The Podcast

This past month I had a look into the future of the internet. The hot new thing since last year has been the "Blog" which gives everybody the freedom to write what's on their mind and make it available to anybody in the world with an internet connection. Recently, some blogs have begun to be taken seriously even having influence on last year's US election.

What's the next logical step? After the printed press came radio and this my friends is The Next Big Thing. Personal computers have made in-home sound studios with professional sound quality and mixing capabilities both possible and inexpensive. What makes radio inaccessible to the average person is the cost and legality of broadcasting a radio signal. The FM/AM radio spectrum is too limited to offer a frequency to everybody so using radio signals and transmitters is out of the question.

As podcasting "PodGod" Adam Curry would say: "Transmitters? We don't need no stinkin' transmitters!".



Adam Curry is a former MTV VJ and a proficient radio host who developed the concept of using an RSS Feed to download a digital sound file to a users' computer, which in turn sends it to an iPod (or any other portable digital music player). What does this mean? It means that you can conveniently expect your iPod to be loaded with the latest daily show when you get out of the house. Portability is what has kept radio alive after the advent of television. People find it convenient to listen to radio shows in their cars or portable radios on their way to work or walking through the city.

This is what the Podcast specializes in. Not only can you take your "radio" shows with you on your portable music player, you can play and pause the show as you see fit. No more waiting for your favorite show, no more listening to endless commercials. You listen to the show when you want to. The best of it all is that now, anybody can produce a podcast. Some are good, some are bad...others are really good and yet others are so horribly bad you'd think it's a new torture technology.

The best shows I've been listening to are Adam Curry's own "The Daily Source Code" and "The Dawn & Drew Show".

There are several Podcast aggregators which allow you to download the latests podcasts. I prefer Podcast Tuner



I've literally become a podcast junkie in just 2 or 3 weeks. I anxiously await the arrival of each "Daily Source Code" and experience Podcast Withdrawl on weekends when The DSC is not produced. With Podcasting, I've found that all of a sudden, I have no use for a portable radio.

Apple has apparently seen this coming. An FM receiver is notably absent from their iPod and Apple reportedly refused an offer to incorporate XM satelite radio into the ubiquous digital music player. The next versions of the iPod and iTunes are sure to incorporate the Podcast concept.

With iTunes, we'll likely see a built in podcast subscriber and potentially in the future, users will subscribe to paid podcasts for a fee. This is of course for the likes of Howard Stern type shows with great content, music and all. Just when you thought satelite radio was going to take off...

As for the iPod itself, Apple's lead in the digital music player market is sure to lag if an advanced iPod is not released within 2005. Adam Curry uses the iRiver to record his portable podcasts and Father Roderick (TheCatholicInsider.com) uses a Sony MD Recorder.



Apple seems to be strategically placing itself for a Pro iPod launch. It is distinguishing its lineup along the lines of its other hardware. There is a Pro Mac (PowerMac G5), a high end Consumer Mac (iMacG5) and a low end Consumer Mac (Mac Mini). There is a Pro Notebook (PowerBook) and a Consumer Notebook (iBook). What we are seeing now is a Consumer iPod Mini and a low end iPod Shuffle with the original iPod seemlingly ready to hit the big leagues as a "PowerPod".



Right now, the original iPod offers not much more than larger capacity. However, there are whispers in the Apple community that point to a new Pro iPod hitting the market this year. Apple's pro hardware is geared toward production of content as opposed to the more consumer side of enjoyment of content.

Apple-x.com reports that PortalPlayer is shipping a new version of the chips they produce for the iPod which will enable USB 2.0 devices to interact with the iPod. What this means is that external peripherals such as a portable sound mixer will be able to connect to the iPod and allow podcasters like Adam Curry and Father Roderick to produce shows on the road without any heavy equipment. I'm sure we'll see the Pro iPod with a built in microphone and perhaps with Bluetooth and/or WiFi capability.

Of course Apple will produce a new iPod in style just as they always have. Look out for an aluminum clad iPod coming to an Apple Store near you.

Stay tuned as I fiddle with GarageBand and perhaps try delving into the Podcast world myself.

My Life As a Business: Progress So Far...

Hey all.

At the beginning of 2005 I proposed to myself that I run my life as a business for one year as a trial. The point was to know in advance what 2005 reserves for me and be one step ahead in making it a successful year. I've calculated a budget and drafted goals to acomplish in each quarter of the year. Q1 is coming to an end on March 31st I thought it would be a good time to balance the results.

My most important goal I had set for 2005 included an investment in my education by having my Desktop Publishing Design Certificate in October, less than a year before I took the big step of returning to school.



Another goal is an investment in my personal growth by travelling to more must see cities of the world. Last year, I decided to see Canada which I had seen very little of. I ended up going to Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City. In the same summer, I then set out to New York, a big goal of mine all my life and even hopped over to Washington for a day trip.



This year I'd like to continue seeing the USA. I hope to go to San Francisco in Q3 and perhaps rent a car and drive to L.A. and Hollywood while I'm there. It's also time for me to go pay a visit to my family and friends in Portugal also in Q3. I can't wait to lay on the beach and enjoy the summer nightlife of Lisbon and sorroundings. I also need to leave some room for my trademark spontaneous trips I decide to take out of the blue every year.



When calculating this, I figured that I was a bit short of my goal with my job with Quadrant Cosmetics (Hugo Boss fragrances). I tried to think of unconventional ways of making up the extra money. Besides selling superfluous stuff on eBay (while further miniturizing my life), I decided to go after some good sources of income that have worked in the past. My Portuguese teaching is back in gear. I left a day in my schedule available to supply teach for the Catholic School Board and I'm teaching private classes. I'll also be integrating some promotion of my private classes on TorontoPT.com. All this will pick up the slack on the deficit I had in my budget.

Turns out, one job will do the trick. What happened? I got a new job! I've been hired by Calvin Klein fragrances which provides much more steady hours. The job is more challenging since I will be involved in event planning, sales strategizing and agressively attempting to meet targets. The relative job security I will be experiencing is a welcome relax on stress and I am now much closer to work since I'll be working downtown as opposed to Yorkdale Mall.
One great thing is that I figured that my new job at Calvin Klein will allow me to enhance my professional graphic design portfolio by using flyers to promote events at CK. This will be real life work done professionaly and will look great on my portfolio a year down the road.



I have a ton of books to read this year and each is slotted into different quarters of the year. I have about 15 days to finish "Illustrator 11 for Dummies". I realized that this is more like a study manual so I'm starting to read Tsu Szu's "The Art of War". It's a strategy book that applies to the corporate world and other aspects of life desipite it's title's reference to "war". This is a book which I've been thinking of reading since I heard about it as a teenager. The Illustrator for Dummies book will be something I'll pick up while sitting at my computer and learning hands on.



So far, this "Life as a Business" trial is working out great. I know where I am lagging and what I need to do so it sort of takes this weight off my mind. Before I would have so many things going through my mind because I knew I wanted to do them but I was unsure if I'd get to do them because I had so much to do. The problem wasn't having too much to do, the problem was not setting deadlines to perform each task. Now I have everything organized and I think I will accomplish so much more as a result.

One lagging goal is in my "new experiences" sector. I wanted to ice skate for the first time, but I'm having trouble with that since everybody I know doesn't want to go. I guess if I don't get the chance to ice skate this year, I'll pick up the pace by doing a lot of new things this spring and summer.

I'm going to be looking ahead at Q2 where I want to pick up my french books and get hands on (tongue on) with speaking and reading french. I have a Q3 goal of having finished writing my children's book and starting by the end of the year to use my new Illustrator skills to design the drawings for the book and my new InDesign layout skills to put it together. 2006 is going to be the year of attempting to get it published while writing new books. This is all part of my strategy to create income sources that will be independant of my more mainstream jobs.

Looks like I'll have my hands full for the next little while, but for the first time in as long as I can remember, the stress I constantly experienced because of so many goals for just one year, is now gone. I know all my goals are achievable.