Archive for the ‘videocasts’ Category
whither the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation?
Big budget cuts announced for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
For many, many years I’d been a huge fan of their AM radio divison:
CBC Radio loses 121 jobs
About $14.4 million must come out of radio, leading to a reduction of 121 jobs, including 20 in Toronto.
Changes on Radio One include:
* Cancellations of The Inside Track, Outfront and The Point.
* Reduction of regional noon-hour programs to one hour.
* Reductions in drama.
But since the introduction of podcasting, I very rarely listen to CBC AM radio.
About the only CBC content I listen to are these show podcasts:
The slashes managed to target one of my favourite shows. Too bad.
Dana sent me a link to one petition – Save Canada’s National Broadcaster.
I signed. But truth be told, I’m not all that worked up about it.
The CBC website itself made it difficult for me to find any information on the “crisis”.
That lack of ability to communicate is telling to me.
$29 Apple Earphones with Remote & Mic
I’d buy an iPhone. But refuse to lock in to a 3yr contract. (The minimum in Canada.)
But I love my new Touch iPod.
No complaints.
Apple iPod touch 8 GB (2nd Generation)
I bought an armband case, as I use it a lot for running and cycling.
And — recently — the new Earphones with Remote & Mic. They work perfectly. I can increase and decrease volume. Pause and restart from a tiny, convenient button.
I also use the tiny, convenient microphone for voice notes using a software app called iTalkRecorder. (One of several free options from the iTunes store.)
That’s for documenting my BRILLIANT ideas while out and about.
Leave a comment if you have other recommendations for the iPhone or Touch.
my new iPod Touch
So far, I LOVE it. (Though I’ve only used half the features.)
With the amount of in transit time I have, it’s perfect for me. Especially while running and biking.
A small speaker has been added since the first generation.
Apple iPod touch 8 GB (2nd Generation)
If interested in getting one for yourself, watch Apple’s “Guided Tour” video.
The 8GB plays 36hrs of audio, 6hrs of video when fully charged, new.
Main downside is that — unlike the iPhone — the Touch has no GPS. (A battery hog anyway.)
It does have a GPS alternative:
For iPod touch with Maps, the Maps application provides your approximate location using information based on your proximity to known Wi-Fi networks (when on and available). The more accurate the available information, the smaller the circle identifying your position on the map. The feature is not available in all areas. Known Wi-Fi networks are predominantly in urban areas.
There is no microphone on this device. But I plan to add one included with new headphones.
George tells me I need to jailbreak this one to make full advantage.
moblogic.tv
When yet another geek babe online videocast arrived, it got some negative buzz on the internet.
MobLogic is a web show that covers news, politics, and pop culture. Every day host Lindsay Campbell hits the streets to find out what issues are on the minds of Americans.
“Streeter” interviews are “easy”. You can always find people to mock.
Yet now, moblogic.tv is one of my favourites. It’s evolving into quite a personal soapbox for the appealing host. Samples that are not street interviews:
Podcasting in Plain English
Still not listening to audiocasts or watching videocasts off the web?
You should be. Here’s why …
As an example, I subscribe to PBS Nature through iTunes. Automatically I get short preview versions of each show delivered to my computer.
Click PLAY or watch NATURE on YouTube.
what do YOU think of America?
Here is the result of an Economist magazine survey in 2005.
Amar C. Bakshi has spent the past year travelling the world, video blogging on the topic: “How the world see’s America.”
Of course the world loves American culture. American movies. A few still want to move to the USA more than anywhere else in the world. (I’m not one of those.)
video source – The View From the Border
Most around the world dislike U.S. foreign policy.
Seems simple to me. America, change your foreign policy.
McNew Year prediction
Life is a continuum. Each morning you awake assuming it is your last. There is no difference between Dec. 31st and Jan 1st to me.
But a young buddy pressed for some sort of pronouncement to mark the changing of the calendar. (I eschew resolutions so as not to tinker with perfection.)
Spontaneously I predicted that Rick McCharles would listen to even more audiocasts in 2008. Watch even more online video than in 2007. And “read” even more audio books.
I’m off to a good start. Waiting on my digital bookshelf are:
And I’m currently listening to A Beautiful Mind: The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash. (Not a great book, but a fantastic true story.)
Actually, I finally dropped my monthly subscription to Audible.com as the Calgary Public Library seems to offer more good books on MP3 than I could possibly need.
(I can still buy books one-at-a-time on Audible or iTunes.)
Digital on demand infotainment rocks in 2008.
Amber MacArthur – hottest women in Tech
Girl-next-door-beautiful Amber MacArthur was voted #1 by the top Men’s on-line portal AskMen. Good call. I am a huge fan.
Amber’s everywhere on the internet (including my Facebook friends list), but her best work is the Webnation TV show.
Amber MacArthur’s background within the tech sector — she has worked for Microsoft and Razorfish, among others — has resulted in the kind of credibility many of her contemporaries would kill for, and it’s hard to imagine a more ideal candidate for our hottest women in tech list. …
Amber is from PEI. The #2 on the list is Morgan Webb from Toronto.
iPod touch review – Engadget
DON’T BUY AN iPOD TOUCH.
… At least not on Buy Nothing Day.
But two friends, so far, report that they love their new iPod touch.
It’s “an evolutionary leap for iPod, or a slight downgrade from iPhone.”
Click to check out the Apple 8 GB iPod Touch.
One reviewer:
… all the best stuff from the iPhone made the cut in the touch. It shares the same audio, video, and photo apps as the iPhone, which is a good thing since we still love the new Apple mobile media interface every bit as much as we did when we first reviewed the iPhone. The iTunes WiFi Music Store works exactly as advertised; search is fast, sampling tracks and downloads are easy, and syncing tracks back to your host computer is effortless. Apple really nailed this. To date, most over the air music downloads on a portable media devices have been tedious, if not completely impractical.
Also unchanged are our primary complaints about said media playback, the same complaints we’ve had about the iPod for years: we don’t like managing our media through iTunes, and we don’t like being limited only to those few codecs Apple supports (AAC, MP3, H.264, and MPEG-4). In fact, if Apple gave us greater codec support (or even just the option to add additional codecs ourselves) and mass storage support for drag and drop while adding media, we’d probably be able to overlook the other, smaller things that ail us about iPods.
I don’t need one, myself, as I plan to get the iPhone. And I love my old Nano, in any case. I will be using it for years to come.
The new fatty Nano 4GB iPod nano AAC/MP3 Player Silver (3rd Generation) is selling for $170 right now. The shuffle – 1GB iPod shuffle Silver (3rd Generation) – $90.
I expect many, many players to be delivered by Santa. Even the Zune 2 is worth considering.
who has cuter kittens – Canada or USA?
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
