Dogear Nation » Podcast

So… I’ve you’ve been following my tweets then you know that over the holiday’s I’ve been studying to write an iPhone app. My goal is for the first app to be a Dogear-Nation application. I would love to hear what you would like that App to be like. I’ve got a few ideas:
1) RSS reader of the Dogear-Nation RSS Feed
2) Allow you to listen to the audio stream without having to download it via your podcatcher
3) Allow you to click thru to the links we talk about while the show continues to stream (take that apple for not allowing us to multi task)
4) Other ideas?

I have planned on using a lot of the code that Andy put together for the Dogear-Nation Dashcode Widget, but since only 25% of our audience uses a Mac, many of you may not know about it. How many of our listeners use an iPhone? Do we need to make it a web app so that it can be on the Android?

I’d love to hear your thoughts?

Thanks to the nice people at MOO and their magic printing machines, we now have a selection of Dogear Nation stickers to share with our friends and listeners.

Ooooh… ahh…. shiny….

We know that lots of folks listen every week, and we know that many of you are also awesome enough to tag great content for us to talk about in every show. We’re social – we’re on Facebook, we’re on Twitter, we’re on FriendFeed, we love to get comments here on the blog or via email.

We can never get enough feedback, though – so here’s the deal. We’ve got stickers and minicards to share with our friends, and this week we want to send a few to people who “delurk” or “decloak” and get more involved. We’ll pool the names of the folks who tag, comment, email and tweet us this week, and before the show in a couple of weeks (August 21st) we’ll apply complicated randomisation algorithms in order to select a few… let’s say that ten listeners who contribute will receive coveted Dogear Nation swag items[1].

What kind of feedback do we want? Anything you want to share about the show! Constructive criticism is accepted just as much as appreciative remarks. Let’s have some discussion around here. Here are a few ideas:

• what do you like about the show? what could we improve? what topics would you like us to talk more (or less) about?
• do you listen via the blog, via iTunes, or using another podcatcher? why do you choose that method?
• what would you like to see us add to the site? we’re revamping the About page (slowly!), what do you think we need to add over there?
• have you reviewed us on iTunes yet? let us know!
• how long have you been listening? how did you find out about the show?
• is there anyone you’d like us to have on / have back as a guest?
• do you tag for us yet? if not, why not?
• which is your favourite Michael? (obviously, there’s only one Andy, so it’s a given that he’s your overall favourite…)
• have you had a favourite show, joke, or bad impression done by one of the hosts this year?
• feel the need to tweet or blog about us to spread the word about what you think about the show? drop us a link to your content!

We’ll be monitoring the interwebs more closely than usual between now and a couple of hours before the show recording on August 21st, so do get involved. The only “condition”[2] is that we will need some way of contacting you should your name come up. This will probably be via Twitter or email from one of the hosts, so it will certainly help to leave a comment on the blog (you can include and hide your email address in the comment form) or follow us on Twitter (so we can DM you).

[1] The small print: not everyone will necessarily receive the same items. Be aware that these are simple and small tokens of our appreciation to our listeners, not items of massive value, although in 100 years’ time your children’s children will probably find they are worth… pennies.
[2] Additional conditions: this is not a Twitter hashtag spam contest, we are not #squarespace or #moonfruit. Unwrap before eating. Burn before reading. Now go away, or we shall taunt you a second time!

We are currently working to firm up our recording schedule for next year. As long time listeners know, we record on Friday, late afternoon Eastern US time, and I try to post the show on Sunday, giving us all time to enjoy time with friends and family on Saturday.

Having said this, I am wondering what is the best day for us to post the show? Do you like getting your Dogear-Nation fix on Monday morning in Australia and China? Do our European listeners enjoy it last on Sunday evening? Do you download it and listen to the show later in the week? Has Dogear-Nation become one of your sources for tech and 3D internet news? Or do you just enjoy listening to a small group of people geeking out?

Drop us a note, or better yet, comment on this post! We look forward to hearing from you.

Keeping up our mid-week blog postings, I thought I’d remind folks of a few ways to get in touch!

0. Keep tagging!

Dogear Nation is a show about things you find interesting on the web. Just keep tagging the news stories and sites you discover with ‘dogear-nation’ on del.icio.us and we’ll round up our picks every week.

… this one is so important, it comes outside of the five

1. Email us

Unlike Luis, we haven’t given up email completely! You can always drop us a line at dogearnation@gmail.com and let us know what you think of the show, comment on previous episodes, or tell us what you think we could be doing next. We love listener email!

2. Subscribe to (and comment on) the blog

You’re reading this already, so the chances are that you do follow the blog. Tell your friends about us, and remember you can leave us a comment here on the blog too – particularly if you want to comment on something we’ve said on the show. We try to post extra information and news here in between episodes, so it is worth following.

3. Tweet us…

We’re on Twitter. Follow us for news and updates.

4. Be a Facebook fan!

We now have a fan page on Facebook where you can also get updates, or share fan pictures. This is new, so we’re still working out what kinds of things to share over there – let us know if you have ideas. Oh, and be sure to share the page on your profile and with your Facebook friends to tell them about the show.

5. Watch the Kyte stream and talk to us during the show

It doesn’t run every week, but when we’re recording the show we’re sometimes streaming video live on Kyte, where you can watch the recording and chat to us. We’ll usually announce it on Twitter if we’re able to stream that week (another good reason to follow us on Twitter!)

Thank you so much for your support of the show. We always have a lot of fun creating it, and it’s entirely listener-driven. Keep tagging!

So this week, I will be posting two versions of the show, one in enhanced Podcast and one as a standard MP3 version. Please drop me a note and let me know what you think? Should we be keeping the Enhanced version (it is iTunes only) or is MP3 better, since it is more accessible by our listeners. I will still be creating the IBM Internal version as MP3 only.Michael Rowe

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