Almost Lost in Translation

I've had occasion twice in the last week to be on the phone with people from the UK and today I was struck for the first time in a while about the differences between the English and American languages. Let me explain.

The first of the two calls was with a man whom I'll call Clive. He is the head of the group that does the actual coding and creation of the software package that this company sells. I've watched enough BBC to know that his accent was decidedly southern England and he spoke in a very measured and methodical manner. As such he was easy to understand and we had a pleasant discussion about the job I've been trying to get.

By contrast my call this morning with a woman named Electra for the purpose of this story. Electra also had a very southern England (almost Welsh) accent but she spoke at about 90 kilometers per hour. [It's the UK so I figured I should measure this in metric.] She's an account manager for about half a dozen customers and is busy, busy, busy hence the frenetic pace of her speech. Between her accent and the speed I lost about 15% of what she said but that was not the most interesting thing about the conversation.

During the conversation I had opportunity to ask her about how deep in to their products code she got. Specifically I asked the question "How often and how deep do you really get under the hood and mess the with the Java?" The moment the words left my mouth I started to wonder if I should have used the phrase bonnet (or boot, I never remember the right one to use) rather than hood. From that point on I was very aware of the differences between English and our American variant.

But the story does not end there. Just a few moments later the tables were turned. Electra was talking about the couple of US customers that she is currently responsible for that would probably end up on my plate should I land the job I was interviewing for.

"In addition to [a major cable network] we also have a print publisher based in New York. They put out a bunch of girlie magazines..."

Fortunately I had a good knowledge of the company at this point and had reviewed their website so I understood that the girlie magazines she was talking about were of the Cosmo variety and not the Busty Babes on Parade type. Besides I don't think that having a client like that would have sat too well with my wife.

It just goes to show that just because we were both speaking English doesn't mean that we were speaking the same language.

Epilogue: For more discussion on languages check out this post over at Island Passage. It's written by a fellow who spends his day swimming in the stuff.

Podcasts: Internet Radio to Go

UPDATE: It was suggested to me that this article more properly belongs at my technology centric site Speak Like A Geek. I did consider posing this over there instead but in the end chose this site since this is more of an introductory article and better suited to my non-geek readers.

Podcasting is in it's second year now and many of the first wave of shows are still around. Other shows have come and gone suffering a fate known as pod fade.

For those of you who don't know what a podcast is, let me give you a brief education.

In short a podcast is a radio type audio program posted to the internet and available for download. The big difference between podcasting and other mediums like traditional or internet radio is that the shows are not aired at a specific time. You download them and listen on your schedule rather than being forced to listen just when a program director decides a show should air. Most of the shows are homebrew since all you really need to make a podcast is a computer and a microphone. The medium has allowed hundreds (perhaps even thousands by now) of would be DJs and radio talk show hosts to have their own shows. I'll be the first to admit that there are lots of people out there who are not professional radio personalities for good reason but the great thing about the internet as a whole is that anyone can post anything, even if it is really bad. And there are some really bad podcasts out there. By the same token the medium has allowed talent that would not have otherwise been discovered to shine.

Another part of what makes podcasting different from a website simply posting an audio file for download is the fact that it takes advantage of a new-ish technology called Real Simple Syndication (or RSS). RSS can be used for many things and works basically like this: A website posts new content such as a news story, blog post or podcast and a small XML file is updated to indicate that new addition. From the end user's side of things it's a simple as running some sort of RSS reader that goes out to the list of subscribed sites on a regular predefined basis to check that XML file and see if each site has any new content. If it does then the reader will download it for reading, viewing or listening for a later time.

While this is cool and all, what podcasting represents on a larger scale is a shift in the way that consumers are beginning to think about media and how it gets used. TiVo is another example of how technology is making is possible for users to take control of how and when they enjoy programs. There is a whole post about this topic and why podcasting matters here.

When it comes to podcasting there are specialized RSS readers call podcatchers. I've included links to a couple down below. Each of them have their ups and downs just like any other application. I've tried a few and for now have settled in to using the podcatching features built in to iTunes. But I'm always on the look out for other clients.

Keep in mind that you don't have to have an iPod or even a portable mp3 player to enjoy podcasts. In fact a recent study found that nearly 75% of all podcasts never make it to a portable player. Instead they get played directly from the computer so don't think that this requires going out and spending a couple hundred dollars on another gadget (unless that's your thing).

So how do you get started with finding, downloading and listening to podcasts? Below I've provided a list of links to various tools, directories and some of the various shows that I listen to. Start with the directories and see what you like.

Got a podcast that's not on my list but you find entertaining? Leave a comment and let me know.

Podcatching Tools:
iTunes
Juice

Podcast Directories:
Podcast Pickle
Podcast Alley
Odeo

Writing & Fiction:
Podiobooks
Escape Pod
Cover to Cover
I Should Be Writing
The Secrets
The Seanachai

Technology:
This Week In Tech
Mac Geek Gab
Security Now!

General Entertainment:
Slice of Sci-Fi
Wait Wait! Don't Tell Me
The Skinny on Sports
NPR's Sunday Puzzle
White Collar Ruckus

Not all podcasts are audio only. There are a growing number of video podcasts. These work in the same manner as the their audio only cousins but instead display in a window on your monitor or in the display of your iPod. Here are a few that I like to watch.

Vidcasts:
Ask A Ninja
Tikibar TV
MoBuzz
Geek Brief TV

This is by no means an exhaustive list of my own subscription list and that may seem daunting to some but keep in mind that each of these shows work on their own update schedule. Some publish new content every day, others once a week and still others only when the mood strikes them. And don't forget that you can listen to them any time you'd like, so don't feel bad if you are behind a few episodes. Your podcatcher will hold on tho them until you are ready; and that is the beauty of podcasting.

Towel Day

Are you a hoopy frood who knows where his towel is?

The Many Faces of My Blogs

Readers of this blog as well as my other blog, Speak Like A Geek will have noticed lots of style changes over the last week or so. I've been working hard to find a layout and color scheme that I like. I thought I had it all figured out for this site but then I forgot to test it in IE (not having IE on my Mac). It turned out that the background and formatting broke in IE. Grrrrr! Why can't Microsoft just make a browser that is standards compliant? (rhetorical question, please don't spam my comments section with an answer.)

Anyway I'm still working on the code for both of sites as well as offering my help to Taleena during her redesign of Sun Comprehending Glass. So be patient dear reader, I'll get this fixed yet even if I have to strip the code down to nothing and rebuild it by hand.

Why Libertarians Can't Barbecue

Today marked the inaugural use of our new barbecue.

For the first few years of our marriage Taleena and I would go every spring to our local sporting goods store and pick up a cheap little propane powered grill; the sort of thing you'd toss in the back of the car and take to the beach for a picnic. We'd use it all summer long and by the time late September came around the grill would have worn itself out so in to the trash it would go.

Eventually my brother-in-law picked up a free BBQ from the side of the road. It was a gas grill that he stripped the guts from and turned in to a traditional charcoal unit. He left it at our house when we moved in and that has been our outdoor cooker in the two years since. That is until today.

About five weeks ago we ordered a new barbecue from Amazon.com and it was delivered last week. I finally went to the home supply store today and picked up a propane tank and got it filled thus allowing us to finally get a nice quick grilled dinner on the table. Or so I thought.

After putting all the parts together I tested it and went on my way to assemble the rest of dinner. Our menu for the first meal was a family recipe for marinated flank steak served on a bed of rice. So I dropped a couple of cups of rice in the cooker and grabbed the bowl marinating meat from the fridge.

Now this is where my libertarian sensibilities became disturbed. I hit the igniter on the grill and 'whoosh', a hot blue flame quickly ringed the burner. A few flicks of the tongs and about a dozen strips of juicy meat were sizzling on the grill. I closed the lid and stepped inside to slice up some watermelon. When I came back out to flip the strips I discovered that the barbecue was barely warm. I checked the flame and saw that is was small and low, putting off hardly any heat.

I checked all the connections, and attempted to restart the grill but with no success. The lid has a label on it with a phone number to call for help so I dialed up only to learn that their support hours don't match up with typical grilling times out here on the west coast. Grrrr. It was time to hit the internet.

On the FAQ of the CharBroil website I discovered the problem. It seems that in 1995 the government required an over-pressure valve be installed on all new gas grills. This device restricts the flow from the tank if the pressure is too great. This in turn causes the valve to freeze up and all of that caused my new grill to simply warm my dinner rather than give it a nice sear.

I'm sure that there is some safety value to having this valve in place but the Libertarian in me was getting irked that it was preventing me from simply enjoying a bit of grilled beef. I was unable to find any sort of adjustment or set screw and in the end had to keep pouring warm water over the valve to keep it from freezing up. Not an ideal situation but it did the job long enough to get dinner cooked.

Time to do some more research and figure out how other people are getting around this government imposed restriction to a plate full of sizzling meat.

Full Circle

In late 2004 I started the blog Life On A Pacific Island. It has gone through fits and starts since that time and changed formats many times.

I kept it here (at blogspot) for a while and then moved it over to a web server I built at home and kept in my small office. In that form I changed it around several times as I experimented with different web tools and content management systems. That was a fun experiment but ultimately it proved to be overkill and I shut the web server down. In fact that box is still sitting under my desk waiting for whatever the next project might be. (I'm thinking it might be a home PBX phone system.)

The next home for the blog was at a community website run by a fellow islander and IT professional. That was MyWhidbey.com and you can still read all of my past posts from that period by clicking here. It was a good home and Sebastian does a great job with the site. He was very helpful in developing several blogger friendly features.

With the move to my newest computer recently I decided to search for a blogging tool that would make it easier for me to write, edit, post and manage entries. I've found one I like and meets my needs but to make it work I needed to come back around to using the blogspot service. And that is why you see a bunch of old posts below.

Your bookmark of http://www.LifeOnAPacificIsland.com will still work (you do have it bookmarked, right?) but you may need to update your RSS feed if you're reading the website that way. I'll add a new link for that soon in the sidebar.

Also don't forget to check out my other blog Speak Like A Geek. And thanks for your readership.