Geekin' Out on Vacation

Hello All,

Vacation at Macworld Expo 2007
I've just returned from Macworld Expo in San Francisco and had a blast! I must say that it was a continuous series of surprises. I'm not talking about the technology that I saw, but the people that I met or saw. The first experience was a brush with Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple Inc. and the largest shareholder of The Walt Disney Company. I was on my way to watch a presentation at a particular booth when I happened to walk right through a group of people in black clothes and looking at me suspiciously. When I finally stopped to look at what was going on, I quickly saw why. Steve Jobs was walking the floor and his entourage was making sure he had a halo of protection surrounding him. I had just become a potential threat without knowing it. Realizing what I had just done, I pulled out my video camera and shot some video. I officially became one of the paparazzi. Later I also walked right past Robin Williams and shot some video of Bob Weir, the founder of the Grateful Dead (Now that guy's got some stories!).

One of my big highlights was meeting Leo Laporte at a gathering of podcasters at the Apple Store in downtown. We chatted briefly, and he was as gracious as he appears on his numerous programs. He was one of my inspirations to eventually begin podcasting. He convinced me of the importance and power possible in this technology. If you look at my "Whos Been Visitng Recently" section below, you will be amazed at the breadth of reach just my simple podcast has. Thanks Leo!

This was not a vacation of rest. No! I was busy the whole time feeding my geek-addiction. Help me Obi Wan Kenobi... er, uhm... Obi Steve Jobobi, you're my only hope. I'm a Macaholic and I'm working throug the "twelve steps." Additionally to walking all day long, I spent my evenings with my mom, her new husband, and creating a three-part video of my experiences. I called myself the "SQPN Roaming Catholic Reporter." You can go to the St. Anthony's Podcast page and check them out or if you don't have Quicktime, Fr. Roderick (Godfather of the SQPN) has posted them on YouTube (Check out Video 1, Video 2, or Video 3)

As far as technology is concerned, I was very impressed at the ease of use and power that Apple has designed into their new cell phone, currently called the iPhone. I say currently as there is a new lawsuit being leveraged against them for the use of the name. Time will tell what will happen. I am not likely to get one until they create a device for Verizon's network. The other cool device is the AppleTV. It will allow folks to stream and download movies, music, TV shows, and other content to your TV wirelessly from your computer's internet connection. How cool is that?

AppleTV and the Faith
With the advent of the AppleTV (works on both Mac and PC's), video content from podcasts will finally be able to enter into the living room and TV's of people's homes. The Starquest Production Network (SQPN), a Catholic network of podcasters and videopodcasters, of which I am one of their many content contributors, hopes to be a major presence in this area of video content so that more people will be able to grow in their faith through such technology. Both the Rosary Army, the Catholic Minute, and Catholic Insider have videos already made for this emerging . Part of the vision is to produce a variety of content. Not just religious, but also about topics surrounding entertainment, technology, and special interests. That way, the content will be more varied and attract folks who would not otherwise approach the faith. Please keep us all in your prayers, and keep you eyes and ears ready for news things to come!

St. Anthony's Podcast and RSS Feed
Each time I add a reflection to this web page, there is no way for folks to know if there is a new one or not. they simply have to keep coming back to see if there is something new. I am currently working on a solution to that. If you have the latest version of your web browser, chances are it can handle the subscription potential present in what is called RSS or Really Simple Sindication. Basically, an RSS feed or web page with an RSS feed allows the user to "subscribe" to that web page and be notified when something new comes up. The web pages in RSS are generally very simple without much graphics, thus the "really simple" part. If you would like to subscribe to this blog, you can now go to http://frbillblog.blogspot.com/ and you can both read and subscribe to this blog.

Blessings in Christ,

Fr. William Holtzinger
Pastor