Introduction & Call for Help

["Michael C. Urbanski" <michael c urbanski gmail com>]

Hi,

I'm Mike and I'll be experimenting with podcasting as a service this  
summer (see the attached for my GSoC application.)

It's a good sized project for the timeframe and covers several  
technologies (some of which I'm less than proficient with [CSS  
especially!])

If anyone could provide:
	
	1.  ***Light CSS / HTML design work for the Miro Guide extension.***
	2.  Hosting / system administration assistance while the Miro Guide  
extensions are being developed.
	3.  If there's anything that you'd like to work on, contact me and we  
can coordinate.

...I would gladly provide a stout mule.

In the interest of sharing too much:

IRC:  mcu
AIM:  mikeurbanski
GTalk:  At this address.
Blag:  http://mikeurbanski.blogspot.com/

Vimeo:  http://vimeo.com/user706903
Twitter:  http://twitter.com/mikeurbanski
Board Games:  http://boardgamegeek.com/collection/user/mikeurbanski?own=1&ff=1

GitHub Playground:  http://github.com/mcu


Should be fun,

~Mike

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\f0\b\fs32 \cf0 Title:  
\b0 Banshee & Miro Guide: BFF OR Podcasting as a Service OR Cloudcasting OR [BUZZWORD]-asting.
\b \
\
Abstract:  
\b0 Banshee should take advantage of web services (preferably AGPL'd) wherever it makes sense to do so. Given the web oriented nature of podcasting, podcasting as a service, and deep client integration make sense.
\b \
\
Description:\

\b0 \
\pard\pardeftab720\sl440\sa320\ql\qnatural
\cf0 I subscribe to a number of podcasts.\
I have a number of computers.\
I fundamentally dislike modern podcast clients.\
For each computer that I have, I maintain a separate list of podcasts. While methods of synchronizing podcast feeds between clients exist, most are cumbersome, forcing the user to keep everything up to date manually.\
This is silly.\
Last June, while blogging about Banshee 1.x's Last.fm support, Jorge Castro stated: \'93I think the deep integration with Last.fm is a sign of things to come.\'94 [42]\
I agree.\
I believe that Banshee should take advantage of web services (preferably licensed under the AGPL) wherever it makes sense to do so.\
Given the web oriented nature of podcasting, podcasting as a service, and deep client integration make sense.\
As Miro, Miro Guide and Banshee are Free Software, they make excellent playgrounds for such experimentation.\
The goal of this project to extend Banshee and Miro Guide to allow podcasts to be managed both on the web and through a client. [16]\
\'a0\
Users should be able to:\
\pard\tx220\tx720\pardeftab720\li720\fi-720\sl440\sa320\ql\qnatural
\ls1\ilvl0\cf0 {\listtext	1.	}Browse Miro Guide from Banshee...\
{\listtext	2.	}Manage podcast subscriptions on the web...\
{\listtext	3.	}Queue podcast downloads remotely via the web...\
{\listtext	4.	}Synchronize podcast metedata between multiple clients...\
\pard\pardeftab720\sl440\sa320\ql\qnatural
\cf0 \'a0\
\pard\pardeftab720\sl440\sa320\ql\qnatural

\b \cf0 Previous Experience relevant to this project:
\b0 \
I have hacked on Banshee and used its libraries in personal projects for over three years. I have experience with the Miro Guide development stack (Django [1.5 years], Python [1.5 years], and Apache [10 years] / MySQL [4 years].) In the last month I have become proficient with Miro Guide's custom ORM, sqlhelper.\
\'a0\

\b Outline your implementation strategy:
\b0 \
My strategy is to act on my plan, taking help wherever I can get it.\
\'93If we hit that bull's eye, the rest of the dominoes will fall like a house of cards. Checkmate.\'94[hut, hut, hut]\
\'a0\

\b Outline your plan to implement the functionality:
\b0 \
\pard\tx940\tx1440\pardeftab720\li1440\fi-1440\sl440\sa320\ql\qnatural
\ls2\ilvl1\cf2 {\listtext	1.	}{\field{\*\fldinst{HYPERLINK "http://4gifs.com/gallery/d/73087-1/WolfJJdotAM01.jpg"}}{\fldrslt \ul http://4gifs.com/gallery/d/73087-1/WolfJJdotAM01.jpg}}\cf0 \
{\listtext	2.	}Modify Miro Guide to allow users the option of maintaining subscription lists server-side and receiving feed updates directly from Miro Guide. (work in progress now. [http://github.com/mcu/aether/tree/master])\
{\listtext	3.	}Create a new Banshee extension that integrates w\\ the freshly minted Miro Guide services. (early prototype in progress.)\
{\listtext	4.	}Polish and extend the Migo library for use in the Banshee extension. (http://code.google.com/p/migo/)\
{\listtext	5.	}Integrate a Miro Guide web view into the Banshee extension using either WebKit# or Gecko#.\
{\listtext	6.	}A rather glaring omission in Banshee's 1.x series podcast plugin is the lack of a download manager. I would like to implement something akin to this: {\field{\*\fldinst{HYPERLINK "http://www.vimeo.com/1619239"}}{\fldrslt \cf2 \ul \ulc2 http://www.vimeo.com/1619239}}\
{\listtext	7.	}http://4gifs.com/gallery/d/55253-1/Diversify.jpg\
\pard\pardeftab720\sl440\sa320\ql\qnatural
\cf0 \'a0\
\pard\pardeftab720\sl440\sa320\ql\qnatural

\b \cf0 In your own words, describe what should be the acceptance criteria by the mid-term and final-term evaluations of your project.
\b0 \
By mid-term, objectives 1-3 should be met.\
By final-term, objectives 1-5 (and maybe 6) should be met.\
\'a0\

\b Confirm that you have read the rules of contributions at {\field{\*\fldinst{HYPERLINK "http://www.mono-project.com/SVN"}}{\fldrslt \cf2 \ul \ulc2 www.mono-project.com/SVN}}.
\b0 \
Yessum.\
\'a0\

\b Confirm that you will commit code at most on a weekly basis to have the code reviewed and discussed with your mentor.
\b0 \
Yessum.\
\
[42] - {\field{\*\fldinst{HYPERLINK "http://stompbox.typepad.com/blog/2008/06/banshee-10-is-1.html"}}{\fldrslt \cf2 \ul \ulc2 http://stompbox.typepad.com/blog/2008/06/banshee-10-is-1.html}}\
[16] - Sorry Miro, but I don't like using dynamic languages for desktop apps. Yeah I know C# has var and objects whose \'93static type is dynamic\'94 are coming in 4.0, but, it doesn't change anything. I'm sorry, it's not you, it's me. We'll always have list comprehensions.\
[hut, hut, hut] \'96 25 Star General Captain Major Brigadier Webelo Commodore 64, ladies man, and sexlexia survivor/spokesperson Zapp Brannigan.}