In these months leading up to the release of the final The Wheel of Time novel, A Memory of Light, I’ve been doing a special series of podcast episodes wherein I read the first book in the series, The Eye of the World. While I might not finish the first book, I probably won’t be reading subsequent books. Even having picked up the pace as I have, I’m currently only 16 chapters, 212 pages in. Nowhere near halfway.

Anyway, I thought I would compile a list of just the reread episodes, in order, rather than have to scour the RSS feed for them. Here they are:

Prologue: Dragonmount
Chapter 1: An Empty Road
Chapter 2: Strangers
Chapter 3: The Peddler
Chapter 4: The Gleeman
Chapter 5: Winternight
Chapter 6: The Westwood
Chapter 7: Out of the Woods
Chapter 8: A Place of Safety
Chapter 9: Tellings of the Wheel
Chapter 10: Leavetaking
Chapter 11: The Road to Taren Ferry
Chapter 12: Across the Taren
Chapter 13: Choices
Chapter 14: The Stag and Lion
Chapter 15: Strangers and Friends
Chapter 16: The Wisdom
Chapter 17: Strangers and Hunters
Chapter 18: The Caemlyn Road
Chapter 19: Shadow’s Waiting
Chapter 20: Dust on the Wind
Chapter 21: Listen to the Wind
Chapter 22: A Path Chosen
Chapter 23: Wolfbrother
Chapter 24: Flight Down the Arinelle
Chapter 25: The Traveling People

So there you go. If you can stand to listen to my voice reading things for hours, then….there you go.

It’s a question I’ve been asked several times, mostly on Twitter. The explanation is longer than 140 characters, and would take multiple tweets to answer. Also, given the transient nature of tweets, I’d have to retype in case someone else asks.

So here’s my tutorial for how I capture audio for use as clips on podcasts/netcasts.

First of all, I use Audacity to grab audio clips. If you don’t have Audacity yet, for some reason, grab it, it’s a free download, and a great program.

Anyway, set Audacity’s audio input to Stereo Mix. Look for the microphone icon on the menus along the top.

Now, the screenshot I have has “SigmaTel Audio: Stereo Mix”. That simply refers to my soundcard settings. The dropdown list for microphone settings in Audacity should reflect your computer’s soundcard settings, but “Stereo Mix” should be there somewhere. Stereo Mix is what you are looking for. Stereo Mix tells Audacity that it should record whatever audio your soundcard is playing.

Now just load up the video you want to grab video from. It could be a video you have on your computer, which you play in VLC, KMPlayer, whatever. It could be from YouTube. Whatever, just load a video and get it ready to play.

Got that ready? Now, before you hit play on the video file, you need Audacity to start recording. Switch back over to Audacity, and hit the record button.

Good, with that taken care of, go back to your video and hit play.

Now, for longer videos, if you’re looking for a certain clip, just skip ahead to wherever the clip you’re looking for is, and let the video play. Once you have the audio you want, pause or stop the video, go back to Audacity, and stop recording.

There, you’ve got the audio you wanted there in Audacity. From here you can trim down the selected audio to what you specifically want. Two ways to do that, both require you to highlight your desired audio. Just click at one end of that bit of audio and drag to the end. Either hit CTR+T to trim it, or go to File and choose Export Selection.

There you go, that’s how I grab audio and make audio clips for use on podcasts, specifically those that I use on Marble Operator. Hope that helps!

A note: should nothing appear in the microphone settings in Audacity (either in the menu bar or in the main window for preferences (just hit CTRL+P in Audacity)), check the audio settings in Windows itself.

I know, I know, that’s Windows XP, not Windows 7 or 8, but it’s what I am using. What you’re doing is the same: check the audio input, to see if Windows itself has anything listed. You should see your soundcard listed, at least the drivers listed. (In that screen, you see AK5370, that’s my USB mic)

UPDATE: A much easier solution to this problem is to install the Easy YouTube Video Downloader add-on for Firefox. Once done, simply choose the “MP3 (128k)” download option.

Direct Download

DarthSkeptical was the guest host for last night’s Friday Night Trivia, the 61st edition of that series. At the start of the show, Darth introduced a change to his formula of doing questions. Instead of just waiting for someone to either correctly guess a question or for everyone to just give up, he sped up the process by giving everyone one guess to each question. Should everyone guess incorrectly (or if it just seemed that everyone was stumped by a particular question), Darth would call time on that question and introduce multiple choice answers, and everyone would have to type in their choice in the chat room.

I quite like this change to what had been the standard formula. This eliminates all the dead air that we usually end up getting during trivia shows (and what, in effect, makes the recordings so unlistenable, in my opinion). This also speeds up the shows quite a bit.

Definitely a welcome improvement to the trivia shows, and one that I’ll be implementing whenever I host.

Here’s the playlist for Radio Free Caemlyn episode 39 for 23 February, 2012

Set 1
Mega Man 4 Let The Be Light OC ReMix
Rooftop Run Act 1 (Sonic Generations) – Tomoya Ohtani
Final Fantasy Trancelude OC ReMix

Set 2
Donkey Kong Country Permutation OC ReMix
Dragon Warrior Thou Art a DJ OC ReMix
Zelda (Techno Remix)
Koopa’s Road – Super Mario 64

Set 3
City Escape Act 1 Sonic Generations
Legend of Zelda Abandon Theme (Techno Remix)
Banjo-Kazooie Malevolent Mansion OC Remix
Muda Kingdom theme – Super Mario Land
Wizards & Warriors Theme OC Remix

Set 4
Cave Dungeon – Super Mario 64
Kirby’s Dream Land 2 Breakbeat Forest OC Remix
Green Hill Zone Act 1 Sonic Generations
Zelda Link’s Awakening It’s My Turn to Dream OC Remix
Sonic Generations End Roll Medley 2

Last night I resumed somethng I used to do with Radio Free Caemlyn, back before Friday Night Trivia became the main thing that podcast is known for. Following on from the news that MonotoneTim will be hosting his own radio show on his Uni’s radio station, I thought back to what I had once been doing with Radio Free Caemlyn, when I would host impromptu live shows, with a mix of music sets and discussion on various topics. I never had a set schedule for those, I’d just do one whenever I felt like.

Well, I thought, why not bring that old format back? Why not resume what I used to do, only this time have a set schedule for these? So last night, on my test channel on TalkShoe (it’s a secret to everyone), I hosted a live show, playing sets of video game music (I find that works best with these shows) and discussing myriad topics. I now have that recording up on the proper RFC feed in case you want to give it a listen.

Now, several issues come to mind when dealing with this idea: it’d be neat to have an audience for these live shows, but I’m not sure how to deal with callers, should people want to call in and join me on the air. Whenever I’m on the air with someone, I feel that music is an intrusion, so if I have callers on the air with me, I’ll hold off on playing sets of music. Unless they’re okay with that, and we’re at a break in the discussion anyway.

That’s the main thing, which I guess I just resolved anyway. Then there’s the other thing, that being audio quality. It’d be nice to enjoy the music, but audio through TalkShoe is very compressed. I’d like to have clear audio, so the music sounds the best. I’ll look into alternative methods of streaming, to get that higher audio quality, but whatever I find that way won’t be done live via TalkShoe (sure, the recordings will (hopefully) be uploaded to the RFC feed).

But it’s all about the audio quality, and what TalkShoe provides just is not up to what I want.

Hope to see you on the next live show. I’ll try to do these each Thursday night, 9-11pm eastern time, TalkShoe ID 72402.

As a fan podcast of Marble Hornets, Marble Operator only really has discussion topics when MH is presenting new entries. Marble Hornets’ second season concluded late last year, and the podcast has thus gone on hiatus, after having a roundtable discussion on how the second season concluded. Marble Operator’s return has been dependent on Marble Hornets’ return. Looking at the @marblehornets twitter feed, as well as OoG information, it looks like MH may be resuming sometime soon. J is actively investigating the whereabouts of Tim, and finding some interesting details.

So, with the third and final season of MH nearly upon us, MO is going to come out of hiatus. Join Rand, KissofJudas, other panelists and guests this Tuesday evening, 14 February, at 10pm eastern, at TalkShoe ID 112081, for a live episode, as we discuss the latest from the MH twitter feed, and give our thoughts as to how we expect season three to open, and what we hope to see in Entry #53.

After that live episode, we’ll see how things go with MH itself to decide on additional live episodes. At most, MO will probably remain a once-weekly podcast, though.

Anyway, that’s the latest on the Marble Operator podcast! Hope to see you at the next live show.

Radio Free Caemlyn’s series of Friday Night Trivia shows has been back on the air for a while, now, and I started doing something new with the format upon its return. Well, it was not entirely unprecedented in the show’s history, as I had done this a couple times previous. Anyway, Friday Night Trivia now does guest host editions!

This has been going on for quiite a while now, but I thought I would finally write up an article describing this idea. You see, I had been the only host for trivia, and the only one writing material. I eventually thought, wouldn’t it be a fun idea to let other people have the chance to write up their own material and host? I shouldn’t be the one having all the fun, and besides, my routines for hosting, for coming up with material, were probably becoming well known and old. The show needed something new and this would be that new thing.

I started this off by deciding that whoever won that particular week would have the chance of being the guest host for the following week. DarthSkeptical was the winner that week, and he indeed chose to host. It has gone on from there, each week the winner has the opportunity to host the following week. An ongoing thing now is whether or not I manage to win back my show, which I’ve managed to a couple of times. A few weeks back, I did win, and was finally back in the host position. Besides DarthSkeptical, guest hosts have included show regulars The6thDoctor, CharlieP79, and DaveAC.

So there you go, the new direction of Friday Night Trivia, with guest hosts. It’s always fun to see what guest hosts come up with. Feel free to join in a live show, Friday nights at 9pm eastern time, at TalkShoe ID 72402, and you might win.

I’m nearing a point with my latest podcast, Marble Operator, where I’m going to have to change up the format, and I’d like some suggestions as to what do do once I reach that point.

The current format for Marble Operator includes a recap of previous entries.  We’ve gone from Introduction and Entry #1 and will be going up to Entry #48.  Previous episodes have seen us discuss subsequent entries in the news segment (Entry #49 was the first to be posted since the beginning of the podcast’s live episodes), so there’s no need to go over those entries a second time.  (Same goes for totheark’s replies since Sidenote)

So the question becomes, what to do on the podcast once we’ve reached that point?  What do we spend the episodes doing?  We can analyze different characters, discuss different theories for the story, and so on.  Or we could do whatever you, the fans, suggest.  If you have a suggestion, feel free to leave a comment.

Once we’ve discussed all the entries, I might cut down on the frequency of new episodes, and switch to just once a week, on Tuesday nights. 

As for things I’m planning, it would be fantastic if we could get the Marble Hornets guys themselves (Troy, Joseph, and Tim) on the podcast for an interview.  I’ll definitely be investigating that possibility, but I know how busy they are with University and work, and the series itself.  Perhaps we can talk with them during the break between seasons two and three.

Anyway, just wanted to update you guys on the state of things for the podcast.  I’d like to thank KissofJudas for joining as a co-host, and all the myriad people who show up every now and then, including Tycho, Werebuffalo, and everyone else.

Looks like Arclad84 and his folks are in a rough spot, financially. To help out, Arclad84 is streaming some video games this weekend and seeking donations to help make ends meet. If you can’t donate, please help spread the word.

Hear me talk about this.

Details from his YouTube posting:

Details about the Donation stream here: http://arcladsblog.wordpress.com/2011/09/26/info-for-upcoming-donation-stream/

List of games I have available to choose from: http://arcladsblog.wordpress.com/2011/08/20/list-of-games-for-streaming/

Download link for this video to mirror: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=I3F8R99J

Link to the stream: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/arclad-s-stream

Arclad’s channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/arclad84

A video will be posted before going live on Friday. Hope to see you guys this weekend. Thanks so much!

For a long time, now, I’ve been wanting to do my own gaming marathon for charity. Watching various other groups (the Mario Marathon guys, LoadingReadyRun, ExtraLives, PowerGlove, Rupeethon) do their marathons has inspired me to do my own. It looks fun, yet I realize there is a lot of hard work that goes on behind the scenes.

Several problems have hindered my progress, including the fact that I have no friends nearby. Most of my friends are off at Uni (the fall semester began today, actually), or they are off at other cities living their lives. I stay in contact with them as best I can, though. Either way, I need other people to help out with this, as doing a gaming marathon solo is a horrible idea that should never be attempted.

Then there’s other things that need to be sorted, such as hardware and software necessary to broadcast the marathon. I have everything needed for that. I’ve been practicing using the software, with my Let’s Plays and occasional live streams, so I can handle that.

(Maybe I could talk with friends in the gaming club at my Uni, and work something out. I’m sure some of the guys there would be happy to help with something like this)

So let’s say I’ve got friends agreeing to help, and I’ve got the hardware/software side sorted. The next step is to decide on a theme; what games will I be playing during the marathon? I could go with a single franchise, as many other marathons have done (I’m now watching Rupeethon 2: Skyward Rope, and they’ve been playing Legend of Zelda games), or I could go with separate games that share a theme (ExtraLives is doing a Bootleg Bonanza marathon this coming weekend). What could I do? What franchises haven’t had marathons focused on them? This requires quite a bit of research. First, find a franchise to work with (or a unifying theme), then look through the list of games in that franchise.

That’s not saying I’m doing a Kirby marathon. There are plenty of other options, or I could do a minithon of something like…multiplayer Minecraft, or Terraria. The options are plenty.

After the theme is chosen, then I need to work on scheduling. What would be a good timeframe to do the marathon that would work with the schedules of everyone involved? I want the people playing and participating on-screen to have time set aside from their jobs, classes, whatever so the marathon can proceed with as few problems as possible. This is something else that requires a lot of chatting back and forth.

Then, not necessarily the last step, but must be decided at some point: which charity will my marathon benefit? Among the gaming marathons I’ve watched, the most common charity is Child’s Play. That’s an obvious choice, as that charity was founded by the Penny Arcade guys, and deals with buying games and toys for sick kids in hospitals. I don’t have to do a marathon benefiting them, it’s just an obvious choice. ExtraLives has taken to doing marathons that benefit Free the Children, lately. I’ll probably do my charity to benefit Child’s Play, but choosing another charity would certainly help my marathon to stand out from the crowd.

Okay, let’s assume I have all of the above sorted out. Friends to help run the marathon. Hardware and software to broadcast the marathon. A theme for the marathon. A charity that the marathon will benefit. What does that leave?

Then I need to find a physical location to hold the marathon. A place where friends and I, those running the marathon, can hang out without interruptions, for however long the marathon ends up going (let’s say three days, or 72 hours). A place where I can monitor the Internet connection, the hardware, the software, and keep as many distractions from the broadcast as possible, at all hours of the day.

After all of this, I’d need to figure out how I’d interact with people watching. Obviously, there’s the chat on UStream or Justin.tv, but would I have any incentive for people to continue watching? Sure, the interaction would be good, but pretty much every gaming marathon I’ve watched has offered prizes for viewers. What sort of prizes would I offer? Obviously, the prizes should match the marathon’s theme; it’d be a bit weird to offer, say, Legend of Zelda-themed items for a Minecraft minithon. Either way, I’d need to obtain said prizes and work out some way of offering them. Some I would award via twitter drawings, others by donation raffles.

That’s a fairly complete list of everything I need to figure out for my gaming marathon. If you have anything to add, or if you’d like to help out in some capacity, leave a comment, and we’ll get in touch.