AmeriNZ 339 – Winter ills

amerinz_podcast_1400x1400-2016This is a short episode, mostly to tell you about something special I did today. I’ll be sharing something on this podcast feed in a couple days. I also have some health updates, including that I had two winter colds. There are also a couple updates to what I talked about last time.

Be sure to Like the AmeriNZ Facebook Page for all things AmeriNZ!

There are several ways to send me an audio message—this earlier post lists them.

Links for this episode
I was a guest on ArcherRadio!


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AmeriNZ 338 – Still more changes

amerinz_podcast_1400x1400-2016Despite a few obstacles, I’m back. Again. Again. Well, it was one month sooner this time, so, small victories, right?! I start out talking about a new baby, then changes to this podcast and all things AmeriNZ, and to me, too. Lots of things are changing! I have details.

Be sure to Like the AmeriNZ Facebook Page for all things AmeriNZ!

There are several ways to send me an audio message—this earlier post lists them.

Links for this episode
All blog posts about Leo
My Instagram
The NZ Prime Minister had a baby
The Prime Minister’s baby made world headlines
All my posts on my Health Journey
July’s Welcome – The blog post I refer to, the one where I talk about my epiphany


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AmeriNZ 330 – Sunny Day

amerinz_podcast_1400x1400-2016TWO episodes within one week? What is this madness?! Well, I had some new audio equipment I wanted to try out, so why not do a real podcast instead of merely tests? That’s what I thought, anyway.

Today’s title refers to the fact that today is our dog Sunny’s ninth birthday. She even says hello at one point. Apart from that, it’s talk about New Zealand’s upcoming elections. Finally, a few updates, including a little bit about what equipment I was testing and why.

Be sure to Like the AmeriNZ Facebook Page for all things AmeriNZ!

There are several ways to send me an audio message—this earlier post lists them.

Links for this episode
Sunday’s ninth birthday photo – From my Instagram
“No surprises there: Shane Jones is NZ First candidate in Whangarei”New Zealand Herald
”Political Roundup: Will Shane Jones be NZ First’s Trump card?”New Zealand Herald
”NZ First’s Shane Jones has ‘ability to be New Zealand’s Donald Trump’ – political commentator”1 News Now
”Let’s not weaponise homophobia against allies” – Phil Quin
”New Zealanders’ concerns highlighted in run to election: Poverty and the gap between rich and poor is the single biggest issue facing New Zealand and the World according to New Zealanders” – Roy Morgan Research
Blue Microphones Icicle – The thing I bought and used today (scroll down to see it)
ArcherRadio – My friend returns to podcasting

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AmeriNZ 320 – Nine Years

AmeriNZ_Podcast_1400x1400-2016This is a very short episode just to acknowledge that today is the Ninth Anniversary of the AmeriNZ Podcast: Nine years ago today I posted the first episode of the AmeriNZ Podcast. It’s been quite a journey!

The second NZ Flag Referendum ended on Thursday, so I talk a little about that, though I’ll talk about it in more detail next time. In the meantime, below are links to two blogs posts I’ve written (so far) about the results.

Be sure to Like the AmeriNZ Facebook Page for all things AmeriNZ!

There are several ways to send me an audio message—this earlier post lists them.

Links for this episode
”The winner is: Status quo” – My blog post on the preliminary results of the second flag referendum
“No one knows, end of story” – My blog post on one of the poor interpretations of the results


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AmeriNZ 294 – Experimental

I begin today with a “Parliament Update”: It started with an update on the marriage equality bill, then moved on to the bill to force charter schools on us, submissions for which close next week. After that, I play various audio files sent to me, and comment on what they say as well as how to use those methods (don’t worry, there won’t be a quiz on that). If you send me a contact request on Skype, please tell me you’re real so I know you’re not a spammer.

Jason and I recorded a new 2Political Podcast episode this week, and it’s now posted.

Links for this episode
Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill (Evidence / submissions) – NZ Parliament
Young gay man injured in another K Rd attack – GayNZ.com
The CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet
There are several ways to send me an audio message—this earlier post lists them.

Please leave a written comment, an audio message using the SpeakPipe widget, or on Audioboo or Skype (user name on both is AmeriNZ), or send an email to arthur{at]amerinzpodcast.com (you can email me an audio file, too, if you want).


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Not in service at this time

Another line bites the dust—OOPS!

Over the holidays, I lost another voicemail line, and I won’t be getting another one, at least, not yet. It’s too much hassle for me to make sure it’s rung every 30 days, and there are no other free options that I’m aware of (Google Voice numbers aren’t available in New Zealand). The only other option I’ve been able to find so far is a Skype Number, which costs US$30, but I don’t know if that’s a year or a shorter term (apparently, the only way to find out how much it costs is to sign up for one).

So, for now, at least, I have a few options for you. First, you can leave an audio message at the right side of this site, using that SpeakPipe widget. Or, you can leave me an AudioBoo message. You can also leave me a voicemail on Skype (username, surprisingly enough, is amerinz; however, I don’t know if you have to be on my contacts list first). Finally, you can record an audio message and email it to me. For some of those options, you can use a smartphone app to send me a message, but the SpeakPipe option isn’t available on Apple products (because it’s Flash-based). Actually, you could also ring the voicemail line for 2Political Podcast (206-350-3982), because those messages come to me.

I think I’d like to move away from a voicemail phone number, anyway, because it’s very limiting, even when it’s free: Most of my listeners are in the USA, so having a number there makes sense—but that can make it expensive for people in other countries to leave messages. With the spread of smartphones, I think other options are the way to go. At the very least, I’m going to be promoting options that don’t require phoning the USA.

This is all a work in progress—when is it ever anything else?—but for now, these are the options. I’ll post more here, and mention it in the podcast, as things progress.

And, of course, you can always leave a written comment here on the site, or you can send me a Tweet, etc.

Thanks! New episodes will be out soon!

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An ending


Paul posted this for us over at the Arthur and Paul Talk Podcast site:

Arthur and I have decided to end our podcast together. Our schedules have made it very difficult to record together. While we enjoyed our time recording and the interaction with the listeners, we simply need to end the podcast and the beginning of a new year is a good time to end it. We appreciate all the support and feedback we’ve gotten over the months of the podcast. You guys are great!

The website will stay around until the domain name expires. The episodes will stay until that time as well.

Thank you for your support!

Arthur and Paul

It’s always sad when a podcast ends, but for me, this one is sad because it’s the first ending I’ve ever been part of. Still, it was necessary. It’s been hard enough for me to find time to record my solo podcast, so finding time to record with another person has been impossible at times.

Still, it’s not like we had a falling out or anything, so THAT’S good, anyway! In fact, don’t be surprised if we show up on each other’s podcasts from time to time. This is the end of one podcast, after all, and we both continue on.

Like Paul said, thanks for your support, and we’ll both be “seeing” you around the pod-o-sphere!

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Changing the past

This is a bit of a weird story.

On December 25, 2008, I posted a video called “Auckland Christmas” to YouTube, and also to my podcast as “AmeriNZ Video 03 – Auckland Christmas” (and I also posted a verison to my blog as “Auckland Christmas”). The video contained a music track that I used under license from the Podsafe Music Network (now called Mevio Music Alley).

At some point after I posted the video, the artist apparently signed up with a licensing agency that charges for use. I was unaware any of that had happened—who keeps running checks on tracks they’ve used?

Today I got an email from YouTube telling me the video “may have content that is owned or licensed” by the new company (which I’d never heard of, though they’re a “YouTube Partner”, whatever that means). They also said that while this wouldn’t count against me, and the video would remain, there might be ads posted next to the video. However, despite saying “this claim is not penalising your account status,” they also ominously warned on the notice page that my “video’s status can change, if the policies chosen by the content owners change.”

Here’s where it gets really weird: The track is still listed and available on Mevio’s Music Alley—so, therefore, my original license must still be valid. If it’s not, then the burden of proof ought to be on the company claiming licensing rights, and they shouldn’t get free ads at my expense.

However, I’m not a copyright lawyer and can’t afford one, so I can’t comment on any of the legalities here. Instead, this is only about my sense of right and wrong: I legally used a track provided for my use and I fully complied with the terms of the license I was given. That license appears to still be in effect. I think—but don’t know—that the copyright licenser didn’t take any further action because I complied with the terms of the license I’d been given (and which may still be in effect).

However, I’m in no position to challenge them or Google/YouTube. So I was left with few options.

First, the new company licenses tracks for $1.99 and I could have paid their fee to re-license the track from them, but why should I? As far as I’m concerned, I already had—and still have—a valid license to use the track.

The second option is the nuclear option: Deleting the video from YouTube (which is a shame because it was the most viewed one I had). This is the option I chose (though I first made it unlisted while I decided what to do).

My next step was to take the original video project and delete the music track entirely, along with any mention of it in the end credits and written descriptions. I left the end of the video silent as a sort of protest. I then overwrote the copy on my podcast site so the video’s still available.

My final step will be to upload the altered/censored video back to YouTube. Had I paid to re-license the track I already have a license for, I’m sure I’d have to alter the credits in the video and re-upload, anyway, so why not instead make a point?

I chose that track originally because it was free and reasonably inoffensive, meaning, innocuous. It wasn’t overtly religious, as so many Christmas songs are, and wasn’t awful (as, frankly, so much free music is). There was no option to pay anything for the music and, four years ago, there were few if any other options for music I could use legally.

So there you have it. Some company asserts its muscularity and someone like me has little choice but to surrender—or fight and face the consequences. This song is not worth the fight, even if the principle could be. But since I clearly have no idea what the law says about a situation like this—someone legally uses a music track they’re licensed to use, then later someone else claims the rights—this case is too murky to take a stand on.

Next time, it may be different.

This is crossposted to my blog, one of the few times I’ve done that.

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AmeriNZ 280 – Nearing Winter

I begin today by talking about a New Zealand thing that occurred to me just before I started recording. Then, I conclude a story I talked about last time, one that only concluded in the middle of last week. I mention a Christchurch heritage building charity, and looked it up before posting this episode (link below). And other stuff, too.

At the end, there’s a mention of Pride 48.

Links for this episode
Parliament TV – New Zealand Parliament steams on sitting days. Question Time is Tues-Weds 2pm-3pm New Zealand time, whenever Parliament is sitting. The Twitter hashtag for Question Time is #nzqt.
Canterbury Earthquake Heritage Buildings Fund – The charity I mentioned that’s raising money to save heritage buildings in Christchurch; donations are matched by the government dollar for dollar.
Adoption “not on the agenda” Key says – GayNZ.com (some ads may be NSFW)
Pink Wheelnuts – Fey Driver’s podcast
The Satyrsphere – Scott’s podcast
Ongline Podcast – John Ong’s podcast
Pride 48 blog

Please leave a comment, ring my US Comment Line on 206-666-5172, or send an email to arthur{at]amerinzpodcast.com.

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AmeriNZ Podcast Interstitial

The AmeriNZ Podcast returns next week, and I’ll explain where I’ve been and what I’ve been up to that’s kept me away from podcasting. In the meantime, I sincerely thank you for your patience. Talk to you next week!


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