Jon Udell does Screencasts, which is a pretty interesting thing in and of itself. While browsing his site, I found this great screencast about the Heavy Metal Umaut article on Wikipedia ( (WIKIPEDIA - heavy metal umlaut)). It's a great display of the power of Wikipedia to evolve and the entertainment value in reviewing the history of articles. Of course, it's even more fun when people like Udell have packaged it all up into a nifty little video for you. Check his screencast here:

Hapened across this entry on Engadget this morning:




It's a how-to on hacking Google maps. Whee!

Wow, I love how sometimes an interesting blog posting will lead you to multiple things you've just GOT to know about. Case in point, this here post. I have to go make tacos right now, but when I come back, I'm going to read this stuff:

First, GTxA (http://www.grandtextauto.org) just posted about John Udell's walking narrative that uses a unique Google Map Hack. What? Google Maps Hackable? I've been so busy with other stuff I hadn't even played with it, but now I discover this (http://69.90.152.144/collab/GoogleMapsHacking) and this (http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/) which are really interesting resources for Google Map Hacking. The potential seems way fun...

So then I was watching what seemed like a regular video tutorial and I notice that this guy has a link to find out more about screencasting... screencasting? I haven't heard of this... So I clicked around a bit and foiund this: which pretty much sums it up, I guess. I have to do more research. But his point about sharing our use of tools through video and audio and images is pretty cool. I think a lot of people forget how creative we can be with a tool. Just look at all those people using a wrench for a hammer, or a nail file for a screwdriver. We're born to it. We are not necessarily limited by the limitations of software packages or any other technology. But that's a different post...

I wanted to encourage (e:Scud) to check out Blog Torrent ( www.blogtorrent.com). It's a good little utility for serving files via Bit Torrent (WIKIPEDIA - bit torrent) . What's really cool is that it just requires basic PHP to run on the server, and you serve the files from your PC running a Bit Torrent seed. If this all sounds complicated, it isn't. Blog Torrent takes care of everything really nicely. It's amazingly easy to install.

Set that thing up, and you can use the RSS feed as a dynamic XML listng of your podcasts -- that would be the link to put into iPodder to download on schedule.

All this too much? Don't have time to figure it out? Here's what I propose for (e:Strip) folks and anyone else who wants to distribute their podcasts or other media creations. Really, as long as it's yours to share, I'll be happy to have it listed on my tracker. But to use a tracker, you need to do a few things still. And my tracker is not working at the moment (read the post below this), but here's how it will work:

go to (that's my Blog Torrent Tracker) and sign up for an account. Don't worry about me selling, spamming, or otherwise abusing your email address -- I won't.

You can then create Torrents. The Blog Torrent program will make the little Torrent file for you and will automatically open up the basic Bit Torrent program to seed the file. (You will need to seed the file to make sure there is at least one seed online -- no seeds means no downloads.)

That's it. I like to use the Azureus BT client (http://azureus.sourceforge.net/), so I open the .torrent file that Blog Torrent made in Azureus and let it do the work. There are some good tutes out there for using Azureus to gather media and podcasts.

So now if you want to share your materials, you can post the .torrent link shown in the index (http://www.shawnrider.com/bt) on your (e:strip) journal, or anywhere else you can post a link. Anyone with a Bit Torrent client installed can open the .torrent link directly. Other folks can be directed to the index page where they can use the Easy Download link, which automatically installs the Bit Torrent client.



Hopefully this post helps people get into Bit Torrent. I should note that it's not safe to use Bit Torrrent to download illegal materials, and that I don't want any illegal materials on my tracker.

Have fun.

After a day full of getting loads of stuff done, I was about to test the first dry run of a new part of my thesis project and all of a sudden DW can't connect. Shit. So I check the server through FF -- nothing -- error 400. WTF?!? What's error 400? I know 404, and 403, and 401 once in awhile. 400 is apparently "locked out for being a deadbeat." I forgot to update my billing information this year. And the email they were using to hassle me was an account I had let die due to massive spams. So it's my own fault, but dammit, there should be some automated way of correcting this. I've updated all my new info, and I've responded to their emails (I dug up the latest one in the old mailbox). I've sent loads of emails to them. And now nothing will get through to me anyway because all of our emails are locked out, too.

My kingdom for a goddamned CHECKOUT button! I can't believe there's no way to just pay the bill and move on. Instead I have to hassle them at 8am tomorrow. Whee. I'll just pass the time reading 1and1 hate postings online.

I'm sad that (e:Soyeon) left (e:Strip). That was my favorite journal. As much as I enjoy reading stuff on all the journals from time to time, I always found Soyeon's journal to be really entertaining. I think for a variety of reasons, she captured the memoir mode of communication best. I don't think she really understood how interesting her journals were, or how much her language (and language difficulties) enhanced her writing. It provided just enough defamiliarization to make her words all the more powerful and resonant.

I don't blame anyone for her departure. I think all parties had something of merit to add to the discussion. I think (e:Ajay) has a legitimate point, and I don't think (e:Paul) meant any harm at all. It even seemed like (e:Soyeon) was rolling with it when she posted her suggestion on (e:Chrisb) 's website (www.chrisbarr.net) for one of his art projects. I don't think anyone meant to "gang up" on anyone else. Spirited discussion happens when the parties are invested in the topic, which is a good thing.

I dunno. I'm just ruminating. I love soap opera moments on (e:Strip). How fun is this? But I hate to see hurt feelings. I also hate to see the network lose all of Soy's writings. I guess I'll learn to cap my faves to PDF...

Inspired by the discussion here...

I found out that the URL ArtistOfTheCentury.com was available so I bought it. I decided to turn it into a little peer based art project. So, peers, let's get collaboratin'. Here's the deal:

The domain name ArtistOfTheCentury.com points to sites entered by you. Everytime you visit ArtistOfTheCentury.com, it's a different site. You can visit the control panel on my website to enter your suggestions for the ArtistOfTheCentury moniker. C'mon. You know you want to put your own site here...

Visit the site:

add a site:

So I just finished this. It might break somewhere along the line. If it does, drop me a note and I'll try to fix it.

I don't care that these "robots" aren't fully automated. They're radio-controlled, and that's OK. And anyone looking for evidence of higher thought processes in machines built to destroy is either just looking in the wrong place or working for the government. I'm all about the fact that with machines, we can let our bloodlust, or gearlust maybe is better, rampage unfettered. Even though boxers train for years and are well-paid in good fights, to see somebody take a severe beating still makes me cringe; there's just no getting past the fact that somebody is really being injured. Not so with ye R/C devices. Rip, tear, smash 'em. I want projectiles and fire. Lots of fire. Make the machines scream and spurt fluids when they get wounded. Adapt everyday objects into terrifying instruments and then pit them against each other. That's entertainment...

So, now I'm going to see if I can hotlink some images from my standalone photoblog. I should really set up a (e:strip) quicknote on the phone... I'm so lazy...



This is the best fight we saw. (e:Paul) 's friend with the propeller bot smacked this box around. We couldn't see any weapons on BoxyBot -- it was there purely to be destroyed. A second after I snapped this, Pro Pel Or (I just named it that) popped this bot's grape. Damn.



And check out this crowd -- I'm telling everyone, we need to do ArtWars or ArtSlam in a nice public venue like this...

This is in response to (e:Scud) 's posting ([inlink]scud,73[/inlink]):

Webspace is a premium commodity for anyone wanting to Podcast. There is no solution like just sucking it up and paying for it. There are plenty of places that will give you space for as little as $5/month (http://www.1and1.com is my hosting service and has a good deal for $5). Hosting services vary greatly in quality -- some indy hosters are great, others are crooks, but then again, some of the big companies are as bad as, well, big companies... phone companies...

There are also some blog services that allow you to post stuff for a premium fee. Blogger.com does this, I know. Of course, I don't really use those much, so I don't know a lot about them, but others are things like TypePad or MoveableType, all of which, I believe have audio posting plugins and will generate an RSS feed.

But if you have any savvy, then it would be easy to just get some cheap FTP space and then post links on (e:strip). But if you really want a podcast that people get behind, then you want to publish an RSS 2.0 newsfeed with <enclosure> tags, which denote a URI and type for a media attachment. Right now, it doesn't look like Elmwood Strip does that, but I bet we could lobby Paul to allow a field in posts where we could denote a link to a media file and choose a filetype from a pull-down.

The file format and stuff should just be something easily used. MP3 is good. If really going for iPods exclusively (something I wouldn't recommend), you might use AAC. Likewise, you could use WMA, but those won't play on iPods, so that's kind of a pain. MP3 is probably best. Or OGG for the 1337. What's most important is publishing your feed, because that's what people put into iPodder or what gets checked from Feedster.com or BlogDigger.com.

Here's a link to the D-Link DSM320 page:

The DSM320 is a UPnP device that uses a wired or wireless (54G) network. It has had a bumpy life so far but the latest firmware is pretty good and has been improving at a decent speed. It plays music, shows photos, and plays all kinds of video formats. It could play more formats, and various other improvements, but overall, if you're an early adopter, it's pretty awesome.

I run a mediaserver program on my main tower where I house my media. The DSM320 automatically sees stuff I place into the media directory. I can keep it very organized and use my home entertainment system to see and hear all the media on my computer. I've written more extensively about my network setup on my website, GamesFirst! -- here's a link: (http://gamesfirst.com/v4/index.php?m=l&i=372) We're working on a major article about setting up home gaming/media networks, networking between households (across the street) and lots more network hardware reviews.

Anyway, I hope that helps. Post your feed link on your journal.

I love the indy podcasting stuff. I gave a lecture about podcasting and broadsnatching (or broadcatching, for the squeamish) earlier this semester (http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~srrider/dms538/notes/week2.html), and a friend and I are working on an indy IPTV station. Check the link there for lots of links to more resources for this and related topics.

Anyway, this post is prompted by (e:Scud) 's post about wanting to start podcasting. I'd send everyone to check out iPodder, even if you don't have an iPod or Mac. I use iPodder to collect media from feeds on Feedster.tv (http://www.feedster.tv) and Blog Digger (http://www.blogdigger.com). I get the weirdest stuff. I use a D-Link DSM320 to stream the vids from my media server to my television, and I now have several channels of Internet content.

Also, I know we have lots of video people on (e:Strip). Check out Me-TV (http://www.me-tv.com) for an idea of where vBlogging is going to go. I'm also really stoked about Blog Torrent (background link - ) (download link - ), which just released a new version that now supports Mac OSX. That will really help it gain popularity. With Blog Torrent you can publish BitTorrent versions of your files to your website easily and quickly using a convenient little program. Then people can download from your site without incurring such dramatic bandwidth costs. This is a lifesaver to the indy media producer/distributor. Of course, visibility remains an issue, which is why we need nodes or IPTV "channels" to combine content of like types and interests, of good quality, etc.

It might be cool to integrate Blog Torrent into elmwood strip? Hmmm, (e:paul)???

Finally, I'm going to leave with a link to Channel 101 (http://www.channel101.com). Why? Well, it's indy/art tv series-making, and that's awesome. J'aime le TV. But also it's created by Rob Schrab and his friends. Schrab is part of the Dead Alewives a great sketch comedy troupe, and he made Scud: The Disposable Assasin, which is probably one of the best underground surreal robot spy comics ever written...