I know I have several links from Northstar to this website, and if anybody sees that no episode of any show has been released since October, I think they may be a little curious.

 Well, the truth is, I have a few reasons for why I haven’t released any episodes of Techish, (or done any development on the website for that matter)

1. I’ve been busy with school.
2. I’m a procrastinator.
3. (Most Important) I am prepping for the relase of “Brainfreeze Media”.

Now, I know, you are probably thinking, “What the heck is Brainfreeze Media?” You aren’t? Oh, well, I’m going to tell you anyways.

Brainfreeze Media, essentially, is the new NorthStar Netcasts, but much broader. I personally feel that internet media can be SO MUCH MORE than just a podcast. Media can be anything, from live video streaming, to graphic design, to web development. Take Chris Pirillo for example. His live stream is considered media, but the closest thing that gets to a podcast on his site is the demo videos that he posts on Youtube. I really don’t want to be limited by such a word as “podcast” or “netcast”.

That doesn’t mean that I won’t be producing any, however. I still plan on continuing Techish, and I think that I will be able to organize Brainfreeze in a way that it will be a “creative zone” for people to develop any kind of media that they desire. This is another reason why it is taking so long. As you may know, NorthStar is run by a popular (but amateur) content management system, Drupal. For Brainfreeze to be as organized and easy to navigate as possible, I plan on designing a “custom” cms, which won’t be anything like Drupal, but will at least contain the features that we need and will be fully customizable.

I still haven’t decided whether this will be an open network where anyone can join and create media, an organized network where all of the content producers are chosen (like NorthStar), or just a closed network. This, like many other important factors, will be decided and released as soon as they are finalized.

Stay tuned!
Nate

As you may have seen from my older blog posts, I do primarily run on a Compaq Presario V6000 laptop, but I have not noted my older laptop (the one my Compaq was going to replace). It was a rugged, durable, and surprisingly stable… Thinkpad. Yes, the IBM (now Lenovo) Thinkpad T23. Now, let me explain, that when I bought this new laptop, I was sure I would sell this Thinkpad for a few bucks and have it go to the fund, but then I decided it might be nice to have a little fun with Linux. Now I’ve got it dual booting Win XP and Ubuntu, and I am loving it. But, it’s not over yet. I’d still like to have some more fun with it.
Previously, I have replaced the following things:

• LCD screen (Secondary CRT monitor fell on it, long story, save it for another blog post)
• Hard Drive (Previously WD 40GB, now a Seagate 40GB-Don’t need much more for linux)

And now, for what I would LIKE to replace and/or mod(when I have the $$):

• Keyboard (missing the F7 key, but who uses that anyway?)
• New battery (Not sure specifics on current battery, but can’t get much more then 30 minutes out of it)
• CDRW/DVDRW drive (depending on costs- I really don’t need a DVDRW drive for such a cheap machine)
• Internal wifi antenna (it does not come with internal wifi, but several hack projects are online for installing some antennas and a card
• And, of course, a wifi card

Whew, big project, but I do really love my Thinkpad. One issue I have had, however small but annoying, is with the AC adapter. Now, this has nothing to do with the internal mechanics of the laptop, but for some reason, I’ve had two blow out on me. Both of them have blown out after going on a trip and having the cord in my bag. Whether it is some shock, or other weird phenomenon that is making these power supplies become non-functional I do not know, but I am now waiting for a 3rd from Ebay.

Other then that trivial issue, a cheap Thinkpad makes a great secondary machine, and I would suggest it to anyone who wants something besides their main computer to play with.

Okay, some of you may feel like jumping through your computer at me yelling “OF COURSE IT IS!”, but I may have to appeal on the contrary. At least in an environment in the upper midwest where Sprint and Verizon (CDMA) are most popular, there is certainly no shortage of Palm OS Treos. Yet, it seems that in areas of software development, other carriers such as AT&T and T-Mobile are more widely used. These GSM carriers seem to always carry the “cool” phones, such as the new LG and Nokia phones. In fact, most Palm OS treos are not even capable of GSM. Is this another reason why there is no development for the Palm platform? In my area, anyhow, it seems that the Palm OS is as prominent, or even more, then Windows Mobile. It is, however, disapearing quickly. I believe that Palm is not dead, but is certainly on life support, and Palm must get their act together quickly, before their users decide to search for other options.

 Many of you have probably heard of “Youtube Mobile”, which allows you to play videos from the viral video planet in .3gp encoding. The selection, however, has been limited to the most popular and featured categories. Recently, Youtube has released a new version of their mobile platform which has ALL of the videos available. On top of that, there is also a mobile software available for some phones (Nokia mainly). I have a Treo 700p, so I used to be able to play all of the videos using the Kinoma player from Youtube RSS feeds, but I am looking forward to surfing the mobile site in a much easier format. It can still be accessed at m.youtube.com, and the downloadable application is available at m.youtube.com/app.

Enjoy!

How much tv have you watched lately?
Okay, how about, how much media have you watched on the internet?

I’d venture to say that many people reading this have watched more media online then on the traditional idiot box. This article, released by the Associated Press, expresses that less and less people are watching live tv, and more are “watching it in different ways”. This may include watching it taped to a DVR or other time-shifting equipment, but nonetheless, most are moving from watching the tv guide to wanting their content “On-Demand.” So, is cable tv dying? In the world of on-demand podcasts, media on popular sites like “Youtube,” and even the unconventional live “lifecasts”, can cable tv survive?

One new factor is more media from cable tv being posted online in places such as Hulu, or my new favorite, Fancast. Some argue that this attracts more people to their tv sets, but I argue that it only contributes to the fact that on-demand is becoming more crucial to the American viewers.