Georgia Podcast Network

We now plan to issue an old-fashioned (ha!) email newsletter, which is something we probably should have been doing a long time ago. It will contain information about local podcasting-related events, updates about what's going on with the web site, and possibly a few other things as they occur to us.

Let us know in the comments here or by emailing info@gapodcastnetwork.com how often you think we should send it out. We definitely will not send out more than one per month, and it will probably be sent less frequently than that.

So, if you prefer email notifications to RSS or other new-fangled technologies, you can subscribe a few different ways:

• If you're not logged in, you should see a "Subscribe to our mailing list" block in the sidebar below the "Feeds" block. If you subscribe this way, newsletters are sent in HTML format by default unless you check "Receive emails in text format."
• If you are signed in, you can subscribe by clicking "Edit your profile" in the sidebar, then clicking the "My newsletters" link.
• If all else fails, you can just visit this URL and follow the instructions. If you already have a user account, your subscription will automatically be synced to it.

The redesign of the Georgia Podcast Network is live!

The short version of what's new is:

• Create podcasts, add episodes to them, or add your affiliate podcast to the directory without having to go through an administrator. Podcasts now work sort of like diaries on Tondee's Tavern and other group blogs. Everybody can have one, but not everything makes the front page.
• Let other members post episodes to your podcast. You can name co-hosts individually, or set the "group podcast" option to let any registered member post an episode. For examples of group podcasts, see (un)ConCast and Politics is Vocal.
• Album art, channel, and other meta information can be attached to podcasts
• Post M4V video in addition to MP3 audio
• Nifty Flash uploader
• Embeddable players and widgets
• iTunes meta information in podcast RSS feeds
• Can redirect podcast RSS feeds to Feedburner
• Webplay and download statistics
• Rebuilt podcast directory
• Pretty new theme
• Better performance. Up to 8 times faster under normal server load

That's not everything, but that's the important stuff. There are still some minor CSS issues to work out in Internet Explorer 6, but it should be relatively bug-free other than that. Have a look and let us know what you think!

Assuming our Internet connection doesn't crap out and any of a million other technical maladies don't afflict us, we're going to attempt a live episode of Mostly ITP tonight on Talkshoe. The only things we have planned right now are to play a couple of listener voicemails and to talk a little about Sex 2.0, which is coming up next Saturday. That's maybe 10 minutes of material. If people actually call in, we'd like to spend the rest of the time addressing topics from live callers. If you don't, I guess we'll just bullshit for 20 minutes.

Here is the relevant info:

Time: 9 p.m. EST
Stream and web chat URL: http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/17403
Phone: (724) 444-7444, call ID 17403
Twitter: amberlrhea and rustytanton

Update April 7, 10:15 a.m. Comcast crapped out on us about 12 minutes in, causing about 3 minutes of dead air (which we edited out after the fact), but it went fine otherwise. You can listen here.

After Amber's conference is over, we may try to regularly schedule one or two live podcasts a month and balance that out with interviews like we had been doing. Let us know what you liked and didn't like about this first edition.

Check it out, Amber is in the latest Download Squad Squadcast!

Wherein she talks about (what else?) podcasting. I know she's a little self-conscious about being on video, but I think it went smashingly.

Like Amber says in the video, the main thing that's fun to us about podcasting is it gives us an excuse to go out and talk to people we think are interesting. To a lesser degree, that's what remains fun to me about blogging. I think if I was just sitting around typing words and sending them out into the ether without meeting new people, blogging would get boring to me very quickly.

Also, since it's Amber Press Day, check out this article titled Ten Hot Sexuality (And Gender) Issues of 2007 by our friend Audacia Ray. The GDGF is quoted about pole dancing.

Cross-posted to Radical Georgia Moderate

The end of another year is coming soon, which means another end-of-year episode of Mostly ITP! Here's last year's episode.

We try not to get all PBS-beg-a-thon about asking people for participation in things, but it would be nice if y'all would leave some voicemails for us to play. Have a favorite episode? Have an episode that made you want to veer off the road into a telephone pole in disgust? Don't listen to the show, but do a great impression of Charles Bronson baking a pie wearing nothing but an apron and a smile? We'd love to hear from you.

You can call and leave us voicemail at 678.389.9441, or you can leave a message on my Skype account at rustytanton.

Thanks!

Cross-posted to Radical Georgia Moderate

I upgraded the Georgia Podcast Network from Drupal 4.7 to Drupal 5.5 tonight. I'm aware of a couple of minor CSS issues that popped up after the upgrade, but otherwise things seem to be working as they should be. If anything seems off, please send me an email at rusty@gapodcastnetwork.com.

There's not any new functionality except a nicer captcha and a couple of things under the hood. This is mainly to pave the way for things to come in the (hopefully) near future.

A couple days late to the punch, but we are once again featured on the Atlanta Coalition of Performing Arts Podcast. Check it out. This time we follow Freddie Ashley of Actor's Express, and apparently we talk about combatting ambient noise and probably also about how much we love our actors.

You'll have to listen to find out, wontcha?

Here's the direct link.

NFDC decided to forgo recording our own podcast this month in favor of speaking with Joe Winter from Atlanta Performs. Check it out. I'm told that we will appear in a series of podcasts for Atlanta Performs, so keep checking back for the latest.

Tomorrow night, one of our activities at the monthly Drupal Atlanta meeting will be a hands-on workshop where you can learn how to podcast with Drupal. I'll give a quick presentation, and then we'll dive into some hands-on training.

Drupal core contains everything you need to post podcasts without any third-party modules, so just come with a working Drupal 5 installation if you'd like to participate.

The method I'll teach uses the stripped-down CCK (Content Construction Kit) that's built into Drupal 5 along with the core Upload module. It's not the only way to podcast with Drupal, but I think for most purposes it's the best way. During the opening presentation, we'll briefly discuss the pros and cons of using this method versus other methods (like using the Audio and/or Video modules).

We may play with SWF Tools if there's time to show you how you can add Flash players to enhance the user experience. The module is currently broken but expected to be fixed soon, and in the very near future will be the best and easiest way to add Flash players to your podcast. If time permits, we can also discuss how to add Flash players using PHPTemplate.

The meeting is August 21 at 7 p.m. in 5 Seasons Brewing in Alpharetta, GA, which is located at 3655 Old Milton Parkway, about 1 mile east of hwy 400 (exit 10). Click here for a map.

You can email me ahead of time at rusty@gapodcastnetwork.com if you have any questions. Looking forward to seeing you there!

Cross-posted to Drupal Atlanta and Radical Georgia Moderate

August 9, 2007. Lyons, GA -- Wilson Smith, Attorney at Law from Lyons, Georgia, decided "someone needed to keep an eye on politicians in general." So he commenced the dirty work by interviewing noteworthy folk in Georgia politics for the Lyons radio station, WLYU.

Now, Smith's political media inclinations have grown into a treasure trove of notables in Georgia news, media and politics -- with Smith's freewheeling interviews available as podcasts for listening at your desktop, or for downloading to your mobile device, on the newly-refurbished website and blog, WhatIsGoinOn. (http://www.whatisgoinon.com/)

Whether he's talking to Lt. Governor Casey Cagle about the upcoming Legislative session or a national political operative like Terry McAuliffe, Smith's genuine southern style and wit shines through with his skilled conversational tone, something woefully lacking in most contemporary political media.

Smith's fascination with new social media tools such as blogging and podcasting is also a big part of WhatIsGoinOn, as in-between political interviews and his work as an attorney he quizzes notable Georgia bloggers such as Erick Erickson and James Williams on their work in emerging new media.

Smith hired Rusty Tanton and Amber Rhea, co-creators of the award-winning Georgia Podcast Network, to create the new look and easy navigation of WhatIsGoinOn.

Click to WhatIsGoinOn now for free, downloadable interviews with the best and the brightest of Georgia's most interesting newsmakers.

For more information about WhatIsGoinOn, please contact Grayson Daughters at WaySouth Media, Inc. gdaughters@waysouthmedia.com or 404-216-0387.