Farmland Sky

Teepee?

Pumpkin Farm Landscape

Gourds

Webber meets the Goats at the pumpkin farm.

Windmill #1

Webber loves to lay in the sun!

Lot's of Leaves

It's Fall

Electrical

 

iPod Update...

I'm sure you'll understand why I haven't posted an update to "My iPod is Home." I've been too busy listening to about 100 podcasts that I missed while the iPod was down. So here's the update: After finding out that the iPod had arrived over at my parent’s house, I left work and drove as fast as possible to their house. I was so excited when I finally arrived at my parents and saw the box on the kitchen table. I immediately opened the box and was even more excited when (this is the point where you can pretend that in the background, when I finally open the box and see the iPod, a chorus of angels begins to sing and the iPod magically floats out of the box. As it floats out of the box there is a heavenly glow around it, the glow begins to appear larger and larger as the iPod starts to float to my hand until it finally rests in my grasp...) I removed the packing material to find that they had actually shipped me a brand new iPod. The case and screen had no scratches or finger prints and it looked just like my original iPod did the first day I got it. I want you to know that even though I was excited to see a new iPod I was still a little skeptical. I was just a little worried that when I plugged it into my computer I would find that this iPod was also corrupted. I am very happy to say that that was not the case. Anyway, after seeing that I actually had a new iPod, I showed it to my parents. They had never seen an iPod and they were both pretty interested. I answered all of their questions and showed my Mom how to work it.

The Update

When I got home I immediately went to my computer and plugged the iPod in. Again, I didn't have high hopes that everything would work. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the iPod Updater pop-up on my screen. I updated the software, plugged in to the power source for a reflash, and then plugged back in to my computer to add all of my music. At the time of the update I had 2045 music/mp3 files in iTunes. I began the update at 8:03pm and amazingly my iPod was completely updated by 8:49pm. I disconnected it from the computer and did a test listen to some random songs and podcasts just to see if there was any skipping. Everything worked fine and the rest is history. I have had my earbuds in my ears for the most of the last 4 days, and I have loved every minute. I missed a lot in the podcasting world and I have been very eager to get caught up.

I am thinking of adding a list of my top ten favorite podcasts to the sidebar of my blog. Many of my friends have been asking me questions of which podcast I would recommend. The best I can do is to tell them which podcasts are my favorites, tell them about podcast alley, and let have them take a listen. We'll see what happens.

See ya.

My iPod is Home!

I just found out that my "new" iPod has been delivered via FedEx. It's at home and I can't wait to see what they sent me...will it be a brand new iPod or a refurbished one? We'll see. You can be sure I'll let you know what they sent me. I am so excited!!! I haven't been able to keep up on all of my podcasts and I can't wait to catch up. There's lots of listening to be done! Stay tuned.

See ya.

Happy Birthday! Capone

Finally

So I am finally getting around to sending in the iPod... it is pay-day after all. How long do you think it will take HP to send me my "new" iPod. It doesn't matter I suppose. I just want to have an iPod that works and that doesn't let me down when I need it the most. In the interim, I have been using my iRiver to listen to my Podcasts and a small number of mp3's. I have to say, I like my iRiver almost as much as my iPod. The only downfalls of the iRiver are the small dispaly screen and battery life. Anyway, I can't wait to get my "new" iPod. I will be a very happy boy the day it arrives at my door.
Fall is here, and with fall comes the time when the trees explode with beautiful colors. Since I have developed love for photography I have spent most of my time taking pictures of flowers and other summer things. I am excited for the fall because it will give me the opportunity to take photos of the color changes, leaves, leaf piles while raking, and eventually the "naked" forest. The colors are changing fast here. I am hoping to get out on Sunday to take some pic's at one of our local nature centers. Stay tuned...

See ya.

Sorry, I didn't Realize

Sorry I didn't realize that somebody was actually reading this. I received an email asking me if I had an update on the iPod situation. Well if you are wondering that too, the answer is, not yet. Since that post I have not been feeling very good and have spent a majority of my time at home on the couch. So needless to say, I haven't packed the iPod up yet to send to HP. I miss it everyday though. I will get off my ass this weekend, get it packaged up, and I'm thinking I will ship it FedEx only because there is a Kinko's or FedExKinko's near where I work. Stay tuned.
You may notice that I have removed the link to my Buzznet site. I clicked on the link today and found that it redirected me directly to the login page at Buzznet. I then double checked the html template for my blog to make sure that the code for the link was correct. After verifying that it was indeed correct, and trying to figure out what the hell is going on, I have given up. It is my assumption that the people over at Buzznet want people more people to join and are redirecting any traffic to their homepage. That's a bummer. It's unfortunate that they have resorted to that type of tactic because I know there are quite a few people out there who have started Buzznet accounts because they were first able to see what Buzznet looked like by clicking on my link. So, screw you Buzznet. Maybe I'll start using your service again if you make it more blogger friendly.

See ya.

P.S. I just used the spell check utility within Blogger, and to my suprise, it didn't know the words: iPod, blog, blogger, Kinko's, or FedEx. That's funny that the Blogger spell checker doesn't even know the word blog. What's up with that?

Podcasting Education 2nd Edition

Podcasting Education 2nd Edition – Here is an update to my original post Podcasting Education. The original was written after I found out some of my friends had iPods but hadn’t discovered podcasting yet. I’m posting this second edition as an update to the original. I found out more of my friends are either getting iPods (Danny), other mp3 players such as an iRiver, or are just tired of me talking about podcasting and want to check out some podcasts using their existing media players such as Windows Media Player. Finally, I have also added instructions for those of you who want to use iTunes to pick, subscribe, and listen to podcasts.

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcast - this gives a great definition of what podcasting is.


2. http://www.ipodder.org/ - click on the download ipodder link to download the ipodder program. You can set this program up to automatically download new podcasts and send them to iTunes or Windows Media Player. There are many other aggregators out there, but this one is free and very easy to use and understand.


3. http://www.podcastalley.com/index.php - Podcast Alley is probably the best place to do some research into different podcasts. It is also the place where everyone goes to vote for their favorite podcast(s), and where the podcasters go to see who is rated the best. When you start listening to podcasts you will hear most of them ask you to go to Podcast Alley to vote for them.

I highly recommend getting your podcasts using an aggregator other than iTunes. From my experience iTunes doesn’t update the shows fast enough and has a lot of problems. I prefer to get the shows as soon as they are available. Also I’m just not a big fan of the amount of commercialized podcasts that iTunes has on the main page, or the way they have categorized the podcasts within their music store. That’s just my opinion. If you prefer to use iTunes I have included directions at the bottom of this post.

Here is a list of some of my favorite Podcasts:

1. The Dawn and Drew Show


2. 5 Minutes with Wichita


3. Geek News Central


4. Podcast 411


5. Earthcore


6. The Typical PC user


7. The Skinny on Sports


8. Daily Source Code


9. Living on Earth


10. Science Fridays

Just click on the links above and you will be magically whisked away to each of these podcast’s websites. Look for a little orange button with the letters XML on it. There may also be a button that says Subscribe or Podcast. When you click on one of these buttons a new page will appear. This page is full of strange looking code…this is an RSS feed. The only thing that is important to you here is the URL (web address) at the top. Copy the address and paste it into your new aggregator (usually titled Add Feed).

Using iTunes:

1. Open iTunes like you normally would


2. Click on Music Store


3. Click on the Podcasts link in the Inside the Music Store section on the left.


4. Choose a podcast.


5. Click on the Subscribe button.


6. Check the Podcasts playlist on the left side of your iTunes to make sure that you are subscribed.

I am hopeful that these instructions will help you finally hear your first podcast. Enjoy your journey into the podosphere!!! If you need any help just let me know.

If you are reading this and are not someone that I know, please let me know if this information was helpful, and thanks for taking a look!!

See ya.

More iPod troubles & My Lack of Faith in HP Support

I just got off the phone with HP support and now I am pissed off!!! As all of you will recall (again, with the cynicism) I have been having troubles with my iPod. You may be asking why I called HP if I own an iPod. Well, that’s because I made the dumb decision of choosing to purchase the “Apple iPod + HP.” You may also be asking why I made that decision. The answer is that at the time I became interested in purchasing an iPod I was worried that the Apple version would not be as compatible with my Dell PC as the HP version would be. All of my research told me that the HP version of the iPod would be much more user friendly to a PC user. Now I want to set the record straight here and say that I love my iPod like I gave birth to it myself. My iPod used to be my source of sanity in an insane world that is my job. My iPod was my treasure chest of beautiful music that fit all kinds of moods and could magically whisk me away to a different world where anger, stress, and frustration ceased to exist. My iPod was the holder for all of my favorite podcasts and the cause of much laughter. It has been broken now for about two weeks. I am the kind of person who likes to fix things on my own, and that’s what I attempted to do…unfortunately I failed and had to call HP for help, again.

Here’s what’s happening:

• iPod, although loaded with 2500 songs/podcasts will only play some of the songs/podcasts some of the time.


• When it does play a song/podcast it frequently only plays ¼ to ½ of the song or podcast.


• When I plug the iPod into the USB 2.0 port the computer will recognize that I have plugged something into it, but not that it is an iPod. This causes all the iPod software to fail to recognize the iPod. That means that the iPod updater is unable to assist me in reformatting the iPod and then updating the software


• When the iPod is plugged into the USB 2.0 port and the computer fails to recognize it, the internal mechanism of the iPod makes a clicking noise, then I get pissed that it’s not working and leave the room in hopes that something will happen and when I return it will have fixed itself. When I do actually return however, the iPod is warm, even hot to the touch which tells me that something is definitely wrong!!

I contacted HP Support on August 30th and thought that, with their help, we had solved the problem for good. I was able to reformat the iPod and update all of the software, and it worked great for about 4 days. Then it started freezing up and skipping thru songs. I have had to restart the iPod more times than I care to remember.
I finally found time to call HP today. I spoke to a very nice woman named Karen. She guided me through all of the normal trouble-shooting steps, mainly those that I had already done, and then she proceeded to tell me that she would just arrange to have a “new” iPod sent to me…she just needed my credit card number. I understood why but I asked anyway. She told me that it was their (HP’s) insurance that they would get the defective iPod back after I received my “new” one. I asked her if HP would be putting a hold on my credit card for a certain amount and she told me “no, it just incase”. I proceeded to inform her that I just paid for a semester of college on my card and that if they were going to place a hold on my card that it would get denied. She again told me that HP would not be placing a hold on my card. I gave he my card number, and guess what…it was denied just like I told her it would be. Can you feel me getting more pissed off? The only alternative is to send it in myself and eat the shipping charge. Karen gave me all the instructions on sending it in to HP and I just let the issue go.
My next question was concerning the term “new”. I paid approximately $300 for my brand new iPod. I wanted to make sure that they weren’t going to send me a refurbished one, due to the fact that my money was spent with the intent of getting a brand new iPod that performed perfectly out of the box. Her response to my question was that they may send me a brand new iPod, or they might send me a refurbished one; she would not guarantee a brand new one though. She did her best to assure me that the refurbished models are just as good as a brand new one. I proceeded to apologize for my frustration and again informed her that I was pissed off because of the principle of the matter. Again, my money was spent in good faith that I was purchasing an iPod that nobody else had used before me, not a used one that has been erased. I told her that I would send in my iPod but I was very disappointed that I had made the bad decision to choose to purchase an iPod from HP. I also told her that I wished I would have bought the iPod from Apple so I could have just taken it to the Apple store and have them resolve the matter right away. She apologized again, and I understood that she really didn’t give a shit; she was just doing her job! Anyway, it looks like I won’t have a functional iPod for another 2 weeks. Fortunately for me I have my trusty iRiver IFP-899 as a backup.

Hopefully someone out there has had an experience like this one and can offer me some guidance. I have very little faith in HP. If you are reading this and can offer me a word of hope, please send me an email to birderboy@gmail.com.

Stay tuned.

See ya.

ReAct

If you did not watch the MTV, VH1, and CMT Katrina releif fundraiser go here and watch it now. I am sure that you will be as moved as I was while watching it. Check it out now! More to come tomorrow. Time for bed.

See ya.

P.S. I have never been so impressed with TV in my life. Great job Viacom! You will probably never hear me say that again...

iPod Down, iPod Down...AGAIN!!!

To start, let me just say that I am pissed off. My iPod is down again. For $300 dollars this maching should not break. I'm going to call HP again and see what they say. I hope they can tell me how to fix it, and they better not send me a refurbished machine. Angry Scott is not a nice person...stay tuned.

See ya

Shadows

Me & Webber