Didn't want to write about this until I saw this, but Radio Clash has been featured in this months .Net magazine which I initially missed when I saw it, it's on Page 21 and very small (so I assume it was the previous issue, and ended up ordering it by mistake!)

Thanks anyway!

...and it wasn't even for my show, it was for Lee's I Motor Away Hijack that I did with Jeb - you can download it here..http://www.imotoraway.com/?p=38

if you like Radio Clash or 50 Pound Note I really recommend you go listen...it's even got a guest spot from Buster, Jeb's star podcasting cat, what more can you want?

And belated Happy Birthday Lee!

I just got this email:

Recommendations for Formatting Video Podcasts

1. If you're encoding your video podcast at 320x240, please increase the resolution to either 640x480 or 640x360 (depending on the aspect ratio of your source files). Why? Because video podcasts at this resolution look great on Apple TV and still port to video iPods. Lower resolution podcasts might also work on both platforms, but they don't look nearly as good on a widescreen TV.

Hmm remind me to avoid video podcasts that follow Apple's advice (which will be probably most of them). My poor not-20Mb-more-like-512Kb bandwidth can't afford the hammering from many fullscreen podcasts, even at MPEG4. And a lot of the other players can do video now, in fact most of the Flash players did so before Apple, and Archos too. And I bet they can't cope with video that size...And I don't remember my dear-departed iPod liking anything but 320x240 without a loooooooooooong iTunes conversion process. So long I gave up with video on my iPod.

Oh and I like 'but it doesn't look good on a widescreen TV' - as if that's the be-all and end-all of life?

They do add at the end:

Of course these are just recommendations. We understand that there are good reasons for 320x240 (bandwidth bills) and 720p (looks fantastic). Do whatever makes the most sense for your show.

God forbid you create your podcast/video blog to suit Apple...

Now frequent readers of this blog will know how much I love Apple, and when Charles II the iPod went wrong a few weeks back (problems with the headphone and docking socket, freezes, havign to keep restoring it) 10 months into the warrant, I wasn't holding out much hope.

The speed of Applecare's response and mention of a replacement gave me false hope, but as I expected like friends of mine those were dashed pretty soon.

I sent it last Thursday, expecting no response for a while because of Easter here meaning Friday and Monday were knocked out, and most support places don't do Saturdays....so I was surprised to get an email last night telling me that due to 'accidental damage or misuse' my iPod was being returned, and it just arrived and there's a big green arrow pointing at the docking connector as the scene of the crime. WTF?

This was news to me, other than using it every day I've taken good care of it, even keeping it one of those super-protective rubber cases. The headphone jack could've been wear and tear, but the other issues have no known reason...all I know it my remote won't work with it (so I can't avoid the headphone issue) and it keeps not recognising the iPod and needing to be restored.

So I'm left with a duff iPod and a feeling that they took one look at it, saw that it was close to the expiry date of the warranty, stuck a sticker on it and shipped it out - I mean 1 day turnaround for all iPods? I don't believe they bothered to check it at all. They know that being close to warranty that even if I argue and send letters they'll just delay and take me over the period. Been there, done that with Sony and Sharp (in my Minidisc days - another magnetic medium that is unreliable in small consumer players for frequent use)

So iPods for all their expense and suppose build, don't even last their legal mandatory 12 month period if you use them everyday...after this and Gerald the iRiver going down after 5 months I'm fed up with HD MP3 players - all my Flash iRivers are still going strong. I think the technology is too shoddily built and riddled with obsolescence.

So Apple and Applecare are crap - surprise surprise News at 10 - but it leaves me without a MP3 player that can handle more than 1Gb, so sorry podcasters I can't listen to your casts until I get something larger...do they make large capacity flash players over 8Gb yet?

And fresh from IBW on the 19th May in Bristol is Phil n' Dog and the WOB crew at Eclectic Kettle, at the Attic Bar, Stokes Croft in Bristol. I'll be there, for sure, going to be a class night.

And watch for the cheese track, since January we've had a competition to play the most cheesiest but yet danceable track - we've had Wham's Club Tropicana from Pete which started it, I played Modern Romance - Best Years of Our Lives, and now Phil n' Dog have to beat that...where will it end?!?