Here all suspicion needs must be abandoned, All cowardice must needs be here extinct.
As of 4:25am, the temperature in Fresno, CA was reported to be 92F. That's 33C. Yesterday it was 112F (44C), besting the 3-year old record of 107F for July 22nd.
It's too bloody hot.
Much as I've railed against iTunes, I have to say it's quite useful for podcasts. Winamp's SHOUTcast Wire section is rather lacking, in comparison; it seems to download erratically at best, and apparently cannot be configured to auto-download when updates are available. The iTunes model of using its music store to dynamically display podcast information and graphics is a model I wish were more widely spread; hunting through bland, text-only RSS feed aggregators for podcasts is not a joyous nor intuitive experience. Apple has done podcasts good, I'd say, and expanded their nascent reach more than perhaps anything else to date besides the introduction of the iPod itself.
-That said, is there better podcast-centric software out there that offers a similar breadth of easy-to-find material as is found on iTunes? If so, does the software come with configurable speeds for downloading? iTunes sucks up all my available bandwidth when updating my subscriptions, and then they often still time out mid-download... Though at least they then display as not-yet-downloaded, unlike Winamp's offering that displays no feedback at all.
-On the plus side, Winamp will automatically add the podcasts downloaded by iTunes into my library without any intervention on my part, so between the two programs, I have almost no effort needed to download and then listen once I subscribe to a podcast :D
-Now if only I didn't need to download 35MB every few months (Click the drop-down box after "Information Related to Version") for marginal (at best!) 'updates' that offer little explanation beyond "stability and performance improvements," even when there were also crucial security fixes made... if there is anything noted at all. This is, of course, in marked contrast to certain other players available that make it easy to determine if an update is worth the download.
By an overwhelming margin (10 to 4, when one considers that half the votes for 'Only if I can come too!' came from foreign voters that, alas, have no way that I am aware of to be in Berkeley on Aug 4th), my readership seems to have chosen responsibility in lieu of fun, and I shall follow suit. Much as I love the Greek Theater and Bloc Party both, I shan't attend the concert.
It's too bloody hot.
Much as I've railed against iTunes, I have to say it's quite useful for podcasts. Winamp's SHOUTcast Wire section is rather lacking, in comparison; it seems to download erratically at best, and apparently cannot be configured to auto-download when updates are available. The iTunes model of using its music store to dynamically display podcast information and graphics is a model I wish were more widely spread; hunting through bland, text-only RSS feed aggregators for podcasts is not a joyous nor intuitive experience. Apple has done podcasts good, I'd say, and expanded their nascent reach more than perhaps anything else to date besides the introduction of the iPod itself.
-That said, is there better podcast-centric software out there that offers a similar breadth of easy-to-find material as is found on iTunes? If so, does the software come with configurable speeds for downloading? iTunes sucks up all my available bandwidth when updating my subscriptions, and then they often still time out mid-download... Though at least they then display as not-yet-downloaded, unlike Winamp's offering that displays no feedback at all.
-On the plus side, Winamp will automatically add the podcasts downloaded by iTunes into my library without any intervention on my part, so between the two programs, I have almost no effort needed to download and then listen once I subscribe to a podcast :D
-Now if only I didn't need to download 35MB every few months (Click the drop-down box after "Information Related to Version") for marginal (at best!) 'updates' that offer little explanation beyond "stability and performance improvements," even when there were also crucial security fixes made... if there is anything noted at all. This is, of course, in marked contrast to certain other players available that make it easy to determine if an update is worth the download.
By an overwhelming margin (10 to 4, when one considers that half the votes for 'Only if I can come too!' came from foreign voters that, alas, have no way that I am aware of to be in Berkeley on Aug 4th), my readership seems to have chosen responsibility in lieu of fun, and I shall follow suit. Much as I love the Greek Theater and Bloc Party both, I shan't attend the concert.