Podcasting Live

Today we recorded our 10th episode of Knights of the Guild podcast but this time we were broadcasting via webcam on livestream. This was our first time so things didn't quite go as planned. It started off fine.. we did our interview with Sean (audio guy) and it went great. We then started our podcast and turned on the livestream feed. We started the podcast and got about ten minutes in and realized that the audio was one correctly configured so folks watching couldn't hear anything. I just happen to look over at the chat window and people were frantically typing "WE CAN'T HEAR YOU". We quickly fixed the problem and continued with the podcast. For about and hour things were moving along nicely. The webcam would move and I'd be cut out of frame but again we would look at the chat room and they would let us know. We then started getting "trolls" in our chat. If you don't know what a troll is, it's a person (if you can all them that) that join the chat and will swear, attack and otherwise disrupt the chat room. We had several of them and I keep trying to ban them but with livestream you can only ban the name and not the IP address.. so I would ban them and they would sign back on with another name and so on and so on. After a while I gave up and we continued to do the podcast.

When we were done it seemed that those who joined us enjoyed it. We had alot of fun doing it but because of the trolls it kind of ended the night on a down. But I'll be looking into either another live web cam service, one that I can ban IP address or looking into livestream closer to see if there is something I can do.

The night ended on a high as we received a $100 donation moments after the podcast had ended and that made both Jenni and my night.

Will be doing another live feed but we will now know what to expect and be prepared for it.

More House Work

Today I spent the day organizing the office space, emptying out boxes and finding a place for everything. I also finished setting up our other three TV's/DirectTV and activating them. Of course things never go as planned and our direct TV box in our guest room is not working properly so I have to investigate it further, but I did get the TV working on our master bedroom and our office.

Another Week Over

Well work is moving along slowly but that's how it normally is during the beginning of a show. I guess I should enjoy this slow period as it won't last and soon I'll be pulling what hair I have left out. One bright spot today was lunchtime. Today I got to see my good friend Christopher. Both of our lives are so hectic that we don't get to see each other as often as we like but we still try and have lunch or dinner once a month. Today we had lunch at Islands and it was alot of fun catching up. I am sooooo looking forward to the weekend.

Dinner with Friends

This evening Harry and I went to a dinner party over at our friends John and Moises' place. Joining us was Tom, Ervin and Bruce.

It was so great seeing these guys as it's been a few months because of the move and all. We normally got together with these guys every week for TV night at our place but since we moved and now that we live a bit further out we are not having our weekly TV nights and I really miss seeing everyone on a regular bases.

Once again Moises made a wonderful dinner and the company was great. John was showing off his new Mac and of course Harry and Bruce were loving it.

Harry and I have been so busy with the house that it was nice to actually hang out with friends again.. will have to do it more often.

Is Social Media A Fad

I came across this awesome video on you tube asking is Social Media a Fad. If you know me you know I'm huge into social media networks. I did Friendster back in the day and then My Space and currently I'm on Facebook, Twitter and Simlar as well as being connected with a alot of people online via forums and podcasts.

After watching the video and all the data and stats it gives you, it's clear that social media is the wave of the future.. speaking of waves.. have you joined Google Wave?? I have....

V

They finally premiered V on ABC.

First let me say I'm an old school V fan. I watched the first 4 hour miniseries back in the early 80's with my family and then the follow up 6 hour mini series two years after that and was in love. I watched the series over and over as we recorded it on our brand new VCR. In 1989 when they premiered the TV series I was right there waiting with baited breath and loved ever minute of it. Looking back now both mini series hold up pretty well but the TV series has some really cheesy episodes that didn't age will.. but I still love them. So to say I was super excited for this new version of V is an understatement.

I missed the sneak preview at comic con this year (which really bummed me out) so I have been counting down the days for this premiere. Quick thoughts... I really enjoyed the new re-imagined V. It was alot of the same storyline as the original but with some twists here and there.. the biggest is that there have been aliens (V's) living on Earth for years(?). I think they established each character, revealed the storyline and got a good start to the story. I really enjoyed the sfx.. the shuttlecrafts were cool and the inside of the mother ships were like small cities in space.. a big difference from the original. I really like Anna (Morena)'s character.. some of the looks she gave sent shivers down my spine. I like their version of the 5th Columnists (V traitors). This has only been the first episode but I can't wait to see where they take this storyline. Will they pull from the original or vear off on their own.

I do have a few complaints, at the beginning after the ships arrive and Anna gives her speech suddenly everyone breaks into applause. I mean aliens just arrive causing world wide panic and then after a five minute speech from some pretty women who looks human, they all applaud and cheer them. I don't think people are that gullible, at least I'm not. Yes I'm sure they were happy that they didn't attack but everyone around the world all clapping.. with the original V the ships came and sat in the sky for a few hours, then there was contact and folks were still skeptical then they had the meet up and still folks were skeptical.. This all took place in a matter of days not minutes. The other thing is how did the army get in the streets of NY so quickly.. it's like the ships arrived and there they were managing crowds. Did the government know they were coming?? And how lucky Erica when she found her son just a few feet from her in the middle of New York. Also with technology today you would think the world scientist and astronomers would have seen 29 huge ships coming towards Earth years in advance .. but like I have said.. maybe they did and world government had be hiding that news. But even with all those little grips.. the series was alot of fun. I'm a disappointed that ABC is airing only 4 episodes in Nov and then the rest next year in March.. I just hope this doesn't kill the series. I guess only time will tell.

Of course all this stuff it just things you have to ignore for the story to work and it didn't bother me but did make me think.

Cleaning House

Today I spent the morning sweeping and cleaning the hardwood floors.. it's been a few weeks and there was a ton of dust and dog hair. After that I dusted all the furniture in the living room, dining room and TV room. This took a few hours to do all this and I know this will be a constant battle. After that I continued to put away laundry that I had washed a few days ago.

Harry and I then went to Ikea to pick up some shelves for our pantry. Once I got home we built it shelves and placed it in the pantry. After that I did a quick clean up of the kitchen. Now our house is looking great.. only a few more things to put away in the office and we still need to hang some curtains. And of course we still have to hang pictures and accessorize the place but it's coming together.

Next up we move to outside.. so much work to do.