Turning a bucket of MP3s into a podcast

I wrote a Python script, s3cast, to convert an Amazon S3 bucket of MP3 files into a podcast feed. You see, there is a satellite radio show that I really enjoy called The Saturday Night Safety Dance with DJ Bueller. It’s one of the few shows on Sirius XM that they don’t allow you to … Continue reading Turning a bucket of MP3s into a podcast

I found a different kind of egg on Easter

A few weeks ago, I was preparing to travel. I have two lists I perpetually maintain for trips. One is a packing list of everything I will need (clothing, toiletries, chargers), stuff I might need (swim trunks, sunscreen, Fire TV Stick), and a separate appendix for camping. Overall, it holds almost 200 items! The other list is full … Continue reading I found a different kind of egg on Easter

A Fire TV in an Apple Household

A few months back I picked up an Amazon Fire TV. I’ve had an Apple-centric household for many years and have been a strong supporter of the Apple ecosystem, but a couple of things changed that caused me to evaluate the Fire TV. First, iTunes is where all my media lived. This used to be great. Everything … Continue reading A Fire TV in an Apple Household

Developing For Alexa

I got a new Amazon Alexa a few weeks ago. [Full disclosure: I work for a company that’s owned by Amazon Web Services.] I find the technology a fun novelty, but I’m not sure it’s mature enough to be promoted to a central part of my home life beyond a music player and todo-list maker. That … Continue reading Developing For Alexa

The science of optical shoe recognition

This week’s episode of The Big Bang Theory, The Bus Pants Utilization, revolved around the guys coming up with an iPhone app.  It sounded cool for certain people in certain situations — it basically amounted to Wolfram Alpha with optical character recognition, so you didn’t have to type in the equations to get them solved.  A … Continue reading The science of optical shoe recognition

One week with the iPad

Please bear with me as I type this review directly on the iPad — on Pages to be copied into WordPress — while reclining on the sofa. Although I have used it in a number of other ways, my intent right now is to get a good feel for using it in this particular real-life … Continue reading One week with the iPad

Why I probably won’t be getting a Kindle 2

What I have seen of the Kindle 2’s design makes it an enviable device to gadget-lover-Brian. While the first Kindle looked like it was made by Tandy, this updated one looks like it came straight out of Cupertino. It almost looks like an oversized iPod Touch, seamlessly melded with a keyboard, and large enough to … Continue reading Why I probably won’t be getting a Kindle 2

I want my babyback, babyback, babyback ribs

Ummmm… Amazon, do you know something that we don’t? Also, are you suggesting that we eat this hypothetical baby? So I have no idea what the story is behind this email, but I guess I’ll find out in a week or so if something is actually delivered or if it’s just a fluke in their … Continue reading I want my babyback, babyback, babyback ribs

"For the love of God and all that is holy, my Wii is bleeding"

Please note that all blog posts before 8 April 2007 were automatically imported from LiveJournal.  To see the comments and any LiveJournal-specific extras such as polls and user icons, please find the source posting at http://brianenigma.livejournal.com/2006/12/ Okay — thanks, Amazon. I have a better chance of my anus bleeding than of securing a Wii. Great. Thanks … Continue reading "For the love of God and all that is holy, my Wii is bleeding"