Idiologic.com weblog

Unfortunately I did not get the new episode up. I will definitely edit and post it tomorrow (on a Sunday which is not something I willingly do).

This one will require editing. I just hope Garageband can handle it. If not, I'll go with Soundtrack.

I'll definitely need some feedback regarding the new layout. I've heard "it's too green" already. I have a preview available but not out in the public yet.

Oh, and when I die, everybody be a fan of mine on Facebook, will you? ;) Not that it's going to happen soon but if I'm a computer literate ghost, I want to feel the love.

Why am I craving peach cobbler? Now...?

If you've viewed idiologic.com lately, you might have noticed a big change.

Color theme switching is not available right now and I don't expect it to come back for a week or two. Why? Because I am changing layouts. Fortunately, I will be reusing a lot of the same code so it shouldn't take too terribly wrong.

Why a complete layout change right now? When I started the current layout, a lot of the code I put in there was meant to be temporary and I ended up leaving them there. There is a lot of code sitting there that does absolutely nothing. I need to change all of that so that idiologic and idioPod are quicker to load (because they're on slow servers to begin with).

When I am ready to post the new layout, you'll notice that both of my sites will go to my weblog (which will not be part of the layout change). You might want to delete the 'mysheet' cookie from Idiologic if you're seeing anything else but the new green color.

So that is what I'm working on and I'm giving you all a head's up. And of course, here's a little teaser what I'm working with.

Lately, I've been playing around with a few website-related things so I've been relatively quiet. And the last podcast mess really made me mad, so, yeah, but now I'm here and well I thought I'd let you know what I'm working on.

I've really wanted to implement audio on my site (mainly for idioPod) and wanted to use the <AUDIO> tag to do it.

But unfortunately, with most upcoming technologies, things aren't all the way put together.

To make it work with the newest Mozilla-based browsers (Firefox), I'd have to encode every MP3 file as an OGG file which I have noticed is very time consuming AND tedious. MP3 is a much more universal format, so I am sticking with it. I'm all for open sourced solutions, but this one doesn't suit me. So right now, the newest Mozilla-based browsers will show an X and the audio will not play. Additionally, I do not have anything to fall back on if I didn't also show the Flash player.

Because Internet Explorer (Trident-based browsers) and Opera (Presto-based browsers) do not support the AUDIO tag, a player is shown that will use Quicktime, Windows Media Player or even the VLC browser plug-in. It works, and it works quite well as far as I know.

For anybody who uses a Webkit-based browser (such as Safari, Chrome and such), it will work perfectly... the way I envisioned it would work.

With all this said, you're more than welcome to try out the new player. It will only play the latest episode of idioPod. You can keep it open and listen or you can just see if it works.

Note: You will see two players. The first is the Flash player (currently found on the weblog entries for podcast episodes). The second will either be the Quicktime/WMP/VLC plug-in or the AUDIO tag stuff. In Firefox 3.5+, the second player WILL NOT WORK.

Oh and if this weblog was a little too nerdy for you, I apologize. :)

Fly the not-so-friendly skies

I had recorded a lively, upbeat version of this podcast and Garageband froze so I lost all of it. I had to start again and sound absolutely pissed off. Sorry. But I can tell you that I talk about these kinds of things:

• Irritations while travelling
• My on-flight essentials
• Favorite airlines
• Taking a break beginning 4 April 2010 and until then, posting new episodes on Fridays only
• The idioPod 2010 Survey is up until 28 Feb 2010.

Remember: I'm always welcoming questions, comments and junk.

Stay updated with upcoming podcasts by checking out the idioPod Event Calendar! (It has been recently changed - now showing local time in the USA.)

Download: Right-click or listen on your iPhone/iPod Touch
Subscribe: Subscribe here
Length: 22 minutes 16 seconds
File Size: 10.2 MB

This is what happens when you plan too many podcast episodes in 1 week...

I posted this podcast episode a lot later than expected so I labelled it as an extra. It's actually a full podcast episode that I wasn't going to post. It makes a few references on days that have already passed (especially near the end). This one's a bit shorter than the recent ones too.

• My original plan for this podcast
• Missing working in Australia
• Complaining about Lowes (a hardware store here in the USA)
• More stuff that I can't remember, but yeah, you get it)

Remember: I'm always welcoming questions, comments and junk... even on this episode.

Stay updated with upcoming podcasts by checking out the idioPod Event Calendar! (It has been recently changed - now showing local time in the USA.)

Download: Right-click or listen on your iPhone/iPod Touch
Subscribe: Subscribe here
Length: 14 minutes 47 seconds
File Size: 6.8 MB

Update: To release one episode per week until April 2010, I have decided to make this podcast episode number 105. You'll still hear "Extra" in the introduction, but this is #105.

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Hyundai. All opinions are 100% mine.

The Global Green Challenge (GGC) ran from 24-31 October and ran from Darwin to Adelaide. The GGC is the world's leading, cross-continental showcase of the latest advances in hybrid, electric, solar, low emission and alternative energy vehicles.

The Challenge included two demanding urban loops and covered a total distance of 3,147km.

The Hyundai Santa Fe R Diesel was a challenger in the GGC and had garnered some great and impressive reviews and results. Why has the Hyundai Santa Fe R Diesel impressed on every level of the GGC? There are so many reasons:

The Santa Fe R is GreenR. Though there is a 27% power boost, there is a reduction of 7% of CO2 emissions. With its push button start and safe reverse technology, the Santa Fe R is much SmartR. And, impressively, someone can drive up to 1,200km on a single tank of diesel. That means you can drive LongR than before and you can be SafeR doing it with the 5 star ANCAP safety ratings with rollover sensors. And of course, the Santa Fe R is much StrongR due to the 27% power kick and 10% less fuel consumption.

After the challenge, the Santa Fe R diesel had consumed a total of just 160.46 liters of diesel and achieved a low 137.67 grams of CO2 per kilometre. Wow!

To follow the track from start to finish, feel free to see just how impressive the Santa Fe R diesel performed.

Also, don't forget to check out Hyundai Santa Fe's YouTube videos here. The Santa Fe R diesel is available in Australia.

As promised, I did a live recording of idioPod today at 1:30 pm but unfortunately, I didn't see anybody looking so I decided to end it prematurely. That's okay. I wasn't really expecting much for my first live episode.

I did, however, realize that it was recorded and stored at UStream.tv so I present to you the two videos I made today. (I made 1 recording but for some reason it was cut into 2 videos).

In this video podcast, I give you a tour of my mom's yard and just talk about life here in Texas.

  First part of the live podcast episode on 23 Jan 2010

  Second part of the live podcast episode on 23 Jan 2010*

These were recorded with my iPhone so the quality isn't going to be spectacular. Plus AT&T's coverage is HORRIBLE at my place. I will try to do one of these a month if the feedback is decent enough.

If you only want to watch one, watch the one with the *.