No, not a blog post about Windows 7. Rather, a blog post from Windows 7 and more specifically Windows Live Writer running on Windows 7. I’ve always thought that Live Writer is a nice, easy way to compose blog posts. I especially like how it “previews” the post as you’re composing it—right now I’m staring at the green background of my blog as I type this.
But, I’m still at a loss as to how to edit previous posts or if that functionality is even available. I’d think that any well-thought-out blog publishing app would make a feature as essential as the editing of past posts integral to the interface but as I scan the pleasant-looking toolbars and sidebars of Live Writer I don’t see any apparent way to do this. While composing new posts is fun (and editing old posts should be kept to a minimum), I’d still like the ability to make tweaks here and there.
Besides my qualms about Live Writer, I’ve found my experience with Windows 7 thus far to be just fine. It’s faster and smoother than Vista and more robust and modern than XP (plus who wants to use such an ancient operating system). I’m still an OS X guy but 7 looks like it’ll present a reasonable alternative for a lot of folks.
I plan on writing a longer post on my trip – maybe a bit of a narrative – and of course embed slideshows of the photos I took. I have a lot of raw video to go through as well but I’m waiting for iMovie ’09 to get it all put together. I really want to use some of those cool new map transitions – Indiana Jones style!
Just trying it out really – seeing what all the fuss is about. Well, not fuss really, just some decent buzz. Time to sleep now – another long day tomorrow!
If you follow my Twitter (or Plurk or anything else) or saw a recent post to this very blog, you’d know that I ordered a Røde PSA-1 Studio Arm from B&H Photo in New York. I received the boom arm and was extremely excited to get it set up and working. I took it out of the box and noticed I was missing a part that was advertised on the box: a 3/8″ thread adaptor. So unable to mount my Blue Snowball on the arm as I’d originally planned, I got it all set up and realized that the arm would only stay extended; it would not retain it’s position. Naturally I was very upset about this – the point of the boom is to position the microphone so as to be more convenient. I immediatley e-mailed Røde technical support as well as the retailer. A non-position-able boom arm is not what I was hoping to get. I quickly got a response from Røde which made me happy but I didn’t quite like his answer:
Hi Ben, there isn’t anything wrong with your PSA-1. It is designed to work with the PodCaster microphone. The microphone acts as a counterbalance that stabilizes the PSA-1. You will need a mic that has a comparable weight to the PodCaster which weights about 21.5oz.
Ok great. Now he wants me to buy a Podcaster which starts at over $200. I was under the impression that the PSA-1 would work with any mountable microphone. Hmm. Well, I decided to test his theory and approximated the weight of a Podcaster microphone. It worked. Then I got the brilliant idea to hang my Blue Snowball from the boom arm using a velcro strap. Also works. Here’s a video of the hanging Snowball in action:
The nice man at Røde Support (Michael is his name) offered to mail me the adaptor that was missing from the box. Thanks! Hopefully when that comes the hanging Snowball will be no more…but for right now it seems to be working fine.
This was released as a “webisode” supplement to last night’s SNL. It’s funnier than most of what they actually put in the show. Is it because all of the bleeped profanity? It’s bleeped.
This is somehow not a compilation of my various Tweets and Plurks but rather an independent compendium of what happened today.
Finally received my highly anticipated Rode PSA 1 Studio Arm. It doesn’t work. I’m either going to send it back to B&H or deal with Rode. Sending it back requires paying return postage but to me if it’s defective it should be free. Right?
My disappointment over the studio arm is almost tempered by the highly anticipated release of iPhone 2.2 software. Podcast downloads, here I come! Oh and the Google Street View sounds cool too.
Scheduled to podcast a murder mystery dinner on Saturday. I have a long history with such events (as a performer) so it will be interesting to be on the “other side.”
Yeah, I’m on Windows. Not Vista, oh no. XP SP3. I’m using XP in VMWare Fusion on my Mac specifically to check out Windows Live Wave 3. In fact, I’m using the beta of Windows Live Writer to compose this post. It seems to work okay but I haven’t yet figured out if I can edit existing posts like I can with ecto on my Mac.
Well… the laundry is done so folding must commence.
I’m really more interested in trying this out than anything. When Apple finally announced official 3rd party app support, my initial idea of a “killer app” was mobile blogging software. Now that WordPress for the iPhone is out, my wish has been realized (I know TypePad was first but I’m a WordPress guy) and here I am blogging from work. Will this newfound ability increase my output? Doubtful. I’ve vowed to be more prolific too many times to count yet this blog still chugs along at one post a month.
Still, the idea of slowly crafting a post via iPhone throughout the day when a spare moment presents itself is an attractive proposition. Heck, it sure beats wasting time on Twinkle which seems to be slowly morphing into some sort of Web 2.0 dating service (see attached screen grab – “female playmate” – enough said).
And so concludes my first truly mobile post. I hope there will be many more.
Note: After posting originally with WordPress on my iPhone, I went back in with ecto to center the image (for some reason I hate left-aligned images) and also to add a few links to the body of the post. Despite some minor post-production, I think posting from my iPhone is powerful indeed and will—hopefully—drive me to be more active.
I feel I’ve been neglecting Luminary Blur for a while. Normally I’d blame it on procrastination or disinterest or really good TV shows (how about that Lost finale). This time, however, I’ve got some good reasons.
Building a podcast network. Yes, a network. “Doesn’t a network require more than one podcast,” you ask. Indeed it does, and I’m proud to say that the Kwinix Podcast Network now features two regularly produced podcasts. The first is The Switchcast, which amazingly is up to four episodes with the fifth coming any day now. Mac vs. PC, OS X vs. Windows, iPhone vs. Windows Mobile. It’s always a lively debate and I anticipate more intense discussions as the launch of the 3G iPhone is almost here. The newest addition to the network is Dinner Voyeur, a fine dining podcast featuring Scot T. Kokandy. While the first episode was a solo effort, Scot is looking forward to bringing more collaborators into the mix to create some lively discussions around the finest restaurants in Chicago (and beyond). In fact, if you know of any establishment that begs for Scot’s podcast treatment, send him an e-mail. Finally, to create a more “unified” feel to the network, I’ve created an intro that identifies our shows as belonging to the Kwinix Podcast Network. I’ve embedded it below for your listening pleasure—don’t worry, it’s only eight seconds long. Kwinix Podcast Network Intro
Building a website. This is something I used to do a lot and wouldn’t mind doing it more often. I’ve become quite a Joomla expert (I’m currently building a new version of my mom’s Pella Community Day Care site) so when my old college roommate asked me if I was interested in deploying a site for Gonzales Regal Miniature Dachshunds, I jumped at the chance. The site is done for the most part and the first litter has arrived.
I guess that isn’t too much but these two projects have really taken up a lot of my time for the last few weeks. I hope to continue to develop both my podcasting prowess as well as my website development expertise. Thanks for journeying with me.
For all your Microsoft fanboys out there, I just had to excerpt this Paul Thurrott rant from the latest episode of Windows Weekly with Leo Laporte. I laughed the whole way through because it’s so true. So very very true. And it’s linked (and playable) below for your listening enjoyment.
