I learned today that having a whole day to myself can be productive.
I got out of bed around 7am which is early for me on Saturday. Kathy had to work today so I had most of the day to myself to get things done and to goof off.
Yesterday I went and got the camper and got new tires put on it. (I’m sure the tires on it were from the 80′s sometime) Today was the day to get the camper ready to go for a campout we are doing next weekend in the local area. I got the battery off from it and put it on the charger and put up the TV antenna to see if I can get that to work right with the new 22” flat Screen HD TV we will have in there (roughing it huh?). I didn’t have much luck with the antenna but I did find the problem. I went to radio shack and get some new coax and will re-wire the thing on Sunday.
I also got the lawn mowed put down more seed (in more of the blank spots) and watered the lawn and the plants.
I then took to working inside. On my trip to radio shack (What a mess that place was!) I picked up a set of cheap PC Speakers for my Ubuntu machine. I have this ubuntu machine as sort of a server in the house. I use it as a print server and I also use it as an Xastir APRS iGate. What’s that you say? APRS is Automatic Position Reporting System. It’s something we use in ham radio where some of us have a GPS hooked to a radio and the APRS software or firmware transmits our position every 2 min. or so. and an iGate is a fixed station hooked to the internet so that your position reports can be seen online (see APRS.fi or “track me” at the top of this page). My iGate runs 24/7 and any APRS station within radio shot are retransmitted both on RF and to the internet. The speakers are for a feature in Xastir (the software I use for the igate) which reads out the callsign of the station and how far they are from you when one comes into range. It’s real geeky but it is interesting to “hear” who’s driving though.
It also lets me know when someone has downloaded and configured iAPRS (an iphone app). The developer of the app decided that the default location would be 100 yards up the road from my house. So whenever someone signs on for the first time, they show up here. Now my ubuntu machine will call out the callsigns from all over the world as they sign on to iAPRS for the first time.
As you can see, I’ve been tweaking and tweaking the look of this website. Partly because I could never get it “just right” and partly because I’m having a ball learning more and more about WordPress.
As you also know, I’ve had a couple of false starts on launching the Geek Of The North podcast. Part of that is I was trying to do a show that isn’t my style. Much like Strange Today. That was a great podcast, but it wasn’t “me” and if I can’t just be me, then I’m not motivated to do it on a regular basis.
So, to that end, I’ve widened the scope of what I want Geek Of The North to be. It’s going to be ME talking about the tech subjects that I like to talk about in a way that I like to talk about them. Relaxed, unscripted and comfortable. Like I’m talking to you over a beer or cup of coffee. I hope you will like the new format.
I’m also going to be sticking to a strict schedule. (yeah, I’ve said that before) So, anyway… My schedule is as follows:
Monday: No Podcasts. Use this for Web work
Tuesday: Record Mike Dell’s World (main feed)
Wednesday: Other recording projects (like BanjoTrax on Ed’s Mixed Bag)
Thursday: Record Geek Of The North
Friday: Record What’s Up With That (once in a while) and/or record **the yet to be amed new show with co-host**
Unscheduled: ipadio updates and / or record Mike Dell’s World (unplugged feed) Also, record for www.flightradio.com as needed.
I want to take my podcasting to the next level of dependability.
I really appreciate that you take a slice of time out of your week to listen to me and I think it’s only fair that I make sure I’m there for that time, every time and all the time.
YES, You are seeing double. I had to do this to get this episode into both feeds. Sorry for the confusion!
A new podcast? Well, sort of.
In Mike Dell’s World # 145 I asked was people thought of the current format of the show. Me talking, some music and the same stuff I’ve been doing for nearly 5 years. Some people thought the music was good, some thought the music was too much.
SO, this is what I’m going to do do for “unplugged”. This is going to be the feed where I do just voice. No Music, no sound effects and unedited. Just me chatting about whatever it is that’s on my mind. These episodes will will likely be shorter and can come out multipul times a week or maybe no times a week. I’m going to try to keep Mike Dell’s World (the main podcast) as it has been more or less weekly.
- Mike Dell's World
- Mike Dell's World in iTunes
- Mike Dell's World on Zune
- Follow Mike on Twitter
- Follow Mike on Google Plus
- Follow Mike on facebook
