On rocket science and software testing

I recently read “Firing a Rocket” by James R. French. Mr. French is an engineer who was involved in the early American space program, working on developing engines and combustion devices used in the Saturn 5 rocket and Apollo space missions. He served as the Lead Development Test Engineer on the Lunar Module Descent Engine. The […]

Podcasting part 4: Editing your podcast

This is the fourth in a periodic series of posts about podcasting. Previous posts Part 1: Why I podcast Part 2: Microphones Part 3: Recording You’ve recorded your first episode, but you’re not done. You will likely need to do some editing and post-production before you publish your podcast. The first few episodes you record […]

Podcasting Part 3: Recording your podcast

This is the third in a periodic series of posts about podcasting. Read part 1: Why I podcast and part 2: Microphones. Now that you have your microphone, you need to record your podcast. This post describes several available options, along with my recommendations. Recording software The software that I use for recording podcasts differs based […]

How to motivate yourself

Ever have something you need to do, but you just can’t make yourself do it? It might be a mundane task like mailing your Christmas cards, studying for a test, finishing a book, writing a sales proposal, or starting that blog that you’ve always meant to start. Not only are you not making progress on […]

Podcasting Part 2: Microphones

My advice about how to select a microphone when starting a podcast, and what I use.

How I stopped procrastinating

Earlier in my life I had a big problem with procrastination–putting off doing things that I needed to do. I think I mainly did this because I was anxious about actually doing the thing, or I felt I would not do a good job, which prevented me from getting started or finishing. In the latest […]

Podcasting Part 1: Why I Podcast

I have been a fan of podcasts since I heard my first podcast in 2004. This was prior to iTunes adding podcast support and unlimited data plans, and finding and subscribing to podcasts was a much more cumbersome process. You had to download a podcatcher app, find the RSS feed for a podcast, add the RSS […]

Bad Christmas Music

I’m a fan of bad music and also Christmas music. And the two go together frquently. Over at the blog for my personal podcast, If You’re Like Me, we are trying to determine which Christmas song is the worst. Over the past few weeks we have been accepting nominations, and now it is time to vote. […]

Attn: PR People

When you write blog posts about technical topics, you will receive a bunch of emails from PR people who want you to cover their clients’ products and services. However, most of these don’t usually pertain to the topics that I blog about. This post is free advice to any eager PR folks out there–target your […]

What it means to be a neighbor

I was recently reminded of something that happened 27 years ago that made a big impression on me as 13 year old boy. My father was a farmer, and late in the summer he fell and severely broke his leg and pelvis, putting him in the hospital and unable to bring in the crops in the […]