Music review (Podcast)

 I recently stumbled upon a podcast that I found very interesting. It’s called Smodcast. It is done by two semi-famous celebrities named Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier. The shows that they do are live performances throughout the United States. They will hype their performance a week or two before hand and then travel to your city and sit on a couch with microphones and talk about random events and recollections of their movie days or recent events.

            Some people might have heard of Kevin Smith. He directed and starred in movies such as: Mae Day: The Crumbling of a Documentary, Clerks, Jay and Silent Bob, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Jersey Girl, Clerks II, Silent Bob, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Cop Out and coming soon Red State. Scott Mosier, who is Kevin’s Co-host on Smodcast, is also a Canadian-American producer and director that normally works with Kevin on his movies. As much as I enjoy there grass humor and comedy, I find myself more intrigued with the technology that is underlying in the show background and sometimes they discuss these on the show. For example, a couple podcasts ago, someone asked if they could tell him what type of microphone they use for the show. They started talking all about the Shure SM58, which I found out was a great mic to start podcasting with for myself. This mic is a professional cardioid dynamic microphone that is commonly used for live vocal performances because it has a warm depth to it and is unidirectional, meaning it has a focal projection point for sound. To be able to get professional advice on a solid mic that isn’t thousands of dollars from two professionals that know about these types of technologies is great.

            Also it is cool to listen to Kevin talk about movie lenses. I also shoot video for my own personal gain; however my camera is nothing in comparison to their studio quality. But Kevin talks about a size 50 lens to shoot Bruce Willis with and how these changes of their lens can give off a different perception and view for the scene.  I love this podcast because the amount of technology information that is given away is substation and free. And don’t forget the show is really funny too!

            Another great podcast that has tons of information about podcasting and technology advice is “The School of Podcasting”. This podcast is done by Dave Jackson who is a professional that have been in the advertising and marketing industry for 20+ years. His podcasts really give you advanced insight and tips and tricks on how to successfully launch and continue to produce good content through the means of building a good computer, planning your podcast, producing, and how to market your podcast. One particular technology that is very important for podcasting is the software you will use to mix your audio from your show. Dave gives a three part podcast series on audacity software and how to more effectively present your content. Audacity helps reduce loud bursts of sounds and control audio levels through the podcast. It also lets you put bumpers in to help better transition in down times within the podcast.

            So between the two podcast that I regularly listen to, I can’t recommend enough these great shows, because of their content and the wealth of information about podcasting technologies that they give away for free. Check them out!

                                                                                                                 

Sources:

http://smodcast.com/ & http://schoolofpodcasting.com/

News Item Response

Protestor arrested on 10-19-2011 in New York Ci

On October 20, Sarah Lai Stirland, a reporter from TPM’s Idea Lab wrote an article about the Occupy Wall Street Protest. As any monumental and historical event takes place, I continuously find myself entranced in media outlets waiting for the latest scoop of new. However, this article that I read made me think more in depth about this event and was a perfect example of how technology is being used to better assemble and organize protestors in a more controlled and legal way. The post that Sarah Lai Stirland writes about involves protesters being arrested and their possessions being confiscated. Law-enforcements have become aware that phones with cameras and social media networks are key tools that protestors are using to further their cause and help revolutionize their demonstrations. 

However, police officers are taking their phones and sifting through their text messages to find information about places to meet and plans for future rallies. She recommends that people who want to actively become involved check out  Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Cell Phone Guide for Occupy Wall Street Protestors before getting involved while carrying your phone. The summery of the guide is as follows:

Protect your phone before you protest

Think carefully about what’s on your phone before bringing it to a protest

Password-protect your phone - and consider encryption options

Back up the data on your phone

You’re at the protest – now what?

Maintain control over your phone

Consider taking pictures and video

Help! Help! I’m being arrested

Remember that you have a right to remain silent

Ask to speak to your lawyer

The police have my phone, how do I get it back?

You can file a motion with the court to have your property returned

For people have an android powered phone that are still bringing them to protest, a company called Quadrant 2 has developed an app called “I’m Getting Arrested”, which lets the user send out a 16-character mass text-message to other protestors who might want to be alerted about their situation. The app wasn’t designed just for this protest but for any situation. So far the app is receiving positive 5/5 reviews. Here are the languages and countries that it supports: Catalan, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Turkish.

Source:

Sarah Lai Stirland. (2011). Occupy Wall Street tech: have you been arrested? there’s an app for that. TPM, Retrieved from http://idealab.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/10/occupy-wall-street-tech-have-you-been-arrested-theres-an-app-for-that.php