No Downtime

Well I decided to take the plunge and upgrade the ScreenCastsOnline to the new Rapidweaver V3.5 release to take advantage of some of the new cool features.

The upgrade went suprisingly well considering I'm using a third party theme, plus third party plugins and have created some custom scripts. To minimse downtime, I uploaded the revised site to a test directory and all seemed well, except for the custom code I use to fire off watching the free shows. They didn't work but I figured I'd hardcoded the directories in the code so that wasn't totally unexpected.

So i figured, bring the current site off-line, rename the old root folder, create a new root folder with the old name, upload - bingo! 10 minutes tops! The site hasn't been offline for months by the way. I was sure that no-one would notice a brief outage and it was late (at least here in the UK) so I thought I'd give it a go.

So I did the dirty deed and put the new site live. On testing it appears that it wasn't the code but a issue with some javascript in RW that took me another 10 minutes to fix. Total downtime - probably 20 mins - Great.

Check my email before going to bed and theres a note from the Marketing Manager of a potential show sponsor I've been trying to get on board for months.

Yes - she'd tried to get on my site 20 minutes ago and it appears broken!

Don't you just hate it when that happens - sob

So even a small independant web based dude needs to be aware of the global nature of providing  a web site and there really can be no downtime.

Lesson learned.

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More encoding woes...

01:10am Spent most of today and yesterday editting this weeks ScreenCastsOnline show on my MacBook Pro using FCP. I'd hoped to get the show out today but I went to town a bit on the opening graphics and as it's a sponsored show, I want to get everything just right. Had a few strange anomolies as I re-editted some sections today but managed to fix it. Started encoding the HD version around 11:30pm. It's along show (around 40 minutes) so should take a couple of hours. Been watching the progress bar slowly creep along and it's still only 28% and the Estimated Time for completion is "About 4 hours". Doh! Somethings not right Too late to wait and too late to fix so I'm off to bed and the show will have to be a day late. Hate it when that happens :-( Update: The following morning the encoding has finished ! Watched it through and there's a minor glich on the video and audio about 30 minutes in. Normally I'd let it go but seeing as the show is already late I figure another couple of hours won't make much difference so I'm re-encoding. Watch this space! Update: Done!

technorati tags:screencastsonline, macbookpro, encoding

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Reasons to be Cheerful

Many weeks ago you asked in one of the screencasts what reasons people had for not becoming an Extra! subscriber. I had considered responding several times, but I never did. Now that I have become an Extra! subscriber the point seems moot -- but I'm writing this anyway. I apologize in advance if this rambles on in places.

First -- what do I like about ScreenCastsOnline?
- The screencast format is an easy and efficient way for me to learn about Mac topics of interest
- The screencast video quality (free version) is very good
- The screencast audio quality is excellent
- Your production values are very high
- Your commentary strikes the right balance of relaxed but not too casual, prepared but not over-rehearsed. Well done.
- The topics you pick are usually things I'm interested in.
- You present a good 20+ minute usage of the program, striking a balance between "the basics" and more advanced usage tips

Nothing is perfect, of course. Things I would suggest for improvement are:
- Increase the volume (loudness) of your audio commentary. I always have to turn my Powerbook to full volume when listening to a ScreenCastsOnline episode.
- Have a list of upcoming shows. I'm not saying it has to be a schedule, but a "Coming soon!" type of list would be good.

Ok. I like what you're doing, and you are producing a quality show. So why don't I subscribe?
- The "Just Some Guy" issue. Most independent podcasts are produced by one person in his/her spare time. (ie: "Just Some Guy"). Many people start a podcast and either stop producing it when the show becomes a chore, or worse, keep producing it even though the quality of the show drops drastically. There is no guarantee a podcast will be sustained.
- Future direction : I have no idea that you won't produce a series of screencasts on topics I'm not interested in
- Qualifications : Do you know enough about a topic to explain it properly?
- Extra! benefits : My Powerbook screen is only 1024x768, so 1280*720 HD screencasts don't do me much good.
- Ad free content : It's a movie file so I can just skip the ad, or cut it entirely if it bother me that much. Plus, there aren't any ads right now anyway.

Now, I did become an Extra! subscriber. What changed my mind?
- You had produced many shows. Each show had very high production values. I found most of the topics interesting.
- You had decided to do this full-time. That took a lot of courage. I *did* want to have that "nice warm fuzzy glow" that comes from supporting one of the pioneers of a new medium. I think that ScreenCastsOnline could be one of the podcasts that makes it. Good luck to you!
- The DVD of all screencasts is included.
- The Extra! section in each screencast does have added value.
- The "Enhanced Desktop" version is better quality than the free version and is usable on my screen size.
- The "Elgato EyeTV DTT" screencast. I was impressed you had Elgato sponsor the screencast, offer a prize, and offer a discount to current EyeTV owners.
- The August "MacFormat" magazine : A co-worker had been to Britain on business and brought back a copy of MacFormat for me. There was a special screencast on the DVD, and a special offer of $20US. It was a sign! :-)

So, with that I decided to take the plunge. I'm looking forward to many great screencasts. I do appreciate how much work they are to produce. You have to pick a topic, research the app(s), prepare a script, set up demo accounts, capture footage of cats (if needed), capture the screencast, capture the audio, add cursor spotlighting, edit the whole thing, prepare several movie files, preview the movies for quality assurance,, then post it for all to enjoy. I probably missed a few steps too. It's not as simple as turning on a microphone and pressing a button.

You have a quality show. Keep up the good work.

Thanks,
xxxxxx

ps: Not that I'm in the Witness Relocation Program or anything, but please don't mention my name if you blog/post/podcast/screencast about this.

More Details on ScreenCastsOnline Extra!

I received this unsolicited email today from a ScreenCastsOnline Extra! member and thought I'd reproduce in full (Name omitted by request). "Nice warm fuzzy glow" factor works both ways!

Much appreciated.

technorati tags:screencasts, extra, screencastsonline

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SCO Not Nominated in Podcast 2006 Awards

Controversial statement suitable for quoting: The 2006 Podcast Awards are now even less meaningful than the Miss America Pageant.

The 2006 Podcast Awards illustrates why popularity contests will not be meaningfull for podcasts, or video casts, or blogs, and I don’t envy the Todd and the Podcast Connect folks. Last year’s Podcast Awards was more like a Peer-Review Awards because you (as a listener) had at least heard of nearly all of the nominees! After last year’s awards show, no self-respecting podcaster could really argue against any of the winners.Now in 2006, there are too many podcasts and too few objective voters to even pretend that “number of votes” for a podcast correlates to “how much I should care” about a podcast.

I don’t mean that there should be fewer podcasts, or that the “podcasting space” is getting too crowded - I mean that the 2006 Podcast Awards contest is now meaningless.

PodCheck Review » Blog Archive » 2006 Podcast Awards less meaningful than Miss America Pageant

Phew!

I'm with you Scott ;-)

Seriously, thanks to those that did nominate ScreenCastsOnline

technorati tags:podcasting, awards, fletcher

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New Elgato Episode Hits the Airwaves

• Want to watch and record TV on your mac?
• Want to use a "Front Row" intergrated interface to access your TV guide and recordings?
• Want to use your Apple remote to control Live TV and recordings?
• Want to edit your TV recordings to remove ad breaks?
• Want to make DVDs and VideoCDs of your TV recordings?
• Want to convert and copy your TV programs to your iPod automatically?

This screencast shows you how to do all this by utilising the amazing new EyeTV 2 software from Elgato Systems. In the show I also demonstrate the new EyeTV for DTT device just launched by Elgato in Europe. It's basically a Freeview tuner that's the size of a memory stick and plugs straight into your USB2.0 port, turning your mac into a powerful PVR. Even better is that we're giving one away as a competition prize (kindly donated by Elgato Systems)

Most Recent Shows - ScreenCastsOnline Shows

The new screencast on the Elgato EyeTV2  software has just been published. Quite a challenge with all the full screen stuff and Live TV I had to capture but I think it works! Anyone fancy digging this ;-)

technorati tags:elgato, eyetv, frontrow, demo, prize, giveaway, mac, tv, recording, mpeg, ipod, dvd, screencast

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