Bond to be “taken care of”.
Ideas For Shows
Aug 23rd
It’s been a few weeks since I announced that Simply Syndicated was moving to a series based method of production. It’s a little bit longer since the bollocks show came to an end. So what of these series? Exactly what am I working on at the moment? I’ll share it with you now, you see, subscription donations to our network have significantly dropped off. There are literally four or five people who donate to the network. It hasn’t always been like that, there used to be loads of you. It’s easy to blame lots of things in these situations, but I’m settling on lack of output. We aren’t as good value for money as we used to be.
For some reason I don’t understand, the summer is a really bad season for media production. Historically our downloads drop off through late May to late August and then start climbing again. It has been like that for five years. Even television isn’t immune. Why do you think they don’t start big new shows in the summer? A couple of years ago American television experienced it’s lowest rated day in television history, in July.
So without further a do it’s time to tell you about what could be known as our autumn line up.
The following shows are things I’m personally working on and is by no means a complete list.
1. Daily show (liking the title What’s All This Then, but hesitate to do another show with a question for a title)
That’s “a” daily show. Nothing to do with The Daily Show. This will be a daily (duh) podcast comprised mainly of audio, but not exclusively. Broadcast live, I intend to keep the show to the 30-45 minute mark. The show will be “safe for work” and feature a mix of news, music, talk, chat, interviews, comedy stuff and whatever else I feel like.
2. TechSupportRich
The podcast that goes with the blog, kind of. techsupportrich.com has become my own personal space on the net rather than a tech blog. It just so happens that I write about tech stuff. The podcast will be exclusively tech related. The show will be a mix of audio and video, and feature different types of episodes throughout the week. There will be an audio version of any longer blog posts that I do, which will be broken down into product reviews and personal opinion. There will be a weekly tech news roundup, quite short, probably on Fridays. There will also be a screencast portion of the show featuring tutorials and different software. The videos will probably be available on YouTube and for download from our store in HD. Finally an actual tech support show. This will be once a week at the most depending on the response. If you’ve got a tech question then ask me. When I’ve got enough to do a show, I’ll do a show.
Phew.
3. Modelling With Rich (working title, not to be confused with Modelling For Rich, that’s a different thing all together)
Want to know how to build models? Thought so. Now you can learn along with me in my video show about models. I’ll be building them and showing you how to do it. I’ll also be reviewing things and maybe taking the camera to a few model shows. I’ll even talk to some train builders. Need a better camera for that. (http://www.musicalmousemat.com – great entertainment at great prices)
So there’s just a little taster. I’ll announce more as it happens. There are other things in production. Mike is working on a new series of Albums You Should Hear and I hear that Mr Tristram has a few ideas circling around.
The Evolution of Modelling. Planes, not people.
Aug 18th
Seeing as I’m about to start bombarding you with photos and explanations of my model making, I thought I’d take a moment to talk about why I started and why I do it.
Years and years ago my Dad tried to get me interested in some things the he thought I’d like. I was a pretty apathetic child that always complained about being bored regardless of the toys and other entertainment opportunities my parents lavished on me. There was stamp collecting and of course various sports. The fact that you’re reading my blog right now my be some indication as to how much I enjoy sport. Then there was model making. Nothing too complicated, I remember we started building a diorama. He showed me how to build a battle field for my men to have a war on, and he helped me paint (which is to say he painted) what seemed like hundreds of little 1:72 scale WW1 soldiers.
All was well until it came time for the proper models. Little men aren’t models, you just paint them, no glue required. Proper models are things like planes, tanks, boats and cars. I seem to remember starting out with some sort of tank. Tanks are very fiddly and complicated, I don’t even build them now. There’s lots of little wheels that the tracks go around and all the turret stuff. In any case I think I got bored because it was too hard and gave up for the next 25 years.
Then late last year the BBC ran a series called James May’s Toy Stories. In this show James May took a look at the toys of years gone by and tried to bring them back to kids by performing a series of spectacular stunts. When they did a Lego show they build a house out of the stuff. A house sized house. When they covered Plasticine they entered the Chelsea Flower Show with a garden made completely out of Plasticine. That was all lots of fun, but the first episode was about something very special…Airfix.
In the Airfix episode they attempted to construct a 1:1 scale build of the Spitfire MK1a, the most popular Airfix kit ever. I’ll let you get the show from iTunes to see if they managed it. Watching that show stirred something in me. I remembered the smell of the paint and the frustration of sorting out all the little men. Then it hit me, I’m an adult now. Maybe now I could sit still for more than five minutes and actually do something that requires a little care and attention. After a few days of careful consideration it was time to visit the model shop.
There’s a nice little model shop in Haworth. You might not be able to buy a DVD here but you can get your hands on the latest Airfix. That quite works for me, I’ve got all of Star Trek so I don’t know what I need to be buying other DVDs for. Anyway, at this model shop, they’ve got hundreds if not a couple of thousand models. I had two in particular in mind. A Spitfire and a Hurricane by Airfix. I managed to get kitted out with everything I thought I needed, models, paints, brushes and glue. That’s quite sweet now I think back over it. One of the first things the guy in the shop said to me was “Have you just seen that James May’s Toy Stories?”. I was a bit embraced to admit that I was buying something because I saw a TV show about it. However he explained that his shop hadn’t stopped being busy since the show was on. Lots of kids getting their first model, and lots of parents trying things again. He also admitted that more girls than boys had come back for a second model.
I started on the Spitfire and made a mess of it. That went in the bin as I’d decided that if I was going to do this, I was going to do it right. The Hurricane went much better. It’s on the shelf next to me now. Admittedly it’s the worst model on the shelf, but that’s to be expected.
We’re now still less than a year on and things are serious. Next to that Hurricane are three Spitfires, along side a selection of other WW2 aircraft. By the way, I don’t have a preference for WW2 planes, it’s just that there were more than a few built around that time. Last week I had to throw some old models away to make room for new ones. Even brushes are a thing of the past now as I choose to airbrush the planes now.
So what’s the appeal? It’s the most calming and peaceful thing I can do. Playing computer games is fun but it isn’t relaxing. If I start building a model I can forget everything else in the world and just concentrate on the one small part of it that I’m creating in my hands. It looks like a hobby for old men. Good, I don’t want it to be exciting and high energy. I want something that I can do quietly.
One thing is for sure, I won’t be giving up any time soon. Allison got her first model a couple of weeks ago and I can see her getting the bug. I even intend to start a video podcast about it as soon as resources allow. Over the next few days and weeks I’ll be writing about the various models I’ve made and what I learned from each build. Take a look at my Flickr account to see what I’ve got so far.
My Adventures In Rooting My Android Phone: Part 4
Aug 16th
Don’t network operators just really mess things up all the time? If it wasn’t for them, your phone would be exactly as the manufacturer intended it to be. So far we’ve seen very few companies get away with forcing carriers to sell their phones without the obligatory bloatware that they like to put on there. Those companies are Apple and Google.
Google made a half hearted attempt at it with the Nexus One. Basically an HTC Desire with slightly different buttons, the Nexus One promised to give users the full “Google Experience” which it turned out, a lot of people wanted. They promised that as soon as they released OS updates, they would be made available for the Nexus. They were mostly telling the truth. If you bought an unlocked, open, from Google, Nexus One then that’s what you got. However if you bought it from Vodafone, you still got all the bother of waiting for them to release updates.
The same is true for most phones. If you buy them sim free and unlocked, then you’ll probably get software updates as soon as they’re released. Buy from a carrier and you’ll wait for the O2 screen saver to be added to it.
Without a doubt Apple are the best at doing this. It’s fair to say that they can be the way they are with carriers because it’s the iPhone and presently the hottest phone around, still. With their touch devices they announce a time and date for the updates to be available and we all get it on that day. No matter which country or carrier.
The network operators don’t give themselves an easy ride either. Perhaps we’d understand a bit more if they did things to our phones that actually make them better in some way. Instead they want to just put their branding all over the device in the hope that I’m such an O2 fanboy I’ll just need to tell everyone that I’m using them. Recently Vodafone’s Nexus One owners have revolted against their recent Froyo update that came with lots of Vodafone’s own pointless software.
The reason I’m saying all this today is that O2, the network I use, have announced that their Froyo update for the HTC Desire will take at least another six to eight weeks to be available. Being that there’s an O2 HTC Desire sat on the desk in front of me I can tell you precisely what O2 did to it before they let me have it. First of all, when I turn the phone on there’s an image of the O2 logo. Second, there’s an O2 wallpaper in the wallpaper menu. Third…well there is no third. HTC released their official update for the Desire about two weeks ago, that’s when O2 got their hands on it (probably). Are they seriously saying that it’s going to take them ten weeks to add a launch screen and a wallpaper? It certainly does to me. It doesn’t exactly fill you with confidence does it? I mean, I reckon I could learn how to add those things to a ROM and make it in less time than that.
So where does all this end? I’d love to see a marketing report from one of the operators that explains exactly what they gain by having a wallpaper added to a phone. Do they think that I’ll use the O2 wallpaper, other people will see it and then go buy an O2 phone? Clearly they aren’t going to stop it any time soon. As it goes they’re all making enough money so they’ve not really got an incentive to change.
To give a better answer, this ends with rooting your phone. I’ve been using Froyo for weeks so I’m not really bothered when O2 release their version of it. There’s really no reason to stick with the official versions of things any more. Phones are becoming more like PCs in a lot of ways. Not just in the functionality provided by the availability of apps, but in the way that you can choose what OS your PC runs. Windows? Linux? OS X? You’ve got a choice and really you have that same choice with your phone, it’s just that the networks don’t want you to know that.
See, this is what I’m trying to tell you all about
Aug 12th
I was sat at my desk, working away, when all of a sudden there came a crash from outside. I looked out the attic window and down below me I could see one of Pam’s kids with a couple of friends climbing over a fence in to our neighbour’s garden. Clearly they were using it as a short cut to get to our street. Our street doesn’t go anywhere any, they just hang out here to smoke away from Pam. I don’t know why because it’s illegal to buy cigarettes if you’re under 18 but it’s legal to smoke from 16. That means Pam must be buying his smokes for him.
What bewilders me about all this is how dumb the kids are. That shortcut saves them from having to walk around a house. That’s A house, 1 building, maybe 30 feet. What was even more dumb was the kid looked into our house on his way back down the street and made eye contact with me. He knows I saw him, and yet they still went and climbed over on the way back. Here’s a video of them climbing back home just incase you missed it when I posted it on YouTube. Also it’s helpful if you’re still wondering what a chav looks like.
Now I like Evernote, but I also like Springpad. I wonder which is best.
Aug 11th
Time for the battle of the online note management thingys. I’m sure the people who run these services have a proper name for them but I don’t know what it is. Anyway, I’m talking about one very useful area of cloud services, notes.
For years we’ve had note taking applications. The trouble with them is that they tended to live on one device. I can use Stickies on the Mac, but they’re only on the Mac. I have a Notes app on my iPod but they only live there too. Sometimes I’m using my Windows laptop which has a completely different system again, or I’m using my Android phone which obviously isn’t compatible with any of the other devices I’ve mentioned. If only there was a way I could use any of these devices to access a store of notes that live online and sync automatically to any device running the right software. Well, worry no more. We have Evernote and Springpad.
Both of these services work around the same idea. You have an online account that you use to store, edit and view notes. Those notes could be text, photos, audio recordings or a collection of all three. Notes can also contain geographical data so I can record where I was when I made a note. As good as that is, it’s not the best part. I can access these notes anywhere from any device.
Both services offer iOS and Android apps that work fantastically. Evernote also offers apps for Blackberry, Palm Pre and Windows Mobile. Take a photo and you have a button that lets you upload it to Evernote. Scan a barcode and Springpad will find the product and make a note of it. Evernote even offers desktop clients for OS X and Windows, which allows you to sync notes between your desktop and laptop as well as your phone. At the moment Springpad doesn’t offer a desktop client, it just has a web interface which isn’t bad, but so does Evernote.
Where Springpad sets itself apart from Evernote is the way in which you can organise your notes. Instead of just having a long list of notes, Springpad lets you create check lists, to do lists, products, bookmarks and more. They even have their own little app store that lets you find new services to plugin. Of course both services are basically doing the same thing.
Evernote offer a free service which will suit most users, but they also offer a premium service. This is defined by the amount of data they allow you to upload each month. The extra service costs $5 per month or $45 per year and ups the data allowance from 40mb to 500mb. There are some other bells and whistles too so I encourage you to check out http://www.evernote.com.
So far there’s very little in it for me between these two services. Unless there are any major changes I can see myself using both of them for different tasks. You can find Evernote at www.evernote.com and Springpad at www.springpadit.com.
craigbevanmusic.com
Aug 2nd
Here’s a look at Craig’s new music video, shot by Tristan. Remember Tristan? Anyway, here’s the video. You’ll want to take a look at http://www.craigbevanmusic.com to buy the album, it’s brilliant.
I bought this off Amazon
Jul 30th
It was only £3 or something. Amazon had it in stock and got it out to me right away.
The XBox 360 S
Jul 30th
I have been the proud owner of an Xbox 360 since about a year after their initial launch. I waited for the first price drop and managed to get the premium bundle with a couple of games for £309. If I remember correctly, that was something like a £100 drop in price. I felt good about it at the time, and to be honest, I didn’t really regret it as I saw the price fall lower and lower over the next four years. Besides most consoles have only been around for five years or so before they get replaced by the new model. What’s the point in waiting four years for something to become cheap only for it to also become obsolete a year later.
However Microsoft and Sony have both said that they expect the current console line up to be good for ten years. That leaves us with another four or five years to go. Suddenly my four year old machine is starting to look a little long in the tooth. It also has a couple of other points against it. When you put a disc in, you are not guaranteed that the Xbox will actually read it. And lets not forget the noise. At an air show many years ago I got the chance to be about as close as it’s safe to get to Concorde when it was warming up the engines for take off. That was loud, but nothing compared to the Xbox 360. More >
