Puppies, Flowers, Rainbows and Kittens
Sarcasm and vitriol wrapped in a twee bow.
the FEC is extending some laws to the internet and it is getting really stupid.
If this goes through, it could have an incredibly chilling effect on the new world of discourse and public participation in politics that the internet provides. It would also provide a tool for the ruling party to target on-lines sites they don’t like.
Very chilling…
A couple of links for podcasters to look at to help make their podcasts sound better
Part of the lure of podcasts for many people is the immediacy and intimacy that they have. It sounds like you are in someone’s head. However, there is a reason also why most people still listen to the radio, it just sounds better. Dare I say it sounds more “professional”. There are a couple of podcasts that podcasters should check out to make their podcasts sound better.
One was Adam Curry’s Daily Source Code from December 27th, 2004. In this podcast (and the pictures on the site), Adam talks about his setup. Especially which audio plug-ins that he uses. I’ve mentioned something like this in an earlier blog post. Now, he is a professional broadcaster, so he know how to work a microphone, but even he uses a compressor (his mda dynamics plug-in). You probably don’t need a signal path nearly as complicated, but it is worth doing something to make it sound better.
Another podcast was from the NPR show “On The Media.” In their December 31, 2004 show there was a segment by John Solomon about how NPR edits its broadcasts. This is definitely good listening for a podcaster. We really don’t need to hear your coughs, people.
Did you know that Dawn of the Dead is now in the public domain?
I found a link to Undead Art in one of my rss feeds today (sorry, I don’t remember which). It turns out that Dawn of The Dead is now in the public domain! Download it, burn it, and enjoy! Undead art is doing a sort of public domain remix content to support Creative Commons licensing. If you’re looking for more cool public domain content, check out The Internet Archive, they have tons of awesome public domain video and audio. It’s perfect for burgeoning culture re-mixer.
The ICANN has changed the domain transfer rules because they are evil.
I found this article on Slashdot this morning about how ICANN is changing the rules on domain transfers to inexplicably make it easier for hijacking. There is some good info on netcraft about it. Here is the actual change language. It freaked me out, of course, so I went to make sure that all my domains were locked. Smartly, Network Solutions automatically locks their domains to make hijacking impossible. Moronically, MyDomain doesn’t. You have to specifically add it for each domain. At least it is free. I guess you get what you pay for. Now is a good time for you to check out the settings on all your domains and make sure they are protected.
news.com says that the bloggers wanna get along with our new “president”
news.com’s news.blog had some article about how all these bloggers are pledging to give George Bush some slack. I call BS on that. I think he’s gotten far too much slack up to now and that’s partly how he’s been able to pull the wool over so many people’s eyes.
a few tips for the podcasters of the world
I’ve been checking out a bunch of podcasts and am enjoying many, there are a few things that are driving me insane however. I realize that podcasts are an excellent DIY technology enabling the rest of us to add our voices to the mix. Yet nothing annoys me more than having to ride the volume knob while listening. There a couple simple tricks that the amateurs can learn from the pros.
1) EDITING: Edit out your coughs, wheezes, long pauses, etc… There are a million freeware audio editors in the world, pick one and spend a couple minutes fixing this kind of stuff. It will make me, your audience, A LOT happier.
2) COMPRESSION: You talk quiet, you talk loud. I strain to hear and then I pull the headphones off my head in pain. Your freeware editor has compression, I’m sure. If not, there are excellent free VST, DirectX or Audio Unit plug-ins for you to use. Spend the 5 minutes it takes to learn about compression and then USE IT. It will help you get a consistent level for your content, it will help you avoid compression artifacts, it will make the compression more efficient and I won’t hate you for hurting my ears.
Posted: Wed – November 3, 2004 at 01:27 PM