Ericast.com Podcast - DWEEB THOUGHTS

What am I doing this week? NOTHING! Or, "A LOT!" It depends on your perspective. I'm planning to hang out at home with the family. So, this week's episode is just a couple quick "reflections on life" plus a plea for the "silent majority" of you to check in and let me know you're out there. It's easy: Just a quick call to 206-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) or, if you insist, send an e-mail to me (eric) at ericast.com. Quote of the podcast: "It's like Foursquare, except verbal!" Links mentioned in this episode: http://www.mnbloggerconference.com/ at http://www.cocomsp.com/http://www.smbmsp.org/ at http://www.mnstatefair.org/http://www.wordcampmsp.org/http://www.boldpath.org/summit10

Another late episode and I'm taking this opportunity to talk about how we might avoid late episodes in the future... by asking you (the Ericast listener) to share ideas for a phone-to-podcast solution that 1) still exists and 2) might work for the Ericast... AudioBlogger.com worked great in 2005 but is gone (having been bought by Odeo.com, which is also gone -- at least at the moment)Gcast.com merged with GarageBand.com and GarageBand.com merged with iLike.com... and in the process, all of their phone-to-podcast offerings went awayGabcast.com went to a paid model -- not much cost to it, but still paid. Never used it more than the basic "play with it and check it out" level of experimentation.Cinch and AudioBoo seem like possible contenders?Drop.io has a phone-in offering (no security on the phone number and no way of knowing if you dialed the right one, which makes me uneasy...)Google Voice seemed like a logical option but I don't think there's an "automatic" way of getting the audio out of it -- voicemail isn't really the right solution for this kind of thing, anywayK7.net is outstanding for a listener feedback line or other voicemail option but it doesn't mail out MP3s (just WAV and some other non-MP3 format I forget at the moment) Also mentioned is iSpeech.org, which is a neat text-to-speech-to-podcast option... but I still have the "how do I merge these feeds together?" question (and it seems like it doesn't automatically update its audio podcast; you have to go to the site and "ping" your blog, which is an extra step that I'd like to avoid.) What are your thoughts/suggestions? You know the drill: 206-339-ERIC (a.k.a. 206-339-3742) or e-mail me (eric) at ericast.com. Thanks for listening! P.S. For those who don't get the SNL "Pete Twinkle" references that I make here and there in the podcast, here's a clip from Hulu... which I probably don't need to explain is not "work safe". (In this particular "Ladies Bowling" sketch they proudly and colorfully tout their sponsorship by Vagisil. You've been warned.)

A late one, yes indeed, but a conversation starter for us all: What are our strongly-held opinions/beliefs/preferences based on? Sometimes they're based on logically-argued principles, and the solution to that is to put those principles head-to-head and hash it out. But then... there are those opinions/beliefs/preferences that are based on an emotional connection to something. And that's okay. The point is, you can't argue against an emotionally-based preference by throwing more "data" at the emotion. Does that make any sense? Does it make more (or less) sense after listening to the podcast? Let me know -- 206-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) or e-mail me (eric) at ericast.com.

What a fun, fun episode! Whoo! That could be because I'm in the "giddy" stage of post-seminar and mid-VBS exhaustion but, hey, if this is what it's like then it's not so bad. Having talked about the Social Media Breakfast and the launch of a promotional "don't give any money to these charities" thing (yes, it really is that... quirky?) here's the link I promised: Eric's special DreamTeam 2010 link Please visit that and sign up... if nothing else, to verify that my signups really are counting toward my "credit". (That seems odd here, but listen to the podcast and it'll make sense.) Also, we have a new famous fan! You'll have to listen to the podcast to find out who it is, though... and, in all honesty, I don't think he's really a "fan". Just a cool guy and good sport. You too can be (or continue to be) a cool guy (or gal) by calling in to the listener feedback line: 206-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) or e-mailing your comments and questions to me (eric) at ericast.com. Thanks for listening!

A quick podcast (which, somehow, still ended up being nearly 20 minutes) touching on an interesting local news tidbit -- a boy and his mom lost on bike trails in the woods. Sounds interesting? No? Well, listen and see what you think... By the way, here's a YouTube video (not mine) of a bike ride on the trails in question. This was shot in springtime a year ago; remember that the brush has had an extra couple months to leaf out, and then imagine being on these trails when it gets pitch dark: I also promised a link to the TV antenna towers that Chloe and I looked at up in Shoreview. In case you didn't know it already, 1,400 feet is really tall. Really, really tall. Comments, as always, should be phoned in to 206-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) or e-mailed to me (eric) at ericast.com.

Finally! The long-awaited Tim Lemmens interview! I had a chance to catch up with Tim for a few minutes and ask some of the "tell me about your life as a musician" questions -- more than just "what's a day-in-the-life" like, but something along the lines of "what makes you tick?" As an aside, I realized after recording this that Ericast listeners outside my church and close circle of friends might get confused between musician Tim Lemmens in this podcast who's alive and well, vs. musician (and worship pastor) Tim Vanderveld at our church who, as of this writing, is still doing ministry during his end-stage gallbladder cancer. Very different Tims. On a technical note, this podcast is in stereo because the interview was recorded with two lav mikes and a dual-mono-to-stereo combiner in an Olympus WS-320M portable recorder. Tim's on the left channel, I'm on the right. (Personally, I love separating out the channels and hearing the distinction between the two participants -- do you like that in your particular listening environment?) For the latest Tim Lemmens' music, check out Tim's MySpace site as well. And if you're curious, you can read more about the 24 Hours to IMPACT conference that I mentioned (and, on the same site, check out the other teaching opportunities driven through the "BoldPath Life Strategies" group...) Comments, as always, are welcome via 206-339-ERIC (a.k.a. 206-339-3742) or an e-mail to me (eric) at ericast.com.

What a fun episode. Fun, fun, fun. That's all I'm sayin'. Okay, I'll say one more thing: I swear I didn't know how this podcast was going to come together as I built it. Didn't have a clue about the undertones of popcorn and Chloe that run throughout. Amazing. And it all started with an outtake... While I'm at it, the not-yet-official site I'm experimenting with is flavors.me/emlarson, so check it out and tell me what you think about the concept overall and the two different competing "lifestream" versions that I'm toying with. (Its RSS imports do seem to lag, which is frustratingly odd... And don't forget the "Is Technology Making Your Students Stupid?" article: A. There's a study called "The Laptop and the Lecture" that divided a class into two sets. One-half of the students could use their laptops in a classroom while listening to a lecture. They were free to surf the Web. And the other half had to keep their laptops closed. And then there was a test of comprehension. And the students who used their laptops scored significantly lower on the comprehension test for how well they could remember the content of the lecture. An interesting twist was that students who visited sites relevant to the content of the lecture actually did even worse on the test than students who browsed unrelated sites. It indicates that, even if you think that allowing students to look at other information relevant to what they're being taught might enhance their learning, it actually appears to have the opposite effect. Never heard of a Google Jockey? There you go; a new term for you! And, while I'm at it... famous assasinated World War I figure of the podcast is Archduke Ferdinand, and I stand by my assertion that the causes of World War II are more complicated than the simple answer of "Hitler."On that cheerful note... 206-339-3742 or e-mail to me (eric) at emlarson.com to add to the conversation!

Following up from yesterday's UnSummit4 (www.unsummit.org) here in the Twin Cities and reflecting on the fact that we've flown through the month of June. Touching on personal branding with career coaching topics and my personal web site, with experiments into flavors.me thanks to Patrick Rhone. (Be sure to check out his Practical Opacity website!) Even a reference to WordPress 3 and its multiblogging options. Overly-used word of the podcast: "quirky" Also, discussion of my life mission or personal philosophy or whatever you call it that I... support learning. The introvert side of me keeps me from finding my energy and fulfillment in "people themselves". But I'm still excited by triggering or basking in the "lightbulb moments" of the people I help (touched on over at my blog's "Living the Lightbulb" post) In case you haven't heard of it, my passing reference at the end of the last call is to Open Theism -- a very interesting theology to read up on but not one I'd necessarily endorse. And, finally, the question of "information" vs. "meformation" -- the Ericast is heavy on the "meforming" side and, hey, you probably knew that. But it's still a two-way street! Comments, as always, in verbal form to 206-339-ERIC (206-339-ERIC) or written form to me (eric) at ericast.com. Reed Timmer's storm chasing video from Minnesota this month (the storms that passed a couple dozen miles to our north and south, sparing Eagan):

An entertainingly provocative title for a podcast that has an endearing reflection on small-town life -- not romanticized, but realistic. Wait. The reflection itself isn't endearing. Maybe it is; you tell me. I guess it's a rambling reflection on the endearing qualities of small-town life. Why bring this up? Because for years I've questioned whether I should concentrate on a niche for this podcast (or for other chunks or my life) -- something like the "Church and Non-Profit Podcast" or "Insights on Learning Technologies" or such. But that kind of focus never resonated for me here, and I wonder if it's because my "formative teen years" were spent in a small town where nobody could afford the luxury of "specializing" in only one thing. So, let me know what you think: is this a small-town thing, or just a "real-world thing" that might be a bit more visible in a small town, or neither, or both, or something else entirely. 206-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) or e-mail me (eric) at ericast.com