Ericast.com Podcasts - DWEEB THOUGHTS

Ericast 219 - An Orthodontist Extravaganza!

noreply@blogger.com (Eric M. Larson) — Wed, 22 May 2013 18:55:24 PDT

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This week we're drifting back into the customer service topic, with a cautionary note that I break pretty much every guideline from this week's episode of "The Audacity to Podcast" - 5 Reasons Your Podcast Audience Isn't Growing."

...but I go ahead anyway, with a discussion of my daughter's orthodontist and the exciting waterpark extravaganza at Waterpark of America... and the fact that what's more important to me is being hit up for an extra $30-something after having been repeatedly assured that our bill was paid in full.

That's not good customer service... and that kind of thing matters to real customers.

At least, it matters to weird people like me who tend to put principle ahead of pragmatism.

And while I don't "hold a grudge," I do remember things and plan for the future accordingly. I'm not sure what overcomes financially deceptive treatment by a business, but I'm pretty sure that being given the opportunity to frolic in chlorine isn't sufficient.

Do you have any similar stories to share? Call 206-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) or send an email to me (eric) at ericast.com and let me know what good customer service means to you.

Ericast 218 - Endorsly vs. FanShout

noreply@blogger.com (Eric M. Larson) — Sun, 12 May 2013 19:53:04 PDT

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First of all, right up front you'll hear that I'm experimenting with "branding" the Ericast for new listeners. Let me know what you think of that -- good, bad, confusing, accurate, waste of time, etc. Call 206-339-ERIC (a.k.a. 206-339-3742) and leave some feedback.

Then, I get to the main topic: Paid celebrity endorsments for the average citizen.

Ordinarily I'd do a better job of getting show notes here for you, but since not a single person clicked on my Peter Brady voice change link from last time, I think I'll pass and see if anyone notices. (That's not passive-agressive; it's simply passive. Truth be told, I want to get out to the hot tub before I go to bed tonight.) If you'd like to write any notes and cover things like Endors.ly and FanShout and Jason DeRusha's Land O' Lakes twitter contest from a couple years back, send them to me and I'll include them here. (Digital Dan used to do that, and it was great... but I think that might have merely doubled the number of interested folks from one to two...?)

Comments or ideas? 206-339-3742 a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC, or send an email to me (eric) at ericast.com. Thanks for listening!

Ericast 217 - My Homeschooling Experience

noreply@blogger.com (Eric M. Larson) — Wed, 08 May 2013 20:22:25 PDT

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Someone on Facebook asked about what it was like to be homeschooled (a.k.a. "home educated") and, rather than trying to write a long-winded response, I decided to do a podcast about it. Sounds like a pretty self-motivated created act for someone who didn't go to school, doesn't it?

This episode mentions John Holt and Growing Without Schooling, which has a good Home Education FAQ, and if you just want some John Holt quotes from GoodReads you can get started there. (I also make a reference to Brady Bunch episode "Time to Change" and, if you really need more information, you can probably figure out how to find the Peter Brady voice change video.)

By the way, have you ever wondered if anybody bothers to click on the links that you painstakingly put in your show notes, there's a way to figure that out, too. It's that entrepreneurial home-educated spirit at work!

Anyway, the 1985 Minnesota Supreme Court case that overturned the "essentially equivalent" law (and Jeanne Newstrom's criminal prosecution and conviction under it) as unconstitutional vague is a fascinating read, in my opinion.

Questions? Comments? Personal reflections on your own schooling? Call 206-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) or email me (eric) at ericast.com

Ericast 216 - Chad Discusses iMovie

noreply@blogger.com (Eric M. Larson) — Fri, 03 May 2013 09:29:38 PDT

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It's Listener Feedback Week! Again! And this time we actually catch up to the last listener feedback we had... from Chad, who explains to me that doing cutaways in iMovie 11 is actually possible. That sends us off on tangents about the "first follower" and "leadership lessons from the dancing guy" that we discussed last fall, and then we border on a dive into the philosophy of education before I decided to stop.

How's that for an outline?

By the way, on the audio topic, I'm still using Audacity and didn't touch the levels of any of my audio at all. No compression, no normalization, nothing. That means, among other things, that Chad's call has audio levels that are a smidge low... but that's part of the "what does an episode sound when we do absolutely no processing" experiment.

We also mention the Podcast Answer Man (Cliff Ravenscraft) and his LearnHowToPodcast.com course which, now that I think about it, I ought to go through to see if I can pick up any tips.

And we work in the somewhat-apocryphal tale of Nina Archabal (or was it Sharon Sayles Belton?) preserving the ruins of the Washburn Mill in Minneapolis (which became the Mill City Museum).

What a ride. But would you expect anything less from the Ericast?

Comments? Observations? Call 206-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) or, if you're audio-phobic and want to stick with text, send an email to me (eric) at ericast.com

Ericast 215 - The Masonic Temple

noreply@blogger.com (Eric M. Larson) — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 19:49:25 PDT

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The Masonic Temple in St. Paul is one block away from the house I grew up in. So what did I do last week? That's right! It was time to go see a ~~magician~~ illusionist who was giving a fundraising performance to support its renovation. To say more would be to spoil this week's episode, so listen now and hear the story!

Question? Comment? Similar story to share? Call 206-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) or email me (eric) at ericast.com and let me know!

As promised, here's a Google Maps embed of the building, to give you an idea of how truly residential the neighborhood is...

View Larger Map

Ericast 214 - Remembering Grandma Vi

noreply@blogger.com (Eric M. Larson) — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 13:21:24 PDT

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Well, this week discusses the sad news of the passing of Ruth's 95-year-old grandmother -- yes, my daughters' great-grandmother. That, as I note, is an age span with which I'm unfamiliar.

If you've got any family-related memories (or stories of remarkable lifespans) to share, feel free to call 206-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) or email me (eric) at ericast.com and let me know.

Ericast 213 - She's In Bed

noreply@blogger.com (Eric M. Larson) — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 20:20:29 PDT

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This week's title commemorates the fact that I celebrated Easter by staying home with Candela as she fights the fever and headache that Chloe overcame a few days ago... so it's not exactly the Easter tradition that we're used to. ("He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! She's, on the other hand, is in bed fighting a cold...)

But, what better time to buckle down, have some "quality family time," and bang out a podcast?

The Steve Moore interviews that I reference can be found at MusicRadar, City Pages, plus I came across a NSFW video on YouTube that you might want to listen to if you want to hear Steve in-the-flesh.

As promised, it's listener feedback week. Add your own thoughts and comments by calling 206-339-3742, known alphabetically as 206-339-ERIC, or email me (eric) at ericast.com

Random technical note on this week's podcast: I did no compression/limiting on any of the files during the show assembly, but because Tom's call was a little hot (not in the personal sense) I decided to run the final .WAV through the old Levelator app from the Conversations Network, then save that result as the MP3 for the show. Maybe, just maybe, I've found the perfect workflow?

Ericast 212 - Disruptively Disengaged Learning

noreply@blogger.com (Eric M. Larson) — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 20:53:30 PDT

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This week I'm talking about a MOOC entitled "Surviving Disruptive Technologies," and the fact that I was emotionally derailed as thanks to an exchange on one of the course videos.

I do worry that my 2013 reflections on MOOCs are going to look like Bryant Gumel's 1994 reflections on the Internet:

So, do you MOOC? Would you like to MOOC one day? Let me know! 206-339-3742 (also dial-able as 206-339-ERIC) or send an email to me (eric) at ericast.com. Or, Twitter or Facebook or snail-mail letter to my home address. Whatever works for you.

P.S. Yes, the eHarmony Marriage support site really did exist... years ago... But not anymore.

Ericast 211 - Digitally Re-Abandoning Roadways

noreply@blogger.com (Eric M. Larson) — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 19:36:16 PDT

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Not only do we have what might be the longest Ericast title ever (I could probably figure that out, couldn't I?) but we have yet another experiment in the world of Audacity. Good luck!

(This time, I didn't compress/limit/normalize my audio at all. No digital processing whatsoever. But because of that, I cranked the volume of the intro and outro way down so I didn't blow out your eardrums when those came in.)

For this TV sitcom fan, I have the best Tweet of 2013 so far. Very cool.

And, to the topic at hand, I need to reference the Archive.org version of the "North Star Highways" site because that site is as dead as the roadways it documented. Fortunately, EarthLink hasn't used a robots.txt file to block Archive.org like some domain squatters have.

Questions? Ideas? Inspirations? Call the listener feedback line at 206-339-ERIC (206-339-3742 for the numerically inclined) or email me (eric) at ericast.com.

Ericast 210 - THE Mad Drummer!

noreply@blogger.com (Eric M. Larson) — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 18:40:00 PDT

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Ready... Set... Know your meme! Remember this video?

Well...Guess who I saw last Wednesday?

Yes, it was cool.

(For those who want the information here in the notes rather than the podcast itself, including the search engines that are indexing this, I'm talking about driving 90 minutes north to Grand Casino in Hinckley, Minnesota to see a performance in the temporary home of Silver Seven lounge by the group "Rick K and the Allnighters," which is a great group in general made even more special by the drumming of Steve Moore, who's known as "The Mad Drummer"...)

Personally, my favorite number was "Old Time Rock and Roll" (YouTube video)

"On a podcast technology" note, I'm still using Audacity but tried some "way too heavily compressed" settings, which sounds pretty good, except for one weird artifact in the audio. Can you detect it?

Anyway, do you have your own YouTube brush-with-fame to share? Or other "I know this shouldn't be considered cool, but IT WAS SO COOL!" kinds of experiences that you're willing to discuss with others? Let me know: 206-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) or email me (eric) at ericast.com...

Ericast 209 - Chasing The High

noreply@blogger.com (Eric M. Larson) — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 19:32:00 PST

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Looks like I'm back in the groove with two episodes, in a row, just one week apart! Wow! Let me know what you think of this week's audio, because I've totally changed my recording model and have switched over to Audacity rather than the usual Adobe Audition, inspired by TheAudacityToPodcast.com.

So, am I so bent on podcasting as an art and science that I'm really chasing the "high" of new recording software? Well... yes. But, more importantly, I'm also thinking back on this experience:

Chloe at the base of a windmill in Iowa , 2012

Intrigued? Listen to the podcast, then call 206-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) or email me (eric) at ericast.com. Share your thoughts!

Referenced stuff:

Cosmos, Minnesota
Iowa tourism center
Barton Wind Farm (BONUS: We also saw the burned-out wreckage from a wind turbine that caught fire earlier in the year)
Lilydale park where Dad would drive through to warm up the car

Ericast 208 - Where'd Everything Go?

noreply@blogger.com (Eric M. Larson) — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 20:25:50 PST

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The only link you really need from this week's episode is www.drinkchoffy.com/choffy4me, which will give you some information on the "chocolate coffee thing" that Digital Dan wanted to know about. (Thanks for the comment, Dan!) Other than that, it's just a bunch of rambling about everything from basements to Podango ShowBuilder Lite with everything in-between.

Intrigued? Listen! Want to comment? Call 206-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC, which is slightly easier to remember) or email me (eric) at ericast.com... or find me via other Internet venues.

Ericast 207 - Reading Gabe's Journal

noreply@blogger.com (Eric M. Larson) — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 18:16:48 PST

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We're discussing an interesting journal project from a random student named Gabe, who has sent a journal traveling across the world. Something like a note in a bottle, except with more detail and the USPS behind it.

It's an interesting way of weaving together Ericast listeners, past and present... though that really wasn't Gabe's intent, I'm sure.

In the spirit of "listener feedback week" (an old Ericast tradition that had a brief life -- I might bring it back...) there are two calls from Matt touching on past episodes. So if this happens to be your first Ericast, Matt provides a great summary of the past couple weeks.

On a completely different note, I also talk about face-to-face meetings as a revived supplement or replacement to online or technology-mediated ones. Sounds interesting, doesn't it? It all started with a passing reference I found in a Sunset Magazine article about the Las Vegas downtown revitalization:

At a company-wide meeting in fall 2012, Hsieh took the stage with four other jeans-wearing Zappos execs. During an open question period, a young woman stood and praised the company for embracing Facebook and Twitter and Pinterest before other online retailers. “What’s the next big social media platform we should watch for?” she asked.

Hsieh paused for a moment, then answered. “Well, there’s this thing called downtown. It gets people together. It may seem crazy,” he said, “but five years from now it won’t.”

Thoughts on that, or any other? Let me know with a voicemail to 206-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) which really, truly should be working even if it doesn't work for you. Or, send me (eric) an old-fashioned email to ericast.com. Or, find me on Twitter or Facebook or whatever; start with about.me/emlarson if you can't find me otherwise.

Ericast 206 - In Loco Parentis

noreply@blogger.com (Eric M. Larson) — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 19:28:50 PST

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Last week at a local higher-ed IT conference I gave a presentation entitled "In Loco Parentis: Our Children are Growing Up!"

As cloud-based vendors become more popular and Google can answer almost any question, IT has moved from “controlling” our clients to “guiding” them. This session proposes that a rich, respectful metaphor for technology support is… parenting. Yes, parenting. Some of your clients still need to be told to eat their peas and wash behind their ears, but many are precariously driving for the first time or standing awkwardly in the gym corner at the school dance. Some have turned away from you to sow their wild technology oats, while others have settled down and are bringing you the joy of technology grandchildren. All of them are growing and maturing; how do we mature along with them, and grow into a new kind of relationship different from (and even better than!) the past?

Want to hear it? Sure, you do! And here it is. This week's podcast is a recording of that presentation as it was given live on Friday, January 18, 2013.

Questions? Comments? Related thoughts? Call the listener feedback line at 206-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) and let me know what you think!

Ericast 205 - Minnesota Expo Experiences

noreply@blogger.com (Eric M. Larson) — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 20:07:50 PST

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More than usual, this week's episode is a bit... Random? No, it's focused on one topic. Unstructured? Well, it has a beginning, middle, and end. Lame? Ah! That might be the right word.

I took the girls to the 2013 Home and Landscape Expo at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis. It was really fun... but, at its core, it was us wandering around looking at booths and talking to vendors. Our Aspen Air problems (they're a heating and cooling contractor) were noteworthy, but that's still an issue-in-progress so you'll just have to listen to this podcast for the full scoop... then listen to future ones to see if we ever do get the gift cards that they promised us.

The 2013 Healthy Life Expo was good, too, but nothing too earth-shattering there. I could make you a list of the vendors I saw and give you mini-reviews of their products, if you'd like? (I have no idea who made the roasted cocoa beans as a coffee substitute... but I can look that up, because they were really yummy...)

As usual, 206-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) is the place to call and leave a message with your thoughts. Or email me (eric) at ericast.com -- nobody ever emails me, and it's such a lovely old method of communicating. It's one step beyond Comcast's request that you mail them or SEND A TELEGRAM (no, I'm not kidding!) if you need to communicate with them... but that's a story for a different podcast...

Ericast 204: Appreciating vs. Maximizing

noreply@blogger.com (Eric M. Larson) — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 20:49:06 PST

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Switching back to the "deep" side of the Ericast for a moment (maybe for awhile... but at least for one episode... and what a way to kick off 2013, right?) we're asking questions about whether there's a difference between appreciating something, and "maximizing our investment" in it.

Wow. It doesn't look very deep when you see it there in print, but it gets pretty deep. Check it out.

More than usual, I'd really love your comments on this one. Call 206-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) or email me (eric) at ericast.com. Or, catch up with me on Facebook or Twitter or other various venues; you know who I am and where to find me.

Ericast 203: Holiday Train Spotting

noreply@blogger.com (Eric M. Larson) — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 20:47:56 PST

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Having coined the term "zeppelinspotting" back in Ericast #173 I now feel a tad odd turning "trainspotting" into two words... but, hey, we're all entitled to botch a podcast title or two in every series, right? Maybe you could argue that it's really a pun on "Holiday Train", so we're "spotting the Holiday Train" instead of "doing trainspotting on a holiday"... maybe?

This episode talks about "the show I've never been able to make" because I can't score the interview that I really want to have. So, instead of that, I have two very special guests summarize our experience with the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train as it stopped here in the Twin Cities.

(For those wracking their brains trying to figure out the bulldog reference I made, you want to do some research on Spike and Chester... and just think of me as a "fawning sycophant," as that site phrases it.)

Questions? Comments? Train-related thoughts? Got a caboose in your train of thought and want to talk to a voicemail box in hopes the train starts up again? (That metaphor needs work...) Call the listener feedback line at 206-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) or email me (eric) at ericast.com

Ericast 202 - Carrying Christmas Forward

noreply@blogger.com (Eric M. Larson) — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 20:52:33 PST

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How do we treat "Christmas" as more than a time for some vacation and a couple gift exchanges with Santa and a manger scene thrown in for decoration? How do we live it out during the other 364 days of the year? Here are a couple brief thoughts from Brian Hardin of the Daily Audio Bible and Rob Ketterling of River Valley Church that help to frame how I view my "relationship with Jesus" -- which is one of those freaky Evangelical terms that doesn't make much sense until you sit down and listen to what people do (and don't!) mean by it.

(For what it's worth, Brian's commentary about how we don't talk to our friends had me literally laughing out loud when I first heard it. He makes a really, really good point...)

Let me know what you think -- as always, 206-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) or email me (eric) at ericast.com and share your thoughts and reactions. Merry Christmas!

Ericast 201 - Deep Introspection Experience

noreply@blogger.com (Eric M. Larson) — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 20:27:29 PST

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This week, a strangely deep and personal reflection on who I am at the very core of my personality. Intrigued? Take a listen! Then call 206-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) and let me know what you think.

Before you do that, you might want to visit www.DweebThoughts.com and listen to some of the technology-related musings there... In case you need a techno-fix that this week's episode doesn't provide.

And if you want to check out the Tusen.Tk site that I mentioned, it's out there too.

And the Simpsons reference is from Season 14, Episode 4:

Chief Wiggum: Ready.
Lisa: Mom! Do something!
Chief Wiggum: Aim.
Marge: I got to stop them from shooting I…I don't... Lisa, don't hate me for this. (Runs on top of a stand)
Chief Wiggum: Continue Aiming. Still aiming.

Be sure to listen all the way to the end of this week's podcast, past the outro, But keep small children away from you when you do. Yikes.

Ericast 200 - Happy Birthday, Chad!

noreply@blogger.com (Eric M. Larson) — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 20:24:39 PST

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WE MADE IT! Episode 200! Which, I guess, doesn't mean a whole lot (isn't it 100 episodes that's the milestone for syndication of a television show?) but, hey, you gotta celebrate what you can while you can, right?

Birthday greetings to Chad this week. Why? Because he's a person. And people are special. And it was his birthday.

If you want to know more of the context to that, listen to this week's (short) episode. And if you want to share your own thoughts, call in at 206-339-3742 a.k.a. 203-339-ERIC or email me (eric) at ericast.com (which people rarely do, so I wonder if that forwarding actually works across all clients and domains; if you've sent me a note and haven't gotten a response, let me know through some other venue so I can troubleshoot that).

Chad already set next week's topic for me. Do you have any? Let me know!

Ericast 199 - The Denver Experience!

noreply@blogger.com (Eric M. Larson) — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 18:54:00 PST

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Continuing last week's discussion of EDUCAUSE-related experiences, this time focusing on Denver itself. The basic thesis, not to spoil the entire episode, is that Denver seems to be a lot like Minneapolis.

I also branch off into all sorts of interesting tangents on diversity, which I think could turn into a fascinating series on culture and leadership and... it's up to you. Let me know if you've got any topic ideas on that front. (Sure, the topic is a bit risky... but what's a podcast without some edgy discussion, right?)

Do you have your own exciting (or not-so-exciting) travel experiences to share? Opinions of the "fly to a conference" routine? Share! Call 206-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) or email me (eric) at ericast.com

Ericast 198 - Recapping EDUCAUSE 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Eric M. Larson) — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 20:17:25 PST

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I'm back from EDUCAUSE in Denver and trying to explain the experience. That's quite a challenge. So, I just randomly talk about some related things and ideas. Would you expect any less from me? If nothing else, and if you're not motivated enough to Google deeply for the speech I was talking about, be sure to check out the link to Clay Shirky's EDUCAUSE 2012 keynote.

Note that the opening call from Matt in this week's episode might just be the thing that keeps the Ericast going into 2013. Intrigued yet?

Share your own comments, ideas, objections, etc. Call 206-339-ERIC (a.k.a. 206-339-3742 for the alphabetically challenged phones out there), or email me (eric) at ericast.com

Ericast 197 - The First Follower

noreply@blogger.com (Eric M. Larson) — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 20:24:40 PDT

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I know I've talked about this topic before. I have. But I don't think I've done a full-blown episode on it. If I have... sorry. Consider it a "clip show" without any of the advantages of saving work by throwing old clips together.

The up-shot?

We're told we all need to be leaders, but that would be really ineffective.

The best way to make a movement, if you really care, is to courageously follow and show others how to follow.

Full details are at the creator's site of http://sivers.org/ff (for Derek Sivers' "Leadership Lessons from Dancing Guy") and here's an embed of the original video:

(From http://youtu.be/fW8amMCVAJQ)

Thoughts? Questions? Ideas? Call the Listener Feedback Line at 206-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) or email me (eric) at ericast.com and let me know what you think!

Still counting down to episode 200...

Ericast 196 - Discovering Quarry Park

noreply@blogger.com (Eric M. Larson) — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 20:34:52 PDT

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I took the chance to grab the girls and head up to Quarry Park, about 90 minutes north of the Twin Cities, so see if it was as cool as I thought it would be.

It was.

Remember to call 206-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) to share your thoughts, especially since that number will expire soon if somebody doesn't!

In addition to the podcast, here's a quick video that Candela shot:

Ericast 195 - Too Much Reminiscing?

noreply@blogger.com (Eric M. Larson) — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 19:20:33 PDT

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This week we're talking about memories... and "living in memories," which isn't as crazy as it sounds given that lots of people read novels and science fiction and watch television shows and do all sorts of things that have them "living in things that didn't ever happen and never will." It's an interesting thing to ponder.

Also, I roll in the Dweeb Thought about trying to fix YouTube audio. Don't forget that you can get the Dweeb Thought feed piped into you brain, straight from my lips to your ears, by adding http://feeds.ericast.com/dweebthoughts to your podcatcher, or just visit www.DweebThoughts.com at your convenience.

So, any ideas to help me with "cleaning up audio in video?" Or, what's your take on "healthy reminiscing" vs. too much "living in the past"? Share your comments by calling 206-339-3742, a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC, or send an email to me (eric) at ericast.com.