#260 Five Year Anniversary Show

A five year retrospective of everyone who made the show possible, Steve writes a poem commemorating the show, Ron David tells a story, and Bart remembers the last five years. In Chit Chat Across the Pond Knightwise tells us how to be 100% sure you’re protected from Adobe vulnerabilities.

Listen to the Podcast Once (1hr 15 min)

Today is Sunday May 16th, 2010 and this is show number 260.  It’s also the FIVE YEAR anniversary of the NosillaCast!

Intros from the 2005-2009

That’s always nostalgic for me to hear the old shows, it makes me realize how far we’ve come together.  I’d like to hit some highlights of that adventure right now.  As with every anniversary show I have to tell the story of why the show even exists today.  I had been listening to The Daily Source code and Leo’s early shows and I thought maybe it would be fun to talk about technology with people who actually cared about the topic instead of grabbing my friends in the hallways at work and saying, “hey, have you checked out this new dashboard utility yet?”  I started that first show out with trepidation, did a few more shows, and like many podcasters, I lost momentum and podfaded.  Then I got an email from Neil that said, “hey, where’s the podcast?”  This was the first that I ever knew anyone was listening.  I like to thank Neil every year because without his email who knows if the show would even exist.  I tried to get Neil to come on the show today but he basically said he’d rather have red hot pokers in his eyes than do a recording.  That’s ok, I don’t like to share the mic that much anyway, just ask Tim Verpoorten.  But thanks gain Neil and I hope your son hears this again this year.

Believe it or not, I was five months into the show before I even had a website, on October 2nd 2005 I announced the grand opening of podfeet.com.  Right around that time I started tracking how many visitors there were to the site (127) and there were 8 countries listening.  That started a constant vigil to see how many countries we’d get, but I got exhausted tracking that when we blew through 100 countries.  i tried to find out how many countries there even ARE, but evidently that’s a debatable number which seems very odd, but there you go.  It’s more than 200 so that’s when I decided that was enough metrics!

Right around that same time was the first Podcast Expo.  Because of the Podcast Expo I’ve gotten to meet a lot of my fellow podcasters, and that human interaction helped cement the relationships I hold so dear now with all of the Mac Roundtable members.  It was also at the podcast expo that I got to meet Slau, of SessionsWithSlau.com.  That same year Slau created the fantastic Podsafe for Peace Christmas Carol, “If Every Day Were Christmas”.  I just finished listening to an episode of Sessions With Slau where he tells the story of how that song came together – it’s a FANTASTIC show to hear, and I’m proud to count Slau amongst my friends.

When i listen to the audio of the old shows, two things come to mind.  If it weren’t for Victor Cajiao of the Typical Mac User Podcast my audio quality wouldn’t be what it is today.  He spent a ton of time advising me on audio and was so generous in pulling me up the ladder with him.  The other thing that I think of when i hear the audio is how plodding my voice was in the earlier years.  I’m not sure you remember but I had a voice coach – none other than the famous voiceover artist Ron David .  His voice is the one you’ll remember from the Titanic episode on National Geographic, or the Wings of War series on PBS.  check out his site at rondavid.com.  Thanks Ron for telling me to talk with my hands! After I wrote up my thoughts on Ron’s contribution to the show, I received an audio recording from him, I’d like to play that right now.

===========insert Ron David==================

I had tears in my eyes as I listened to this – to realize that someone of his talent remembers me, and has the kindness to send in such a wonderful recording…I’m simply floored.

Jan 2006 was the first time I mentioned tools for the visually impaired with Susan Gerhart’s podcatcher @podder from apodder.org.  If it weren’t for her telling me about that tool, who knows if I’d know Shane Jackson and Darrell Shandrow and all of the other blind listeners who help me understand and explain how great technology is opening up the world for them.  And it was through Susan that I met Harold, who got me on the advisory board at the Santa Monica College that I told you about just last week.

2006 also brought you Honda Bob who has become a staple of the show, and who can forget the great times we had with listener created Honda Bob Commercials?  Starting with the MacCraic boys Justin and David and the ultimate ad by Knightwise as a Klingon war commander explaining that Honda Bob was intergalactically known.  And with that, I made three new friends.  Did I mention that you can contact Honda Bob at (562)531-2321 or send him an email at [email protected].  HDA Bob’s Mobile Service is not affiliated with Honda, Acura or Honda Worldwide.

Remember when I used to do movie reviews on the show?  I’ve actually had requests to bring that back – maybe I will some day!  I guess that’s been supplanted by discussions of how much I enjoy waxing cars. It was on the one year anniversary that I had feedback from Tasmania – you know who that was, right?  It was @ozrose!  Our horizons have been so broadened by news from Australia and #culturaldifferences.

July of 2006 was when I started contributing to the Mac ReviewCast with Tim Verpoorten, and what a dear friend he has become as a result.  It’s funny that when you give something you get so much more in return.  We started having a lot of listener reviews come in during 2006, and I wish I could make sure I mentioned all of them, but there’s just so many wonderful people who have helped make the show a success.  If you’re listening right now, know that I mean YOU when I say thank you for all the work you do. I met Paige Eissinger from Views from the Coop and outside of the show she and I have become very close friends as a result of her interview of me for her show.  Someday she’ll get a Mac…

There’s downsides to every adventure, so it’s important that I mention Crazy Listener James.  That’s all I’m going to say about him though.  On a brighter note, September of 2006 brought a wonderful gift to the show – that’s when Ryan Sakamoto from graphicforce.net emailed me the gorgeous logo we have for the show.  He made one for the banner, one for iTunes, one for iTunes when they let us have bigger logos, and one for my business cards.  His amazing design talents brought out EXACTLY what I wanted, with zero direction from me.  It’s not easy to match someone’s artistic requirements but he nailed it.  And he did it all as a donation to the show.  How cool is that.  Some day we WILL get to the same island in Hawaii and I will buy that man a drink.

I won’t be able to thank all of the freeware and shareware developers I’ve gotten to know over the years, but that’s been amazing too.  They give their time and expertise to us for such small prices, go out and pay a shareware developer right now or click that donate button for all the tools you enjoy for free.  Steve Harris of reinventedsoftware.com makes the great Feeder software and without his work, the shownotes would not be anywhere near as rich as they are today and you wouldn’t have a consistently delivered audio podcast without him.  Thanks Steve, for all that you do.

I had to leave my web host in late 2006, which was a technical challenge well beyond my skills, and a delightful friend named Bart Busschots helped me make the transition.  I believe it was about 16 hours on Skype over a four day Thanksgiving weekend that Bart gave up for me.  I was astonished that someone would go to so much effort to help someone on the other side of the globe.  Bart taught me so much technically but more importantly he helped me understand that we really do have to pay it forward.  People are astonished when I lend my expertise to them now, and I always tell them that I sure didn’t get here myself!  I’m so glad my old web host failed me because without that event maybe I wouldn’t have become such great friends with Bart and you wouldn’t have Chit Chat Across the Pond.

In November of 2006 I first told you how cool my mom is, and now she’s a technical contributor to the show with her own product reviews!  who knew?  she even gets fan mail now, which she adores, keep it coming! I put a picture of mom playing the Ocarina on the iPhone, thought you’d like to see that!

It was June of 2008 when I first announced the idea of doing a live show.  When i think about it logically, the live show is a tremendous undertaking.  It means being completely done by a specific time on a specific day with the shownotes.  It means Steve having to take over dinner on Sundays. It means never having other plans on Sunday nights. It means juggling about 236 applications at once while talking, while reading shownotes, while editing audio while talking to people in the chat room and reading their chats.  And I wouldn’t give it up for the world.  The NosillaCastaways are so special to me, especially the regulars:

Kevin and Mara and KarelL and Sonia and Victor and Rose and Will and BJ and Mark and Mark and Herne and Pat and Stu and Kenny Lee and Evan and ConnorP and Jason and Robert and Zach and Matt and Robyn and Alice and Julie and Steve and Steve and Allister and Adam and Tom and Karen and Jim and Stu and Jane and Bob and Bruce and Jena and Pat and Paul and Michael and Gita and Melissa and Lucian and Donald Burr and that guy only known as The Herne.

I’m sure I’m forgetting someone here, and since I know I’ve done that, I apologize in advance!  Anyway without the Nosillacastaways you wouldn’t have the corrections they make when i goof up, half the time you wouldn’t get a show at all because they remind me to SAVE! every 30 seconds or so.  It is a lot of work to do the live show every Sunday night but like I said, I wouldn’t give up the friendships I’ve made there for the world.

April of 2008 brought the advent of the Dumb Question Corner.  Without it legions of people would be sitting embarrassed at home wishing they had the nerve to ask that dumb question but knowing they’d be mocked if they did.  The only person i’ve ever mocked in Dumb Question Corner is GazMaz, but he had it coming.

In May of 2008 I started the Podcasting on Podcasting series, and that’s been a great launching pad for a whole bunch of people to get started.  I’m very proud of that series because it’s part of the Pay it Forward plan and that makes me feel really good.

I forget exactly when George from Tulsa started sending me gifts but along with his great audio reviews, he sent me a giant banner for the show that I drag with me whenever I speak now.  It’s fantastic and makes me feel so professional to have my own banner1  He also made me the giant poster that hangs in my office commemorating my 200th episode.  I still love to gaze at it and look at Bart and Victor and Robert and my family and all of the logos for my friends like Katie and DebbieT.  On top of that he sent me glorious spanish peanuts to bake in the oven one time!

If it hadn’t been for the NosillaCast, Steve and I never would have gotten to meet Rod Roddenberry and go see the Star Trek screening with Don Mcallister, one of the high points of my life.

I briefly mentioned the Mac Roundtable and I’d like to say more. When you’re a geek, you always need someone smarter than you when you get stuck, and that’s why I love the Mac Roundtable. Oh sure it was fun to share a room with Katie Floyd at MacWorld, and we’ll never forget our pajama party watching the lens flares on Star Trek with Victor, Don and Adam, but when I need help, these are the guys I call. My email is working only because of Jonathan Cost, and how would my grout ever be clean without John and Dave’s Mac Geek Gab? I wouldn’t be known as the woman who carries the internet in her purse if it weren’t for David! I’m still assuming Chuck will help me with something eventually, John Chambers is always good for a sprint in Vegas, and one of these days I WILL meet Steve Stanger and Joseph Nilo in real life.

When I started podcasting, do you think I realized I’d have friends all over the world, and that one of my best friends would be a man i’ve never met in Ireland?  I had no idea what this would be, and in looking back over the five years it makes me wonder – where will we be five years from now?  I’m thrilled to think about the adventures we have ahead.  Before I close out this retrospective, I have to thank the most important person in my life.  Without Steve’s support there would not be a NosillaCast.  He doesn’t just tolerate that I spend so much of my free time working for the show, he loves it.  He loves the NosillaCastaways.  He enjoys time with Bart as much as I do.  He’s the wind above my wings.  thank you so much Steve, let’s start the next five years together.

===============insert Steve=========================

NosillaCast Five-Year Anniversary Tribute – 15 May 2010
By husband Steve

Today is a milestone in the Sheridan homestead
For five years ago today the NosillaCast was created

This technology geek podcast was Allison’s brainchild
With a bias towards Macintosh that is ever so mild

To the relief of her friends NosillaCast gave an outlet
For Allison’s tech musings, ramblings and assessment

Al picked a domain name that seemed somewhat odd
A reference to her feet that are shaped like pods

Nosillacast started slowly with podfade on show six
But Neil’s words of encouragement proved to be the fix

Podfeet seemed to stick and NosillaCast flourished
Leaving her listeners technology nourished

NosillaCast gained momentum and Allison hit her stride
We soon learned it’s a podcast that we all must abide


Al’s show is unique with content most eclectic
From chainsaws to routers, keeping up is nearly hectic

How many tech podcasts include car waxing and care
And power washers and polishers? It is honestly quite rare.

And who could forget that Crazy Listener James
He’s actually quite normal, or so he would claim

We enjoy your reviews of products best and worst
With the usual admonishment: Problem statement first

The impaired are welcomed whether visual or hearing
For detailed show notes I’m sure they are cheering

There’s never a question too dumb for the corner
Be it posed by listeners both domestic and foreigner

Honda Bob keeps Al’s cars running tip-top, true and tried
Of course not affiliated with Honda, Acura or Honda Worldwide

NosillaCast wouldn’t be the same without Chit Chat Across the Pond
It’s the show’s segment with which we all have become quite fond

What a pleasure to hear Bart’s lyrical voice wax
Of security, photography and other interesting facts

A close friendship she has made with Mr. Busschots
For Bart often helps Al connect all the dots

Al thrives on her live show Sundays at 5:00 GMT-8
But the quality of ustream is up for considerable debate

NosillaCastaways’ comments in the chat room do flow
And occasionally are actually related to the show

As moderator of the live show I must not get imbibed
But NosillaCastaways rest assured I will always stay subscribed

Al it’s important you know how much I admire
The show you’ve created of which I’ll never tire

Five years have passed and time has moved quickly
It’s hard to believe you’re on show two sixty

You bring your heart and soul to your show every week
And to your audience, into your life, you give them a peek

The moment you picked up a mic was most fateful
For your time and enthusiasm we all are very grateful

To the next five years, we look forward to your show
There is no doubt NosillaCast will continue to grow

So good luck Allison, stay with it. You’re the best
We NosillaCastaways can attest we are truly quite blessed

Bart on 5 year anniversary

ScreenSteps

I didn’t mention ScreenSteps in my description of what the show has brought to me, but it really is a part of what I’ve gained.  Not only do I have a tool now that makes my job easier at home and at work, making gorgeous documentation and making me look like a genius, I also got to know some terrific shareware developers.  Trevor and Greg are great guys – incredibly responsive to any and all requests, not just those from their favorite people like me.  I had the great fun of meeting Greg once in real life when I was in his home town on travel one time too.  What a treat that was.  if you’d like to look like a genius too, head on over to ScreenSteps.com and give the 30 day free trial a shot and when you realize you can’t live without it, don’t forget the coupon code NOSILLA for 25% off the purchase price.

New York City Photowalk

Long time friend of the show Kenny Lee asked me a favor I’m glad to do for him – to play a promo for a photowalk he’s planning in New York City. International superstars Steve Stanger, John F Braun, and Rob Saunders (miniology podcast) have already signed up, so how could I say no?  let’s hear what it’s all about:

===========insert Kenny lee======

Makes me wish I was in New York, sounds like fun!

Chit Chat Across the Pond

=======insert knightwise================

Knightwise from  knightwise.com joins us as Bart continues to recover from the Martian Death Flu.

Security Light

How to avoid all present and future pdf vulnerabilities and flash issues – by disconnecting from the internet.  Knightwise and Nyana took a six day holiday to the south of France with virtually no gear and no internet access.  Roaming charges would have killed them if they’d accidentally gone on line.

What he did miss – research on the ancient city they were visiting would have been nice. Want to be able to download wikipedia articles through Calibre to put them on the Sony PR505 so they’d have access to more information next time.  there was an ash cloud so we didn’t know if our flight would actually leave

Lack of connectivity causes clarity of focus – he was able to write two lengthy articles where he was able to finish without distractions, more focussed because he had no choice.  Facebook is redundant, nothing really happened while we were gone, just missed Farmville invites. Twitter is a time waster, keeps a constant eye on it.

=========================

That Knightwise is one of a kind, isn’t he?

Well that’s going to wrap up the 5th anniversary show – here’s to another five years.  Please keep your emails coming, especially the ones with questions you think are too dumb to ask by sending them to [email protected]. If you’re of the Twitter persuasion, follow me on twitter at follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/podfeet. Thanks for listening, and stay subscribed.