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NA-317-2011-06-30 
No Agenda Show for Thursday June 30th 2011
Blood and Treasure
Direct link to the mp3 file
Blood and Treasure
Executive Producers: Dame Francine Hardaway, Justin Seitz, Nate Mayer
Associate Executive Producers: Eric Mitch, S. Russel Williams,
333 Club Members: Justin Seitz, Nate Mayer, Sir Stefan Springer
Become a member of the 318 Club, support the show here
PR
Art By: Rob Shepard
ShowNotes Archive of links and Assets (clips etc) 317.nashownotes.com
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An interview with Dr. Curt Stager, Author of 'Deep Future' 
Dr. Curt Stager is a paleo-climatologist who hates science being used as a weapon in the never ending climate change debate. We had a great chat about the next 100,000 years on earth and all the partying we can do :-) I highly recommend his book for believers and deniers alike.
Buy a copy of Dr. Curt's book in multiple formats on Amazon
This video has been rotated and formatted to fit a non smart-phone screen, it is best viewed in the free Big App Show app.
To view more interviews, app and book reviews, get the Big App Show app for free on Android and iPhone
You can also subscribe to the podcast feed on your mobile device.
Access this page directly at curtstager.bigbookshow.com
Jerry Brown Wants To Kill My Business I'd heard rumblings about this, but now Amazon is bringing it home with a notice I just received in my Inbox.
Grated, their subject line is written specifically to entice people like me, who make a (partial) living from affiliate sales, to get riled up, as they aren't actually terminating my agreement, just threatening to do so if the taxation law goes into effect.
I interview authors of books, best sellers, pulitzer prize winners. Why do they come on my show? Because there aren't a lot of outlets for authors. It's hard for some of the lesser known writers to get in front of an audience. The amazon book store is perfect in conjunction with the Big App Show for direct access to buying their work immediately. I receive a percentage of those sales. An additional tax will hurt.
I'm reseraching what Governor Brown is doing here, so I can be better informed about Amazon's claims of unconstitutionality, but I feel pretty taxed as it is in this state. From 'Use fees' to almost 10% sales tax, 10% income tax and outrageous utility bills, it's becoming unliveable here.
Of course Amazon doesn't have to pull the plug on the associates program, but if I find that their constitutional claim has merit, I will stand by them.
Regardless, it's tIme to start looking for another state. Too bad, I'll miss the weather.
(post script) More information on the bill here
Ken Rockwell explains the issue of 'Advertising fees' in detail.
The Amazon notice is below:
All Talk, No Commercials, No Agenda This is a follow-up post to my piece about transitioning the No Agenda Stream to an All Talk / Podcast format.
The switch has been flipped!
On Saturday, rotation of music was replaced with an all talk programming lineup. The response has been very encouraging, with a lot of positive comments and great new ideas coming in every day.
A big part of this switch is techinical. Pre-Flip, we were using a rather ingenious combination of shared dropboxes and human resources (I'm looking at you enlightenMEnt :-) to manage a 24/7 mix of music as selected and 'dropped' by the audience.
Post-Flip, the audience is still providing the programming, only now it's a mix of very short, approximately 5 minutes, to longer form, up to an hour, of mainly spoken word. I've been amazed at the variety of topics and voices that are now being broadcast globally on the stream. Really great entertaining stuff to listen to.
Under the hood, we are using a feature of Dave Winer's Blork system that was 'hidden in plain site'. Each contributor to the No Agenda News Network, only has to click the 'enclosure' button, select an mp3 file they have recorded, add a title and description, and the file is uploaded to a large safe storage bucket, and automatically downloaded from the feed into the stream's automation system. The automation software looks in a single folder (screenshot) for new content and knows when and how to schedule it for playback.
As more contributors to NANN find 'their voice', more shows will come on line.
This is of course only part of the equation. Hard work is now being done on setting up an 'Asterisk PBX' system, for live call-ins when big news is happening anywhere in Gitmo Nation, the N Agenda Community will be on the scene live. It also looks like people will be able to 'phone in' reports, that are recorded and again dropped into the automation system.
Teh next step will be to provide a page for each show on the stream, with information the producer can maintain, a handy and memorbale url as well as podcast subscription and playout features.
All this with very little editorial intervention or management. It's a big experiment for sure, but it feels like something new is happening with news (radio) again.
NA-316-2011-06-26 No Agenda Show for Sunday June 26th 2011
Adios, MOFO!
Direct link to the mp3 file
Adios, MOFO!
Executive Producers: Matthew Moss, Matt Koglin, Chris Ruddy, Russell Keller, Baron Steven Pelsmaekers, Janice Kang
Associate Executive Producers: Jeff Juniper
Executive Producers and 316 Club members: Matt Koglin, Chris Ruddy, Russell Keller, Baron Steven Pelsmaekers
333 Club Members:
Become a member of the 317 Club, support the show here
PR
Knighthoods: Matthew Moss, Chris Ruddy, Russell Keller
Art By: Nick the Rat
ShowNotes Archive of links and Assets (clips etc) 316.nashownotes.com
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An interview with Simon Lelic, Author of 'A Thousand Cuts' 
It's the show's first international Skype Video interview, this time with Simon Lelic in the UK, who has approached the topic of bullying in schools from an interesting angle in his novel 'A Thousand Cuts'
Buy a copy of Simon's book in multiple formats on Amazon
This video has been rotated and formatted to fit a non smart-phone screen, it is best viewed in the free Big App Show app.
To view more interviews, app and book reviews, get the Big App Show app for free on Android and iPhone
You can also subscribe to the podcast feed on your mobile device.
Access this page directly at simonlelic.bigbookshow.com
NA-315-2011-06-23 No Agenda Show for Thursday June 23d 2011
Agenda 21
Direct link to the mp3 file
Agenda 21
Executive Producers: Chris Ruddy, Francine Hardaway, John Schumann, Joshua Dilsaver, Steve Nogradi,
Associate Executive Producers: Sir Timothy Cavanaugh, Gary Kostalnic
333 Club Members: John Schumann, Joshua Dilsaver, Steve Nogradi
Become a member of the 316 Club, support the show here
Knighthoods: Francine Hardaway, John W. Schumann, Lawrence McBride
PR
Art By: Thoren
ShowNotes Archive of links and Assets (clips etc) 315.nashownotes.com
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An interview with Michael Resiman, Author of the 'Simon Bloom' Series 
What's a nice Jersey boy doing in La La Land? Well, writing books for ages 9 to 90. Michael Reisman's vivid imagination and strong characters brought out the 14 year old in me. We klatsched when he stopped by the studio last week.
Buy a copy of Michael's book in multiple formats on Amazon
This video has been rotated and formatted to fit a non smart-phone screen, it is best viewed in the free Big App Show app.
To view more interviews, app and book reviews, get the Big App Show app for free on Android and iPhone
You can also subscribe to the podcast feed on your mobile device.
Access this page directly at michaelreisman.bigbookshow.com
F**k NPR, Here Come the Streamers! I think I telegraphed my intentions for the No Agenda Stream on Sunday's show effectively, as quite a number of people have responded positively to the thought of changing from a predominately music format to News/Talk.
This piece is intended to explain the change and provide instructions on how to participate.
Background: I've been a radio host, producer and programmer for 32 years, most of my adult life. Although there are many variations, there are two main formats: Music and Talk. Radio is a real-time medium, although a lot of what you are hearing today on the mainstream airwaves is pre-produced and highly packaged. It is also innundated with commercials. It has become unlistenable.
Time to disrupt that.
For about a year now, the No Agenda Stream has been running 24/7 from my studio at the Hilltop WatchTower as an outgrowth of the live broadcast of the No Agenda podcast on Thursday and Sunday mornings.
It's been a very successful experiment. We learned how to create a complete 'open source' community driven and managed station, programmed by the listeners, which we call our producers.
We figured out how to allow people to create their own 'shows' and get them on the stream using dropbox. We understand how to switch to live programming with hosts strewn around the globe with skype. We have an awesome and robust chat environment that has become the real-time hub and feedback mechanism for everything on the stream and events happening around the world.
And now we're going to kick it up a notch.
A couple of events took place over the past week that brought on a lightning bolt of an idea. It started when I was stuck in traffic for an hour and a half. Unlike most people, I don't have a daily communte, but felt their pain when attempting to find something, anything interesting to listen to that wasn't constantly interrupted with advertising. I finally settled on NPR (National Public Radio) and even though I can enjoy listening to a lot of what I consider to be propaganda, even this so-called 'public broadcast network' interrupts their programming for 'a word from their underwriters, sonsors, advertising' ...whatever you want to call it. It's an interruption at regular intervals. And to be honest, I think what I read on local weblogs is better reporting than the 'news' they are transmitting.
There was also a lot of sabre rattling this past week from the government about throwing people who stream licensed content without paying for it in jail. Although I'm not too worried about being sent to the big house, if we want to be serious about marginalizing mainstream media (and I do) then we can't do it illegally. My pirate days are long gone and music programming isn't just competing with radio anymore. Personalized radio has come into its own with mp3 players and streaming companies like Pandora, who btw are losing their shirt in licensing fees, and still have to make money with ads.
My podcast partner John C Dvorak also wrote a seminal piece in his PC Mag column about internet streaming radio in devices, and how it needs to be simplified and the need for a podcast component to every live radio stream.
I also found myself listenig to the No Agenda stream in the car myself a few days later, Gx2 was being interviewed about his new album, and although there were a few tracks being played, it felt very different from a straight music based format, as he explained why he produced the tracks, what his inspiration was and the music itself became part of the interview.
That's about the time when it hit me. We are going all News/Talk, in a new and revolutionary way that only the No Agenda community can pull off.
First, a positioning statement. The No Agenda Stream will be: "All News, No Commercials and No Agenda"
We will change from using dropbox as our media distribution mechanism to using RSS.
Now for the tricky part. How do we make it entertaining enough that people will want to listen to it. The fact is you can't. No amount of programming and fun shows will entertain all of the people all of the time around the world. We are after all a 24/7 global society. I love the DH Unplugged financial podcast, and I'm sure people will be happy to drift in and out of listening to it when in the car, especially since it won't be interrupted by commercials and it's well produced, informative, and the hosts are interesting to listen to. But you aren't going to 'tune in' every weekday at a certain time to hear it. If you're that into it, we're going to help you get the podcast version of it. The stream will be something you know you can always tune in and be entertained and not barraged with crap.
But to really win, we have to become the go-to place when big events take place.
Think about your own actions. When big news happens, you probably turn on CNN and check out hashtags on twitter to get the latest updates.
That my friends, is the sad state of the news media. Believe it or not, that is actually CNN's entire business model. Fill up the airwaves with Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper and Joy Behar until the next big event hapens, that's when they get their ratings. And of course they will milk that for all it's worth, all the way through the 10th anniversary (!) specials of 9/11 we're about to be over-exposed to.
Of course CNN, like all corporate owned mainstream media is compromised. They won't bite the hand that feeds them, be it GE, or the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. Its probably even worse than it appears (ĒDave WIner).
So, how do we become the go-to place when big things happen? By being there, live, with our producers who live locally, our boots on the ground so to speak. We can do it, and have the technology. We'll break scheduled programming to get people on via skype and cellphones (thorugh skype-in or asterix). I don't care if they're only reporting on what the local media and their neighbors are saying, it's going to be better than the dribble and disinfo from CNN and 140 charachter "OMG" tweets on the social networks. Voice and sound also gives a lot more context than the written word in these cases.
Now, let's take this one step further.
You don't have to be an acclaimed journalist or skilled broadcaster to be an interesting voice on the stream. I'd give my left nut to hear 5 minutes from someone in Germany talking about the local reporting, news and feelings people have abou the e.coli scare in Germany, followed by someone who actually lives in Athenes and is witnessing the financial crisis first hand. Riots in Spain? I want to hear from a Barcelona 20 year old who can't find a job. Oil spill in the gulf of mexico? Heck, I'll even listen to entertainment news from someone who lives at Hollywood & Vine. No more canned crap from the mainstream, just real people, telling it how they see it. We don't have to win any peabody or pulitzers, just tell me how you feel. Read the top stories from YOUR newspaper. Pas on what YOUR neighbors are feeling.
It will be the first thing I listened to when I get up in the morning, guaranteed.
The voices don't have to be professional, in fact, I prefer them not to be. I want them to be real, authentic, genuine. The reporting may not be correct or fact checked, but it will be first hand, not filtered thorugh layers of editorial staff and cut off just when it gets interesting. And listeners will be able to cherry pick my favourites for podcast consumption if I wish.
All this can be automated, the technology is in place. It's time for RSS to revolutionize radio. And you're going to be a part of it.
If I still have your attention, here's what you need to do:
If you have a podcast, with an rss feed with enclosures (not an itunes feed!) and you're interested in having this programmed on the stream, then drop the link in the comments below. Please! No email and 'suggestions'. I don't have time to get clearances from people, contact the producers of the podcasts and point them to this piece.
Golden rule: No Commercials. We encourage people soliciting donations in their programming. It works. The No Agenda Podcast is proof, and we worked hard to get where we are today. You can succeed as well.
If you are one of the 150 people already posting stories on the No Agenda News Network, you are all set with a podcast feed (although you might not have known it). If you find yourself posting 3-5 links a day on the NANN, figure out how to record yourself on an mp3 file. It isn't that hard anymore and there's plenty of free software avaiable and people to teach you how to do it. Read the top 3 story headlines, give us your commentary, what you think is really going on. Make it short, 5 minutes or so. Next, create a post with a title and description and click the 'enclosure' button. Select your mp3 file and post as you normally would. The file will be automatically uploaded to a world wide accessibe server and even better, it will automatically be downloaded into the No Agenda Stream scheduling system for playout on the stream. Under your links menu is your feed, it is now podcast enabled!
If you don't have a podcast or an account on the news network, shoot me an email and I'll set you up with one.
I've learned that corner turns like this can be painful to some, but you can't progress without it. Look for the changes to start very soon, just as I look forward to building an awesome station with current and future members of the No Agenda Community!
NA-314-2011-06-19 No Agenda Show for Sunday June 19th 2011
Qaeda CEO
Direct link to the mp3 file
Qaeda CEO
Executive Producers: Sir "GQ" Nate "Dawgg" Mayer, Sir Dwayne Melancon
Executive Producer and 314 (pi) Club member: Sir Dwayne Melancon
Become a member of the 315 Club, support the show here
PR
Knighthoods: Sir "GQ" Nate "Dawgg" Mayer, Sir Taylor Stewart
Art By: Sir Nussbaum
ShowNotes Archive of links and Assets (clips etc) 314.nashownotes.com
New: Directory Archive of Shownotes (includes all audio and video assets used) nashownotes.com
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An interview with Annie Duke, Poker Star and Author of 'Decide to Play Great Poker' 
Annie Duke it without question the hottest poker player, in more ways than one. She drops by the studio to talk about her latest book, which as it turns out can help you not only be a great poker player, but a better parent as well! We also touch on Annies work as a business consultant and her latest project; an official Poker League.
Buy a copy of Annie's book in multiple formats on Amazon
This video has been rotated and formatted to fit a non smart-phone screen, it is best viewed in the free Big App Show app.
To view more interviews, app and book reviews, get the Big App Show app for free on Android and iPhone
You can also subscribe to the podcast feed on your mobile device.
Access this page directly at annieduke.bigbookshow.com
NA-313-2011-06-16 No Agenda Show for Thursday June 16th 2011
Hide Your Forks!
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Hide Your Forks
Executive Producers: Sir Larence Froncek, Ryan Lackey, Thies Arntzen
Executive Producers and 313 Club members: Ryan Lackey, Thies Arntzen
333 Club Member: Sir Larence Froncek
Associate Executive Producers: Sir Craig Jones, Daniel Collins
Become a member of the 314 (pi) Club, support the show here
PR
Knighthoods: Sir Craig Jones
Art By: Thoren
ShowNotes Archive of links and Assets (clips etc) 313.nashownotes.com
New: Directory Archive of Shownotes (includes all audio and video assets used) nashownotes.com
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NA-312-2011-06-12 No Agenda Show for Sunday June 12th 2011
Illegal in Tennessee
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Shownotes at noagendaworld.com
Illegal in Tennessee
Executive Producers: James Howard, Norman McDonough, Joseph Frost, Baron Steven Pelsmaekers
Executive Producers and 312 Club members: Joseph Frost, Baron Steven Pelsmaekers
333 Club Members: James Howard, Norman McDonough
Associate Executive Producers: Guava Tools, Sir Ara Dedarian, Dr. O.
Become a member of the 313 Club, support the show here
PR
Knighthood: Norman McDonough
Art By: Kosmo
ShowNotes Archive of links and Assets (clips etc) 312.nashownotes.com
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Designing the World Outline 
I am working on a post about Dave Winer's World Outline project. It's the best thing since sliced bread.
It is taking me more time than I anticipated in explaining it. Luckily, it's use has simplified my information management life down to a single file. One single file that I use to create and manage all my websites, domain names and information flow between other people. You can look at that file here.
Now, the real beauty is that it separates style from content. I can create, manipulate and manage my web based information flow, and other people, with talent, can design around it.
Nigel Ewan gets major props for his design of the latest No Agenda fundraising initiative; the official Podcast License. Here's Nigel's.
Nigel sent me a link to a CSS stylesheet he created, I link it into my world outline file and presto! Pure Magic.
An interview with Don Cambou, author of "The Crystal Point of the Mog Pogs" 
Don Cambou is well known for his years of television production work. His debut novel is the first in a trilogy suitable for ages 14 to 114. He is in the studio to talk about the book and his career.
Buy a copy of Don's book in multiple formats on Amazon
This video has been rotated and formatted to fit a non smart-phone screen, it is best viewed in the free Big App Show app.
To view more interviews, app and book reviews, get the Big App Show app for free on Android and iPhone
You can also subscribe to the podcast feed on your mobile device.
Access this page directly at doncambou.bigbookshow.com
NA-311-2011-06-09 No Agenda Show for Thursday June 9th 2011
Holy e-Coli Batman
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Shownotes at noagendaworld.com
Holy e-Coli Batman
Executive Producer: Sir Clancy Childs
Associate Executive Producers: Michael Bowling, Maria Rita Ferreira
Become a member of the 312 or 333 Club, support the show here
Knighthood: Daniel Huttner
Art By: Monsieur Pierrey
ShowNotes Archive of links and Assets (clips etc) 311.nashownotes.com
New: Directory Archive of Shownotes (includes all audio and video assets used) nashownotes.com
The No Agenda News Network- noagendanewsnetwork.com
An interview with Rye Barcott, author of 'It happened on the way to war' 
Rye Barcott has written a beautiful book about his life as a marine in Iraq while simultaneously running an NGO in Africa. He joins me in the studio to discuss his amazing life and book.
Buy a copy of Rye's book in multiple formats on Amazon
This video has been rotated and formatted to fit a non smart-phone screen, it is best viewed in the free Big App Show app.
To view more interviews, app and book reviews, get the Big App Show app for free on Android and iPhone
You can also subscribe to the podcast feed on your mobile device.
NA-310-2011-06-05 No Agenda Show for Sunday June 5th 2011
Hail the Foot
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Shownotes at noagendaworld.com
Hail the Foot
Executive Producers: Gary Lader, Sir Stefan Springer
Executive Producers and 310 Club members: Sir Stefan Springer
333 Club Member: Gary Lader
Associate Executive Producers: Kellman T Meghu, Jamey Stubblefield
Become a member of the 311 Club, support the show here
Knighthoods: Stefan Springer, Mark Keulen, Jared Forrester, Jason Stevens
Art By: Silicon Spin
ShowNotes Archive of links and Assets (clips etc) 309.nashownotes.com
New: Directory Archive of Shownotes (includes all audio and video assets used) nashownotes.com
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NA-309-2011-06-02 No Agenda Show for Thursday June 2nd 2011
Syria Be Next
Direct link to the mp3 file
Shownotes at noagendaworld.com
Syria Be Next
Executive Producers and 309 Club member: Sir Jordi Ramirez, Sir Sander Hoksbergen
Associate Executive Producers: Emmanuel Losier, Random Hillbilly
Become a member of the 310 Club, or the 333 Club, support the show here
Knighthoods: Baroness Maggie Vincent of Virginia
Art By: Thoren
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A funny thing happened to me this morning. I witnessed a condition that I fear will become all too common in the universe of social networks.
I got disconnected.
I've seen this happen to (real world) friends and family on facebook. Their profile gets deleted, or suspended, or the facebook api isn't responding to their mobile client software and the world becomes a darker place.
When that connection to facebook dissapears, the victim literally looks like their crack dealer has moved, left no forwarding address and the city has run dry of alternative suppliers.
For the past couple months I've been a member of a private social network. Very small userbase, 6 or so. It has an interface I really like working in and although project based, I came to treat it in the same manner as the 'facebook heads'. It had a simple 'beep' when someone had updated their status.
I didn't reaize just how much it was a part of my life, how excited I got when one of my 'buddies' updated with new goodness for me to read and explore, until the sysop took down the system.
Although the sysop is completely in his right to do this, for any reason whatsoever, it really affected me.
I've been in a funk all day. Wondering what my pals are up to. Wanting to share work I've been doing. Alas, it is no more.
So I sulked for a bit, until I realized that this is actually the best thing that could have happened.
I made me realize that even of the sysop puts the system back online, I won't re-join. I don't want to feel this pain again. Even the idea that it could happen is uncomfortable
It isn't that I can't communicate with my buddies, I know who they are and how to reach them via email, skye and other means. We could start an email list if we wanted. What I miss about this network is the context of the projects we worked on in that interface.
This also applies to the whole 'friending' business. By requesting and receiving this form of authentication, you are immediately giving someone else the opportunity to cut you off when it suits them. A dollar please for every time I hear someone complain about being 'un-friended'. A similar "dude took my crackpipe" kind of vibe is "blocking" someone on twitter.
In my view, the beauty of social networks are about the people in your network and the context in which you communicate with each other.
I like the de-centralized 'follow' model better. RSS is of course a version of this, If you don't like what someone is saying, you can just decide to no longer listen to them. You also don't need anyone's permission to follow, and unless the entire internet goes down, there's no one to pull the plug. But it doesn't work very well with instantaneous updates, and the context of how feeds are rendered is all over the map.
The social network I want, has the update capabilities of a feedhose, the context of an outliner and the inclusion properties of the World Outline.
Now that's a social network I want to join.