August 19, 2006

Podcasting: Encoding for Flash

I've mentioned here before that I started using the LAME mp3 encoder to prepare audio files for publishing to a podcast (if you are using OS X, you can use darwinports to install it for you). While it is a little usability-challenged since it's a command-line tool, once you have the settings figured out, it's easy to use. My big reason for not using iTunes to do this is that I was getting a lot of file clutter putting files into iTunes, encoding them and then receiving them again through the podcastâ??ultimately giving me three files. I don't want them in my iTunes library until I get them via a subscription like everybody else.

I thought that everything was going well with the settings that I've been using until I tried listening to an episode in Odeo and got a earful of chipmunks. Odeo, and a handful of other podcast subscription sites uses flash applications to deliver audio files through the web browser. The flash player requires that audio files be resampled at bitrates that are multiples of 11.025khz. This apparently is not a standard way that mp3 encoders work.

So, here are the settings that I have settled on for encoding mp3s for podcasts:

== lame --preset voice --resample 44.1 --nspsytune -q 1 --lowpass 6 --noshort file.aif file.mp3 ==

I got the most help on establishing this from the Hydrogenaudio forums and then tweaked it to work for Flash.

technorati tags:lame, osx, podcast, flash, odeo, itunes

August 12, 2006

Version Control

The development community is divided into two halves: the designers and the coders. I never know which one I am. Many may look at my designs and code and say that I'm neither. I would prefer (for my own self-confidence) to think that I'm both, although the two disciplines tend to sabotague each other. It's very difficult to design effectively after days of looking at source. It is equally difficult to build and maintain an application of any size when the design part of you shuns conformity and structure.

My latest clash of these tendencies is version control. For those of you that are familiar with Dreamweaver but unfamiliar with version control, consider the check-in/check-out feature in your Site Definition a light version control sytem. Check-in/check-out in Dreamweaver prevents multiple people from editing a file at the same time and thus, hopefully, prevents versioning errors that could occur if multiple people edited and uploaded the same file around the same time.

Preventing multiple simultaneous edits is one thing, but there are many other things to consider that Dreamweaver does not tackle. What if you want to return to a previous version of a file? What if you do want to 'fork' a document allowing development to continue on the original while also allowing development to begin on a new version of the document? What if you need some accountability as to who changed what and when? What if you find a need to merge two versions of the same document? All of these things and more can be handled by a true version control system.

The most popular (it seems) system today is called subversion. It is a server application that can run on nearly any platform and, once installed, can be accessed by numerous client applications that have been written or by the native command line interface.

So here I am. I know I should do this. I know it's needed. I want to know how to use one. I have downloaded Subversion and installed it on my laptop as a way to begin learning it. Now I need to force myself to learn and use it. I hope that this is a great experience and something that will improve my development... If only the design part of me will allow it.

technorati tags:subversion, dreamweaver

August 12, 2006

iChat AV on MacBook Pro

I have noticed lately that the camera icon in my iChat indicated that my MacBook Pro was unable to host (or participate in) a multi-party video chat. Since I know that it is able to, I went looking for an answer to this. Here’s what I did to fix it: I opened the Quicktime system preference and changed the network speed setting from ‘automatic’ to ‘intranet/lan’. iChat must have been asking quicktime if I had enough net-speed to succesfully chat and quicktime was telling it that I did not. Liar.

technorati tags:quicktime, ichat

August 8, 2006

WWDC Followup

If you didn't see the announcements at yesterday's WWDC keynote, you can find them at Apple.com.

Impressions? First, I was intrigued a little by the tag-team presentation format. Steve handed off to three other Apple execs throughout the keynote in a way that felt to me like a bit of a "American Geek Idol". Are they trying to find someone that has a bit of the aura that Steve carries? None of the presenters yesterday qualify -- especially Phil.

Second, While the hardware announcements are probably the most important, they do not excite me. I get giddy about the software. Time machine looks great. Time machine is a backup solution with a fantastic interface that allows the user to take any finder window or compatible appliction and rewind it to a state that they need or restore a piece from that past version to the current. Of course for many of us that run with a pretty full hard drive, this will require the purchase of a large external drive, but if the backup can be transparent and reliable, it is worth it.

The iChat improvments look great. I'm most excited about the ability to share a screen with a buddy to either collaborate with that person OR do troubleshooting. I can't count the times that I've been chatting with somebody and just wished that I could see what they were seeing and help them out.

Universal Access in Tiger is way better than what's been in OS X before, but it's got a long way to go and I'm glad to see that it is such an important part of Leopard that they featured it in the keynote. I'm hoping that it's functional enough that I can, as a web developer, really get a feel for how visually-challenged folks are receiving a page and to then make them as easy to digest as possible.

Finally, spotlight is kind of boring, but I don't know what I did before it. I welcome the ability to do more advanced searches with it and to be able to search network volumes with it.

Now, we just have to wait until next spring to receive the goods. Tiger was released during the last weekend of April in 2005. Perhaps we can expect a similar release this time.

technorati tags:apple, wwdc, keynote

August 7, 2006

WWDC Keynote Today

This morning (or noon-ish central time) Steve Jobs will take the stage in San Francisco to address the attendees of Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference. This is the Apple version of the MAX conference (for those develop using Adobe products). I read one web site that anticipated a "flurry" of announcements. While I'm sure there will be some surprises, here are the three things that are expected:

MacOS 10.5 “Leopard” - Apple has made no secret that it’s going to be talking a lot about Leopard. What is a secret is what’s in Leopard. A list going around lists the following improvements: ** Spotlight 2.0 ** Dashboard 2.0 ** Safari 3.0 ** iChat 4.0 ** Automator 2.0 ** QuickTime 7.2 ** Mail 3.0 ** iCal 3.0 ** Address Book 5.0
G5 Tower Replacement “MacPro”?
XServe Intel Upgrade

I'm pretty unimpressed with the Leopard list. While it may be true, anybody could go through the Apple-provided applications on their computer and increase the versions by one. I hope to see a lot of eye-candy! We'll just have to see what Stevie shows us.

Beyond that, who knows. I would be surprised to see any iPod announcements, but it's been a while since the video version came out and there have been rumors for months of an iPod with a larger video screen on it. There have also been rumors of a redesigned Nano with an aluminum case similar to the iPod mini that it replaced.

technorati tags:wwdc, apple