Systm

Systm was a weekly video podcast produced by Revision3, geared toward “the common geek”, a “This Old House” for geeks, hosted by Patrick Norton and David Calkins, and focused on do it yourself projects.^[1][2]

History

Systm initially debuted on May 23, 2005 and was the second videocast show under the newly founded Revision3. The first hosts for Systm were Kevin Rose and Dan Huard. From May 23, 2005, to May 17, 2006, Rose and Huard hosted six episodes of Systm. The show went on a temporary hiatus until it was resurrected on May 11, 2007, with Norton and David Randolph (who first appeared in episode 3) as the new hosts.^[1] The show ran bi-weekly until September 11, 2007, when it began to air weekly.^[2]

On April 21, 2008, the departure of David Randolph as a regular host was announced (episode 47) and was shortly replaced by David Calkins.

The show used to be filmed in David Randolph's home but has since moved to the Revision3 studio facility, first as a physical set and more recently as a virtual (green screen) set in the style of the previous physical set - the reason for this move according to Norton is to free up the area for third party companies who use the studio who often need green screens.

On June 15, 2009, Revision3 announced that Systm would no longer be its own show, but would instead become a feature segment of Tekzilla.^[3]

Format

Each 10-40 minute episode focuses on a single topic. They cover topics such as: building a portable “war-spying box” to intercept and view signals from unencrypted wireless X10 cameras, building a TiVo-like device using the open source program MythTV, home-made audio/video cables that are comparable to Monster Cables, and working with the open-source PBX, Asterisk. The show has also had special Ecosystm episodes that featured biofuel and thoughts on conserving electricity.

Distribution

Systm is distributed over BitTorrent and direct download in a variety of formats, including XviD, Windows Media Video, and Quicktime. It is also available as a videocast on the iTunes Music Store, and is included in the weekly rotation on RantTV.

Subsystm

Subsystm is a project of the Systm crew, designed as a sidecar to the main show. When particular events happen, covered on Systm, that pique the interests of the shows staff they may examine it further in a Subsystm episode. Subsystm is a shorter, much more technical exploration. The first episode featured an iPod nano being opened up and the hardware examined. The second episode featured instructions on installing Mac OS X on the Apple TV. These are the only episodes that have currently been created.^[4]

Merging with Tekzilla

As of episode 109 We're Making Some Changes... of Systm, Systm will be doing shorter hands on activities inside of Revison3's series Tekzilla. Regular episodes of Systm will be coming but not on a regular schedule.^[5]

Episode list

References

External links

• DiggtheDiggbutton.com, home of the "digg button" project, the feature of Systm Episode #10
• Systm Episode List on Revision3