xagronaut

Blog Audio: Odiogo, FeedForAll, and TextAloud

Tue, 08 Aug 2006 16:34:15 GMT

iTunes decreases my blog consumption

After all this time, I'm finally blogging again. I think the issue has been the lack of time (other things are more important?) and the lack of motivation (i.e., burning desire). Oddly enough, I think podcasts have taken me away from blogging. Since I no longer use NewsGator and FeedStation to download podcasts (I use iTunes instead), I spend less time in my news aggregator. Oh, I still consume blogs, and I think that they're still a great innovation, but I'm not using them like I used to.

A twist on blog consumption: Text-to-Speech conversion

One new product that puts a twist on consuming blogs is Odiogo. It's software that will "audify" RSS content to create MP3 audio consumable by your media player or portable audio device. This is similar in concept to a combination of products I saw a while back: mixing FeedForAll, an RSS publisher, with TextAloud from NextUp.com. This combo allows you to create a "podcast" version of your blog. TextAloud also has other uses for text-to-speech conversion as a stand-alone product. Odiogo, on the other hand, combines an RSS aggregator with a text-to-speech converter in one product. The price is fairly accessible at $29.99. I may try it. There are some sample audio clips of Odiogo available. One thing I noticed is that Odiogo seems to offer only one voice (male). TextAloud, on the other hand, offers multiple voice options with a range of sampling rates from vendors including AT&T (Natural Voices), NeoSpeech, Cepstral, and ScanSoft (RealSpeak). TextAloud comes only in a Windows version and costs $29.95. FeedForAll costs $39.95 and is available for Windows and Mac. They have an interesting set of partners offering complimentary products related to RSS feed consumption, RSS-friendly web hosting, and podcast creation.

Conclusion

I may try the audio blog content option. Unfortunately, most of my podcast solutions involve a lot of manual labor to put it onto my player (my Palm Zire 72 with an SD card). The other downside is that the text-to-speech output can sound somewhat bland, causing me to zone out instead of actively listening. I'll put it on my Someday/Maybe list (GTD).

Don't like "Podcast?" How about "Syndicast?"

Wed, 22 Feb 2006 18:27:49 GMT

Some people are confused about what the term "podcast" really means. While it originally involved a reference to Apple's iPod, the term has expanded to mean much, much more. I heard somewhere that Microsoft was trying to find a way to refer to a "podcast" without calling it a "Pod-cast." "Blogcast" was the substitute I heard offered. However, that was only a rumor.

I think there's a better word, still: syndicast. Syndication and broadcast combined. Jason Dunn of PocketPC Thoughts describes several alternative names for podcasts in his article on Microsoft's site.

The problem with coining a new term and supplanting the old term is difficult. "Podcast" is already a powerful meme. I don't suspect that it will make much difference proposing it, but I couldn't keep a clever idea to myself.

And for another perspective, Chris Pirillo says some people think it's "not important": "This is Simply Smarter Broadcasting."

It's nothing more than Internet radio at its core, folks. It's audio, on-demand, that's easily synchronized with your computer system / portable media device...

Podcasting, or syndicated downloadable content, by whatever name, is definitely here to stay.

After the Crash

Fri, 16 Dec 2005 16:29:41 GMT

My blog has been down because my Linux server died. I've bought a hosting account and I'm trying to recreate it in the new space.

Please be patient with me. My blogging skills are getting rusty, but I still contend that I am a blogger. After all, I put it on my license plate, so I'd better live up to the label.

Update:I've been having fits trying get Radio to update my weblog! My upstreaming doesn't work. In fact, if you see this paragraph, that means that it is working again. I'm using this text as an update to trigger a "refresh."

Still not working...Aargh! I'm beginning to think it's time to ditch Radio as my authoring tool. Though, it could be my hosting account that has a problem...

Time to Reinvent

Wed, 26 Oct 2005 20:46:19 GMT

OK, it's time to reinvent some things here. I'm ready for a change. I've shaved off my goatee. I'm updating my resume. I'm considering deprecating the Xagronaut blog in favor of a new personal website. I'll still post to it now and then, probably. But the point is that some things have changed in my life. Other things need to change.

Managing the Change Online

The first thing I did was to redirect my existing domain (xagronaut.com) to my new domain (jmill.net). I made old blog a subdirectory of the new site. My next decision is whether to use Radio to manage the site. I may use Drupal. I may use a custom PHP-based solution. I may use a hybrid of approaches, including Gallery for photos and PHPGedView for tracking the family tree.

A Question of Goals

It's time to reevaluate. Do I want to focus inward, on family and personal interests? Do I want to focus outward, on church and work activities? Do I want to retreat and retool? Do I want to branch out and expand my reach? Much to consider...much too much to consider...

Palm Zire 72 camera review

Mon, 22 Aug 2005 19:57:02 GMT

Here's a picture from the camera on my new Palm Zire 72. What I like about the camera:

I can capture pictures when I need to (sort of).

I can moblog (sort of).

I can take short videos (sort of).

I say "sort of" on the above items because the quality is not so great. What I don't like about the camera:

Taking pictures is slow. You have to be very steady with the camera and wait several seconds for a shot to "take." If your hand isn't totally steady, your pictures blur easily

Low light situations cause poor picture quality. The camera doesn't have a light or a flash, so taking a picture inside can be difficult.

Sunlight washes out pictures taken outside. Yeah, that cuts down on your optimal picture taking conditions, doesn't it?

It's a feature I was convinced I had to have. It was either the Palm Zire 72 with a camera and no WiFi or a HP RX3115 Mobile Media Companion with WiFi and no camera. Now, I think I might have opted for the WiFi instead with all other things being equal (which they never are). With WiFi, you can sync wirelessly over the network, surf the Web, and check email. The Palm Zire 72 only has Bluetooth. You can sync over Bluetooth, but I haven't tried it yet because my desktop doesn't have it. The problem that I see is the physical range that is required with Bluetooth. I don't have the specs, but Bluetooth is definitely more localized than 802.11b. My computer is in the basement, and I like the idea of charging and syncing without ever going down there. Oh well, that's opportunity cost, right?