I've had an idea about creating a Digg-style social news network called www.BlogFloat.com devoted to New Media, bloggers, podcasters, video podcasters, social networks, and the like, for a while now and until recently couldn't muster up the man hours it would take to create one from scratch using the tools I am most familiar with (Visual Studio and ASP.NET). After the extensive programming I did on my Twitter-like site, www.bubeasy.com, I was sure this idea would remain in the idea realm and never materialize (like oh so many of my other concepts).

In search of an alternative route, I recently stumbled onto an article on Digg titled How to Build and Launch a Social News Site in 21 Days.

After reading the article and doing the mental calculations on how I could grab 21 days worth of time from my normally hectic schedule, I set out to research a bit more about the Content Management System featured in the article, Social Web CMS. I came to the conclusion that due to the fact I would be using a shared hosting account at GoDaddy and not having to run my own server (which would involve installing PHP, mySQL, and who knows what else), I should be able to get something up and running over a weekend.

Step one was to download and install the files on a free hosting GoDaddy account I had associated with another domain name. I wanted to test out the SWCMS before I plopped out any cash for the adventure and since I already had a Windows hosting credit, I thought why not? Unfortunately, after hours of heartache and visits to the SWCMS forum, with lots of support from a variety of folks over there, I opted to go ahead and buy the domain name I wanted, www.BlogFloat.com, along with some Linux hosting.

From there, I uploaded the files (I had some trouble using Filezilla on a Mac, as it seemed to only be willing to upload one sub-directory....if there were sub-directories within sub-directories, I had to manually upload them), did some slight tweaking, and then set out to Admin the new site. With great pleasure, everything seemed to work quite well.

I set out to try to tweak the graphics of the site by finding some Pligg-based templates on the web. After trying this one and that one, finding that things like the nav menu became broken or that certain pages wouldn't load at all, I re-uploaded the original files and basically started from scratch. Actually, I went through this procedure several times over the weekend as any time I seemed to tweak anything with a non standard template, things went to hell. Not that there is anything wrong with SWCMS, nor the templates, but I have been in the .NET world for a very long time and my PHP skills are foggy.

Administering the site proved simple, too. There is a module store that allows you to easily add existing modules to the new site, pretty much every setting for the site you can imagine is located in the Language menu, and the only notepad editing I had to do for the entire site was to re-write the FAQ page to suit my site's needs.

So over a weekend, purchasing the domain name and hosting on a Friday, tweaking, testing, and reloading from scratch a few times on Saturday, Sunday rolled around and I was pretty happy with the admin settings and layout (the default template “yget” is just pretty, I like it). I spent the day attempting to upload blog post links, editing a bit more in the Admin section, and that was it.

I showed off my new site to a few friends at work and was met with “wow” and “how long?” responses. The next step for the success of the site is to build the user network. My intention is to hit up every podcaster forum I can find, contact podcasters I know personally and ask for their support, and somehow I need to get the word out to the blogosphere, as such users would really, really find a site like this handy.

Imagine as a blogger that you are able to write a post, then post it at www.BlogFloat.com with a nice description and rise in popularity on the page based on the content of your writing. If people like it, you get hits. If not, then you try again with your next blog post.

I'm exicted about the future of www.BlogFloat.com. If anyone is interested in more details on how I made it work, feel free to contact me. Or, heck, just write a blog post, post it over at BlogFloat.com and I'll see it!

-Corby-

After some initial trouble getting things up and running, mostly due to issues with GoDaddy Windows hosting, I just wrapped up another $$ spending session and have purchased a domain name and Linux hosting for a new website that will use the Social Web CMS backbone.  The site will be like Digg but I am going to attempt to target it to bloggers.  Yes, most of what you will find on Digg is from national news sources, with some blog entries being found here and there...I want this new site, to be named shortly, to be specific to the bloggers, podcasters, and video casters of the world...but of course, all submissions will be welcome.

I'm exicted about the new adventure and hope to be able to release the domain name very soon.  Thanks to all the guys over at the Social Web CMS forum, especially Ash, for his answers to my many questions.  Thanks guys!  (By the way, guys, more questions to follow on the forum.  haha)

 -Corby- 

For the last few days I have been trying to get a Content Management System installed on my GoDaddy Windows hosting account to play around with a Digg-style blog submission website idea I have.  After days of headaches, I had nearly given up completely on Social Web CMS.  I opted to try just one more CMS, one called PHPDug and during the install process I had the same issue.  The only difference was that PHPDug provided a Google-able error message that netted me a working answer!

What was the error message?  

Client does not support authentication protocol requested by server; consider upgrading MySQL client

 After a Google search, I found my answer.

It turns out that there is an issue with the way MYSQL databases handle passwords.  In order to get the PHPDug installer to work, and the Social Web CMS I am assuming (about to try that next), all I had to do was open my database on GoDaddy, go to the SQL statement page, and enter:

SET PASSWORD = OLD_PASSWORD('MyPassword');

...where MyPassword was replaced by my actual database password.  I executed it and POW, I can see my Install screen!

Hopefully this post will help someone else down the road.  I have literally spent days trying over and over, deleting and recreating databases on GoDaddy.  Now, though, it all seems to work! 

-Corby- 

The Guild, a review of the web tv show located at http://www.watchtheguild.com

If you are not already in love with Felicia Day, then you're out of the loop! Who is she? Well, she's "Codex" on "The Guild", www.WatchTheGuild.com. She is also the writer and lead on this awesome web tv show. I stumbled onto this gem while chowing down a foot-long Blimpie's Best sammy over lunch about a month ago.

I had fired up the TV for a little G4TV on my cable system while destroying the sandwhich and they were doing an interview with Felicia about "The Guild". Being a former, and ever recovering, MMORPG geek, I was intregued immediately. After having spent nearly 3 years of my life sucked into the world of Everquest, only having given it up after my lovely bride politely told me that if I didn't stop playing the game, I'd be playing with myself for the rest of my life, anything I can live the MMORPG life vicariously through without actually logging the hours is right up my alley.

So that evening I watched the entire season 1 and as there were only two episodes of season 2 released, I added those to the night's viewing enjoyment. Note, each episode is only between 3-8 minutes long so knocking out the entire series up to this point is well worth the less than 2 hour investment. Much more entertaining than the 2-hour movie you've got 6 items down in your Netflix queue (trust me, I know).

Basically "Codex" (Felicia Day) is in a guild with a few other players. Vork (Jeff Lewis), Tinkerballa (Amy Okuda), "Zaboo" (Sandeep Parikh), "Clara" (Robin Thorsen), and "Bladezz" (Vincent Casso). Here's a direct link to the Cast Page.

This band of looters and raiders are all...special...in their own way. Zaboo leaves his mother's home to travel across the contry to pronounce his love for Codex, who is the least bit interested but still allows the creepy little sex pot to live in her house. His mother later comes into the picture as a mega-boss. In an effort to get some help from her guildmates, Codex arranges a real life get-together with these fine folks she's never met in person before. Hilarity ensues, as this group of social misfits, albiet a powerhouse of MMORPG goodness in-game, are a bunch of weirdos in real life. Hm...wonder if that's how things were back when I was rocking the Quellious Server in Everquest as a level 47 magician, "Skoalman".  Anyway, Bladezz holds the guild's loot bank hostage, Tinkerballa offers to babysit Clara's neglected children, Zaboo continues to attempt to make Codex fall in love with him pitifully, and Vork is trying to abide by guild rules not only in-game, but in real life.

One thing that the show is missing is some actual in-game footage. Maybe there's copyright reasons they aren't allowed to clip in some Warcraft video or whatever the flavor of the month MMORPG game is these days. It would sure be nice to see some "South Park"-esc game action here and there as this group struggles between real world problems and in-game guild obligations.

I've got to give this show a 10 of 10 for not only nerd humor, but the writing is great, the cast is outstanding, and the show is just an all around blast to watch if you can relate to the gamer mentality. Give "The Guild" just an episode or two of your time and see for yourself. I can promise you that you'll enjoy it as much as I do...if you're the least geeky or nerdy. And if you're here, you are.

-Corby-

I was sitting at work today when I received an email about the joining of Blogworld's expo and the New Media expo into one event.  I attended the first Podcast Expo (had a great time, met lots of awesome people) and the second which I believe was changed to "New Media Expo" the following year, both in Ontario, CA.  Although I haven't been able to go since, due to family and work, I still follow all of the happenings in the podosphere and in the new media expo world.

The email I received today was titled "BlogWorld Expo & New Media Expo Merge to Create One Huge Event for the Entire New Media industry!" from Rick Calvert, founder of Blogworld and New Media Expo and Tim Bourquin of the Podcast and Portable Media Expo (later named New Media Expo).  The two gave their perspectives on how the joining expos came about one, big mega nerd get-together.  The full contents of the email from Rick's perspective was published over at  Blogworld.com and Tim's perspective at newmediaexpo.com.

Ah, the old days of sipping beers in the Ontario, CA Marriott hotel bar with the likes of Keith and the Girl, Brother Love, Dawn and Drew, the guys from Nobody Likes Onions, Rob from Podcast 411, Nate and Di, Swoopy, Bibb, and countless, countless others....  (my old Flickr photos of the first year's event can be found here)

It's nice to see the two groups getting together and hopefully an official "sticking it to the old media man" expo will come out of this.  As active in the podcasting community as many of us are, either as content creators or fans/listeners/viewers, we new media folks need all the togetherness we can get.  I think that by these two forces joining together, we might be in for some of the best new media expo adventures yet!

-Corby- 

The eventual video podcast is coming, but for now, all I have for you is an intro video.  I think it looks pretty good on the iPod, minus the lower 3rds and any real content....but coming soon!

Intro

I had a conversation today with a co-worker/buddy named Brian.  He pointed out that his second generation iPhone's "E" had been replaced with a "3G".  This news should excite all iPhone users in the Omaha Nebraska area as it appears official that AT&T's 3G network has been activated in our town!

Brian was kind enough to share a screenshot of his iPhone's desktop showing the new 3G graphic near the upper left as confirmation.  

 I recently ran into a situation where I needed to figure out if there were any leap years between two dates.  Although I'm quite sure there is a more elegant way of doing it in C# for purposes of using on an ASP.NET 2.0 page, this is what I came up with and I am quite pleased that it works.  Hopefully somebody will find this useful in the future, as my searching and searching prior to writing this code didn't net me much success.

Why would you want to find out how many leap years are between two dates?  Well, let's say you want to calculate insurance premiums based on a 365 day year.  If you have a leap year, you might have 366 days if the policy started before 2-29 of that year...or if the policy is from 5-1-2000 and goes to 5-1-2004.  The year 2000 does not include the 2-29 date so you are not adjusting the 366 days down to 365...but for the year 2004, you do have to take the extra leap day into consideration when calculating.  This code takes the two dates, starting and ending, figures the total years and days between the dates, and gives a total number of leap year days you must consider between the two.

            DateTime d1 = Convert.ToDateTime(this.txtStartDate.Text);
            DateTime d2 = Convert.ToDateTime(this.txtEndDate.Text);
          
           #region Leap Year Calculations
            //Leap year checker
            int LeapValueToSubtract = 0;
            if (d1.Year == d2.Year)
            {
                //if the same year AND a leap year, we just need to subtract 1 day
                if (DateTime.IsLeapYear(d1.Year) == true && d1.DayOfYear < 60)
                {
                    LeapValueToSubtract++;
                }
            }
            else if (d1.Year != d2.Year)
            {
                if (DateTime.IsLeapYear(d1.Year) == true && d1.DayOfYear < 60)
                {
                    LeapValueToSubtract++;
                }

                int holder = d1.Year;
                holder = holder + (4 - (holder % 4));

                for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++)
                {
                    if (holder < d2.Year)
                    {
                        LeapValueToSubtract++;
                        holder = holder + 4;
                    }
                }
                if (DateTime.IsLeapYear(d2.Year) == true && d2.DayOfYear > 60)
                {
                    LeapValueToSubtract++;
                }

            }
           
this.lblLeapYearDaysToSubtract.Text = Convert.ToString(LeapValueToSubtract);

#endregion

Of the hundreds of iPhone applications I've downloaded to my iTouch, I have found many that I love.  Fieldrunner, Monkey Ball, AOL Radio, just to name a few.  Granted, most of what I download are free but I would absolutely be willing to pay for one particular creation.

What I am looking for is an application that would allow me to stream video from my Macbook to my iTouch using my home's wi-fi network.  Why would I want such a thing?  Well, for one, I have two daughters who enjoy super long baths.  If I were able to set up my Macbook's iSight camera to stream live video to my iTouch while I went around the house and cleaned things up, it would be amazing!  Also, I'd like to be able to do the same thing when the kids are in their play room.  Macbook in the corner, iSight turned on, iPhone app running catching the live video stream so I can see them playing at all times.

Now, I assume that if the iPhone was able to handle Flash, I could accomplish this task with ease by creating a free account at www.ustream.com or some other similar video streaming service and then access the URL through Safari to see the video in real time, but regardless of the rumor mill regarding Adobe Flash on the iPhone, nothing solid, proven, and definitive has been announced, at least for the near future.

So aside from my few examples, there could be hundreds of applications for such a streaming video feature from a Macbook (or PC for that matter) to an iPhone or iTouch, whether via an iPhone App or some sort of web-based service that would jive fine with Safari on Apple's mobile devices.  Have an employee out of the office that should be able to see the big meeting?  Want to stream a live video podcast and allow iPhone users to see it anywhere in the world in real time?  News networks could broadcast repeats of their evening news on their servers and have things accessible via the iPhone on demand.  Anywhere where there is content being created or action going on that someone not there might like to view, this "wishful thinking" iPhone application would be perfect for.

If anyone knows of any suggestions that would help me accomplish this sort of functionality using my iTouch, please let me know.  If you're a developer and you're working on something like this, let me know!  If you know more than I do about the potential of the iPhone/iTouch eventually getting Adobe Flash, let me know!

With the digital transition coming soon, I thought it was time to go ahead and pick a digital converter box.  After receiving my coupon while home for lunch today, after work I took my daughters up to the local Target and picked a $49.99 box.  Now under normal circumstances, I would have researched like crazy and picked the best of the best for the price.  This purchase, however, I opted not to bother...figuring all boxes are probably about the same and heck, it's not for my TV, it's for my daughter's room for picking up over the air PBS kids shows.  I should have known better...

After a rather hectic checkout with a lady whose first language was not English, my 1-year-old trying desperately to escape the cart repeatedly, multiple swipes of the coupon card, and my 4-year-old doing her best to attempt to shoplift a princess lipgloss cleverly placed kid-high in the checkout isle, we managed to leave the Target with a GE Digital Converter Box, everyone in tact, no items heisted (to my knowledge).

 Upon getting it home, I plugged the thing into the power strip, put the coax cable into the back of the TV, and tried to turn it on.  Nothing happened.  I tried a different power strip.  Nothing happened.  I took the box to 3 different rooms and tried a total of 5 different outlets.  Nothing happened.  Now I know nothing happened because the menu that was supposed to appear when it was hooked to the TV never came up.  And the two lights on the front of the device never lit up (even after I covered the thing with my hands peering at the LEDs like a kid window shopping for a Red Rider BB gun).  I even tried the remote instead of the power button on the front.  Nothing happened.  I swapped the packaged batteries for brand new ones.  Nothing happened.  I, to be quite honest, got a dud.

So needless to say, this stinker of a device is going back to Target at my earliest convenience.  Too bad, too.  I didn't even get the chance to use it and write a review on the setup, the menu system, and the quality of signal it received.

Word to the wise...avoid this box and do your research!

As a heavy podcast listener since the early days of Keith and the Girl, Dawn and Drew, Daily Source Code, Bibb and Yaz, The Bitterest Pill, The Twisted Pickle Show, Nate and Di, and countless others that have come and gone, come back again, and gone again, having someone yap in my ear during my workday has become a mainstay of my existence.  In fact, on rare occasion when my mp3 player isn’t with me in my cubicle, I feel almost like I’m wearing my underwear on the outside of my pants…something just isn’t right.

Until I purchased my iTouch in Jan. of ’08 I had never been a slave to iTunes.  I had always used Juice as my podcatcher and websites like www.PodcastPickle.com and www.PodcastAlley.com to find new content and get RSS subscription information about shows I was interested in.  Then, in the world of drag-n-drop Windows XP, I was simply able to connect my mp3 player to the computer via USB and transfer whatever new .mp3 files rested in my ‘podcast downloads’ directory right onto my player, leaving for hours of entertainment while slaving away in the corporate world.  There’s nothing quite like working on some serious report while listening to Keith and Chemda of www.keithandthegirl.com discuss painting the faces of disgusting, booger covered, flakey skinned children.

Honestly, my entire life might be different now if any one of the 4 display Zune devices at my local Best Buy had actually worked.  On that cold January day I went to the Best Buy after hours of research on the internet, reading forums posts, comparisons, and toiling, I had decided on a Zune primarily for its ability to connect to your home network and sync podcasts automatically.  When none of the display models worked, either frozen on a screen, unresponsive to my thumb trying to navigate around, or the other two that just plain wouldn’t fire up, I turned 180 degrees, saw a beautiful iTouch box with a picture of John Lennon on it, and plopped out my saved up Christmas money with eager anticipation.  When I got home with the new device, I did one of the geekiest things I had ever done up to that point…I created an unboxing video and stuck it up on www.YouTube.com for the entire world to see.  Shortly after is when I became a slave to iTunes.  

As any iPod owner knows, if you’ve got one of these you must have iTunes.  Yes there are work-arounds and hacks all over the interwebs about bypassing this memory hog of a program but the hassle is hardly worth it.  The XP machine I had installed iTunes on has, over the last year, become exclusively an iTunes podcatching machine.  This is its only job.  Sit in the corner of the bedroom, iTunes open, and download new podcasts.  Wait for me to plug in the iTouch, send it the new podcasts while marking listened to ones for removal, and repeat….over and over, day in, day out.  Why waste all of that processing power to do one simple task that Juice used to do for me with a much smaller footprint and memory requirement?  Because it’s just easier not to do anything else on that PC.  It is a little old, slow, sometimes unresponsive, and there’s nothing worse than waking up in the morning, heading to work with a hopefully full of new podcasts iTouch, and realizing upon firing it up after sitting down at my cube for a hard day’s worth of work that there are no new podcasts because god forbid I left Firefox and iTunes open over night, iTunes crashed, and I have nothing new to listen to all day long.

Well this problem appears to have disappeared for me with the newest firmware upgrade of the iPhone / iTouch.  Firmware release 2.2 now supports direct podcast downloads!  As a prime example of what was just described, yesterday was Thanksgiving.  Some of the daily shows I listen to probably didn’t put out a show yesterday, but I know there were episodes from Wednesday that were not on my iTouch this morning.  So wishing to try out the new direct download feature, clicked the new ‘Get more episodes’ option under the Keith and the Girl podcasts heading and was taken to iTunes.  Granted, it would have been much more convenient if iTunes had known I was coming from the Keith and the Girl RSS feed and taken me directly to their download page instead of taking me to a generic catch-all iTunes podcast page, but after a quick KATG search, I was able to download two shows that my podcatching iTunes machine at home had for some yet unknown reason, not put on my iTouch before I left for work this morning.  Even the animation when you click the ‘download’ button for each episode was cool.  It sort of shrink-bounce-drops right into the Downloads tab with grace, beauty, and anticipated excitement.  It’s almost as though the file is grateful to be sent t the Downloads tab.

Now I had heard speculation and rumors about the iTunes over-the-air downloads being limited to shows with file sizes of 10mb or less.  This very well may be true for the iPhone folks going over AT&T’s network, but I am very happy to say that I was able to download two 80MB Keith and the Girl episodes via my work’s Wi-Fi network within minutes of requesting the files and they now happily reside right where they should, the podcasts tab under the Music button right in the Keith and the Girl directory.

Again, it would be quite nice if I was in Music > Podcasts > The Bitterest Pill’s episode list, clicked the ‘Get More Episodes’ option and I landed on The Bitterest Pill’s RSS feed inside iTunes without having to search for the show by title, but perhaps that’ll be something the fine folks in Cupertino fix in the next firmware release.  For now, I am quite happy to be able to download any podcast out of thin air without having to physically connect my iTouch to the dying beast of a machine that has been wasting away in the corner of my bedroom as the iTunes slave.  Maybe now I can bring new life into that machine with a lovely Linux distro.

Since I got my new Macbook in mid October of 2008, I have been wanting to connect it to my 50" Sony Wega LCD TV.  At first, my interest was only out of curiosity but after recently discovering the Mac version of the Netflix streaming player my curiosity switched to that of necessity.  If I am able to connect the Macbook to my TV and stream Netflix movies, talk about a pig in mud!

After some research done over at my other blog, www.helpmeswitch.com, I figured the only way to do it was to connect via the mini display port out to a second connector.  Well I just got back from the Apple Store and here's the scoop.

Due to the fact that I already owned a DVI to HDMI conversion cable, I opted to drop $30 on a mini display port to DVI cable from Apple.  Once connected to the Macbook and the TV, I fired up input #7 on the TV.  POW, Leopard appeared on the television in all of it's glory.  Step two was to try to stream some video, as using an s-video cable and 1/8" to RCA (red/white) cable going from an XP laptop to the TV worked the same way....until I attempted to stream Netflix or, for that matter, run anything in Windows Media Player or VLC.  Both players left a black box in the center of the XP output on the TV.

Needless to say, Netflix fired up and I started streaming episode 1 of season 1 of Dr. Who.  But wha, wha, whaaat?  Where's the audio?  I have always been under the impression that HDMI handled both audio AND video but I appear to either A) be mistaken or B) have an issue with the mini display port to DVI to HDMI setup.  Perhaps the DVI downgrades the signal and only allows the video output.

So I reverted back to my old 1/8" to RCA (red/white) cable and went from the Macbook's Line Out to the TV's audio in....no luck.  No audio.  Video yes, but what good is it sitting across the room staring at the 50" big screen if I can barely here the Macbook's speakers cranked all the way up without hooking up some sort of external computer speaker arrangement?

So unless I can find a different audio cable to connect the Macbook to the TV, I may have to return the $30 mini display port cable to the Apple Store and find another solution.

That solution, from all of my research, is a device called The Roku.  The Roku is a small set-top device that connects to your home network (yes, it has wi-fi!) and your "watch instantly" enabled Netflix account (I believe this the $8.99/month, one rental at a time minimum to turn on the "watch instantly" capabilities).  So for 3 X the expense of the mini display port adapter, this device handles it all and is in all honesty MEANT to connect Netflix to your TV.

The $100 price point isn't too bad, considering renting a movie from the video store is over $4 a pop now...in a matter of a few months, the device would pay for itself even taking into account the $9/month Netflix fee.  Over a year or two, it would easily more than pay for itself in convenience alone!

As an alternative to the Roku, Blockbuster has just released their MediaPoint player.  What's the difference?  Well for the $99 you actually get 25 movie downloads....and each download is a la carte, which means that unlike Netflix, you actually fork out $1.99 for each video you download to the MediaPoint player.  So I guess the toss-up between the two devices would be the number of movies you watch.  If you watch a bunch, Netflix is the way to go.  If you watch very few, MediaPoint from Blockbuster might be you cup of tea.  

The remaining issue between these two players is the content library behind them.  Netflix claims 12,000 movies (less that they actually stream live) and Blockbuster claims 2,000...a rather large difference, if you ask me.

For my money, the Roku will probably be the way to go.  Once I take back this mini display DVI adapter to Apple and convince my lovely bride to allow yet another box to sit next to the TV, I'll write a report on the Roku.

If only my Tivo, which I have been a diehard fan of for years, would cooperate with Netflix....I know there was talk about this years ago, but nothing ever came of it...what a huge, huge, huge disappointment from both Tivo and Netflix. 

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