Friday, December 30, 2005
MarsEDIT updated
MarsEdit is my favourite Blog editor for MAC OSX. Its just been updated with some cool new features & bug fixes - check it out at the above link.
Friday, December 16, 2005
irrate about 'Podcasts'?
From my ASCILITE blog - a comment spurred my response:
Does a Podcast work on anything other than Apple software/hardware? Why are we calling them Podcasts? - iPod is not a genre, it is a brandname. The marketing guys must be laughing all the way to the bank. Do we soon require of students that they all buy the one brand of MP3 player to be able to view, just as many insitutions require of them Microsoft products? I'm curious because I own an MP3 player that isn't an iPod and I am of the opinion that iPod's are, on the whole, overpriced.
Anyone who has any experience is welcome to comment, I'm not being critical although it might sound I am, just interested in the crossplatformability of our stuff.
16/12/05 @ 15:56
Comment from: Thom Cochrane [Member] · http://ltxserver.unitec.ac.nz/mediawiki/index.php/WirelessPalms
A podcast will play on any device that supports the audio codec used when compressing it. The term was coined by a journalist, just over a year ago, in reference to the most popular mobile audio device at the time - the iPod. A Podcast is any pre-recorded audio file that is available for download as an enclosure associated with an RSS feed (So strictly speaking my 'Podcasts' aren't - as they have no RSS feed associated currently.) allowing the listener to subscribe to podcasts as they become available.
My Podcast is compressed using the AAC format, not mp3 (because it creates higher quality results with smaller file sizes - the mp3 format is actually very old). However most modern mobile devices are capable of playing back both mp3 and AAC format files. The AAC podcast and screencast (podcast with video) play back great on my Palm PDA, as well as an iPod, a Mac or a PC.
While I think the iPods are great - I do agree they are over-priced, however you are buying into a great software solution when you go the ipod route as well (for recording, editing and distribution...). I was surprised how easy it was to do this (my first Podcast!), and can see great educational potential.
16/12/05 @ 20:51
PS - the other reason I used AAC format rather than mp3 is to subvert our IT department! - they have packet-shaped mp3 downloads out of our network - to stop students files sharing mp3s, but AAC format files get through fine ;-)
16/12/05 @ 20:55
Comment from: Moggy [Member]
Does a Podcast work on anything other than Apple software/hardware? Why are we calling them Podcasts? - iPod is not a genre, it is a brandname. The marketing guys must be laughing all the way to the bank. Do we soon require of students that they all buy the one brand of MP3 player to be able to view, just as many insitutions require of them Microsoft products? I'm curious because I own an MP3 player that isn't an iPod and I am of the opinion that iPod's are, on the whole, overpriced.
Anyone who has any experience is welcome to comment, I'm not being critical although it might sound I am, just interested in the crossplatformability of our stuff.
16/12/05 @ 15:56
My Reply
Comment from: Thom Cochrane [Member] · http://ltxserver.unitec.ac.nz/mediawiki/index.php/WirelessPalms
A podcast will play on any device that supports the audio codec used when compressing it. The term was coined by a journalist, just over a year ago, in reference to the most popular mobile audio device at the time - the iPod. A Podcast is any pre-recorded audio file that is available for download as an enclosure associated with an RSS feed (So strictly speaking my 'Podcasts' aren't - as they have no RSS feed associated currently.) allowing the listener to subscribe to podcasts as they become available.
My Podcast is compressed using the AAC format, not mp3 (because it creates higher quality results with smaller file sizes - the mp3 format is actually very old). However most modern mobile devices are capable of playing back both mp3 and AAC format files. The AAC podcast and screencast (podcast with video) play back great on my Palm PDA, as well as an iPod, a Mac or a PC.
While I think the iPods are great - I do agree they are over-priced, however you are buying into a great software solution when you go the ipod route as well (for recording, editing and distribution...). I was surprised how easy it was to do this (my first Podcast!), and can see great educational potential.
16/12/05 @ 20:51
PS - the other reason I used AAC format rather than mp3 is to subvert our IT department! - they have packet-shaped mp3 downloads out of our network - to stop students files sharing mp3s, but AAC format files get through fine ;-)
16/12/05 @ 20:55
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Podcasts & Screencasts on Palm
The Podcast and Screencast I created as QuickTime movies for ASCILITE play back surprizingly well on the Palm LifeDrive! - I think there is heaps of educational potential in Podcasting/screencasting for mobile devices!
LifeDrive Update 2
Its FINALLY here - the loonnnnnnnnnnnng anticipated LifeDrive update. (Go to Palm support website to download) I had no problems installing the update - though I did need to re-enter the serial number details for a couple of applications, and needed to reinstall Verichat. But - I haven't really noticed any major changes - although I did have my LifeDrive running pretty sweet after several months of bug busting!
Sunday, December 04, 2005
ASCILITE Presentation
Presentation PodCast
Download a PodCast (8.9MB, AAC, 20Minutes) of my presentation here. Will play in iTunes on Mac or PC, and iPod.
http://ltxserver.unitec.ac.nz/~thom/QuickTime/ACILITE_Podcast.m4a
Designed to complement my WIKI:
http://ltxserver.unitec.ac.nz/mediawiki/index.php/WirelessPalms
http://ltxserver.unitec.ac.nz/mediawiki/index.php/Main_Page
Also download my ScreenCast demoing several Palm wireless applications:
http://ltxserver.unitec.ac.nz/~thom/movies/PalmLifeDriveScreenCast_final.mov
Here's a screencast outlining the use of several wireless Palm applications - blogging, rss, IM, etc... The screencast is available in two formats:
1. 25MB QuickTime movie
2. 9.5MB video podcast for new video iPod (also a QuickTime movie)
http://ltxserver.unitec.ac.nz/~thom/movies/PalmLifeDriveScreenCast_final.m4v
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)