MWGblog

We need to have the current WordPress theme we use on a number of sites, updated and built as a stand-alone theme. Currently it is a highly customized version of K2 that we built with support for 3 columns. All the neat features in K2 are awesome for a single blog where you can constantly fiddle with the design, but deployed on multiple sites it is turning into a waste of time, processing power and generally make updating a P-I-T-A.

I need a blog design that mostly mimics our current one but is a base stand-alone theme that we can easily deploy on our sites. We want to go a bit wider on the “content” column but the others will remain the same, as they are specific sizes for sponsors etc. Basically we are looking to simplify our pages by having a true theme and not something as “integrated” as our custom K2. Also, the current custom development is almost 2 years old now, time to refresh. Of course we have a few ideas we’d like to “borrow” from other sites etc. to bring everything up-to-date. This is a project we are ready to move on immediately. If you can help or have a referral to offer please contact me. Thanks!

You can see some current deployments here:

mwgblog.com, graperadio.com, podcastacademy.com, and reelreviewsradio.com

While she was in town for NAMM, I had the pleasure of catching up with my friend Elisabeth Lewin from Podcasting News. We were able to meet at Disneyland when she and her husband Jim got a break from their reporting at the NAMM show. I’d never met Jim before and we had a great lunch with lots of “podcasting talk.” It is always fun to catch up with her and just more proof that there are some great people at the core of podcasting.

If you are not old enough to recognize these two gentlemen then you are in for a treat with a documentary series running on PBS: Pioneers of Television. (If you do know who they are, then I know you’ll want to see it anyway.) Today I caught the the “variety show” segment, one of 4 total. It is fun to see the people who helped to shape television when it was an emerging medium.

Today, with 200+ channels in our house, there is always “something” on, but even some television is timeless and classic. Need proof? While these two Carol Burnett sketches came towards the end of the variety show era, I remember the first time I saw them as a kid. It is always great when the other seasoned comedians are struggling to control their laughter: dentists and elephants of course…

Most know I love film. I have a particular affinity for Kurosawa Samurai classics. Tonight I got curious about Kendo, the Japanese martial art of fencing (swords). I found an interesting National Geographic documentary focusing on a life-long Kendo practitioner making his 5th attempt at 8 Dan (Hachi-Dan). What is amazing is that less than 1% of those who even attempt it each year succeed. They hold two tests a year in Japan with 700-1400 applicants each; all of whom are already revered practitioners, most having been competition champions and/or instructors. (Also they have been 7 Dan (Nanadan) for at least 8 years.) It is refreshing to see something where the standards have not been “eased” over time, either you succeed or not. No appeals. There are only 200-300 living Hachi-Dans in the world out of 8,000,000 active Kendo practitioners. Talk about elite! The testing process is interesting to watch. What seems physical at first, turns out to be an exhausting mental exercise. [Via YouTube]

Awesome slides that will help anyone to be an iPhone expert.

Make sure to read Podango’s information about the final change to take place Friday January 18th for GVAL users.

I upgraded the software for my computer’s TV Tuner to EyeTV 3. I like it.

At first you think it is a spoof… then you realize the guy is for real.

I upgraded to a new Mac Pro last week. One of the “forced” upgrades was on my external RAID 0 array. I had to buy a new, rather expensive PCI-e external SATA card. (The old Dual 2.5Mhz G5 used PCI-x.) I needed 4 ports which seems to come at a premium. $280+. Nice thing is the new card will allow me to run four separate 5 disk enclosures off that one card, though I doubt I’ll take that leap.

Two years ago I experimented with an external RAID 0 array made up of two disks. A few months later I built a second and combined them for an external 1.2 TB RAID 0 array. I built it mainly as a fun project for video editing and as an audio scratch disk, though I now also use it for my EYE TV recording and to store all my miscellaneous media. Of course, I back it all up to a separate 1.0TB external FW800 drive. RAID 0 can be a bit risky… It is kind of like cars, the horsepower and speed are awesome. Once you get one, it is hard to go back.

Anyway, GOLIATH (the name I assigned to the array) is back up and running, faster than ever. I’m liking the new Mac Pro.

I have no idea what he is up to, but I keep bumping into David Caruso at “New Media” style events. Perhaps just a coincidence, but I saw him in the speaker ready room at CES last week and he was two rows back from me at the “LA End-Year Digital Media Review and ContentNext Mixer” put on by Paid Content in Beverly Hills last month. What is Horatio up to? Ah, the ANSWER.