I submitted my podcast to iTunes, but haven’t gotten confirmation back. Is there another way people can get it in iTunes?

Any show, audio or video, with an RSS feed can be manually added to iTunes. When I record a Dear Cali Show, I release them in the GeekBrief.TV feed, but I also post them on this site, so if you wanted to, you could use this method to subscribe only to the Dear Cali feed, which of course, would make me sad. ;-)

1) If the site publishes their RSS feed, copy the link and move on to Step 2. If the site doesn’t publish their RSS feed on the site, you can usually guess it if they’re using a CMS (Content Management System) like WordPress or Blogger.

For WordPress sites, just add a “/feed” (www.dearcali.com/feed). For Blogger sites, it’ll either look like this: http://pixeloo.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default or like this: http://feeds.feedburner.com/BloggerBuster

2) Once you have the feed copied, open iTunes. Click on the “Advanced” menu, then choose “Subscribe to Podcast…”

3) You’ll get a blank box. Paste the RSS feed in the box, then click on “OK”.

Let it download the first show, and enjoy!

Can you help. We are using PodShow (MEVIO) to host our churches podcasts. We need to delete a podcast, can you help? How do you do this?

You can delete an episode of a show by following these directions:

1) The quickest way to delete an individual episode of your show is to go to your show’s profile (geekbrief.mevio.com). Make sure you’re logged in first!

2) Click on “Previous Episodes”. You’ll get a list of all the episodes in that feed.

You can delete an entire show on the MEVIO Network by following these directions:

1) Click on “Master Control”. This is where you manage all your shows’ content.

2) Click on the appropriate show in the “My Shows” section.

3) Choose “Show Info”, then “Delete Show”.

4) You’ll get a warning message asking if you’re absolutely sure you want to delete this show. Choose “I’m sure”, and your show will be no more!

I love showing my family recent photos using the slideshow feature in iPhoto. I like that it plays music along with the music, but I’m getting really sick of that same music over and over and over. Can I make it play music from my own collection?

Changing the slideshow music is super simple. In iPhoto, click on a Slideshow so it’s highlighted. In the bottom right corner, you see four buttons. Click on the black arrow.

These are your Slideshow Settings. Choose the “Music” tab, browse to the music you want to play during your slideshow, click “Save Settings”, and you’re ready to add mood to your photos.

On a side note, you can also turn off music entirely using these directions. Just uncheck the box marked “Play music during slideshow”.

What’s this TINY URL thing?

There are a few services, like TinyURL, that offer people the ability to shorten a URL. For example, if you have a URL that looks like this:

http://m.podshow.com/media/382/episodes/107500/hd-107500-04-10-2008.mp4

TinyURL lets you “beautify” it and make it look like this:

http://tinyurl.com/5how2g

It’s helpful in a lot of ways, including when you’re posting a link to a service like Twitter and you only have 140 characters to work with.

I’m installing Drupal on my site and didn’t get very far before I ran into an issue. The tutorial on the Drupal website says I need to make sure my hidden files are visible before uploading to my server because apparently there’s one hidden file that’s very important in order to make sure everything works properly. I don’t see an option in the Finder menu. How do I do it? I’m on a Mac, by the way.

OS X hides files that begin with a “.”, for example “.htaccess”. These are hidden by default because it’s very important you don’t mess with them! If you promise not to edit these files, I’ll tell you how to make them visible.

Promise? Okay.

The quickest way to accomplish this is to type “Terminal” in Spotlight. In Terminal, type (or copy) this line:

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE
Hit “Enter”, then type
killall Finder

Open a new Finder window (don’t use one that was previously opened) and you’ll see your hidden files. Once you’re done with the files, it’s best to go back into Terminal and hide the files. Type:

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE
Hit “Enter”, then type
killall Finder

The difference is that you’re using “TRUE” to show the files, and “FALSE” to hide the files.

Is there any way to comment on the Qik website without having a camera/phone with Qik capabilities? I tried to sign up, but it wants to send the application to my phone. Also, how do Qik & Qik Devices work? Do you have to buy a data plan that’s separate from your iphone?

Qik is a live video streaming service. What makes Qik different than services like Ustream (I use both on a regular basis) is that it works on a mobile phone. It’s high quality video, up to 640×480, and you can stream using WiFi or on a cell network, like 3G. What I love about it is that it gives us the ability to share experiences with our friends (viewers, twitter network, etc) when we’re not lugging around our big camera.

The service is in the Alpha stage, meaning that they are letting a few people in at a time, while they test and test and test, and make sure that they can handle expanding on a large scale. That’s why you’re having trouble when you try to sign up. When I go live, everyone has the ability to chat, and those chats go directly to the phone we’re using to stream. In the alpha stage, the moment I stop streaming, comments are stopped, too.

Currently, Qik works only on Nokia N Series phones, so the phone and data plan are a separate cost than the iPhone plan. They’re working hard at making the service available on more phones.

Companies that are working so hard on their applications, like the Qik team, care about their users, so if there’s something you want, something you like, tell them!

Sometimes when I sync my iPod (6th Gen 80GB iPod Classic) I get messages that say a certain “podcast is not syncing because the video format is not supported by my iPod”. I don’t get it. Podcasts are designed for iPods I thought, so if the format is not compatible for an iPod, then what is it compatible for??? Is there a setting I need to change in my iPod/iTunes?

Podcasts use something called RSS feeds (Really Simple Syndication). RSS was designed to provide a way for people to get the entertainment and information you want, where you want it and when you want it.

iPods are just one of those ways to get your content. Podcasts can be formatted in a variety of ways, including iPods, Apple TV, iPhone, Zune, xBox, etc.

Some podcasts offer multiple feeds, some podcasts offer just one feed. For examples of different feeds, take a look at this page where I talk about the different options for watching GeekBrief.TV. The amount of feeds offered will depend on how the producer thinks their audience watches the show, and how much time they’re able to put into post production.

If a show offers only one option, and that doesn’t work on your iPod, you have a couple options. You could ask them to provide an iPod format, or you could take the format they provide and convert it using software.

iSquint is a great free option for getting files onto your iPod. Visual Hub is what I use for more flexibility. Windows users can use Videora.

Friends of the show are buying pixels at PaidByPixels.com to help support the trip. In addition, I’ve gotten several requests for a badge that people can use on their sites. Here you go! :)

It should link to http://www.bigtrip.tv. This is the HTML code:

<a title=”I Support The Big Trip!” href=”http://www.bigtrip.tv”><img src=”http://www.bigtrip.tv/assets/bigtripbadge.png” alt=”" width=”175″ height=”175″ /></a>

When I logged into Bonjour, Neal’s name appeared and I couldn’t find a way to change it, so I called Apple to find out what to do.  I figured some of you might like to know this, too.

The Bonjour information is populated from the Address Book. If a name shows up that isn’t the one you want, just change it from the Address Book, then log back into Bonjour, and you’re all set. Simple!

Dear Cali Formats
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Nokia N95| Nokia N800 (Upload in Progress)On this episode, I answer the following questions:

How do you change the location where screen captures save? Having them all on the desktop gets to be a mess!
Read the Answer
Video Screen Captures

What does it really mean to follow someone on Twitter? I don’t understand how people are keeping constant track of other people
Read the Answer
Cali on Twitter

With discount code “geekbrieftv”, you can get a Nokia N810 for 15% off. Lots of countries are participating. For a full list, click here. For more details on the promotion, click here.