Listen to today’s show here! 
MC20050916.mp3 [18.2mb 39:44 64kbps]
A podcast about Macs done by a Mac geek for Mac geeks. Show 89. The debate over iPod Nano sales numbers, Apple files for “iPodcast” trademark, Windows users cry foul with iTunes update, possible PowerMac G5 revisions coming? “Hidden” video icons in iTunes 5 fuels speculation, new JAVA Updates available. Kensington Pocket Mouse review. As expected Motorola E398 hacked to work with iTunes, listener is missing templates in DVD Studio Pro 4.0, more phone device syncing options, tip for find by “anything” using Spotlight, more dialog box keyboard controls, DivX Fusion Beta works in Tiger, still even more hotkey tricks, listeners bluetooth modules goes missing and I announce the Motion VFX contest winner. Thanks for staying subscribed. New music, Broken by Buddahead. And more promos.
Napoleon, don’t be jealous that I’ve been chatting online with babes all day.
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The sound on this podcast sounded somewhat staticy (is that a word?!) – is it just me or are you still having problems with your audio conversion?
The articles written on numbers for the iPod Nano are getting ridiculous. I hear the black model is selling better and that the white models are not as popular. So the story can go both ways. Locally, I know the mac resellers can’t keep any on the shelf. They are gone by filling the pre-orders on them.
At the time of writing your Podcast feed hasn’t update yet Adam. It shows the 9/13 episode as the latest. No wonder iTunes isn’t picking it up.
I think the iTunes 5.0 encoding problem is showing its ugly head again. On the last show Adam suggested Audion, which is effective but sllllllllow. I hope Apple makes some changes to the encoding… it’s a real drag.
On iPod nano I want to share that I received a 4gb white version together with an grey Armband and I found something that I think is useful. When you have the iPod nano in your arm inserted in the Armband and even under your t-shirt when excercising, you can still control the volume with your finger using the clickwheel. This is possible even with the layer of clothing and the armband between you and the iPod nano.
Is the encoding a problem with importing CDs too or just converting?
I suspect it would also be at the CD importing level, but I doubt it would be as obvious. Whe I encoded a podcast, it was generally at 64 kbps at 22.050 kHz sample rate. With iTunes 4.9 it sounded great. With iTunes 5.0 it sounded garbled and tinny. I think when you are encoding music at a higher bit rate (presumably 128 kbps or higher for mp3’s)it might not be as obvious. The problem from a podcaster’s POV is that we want to make the file sound as good as we can, but keep it as small as possible for bandwidth reasons.
In any event, it’s a shame Apple has been behind podcasting, but has now inadvertantly made it a little harder to make them. There are tools out there to make it happen, but I preferred using the very fast and very easy to use iTunes instead. Hopefully a fix is forthcoming!
Re: Maccast vs other podcasts.
I’ve been listening to the Maccast for a few months now and it’s the only Mac podcast I still listen to! Not really out of loyalty (:-)) or even apathy, but simply, as far as I”m concerned, because it can pretty well always be relied upon to tell me something new and useful.
The radio style high-energy banter of many other tech podcasts is OK for a while but just tends to grate after a bit (maybe I’m just getting old :-)). Anyway, I like Adam’s friendly and informative tone, I like the music tracks, and there’s a limit to how many podcasts I can realistically subscribe to.
From software mentioned on his show, I’ve started using TextWrangler (brilliant), CarbonCopyCloner and RapidWeaver which have really transformed my first steps in website building. A typical tip: Space bar Apple shift 4 is something I’d forgotten, but am sure to be using as I take screenshots all the time.
So thanks Adam, keep up the good work and don’t worry too much about the competition!
An addition to the screenshot tips, you can also combine them with the ctrl key, to make the screenshot go to the clipboard instead of a file.
This was the first MacCast podcast I’ve listened to, and it was very nice. Keep up the good work!
hi adam,
you mentioned that you’re looking for a way to tab between the different tabs in safari. here’s a screen capture of the key combo to press.
in case the image doesn’t show up:
next tab is “cmd+}”
prev tab is “cmd+{”
love the show. keep it real!
casey
Adam, you mentioned a program (soundsoak II??) that you used to reduce noise in the recording you get. I can’t for the life of me find anything on this program, only soundsoak wall panels. Do you have any info about it?
Also previous poster Casey, at least in my Safari, I have to use the shift key with those combos to get them to work.
thanks and keep up the good work