I've completed the sixth podcast of my series, and it's becoming more of a routine thing at this point in the semester. I know how to create a working outline of the topics I want to discuss, and then I keep it simple by not over-scripting anything. It seems to help the realism of my podcasts by just "winging it."
The only problem I've encountered with this episode is the fact that this podcast is tailored more towards the iTunes University podcast than a standard episode. Now that I've focused on the car clubs and what they do for the university and its community, I don't have anything viable for the other podcast. We'll have to wait and see what becomes of that, but I'm pretty certain I'll figure out some way to pull out a workable episode for the final show.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Monday, November 12, 2007
Back to the Mac
In episode V, I returned to the Apple platform to produce my show. I tried to go the PC route, but in an Apple-dominated forum where WMV files won't cut it, I felt it was easier to conform to the norms and do it the Mac way.
My production was not too complicated, although it was constrained by a 3 day assignment at Lockheed Martin last week with the Air Force, followed immediately by a road trip to Austin for the UT game and a little 6th Street action. In the end, I found enough time today to knock out the podcast on schedule.
I addressed a topic I touched on in the past and took it to another level of detail. Hopefully, this is a podcast that will help people better understand what's going on with their car when it starts acting up. I'm the type of person who has to be at least halfway informed on everything, so I like to pass that along to everyone else. Even if you don't know the information 100%, the fact that you've heard it will help. I also try not to over-complicate it with advanced terminology, so if I start losing you, let me know!
My production was not too complicated, although it was constrained by a 3 day assignment at Lockheed Martin last week with the Air Force, followed immediately by a road trip to Austin for the UT game and a little 6th Street action. In the end, I found enough time today to knock out the podcast on schedule.
I addressed a topic I touched on in the past and took it to another level of detail. Hopefully, this is a podcast that will help people better understand what's going on with their car when it starts acting up. I'm the type of person who has to be at least halfway informed on everything, so I like to pass that along to everyone else. Even if you don't know the information 100%, the fact that you've heard it will help. I also try not to over-complicate it with advanced terminology, so if I start losing you, let me know!
Monday, October 29, 2007
A Different Approach
Podcast episode 4 is finished and posted at long last. This installment had a few issues stemming from the uniquely anti-Apple approach vector I selected. Instead of utilizing my standard recording practice, I opted to record at home on a PC. The fundamentals of this podcast were not much different than the last one, but because I used Movie Maker to produce the content, it created a bunch of problems.
Microsoft and Apple are a lot like Chevy and Ford. It's a very standardized dichotomy. They don't play well together, as I found out today. The WMV file I created last night didn't seem to want to become an Ipod ready .mov file. After some digital convincing, the file finally came around. It took about an hour and a half to make that happen though.
My Ipod is fixed. I just swung it around and hit it with an iron pipe, and it started working in order to stop the beatings. That's a joke, I don't condone violence against electronics. Even if they are Apples.
Microsoft and Apple are a lot like Chevy and Ford. It's a very standardized dichotomy. They don't play well together, as I found out today. The WMV file I created last night didn't seem to want to become an Ipod ready .mov file. After some digital convincing, the file finally came around. It took about an hour and a half to make that happen though.
My Ipod is fixed. I just swung it around and hit it with an iron pipe, and it started working in order to stop the beatings. That's a joke, I don't condone violence against electronics. Even if they are Apples.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Episode III, Revenge of Ron
In the third podcast, I made use of photographs in order to aid my presentation. I thought about using video, but the distortion that's evident in other podcasts persuaded me to use stills as my primary method of visual instruction. For the most part, this podcast went off without a hitch. It was one of the easier assignments I've had in class thus far, and I think that's because I love taking photographs with my lovely junkyard queen. It's always easier when you have a passion for what you're doing.
The podcast was centered on preventive maintenance, and in this episode we looked at oil, brake, and transmission fluids before moving on to oil changes and tire pressures. I hope it was informative and not too painful to watch/listen to. The software wasn't very difficult to use this time around, although I had minor issues with the podcast suite, since it was without Photoshop. Other than that, I think everything came together on time and without major issue.
I still hate Apple Products, and on a side note my new Ipod Nano fried itself on day 31 of a 30 day returnable period at Best Buy. That, my friends, is lame. However, the Apple interface isn't quite getting me down like it once did, and I'm beginning to make it bend to my will.
GWAR!
The podcast was centered on preventive maintenance, and in this episode we looked at oil, brake, and transmission fluids before moving on to oil changes and tire pressures. I hope it was informative and not too painful to watch/listen to. The software wasn't very difficult to use this time around, although I had minor issues with the podcast suite, since it was without Photoshop. Other than that, I think everything came together on time and without major issue.
I still hate Apple Products, and on a side note my new Ipod Nano fried itself on day 31 of a 30 day returnable period at Best Buy. That, my friends, is lame. However, the Apple interface isn't quite getting me down like it once did, and I'm beginning to make it bend to my will.
GWAR!
Monday, October 1, 2007
Learning Curve
Alright, so Podcast #2 is in the books. My second tour of duty with Apple's line of wonderful products wasn't quite as nightmarish as the first run through. I'm beginning to pick up keyboard shortcuts to save time and I'm also learning the do's and don'ts of how to save files on Macs without corrupting them or otherwise destroying a good day's work. However, I do stand by my opinion that Macs are far more complicated than neccesary.
In podcast #2, I went over a few different things that come up in everyday driving. I'm trying to keep this accessible to everyone, so I'm staying away from topics like "How to fix your supercharger because your car is generating prodigious power." Instead, I focused on what to do if you jump in your car one morning and she just won't wake up. I picked that topic because it actually happened to me last Thursday. I was in uniform on my way to an important briefing, and sure enough, all I heard was crickets when I turned the key. I went through the same steps outlined in the podcast, and although my problem was a little more complex due to the nature of the beast, it was still very much a fixable situation. I had her back on the road in an hour, although my uniform got a little dirty.
One of the things I thought about was how long to run the episode. 5 minutes seemed to be a good length for this one. I skipped over tire changes because I'd rather film that and show exactly how to do it right, along with other maintenance issues that are better addressed in a visual medium. Overall, I think this podcast turned out way better than the first, and I'm hoping the third will be better than this one, Macs be damned.
In podcast #2, I went over a few different things that come up in everyday driving. I'm trying to keep this accessible to everyone, so I'm staying away from topics like "How to fix your supercharger because your car is generating prodigious power." Instead, I focused on what to do if you jump in your car one morning and she just won't wake up. I picked that topic because it actually happened to me last Thursday. I was in uniform on my way to an important briefing, and sure enough, all I heard was crickets when I turned the key. I went through the same steps outlined in the podcast, and although my problem was a little more complex due to the nature of the beast, it was still very much a fixable situation. I had her back on the road in an hour, although my uniform got a little dirty.
One of the things I thought about was how long to run the episode. 5 minutes seemed to be a good length for this one. I skipped over tire changes because I'd rather film that and show exactly how to do it right, along with other maintenance issues that are better addressed in a visual medium. Overall, I think this podcast turned out way better than the first, and I'm hoping the third will be better than this one, Macs be damned.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Podcast 1 Thoughts
My podcast topic is safe driving habits and practices. It will cover everything from preventive maintainance activities such as oil changes and transmission fluid flushes to how you should properly navigte a construction zone. As far as I know, nobody else in this class is podcasting about my topic so it should be fairly unique. My biggest challenge for the first podcast was getting the software to work for me. Multiple times I saved a file in the podcast suite only to have it corrupted or somehow altered. That aspect of the project was extremely frustrating. I had a presentable version of my podcast prepared and saved, however, somewhere in the changover from the podcast suite to the lab, the ending was butchered. I am unsure as to why exactly this happened, but I got a string of error messages about 8-bit audio files and things of that nature. Being completely unfamiliar with Macs, my initial experiences have not been positive.
My greatest challenge will definitely be adapting to the Mac ways. I still lack a full understanding of basic operations while using a Mac workstation, and I feel like that's definitely hindering my progress in this class so far. The only way to overcome that challenge is to work through it, so I will continue to try my best to understand how Macs work and how I can use them to my advantage. Until then, I'm lost.
My greatest challenge will definitely be adapting to the Mac ways. I still lack a full understanding of basic operations while using a Mac workstation, and I feel like that's definitely hindering my progress in this class so far. The only way to overcome that challenge is to work through it, so I will continue to try my best to understand how Macs work and how I can use them to my advantage. Until then, I'm lost.
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