In this podcast Salim outlines his thesis that businesses will move away from being data and report driven towards an event driven model - using a publish and subscribe event server and event aware client software. It makes for absolutely compelling listening.

The audio on this podcast was quite poor at my end - there was a horrible echo so I had to delete and re-record many of my questions.

Here are the questions i asked and the times in the interview at which I asked them:
What kinds of content will be and should be structured in structured blogging? - 1:30
What other kinds of applications do you see for structured blogging [apart from book reviews]? - 4:49
Is structured blogging going to be primarily a commercial tool? - 8:35
When you talk about Event Management, do you mean the Financial Controller being alerted whenever an invoice goes over 30 days, for example? - 16:07
Will you need a smart RSS reader to receive this data? - 21:33
Currently there is no event management server software available, is this all in the realm of speculation? - 23:17
If a company wanted to roll this out tomorrow, what would they need to do? - 27:24
I can’t go down to my local software store and ask for an Event Server and 5 client access licences though… - 28:37
So are PubSub offering their event routing engine for sale to companies? - 31:49
Will Ebay and Craigslist come along and aggregate the content of structured blogs? - 35:33

Download the interview here 8.5mb mp3.

This was one of the most informative podcast interviews I have yet done - Salim introduced me to the concepts of structured blogging, and the feed mesh. Structured blogging is a whole new concept in web publishing which literally blew my mind - PubSub will be officially announcing Structured Blogging next Tuesday with Marc Canter (there isn’t even a Wikipedia entry for Structured blogging yet - I got the scoop!).

If you publish on the web (if you are a blogger, for instance) you need to listen to this interview

The questions asked and the times in the interview I asked them are below:

Who is Salim Ismail and what is PubSub? - 0:32
What is PubSub? - 1:19
Is this something similar to Technorati’s Watchlists? - 2:01
What kind of people are using PubSub right now and what are they using it for? - 5:14
If a company (BUPA Ireland, for example) wants to use your service for brand management, they do what? - 7:27
You publish full feeds whereas Technorati publish partial feeds (presumably to bring people to their site), so how are you monetising this? - 9:22
No-one left any questions for you on my blog - is this due to PubSub being below most people’s radar? - 11:42
So if you are a job seeker or house buyer looking for houses or jobs with particular criteria…? - 18:30
What is structured blogging? - 19:32
So have you just destroyed Ebay’s model? - 27:27
The feed mesh? - 31:37
How soon will the tools for publishers be available? - 35:00
How are you going to monetise this? - 38:23
Do you listen to podcasts? - 40:22
Do you have any particular favourites? - 40:57

Download the interview here 9.7mb mp3.

We didn’t get to cover all the topics we wanted to cover in this interview so I will be publishing a follow-up next week - stay tuned!

If you have any problems with this - please let me know,

Tom

The interview was recorded from a Skype call so the audio quality is waaaay better than the previous interviews which were done recording landline to landline! I would have done Skype calls sooner, had I known (and saved myself a bundle in transatlantic call charges too!).

Thanks to Alan O’Rourke of Spoiltchild Design for coming up with the funky signature tune for the podcast.

Here are a list of the questions I put to Steve and the times in the podcast that I asked them:

Who is Steve Rubel? - 0:33
Why use social software in traditional PR campaigns? - 1:07
How do you qualify which companies should blog and which shouldn’t? - 4:42
What size organisation is Cooper katz? - 5:23
How does that compare to the rest of the PR industry? - 5:35
Are more and more PR firms following your lead into blogging? - 6:16
Do you know how many subscribers and unique visitors you have per day? - 9:19
Why should businesses in Ireland blog? - 11:42
If a company is thinking about starting a blog, how should they start out? - 14:38
How do you see RSS changing the face of business in the coming years? - 18:39
How many feeds are you subscribed to? - 21:59
Why did you decide to branch into podcasting? - 25:18
Podcasting and blogging are very different media - do you need to take a different approach to their creation? - 26:32
What podcasts do you listen to? - 29:11
Do you unplug from technology at all, do you have any non-tech hobbies? - 30:30
Do you not think that blogs are just a tool in a PR practitioner’s arsenal rather than a replacement for people given that some people will just use the Internet for email and not for joining in on the online conversation? - 34:51
What are your predicitons for the PR industry, traditional media and social media for 2006? - 36:31
Do you think that vlogging (or what ever video blogging will be known as) will be the next big thing next year? - 42:13
Are you going to the Les Blogs 2.0 conference in Paris - 48:50
What do you see coming down the line as the next big thing? - 49:32
Mac or PC? - 47:37
Why the Mac? - 48:48
What is your favourite gadget? - 50:54

You can listen to the interview podcast here (12.1mb mp3).

Darren is an uber blogger, a web marketer, he is involved in Capulet Communications, Northern voice, darrenbarefoot.com, geek travellers blog - that I know of - a busy man! Darren was good enough to take some time out to discuss these and other interests with me.

Here are the questions I asked Darren and the times in the interview they were asked:

• Darren, you are involved in Capulet Communications, Northern Voice, darrenbarefoot.com, geek travellers blog - that I know of - that must keep you quite busy… - 0:25
• You are also involved in lighting design… - 0:56
• Northern Voice, is that like BarCamp, just up north? - 1:45
• Given your relationship with Ireland, could you speculate why so few Irish companies have started blogging? - 3:38
• This whole Web 2.0 stuff, what is it? - 7:06
• So there’s a difference between the term Web 2.0 and the reality which is the evolution of web applications…- 9:07
• There seems to be a huge amount of hype around the term, are we heading for another bubble? - 10:22
• Do you think Web 2.0 is changing how marketing is done these days? - 12:04
• What about companies who are building software applications which are not Web 2.0 - how do they create a web buzz? - 16:21
• It seems to be becoming the norm that sites are being monetized by ads - do you think we will soon see free versions of Microsoft office or Microsoft Windows? - 19:27
• Does the fact that many of your applications are online help manage your remote clients? - 22:37
• Finally, Mac or PC? - 24:07

You can listen to the full interview here (5.9mb mp3).

A victim of my own success!

Fortunately the nocturnal FrankP rang me to alert me (knowing that I was probably asleep but also knowing that I would be prefer to be woken to get this sorted asap) and even more fortunately, I have the mobile number of the MD of my hosting co. I rang him and he said he’d get it sorted - that’s good service, thanks Michele.

This is definitely one of the most stimulating interviews I have recorded yet - despite stiff competition from Robert Scoble, Shel Israel and TJ McIntyre.

These are the questions I asked Michael and the times in the interview they were asked:

• Michael, for anyone who is not familiar with your name can you start off by telling the listeners who is Michael Arrington? What is it that you do? - 0:15
• How long has TechCrunch been running now? - 3:58
• I was interviewing Robert Scoble last week and he said he’d never heard of TechCrunch 6 months ago - now it is the first site he looks at every day - 4:09
• Feedburner reports Techcrunch has 15020 subscribers - to what do you attribute the success of techcrunch - 4:46?
• Since TechCrunch is a success you must be really busy, is it a full-time job? - 7:29
• You don’t have ads on the site - how do you fund it? - 9:32
• You have recently joined John Battelle’s Federated Media Publishing - can you explain what that is and how do you see this changing TechCrunch? - 11:46
• How is it different from Google’s AdWords? - 12:54
• What’s the story with the BBQs? how did that tradition get started? - 13:13
• TechCrunch is part of the Web 2.0 Workgroup - What is the web 2.0 workgroup? - 15:50
• What is Web 2.0? Is it just another catchall buzzword like ‘interactive’ designed to grab the attention of vc’s? - 17:14
• What web 2.0 app(s) could you not live without? 19:56
• Ad supported sites seem to be becoming the norm - is everything headed that way? do you think we will one day see an online version of Office/Windows supported by ad revenue? - 21:27
• Are you a Mac or PC user? - 23:27
• What kind of world do you want your kids to grow up in? - 27:27

The full interview is 29 minutes and you can listen to the interview here (6.6mb mp3).

The interview was fascinating, and should be compulsory listening for any Irish blogger. TJ informed me that everything published on a blog is automatically considered defamatory in the eyes of the law, if reported as such (guilty until proven innocent anyone?), until the blogger can satisfactorily prove to a jury that it is indeed true!

TJ also spoke about how copying music from legally purchased CDs is against the law, the pointlessness of national ID cards in terms of national security, and the governments position on data retention.

See below a list of the questions I asked TJ and the times in the interview that I asked them:

• What is DRI - what is its raison d’etre? - 0:21
• Why is there such a difference between our rights in the offline and online world? - 0:56
• What sparked you to start this up Digital Rights Ireland? - 1:36
• Digital Rights Ireland isn’t formally launched yet? 2:18
• Who do you represent/speaking on behalf of? - 2:39
• If you copy songs from legally purchased CDs onto your iPod or mp3 player, are you breaking the law? - 4:03
• In terms of blogging and podcasting, where do you see DRI fitting in? - 5:58
• What’s the function of the Press Council going to be? - 7:06
• As a blogger, who do I need protection from? - 7:35
• If I make a post about XYZ co. claiming dodgy practices on their behalf, what is the mechanism of action? - 9:17
• So, they can either try to drag you to court or they can take your site offline? - 10:25
• Of course, if you have a backup, you can get your site up on another host…? - 12:35
• Could you just get a summons without a cease and desist? - 13:29
• If you get a summons, can you put your hands up at that point? - 14:14
• And it doesn’t matter that what you wrote is true? - 14:29
• So, even if you have copied the article from a reputable news source, they will go after you because you are the ‘low hanging fruit’? - 15:16
• In a defamation case, if it goes your way, are the costs always awarded against you? - 16:01
• Is free legal aid available to bloggers? - 17:06
• Is there such a thing as anti-defamation insurance? - 17:53
• It seems that in defamation cases it is the person with the bigger resources who calls the tune… - 19:08
• Why is that? - 20:14
• Why are defamation cases heard by jury? - 21:09
• Why isn’t it the case that the plaintiff must prove that they have been defamed? 21:59
• I assume this is the same for podcasting also? - 23:26
• Does DRI have a position on the passing of data by EU airlines to the US government? - 24:30
• In three years time the government will know where I was today even if I can’t remember because of mobile phone data retention laws? - 26:05
• So, call centre operatives for mobile operators will have access to three years of my data? - 28:53
• Do DRI have a position on biometric passports? - 29:21
• Is it a valid argument that national ID cards give greater security? - 30:28
• Why do governments want to introduce compulsory ID cards then? - 32:02
• What other things are coming down the line that we should be aware of? - 33:30
• When is the launch of Digital Rights Ireland? - 36:09
• Whats the website of Digital Rights Ireland? - 36:29

You can download the full interview here 8.4mb mp3.

This is a format I will be doing a lot more of and I already have another couple of interviewees lined up. However, before going too much further down this line, is there anyone you’d particularly like to hear interviewed? In all cases, when an interview is coming up, I will allow people to submit questions that I will subsequently put to the interviewee.

So, who would you like to hear interviewed and what would you like me to ask them?

Shel, what is it about Ireland that appeals to you? - 1:15

You guys wrote Naked Conversations right out there in the open - as you completed each chapter of the book, you published it online - what was it like writing a book as transparently as you guys did with Naked Conversations? - 2:30

Most people have read the book now online, will they buy it? - 5:50

If you were writing another book, would you do it online? - 6:30

Given that very few Irish companies have started blogging yet, why should a company have a blog? - 7:28

What are the advantages of blogging to a business? - 8:40

What advice would you give to business bloggers to help them become become successful - 11:50

Companies can be afraid of being open in their blogs (what if our competitors are reading the blog) and are afraid of what will be said in the comments - how do you deal with these fears? - 15:11

If I am a developer, how can I see what people are saying about my application/product? - 17:55

What do you see as the benefits of Podcasts/videocasts to businesses? - 23:30

How is a podcast/videocast of use to smaller companies (smaller than Microsoft!)? - 25:25

So blogs/podcasts/videocasts are about humanising companies? - 27:50

You have recently blogged that you are going to start writing about startups - what aspect of startups most interests you? - 32:30

What challenges do startups face today that they didn’t 25 years ago? - 34:30

Brian Greene’s question:
There are 40,000 blogs updates every hour of the day. How am I to read all that? seriously hasn’t blogging just added to the textual data smog that make it easier for government to bury the truth, making facts harder to come by? 37:30

You can listen to the podcast of this discussion here.

The function of the list is to discuss the setting up of a representative body for Podcasters in Ireland. The list is open for anyone to join and discuss this topic.

The need exists to safe guard the activity of podcasters regards licencing, legal and a range of other issues like standards, training, hosting, product placement & sponsorship.

As someone who has done quite a few podcasts and who intends to do many more in the near future, I have signed up and will contribute to this body - if you are interested in podcasting in Ireland, I urge you to join up as well.

I talked to Robert for nearly an hour last night (early this morning) - he was exceedingly generous with his time. The conversation was wide-ranging, we covered the business benefits of blogging, social software (Robert’s two main topics at the conference) Robert’s job description and even the Blarney Stone (and whether or not Robert needed to kiss it when he’s in Cork to be conferred with ‘the gift of the gab’!).

In my previous post I asked were there any questions you’d like me to ask Robert and I received some good ones. I put all the questions I received to him and he answered them all - even Hostyle’s:

(I bet he won’t go near this one) Do you agree with their [Microsoft’s] dirty tactics in the past and present of disposing of competitors ala Netscape, Real Media, and the latest SCO-secret-society they are funding to smear the name of Linux?

Thanks Robert for your time and the openness with which you answered the questions.

The podcast is available for download here (13mb mp3) and is well worth downloading - there is some great advice there. I am hosting it on my own server until I get server space from someone with lots of disk and bandwidth. Apologies for the mixed quality of the audio - some (most) of it is due to my inexperience recording phone conversations and some is the fact that Robert was on his mobile.

UPDATED:
Updated with the address of the podcast - feedback welcomed!

Over the weekend I was looking for a device to record my upcoming phone interview with Robert Scoble (for podcasting) when I came across the Sanyo ICR-B170NX.

After trying several other devices, I found that this device filled all my requirements:

• It was cheap(ish) at 140 Euros
• It recorded directly to mp3 files
• It has a line in port for a stereo microphone (and line out for stereo speakers)
• swaps out AAA batteries and
• I can access it on my Mac!

On a tip from Brian I picked up a 10 euro telephone recorder accessory from Maplins - this is a simple splitter which sits between the handset and the phone and it has an audio out line. I plug this straight into the microphone in socket on the Sanyo and hey presto, I am recording phone calls direct to mp3! Nothing simpler!

Dontcha just love technology sometimes?

Recently, I have recorded a couple of my talks and podcast them with generous help from FrankP and NearFm and even more recently, Robert Scoble has agreed to let me record and podcast an interview I will do with him by phone tomorrow evening.

So I have been following the world of podcasting with increasing interest and was surprised to see a war breaking out there over the weekend!

The war is about what audio format to use in podcasts - traditionally the audio format has been mp3 files but a company called Audible has proposed a new .aa format. According to Mitch Ratcliffe (an Audible consultant), the main advantage of the .aa format seems to be that it is possible to audit how often they have been downloaded - this is, of course, important from a monetisation point of view! However, Mitch rather lost the head (and thereby the argument) when not everyone agreed with him.

As Michael Arrington put it:

Instead of embracing the bloggers that would normally talk about this, Mitch Ratcliffe (an Audible consultant) went on an unmitigated, unprovoked character assasination romp (with follow up attacks) against Dave Winer (”he’s willing to steal”), Om Malik and others. This sure is an interesting way to engage the sneezers. As Om puts it, Mitch “goes after the dissenters with a verbal baseball bat”…. If you find yourself on the other side of a debate with Dave Winer, Om Malik, Doc Searles, Jeff Jarvis and others, maybe you should rethink your position. Because it is very likely you are wrong.

Doc Searls, Dave Winer, Michael Arrington and others have been mounting a robust defence of mp3’s.

In my own case, I don’t see myself shifting away from mp3s any time soon. As far as I can see from reading about Audible’s new format, you upload your podcasts to Audible’s servers, they convert to .aa and host the podcast there. It is a paid service.

My podcasting is pretty basic - I record the sound, convert to mp3, upload to archive.org (free hosting and bandwidth) and then link to the archive.org file from within my wordpress blog. Wordpress recognises the .mp3 file as an audio file and creates the correct enclosures transparently for me so I don’t need to worry about the tech side of the podcasting. How would WordPress deal with .aa files? I have no idea. I suspect, it wouldn’t recognise them as audio and therefore podcast subscribers (listeners) wouldn’t know you had published new podcasts.

I think Audible’s strategy is wrong here - I think they would have been far better served coming up with a mechanism for measuring stats on mp3s rather than coming up with a new proprietary file format. What do you think?

UPDATE:
Post updated after comments from Mitch and Pete informed me that .aa is not a new format - sorry ’bout that guys.

I’m looking for questions to ask Robert - if you have any questions you’d like me to ask him (especially around the two talks he is giving), drop them into the comments and I’ll try to fit them in to the interview.

I have been using WordPress to publish Podcasts since June of this year without any problems, until recently. The most recent Podcast I published - the RSS for non-techies talk in IT@Cork - failed to show up in my Podcast client apps - either in iPodderX or iTunes.

I checked the RSS tags using the Podcast Feedcheck site only to find the following error “MISSING ITEM ENCLOSURE TAG”

I couldn’t understand why this error would suddenly crop up - all my old podcasts were still showing up, no problem. I disabled plugins, but this didn’t solve the problem so I consulted the WordPress Support site and I found the solution there.

It appears that Archive.org (where the audio file for this Podcast is hosted) use re-directs on their addresses and WordPress can’t add enclosures if it can’t reference the file directly.

The solution -

• In the Write Post screen in WordPress, go to the Advanced section
• There, go to the bottom section labeled “Add a new custom field to this post”
• Where it says, “Key”, type “enclosure”
• Where it says, “Value”, enter the URL of the MP3 you wish to podcast
• Click Add Custom Field

For subsequent Podcasts, choose Enclosure from the Key dropdown in the Advanced posting mode and add the URL of the mp3 as before.

NOTE - this is only necessary if your audio files are being hosted on Archive.org (or any other site which uses re-directs on file names) - for all other Podcasts, it is only necessary to link to the url of the audio file in the post and WordPress will do all the rest.

Hopefully it will show up this time!

In my how-to post about podcasting, I mentioned that it was possible to use the Internet Archive to host your podcast and video blog files free. The problem with that solution is that at the time it took over 24 hours from submission of a podcast to having it approved.

In the comments of that post Pete Prodoehl mentioned that Ourmedia.org provided a service where files submitted to them would be added to the Internet Archive in a matter of minutes. This service seems to have broken down though. The last two mp3 files I submitted to them disappeared, never to surface in the Internet Archive.

So yesterday, I was trying to upload the mp3 recording of my RSS for non-techies talk. Not having any luck with Ourmedia.org, I decided to try the Internet Archive directly again and this time it was far faster than previously.

It still took roughly 12 hours from submission to approval but at least it worked unlike the Ourmedia.org service and I now can point people to the recording.

UPDATE:
I forgot to mention I tried Odeo as well but I was unable to find how to upload an mp3 through its interface.

A copy of my presentation is now available for download here (2.74mb pdf).

I recorded the talk and I will update this post with the address of the mp3 version of the talk in the next day or two.

UPDATE:
Ok you can now download a podcast of this talk here (10.5mb mp3). For some reason this particular podcast isn’t showing up in my iTunes subscription - anyone else having this problem?