New Podcast

[Max Power]

I am moving from Florida to Fontana Village in March. There I will be working at the Adventure Center doing many things, one of them being sure we accommodate and help backpackers as much as we can. Being a backpacker I will do my best to offer what you want.

One of the other things I will be doing on the side is a podcast and blog on the AT. Here is the first podcast that I have posted. This one is just to have something out there as a preview. Visit http://wellworntrail.blogspot.com/ for the first podcast. This one is long so it takes a while to load. Please be patient.
Thanks

[Mike]

Your show notes indicate it is a video podcast. Just wanted to make others aware of that.

here is the rss link for those who are intersted
http://feeds.feedburner.com/WellWornTrail/

[Rain Man]

... This one is long so it takes a while to load. Please be patient.

Thanks for the warning, but how about just giving us the file size right here, instead of generating a hit for the site by sending us on a goose chase?

The file is 120 Meg, obviously for elitists, not for ordinary folks, like me.

Rain:sunMan

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[Max Power]

Yikes. A thumbs down. I'm hurt. I'll see what I can do to help those of you below me out. Just joking!
I need to get use to a slower connection speed myself. I think all I can get from Fontana Village is dial up. That is going to be hard.
That video was ripped off a DVD. I will edit it down and make it a two parter.
Hopefully this will help you out.

[Rain Man]

Yikes. A thumbs down. I'm hurt. ...

Oh, don't take it too hard. ;)

If you go on dial-up, you won't be downloading a 120 Meg file even if it's broken into TEN parts, I don't think.

I don't really mind if anyone posts huge files. I'd just like to see the file size mentioned, so we don't have to go to another site to find out on our own. After all, there are over 7,000 members of WhiteBlaze now. Easier for the poster to post all the pertinent info instead of each WhiteBlazer to have to dig for himself and then find out. That's my only critique, and hopefully a constructive one at that.

Best to you! ... and here's you a thumb's up to balance things out.

Rain:sunMan

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[Max Power]

Alright I broke the video podcast down into three parts. Part 1 is 46 mb. It still takes a while to get, but I hope you watch. It is a video and that is why it takes a while. Once I am in Fontana I will be having more audio podcasts then videos, but I still want to do both.
The site to visit again is http://wellworntrail.blogspot.com/
Or go right to here for the video http://ia300021.us.archive.org/3/items/MaxPowerofWellWornTrail/Well_Worn_Trail__First_Trip__Part_1.m4v
Subscribe with this feed://www.ourmedia.org/mediarss/user/57204

[Max Power]

For those who don't have the time or resources, here is the complete audio from the entire video. It wasn't created to be just audio, but it still tells the story very well.

http://ia300215.us.archive.org/2/items/MaxPowerofWellWornTrail_1/Well_Worn_Trail__First_Trip__Audio.mp3
13.4 mb

I hope this helps!

[Rain Man]

Alright I broke the video podcast down into three parts. Part 1 is 46 mb. It still takes a while to get, but I hope you watch.

Well, Max, you still have some problems.

The links are hard to find. I still can't find the link for the full-size version. Maybe it's just me, but they seem buried and not well identified/defined. Or, maybe I'm just not seeing what I expect and only have to get used to your layout concept.

Plus, I downloaded (some?) of the video, but my computer asks "what application" I want to use to open it. Why is that? Are you using an unusual proprietary format? A new format folks might not have? I rarely run into this problem, so am assuming it's somewhat unique to your site/format.

I expected it to download and run pretty much on its own. Did not happen.

Sorry to reports problems, but assume you'd want to know.

Rain:sunMan

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[Max Power]

Lets see.
You couldn't find the video because I removed the entire video clip, for now. I will be showing the video in parts.

If you go to http://wellworntrail.blogspot.com/ that is where you will find the podcasts. I put the links on top of the article instead of the end, so they are easier to find.
As far as the "application" question that is bizarre. It is a Quicktime video. If you have quicktime you should be set, if you have it and that problem occurs then I'd have to say the problem is on your end. When I follow the link it works, so I am not sure what is going on. Please e-mail me if you continue to have this problem so I can see if it is the server.
Thanks and I hope you don't run into this again. In the meantime try listening to the audio.

[Rain Man]

As far as the "application" question that is bizarre. It is a Quicktime video. If you have quicktime you should be set, if you have it and that problem occurs then I'd have to say the problem is on your end. When I follow the link it works, so I am not sure what is going on. Please e-mail me if you continue to have this problem so I can see if it is the server.

Max,

I had already listened to the audio. The sound quality was moderate at best and I thought the video might help me understand what was being said, and would be fun to watch, plus you asked me to.

Took an overnight and part of a day, but I finally got the video downloaded. I have Quicktime 6.5, but it says "format not recognized." When I open Quicktime and look for the file, it doesn't even show up in the list.

You might want to offer videos in multiple or more common formats?

Rain:sunMan

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[Max Power]

Well the sound was recorded by a nice Sony digital camcorder in 2001. For being outdoors it seems like good audio to me. Much better then many noisy podcasts I've heard.
I am guessing since the video is format for ipod that maybe Quicktime 7 is required. I haven't ran into anyone else with this problem. I will see what it takes to get it played on all Quicktime versions. The videos will not be as frequent as the audio and I will be more then likely cutting them to 15 minutes at max.
If your ear is that well to call the audio "moderate at best," you may not like the show then because I will be outside for all my interviews/shows with other hikers. I think the organic quality will relate much more then a studio sound for podcasts on the AT.
I appreciate your feedback.

[Rain Man]

Max, overnight I upgraded to the latest version of QuickTime. I had 6.5 and it upgraded me to 6.5.2. So, I don't know anything about a version 7. Are you on a Mac? Maybe that's the problem?

Anyway it now opens a video window, but still only gives me the audio, even with the 126 MEG file I had downloaded. The video box is just blank white.

I did a quick Google on "m4v" and found multiple posts reporting similar problems, where mpv or mov worked fine, but m4v caused problems, and created much larger files to boot. So, I'm guessing I'm not alone in having problems with "m4v" and I'm assuming it's "cutting edge, new and improved" technology (meaning still full of glitches)?

If you are choosing to use cutting edge formats (I don't know enough to say if you are), then of course lots and lots of users will not be able to open and use the files fully, if at all. For optimum compatibility, definitely stay away from any and all "latest and greatest" software with more sizzle than commonality.

Even after downloading and installing the upgrade, I still got two error messages about decompressors being missing and not available on that site. Tried to copy them, but the error message dialog box wouldn't let me even highlight the messages. That's stupid and I hate it. If you should be able to highlight and copy anything anywhere, error messages should be at the top of the list. Not your fault.

I think the sound quality problem might be due to wind noise. The camera might be great, but is there a good wind screen covering the microphone and is the mic on a cable and held closer to the speakers than the camera itself? Plus, the "actors" (you?) seemed genuinely out of breath, which of course can make one hard to understand also under the best of circumstances.

You're welcome on the feedback, and don't change what you're doing just because of me. Best to you.

Rain:sunMan

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[Max Power]

I will check into other compressions. It would be nice to get a faster download especially without errors. It's a catch-22. I want it to be compatible with ipods, but viewed by anyone with a computer knowing not everyone has an ipod.
If the wind and my breath is what you were talking about, I can understand. I thought you were saying it was loud or noisy from the equipment and compression. The wind gets real bad on Albert Mt Fire Tower, but it's a beautiful noise.