net@nite Update

Amber and I did our first test recording of the new net@nite yesterday and despite a few technical glitches I think we're ready to go back on the air together. The new show is going to be similar to the old one with a couple of exceptions. First, it's no longer going to be live. It's just too hard to commit to recording it at the same time every week. With a little flexibility it will be easier for us to do it. I'm hoping to record and release the show on Wednesdays, moving MacBreak Weekly back to Tuesday to make room for it. I'm finding that it's better to release the topical shows on the same day as they're recorded whenever possible. The second big change is that I'm hoping to do it as a video show. We tried recording video this week and everything fell apart, but I'm hopeful that the new iChat will make this possible. It supports the very high quality AAC-LD audio codec, the same I use for the radio, and offers video and audio recording. Amber has retooled the content, as well. The show will still be an hour long, but divided into segments:

• Web News
• Best Tech Trick
• Best Web Idea
• Best Music Pick
• Best Web Service
• Best Video Pick
• Web Design Pick

We'll have guests on whenever we've got someone we want to talk with, but one bit we'd like to do every week is our pick for Worst Web Idea. We're hoping we can get the creators of these sites on to defend their pathetic concepts. Should make for some fun. I'll post yesterday's run through sometime this week - it's a little rough but it's still entertaining. We hope to begin the video version the first Wednesday in November. We're just waiting for Leopard to ship. (I'm going down to Cupertino to get a briefing on it next Thursday. If I can get a copy then we'll do a test show next week.) Watch for the new net@nite - I think you'll like it!

Radio Today and TV Last Night

I'll be a guest on the Ronn Owens show on KGO 810 AM in San Francisco today from 11a-Noon Pacific. You can listen to the stream live (there are buttons for MP3, AAC Plus, Real, WMV, and Quicktime streams buried in there amongst all the ads - wish KFI offered that kind of variety). If I can get my Radio Your Way recorder charged up by then I'll post the interview on the TLR netcast later today. Speaking of online viewing, you can watch Amber's excellent debut on Citytv's City News International yesterday on the CNI site. Looks like they'll be posting her segments there every day and previous segments are available in the archives (her segment is called World Wide Web).

My Three Hosts

It's been a great week in Toronto, but all too brief. The meetup on Tuesday, a talk with the seminarians at UofT's Wycliffe College on Wednesday, TWiM on Thursday, then home on Friday. Oh and 15 Call for Help episodes in there somewhere, too. I'm breathless.

We miss Amber so much on Call for Help, but I did get to catch up with her, and record three(!) Inside the Net episodes, at the meetup. The first of those, a look at Nakama, a new moblogging site, will go up October 10.

We're still searching for a Canadian replacement for Amber on Call for Help, but while we do we're very fortunate indeed to have the poised and talented (and lovely) Cali Lewis of GeekBrief.tv filling in for her. Amber's last episode and Cali's first should be airing soon on G4techTV Canada and the HOW-TO Network in Australia. No truth to the rumor that we're changing the show name to "Cali for Help."

Meanwhile Amber's new show, City News International debuts Tuesday, October 10 on Citytv Canada-wide. She'll be on every night. She tells me her US and Aussie fans can catch her pieces on the net every day - I'll post a link as soon as I get one. Her live daily net culture segments on CP24 are also available on the live stream every weekday between 3:30 and 4p Eastern. Internet Exploder is required to watch that.

Check out her new blog/vlog Popnology. That's also going to be the name of her new show on CP24. Great name! You'll be able to subscribe to Popnology on iTunes soon, too.

I think flowers are in order, if not a Gemini award!

Call for Pie

mmmmm blueberry