I've spent the last three days in an escalating cycle of frustration with Audible. I bought The RiddleMaster of Hed from them--it's one of the audibooks produced by Audible themselves, rather than recorded by the original publisher--and at every chapter break, the audiobook freezes and it crashes my iPod.

I have deleted and re-downloaded the file: no luck. I have changed the format of the file to one with less data and smaller file size: no luck.

And all Audible keeps telling me is: delete & redownload.

I have used all my Google-fu on this, and can only conclude that it's the age of my iPod that's the problem--it's an 80GB iPod I bought in 2006, and it's been a workhorse ever since, with almost no problems. But something about the chaptered audiobook file from Audible is beyond its capacity to handle.

Anyone have any links to freeware where I can convert this from an .aa file to .mp3? That would strip out the chapter breaks and might fix the problem.

x-post with Literary:

If anybody is interested in a lightly used Kindle Touch in good condition (with the "special offers"), I'm selling mine. Going to downgrade to a non-touch Kindle (with buttons!). I'm trying to get $70 including shipping. E-mail me if you're interested.

I finally pulled the trigger on a Mac mini via Amazon marketplace. I opted for the version with the superdrive. The seller assures me it is like new condition. I'm terrified, but had to do it. I hope it's a good deal.

Next up, finding a decent video camera. The one that was the most highly recommended doesn't seem to be made any more...Flip Ultra HD.

Now I don't even know where to look. The Sony Bloggie gets such mixed results, I just don't know.

I don't need to take action shots. This will be a stand up or interview style production.

Anyone have a video camera (under 3 bills) that they can recommend?

The fact that most smartphones have video built in has pretty much killed the small portable video camera market. Flip was the best and they couldn't survive.

Most compact still cameras will shoot HD video now, so you may want to look into that.

You can still buy the Flip Ultra HD on Amazon. We have one and it works great.

Okay. I found a Flip on Amazon (Thanks Rob). It does not, however, have a mic input. How do I get quality sound without having the acumen to do wild editing?

I've seen a suggestion for a separate video pac with a lapel mic. If I do that, would the Screenflow software make syncing relatively easy?

It's frustrating that I have this beautiful Snowball but no way to use it for this!

eta: Jeez. I obviously meant AUDIOpac with a lapel mic. Brain disengaged from too much internet research!

Here's a pretty extensive discussion of camcorders: [link]

Jesse, That IS a good discussion.

It nearly swayed me to the Panasonic HC-V700M but it looks like compatibility with a Mac requires a bit of work-around.

Hey! I found a new in box flip on ebay.

Now I just have to wait three days to see if I win it.

I'm sad to find that Blue actually created a high-quality external mic for the flip but discontinued it as well.

None on ebay. BOO.

In yet another installment of the "Bonny Show" (sorry), I found a fairly good deal on the Impact Daylight Two-Floodlight Light Kit that actually rivals the price of the smaller lights you can attach to your camera tripod.

Is it foolish to use floodlights for video production? The vlogging guru I'm following suggests them, but it's his primary business.

My main concern, believe it or not, is storage space. The wall I'm using for the stand up is in my office, so the lights will have to be put away...in storage space my 1860 built home doesn't really have.