I hate when technology doesn’t work

Well, technology failed me tonight in many ways. John (Braun) and I went to record our latest podcast, and John’s cable modem was out due to a lightning storm. We use Skype to do the audio portion of our podcast (which, of course, is a key element!), and without a cable modem, we were in trouble. We tried using a dial-up connection, but there simply wasn’t enough bandwidth to support a Skype call properly. Then I looked over and saw this review copy of Phone Valet from Parliant. They sent it to me touting that it could be used for podcasting. Simply make a phone call, record the call, and you’re good to go. Sounded almost too good to be true but, what the heck. I plugged it in, read as little of the manual as possible, and recorded a few test calls with John. This would fly. So we fired it up and proceeded to gab as only John and I can for nearly 30 minutes. Then I hung up and went to grab the audio. This time, though, the file never got “finished” by the software. I have the raw data — of that I’m certain — but it’s in their proprietary temp file format and I can’t extract it to save my life (or, more appropriately, that of this week’s podcast!). I’ve e-mailed the kind folks at Parliant, and hopefully they’ll have an answer for me in the morning, but until then, no show. 🙁

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