My podcast promo was played on Adam Curry’s Daily Source Code today (#364)
Woot!
Moment of Panic
March 28, 2006 By 1 Comment
So Ive been combing the web trying to find a PC equivalent to the Mac’s GarageBand3., thanks to Allen’s in-person demonstration on how it works, making me very, very jealous… After much looking, I finally came upon CastBlaster, that appears to somehow be tied (even if its just a picture) to The Podfather himself. I downloaded the software and ran the installer and it said something about upgrading to Windows Media Player 10 to provide MP3 support. Well, I already have WMP10 and MP3s play fine, so I was a little confused. But, I went to Microsoft’s site and downloaded the reinstalled for WMP10 and began to unpack/install it.
It finished with the usual reboot now message, but when Windows started up – no opening fanfare. Nothing. So I went back into CastBlaster where it told me “no wave out devices found” – I went into my control panel and sure enough my sound card now had a yellow exclamation mark next to it.
Great.
For those un-PC saavy, that means basically my computer is mute. No sound comes forth onto thine speakers, and more importantly, no podcast can be recorded either.
I tried to reinstall the sound card drivers a few times to no avail. They kept saying “this device could not be started.” Over and over and over. So I removed the device from the control panel and instead of reinstalling it, rebooted.
Windows started up, without the startup sound, and I was about to go crazy. But then I booted up an audio app and everything was working. So I booted up Cast Blaster and began playing around. It is a pretty good program, it puts a lot of sound effects and loops at your fingertips. However, it doesn’t do multi-track, it just kind of mixes everything on the fly. Which means if you make a mistake, you have to redo all of it.
The trial version is limited to 10 minutes, which is probaly a good thing as I will probably do my double digit special in chunks rather than all at once. Still, until GarageBand is ported to the PC (yeah right) CastBlaster is a very good alternative.
Marlboro Man Blake Miller – Wedding Information
March 27, 2006 By Leave a Comment
He was introduced to the world by the LA Times, and now all the Marlboro Man wants is a nice wedding. Many of us saw the image below, placing a uniquely personal face to the masses of soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Miller was married in June 2005, a simple wedding, fast and private.
All he wants now is to give his wife the wedding of her dreams. And that’s where you can help.
The Jerry Doyle show has been helping to establish a fund for Blake Miller and his wife Jessica, and below is the address you can send donations to. $5, $10, $10,000 – whatever you can spare.
Blake and Jessica Miller
P.O. Box 113
Virgie, KY 41572
Even just a card of support for Blake and Jessica would be appreciated. Some would say he is “just a solider.” Both Jerry and myself say almost the same thing. “He was a soldier. Let’s give back.”
For more information on Blake Miller, please Click Here
