Endurance Planet For Sale

Endurance Planet is a podcast that I have listened to for about 6 months. I just listened to another podcast done by the same host where he said he is looking for a buyer for Endurance Planet.

Endurance planet is a podcast for endurance athletes. Particularly Tim interviews tri-athletes for his show. These interviews last about 15 minutes.

I am excited on one hand to see that this podcast could get a fresh burst of energy. Frankly, it has been obvious that Tim has lost some drive on this show. On the other hand, this show has been pretty much the show that I have copied for my podcast. Tim has also personally given me some tips and pointers for my show, so I hate to see him go.

But, Tim is not leaving podcasting by no means. He has a few other shows that he does. Also, other podcasters will know Tim’s organization if they don’t know Tim by name. He and his brother are the ones behind the Podcast Expo, or, as it is now called, The Podcast and New Media Expo. Quite the event in the podcasting community. So Tim will be around, he is just looking for a buyer for the Endurance Planet show.

This is the first I have heard of a show being sold. I am sure advertisers could make this a profitable show. I don’t know what the listernship is, but the show has been around a while (I think he said over 3 years). Before it was a podcast it was streamed audio. Because of it’s endurance athlete focus, there is great potential for targeted marketing by advertisers.

I am curious as to how this will turn out.

Merry Christmas Everyone

Thanks for sticking with me each day. According to my logs, there are lots of people who read the blog with only a very small percentage who leave comments. Thanks to everyone who stops by.

I started the blog in February 2006. So this is my first Christmas with the blog.

I got some shirts and a wallet. We had a good time this morning with the family. Later today we are going to have our traditional Christmas dinner. We figure if you do it at least 2 years in a row, then it is tradition. Last year we had steak and shrimp. We are doing the same thing this year, so it is now officially tradition.

We also have a cold front coming through. The high is only supposed to be 84 today. Though it is not quite a white Christmas, it is cooler than the last several days which have been in the low 90s.

Merry Christmas!

Making a smart playlist in iTunes

My brother just got a new iPod nano for Christmas. This is somewhat written for him and all the others who need to know how to do a smart playlist in a smart way. This is just one example of what can be done. It will give you an idea of what is possible.

This is a playlist that will be for your podcasts. You really are not interested in most podcasts beyond one listen. If you are, you certainly can keep them around. But this will give you a playlist containing only podcasts that have not been completely listened to.

First off you will need to open iTunes. Then File | New Smart Playlist. “Match the following rule” is checked. Then you want to set it to: Genre is Podcast. Now click the “+” sign at the right and set the next line to: Play count is less than 1. Everything else can be left at its default values.

Another one you can do is to have a playlist that is: Genre is Christmas. And: Playcount is less than 1. That will give you only Christmas songs that you have not yet listened to. When you listen to them all, increase the number to 2.

A variation on that is: Genre is not Christmas. And: Playcount is less than 1. That will give you all songs that are not Christmas that you have not yet heard. This may need to be tweaked. If you have a certain genra that you don’t want to include like Speech, then set that like the Christmas genre.

You can build from there. Have fun. And Merry Christmas!

Missionary Talks 09: John Carney

Almost to double digits!

This is the first in a series of conversations with Missionary Kids (MKs). This episode ended up being a bit short, which is fine. Going long is what I am attempting to avoid. I was able to add some chit chat at the end of the show. I think I will work to do that at least every 4th show.

I have known John for the 2 years I have lived here and it was fun talking with him in this way. We have played tennis and basketball together. I even talked him into running his first, and (so far), only road race.

I think you will enjoy hearing what John has to say.

Running Week

I have not been keeping up with the mileage I would like to have had this month, but I am still pounding the pavement. Since I posted at the start of the month that I would like to go for a 600 mile year, I have basically not been able to make it a priority. I got pretty sick just after that and had to lay off of some of the physical activities. Then a long run got postponed because I did not want it to affect a race the next day. I ran a 5K PR in that race, by the way.

This week I only ran twice. A 5K on Thursday and today I ran 8.5 miles. My running and exercise routine has been out of whack due to this chess tournament. I usually do a couple of evening runs while my son is in chess class. His classes were on a break during the tournament since his coach is a judge for the event. Then the morning schedule has been messed up because I am too lazy to get out and run at 6:00. I did manage a short run on Thursday before my son played that morning.

Thursday’s 5K run was encouraging. I did not at all push myself and was just running to get miles in. I ran it at a 9:13 pace. I remember when 9:13 was impossible and an easy run was more in line with an 11:30 pace.

Today’s run of 8.5 miles was very enjoyable. I had no distance nor time goals with the run. I took a play from Adam Tinkoff’s Burning 20 podcast. Adam has been running in France and Australia recently. While on these runs he tells us what he is doing. Besides running it seems Adam spent a lot of time taking pictures and enjoying side walk cafés. So on my run today I got to the 4.5 mile point and just sat down on the side of the road and stared at cars as they went by. I also put a big dent in the 1.5 liters of water I was carrying in my CamelBak pack.

Then at 6.5 miles I saw a remote control airplane buzzing overhead. I stopped to talk to the “pilots.” It was fun to learn a bit about the hobby here. I know in the US the hobby of planes like that is regulated by the FCC and you have to hold an Amateur Radio Operator’s license to use the planes. They told me here that they don’t have to go through any of that, you just have to have the money to afford the planes.

I finished out the last 2 miles kinda slow. Since there were no time limits for me today (a rarity on Saturdays), I just took my time. I did not even leave until almost 2 hours later than normal. I ran for about 1 hour and 40 minutes.