There problem may have been the guid, after all. I was checking for uniqueness in my new installation’s database. The problem is that Google Reader will have cached the feed from my old installation and between the two, I was definitely recycling guids. I’ve kept my old, free account exactly for this reason, so I can compare and troubleshoot weird things like this.

This post should generate a guid well past the last one either feed used. WordPress inserts the internal post ID into the guid field for the feed, so the problem is if you do anything to alter those post IDs in the database, like a fresh import from XML, you could encounter this same problem.

The fact that the imported guids had my temporary URL in them was helping to hide the issue, since the non-unique post ID combined with that temporary URL kept the freshly imported posts from colliding with the ones already posted to my old site.

Basically, from here on out, things should work. I also realize that for those who were subscribed through the site changeover, you inadvertently got clobbered by the way I handled this. I chalk this up to a lesson learned and know enough to do better preparation work should I ever have to move the site, again, to keep the feed from acting weird with Google Reader’s particular caching strategy.

I am no sure why, but I am having some feed problems with Google Reader. I have run my feed through a validator and addressed the warnings reported. As near as I can tell, the problem seems to have something to do with the guid element in the feed but I cannot find any duplicate guids that would be causing the problem. As a consequence of my import with a temporary URL, though, I am noticing that most, though not all, of the guids Google Reader is recognizing have the beta site URL in them. The only other item I’ve seen successfully show up in Google Reader doesn’t use the p?=post_id form that the newer, non-showing items use. That was an entry I posted from Flickr that uses the permalink as the guid entry.

Anyone expert with WordPress 2.5.1 and/or Google Reader who can shed some insight?

Due to the severe storms that moved through the area, we lost power from 9pm last night, to 9am this morning. I was actually sitting at the mixer, in front of my mic to record when the power cut out. Missed it by *that* much.

Anyway, I should have the time this evening, despite working a code release later on at work, to do the necessary recording, production and get the show out and into the feeds. Sorry for the delay.

I migrated this site from the free hosting at WordPress.com to my VM at Slice Host this week. You may have noticed a few glitches over the last day or two as the DNS cutover and I’ve hammered down the the last few nails with my own manual installation of WordPress.

One thing I just noticed is that there is a bug in the comment moderation queue in the 2.5.1 version of WordPress. At least for certain configurations. I am still researching to see if there is a patch or fix I can apply. There is a workaround but it really relies on having email notification of working for new comments needing moderation. I just installed Postfix and got this notification running, so should be able to keep comments moving for new posters.

If you submitted a comment in the last two days and it hasn’t been moderated yet, please re-submit it as this will now generate an email with a direct link that bypasses the moderation queue bug.

The Whole Rig

Originally uploaded by cmdln

After my detailed write up of my newly derived portable audio rig for recording Skype calls, the one feedback was that a picture of some sort would help immensely. I thought about diagramming it but couldn’t find a suitable ready made stencil and wasn’t really looking forward to the time involved, anyway.

The second time I used the rig, I happened to have my little camera handy. I snapped a few photos to try to illustrate the critical aspects of the configuration. I’ve post the photos as a set on my Flickr. I’ve added descriptions and notes to try to help call out and clarify what’s in each photo.

Hopefully this helps along with my original post.

I saw news about a potential Twitter competitor, Plurk, on the Download Squad. The feature that enticed me is the support for cliques. I am curious to see if that is like filters in LiveJournal. I have signed up, username is “cmdln”, but so far have been able to do very little.

If you are not burned out on social networks, sign up and add me so I can give it a real workout for a review. The one thing I already noticed that I like is the ability to delete an account, so the risk here seems pretty minimal.

Here’s what I have learned, so far.

I have noticed that there are no third party clients. There is no mention of an API that would allow such. There is a mention in their FAQ of planned SMS support, in roughly six weeks. I was unable to get IM working with either of my GTalk accounts. It is unclear how the advanced features, like sending to cliques, would work with IM as opposed to the web interface.

The privacy policy and terms of service seem pretty unremarkable.

They already have a mobile interface. Sending to cliques does not appear to be supported from this interface. It is impressive that there already is such an interface but I found the fact that after sending it did not return to the timeline and they only link for doing so is labeled, “explore”, to be a bit confusing.

I am not sure about the more graphical interface of the web site. Part of the appeal of Twitter is its simplicity. I will reserve judgement until I have a bit more info in my timeline though if I have to keep staring at the default color scheme, I may not give it even that long.

The service has already met and dealt with its first usage spike. Apparently Leo Laporte, Robert Scoble and Mike Arrington have already mentioned it so have driven some unexpected traffic. According to the development blog, the staff handled the spike and are already thinking about how to better handle the load issues that have bedeviled Twitter. This remains to be seen. I have yet to figure out what technology the site uses to be able to make an broad observations about how it might scale.

I am tempted to write the developers for more info but am unsure whether the service is distinct enough to see it survive for long in Twitter’s shadow.

GeekDad has an article up that hits close to home. I was hoping for some practical advice given that we have been dealing not even with bullying at school but with neighborhood kids.

I am at an utter loss at how to console my sons when they are ridiculed, with very adult taunts, from a couple of local bullies. They are so upset by these kids that they often will avoid playing in the yard on the off chance of encountering the little blighters. These larval delinquents have even stepped up their game to include ding dong dash in their repertoire, which you can imagine is more than an annoyance when I am in studio trying to record.

My wife has approached one of the parents and his response was merely, “Boys will be boys.” I am relatively certain that in high school, this father was part of the popular clique that tormented me and mine. The temptation to wreak havoc on this individual is nigh irresistible but to give in and use hard won hack-ish powers for such evil would be not only massively irresponsible but also setting the worst example for my sons.

Reading the story that GeekDad links to brings back this overwhelming sense of helplessness and rage. Are my sons doomed to the same hurt that I endured with only a vague hope that they will weather it as well as I did? The fact that I may be a bit more aware of their ordeal than my parents were is slim comfort.

I’ve been spoiled by recording Skype calls in my studio. Using a hardware solution, one commonly documented elsewhere, as opposed to a software solution has netted me some pretty good sound quality. Even better when I switched to using my old Griffin iMic to pull better quality audio directly out of Skype and into my mixing board.

Not having a comparable solution I can drive with my MacBook Pro has very much limited my availability for interviews. I enjoy getting great guests for the podcast but dread the inevitable scheduling hassles that arise from having a day job and not portable recording option.

I was dealing with this very hassle, trying to accommodate a recent guest’s travel schedule when inspiration struck. It started with the realization that my portable recorder has two channels which should be enough to drive a field mic and bring in Skype through the iMic.

From top to bottom, here is what I put together. For reference, I have an M-Audio Microtrack 24/96 which which has two quarter inch mono inputs and a monitor out. You are going to need something comparable, especially the monitor out to make a similar rig work. I also use a Mac, as mentioned above, and while I will try to keep my description from being too Mac specific, bear it in mind when adjusting for your system.

1. Connect the Griffin iMic
   After connecting it, I launched Skype and switched its audio input and output both to the iMic. On my system, I have to connect the iMic first so it will be available in Skype’s audio preferences.
2. Temporarily connect headphones to the headphone jack of the iMic
   I did this to get the audio level out through the iMic dialed in. I left the Skype preferences up and opened my sound preferences. I temporarily switched the system sound to run out of the iMic since Skype alone doesn’t afford that level of control. I found setting the output level to about 20% works well. You can click the little icon next to the output setting in the Skype preferences to hear sound through the iMic. If you have a Skype voice mail, you can replay it for an even better idea of the level. I also adjusted the pan, the left-right balance, all the way to the left. This helped push the Sykpe audio out well to the mono channel on my portable recorder.
3. Switch system sound back to the usual setting
   I did this to keep random system noises from piping through the iMic. I left the Skype ringer set to the system sound setting, this kept notifications from Skype from sounding through the iMic.
4. Disconnect the headphones and connect the iMic to one channel of the portable recorder
   I used a stereo splitter and connected just the left channel (hence the pan tweak above) to one of the portable recorder’s inputs. I used my test audio, a Skype voice mail, to check that sound was making it into the connected channel of my recorder.
5. Connect a mic to the open channel
   My portable recorder puts out phantom power so I connected a condenser and sat close to get a good, clear signal.
6. Connect a headset mic to the monitor on the recorder
   My portable recorder only sends sound out the monitor when recording. I recorded a couple of samples while playing my test voice mail from Skype. At this point, I was hearing what my recorder was capturing, audio straight from Skype!
7. Connect mic jack from headset to iMic
   This is necessary for my caller to hear me and closes the loop. If you use an iMic, you need to make sure the powered preamp is switched on. Most headset mics are unpowered on their own, mine certainly is.
8. Get a buddy to agree to a Skype call
   I performed this test to make sure my actual caller for the interview would be able to hear me as well as I can hear through the rig.

Thanks to this bit of experimentation, I now can record Skype calls anywhere I can find a reasonably quiet space and an internet connection. This is a huge relief when contemplating the scheduling exercise involved in pinning down a busy guest.

Wow, what a blast from the past. My best friend in junior high had one of these. That was also around the time I first started noodling with BBS’, mostly through his introduction. If I remember correctly, he actually had a modem for this beast, I clearly recall watching the little monochrome screen, waiting for a connect.

If you wanted to help C.A., here’s the site where you can make a financial contribution. As of this writing, the community at large has raised almost $1800 to help him. Amazing.