I came across a great metaphor for relationships awhile ago - bricks and mortar. Bricks are the “big things” - the events of life that you share with friends. Mortar is the little, everyday stuff, that the people you are closest to just know about, often whether they want to or not.

As Scheherazade wrote in her original blog post that caught my eye, bricks get all the attention. When we think about communication, we think about the bricks. But mortar is what makes it all stick together, and without it there’s no solid foundation.

It’s not exactly that I don’t like iTunes - when I first started using it I was blown away by how great it was. And it just kept getting better until it hit that point. The point where it’s trying to do so many things that it doesn’t do anything right for me.

I admit that I’m not a lover of converged devices - I have a pda, a phone and a music player; they are all separate devices to perform separate functions. I like it that way.

I recently discovered that a lot of visitors find this site searching for information about how to watch podcasts. Obviously, that’s because the name of my podcast is Tech Watch.

However, I can provide the answer to that question. Most video podcasts have a website where you can watch the episodes online in your web browser. If you want to subscribe, though, you’ll need both a podcast aggregator and a video player. This is where it can get tricky.

If you’re on a Mac (I can’t speak to the Windows version) DO NOT upgrade to the new version of myPodder. It downloads podcasts to a directory that is within the application package (full explanation below for those who are interested). This means it’s very hard to get at your podcast files and any automated system will fail.

Feedback on the last episode from Victor Cajiao.

Check out Victor’s podcasts:

• Typical PC User
• Typical Mac User
• Immigration Tales

Subscribe [?] to the feed using your podcatcher of choice; see the links in the sidebar.

If you’re a power podcast user like me, you’ve probably found that iTunes doesn’t have the feature set you’re looking for in a podcatching client. That’s why I was thrilled to discover that myPodder, the client that goes with the online site Podcast Ready, now supports iPods. I was less than excited, though, when I discovered that “support” means that the application runs, not that you can actually play the stuff you download directly on your iPod.

As the internet becomes more of a utility, can it be treated like a commodity or does it need protection? Which freedom is more important - personal freedom or the free market?

If you’re looking for more information on Sen. Ted Stevens’ take on the internet, check out this Wired post.

Stuff about the show.

The Golden Hammer: Tech Watch is a proud member of Techpodcasts.com - if it’s tech, it’s here.

Subscribe [?] to the feed using your podcatcher of choice; see the links in the sidebar.

New technologies are blurring the line between public and private discourse. In this episode I talk about the tension between too much information and the “pull” nature of the internet.

The Golden Hammer: Tech Watch is a proud member of Techpodcasts.com - if it’s tech, it’s here.

Subscribe [?] to the feed using your podcatcher of choice; see the links in the sidebar.

If DRM is doomed, what’s an artist to do? Try licensing your work.

Check out the Creative Commons licensing scheme or wikipedia’s definition of “copyleft“.

The Golden Hammer: Tech Watch is a proud member of Techpodcasts.com - if it’s tech, it’s here.

Subscribe [?] to the feed using your podcatcher of choice; see the links in the sidebar.