Archive for January, 2008

PreviewCast #050: To Air Is Human

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webmacster87
on January 25, 2008
in Episodes and Guests
. 1 Comment

We are very excited to celebrate a significant milestone for us: the fiftieth episode of PreviewCast! On this episode, we take the opportunity to look back at the announcements from Macworld and discuss them. However, the days of the slightly chaotic PreviewCast are back, as Robert and Mitchell reunite once again for the first time in twenty episodes to cause a whole lot of craziness that reminds one very much of PreviewCast #022, the Macworld 2007 episode that we released one year ago today. But enough with the reflective jibber-jabber; let’s get to the meat of the show.

We’re joined on this episode by guest Gabe Taviano, host of the God’s Mac Podcast (via the Tech Podcast Network), who gets a thrill ride as we exhibit “business as usual” on this show. Steve’s Macworld Keynote includes the useful Time Capsule, a trendy update for the iPhone, a much needed (and overpriced) update for the iPod touch, the controversial idea of iTunes Movie Rentals, a rejuvinated Apple TV, and the flashy-but-not-very-practical MacBook Air. We also briefly examine this year’s recently-ended MacHeist Bundle, and share our comments about Gizmodo’s mischief at CES. To wrap it up, Gabe and Douglas each review a shareware app for good measure. Oh, and it’s Mitchell’s birthday, and you know what that means…

All this and more on this “aired out” episode of PreviewCast!

Length: 01:32:47
Hosts: Douglas Bell, Sam Jackson, Mitchell Joyce, and Robert Preston w/ Guest Host Gabe Taviano
Promo Exchange: Geekazine

Review: Feeder
Gabe’s Rating: Larry HeadLarry HeadLarry HeadLarry Head

Review: AppShelf
Douglas’ Rating: Larry HeadLarry HeadLarry HeadHalf of a Larry Head

Tech Podcast Network PreviewCast is a proud member of the Tech Podcast Network. Check them out for other great technology podcasts.
PreviewCast is also a proud member of the Teen Podcasters Network.

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PreviewCast #049: Airing from Macworld Expo

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webmacster87
on January 19, 2008
in Episodes and Guests
. 2 Comments

Wait a minute, didn’t Douglas make a big stink about there being too much Macworld coverage on the internet and claiming that he wasn’t going to do ANYTHING for Macworld 2008 on PreviewCast? Yes, he did, and, well, he lied.

Douglas did get to go around the exhibit hall of Macworld 2008 on Friday, but for this Macworld coverage, he tore a page out of our successful WordCamp 2007 episode. This episode features interviews of a number of the smaller Mac developers around the expo, many of whom are showing off their award-winning products. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much time to go around and do much more than this at the expo this year, but we hope you enjoy these special interviews with some of the developers behind Macworld, because let’s face it: the Mac wouldn’t be where it is today if it wasn’t for the great Mac software behind it.

This episode features interviews with reps of the following companies:
–Xeric Design, makers ofEarthDesk
–Ambrosia Software, makers of WireTap Studio
–Flock
–Panic, makers of Coda and CandyBar
–BusyMac, makers of BusySync
–Acqualia, makers of Picturesque
–Pleasant Software, makers of UberCaster
–TweakerSoft, makers of VectorDesigner
–Omni Group, makers of OmniFocus

The episode also features a recap of our trip with the other members of the Aragon High School Mouse Squad that went on this trip, including a blooper sequence from the car ride back home.

All this and more on this well-exhibited episode of PreviewCast!

Length: 54:00
Host: Douglas Bell; also featuring members of the Aragon Mouse Squad and representatives of the developers listed above

Tech Podcast Network PreviewCast is a proud member of the Tech Podcast Network. Check them out for other great technology podcasts.
PreviewCast is also a proud member of the Teen Podcasters Network.

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Our (Lack of) Macworld Coverage

Published
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webmacster87
on January 13, 2008
in General
. 2 Comments

Hello everyone,

With Macworld coming up this week, I thought I would take an opportunity to share what we have planned for our super awesome exclusive special stand-on-your-head-while-eating-deep-fried-pickle-hearts-and-singing-a-Mozart-sonata-at-the-same-time practically-drop-dead PreviewCast coverage of Macworld 2008: Absolutely nothing!

That’s right, PreviewCast is doing absolutely nothing in terms of live coverage. We will have absolutely no audio, no video, no photos, no tweets, no holograms, no SuperPokes, absolutely nothing to give you an experience of what it’s like to be at Macworld San Francisco 2008. Why? Because the entire internet is already doing the SAME THING!!!

Just hop on Google or Upcoming and take a look! Numerous websites and podcasts are doing lots of stuff at Macworld, whether it be tours and interviews on the show floor, interviews after the keynote from celebrities whom have had a significant overdose of exposure to the patented reality distortion field, and so many podcasted special events that you could get lost just in the few blocks surrounding Moscone Center and enough to force me to give my entire life’s savings over to BART if I was to try to take care of all of them and try to produce something for PreviewCast.

So guess what? We are not doing anything special for Macworld 2008 until after the show is already over and the initial hype over whatever Steve plans to spit out of his mouth on Tuesday has calmed down. PreviewCast #049, to be recorded next weekend, will be when we give our take on the announcements.

I will indeed be spending at least a day sometime at the Macworld Exhibit Hall, but guess what I’m going to do there? You’ll never believe it, but I’m actually going to enjoy myself! I’m not taking a camera (one disappeared there last year, and I’m still taking the heat for that), I’m not taking a microphone (unless I get the urge to record myself singing folk tunes in front of the Apple booth), although I am taking my laptop just to enjoy some free wifi, which is hard to find nowadays. But yeah, by eliminating myself of the burden of responsibility of recording and capturing the Macworld experience, I will actually be able to enjoy the Macworld experience! And isn’t that just what the point of it all is?

If you are interested in some Macworld coverage for you to get the illusion of being there, might I recommend practically every other site on the internet.

Enjoy the keynote and the festivities. And don’t worry, I will still be doing a bit of Macworld coverage, albeit from a distance, on Webmacster87.info. Stay tuned next week for PreviewCast #049.
–Douglas Bell
Co-Host and Editor, PreviewCast
http://www.previewcast.com

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PreviewCast #048: Special Media Edition

Published
by
webmacster87
on January 12, 2008
in Episodes
. 2 Comments

It’s a week before Macworld (unfortunately it was a busy week as it took Douglas almost a full week to get all the editing done), and we’re gathering for our pre-Macworld episode to make our predictions. Unfortunately, our pre-Macworld show isn’t as crazy as last year, mostly because most of our gang didn’t show up today. However, on this episode, we welcome brand new PreviewCaster Sam Jackson (of GadgetCore.com) to the show.

Now that the iPhone is out and the iPods have been updated, the rumors this year are few and far between, and the ones we have seem mostly unlikely to our PreviewCasters. From the strange and difficult-to-make-sense-of “subnotebook” to a multi-touch Mac to an OLED keyboard, this Macworld will either be a duller one, or else Apple will pull something unexpected out their sleeves.. More likely, though, would be details about the upcoming iPhone SDK, iTunes movie rentals, etc. In the meantime, GearLive got a hold of a copy of the iPhone 1.1.3 leak and revealed some exciting new upcoming functionality. After thirteen years, AOL will be officially discontinuing development of Netscape. Office for Mac 2008 comes out January 15th, and it looks pretty good–strikingly similar to another certain productivity suite called iWork ‘08. We also wonder what about the “Special Media Edition” of Office 2008 makes it worth the extra $100. And Chicago is sued for arresting drivers for talking on the cell phone while driving; there seems to be something phony about that lawsuit. Finally, Sam reviews the Flock web browser, and helps explain some of its mysteries to Douglas, while Douglas reviews his very poor Time Machine experience and gives it the lowest non-negative rating ever in PreviewCast history. This episode also marks the premiere of our Promo Exchange segment and the official end of the long-disputed Music Break.

All this and who knows how much more in this Special Media Episode of PreviewCast!

Length: 01:15:56
Hosts: Douglas Bell, Caitlyn Imburgo, and Sam Jackson
Promo Exchange: CaffiNation Podcast

Review: Flock
Sam’s Rating: Larry HeadLarry HeadLarry HeadLarry Head

Review: Time Machine
Douglas’ Rating: Larry HeadHalf of a Larry Head

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PreviewCast’s Promo Exchange

Published
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webmacster87
on January 4, 2008
in General
. 0 Comments

We have occasionally mentioned that we would be starting up a Promo Exchange on PreviewCast. This has been done before by other podcasts, and the main idea is for different shows to cross-promote themselves and expose our audiences to new shows.

Okay, enough of all the abstract stuff, how about I explain how it works. We have produced a PreviewCast Promo (which we played at the beginning of PreviewCast #046, by the way). It’s about 50 seconds long. If you are a podcaster, simply download our promo and play it on your show. Then, e-mail us, letting us know that you have played our promo on your show, along with a link, and then send us a 30-60 second promo for your show, which we will play on a future episode of PreviewCast. In addition, if you play our promo, we’ll link to you forever on our Promo Exchange Wall of Fame to thank you for helping to promote our show.

This is not advertising, this is simply done out of the interest of podcasters helping each other to grow our respective audiences. So if you have a podcast, why not have us exchange promos? :)

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