• Visit the AGP Blog
• Download the show [mp3 82min]
• Write a Revew in iTunes
• Follow @aussiegeeks on Twitter

• Visit the AGP Blog
• Download the show [mp3 88min]
• Write a Revew in iTunes
• Follow @aussiegeeks on Twitter

• Visit the AGP Blog
• Download the show [mp3 73min]
• Write a Revew in iTunes
• Follow @aussiegeeks on Twitter

We discuss our own individual histories of computing and how technology and computing have affected our lives, and the technology-tracks that our lives have taken over the past couple of decades.

• Visit the AGP Blog
• Download the show [mp3 90min]
• Write a Revew in iTunes
• Follow @aussiegeeks on Twitter

Mac Power Users

This show is absolutely brilliant. I’ve only been subscribed for the past week or so, but I’ve gone back and reviewed the last 10 episodes.

Katie and David do a great job of covering topics in enough detail to provide a complete review without getting into too many inanities. There are typically two types of shows. The topic-shows provide a deep-dive on a specific topic filled with lots of tips, tricks and keyboard shortcuts. The other show type is a “workflow” show where they typically bring on a guest to talk about how they use Mac and iOS products to get their work done productively.

Typical Mac User

I listened to the Typical Mac User a number of years ago, shortly after

Victor started the podcast I suspect, and for whatever reason drifted away from it. When George Starcher suggested over G+ that I check it out again, I found that I really enjoyed it. I’ve listened to a few different episodes in the past week which ranged from uber-beginner intros to OS X Lion, through to highly-involved automator/applescript discussions The show provides a good balance of introductory, mid-range and technical discussion and offer a range of guests to get insights on different parts of the Mac community.

Dave and I had a great time putting this show together, and I had the opportunity to produce an episode of the AGP for the first time in well over a year. It felt good to get my hands dirty again, and I think Dave appreciated the break.

• Visit the AGP Blog
• Download the show [mp3, 76 mins]
• Subscribe to the show [rss]
• Write a review in iTunes
• Follow the show on Twitter

UPDATE 12-Apr-2011: After some fantastic discussion elsewhere I’ve modified the code to handle a number of additional scenarios. A point was also raised that a combination of Int64.TryParse() and Decimal.TryParse() would accomplish the same thing. They would, almost, but those methods test for valid 64-bit integers and valid 64-bit decimals — they don’t test whether a string is numeric. Feed them a long enough string of numbers and they’ll return false. It’s a pretty fine distinction, I grant that, but I figured since I was writing the code I might as well make it as robust as possible.

        public static bool IsNumeric(string s)
        {
            return IsNumeric(s, false);
        }

        public static bool IsNumeric(string s, bool allowDecimal)
        {
            bool result = true;
            if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(s))
            {
                return false;
            }

            if (s.StartsWith("-"))
            {
                s = s.Substring(1);
            }

            char[] chars = s.ToCharArray();

            if (allowDecimal)
            {
                bool decimalFound = false;
                foreach (char c in chars)
                {
                    if (c == '.' && !decimalFound)
                    {
                        decimalFound = true;
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        result = result & (char.IsNumber(c));
                    }
                }
            }
            else
            {
                foreach (char c in chars)
                {
                    result = result & char.IsNumber(c);
                }
            }

            return result;
        }

I built 14 39 unit tests for this on the project I built it for throwing all sorts of weird and null data at it, and it seems to run fairly well and reasonably quickly. Any comments/suggestions are welcome.

The new show called Short Order Code. The show will be a series of audio podcasts and video screencasts focusing on a number of areas of practical software development.

The first episode is out now, and the next few are in various stages of being produced while I put together the final bits and pieces and trying to sort out my process.  Once that’s done and the first few episodes have been put together I’ll try to provide more information around long-term plans for the show.

For those who may be wondering, this is not going to affect my affiliation with the Aussie Geek Podcast (despite our . I love doing the show, and plan to continue in my co-hosting role for the foreseeable future as long as the AGP community is willing to have me. Time zone considerations will probably continue to make a mess of our schedule, but we’ll do our best to produce a great show for the community as often as we possibly can.

So keep your eyes peeled for more information, and head on over to the website at shortordercode.com and subscribe to the feed!

Science & Technology Shows

Aussie Geek Podcast – Bloody Awesome Tech. Two Aussies (Dave and Cait) and a Canadian (that’s me!) put their unique slants on the technology news, applications sites and services each week (or so).

CommandN – Amber Macarthur and friends bring you a weekly dose of tech news.

Digital Planet (BBC) – The BBC’s weekly technology show looking at trends in tech and how they affect your daily life, hosted by Gareth Mitchell.

Discovery (BBC) – A weekly science documentary examining hot trends and profound topics in the world of science.

Knightcast – Tuning tech into your way of life, Knightwise offers a look at ways to make technology work for you, instead of the other way around.

Mac OS Ken – A daily dose of Mac (and iPhone) news delivered by the sarcastic, funny and insightful Ken Ray.

One Minute Tip (TP) – Byte-sized pieces of knowledge to help you be just a bit more productive with your everyday tech.

Podcasters’ Emporium (LPN) – James Williams and Dave Gray cover all the topics you need to know to become a better podcaster.

Quirks and Quarks (CBC) – Bob MacDonald’s weekly look at science and technology from the CBC mothership.  The show looks at new and emerging sciences and technologies, often with an eye towards how they affect our environment.

Run As Radio (PWOP) – Richard Campbell and Greg Hughes provide a weekly batch of insightful trends and topics for the IT pro.

Security Now (TWiT) – Steve Gibson’s weekly dose of security news and security-related topics is very insigtful  (even better if you skip over Leo Laporte’s TWiT ads).

Search Engine (TVO) – Jesse Brown’s brutally honest opinions and reviews of life in the Internet age.

The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe – Members of the New England Skeptical Society debunk the myths and frauds of the scientific age.

The Skeptic’s Guide 5×5 – A shorter companion podcast for the Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe.

Spark (CBC) – Focusing on the softer side of tech, trends and how these things work their way into our day-to-day lives.

Software Development Shows

Hanselminutes (PWOP) – Scott Hanselman’s weekly look at software and technology topics with his inside the MS machine take on things.

Herding Code – A group of “real-world” developers discussing topics and technology that affect code-slingers everywhere.

.NET Rocks! (PWOP) – .NET Rocks brings together the incomparable Carl Franklin and Richard Campbell who interview cool and interesting people in the Microsoft developer space.

Polymorphic Podcast – Craig Shoemaker’s periodic exploration of software and best practices for .NET developers was one of the first software podcasts I started listening to.

Stack Overflow – Jeff atwood and Joel Spolsky’s companion podcast to the Stack Overflow Q&A site project.  A weekly chat about the project, interesting Stack Overflow questions and other software topics.

Humour & Entertainment Shows

Mondays (PWOP) – Mondays is a comedy show from the crew at PWOP that’s released on a somewhat sporadic basis.  This one’s definitely NSFW — unless you have headphones. =)

Star Trek: Defiant – A fan-fiction podcast set a number of years after the events in Star Trek: Nemesis. Produced by the crew at Pendant Audio with a fairly talented voice crew.  It’s a good listen.

Two Schooners (LPN) – Dave Gray and James Williams get together again for a somewhat less serious show covering the weird and hilarious stories of the week over a schooner of their favourite brew.

Business / News Shows

Campbell’s Comment (CKNW) – Michael Campbell’s daily business comment.

Get It Done Guy (QD Tips) – Sever Robins provides great productivity tips, business tips and general “how-to-cope-with-life-after-college” tips.

Modern Manners Guy (QD Tips) – The Modern Manners Guy’s advice on how not to inconvenience those around you.

Nutrition Diva (QD Tips) – Eat better, and learn about food myths that’ll keep you on the healthy track.

Reality Check (CKNW) – Bruce Allen’s pull-no-punches daily comment about social issues and pop culture.

Sports Comment (CKNW) – Neil McRae and others provide a comment on the sports world from a Vancouver perspective.

Grammar / Language Shows

Grammar Girl (QD Tips) – Mignon Fogarty’s weekly language show will help you tackle the tricky issues of trying to write successfully in the English language.

Kalye Speak – Learn tagalog as filipino’s actually speak it.  By far the most successful podcast of its kind.

Podictionary – Charles Hodgeson gives great background on the etymology of words that we use every day. The show is insightful, fun and concise.

It’s been fun putting this list together.  I’d love to hear your comments on these shows, or others that you listen to regularly.

Over the past year or so I’ve been kicking around the idea of starting up a podcast of my own to go along with the efforts that I’ve put in with Dave and Cait on the Aussie Geek Podcast. I love doing the AGP and it helps to stimulate a large portion of the geek side of my personality… but not all of it. The one piece that it leaves off is the developer piece.

I’ve tried to stimulate this in a few different ways in the past, writing blog posts around pieces of code; trying to kick off a standalone open-source project and writing my two plugins for WordPress (Admin Links Widget, Random Image Selector). Though these were all items that I enjoyed they lacked a certain interactivity.

When Jeff offered to let me co-host WordPress Weekly to provide a developer’s perspective it gave me the unique opportunity of mixing my interest in software development with an interaction with a community. I only did a handful of shows at the end of last year, but it helped to reinforce that I really enjoyed putting my skills to use providing information for other people.

There are a great number of development-focused podcasts which discuss wider abstract concepts, and complex topics but precious few which dive into the nuts and bolts of specific software development topics.  Examples of a couple that I’ve really enjoyed listening to lately are the .NET Rocks! podcast (Carl Franklin, Richard Campbell) and the Stack Overflow podcast (Jeff Atwood, Joel Spolsky).

Realistically, this new show idea won’t come to pass until later this year, probably in the April-May timeframe as I have several weeks of school to get through before I explain to my lovely wife why I’m spending yet more time in front of the computer.

So there it is, out in the open: I hope to be releasing a development-focused show sometime later this year.

For those who have listened to the show you’re already aware of the high-standard that the show’s founder Dave Gray sets for the show.

I take a note of personal pride in this as well having produced about a third of the episodes of the AGP since the relaunch last summer.

Here’s a link to Dave’s thoughts on the award too.  We’re all very happy to have received the award and are looking forward to another great year of The Geek.

This week’s show is a bit different in that we’ve scrapped our regular show format to take a moment to interview our musically-inclined geeky guest, Chopper Newt from The Lizards From Afar.

Sit back and have a listen.  Its a pretty interesting interview, and a nice break from our regular show format.

Aussie Geek Podcast #009.

Jane is one of the minds behind some of the dramatic new changes to the admin interface for WordPress 2.7.  Recently Jane also posted a poll and a survey to garner some feedback on the new WordPress Beta that was released on Halowe’en night.

Give this week’s show a listen and check out some of the great answers to the questions that we came up with.

The long awaited seventh installment of the Aussie Geek Podcast is released.  This should be the last time I edit and post-produce a show for a while.  I have enjoyed it, and learned a whole lot about podcast post-production, and even about this show that I’ve been a part of for the last 18 months.

This week on the show we covered some economics including Yahoo! layoffs, iPhone sales and the effects of the tech slowdown on startups in Europe.

We also touched on an app to moderate WordPress comments from your desktop and a graphics package to create stunning high dynamic range (HDR) images which works on all platforms.

At the end of the show we’ve got the first in a series of musical appearances by the Lizards from Afar, and the show closes out with a blooper segment that’s sure to make Dave retalliate in episode 8.

Go have a listen to the Aussie Geek Podcast #007 :: Armchair Economists.  Better yet subscribe to the show in iTunes or directly via the show feed.

After notifying TPN that they intended to leave the network, the show’s hosts Scott & Michael were locked out of the website and TPN refused to post their final show because it didn’t meet “quality standards”.  I find it hard to believe that a show’s quality would suddenly tank on the very last episode.

It’s sad to see such behaviour from TPN’s CEO Cameron Reilly. Things like this don’t make other shows want to help promote TPN’s content, and certainly don’t win many friends in the podcasting community at large.

Scott tells us why you’ll never hear the farewell episode of the Digital Photography Show on his blog, and subscribe there to keep current on the next incarnation of the DPS.

Good luck guys!

This week due to some issues beyond his control, Dave is without is usual podcasting rig, including the computer and all of his audio editing tools.  So in an effort to make sure that the AGP #003 gets out as close to on-time as possible, I’ll be doing the editing and post-production for this week’s episode.

I’ve been learning some new skills, mostly thanks to Dave and with some input from the Interwebs.  So if you haven’t subscribed to the Aussie Geek Podcast yet, I suggest you do so right now and listen to last week’s show and this, and see if I did an OK job. 

It’s been a long month but after a couple of early glitches and a fight between WordPress 2.6 and PodPress the first official episode of the AGP is out.

We all missed doing regular shows during the forced hiatus and it showed in the show.  There’s a lengthy out-take at the end of the show.  If you haven’t subscribed to the new feed yet, do it now! Either by RSS or through iTunes.

To help keep the show length reasonable, the Mac Lab report for this show is a quick one.  The inspiration comes from a post by Tim Cox over at MacApper.  This is a collection of Automator scripts which will help to keep your downloads directory clean.

These scripts provide methods for managing your Internet downloads for everything from music files (Tunes to Trash), disk images (Perfect Dismount) and zip archives (The Zipper).

Overall the tools do a decent job of keeping things tidy and are a great example of a practical use for Automator for the everyday user.

fseventer First off this week is a tool from FernLightning called fseventer.  This app gives you new visibility into just what files on your hard drive are modified by the tools you use every day.  It was quite remarkable to me to start fseventer and just allow it to run while I wasn’t using the computer.  In a matter of seconds my “idle” computer had performed dozens of operations and written to lots of files.

The tool presents the information in a variety of ways not the least of which is the uber-cool tree view.  This app seems to do a pretty good job of finding all of the changed files, but I haven’t tried doing ay specific research with the tool.

Warp Warp is an application that uses mouse gestures to control switching between your OS X Spaces.  I realize that I’ve been on the anti-mouse bandwagon for some time now, but some things are so slow and unproductive that you can fix them with mouse gestures.

The application installs an OS X preference pane to control Warp which is tied to the existing Spaces panel.  When you activate warp it also verifies to ensure that Spaces is active.

Warp is a great shortcut for those who use the mouse alot and don’t want to memorize keyboard shortcut; or for those who simply prefer shudder to use the mouse.

Download Warp by Kent Sutherland.

Teleport If you’ve ever wanted a great way to control multiple macs in your house from one keyboard & mouse the AbysSoft‘s Teleport just might be the solution you’ve been looking for.  This gives you much of the same functionality that you’d get from using a KVM switch, but without the unnecessary hardware.

Teleport provides a single interface for controlling other Macs that have teleport installed.  In some ways it behaves like Spaces, but with each space being a separate physical machine.  I really wish I’d had a chance to try this one, but with only the one Mac in the house, that makes things a bit difficult.

Teleport a great way to make use of existing network infrastructure to reduce your cable load and make your digital life that much easier.

Licensed This next application is one that should be in everyone’s utility toolbox.  Licensed by Amar Sagoo is designed to one things, and one thing only: keep track of your software licesnses.  Licensed has a quick to learn and easy to use UI and takes no time to learn

Licensed falls into the category of tools that most good freeware and open-source applcations are famous for: simple applications that do what they say they will.

One thing I would suggest is a prompt on the delete button.  Not a big deal, but usually a good practise to avoid accidental loss of data.

Front Row “Remote Control” Last up this week is Bert Ramakers’ software-based Front-Row remote.  This app allows you to control Front-Row over the network on other machines that are Front-Row enabled (Tiger and later).

It’s not clear whether this application will work with other applicances like the Apple TV, but its a creative remoting solution nonetheless.

Thats it for me this week.  Due to the trouble with the TPN servers there will be no show again this weekend, but we’ll have another one out as soon as life and fate permits.

http://bertramakers.com/?page_id=19

The Background

This story begins, as so many do, at the beginning.  I have been using a rather sketchy headset for the past several months.  It’s one that I’ve had since 2003 and really, has held up pretty well for a $20 LD Special.  But it was breaking down and it doesn’t provide sufficient audio quality for a really good-sounding podcast.  I’ve been considering starting up a small podcast of my own (see below) and am contributing regularly to the Global Geek Podcast, where Dave puts a supreme effort into audio quality, so I came to the decision that it was time for some new equipment.

Step 1: Fix the old mic

Being the cheap bastard that I am, the first solution involved, time, ingenuity and duct tape.  Suffice to say the solution didn’t exactly work, and may have caused some of the later instabilities in the microphone’s USB adapter.  ((sorry Dave!))

Step 2: Use the built-in Macbook mic

This was a great idea, because it didn’t cost anything.  The only big downside: the mic is hyper-sensitive, and omni-directional.

Step 3: Buy a new cheap mic

The first mic I bought was another cheap inexpensive mic.  The sound was actually worse.  Back to the store.

Step 4: Upgrade to a mid-range headset

After the mic debacle, I realized I probably wasn’t going to get anywhere unless I actually spent some money trying to upgrade the system.  I used this headset for one episode of the GGP, and quite frankly it didn’t cut it.  I could hear that this was the “inexpensive” mic when the show aired.  Back to the store with it.

Step 5: Get some proper gear

After a few chats with Dave and Knightwise, listening to a few equipment reviews on other podcasts and doing a whole lot of reading I figured out what I thought I needed.  I bought the stuff, and after a couple of mix-ups at the store I had everything at home and was ready to start podcasting!

Components

There are two main components to this set up.  The microphone and the mixer.  The reason that we need the mixer is primarly due to the type of mic that I bought.  But more on that later…

Behringer C-1 Studio Condenser Mic

This microphone is a studio-quality microphone that features a cardioid design.  This is a method of keeping the mic directional which dramatically cuts down on ambient noise.  This was one of the first things that struck me when I first tested it.  I was able to record some tests while my lovely wife was watching TV, and you couldn’t hear the TV at all (well you could during the silent parts if you turned up the volume enough).

The mic comes with a standard XLR plug.  This is the same kind of plug that microphones in a recording studio or on stage use.  And since most computers don’t have any way to receive an XLR connection directly, that necessitated an extra piece of hardware: the mixer.

Behringer XENYX 802 Mixer

The mixer I’ve chosen is the second in a line of mixers from Behringer that they produce for everything from basic recording (like a podcast) to professional studio recording.   The mixer has enough inputs for me to hook up the microphone, my keyboard and my ipod (and a few other things) and feed them through the mixer.  The whole works plugs into my macbook through the line-in (mic) port.

There are lots of knobs and controls to adjust the quality and shape of the sound as it passes through the mixer.  A couple of people have suggested that I sound much more “bassey” on the show than I do in person, so I am able to easily turn some knobs (once I figure out which ones) and clean up my sound.

So far I’ve really liked the sound quality that I’ve gotten from the new setup.  I even recorded a video reply on Seesmic using the new mic (at a comfortable enough distance to keep it out of the shot).

Odds and Ends

Then there were the little odds and ends, a cable to connect the mixer to the mic, the mixer to the mac, the ipod to the mixer and the synth to the mixer.  A mic-stand to hold everything up, and a pop-filter to keep me from exploding through your earbuds.  Finally, a late addition to the show, a tie-dyed t-shirt that serves as a vibration dampener.  This allows me to type while I’m recording without messing up the sound quality.  Without the t-shirt it sounds like I’ve mic’d a drum set!

The Foreground

So why am I doing all this?  The simple answer is so that when I want to record something, it doesn’t sound like I’m talking from deep inside a tin-can mounted inside the shower in my bathroom.  Okay maybe the old mic wasn’t quite that bad but you get my point.  Ever since joining the GGP last summer I’ve wanted to help make the show better.  This new setup helps with that goal.  The Global Geek Podcast is one of the best-sounding shows on TPN, and on the whole of the Interwebs.

But that’s not all….

Ever since I really got going with the blog a little more than a year ago, I’ve also been intrigued by podcasting.  I’ve been an avid podcast subscriber and listener (and occasional unsubscriber) for almost two years now.  Right now I have 32 different podcasts subscribed.  Mostly tech shows of various descriptions, but there’s a few more academic shows as well as a travel show and a food show thrown in for good measure.

I’ve always been one who likes to contribute back.  The GGP has given me a fabulous opportunity to stretch my wings and it’s been a great ride.  I’ve been wanting to do my own show since the fall and have batted around several ideas in the process.  I’m getting close to finalizing that decision now.  I have no intention of leaving the GGP; I’ll stay as long as we are able to work together and deliver great content.  This is simply to expand my podcasting repretoire and put out a show with my own personal touches.

So give the new shows a listen and let me know what you think.  If you’re a podcaster, feel free to share your thoughts on gear and podcasting in general.