RIAA: Rip your CD? Thief!

The Washington Post reports:

In legal documents in its federal case against Jeffrey Howell, a Scottsdale, Ariz., man who kept a collection of about 2,000 music recordings on his personal computer, the industry maintains that it is illegal for someone who has legally purchased a CD to transfer that music into his computer.

So, is Apple aiding and abetting this theft with iTunes? Will Fake Steve Jobs be led off in cuffs, ranting and raving about person responsibility? All I have to say is that this Scottsdale guy was probably picked out of a huuuuuge list of people who rip their CDs for personal use. Talk about winning a reverse sucky lottery...

UPDATE: Turns out dude was using these files in Kazaa, a popular file sharing program. Moral... RIAA not as evil as we thought, Washington Post, much worse reporting than we thought.

Blogging's good for business

At least that's what the NY Times says.

To its true believers at small businesses, it is a low-cost, high-return tool that can handle marketing and public relations, raise the company profile and build the brand.

It's sort of surprising to me that few small businesses have taken this rather simple route to boost their overall exposure. Still, knowing how demanding all of the other aspects of running a business can be, maybe it's not so surprising!

Have a great weekend!

Live podcasts

MSNBC reports on podcasters becoming their own talk show hosts using Skype and other services online to put out live shows in addition to the more traditional recorded on-demand podcasts (tradition dating "all the way back" to 2004)... good coverage of the phenomenon here.

Blogging will probably continue to be light through the rest of the week - lots of late-in-the-year projects here at Nineball!

A holiday treat from Paul Anka

Paul Anka does Smells Like Teen Spirit. No, seriously. It's like my worst nightmares came true, but it's... oddly compelling. Plus, dad might get into grunge now...

Merry Chirstmas to everyone... we'll be a little quieter around here for a few days!

Latest screencast: Sharing creative works

Check out the latest addition to the Nineball Media YouTube channel... a Creative Commons use of a Creative Commons primer! For the original comic this was based on, go to the Sharing Creative Works page at creativecommons.org.

MicPort Pro

Just got a new product...the Entrance MicPort Pro. The cool aspect of this is that it takes a high end XLR input mic and makes it into a USB mic. It works in Windows and Mac , and I can confirm that it works in Mac OS 10.5 (Leopard). I will caution that this was with my setup only, and it did not work when plugged into a powered USB hub (only through the keyboard USB port and directly to the iMac).

Good news for portability... no need to lug a whole mixer or a substandard mic!

Lawmakers rattling sabres over copyright enforcement bill

Looks like Congress is making noise over copyright issues again. I'm in the middle of a project on the impact of copyright laws on podcasting and new media... while we asuredly want to protect artists and the good stuff they produce, I get a little nervous when record labels and other entities flex their muscles on the Hill to protect their economic interests... it tends to make things trickier for podcasters and independent content producers. We shall see...

Zune followup

Just caught an interesting comment from the folks at Zune here at the Nineball Media blog that I wanted to put front and center regarding linking to Zune podcasting links:

Thanks for the great post on 1-click podcast subscription links for the Zune. We also have a Deep Link URL process that will enable podcasters to link to their podcasts page in the Zune Marketplace.

For the podcast deep link below to work, podcasters will need to verify that their podcast is in the Zune Marketplace. If your podcast is not in the Zune Marketplace, then download and install the software and submit your podcast feed URL to us through the podcast page in the Marketplace. Please be patience after your submission and only submit a valid XML based RSS feed with active enclosures.

If your podcast is already in the Zune Marketplace, then follow the steps below to get the unique deep linking URL to use for your Zune podcast link.

Here is how to make a deep link to a podcast program page in the Zune Marketplace.

1. Go to the Podcast page in Zune Marketplace you want to make a link.
2. Click on “Tell a Friend” and send it to yourself via email.
3. In the e-mail message, right-click on the album name and copy hyperlink.
- Link Code: http://social.zune.net/external/LaunchClient.aspx?mtype=Podcast&mid= ID
4. Paste the hyperlink somewhere as this is the complete link you will need (i.e., Outlook, Word). If you paste it and just the album name is pasted, right click on the album name again and select Edit Hyperlink to find the URL.

Here is a working example of the Deep Link:
http://social.zune.net/my/ContentRedirect.ashx?mtype=Podcast&mid=aae52850-0b06-484e-82e2-bafbdc5a494a

Rob Greenlee, Zune Podcast Programming Lead

Thanks Rob... I really have to confess I like the attention the Zune is paying to podcasting. I'd love to try one... what are the odds they'll support Mac OS anytime soon? Oh, about as likely as a Dolphins Super Bowl appearance... gotcha.

A new resource: Nineball on YouTube

So, Portland's practically underwater and DC is frozen over... a perfect time for Nineball Media to launch its YouTube channel! We'll be providing free video how-to's over there... subscribe to the channel, or just check it out at youtube.com/9ballmedia. In the meantime, check out the cool preview video here:

Reinstalling SoundSoap in Leopard

I am a huge fan of BIAS's SoundSoap2, but I was without it for a few days after upgrading the trusty Nineball Media computers to Mac OS X Leopard. Turns out that on a reinstall some people were running into permissions issues that are easily solved by making folders in your Application Support directory... check this out for more scoop. I actually had to go a step further and make two folders. You'd think these installers would be smart enough to do it on their own, eh?

In any event, I'm now able to scrub background sound out like a champ, thanks to SoundSoap being back. And the crowd roars... with less hiss.

RIP Evel Knievel

Evel Knievel died last night... he was one of the few childhood idols I had... looking back, it was probably more because he was a cool daredevil and I was 5, but nonetheless I remember my early career ambitions included "motorcycle jumping" largely because of him. Oh, that and the extremely cool crank powered car that purposely broke into a kajillion pieces when it hit a wall (lower left).

In any event... Evel was a maverick in the best sense of the word, and I'd like to think I've lived up to the aspirations of my toddler self in some way. But there's no way I'm trying that Snake Canyon thing... even Evel couldn't make that.

How to make a Zune podcast subscription link

We have a "no media player left behind" policy here at Nineball... whether the buzz is real, manufactured, genuine, or some combination of all three, the Zune is getting some attention and it does support podcasting. If you're a podcaster and want to make it easier for Zune owners to subscribe to your podcast, here is how to make a one-click subscribe link.

Ingredients

• Your RSS feed
• The title of your show

Prep

zune://subscribe/?The title of your show=Your RSS feed

Insert ingredients... serve and enjoy.

That's it. Here are a few examples so you can see it:

For everyone's favorite yoga and lifestyle show, Hip Tranquil Chick:

zune://subscribe/?Hip Tranquil Chick=http://libsyn.com/hiptranquilchick/rss




For my side project, the Nonprofit Law Podcast:

zune://subscribe/?Nonprofit Law Podcast=http://feeds.feedburner.com/nplawcast



Pretty easy stuff. Notice you can put spaces in there... works just fine. Note that the "zune://" piece will tell the clicking PC to fire up Zune software... if your computer doesn't have it, it will stare at you blankly and go, "huh?". Just so you know...

Some people like to use "chiclets" in a sidebar... there's a nice one over at podcast.com. Looks like this:

There you have it... now you can welcome Zune owners to podcasting with an easy-to-use one-click subscribe option!

E-book reader

Amazon is pushing a new device called the Kindle... what sets it apart from other readers is the fact that a computer is unnecessary. You can buy books over the air using the Sprint wireless network. Books download in about a minute, and the cost of the wireless access is (pardon the pun) folded into the price of the book.

No computer... wireless access... seems pretty cool if you can get into reading e-books. Looks like the interface is legible and works well. Still, the $399 price point is pretty steep, and of course the e-books aren't free either. However, I've always sort of liked the idea of converting the concept of the iPod's "music library in your pocket" to books. Maybe not as a replacement, but this could be something that shows up under the tree... in 2008 when the prices go down.

Nineball Media... become a fan

Check out Nineball Media on Facebook... become a fan... pass it on!

Samson C01U review

I'm a big fan of the simplicity and sound quality of the Samson C01U... I recommend it as a good starter mic for beginners that want a very nice, warm sound on a budget. The Apple Blog agrees... check out this review.

Friday tip: NYU students easily bought

Memo to candidates in need of a few thousand extra votes... buy the iPod Touch in bulk and distribute at NYU. An NYU journalism class polled 3000 NYU students and discovered our long-fought for principles of democracy cashes out at about $299. So... candidates, what do you think? Suuuure it would be totally illegal, and suuuuure it might not actually be true for every NYU student, but it's got to be better than schlepping to another meet and greet or debate. Kick back and keep one of those iPods for yourself!

Challenging sound environments

I'm monitoring a client recording session this afternoon in a very challenging sound environment... A lunch banquet keynote. Rather than struggle with the sound isolation, I've decided to embrace it... It might be an interesting "sound seeing" experience for listeners to hear the klinking cutlery with a full bodied sounding speaker rather than a tinny muffled sound. We shall see what emerges in post-production!

Has anyone else recorded these types of events? Directional mice seem to be a good answer, but I'm interested in hearing other experiences too.

Wrapping up Blog World

Day two was significantly quieter... I suspect Vegas claimed a few victims overnight! Going to one more session on social networking proved to be one too many as the info wasn't as helpful as yesterday's sessions. I just finished a session on mic technique by the rep from Shure - the crowd was pretty sparse, which was a shame because he put together a nice (if a bit techie) piece. Shure mics are outstanding for the more advanced podcasters out there (their price points tend to be higher than I'd recommend for newbies).

I got to meet Rob Walch at the Wizzard Media booth, and we had a nice chat about all things podcasting and - of course - the iPhone. Rob's an important voice in podcasting (Podcast 411 is a place I tell all people to check out). I also got a chance to see Justine from iJustine wandering about. She was the one with the massive iPhone bill video that got a kajillion views this summer on YouTube.

All in all, a great show. I think I'm going to skip out on the Mark Cuban keynote... if he was going to talk about whether he was going to buy a hockey team, I'd probably go, but for now... I'm ready to grab some coffee and wait up for my red eye back to DC. I've got a lot of work to do based on some of the great info and networking here!

The view from the floor

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Leo glows at keynote

Or, my phone has no flash...

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Blog World: Leo Laporte keynote

This is what Leo twittered before he came on stage for the keynote this morning. I have to say, he was not terribly informative, and it might have to do with that lack of prep. I suppose I appreciate the honesty! I like what he's done in the world of tech... his radio show and podcast help a lot of people out, and there's no question Leo has advanced podcasting in ways few have. But this keynote was nowhere near as informative as yesterday's sessions. Oh well, can't win them all.

One interesting piece from the keynote... podcasting is leveling off in some ways, but it's opening up some other avenues through featuring content in webpages and newsletters. I think that's right on... if you rely on iTunes as your only outlet for your content, then you're seriously missing an opportunity. Think bigger and get that content out there in as many ways as you can.

Two more sessions and maybe a keynote with Mark Cuban to go...

Blog World Day 2

I'm off to hear Leo Laporte at the morning keynote (easst coast jet lag allows me to rise at an earlier hour than normal. Did you know the sun is up at 6:30? Who knew?). Looking forward to some good information at the sessions as well. I had a lot to digest last night... I suspect I'll be spending a fair amount of time putting together some new suggestions for clients in the podcasting and social media spheres after this show. You might even see some new additions to Nineball Media's offerings...

At Blog World

One semi-conscious early AM flight and I have arrived in Vegas for Blog World... I'm sure there will be plenty to blog about. First up is a session on video techniques. More later, including some assuredly poor quality pictures...

UPDATE...

Ok, so this pic's not so bad... but the guy ahead of me was caught in an awkward looking position. Video session was very good.... up next is a session on ways to monetize your podcast. One panel member suggested forming a podcast consulting company. Hmmmm... not a bad idea. Not bad at all...

UPDATE again...

I just sat in on another great marketing session full of amazing tips on leveraging new media for a variety of revenue generating ideas. So far I've been quite impressed with the quality of the presentations. Now I'm off to either (a) enjoy Vegas, or (b) implement some of these ideas for some of my clients. My workoholic ways and commitment to clients seems to be leaning (b). Celine Dione... Penn & Teller... Carrot Top... Danny Gans... the shows must go on without me!

AOL shrinking at a rapid pace

Once mighty AOL has lost 1/3 of its paying clientèle... in a year. Ouch. In some ways I'm not surprised... how many people do you know who still use AOL? When it first came out, AOL dominated the online access market with its ubiquitous free floppy disks and later CDs coming at you from every angle.

But then, people grew seemingly more interested in the broader array of content offered through the Internet, and AOL seemed like a sad middleman for the last 7 years or so. It will be interesting to see if its advertising model works...

Montreal in November

Greetings from Montreal. Memo to those traveling to this beautiful city on business or pleasure... it's friggin cold. Much colder than Portland or DC. I suspect Vegas next week will be warmer for us at Nineball Media.

Back to Montreal... it's very wired. Lots of wifi access points, and perhaps more than one would expect. Coming from DC which feels less wired than it should be, it's a nice change.

Lots of new news on Leopard (Mac OS 10.5), but I promised a little less Apple on the blog, so I'll let you Mac types find the info from the other usual suspects out there. Have a great weekend!

gPhone?

Google may be coming out with a big announcement in the next couple of weeks according to a Wall Street Journal report... will Goggle slap Apple silly in the mobile phone market?

Portland a blog mecca

Oregon Public Radio reports that Portlanders love blogs, second only to Austin, TX. Here at Nineball Media's west coast office (based in... Portland), we're committed to making Portland eke out the last percentage point or two to topple the mighty Austinites (Austiners?). Read more blogs in PDX!

Hat tip to Mike for pointing this out... hat tip to my under-caffeinated brain for ironically posting a story about Oregon blog readership for the Nineball Oregon office... on a blog. Hat tip to the man or woman who came up with the concept of hat tipping.

Customer service

I'm realizing how much this blog leans towards Apple products... a true tech blog should spend a little time away from the fruited tech giant. Maybe tomorrow...

Nineball Media's latest acquisition, a pimped out new iMac has been feeling a little sad lately. It doesn't like speaking with the great tubes known as the Internets. After running every diagnostic and even reinstalling OS X (yes, one day before the new one comes out, I have to install the old one again), I came to the conclusion that I had to call tech support.

Now, tech support gets hammered all across the computer industry, and for good reason. It's hard enough to figure out computer issues over the phone, but it's even worse when there's very little talent and it's spread very thin (and often, across time zones and oceans). The experience with Apple was, all things considered, pretty good. Thankfully, I had pretty much exhuasted their checklist, so my supposition of a fried Airport card was confirmed by Andrew (from now on referred to as "my boy Andrew"). We got a doctor's appointment set with the not-overstated at all genius tomorrow at 1. Nineball shall not have to rely on its older equipment for more than a day. My boy Andrew made it so.

One note... I'm not sure how long the process would have taken if I hadn't taken an hour before the call to my boy Andrew to do a fresh reinstall of OS X... I think even he would have made me do it and then call back if it hadn't worked. Word to the wise... before calling tech support, exhaust all options you can think of, even the ones that border on really annoying (like, say... reinstalling an operating system one day before the new one comes out).

One other bit of Nineball news... I just signed up for the Blogworld and New Media Expo in Vegas in a couple of weeks. Since I missed out on the Portable and New Media Expo in California last month, I thought it would be good to check this one out. If you're heading to Vegas and want to meet up to chat about podcasting or whatever, feel free to drop me a line...

iPod turns 6

Hard to believe how much has changed in 6 years... just check out the quaint notions of price, size and how big someone's "entire music collection" was back then...

Apple surpasses IBM

Based on earnings reports released yesterday, Apple's officially a bigger company than IBM. Really, we already knew that... what we get from these reports is confirmation that Big Blue is slowly slipping behind the pack. It's amazing that 25 years ago, the personal computing marketing wars pitted the Apple II versus the IBM PC... how things have changed. What never changed was how IBM always used old imagery for new technology... I mean, Charlie Chaplin hawking a computer? That would get some ad exec fired these days...

Apple taketh away and then giveth

Apple has announced it's releasing a toolkit for developers to create 3rd party applications for the iPhone. The kit should be out in February... not sure if the folks who hacked their phones with AppTap will be happy with waiting that long. Apple took a bit of a hit over it's 1.1.1 firmware release, since it bricked a bunch of phones and also rendered the AppTap apps useless. I suspect the February release will probably include a lot of changes (like a frieking to-do list... helloo!?). I'm quite sure there will be a slew of apps created by Apple that Jobs will unveil at the MacWorld keynote in January. Also, there's rumors that the iPhone will be enhanced when Leopard (OS 10.5) hits store shelves on October 26th... we shall see...

Back to the future

I'm back where it all started. The very first podcast I ever produced was for my former employer, Alliance for Justice... Today, I'm returning to kick off the new version of a revamped podcast for their judicial program. It's fun to be back as a part of Nineball Media. Funny how you actually CAN go back "home" sometimes!

Zune dump

It's been all over the Internet... Zunes for $99 on Woot. It's a good thing from a podcasting perspective, since they support podcasts about as well as iTunes, but considering Zunes have - so far - made nary a ripple in terms of social or industry impact, I'd say the flood of Zunes entering the marketplace at bargain-basement prices won't register too terribly much in podcasting stats. Still, you can't sneeze at any device that makes it easier to subscribe and listen...

I love the Internets

So, I've been suffering all day doing audio editing with an Apple Mighty Mouse that suddenly decided not to scroll down. Frustration mounted until, in a pique of anger, I googled "mighty mouse wont scroll" (I couldn't be bothered to use actual punctuation). The result? This blog post... which solved everything... all I had to do was press real hard. Who knew!?

It's times like this that I love the Internets.

iTunes podcast category pages

I was just on iTunes to check in on some client podcast rankings, and it looks like the category pages are all down... it used to be that clicking on "Government and Organizations" or "Health" (for instance) would bring one to a nicely laid out page that included featured podcasts and a top 20 list for that category... some subcategories got the same treatment. Now, it just takes clickers to a verrrrry bland three window text-based page. Hopefully this is just temporary (I suspect it is)... if not, that's a huge loss for podcasters.

UPDATE: Sigh of relief... three hours later, and some of the pages are back. I suspect the ITMS team is doing some page updating, so I suspect everything will be back up in due time.

Friday flashback: Star Wars trumpet woman

After a busy week, I reluctantly hit the email box this morning and found the pefect Friday post thanks to an early Nineball client. May I present to you the talent phase of a Nebraska beauty pagent... keywords here are trumpet, Star Wars, 80s hair and hysterical.

Have a great weekend!

Whirlwind

As you may have notice from the dearth of posts, it's been a bit of a crazy week here at Nineball Media. I'm currently working on a major recording project that I hope to finish up by the end of the week, plus I'm off to Boston today to do some work with one of Nineball's newer clients, Boston University. Thankfully, the news on new media and tech has been pretty slow lately (comparatively), unless you want to read more stories about iPhones bricking, or AOL's massive layoffs (coming Friday, allegedly).

Anyone in the DC area interested in supporting a good cause... I'm on the board of the Tranquil Space Foundation, and we're holding our first gala tomorrow night. Come on down and support a great cause... details at tranquilspacefoundation.org.

Friday ouch: iPod catches fire in dude's pants

WSB in Atlanta reports an unfortunate case of the dreaded "pants on fire" variety... apparently his Nano caught fire for 15 seconds in his jeans pocket. The good news is, glossy paper is now a serious shield to burnage. Good to know.

Apple is going to replace the unit as soon as possible... file that under "duh." I'm kinda bummed the guy didn't take a picture of his newly crispy nano, as it forces me to use a picture of some other nano that went all Human Torch on someone. Thankfully, it took .0003 seconds to find.

Have a good weekend!

Wifi iTunes Store and PME

I just had an interesting experience with the iPhone... One of my clients sells CDs through iTunes, so I plugged her name into the wifi store search on the phone. Within 2 seconds her entire library (minus podcasts alas) popped up, complete with samples. Very cool... If you've got an iPhone or an iPod touch, give it a whirl!

I'm hearing some interesting things fromthis year's PME (the podcast expo)... I'll read up some more and post thoughts later this week...

Light blogging this week

I'm on another bandwidth-limited excursion, so posting might be light this week. Always goodyo see changing foliage from someplace other than a computer screen!

Everything goes kaplooey

Even the lauded AppTap installer for third party applications on the iPhone has reportedly been disabled. When the price drop was announced Rob at Today in iPhone went on a rant of gargantuan proportions... given his love for AppTap, I'm thinking he's going to need some lozenges for the next post-show recovery unless the AppTap folks can counter this update.

This, by the way, is the game that will play out for a while... Apple will disable, outsiders will re-hack. Then, Apple will disable... etc., etc.

Have a great weekend!

iPhone unlockers now proud owners of bricks

Don't say Apple didn't warn ya. On Monday, they said the new iPhone update would disable unlocked iPhones, and lo and behold, iPhone Update 1.1.1 did just that. Looks like some methods to install third party apps suffered the same fate... I'm sure the Internets will be abuzz tomorrow with the full details. Meanwhile, the update apparently fixed some bugs for the rest of the iPhone owners that paid attention to Apple's threats.

Also, the update included the brand new WiFi iTunes Music Store... and, after all has been said, podcasts aren't included. Something tells me some enterprising hacker is working on an app to make this all happen. I hear rumors of betas flying about...

UPDATE: Ouch. Looks like some people who tried to un-unlock their phones for the update still bricked em. Again... ouch.

Happy 9th fron Nineball

Google turned nine this week... a very special birthday (if you're oddly semi-obsessed with the number like some of us).

I guess wireless devices *don't* cause crashes!

Having been nearly beaten up by several flight attendants for the audacity to work a cell phone in airplane mode, this brings a smile... Alaska Airlines is testing wifi on selected flights. If you're like me and you applauded the testy interchange between Toby and his flight attendant on the first episode of The West Wing, then this is sweet news. Frankly, if the relative safety in flight depends on (a) our seats and trays being in the full and upright position, and (b) that nothing electronic (except, I guess the plane) is running during takeoff and landings, then I may have to reconsider Amtrak.

But, now this.... not only can we open our laptops, but we can turn on the wifi. Welcome to the 21st Century! Woohoo!

Podshow TV on TiVo

Check it out... this is good news for additional exposure, even if it's only a limited subset of video podcasts. A lot of providers are clamoring for content, and podcasts seem to be a good source...

New York Times liberated

The New York Times has ended its pay-to-view experiment, Times Select, after two years. Now, all of its online content is free to read, but it looks like there will be plenty of advertising. WebbAlert reports that The Wall Street Journal may be following suit after Rupert Murdoch completes his acquisition of the venerable paper. Methinks someone at the Times crunched the numbers and realized they'd get much higher revenue from advertising rather than subscriptions...

How times have changed

I was in Oklahoma this weekend for a 95th birthday party (note... not my own), and got a real close look at the iPod of 100 years ago. The Edison Disc Phonograph. As far back as the late 1800s, this little gizmo dominated the music scene... well, it kind of created the recorded music scene, quite frankly. Now, I'm not sure if it's ironic that I took pictures of it with my iPhone, a sibling in the current line of recorded music dominance, but it's at least interesting to note the juxtaposition.











Who knows what's next?

Happy 100th to Hip Tranquil Chick

A big congratulations to Kimberly Wilson and Hip Tranquil Chick on its 100th episode!

HTC is an early client of Nineball Media, so we're super proud of this big accomplishment! What's amazing to me is how she has consistently put together quality content every week for two years. If you haven't had a chance to check it out, there's plenty of back episodes at hiptranquilchick.com.

iPhone credit

All of you early adopters, the time to get your $100 credit is here... check out the fancy schmancy
way of getting it here. Worst part? I gotta burn one of my 200 text messages this month to get it. I s'pose I'll recover when I get that hundred bucks...

Turns out it's a free SMS after all... thanks Steve!

Have a good weekend!

Podcasts via WiFi iTunes Store?

I mentioned in a previous post that I hadn't seen anything to indicate that podcasts will be available over the WiFi iTunes store... it wasn't demonstrated at the Apple event announcing it, and the webpage makes no mention. However, at least a couple of people are suggesting that podcasts will be available on the store... Natali del Conte from Textra stated pretty emphatically on GeekBrief that podcasts are on Apple's new WiFi iTunes Store. Here's hoping she knows something we don't know!

UPDATE... Natali got back via comment here on the blog and said she's wprking to confirm it through her press contact at Apple. On This Week in iPhone with Cali, it sounds like Jobs might have mentioned podcasts, but nobody's too sure. Mistake or not, it's a surefire bet that podcasters would embrace the hell out of inclusion in the wifi store.

Gates bids adieu

Some may accuse me of having a distinct pro-Apple bias... but I know when to give credit. Bill Gates defined mass appeal with Microsoft, and he has forever left his mark on the world of technology. Last week, he gave his final address before the Microsoft employees at Safeco Field in Seattle. Gates leaves Microsoft next year to focus exclusively on the Gates Foundation, an incredible philanthropic organization that has done and will continue to do amazing things in the areas of information technology and world health. Sounds like his address wasn't earth-shattering, but I think he may already be looking ahead to his next phase in life. Cheers to that!

One million iPhones later

The jury's still out on Apple's price drop and subsequent mea culpa to early purchasers, but one thing is for sure... the iPhone's doing well. Seventy-four days from the drop, and there are a million people walking around with one in their pocket. Not bad...

Alright, back to the grind. A week off and I not only have a fair amount of production work to catch up on, but I think I have a kajillion hours (more than a bajillion, less than a googol) of podcasts queued up!

I go away for one week and look what happens

A quick hit from Costa Rica... Just heard about the new iPods and the
(gulp!) massive price drop on the iPhone. Kudos to Apple for pushing a
rebate to us early adopters though.

From a podcasting perspective, I'm most intrigued by iTunes wifi
music store... I've ranted about the possibility of wireless downloads
of podcasts for months, and this brings us a step closer. From what I
can tell, however, the wifi store does not include podcasts... Maybe a
future add, perhaps? Regardless, I think these new products and
services are good additions to the tech marketplace. And, since I
apparently have a $100 rebate available from my iPhone purchase, I
suspect apple will get more of my money. It's an illness, really.

Back in the States tomorrow... Regular blogging resumes Monday. I
missed you too.

Friday fact: where surfing's not so hot

Reporters sans frontières has out out this amazing map showing the places where the Internet is pretty much dark as far as the free flow of news is concerned. I'm happy to say I'm not going to one of the countries devoid of light on the map tomorrow... I just might not be able to access the 'net all that frequently! Have a great Labor Day weekend for my US readers... and a great week if I don't get to find much to say from Costa Rica!


Thanks to Valleywag for the original source...

Emergency response to a wet iPhone

Podshow/Daily Source Code's Adam Curry dropped his iPhone in a place you flat out don't want to drop an iPhone. Pre-flush. He's now apparently resorting to a kitty litter moisture absorption rescue mission (see left).

Word to the wise out there... if you drop your precious iPod, phone, PSP, etc. in the drink (or toilet), get it out... turn it off... remove the battery (if you can). Let it dry out completely. You have a shot at getting it back. Last March a buddy of mine pushed me in the pool at a resort in Tobago... pretty funny, except for the nice digital camera in my pocket! A couple of days drying out in the tropical breezes, and my camera was up and running again.

Which reminds me... I'm going to Costa Rica for a week starting on Saturday, which means it's entirely possible the blog will be dark from September 1st to the 9th. Well, not dark I guess... just stuck on whatever wackiness I find on the Internets this Friday.

Voiceover tips

I just ran across an interesting article on voiceover tips... complete with embedded audio examples of course... I'd say I agree with most of what the author suggests. Here's one I don't:

Practice your voice-over technique and don’t be afraid to sound a little weird and “over the top”- everyone does it.

No... no... a thousand times no! Well, the practice part is fine... but the over the top technique is not. If you want to sound like a whacky morning DJ, follow that advice. If you want a professional sound, just be yourself. Slow down and have fun. Never worry about making a mistake... that's what post production is for!

Beware movie pirates!

A hard-core Linux user who was busted for pirating Star Wars Episode III (the least objectionable of the painfully bad second set of Star Wars flicks) was smacked upside the head by his sentencing judge. Because he will have his computer use monitored as a part of his probation, and because the monitoring software doesn't run on Linux... yes, he is being forced to use Windows for all computing needs. Open Source users are proud of their lack of affiliation with Apple or Microsoft... now this guy is being fored to turn to the Dark Side. Cue the irony alert!

Friday funny: The Inappropriate Yoga Guy

I have several clients in the yoga industry (Hello öm time and Hip Tranquil Chick!)... this short on Ogden, the Inappropriate Yoga Guy is simply genius, whether you've hit the mat before or not. Have a great weekend!

iPhone unlocked?

Some 17 year old in Jersey apparently has his iPhone running on T-Mobile... the significance is that it's supposed to be locked in a way that only works on AT&T's wireless network. Some are suggesting this will open up the phone for use around the world. I think it will just cause el-Jobso to press the "release the hounds" button on this kid. Fake Steve Jobs has already got his people on it.

Duck and cover, my friend... the lawyers are coming...

UPDATE - seems like the whole world now claims to have unlocked the phone. Meanwhile, Apple continues to get trillions of dollars in free media coverage of their phone...

New media gaining on old media

An IBM study states what a lot of us already knew... new media is starting to replace old media in the hearts and minds of the public. Here are some of the findings:

• TV is increasingly taking a back seat to the cell phone and the personal computer among consumers age 18 to 34
• 19 percent of survey respondents reported spending six hours or more per day on personal Internet usage, versus nine percent of respondents who reported the same levels of TV viewing
• Consumers are demonstrating their desire for both wired and wireless access to content: an average of 81 percent of consumers surveyed globally indicated they’ve watched or want to watch PC video, and an average of 42 percent indicated they’ve watched or want to watch mobile video

This trend impacts everything... media delivery, advertising, the works. If you've got a product or a point of view, this is the time to start strategizing a new media plan.

Conventional Wisdom turned

Not to make this an all Apple blog, but I read a terrific piece today on Mac applications for business. As most of you have figured out by now, I run Nineball Media largely on Apple computers... although I certainly use Windows when clients need it, and I'm by no means anti-Windows. It's been a truism for many years that Windows is better for business and Macs are better on the creative side... I think that conventional wisdom is starting to shift a bit, and many of the applications listed in this post help me tremendously.

Downtime averted

Nineball Media has been good enough to upgrade equipment to the new iMacs... while the PowerBook was making nice with the new iMac, I realized that I would be without a computer for over an hour during my most productive time of the day. iPhone to the rescue... it's amazing how technology can at once be the cause and solution of downtime. In any event, we're all up and running now. For the speed freaks out there, I threw in 4 GB of RAM into the new computer... a podcast that took 7 minutes to crunch into an MP3 on the PowerBook took less than a minute on the new gear. Niiiiice.

Friday craziness: the 300 page iPhone bill

Little did any of us iPhone switchers know that AT&T sends you a bill with every call, text, and data use printed out on our monthly bill. I'm an e-bill guy myself, but apparently this woman gets her iPhone bill in old school paper by way of the post office. Her bill was three... hundred... pages. Yiiiiikes. Something tells me this video might be partially responsible for AT&T to alter their billing info policy... the trees will thank them.

Have a good weekend!

Rural wifi

It's amazing how much one relies on being wired... I've had a maddening amount of access here in rural New York the last few days and I've never been more grateful for my iPhone for giving me just a taste of access over the past few days. Mental note: don't think about doing work on a working vacation if there's no wifi.

Mental note #2: McDonalds wifi is not worth the Filet o' Fish. Ever.

Friday funny: Paint

Last week, we had members of KISS promoting... um, something. Projectors I think. This week, a parody on the wonders of everyone's favorite bundled Windows application: Paint.

Have a great weekend!

Wizzard snatches up some talent

Wizzard Media (owner of Libsyn, etc.) has scored a couple of coups this week... first, they hired Podcast 411's Rob Walch as VP of Podcaster Relations... a great hire. Rob's got great instincts on podcasting on the micro and macro level, plus he has a lot of credibility in the community. Check out Podcast 411's Item 209 for the announcement. Congrats Rob!

Second, Wizzard has scored two exclusive advertising deals with two of the biggest shows out there... Keith and the Girl and Tiki Bar TV. Considering the former is arguably the number one podcast and the latter is among the top two or three video podcasts, this was a big score.

This is great news for the entire podcasting community.

The podcast recipe

While I was waiting for the Apple announcements yesterday I discovered a pretty compelling podcast tutorial on Apple's website. The Podcast Recipe seminar is a free online tutorial that, while painfully corny in a few spots, actually gives some nice information on microphones, mixers and the scope of Garageband's podcasting capabilities. If you're a beginner, it's not a bad place to start... if you're a more seasoned podcast creator, but haven't used Garageband before, it showed some of its basic capabilities.

Apple's Mac announcement rumors

The last minute rumors floating about regarding today's Apple announcement... brand new iMacs (including a price drop on the high end 24")... new Mac Minis... a revamped iLife 08 and .Mac. All of these are great news for podcasters who are ready to upgrade their equipment. I'm not anti-Windows at all, but I've been using Macs at Nineball for the majority of my work. Depending on what gets announced today, there just might be some new gear on the way.

The announcements begin at 11 AM PDT... I'm not sure if there is any liveblogging of the event, but MacWorld is liveblogging the announcements... I'll post the scoop as soon as I find out.

UPDATE: New iMacs... iLife 08... it's a party. Details here.

Fake Steve Jobs outed

If you read this blog, I hope you've also been reading Fake Steve Jobs. He's been very funny and has a spot on take on what we all think (or wish) el Jobso has going on in his head. For the last year or so, his true identity has been a secret... until the intrepid New York Times figured out the ruse. Fake Steve Jobs has been outed.

We'll see how this impacts FSJ's rants... now that we know he's Daniel Lyons, an editor at Forbes.com, will that put a damper on the content?

KISS on technology

I present to you, your Friday ridiculousness. Cisco hired KISS to come and speak to their khaki clad crowd. Unfortunately, they also thought it would be prudent to get the band's take on technology.

Memo to Cisco: Script... the... aging... rock... stars. I'm with Paul Stanley... we need mini projectors on handhelds.

Huh? Wha? Enjoy the weekend everyone...

RSS feed spiffied up

Since we're getting more readers here (welcome!) I just spiffied up the RSS feed... feel free to grab the feed via the Feedburner icon in the right sidebar, or right here.

Cool free app: Jing

I've just been lead to a great new app called Jing... it's a free application that makes image capturing and screen videos a snap to make. Coolest part? It's cross platform and includes free hosting for all of your images and screencasts. Now if you need to show your mom how to do something on the computer, make a simple 5 minute video on Jing and send her the link. She can play it like any other video. No more typing out instructions! Also, since it's cross platform there are no worries if you're a PC owner sending to a Mac person, or vice versa. There's even a Linux version in the works... very cool.

Check out the overview video here... it explains it better than I can in a paragraph, which is kind of the whole point of Jing, isn't it?

Apple announces something non-iPhone related

Red alert! Looks like Apple is announcing long-awaited upgrades to some part of their hardware line. The rumor mill has been jamming the system with thoughts on new iMacs. If you believe Fake Steve Jobs (and who wouldn't for fake Mac news?) then you know what's coming. My venerable PowerBook has put in to go from full-time to part-time... 3 years and it wants a pension and a gold watch! Still, with the amount of audio and video it's processed, it deserves to let some new beastie to come along and handle the processing load...

The limits of podsafe music

I've been working on a project for a client who is looking to directly monetize her audio content (that's fancy talk for selling those mp3s), and we're running smack into a dilemma that faces anyone who wants to do the same thing... if you just give away your podcasts, there are several very good sources for free, licensed podsafe music. I happen to like the variety of IODA Promonet and Podsafe Music Network (although the latter needs a serious user interface revamp). If you dig into the licenses for both, the second your show has a commercial hook (fancy talk for, you make money off of the podcast), then you are either out of the licensing agreement, or you owe someone some money.

Now, this makes perfect sense... if you are able to capitalize on a product and use these artist's music, they have a hand in the money you are making. Some artists may see their exposure as enough renumeration... in many cases it could be pretty valuable. However, for the here and now be mindful that selling your podcasts has a consequence... you're going to have to find truly royalty-free music, get proficient with Garageband, or negotiate a license deal with your favorite artist.

Who knew we'd be getting into intellectual property law when we got into this? Luckily, there's Collette Vogele's excellent podcast and guide to help out beginners who aren't blessed with an IP background...

KATG making waves

Our favorite podcast rebels are at it again... Keith Malley of Keith & The Girl bought thesimpsonsmovie.com in 1999 and was recently forced by the United Nation's World Intellectual Property Organization to hand over the domain name for the Simpsons movie opening today. Although his loss was total and complete, Keith has parlayed the story (and his investment) into massive exposure for the podcast in the mainstream media (like this, this, this, and this). Sure, he's often referred to as a cybersquatter and other less desirable names, but I think Keith can handle it.

In other KATG news, it looks like their brief hosting experiment with TalkShoe is over. In a recent show discussing the split (Show 541), there was an almost Festivus-like airing of grievances. Needless to say, that didn't end well for TalkShoe. KATG is moving hosting to Wizzard Media... a major upside to the switch is that listeners no longer have to hear the truly annoying pre-roll ads anymore. Coming to Wizzard is a bit like coming home for KATG... the show had been hosted for years by LibSyn, which was acquired by Wizzard in March.

New Apple podcast app

Interesting developments in the podcasting world of Apple... the next operating system - OS 10.5 Leopard - has a new application suite called Podcast Producer. Apple describes it as, "a complete, end-to-end solution for encoding, publishing, and distributing high-quality podcasts.” What is interesting is that this app is being developed for the server version of OS 10.5, not the version that runs on most Macs. The Apple Blog has more here... will Apple be moving this into a new iLife app and out of Garageband eventually? If they keep Podcast Producer with the OS X Server I probably wouldn't recommend the cost for it, but if it ends up on Leopard for non-server Macs, it looks like it might be a nice upgrade from Garageband. No matter what, unless you're a developer, nobody can get their hands on this until Leopard is released in October...

Ditching MS Office

A lot of people are getting tired of shelling out hundreds of dollars to Microsoft so that they can use Word, Excel and (sometimes) PowerPoint. But, most of them are loathe to do otherwise, since it seems that these programs are essential if you want to interact with others in the business world. Well, the times they are a changing. What if you could read and write all of the MS Office docs but pay... nothing.

Enter the world of open source projects OpenOffice and NeoOffice. Both of these projects (Mac and PC for the former, Mac only for the latter) offer complete compatibility, open source codes that are constantly improved, and a whole lot more... for free.

Sometimes you get what you pay for, but in this case, I've found these open source options to be a nice alternative. If your budget for a new computer is off by a few hundred dollars because you are factoring in the purchase of the latest MS Office suite, consider going open source and replacing MS Office.

Compliments

The first thing I'm asked when I arrive in Portland was about the compliment machine in DC. Apparently it's better known outside of the District than in it. Even our good friend Fake Steve Jobs is on top of the situation, since the guts are made of an iPod nano....

iPhone review

There have been a ton of iPhone reviews, but none as balanced and as well-written as this one at Information Week. I'd recommend it for anyone considering the big leap.

I'm off to Nineball Portland today... should be a good week of work mixed with a little fun (a little birdie tells me the Oregon Brewfest begins this week...)

Kapow... another revised look

I'm finding that upgrading the look and usability of the Nineball Media website has addictive properties. However, after this rev, I'm thinking we might have a little more stability. You'll notice that the blog and the rest of the site finally has total synergy. Better yet, the rest of the site has additional content and description of services. Since the bulk of Nineball Media's work revolves around audio, it was high time we got some of that integrated into the site!

The future of high speed internet?

A Swedish woman has a pretty decent broadband connection. It's so fast, she can reportedly download a full-length movie in less than 2 seconds. If this is for real, and broadband speeds keep ratcheting up (and are made available to the general public for a reasonable price), the variety of on-demand media will be staggering. On top of that, consider all current forms of communication... TV, radio, telephone, etc. ... will pretty much get swamped by a data-driven replacement.

I'm still waiting for those flying cars though...

iPhone: still finding new gems

Friday marks the two week-aversary of having the iPhone... what's remarkable is that I'm finding new features and uses for it every day. Yesterday I discovered that the maps function is also a handy wifi locator... simply plug in "wifi" plus an address, city or zip code (like 20009 wifi) and the little beastie tells you the closest sources for free wireless internet access. What a treat for the mobile tech guy. Should come in handy next week when I'll be roaming about while working in the Nineball Portland office...

A little wake-me-up

This caught my eye on The Apple Blog... cool image. Considering I'm on my second cup of coffee today, perhaps that makes sense. Kudos to Phil Dokas...

New podcaster association

There's enough podcasters now... we have a union. Or a trade group. Or something. The Association for Downloadable Media has the following mission statement:

To provide leadership in and organization of advertising and audience measurement standards, research, education and advocacy to all those involved in portable media (Podcasts/ATOM/RSS media enclosures) across the Internet, iPods, MP3 players, mobile devices, P2P and other upcoming platforms.

So, now that that's clear... on to membership. Corporations pay $1000 per year and individuals pay $150 per year. No benefits are mentioned, but that doesn't mean there are some on the horizon.

I've been doing work with nonprofits, including trade associations, for the better part of the last decade. Some are effective, but some are not. I think there are certainly some important heavy hitters involved here (including a few I respect quite a bit), but I think the jury's still out until we see some substantive work from the group.

Shocking news: iPod + thunderstorm = bad

The New England Journal of Medicine published a report this week from three Vancouver, BC doctors concluding that being struck by lightning with an iPod on is extra bad because the current travels through the wires and into your ears. Read the medicial mumbojumbo here.

Here's my thought... if you're struck by lightning, the more immediate problem is that you've been struck by friggin' lightning. I'm guessing the 3rd degree burns are going to happen no matter what, right? Word to the wise... if you're the tallest thing in an area hit by a big thunderstorm, stop being the tallest thing in the area. USA Today has this tip... and I publish it here because it seems utterly implausible to help, and is therefore very funny:

If you begin to feel your hair stand on end, this indicates lightning is about to strike. You should drop to your knees and bend forward placing your hands on your knees and crouch down. Do not lie flat on the ground, this will only make you a larger target.

I'm wondering if Microsoft will take advantage of all of this and make the Zune out of totally nonconductive material. Hmm. Someone get Redmond on the phone!

Photo credit: gurneyh on Flickr

Mixer tip

For those of you with a slightly more advanced set-up (i.e. a mixer and a condenser mic, perhaps), sound checks are a must before you record. When I bought my first mixer, I was totally perplexed by the multiple buttons and knobs and what they did... I just played with them until the levels sounded right. It took me a while before I discovered how wrong that was... for you newbies, here's a tip:

On most mixers, you have two knobs or sliders that control the levels on the channel... the gain, and the fader. In almost all circumstances, you should set the fader to zero or U (depending on the brand of mixer... it's usually smack in the middle) and adjust the sound levels with the gain. Why? The fader at zero or U is optimized for that channel...in other words, your mic will sound a LOT better if you keep it there. Many new podcasters will treat the gain and the fader to serve the same function. In some ways they do, but if you value a better sounding signal, keep the fader firmly on zero, and use the gain for the leveling... you'll notice the difference!

iTunes podcast submissions back up?

I got a comment on the blog this morning saying that the iTunes submissions are still down... Apple seems to say that they're back up according to their high tech system of "if this post is down, then submissions are back up," because the post has been taken down. Looks like the link to submit within the iTunes Music Store is working... If that's still a no go, the best advice I can give is make sure your RSS feed is properly validated and keep trying! I've got a semi-contact with Cupertino, so I'll check in and see what he's got.

Podcasts on the iPhone

Welllll, sorta. It turns out that the iPhone can stream mp3s through its Safari browser just like any other desktop computer. Not really a podcast per se, but it' a step closer to that dream of wireless podcast access (still hoping that either Apple adds a podcatching to iTunes on the phone).

Rob at Podcast411 has gone a step further by promoting the handy little graphic above that one can use to directly link to an mp3 file. It looks sort of awkward, but it shows up great on the iPhone screen. That makes it easier for your iPhone-enabled listeners to tap and listen with less effort. Now... is it worth it? Maybe... there's about 1 million iPhones "in the wild" right now, and I suspect there are a disproportionate number of podcast listeners in that early adopting crowd. They need content... and your podcast can provide it.

Feel free to copy the graphic above if you're interested in using it for your show. The sample mp3 linked above is the most recent edition of the Nonprofit Law Podcast.

WiFi is now everywhere

A perfect story for a Friday...

Researchers in Massachusetts are now studying endangered snapping turtles by hooking them up with wifi... on their backs. Apparently, they collect data while they swim about and interract with each other. Once a turtle with the wifi backpack gets close enough to a data center (presumably on a beach), the whole set is amassed by tech savvy researchers who are probably sitting in a Hyanisport bar tossing back some coldies all in the name of science. Genius.

Off to NYC this afternoon... west coast people, check out the new contact info for Nineball Media Portland!

Feedburner makes pro services free

This was a bit of welcome news for any podcaster using Feedburner for their RSS feeds... Total Stats Pro and MyBrand are now free. Here's how Feedburner describes these two services:

FeedBurner Stats PRO
PRO is feed analytics taken to the next level. You will now have access to the number of people who have viewed or clicked individual content items in your feed and “Reach,” which estimates the daily number of subscribers who interacted with your feed content. You can turn this on by signing in to your account, navigating to the Analyze tab and heading to the FeedBurner Stats PRO section. Click the "Item Views" checkbox to activate these PRO features.

MyBrand
The MyBrand service (also PRO-level) is located under the "My Account" tab after you've signed in. MyBrand lets you maintain consistency between your feed address and your hosted website's domain, if matchy-matchy is your thing. For example, rather than using feeds.feedburner.com/MyFeedName, your MyBrand-ed feed address can be feeds.myexcellentdomain.net/MyFeedName. To get started with MyBrand, sign into FeedBurner, click the "My Account" link in the upper left-hand corner, and then click "MyBrand". Nota Bene: You must be comfortable playing around with DNS entries and own the rights to the domain whose DNS entries you'll be playing around with in order to successfully activate MyBrand.

I use Feedburner for the Nonprofit Law Podcast and suggest it for other clients if they have hosting covered. Total Stats Pro is a nice add-on... The MyBrand option is very cool... it keeps your RSS feed "in house" (under your own domain name instead of feedburner.com), which is a really nice feature. Try it out!

iTunes podcast submissions are down

Apple's not able to process new podcast requests for iTunes for the time-being. Check out the message here. Once it goes away, apparently, that will mean the problem's fixed.

UPDATE - Thursday July 5th - iTunes is still down for new submissions. This is rather surprising... I expected this to get fixed sooner rather than later. I suspect some people in Cupertino got their Independence Day holiday after all... or this problem is bigger than one would think.

UPDATE - Monday July 9th, 7 PM EDT - it looks like submissions are back up, but given the comment from this morning, it might be spotty.

Alright... ONE more iPhone post

Fake Steve Jobs brings you this... the Amish are buying the iPhone. I recently watched an interesting documentary called The Devil's Playground, so I know the Amish use cell phones now (but not cars... as much as I learned about the Amish, I'm confused on that point). In any event... the iPhone is definitely a crossover product, if it wasn't before.

Of course this begs the question... is this guy a Mac or PC user? Hmmm.

UPDATE: It occurs to me, based on my lessons from The Devil's Playground, that this is not an Amish couple. Once a man gets married in Amish culture, he grows a beard. I suppose this guy's potentially not married, but I'm thinking they may be rockin' Amish-like attire, but they, in fact, may not be Amish. That's the LAST time I rely on Fake Steve Jobs on Amish culture...

iPhatigue

The iPhone's awesome... only real complaints are (a) the camera's a bit lame, and (b) the calendar doesn't have multiple calendar support (everything gets merged together from iCal) and no tasks. Methinks Apple will solve the latter. As far as the former... well, my Treo camera wasn't exactly killer, so it's no loss. Everything else pretty much blows me away... the screen is ridiculously bright and sharp... the wifi hookups are seamless... it's pretty amazing.

Podcast listening is awesome... I was listening to Meet The Press while watering the garden and took a phone call from my girlfriend. The audio ducked out for the ring... I took the call, and as soon as I was done, the audio ducked back in right where I left off. I may never take these earbuds off again...

There's been a lot online about troubles activating the iPhone. Frankly, I suspect that was more because we all rushed home about the same time and flooded AT&T's activation system. Sounds like new numbers registered and activated pretty quickly... number transfers like mine went a bit slower... and you whacky types that shifted from business plans to person and family plans were fools to begin with to think it would be a pain-free transition. (With all due respect... this is AT&T we're talking about.)

That all being said... I think we're tiring of the hype. None of us had to stand in line, it turned out, and iPhatigue has set in. Maybe enough is enough. I'm gonna go watch Season 3 of Arrested Development now... I won't tell you how.

It's home... just not working yet

Oh, I wish activation would be instantaneous, but apparently not. I'm still waiting on the email from AT&T that will unlock this little beauty, but here it is... the iPhone.



Check out some line images... that's John Aravosis from AmericaBlog I was next to... an excellent linemate!





I have to say, AT&T has so far been pretty miserable to work with. The folks in the store meant well... I think... but they never bothered to explain that the receipt I got included a pretty important number for activation in iTunes. I figured it out... but it might have been nice to be given the heads up? Also, I'm not diggin' the wait for activation... the iPhone is a fancy paperweight until it goes through, and I want to get syncing! Physically, this thing is gorgeous. The few things it allows me to do pre-activation tells of good things to come... we shall see.

Interesting sidenote... a Capitol Hill line sitter (we have pros here) traded her #11 spot to a wealthy-looking gentleman who rolled in around 5:00ish. Must have been nice not to wait for 5 hours...

UPDATE: I'm activated and syncing... first videos on the iPhone will be episodes 4-7 of Arrested Development, Season 3. Sadly, they'll be watched at the emergency vet while they take a look at my girlfriend's mysteriously ill cat...

Almost there!

minutes away from the door opening... The line's getting surly over the one poor soul who wants her non-iPhone serviced. Good luck to her on that....

Line update

Oh good... It's raining. This shouldn't be easy, I guess. upside? If you were waiting for the buyindie podcast, the show has been produced while in line. Multitasking for clients is a Nineball tradition since March 2007!

In line...

Well, the wait begins. I'm number 7 in line at an AT&T store in DC. Number 8 just rolled up with a chair... Wishing I brought a chair. Lots of people swinging by asking the questions you'd normally predict...

Garageband on iPhone?

Forgot to post this from the other day... someone's dreaming of Garageband on iPhone. Not sure if this is (a) feasible, or (b) practical, but it would certainly be cool to be able to use the iPhone as a podcast recording device. It would require a dock connector gizmo that could hook up to a decent microphone (or mixer). Might be nice to haul the iPhone around rather than a laptop for mobile recording...

iPhone: The wait ends... and begins

Just how bad do you want to have the iPhone on you when you go out tonight? Here's a big hint... do NOT go to an Apple Store. Seems that people are lining up like crazy at malls all around the country to get the iPhone. However, if you've got an AT&T store nearby, there might not even be a soul in line yet. I just got off the phone with a store within a couple of blocks of my office and they have nobody there yet. Apparently the hoardes are likely to arrive around noon.

Kinda makes this guy seem a little... um, over the top?

We're going out tonight with some friends around 8 to celebrate my girlfriend's birthday tomorrow... if all goes well, I'll be the geek... loser... mindless automaton... toast of the party.

I may look back on all of this and mock myself... in fact, I should probably start the process early. I'll have plenty of time in line to do so this afternoon...

The death throes of my Treo

Ironic... My Treo will finally serve a fantastic function. I'll be able to post all about my iPhone line waiting with it...

Strange, it feels almost like I'm using it to cheat on it. Hmmm. There has to be a better analogy. Still haven't decided which DC area store will be hosting me tomorrow... Given the crazy heat, I'm leaning towards one of the Apple Stores located in an air conditioned mall...

Mossberg weighs in on the iPhone

Walt Mossberg is the Wall Street Journal tech writer... he's apparently a big enough deal to procure an early iPhone from Steve Jobs. It's not like his approval will make or break the iPhone, but it certainly gives the first non-Apple testimonial as to the features, benefits, and (gasp!) shortcomings of the little beastie.

The verdict? Mikey likes it:

Our verdict is that, despite some flaws and feature omissions, the iPhone is, on balance, a beautiful and breakthrough handheld computer. Its software, especially, sets a new bar for the smart-phone industry, and its clever finger-touch interface, which dispenses with a stylus and most buttons, works well, though it sometimes adds steps to common functions.

Check out Mossberg's (or Goatberg, as Fake Steve Jobs calls him) review here.

UPDATE: Critical consensus... the iPhone lives up to the hype. I have to say, I'm honestly surprised in some ways. I figured there would be one major reviewer that would throw stones, but it looks like this phone's the real deal (albeit with some flaws).

Mac vs. PC

iPhone break... this video's making the rounds. Too funny:

iPhone saga part 67: Service plan announced

This was a real sticking point for me... how much will this little slice of heaven cost me per month? Answer... less than Sprint charges me for my Treo! I expected to take a little hit, but it turns out the newly announced service plans from AT&T are better than I expected... starting at $59.99 per month, inlcuding internet and data use. It's official... I'm getting one.

BUT... I hasten to add, I am not going to be this guy. He's first in line at the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. Five days in advance. Congratulations sir... you're either (a) totally crazy to want the iPhone that badly, and/or (b) have a very strange concept of time invested to profit ratio for your plan to get wealthy by selling that sucker on eBay at 6:01 PM on Friday night... Try those real-estate tapes by that Rich Dad-Poor Dad author or the "tiny classified ads" guy instead.