Technology could be catalyst for CBC renewal

Via Ted F., here's a Michael Geist article from today's Toronto Star called Technology could be catalyst for CBC renewal.

Visiting WBEZ

I recently came upon Meryl's LiveJournal while looking around for Jonathan Goldstein/WireTap-related stuff. From what I can gather, Meryl has a huge crush on her English prof. This crush somehow led to an interview on WireTap. Anyhow, I've been reading her posts lately. She's a big This American Life fan, and recently visited Chicago. Unbeknownst to Meryl, her pal Colin got them into a live TAL taping, and she met Ira Glass. Her post detailing the experience is excellent. Read it.

700 imaginary hobo names

Via roommate Phil's favourite website, BoingBoing, comes a link to John Hodgman's poem 700 imaginary hobo names. You might know John as a contributor to This American Life and Wiretap.

Archived Wiretap shows

This will come as a delight to fans of Jonathan Goldstein's Wiretap: A guy named Jared Benedict has been posting MP3 archives of the show to his blog. I can't imagine they're authorized, so grab them while they're up. Personally, I record the show off the air with Audio Hijack Pro and my RadioShark.

I am a video podcast superstar

Apparently I am starring in a new weekly video podcast called Jim Dupree: Enthusiast. I play Jim Dupree, a man who is enthusiastic about many things. In the first episode, released this week, Jim is enthusiastic about dogs. Glenn, the interviewer, questions Jim about his enthusiasm. It's a video podcast, so you might want to use the new iTunes to subscribe. You can subscribe from the Jim Dupree: Enthusiast page in the iTunes podcast directory, or copy the following URL into your podcatcher: http://feeds.feedburner.com/JimDupree/

Promo Girl

From Fine Young Journalist comes a thoughtful analysis of CBC's Promo Girl elements.

Finally, iPod supports high-quality voice recording

I've been waiting for this for years. A scant week after my iPod nano arrived in the mail, comes news that the new iPod (announced yesterday) does proper stereo recording. Anyone want to buy an immaculate black 4 gig nano? Update: iLounge has more details in their article Why podcasters (and bootleggers?) will love the new iPod.

How hot is the Sony PCM-D1?

Via Music Thing comes the announcement of Sony's new professional flash recorder -- the PCM-D1:

It records 24/96 wav files on 4gb internal, or memory sticks. It has analog VU meters. It runs off four AA batteries. It's made by Sony. Out of titanium.

I wonder what it'd take to get a review unit out of them before it ships in December.

CKDU Funding Drive 2005

I spent the Thanksgiving weekend in Nova Scotia. Today I made a pledge to the CKDU Funding Drive, which starts October 21st. CKDU is home to many of my favourite radio shows, like Popped Culture, Let's Get Baked, Smart Patrol, and The Rose Parade. Why should you pledge? Aside from supporting community radio, there are great prizes. And this year's t-shirts are hot!

Tonight: Davy Rothbart at the Drake Hotel

If you:

1. Are in Toronto tonight
2. Enjoy Davy Rothbart's Found magazine or stories on This American Life

you should check out his appearance tonight at the Drake Hotel. He'll be reading from his book, The Lone Surfer of Montana, Kansas. Event on Upcoming.org

Financial cushion

An email from the CMG cleared up the question, "Will Dan get a signing bonus, even though he has no job to return to?"

CBC management has also committed to depositing the $1,000 signing bonus in employees' accounts by the end of the day on Wednesday October 12. Everyone who was on the CBC payroll as of August 14, 2005, including casual employees who worked at least 13 weeks between April 1, 2004 and August 14, 2005, qualify for the signing bonus.

This, along with the 2.5 percent retroactive salary increase should make the next couple of weeks a little easier.

This blog stays put

After weeks of intense posting, some lockout bloggers are winding things up. I applaud their efforts, and thank them for their work and dedication. A group called the CMG Lockout Archive Project is working to establish a collection of lockout blogs, photos, etc. But for me, the blogging continues. I started this blog about a year ago, long before the lockout. Originally, the point was to document my post-graduatation life. Basically, "follow Dan around as he tries to find a career in public radio." If you look back through some pre-lockout posts, you'll find information and links on what I was listening to, what I was working on, and gadgets I coveted. As the lockout wraps up, the focus of my blog will shift back to its roots. If you came here looking for lockout content, I hope you'll check in once in a while and find something interesting.

R.I.P. MD?

Via Gizmodo, an article from Alice Hill's Real Tech News: Sony's Mini-Disc Format About to Bite the Dust.

Google Newsmap: Paris Hilton beats CMG/CBC deal

Curious to know how much attention other media are paying to the CBC/CMG deal, I checked Marumishi's Google Newsmap, which visually displays the popularity of news stories on Google News. As of 9:15 this morning, Google News's algorithms hadn't categorized the story as national news. Nor as business news. Nope. You'll find it under entertainment. And it seems that way more news outlets are paying attention to Paris Hilton and Tara Reid. Just goes to show that a story's importance can be highly relative.

I have no job to go back to

Now that a deal has been reached, it'll soon be time for me to actually find a job at the CBC. Here's why: My contract at CBC Windsor was up on September 4. The week before management locked us out, my managing editor offered me "a couple more months of work." Not a job job, but work. Unfortunately, the offer was too late. It was midway through August, and I had no indication that I'd be asked to stay on. So I'd already made arrangements to move back to Toronto. Then, of course, we got locked out. I picketed in Windsor for a week, then for a week in Toronto. Then I went back to Windsor for a weekend, during which I packed up and left. Jenna and I packed up all of my things in the back of a rented Corsica, and headed north. I settled back into The Penthouse with my roommates Tristan and Phil. And the lockout continued on. The lockout continued beyond the end of my contract. So I picketed beyond the end of my contract. I told myself I could do this with a clear conscience because if we hadn't been locked out, I'd have continued on in Windsor. I stayed up late. I slept in. I picketed. I worked on Toronto Unlocked. In many ways, it was a bit like a vacation. I got to visit picket lines in four Canadian cities. I met some fantastic people (including several of my radio heroes) on the line. I collected my cheques, and smiled. Then, on September 6th, I received an email from Windsor, asking if I planned to return after the lockout to take my managing editor up on her offer. I said no. Why? I'd moved my things to Toronto. I was on the hook for rent in Toronto. I had nowhere to live in Windsor. I had started to fall for a girl in Toronto. And now, a deal. Once we go through the ratification process, and figure out how to get back to work, I'll actually be looking for work. I have no job to go back to. I'm hoping there might be CBL casual pool stuff for me. I'll continue to pitch and sell freelance pieces. Hell, maybe if I get lucky, there'll be a contract for me. Who knows? The next little while will be fun, or scary, or exciting, or sad. Probably a little bit of all of the above. We'll see.