1:00 AM
Paul B
Hello everyone, yes I realize it's been a while since the last time I wrote something. I have been real busy tracking down intermittent network issues at work, getting the kids and the house ready for Halloween, taking care of my wife's busted knee, and promoting my monthly video podcast Tech Chop. Speaking of Tech Chop, for those of you that watch the show, I have re-designed the layout of TechChop.com.
Since I host on Blogger for free, awesome, Google powered awesomeness, I was using a free Blogger template called Bloggertube which is made for video bloggers, and easily integrates your Youtube videos into your blog. Here is a screenshot of the Bloggertube template:
Pretty slick right? I thought so too until I got Tech Chop signed up with the Tech Podcast Network (TPN) which provides wider distribution, and they act as intermediaries for sponsorships. They also allow Tech Chop to be available on set top boxes like Roku and Boxee. I should say that Tech Chop is also on Youtube, and Blip.tv which also is available on those boxes. It's just another place you can find it :-)
Anyhoo, so since I signed up for TPN which automatically updates via my RSS feed, I started to notice that because of the way Bloggertube works, my RSS feed was looking screwed up. In order to integrate Youtube automagically, you have to enter some code into the regular blog post. Bloggertube then uses javascript to parse the code and grab the Youtube info. Well, the problem is that code shows up in the regular post in the RSS feed. I decided I had to find a different template, one that didn't look stupid in an RSS reader!
Well, after a few days of tweaking it's finally ready for prime time! Introducing the new and improved Tech Chop!
Along with the swanky new layout, I also finally broke down and signed up for Amazon S3 so I can take advantage of Amazon's CloudFront Content Delivery Network. I decided to go with a CDN because when i tried to watch Tech Chop via the TPN app on my new Boxee, it was really painful! It played fine in Youtube, but if I used TPN or my RSS feed directly, it was buffer city! With Amazon's CloudFront, i should be able to get you Tech Chop goodness on your big screen TV's smoothly!
Anyway, take a look at the new layout over at TechChop.com and let me know what you think in the comments!
del.icio.us tags: new, website, blogger, template, layout, tech chop
- Tech Podcast Network Adds Live Broadcast Booth, Expanded Presence at the 2011 Consumer Electronic Show
- How do you define a video podcast?
