Category: videocasts

whither the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation?

On By Rick McIn audiocasts, bad news, videocasts2 Comments

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.

CBC – CBC cuts hit news, drama, sports, radio

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 Inside Track
  • Definitely Not The Opera

    • 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.

    save-the-cbc

    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

    On By Rick McIn Apple, audiocasts, product endorsements, videocastsLeave a comment

    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)

    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.

    remote

    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

    On By Rick McIn Apple, audiocasts, videocastsLeave a comment

    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)

    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

    On By Rick McIn economics, geek babes, government, videocastsLeave a comment

    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:

    what do YOU think of America?

    On By Rick McIn blogs, travel, travel Mexico, videocasts1 Comment

    Here is the result of an Economist magazine survey in 2005.

    cus159.gif

    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

    On By Rick McIn audiocasts, books, Google, product endorsements, videocastsLeave a comment

    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:

  • The Google Story: Inside the Hottest Business, Media, and Technology Success of Our Time – Vise & Malseed
  • New Europe – Michael Palin
  • Shadow Divers: The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked Everything to Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War II – Robert Kurson
  • The Golden Compass, His Dark Materials, Book 1 – Philip Pullman
  • Deep Black: Payback – Stephen Coonts
  • The Coming Economic Collapse: How You Can Thrive When Oil Costs $200 a Barrel – Leeb & Strathy
  • The Honourable Schoolboy – John Le Carré
  • The Light That Failed – Kipling
  • Middlesex: A Novel – Jeffrey Eugenides
  • RACE TO THE POLE: TRAGEDY, HEROISM, AND SCOTT’S ANTARCTIC QUEST – Sir Ranulph Fiennes
  • The Prestige – Christopher Priest

    • 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.)

    The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash

    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

    On By Rick McIn audiocasts, geek babes, videocastsLeave a comment

    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. …

    AskMen.com – Hot women in tech

    amber.jpg

    Amber is from PEI. The #2 on the list is Morgan Webb from Toronto.

    iPod touch review – Engadget

    On By Rick McIn audiocasts, music, product endorsements, videocasts2 Comments

    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.

    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.

    iPod touch review – Engadget

    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.