Category: videocasts

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.

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

    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

    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

    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?

    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

    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.