I recently started watching a couple of video podcasts, and I think that the key, at least for me, is that I want a short format show.

If you want to catch up on your tech news, I would have to suggest TeXtra. The Podcast is part of the podshow network, and hosted by Natali Del Conte. I’m not particularly good with names, so the name didn’t really ring any bells with me, but if you read her podshow page, she has actually written for a number of well known web sites and / or publications.

As I mention in the title of this post, every episode I have watched to date has been right around 8 minutes long. This is a really great length for media on the computer.

I haven’t watched the last several episodes of Internet Millionaire because it’s just too darn long. At least it’s too long to watch on my computer. I would watch it if I had an easy way to get it on my television. I sure hope that the slingbox is going to be as good as it sounds, and I hope it comes out soon.

Back to the topic on hand, check out Textra, good news, short duration, and entertaining. I also have to thank them, because this is where I heard about TorchWood.

Turns out that I picked a bad time to post about this, since the host of the show is going on vacation for 2 weeks. You can still watch the most recent shows though.

Posted in Podcasts, Recommendations, Tech-News 3 Comments »

I saw BlogRush for the first time on Phil’s new blog Tech Fires, and I was a little curious. Then I followed the link from his widget, and I started to get really excited. This is really a great idea, and I wish I had thought of it.

You display a widget on your blog, much like the one pictured below. The widget has 5 links in it, which open up in a new window if one of your readers clicks on it. Every time you have a page load, a link to one of your posts is displayed somewhere else.

That’s right. One page load = one link. What is even better is that when you sign up, you choose a category for your blog. Your widget shows links from that category, and your link is displayed on other blogs in that category. In other words, your link is being displayed to readers who are already reading topics close to yours.

Now I thought that was well worth putting the widget on my site. Then I found out that BlogRush also acts like a pyramid scheme.

For every person who follows your referral id, or clicks on your widget, and signs up, you get a credit. Every page load they have, you get your link displayed on another blog.

The referrals from your referral count for you too, down through 10 generations of referrals. After so many generations, it isn’t one for one, but it is still better than nothing.

The only thing that I didn’t like is that you can’t choose a size for the widget. That is why it is a little larger than my sidebar. I was planning on resizing the sidebar’s a little bit anyway, I’ll just have to do it sooner. 

Posted in Blogging, Promotion, Recommendations, RSS, Web Tools, widgets 3 Comments »

Do you ever get nervous about using images on your blog or web site? I don’t think anyone is going to mind if I take a screen grab of their logo, but I really want to make sure that if I use a photograph, especially if I’m going to chop it up or do something else a little crazy to it, that I’m not doing anything wrong. I sure wouldn’t want someone taking my work against my wishes.

So one day, I was looking for free images that I could use, and I ran across Freerange Stock. This site is really too good to be true. They have some extremely good photos, and you can use them for just about anything you want to.

Many stock photo sites will let you use their images, as long as it isn’t for “commercial” use. I was always hesitant to use them on my blog, since I’m serving ads which bring in dozens of pennies.

To set your mind at ease, this is from Freerangs Stock’s FAQ:

    Can I use these images in my commercial projects?
    Yes! Our images may be used in commercial projects like websites, advertising, books, videos, and other commercial presentations. If you would like to give credit to the site and/or photographer, that would be great. If you don’t have a way to include the credit, that does NOT prohibit you from using the images. You may not, however, repackage, redistribute, or claim ownership of the images. Do not use the photos in products that rely on the photograph as the main selling point.

You really aren’t risking anything using the photos. You do have to register with them to create an account, but I haven’t received any email from them, and I have had the account for quite awhile.

I haven’t always been good about linking to the photographer, but you may have noticed that I started including a link to the image and to the photographer at the bottom of my articles, even though this isn’t a requirement.

I definitely recommend this site.

References:

Free Range Stock

Posted in Blogging, free stuff, images, Recommendations, WebSites 4 Comments »

I realized when I was writing this post about a pork butt I smoked (sometimes called a Boston butt), that I sure do recommend Steven Raichlen’s “How to Grill Book” pretty often. I usually rattle off to the person some of the recipes I made, but if I create this little review of it, then I can just point people to it.

Not only do I recommend this book, but I’ve purchased this book for others as gifts, I’ve recommended it to at least a dozen people before I made this page. Heck, I’ve almost worn out my copy of it, and I may be buying another copy soon.

Steven Raichlen’s books are what really taught me how to grill. Before I discovered “How to Grill”, I knew how to cook hamburgers, steaks, potatoes, and other basic stuff, or at least I thought I did.

Although the title, “How to Grill”, sounds pretty basic, it is anything but. I bet that you will learn an incredible amount from it.

Steven covers the basics, like how to use Zone fires to cook on, how to determine the temperature of your fire without a thermometer (the Mississippi test), but he gets into various cooking techniques for popular meats and vegetables.

Steven explains how to cook using the direct or indirect method on both charcoal and gas grills, as well as giving a rundown on how to use other types of grills and smokers. Each recipe is accompanied with direction for both gas and charcoal, as well as variations to the recipe, and many recipes include alternate instructions for a smoker.

The book covers the Holy Trinity of American barbecue, Pulled Pork, Brisket, and Ribs. There are also sauce and rub recipes to go along with the meats, and more vegetable recipes than you can shake a stick at.

Really, I love this book, and looking through it for this review, I thought of about a dozen favorites that I have. Just to name a few, the Pulled Pork and Brisket are always crowd pleasers, there is a Bourbon brined pork chop recipe that is to die for, and the mustard barbecue sauce, which goes well with the pulled pork, is still one of the very best sauces that I have ever had. 

Posted in barbecue, Books, Recommendations No Comments »