FTL request

[KBCraig]

Hey, Ian... I know you guys are really busy, and work really hard getting three hour shows out six days a week.

But I've got a request. Consider it "consumer feedback".

Since you went to all three hour shows, and put all three hours into a single podcast, it's a lot more difficult to find time to listen to the shows. I read the info on each show, and often there are several topics I want to hear, and several I don't.

The problem is finding those topics in a three hour broadcast. There might be five topics in the space of 15 minutes, while another topic takes a full hour. I wind up guessing and listening, then skipping forward or back, trying to find the part I want to hear. Or give up, and delete the episode.

So, here's the request: can you include a time marker for each segment? Something like this: "0:00 Topic 1 / 4:56 Topic 2 / 23:18 Topic 3 ... ", etc.

Pretty Please? It would make listening to the podcasts much easier, especially when I want to replay a particular segment for someone who would be interested.

Kevin

[aries]

This would be nice... I usually end up skipping through the podcast to get close, then just listen

[FTL_Ian]

I'm so time challenged.. when I'm describing shows I just want to be done with it.  Wiki users are free to enter that kind of detail though!

http://wiki.freetalklive.com

[KBCraig]

I'm so time challenged.. when I'm describing shows I just want to be done with it.

I know you are. But I figured that the .mp3 "info" field gets filled out by either listening to the show, or by keeping notes as the show progresses. Either way, it would be easy to note the time of each segment.

Of there's the other alternative, going back to A/B/C hours, so it's easier to find a segment within each hour, than within three hours.

I'm not trying to add to your burden. When you're making millions as a national pod/broadcasting powerhouse and internet mogul, you'll have potential interns begging to do slave labor for you, and you can have them properly annotate everything, including archives.

[d_goddard]

This topic was beat to death on the FTL BBS back when they went to single-mp3 format.
Since I figured out how to work an iPod (it was not intuitive, no matter how rich Steve Jobs is), I like the new format just peachy.

[FTL_Ian]

The show is described by me going through afterwards and jumping through the program, and jotting down what I hear.  Finding exact cue points would be very time consuming.  Some topics stop and start, some continue through the whole show.

18 hours a week is a lot of listening.  I won't feel bad if you can't consume it all.

[KBCraig]

The show is described by me going through afterwards and jumping through the program, and jotting down what I hear.  Finding exact cue points would be very time consuming.  Some topics stop and start, some continue through the whole show.

I know, which is why it can be frustrating trying to find a segment. (Just FYI, I usually lag behind several days. I know about the topics by reading the forums, but I like to go back and hear how it was discussed when the topic was new.)

Okay, so precise cue points is asking a lot. Maybe just some rough guesses? Put me within 10 minutes, and I can list at 2x until the relevant topic comes up.

18 hours a week is a lot of listening.  I won't feel bad if you can't consume it all.

Thanks. 

The reason I made the request, is that I'll spend 45 minutes to an hour each week, finding the 2-3 hours I wind up listening to.

But it's all good.

Kevin

[Dan]

It really is something for the wiki, and it was being done for awhile.

It's hard to keep up.  Ian does a hurculean job, personel, promotion, radio, podcast, advertisers, listenters, phone lines, maintenance...

...posting a bajillion times here and other boards, writting for HoT. 

A better question: what's the best mp3 player for handling long streams? 

I can tell you my creative nomad SUCKS.  Hit the wrong side, and BAM!: you have no idea where in three hours of what program you were just on.  And don't even THINK about adding a track to an existing in-queue playlist, or the device will lock next power down.  Also, if you stop a program, it starts from the beginning.

What it really needs, I guess, is photoshop-esque 'UNDO'.

[d_goddard]

what's the best mp3 player for handling long streams? 

I'm loving my iPod.
Hold the middle button down for ~2 seconds and you get a timeline of the .mp3.
You can then scroll to the exact desired point. It does a great job of starting slow and then speeding up; it can get to any point in the nearly 2-hour AMP podcast within seconds.

[KBCraig]

I don't even have an .mp3 player. I use iTunes.