You Don't Know Flack

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 8:02 pm

Photo (C) Rob O'Hara

Flack put up a new URL for his podcast, here: http://podcast.robohara.com/

I just saw that it's on iTunes. I had no idea that people I didn't want to pummel to death could even be on iTunes. This is amazing. I am going to make my phone "subscribe" to this podcast, or I'm going to make my phone "subscribe" to flying across the room and getting sleazy with the wall.

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Thu Apr 22, 2010 1:18 pm

Wow, word travels fast! You plug my stuff faster than I can, haha. Here are the links:

Link: http://podcast.robohara.com
RSS: http://podcast.robohara.com/?feed=rss2
iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/you- ... d368604225

I had the old podcast hosted at robohara.com, but when I installed Feedburner it became impossible for me to use the same RSS feed for both, and Fince feedburner automatically refers all RSS feed requests to itself (a bit presumptuous if you ask me) I was having to manually update the RSS XML file each time I posted one, which worked until I forgot one tiny little XML tag which broke the link to iTunes. For the record, I am pretty sure there are no humans providing tech support for iTunes; it's just a series of scripts designed to send you around in circles until you kill yourself or quit bothering them. I considered the first route but settled on the latter one.

When I started the podcast, I tried doing it with a cheap USB mic that sounded, well, cheap. I upgraded mics but was recording on a laptop that provided a lot of pops and clicks. I got things ironed out around episode 106 or so, which I think is the misnumbered ones. So basically this podcast has no quality control. It is the Hong Kong of podcasts. The good news is, as of episode 107 they sound pretty good.

Episode 109 is going to be about the 1541 Ultimate. 110 will be about text adventures. I now have a dedicated PC and space for recording the shows, so output should increase.

PS: Anybody can submit a podcast to iTunes, but you have to have working feeds and upgrade regularly or they will kick you off. And also if you submit a bad RSS feed like I did then they will pretend like they will look into the problem but they won't so don't waste 6 months of your life hoping a human will ever hear your cries of desperation. Anyway, I had several people tell me they wouldn't even listen to my podcast unless it was on iTunes, so that's why it's there. I guess the syncing feature works really well.

AArdvark · Post by **AArdvark** » Fri Apr 23, 2010 7:58 pm

Subscribed it to my zune. I had to direct download the first six episodes cause the zune is stubborn like that. Now I can listen while I do my brakes tomorrow.

note: how do you find time to have a life away from the computer between the gas chamber journal, the blog and the podcasting and routine webpage management and forum posting?

THE
YOU DONT!
AARDVARK

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Fri Apr 23, 2010 10:12 pm

I work a regular day job from 8am-4:30pm. We get home around 5:30pm and usually eat by 6pm. My daughter goes to bed around 8pm, my son at 9pm. I'm a night owl, and never get to bed before midnight. That gives me approximately 3 hours a night. Sure, I could be doing housework, fixing things, helping with laundry and dishes or, you know, being a good husband, but god dammit, my public needs me.

To be honest, I think about blog posts all the time. Like all day, whenever something happens I think, "ooh! I could blog about that!" so then when I get home (because I would never, ever do this from work) I will bang out a blog entry. They take 5-10 minutes, usually. Wordpress also has a neat feature where you can schedule your posts, so like for this past trip, I wrote 3 things on Saturday and scheduled them to appear Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, each at 6am. And I wasn't even home. HA HA THE JOKE'S ON YOU.

The podcast doesn't take any time at all because I promise to record 2 a month and then it's usually 3 months between episodes -- again, the joke's on you! But seriously, usually I come up with key talking points for the podcast and when I sit down to record one it takes about an hour to record and an hour to edit and post. I'd like to get to the point where it's a once a month Saturday night type of thing.

PS: What Aardvark is referring to is I opened my own half-assed forum. Really it's just a way to meet chicks. But don't tell my wife.

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Mon May 03, 2010 10:41 am

Episode 110 will cover Floppy Disks and should be online next Sunday night.

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Tue May 11, 2010 10:27 pm

Episode 110 is Online.

In light of Sony's recent decision to end production of 3 1/2 floppy disks, Episode 110 of You Donâ€™t Know Flack is all about floppy disks -- from the history of floppies to specific memories and stories I have regarding them.

You Don't Know Flack Podcast: http://podcast.robohara.com
Episode 110: http://podcast.robohara.com/?p=38
Forum: http://thegaschamber.robohara.com
RSS: http://podcast.robohara.com/?feed=rss2
iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/you-dont-know-flack/id368604225

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 6:52 am

Episode 111 is Online.

Episode 111 is a lot about my old BBS, The Gas Chamber, and a little about my new forum, The Gas Chamber. It is not about real gas chambers at all.

You Don't Know Flack Podcast: http://podcast.robohara.com
Episode 111: http://podcast.robohara.com/?p=52
Forum: http://thegaschamber.robohara.com
RSS: http://podcast.robohara.com/?feed=rss2
iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/you-dont-know-flack/id368604225

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Wed Sep 29, 2010 8:57 pm

Episode 112 is Online.

Episode 112 is all about Photon: The Ultimate Game on Planet Earth. Laser Tag was a big part of my teen years and I could talk about it for days â€¦ or at least 61:08 minutes.

You Don't Know Flack Podcast: http://podcast.robohara.com
Episode 112: http://podcast.robohara.com/?p=58
Forum: http://thegaschamber.robohara.com
RSS: http://podcast.robohara.com/?feed=rss2
iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/you-dont-know-flack/id368604225

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Wed Nov 02, 2011 10:16 pm

Episode 113 is Online.

You Don't Know Flack is back on track with Episode 113, which is about my personal experiences with Apple computers. The podcast spans my experiences dating back to the early 1980s to my current stash of iPods and iPhones.

You Don't Know Flack Podcast: http://podcast.robohara.com
Episode 113: http://podcast.robohara.com/?p=64
Forum: http://thegaschamber.robohara.com
RSS: http://podcast.robohara.com/?feed=rss2
iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/you-dont-know-flack/id368604225

AArdvark · Post by **AArdvark** » Thu Nov 03, 2011 3:04 am

Whoo-Hoo!

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Thu Nov 03, 2011 7:18 am

I am downloading it right now and I may just burn it to a CD to listen to as I drive to work. I just may!

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Thu Nov 03, 2011 8:32 am

It's not worth that. If you do that, the next time I see you I will reimburse you the price of one blank CD.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Thu Nov 03, 2011 11:41 am

I grabbed the spindle that I thought was CDs, but it was actually DVDs, and this enraged me so much before I had coffee that I kicked my computer in the face.

Listening at work right now via an MP3.

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Thu Nov 03, 2011 12:23 pm

There was a time when I burning a lot of CDs, back before I had the ability to play mp3s in my cars. I was buying like 100 CD spindles at a time and somehow I ordered like 5 of them and then all of a sudden I got an iPhone and the ability to listen to mp3s in my car and all that burning came to a stop.

So basically in my closet I have 400 blank CDs with no purpose in life.

Tdarcos · Post by **Tdarcos** » Thu Nov 03, 2011 4:51 pm

Flack wrote:Episode 111 is Online.

Episode 111 is a lot about my old BBS, The Gas Chamber, and a little about my new forum, The Gas Chamber. It is not about real gas chambers at all.

Please groan in advance, I have a story.

About twenty-five years ago, the State of California decided to hire its own maintenance person for a piece of equipment they owned because there was enough work involved with other things, instead of paying to have the manufacturer's representative fly out every six months. Unfortunately the job never got filled for a long time because the listing was misfiled under "clerical."

The job was for a maintenance person for the Gas Chamber. At the time it was felt with the potential for more people to actually be executed - the state hadn't executed anyone at the time since the State and Federal Supreme Courts ruled the death penalty unconstitutional in 1976 - they might need to have it ready for actual use. At the time the machine had basically been getting regular maintenance but hadn't been used for ten years.

I happened to go on a radio show and surprised one of the hosts with this story, plus the obvious important point. The state needed to do maintenance because an improperly maintained gas chamber could kill someone.

Tdarcos · Post by **Tdarcos** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 6:07 am

Flack wrote: I was buying like 100 CD spindles at a time and somehow I ordered like 5 of them and then all of a sudden I got an iPhone...

I saw an MP3 player in Rite Aid yesterday, with speakers it was abput $55. I wanted to get it but I realized it's an expense I don't need to make. If it was that important I should just buy an inexpensive MP3 player for around $15 or so. I had one, once; it's about the size of a pack of gum. It either got broken or lost.

So basically in my closet I have 400 blank CDs with no purpose in life.

I'll be happy to provide them with a purpose. I can always use more backup media. (Unlike you, I do use CDs for backup and have not had problems.) It would cost a little less than $6 to ship them media mail via the Postal Service. Any time you decide you want to donate them to someone (like me) who can use them, I'll be happy to pay shipping. (Lowest price for 100 CD spindles these days is about $20.)

Tdarcos · Post by **Tdarcos** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 6:20 am

Flack wrote:Episode 110 is Online.

Why does your opening say it's a half hour when the shows are routinely 1 hour and 3 minutes?

Any time you want to talk about minicomputers and mainframes I'd be willing to talk about them, I used to use 8" floppies on the PDP 11, punch cards and mag tapes on Univac and IBM mainframes.

IBM clones were not just PCs. If you work with mainframes, you might be aware of a number of clones of IBM's mainframes too. Hitachi, Ahmdahl and Magnuson were three I've had exposure to, plus an actual IBM 4300. The machine is about the size of a couple of tipped over file cabinets (waist high, 3 feet long and 6-8 feet wide), and has a console terminal on it. Supported 30 terminals. I got to play operator on the one we had at the college I visited.

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 7:45 am

I updated the posts in this thread with the new iTunes link:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/you-dont-know-flack/id368604225

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Mon Apr 09, 2012 9:35 am

Episode 114 is Online.

Episode 114 of You Don’t Know Flack is all about Arcade Auctions. In this episode I talk about my experiences of buying arcade games at auctions. I share some tips and tricks of the trade, including what to bring, what to look for, and what to expect. I have been attending arcade auctions for almost 20 years, and have purchased around 70 arcade games from auctions during that time.

You Don't Know Flack Podcast: http://podcast.robohara.com
Episode 114: http://podcast.robohara.com/?p=71
Forum: http://thegaschamber.robohara.com
RSS: http://podcast.robohara.com/?feed=rss2
iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/you-dont-know-flack/id368604225

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Thu May 03, 2012 2:07 pm

Episode 115 is Online.

Episode 115 of You Don't Know Flack is all about text adventures. This episode is unique in multiple ways. Not only does it feature the infamous Interactive Fiction author Robb Sherwin via Skype ... but it features him for approximately two hours. What can I say? Robb and I got carried away talking about text adventures!

You Don't Know Flack Podcast: http://podcast.robohara.com
Episode 115: http://podcast.robohara.com/?p=75
Forum: http://thegaschamber.robohara.com
RSS: http://podcast.robohara.com/?feed=rss2
iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/you-dont-know-flack/id368604225