Joe has passed

I'll miss the big guy.

Born: July 10, 1972
Died: April 1, 2007

How fitting. See the sidebar for the most awesomist picture ever. Lots more info on Wingin' It! and the Memorial Fund site.

Podcasting for Dummies picked up for German translation release!

Good news from the publisher! Which I should have posted days ago! And what's with all the exclamation points!?

But yes, the book has been licensed for translation into German. My son is in his second year of German. Wonder if I should have him proof it?

Oh, and I did I mention that Tee and I are writing the second book? It's called Expert Podcasting for Dummies and we're just now getting started.

Finally BTW... yes, it's April 1st. But no, neither of these announcements is a joke. How un-Evo of me.

More on using Twitter for quick mini reviews

I see Twitter as about 75% micro-blog and 25% IM, all of it with an obvious social aspect. To that end, I think (as I've said before) that it seems an excellent place to create and share reviews of newly released books, movies... anything that isn't "instant" yet has a significant "first day" draw.

The trouble is coming up with an agreed upon convention for posting these. Twitter has few rules, which is a good thing. It's up to the community to create the convention, as we have done in the case of typing '@ username' to send a personal -- yet public -- message.

What's the right convention for posting quick rating/reviews on Twitter? Here are a few ideas. Vote for the best by using one, or feel free to suggest another:

• Twittereview - first one I used. Hard to spell. Too long.
  
• Twitterwrap - nifty sounding, but could be too esoteric.
  
• Tweecap - oh, I like that one. Sounds like "recap". Though there isn't enough room in Twitters 140 char to allow for a true recap.
  
• Twitterize - as in 'criticize', but it sounds more like 'to make into Twitter form".
  
• Tweigh - hated that as I wrote it.
  
• Tweeview - seems simple enough.
  

I may start with the latter. Comments (or Tweets) are appreciated.

Five O’Clock Shadow 11

Five O'Clock Shadow 11

Originally uploaded by evo_terra.

No time for a long post and yes, this is coming early. NJ and I are off to grab the wife and head to his hockey banquet in Flagstaff.

While I'm gone, check out Snip URL. I know that many of you are familiar with TinyURL. SinpURL solves the same problem but has a pile of better features.

That's it for now. Play nice while I'm gone. And look for another super long Twitter recap at midnight. It's amazing how much I put up there.

Five 0′Clock Shadow 10

Five 0'Clock Shadow 10

Originally uploaded by evo_terra.

So it's 7:50 PM. Work with me here, people...

Time for me to express my undying love for another man. Yep, I'm comfy enough in my own sexuality to do that. The object of my love is Chris Miller. Why? The reasons are legion. But the impetus for this post and global affirmation comes from his post on Unquiet Desperations today, where he said:

Most days, I’m fairly sure that many of my non-podcasting friends have no idea why I helped build Podiobooks.com. It’s just free amateur audiobooks, right? What’s the big deal?

The big deal is this: we’re living in a time where the more traditional modes of content distribution are being shaken up from the bottom floor. Independent artists are able, with a relatively low barrier to entry, to create and release their content to a waiting, global audience. No major publishing houses. No record companies. It’s between you and your audience. This is so powerful and so moving, it’s hard to describe.

And that is why I love the man. How can I not?

Belize photos on Flickr

Just posted a few pics from our trip last winter to Belize on Flickr.

My wife is a major shutter bug, and we came back with about a gig of images just of howler monkeys. From about 125 yards off. Up in the sky. Did I mention they were black? Yeah. Great images.

So I spared you all of those. Instead, I posted just a select few. Hope you enjoy them. Hope I go back.

Five O’Clock Shadow 9

Five O'Clock Shadow 9

Originally uploaded by evo_terra.

Holy CRAP what a day. Sorry folks, but this 5O'CS comes about 3.5 hours late. And this is one you can skip. Seriously.

It started at 6:05 this morning, just as I was about to get in the shower with my Lovely Wife. Immediate water pressure loss. Thought it was the sprinklers. Uh, no. How about a broken main? Yeah. The *&%$@ that did the landscaping some dozen years ago decided not to spend the $0.75 to buy a 3/4" end cap and instead went with some flimsy plastic cap you'd expect on the end of a garden hose. What a great way to spend the morning.

Anyhow... went downhill from there. More connectivity issues, though the Mayberry ISP finally listened to me and decided it was a major problem in the neighborhood and not my wireless router. So I had to work from the coffee shop for half the day, but I'm at about twice the speed now. I'll take it.

Various other unpleasant crap during the day (thought I did give an interview with the Italian Public Radio. That was cool. More on that when I know it.) topped off by the airline trying to cancel one of the legs of my trip to Balticon. That ended... OK. No plane change now, but it' does get me in an hour and twenty minutes later.

So I'm beat. And I have a pile of work to do.