Take Control of Podcasting on the Mac, 2nd Edition Released!
From the Book’s Web Page:
Links:Beginning a podcast is easier than starting a radio station, but it's still hard to assemble your hardware and software, and learn the tricks of the trade. You can easily meet that challenge with start-to-finish guidance from long-time podcaster Andy Affleck...
The ebook begins with a look at how to plan a podcast's topic, format, and polish. Then Andy focuses on choosing the right microphone and audio software, followed by step-by-step instructions for recording using Audio Hijack Pro, GarageBand, Sound Studio, WireTap Studio, and Übercaster, with advice about conducting interviews by phone, iChat, and Skype. Once your audio is in the can, you'll learn how to use audio plug-ins to make the recording sound better, complete with downloadable sound files to supplement the text. You'll also find out how to edit out any awkward bits, plug in additional audio, and mix tracks. Finally, the ebook covers how to encode your podcast, add useful tags and chapters, find a publishing tool, and publish your podcast for the world to hear.
Podcasting on the Brain
I am preparing my talk at the New Media Expo in Las Vegas for mid-August. I’ll be sharing the podium with Ed Vawter and we’ll be covering GarageBand ’08 and podcasting and the use of audio filters/plug-ins in podcasting. I have my hotel reservation and plane tickets and even got a ticket to Coverville500 so I can see Doctor Floyd live (Jack’s favorite show) and Jonathan Coulton. I’m very excited. Originally, we were all going to go but we decided to save our pennies to take Jack to Disney World so it’ll be just me attending. Still, I’ve never been to Vegas so I’m excited about this trip.
Finally, I am preparing a new podcast called Our Stories. The premise is that everyone has a good story in them (at least one) and I want to capture and present these stories. This is hardly a new idea. There are shades of This American Life in here but the intent is to simply let people present their stories with only limited prompting from me. This is both fun and very scary as going up to strangers to chat them up for something like this is well outside my comfort zone. And, I must admit, that’s part of my motivation for doing this: to challenge and stretch myself.
Bursts of Creativity
I am not sure where all of this creativity is coming from. But I'm glad it's here and it's happening. I actually think NaNoWriMo is the likely root cause. By forcing myself to do that, I discovered just how far I can go if I apply myself. And I realized that sometimes you just have to stop making excuses and sit down and get to work. And my whole life philosophy has shifted thanks to that happy discovery. Now I am making the time to do the things I truly love and it feels amazing. I cannot recommend it enough.
New Take Control of Podcasting on the Mac Podcast!
I have to be honest: it felt good to do a show. There's a reason I took up this hobby in the first place. It's nice to be reminded of that and have a chance to play again.
Presenting at the New Media Expo
So, this is going to be a fun year for me as I reconnect with a hobby I enjoy and prepare to speak in Las Vegas in August.
If you are interested in attending the expo, please register via this link. It will benefit me down the road, even a little.
Obligatory Catch-Up Post
I spent the next two weeks in varying states of pain and finally the stone passed last night (though it hasn’t hurt in over a week -- it had left the confines of my ureter and entered my bladder) and it only hurt for a very brief, very intense moment as it came out.
Of course, now I have a wicked bad cold which is annoying. But aside from that I finally feel life returning to my otherwise battered body. I had no idea how constant pain can just wear you down (which is probably why I caught the cold in the first place -- I usually have a rock-solid immune system). So, long story short: kidney stone bad but I see the light at the end of the tunnel now.
In other news, I have the following items to share:
- Endless Ocean for Wii rocks. Jack and I both love the zen-simplicity of just swimming around and checking out the gorgeous scenary.
- Easter’s been fun so far. Mr. Bunny left Jack a nice clue-trail around the house leading to a basket and some toys in the dryer. We also went to church and then to a friend’s house where, among other things, we got to watch three little boys dance to Kraftwerk’s “The Robots”
- I’m going to be presenting at a conference this summer, I’ll have a real post about this soon. But the short version is that it’s about podcasting so I have to get off my butt and get back to podcasting so I have some practical and current experience. I’ve decided to take my game to the next level and will be investing in some real equipment. More on this later.
- A friend gave Jack “Heroscape” for his birthday. I’m really enjoying it. Not sure how much Jack likes it yet. He’s far more obsessed with his Bakugan ball things (which appear to be THE hot toy right now. He bought some on Thursday with his birthday money and when I... I mean, the Easter Bunny... went to get some yesterday, they were all sold out. I must admit, they are pretty cool.
- I’m very sad about Arthur C. Clarke. I just re-read 2001 and am now re-reating 2010. I will then re-read 2061 and maybe even buy a copy of 3001 and read that.
- My friend Jon gifted me in iTunes MIKA, Life in Cartoon Motion and it is in heavy rotation now. My God I love it. It’s the second coming of Freddy Mercury.
WireTap Studio Article Published
I would love to start producing podcasts again, especially my long dormant Take Control of Podcasting Podcast. What I lack is a studio (I had to move my desk into the back of the kitchen for many reasons -- right near an old, noisy refrigerator) and every day my aging 1.25GHz PowerBook G4 just seems slower and less able... we're going to get a new, hot stuff iMac soon and when we do, I fully expect to go a little crazy on that and other projects. So, I'm itching to do more with these audio tools but don't feel I really can just yet.
For now, I'm content to digitize old cassette tapes and clean up the audio as best I can.