The podcast field is expanding rapidly, I suspect in no small part due to the success of StarShipSofa in the Hugos. The latest site to get in on the action is SF Signal. They have their debut episode up here. There are a couple of things of particular interest to me in it. Firstly one of the people in the first half of the podcast is my friend Karen Burnham, who will be reviewing short fiction for Salon Futura. And secondly the other half of the podcast is an interview with the very wonderful Lou Anders of Pyr. Amongst other things, Lou talks about which conventions he thinks are most important to attend, and about the forthcoming books from Pyr.
Talking of podcasts, I asked the other day on Twitter for recommendations for a microphone (the one I have on my headset produces lousy results when a Skype call is recorded). I got a lot of helpful responses (and one arrogant male who firmly informed me that there was no point in asking about microphones unless I had something worth podcasting, presumably because as an airhead female that would never have occurred to me). Pretty much everyone recommended Blue, but opinion was divided as to whether I should get the Snowflake, Snowball or Yeti. I’ll be using it mostly at home with very little ambient noise, but if the Snowflake can do a decent job, and work on the road, and is cheapest, it may be the best bet. Thoughts?
Also, if anyone out there has any suggestions as to where I can find good intro/outro music without having to pay a fortune for the rights…
I use the Microsoft Lifechat Headset these days but I did get good results from a Blue Snowball mike in the past and I have a Belkin Go Studio which uses my ipod as a HD and I use it for portable recording. http://www.belkin.com/iwcatproductpage.process?Product_Id=460128
The good thing about the Belkin is that you can slot a proper mike into it or just use the omnidirectionals on the unit itself.
You could also search archive.org for CC music. Tonnes of stuff there, but you’d have to weed through it to find what you like.
Here’s an article with links to a number of possible music sources.
http://blog.blogtalkradio.com/blogtalkradio/17-places-to-find-podsafe-music/
…or google “podsafe music”.
Jamendo has lots of music, searchable by genre tags, and both a lot of Creative Commons–licensed music and very reasonable terms for licensing the music.
Magnatune also has some great music in their selection, and very reasonable licensing terms (membership is $15/month, and in addition to unlimited downloads of music for your own listening, includes a license for podcast use as well).
music: podsafeaudio.com
There are still only 24 hours in a dy, and you have to sleep sometime.
I’m still waiting for that wall to crash some of the burgeoning. Print or screen I can skim, but audio is 1 sec/sec.
I take your point, but there are things you can do. I listen to podcasts when I’m exercising, when I’m cooking, when I’m doing housework. These are all times when I could not be reading. I suspect it is also possible that I could listen to a podcast on a car journey, when trying to read would make me sick.
Seems a bit of sexism got into your post there, Cheryl. Why would the twitterer’s gender come into them being an idiot?
Possibly yes, though in my experience being arrogantly condescending to a complete stranger is something that men tend to do to women, and not the other way around. Also when women do condescend to men it tends to be about something like childcare or housework, not about technology. People tend to condescend when they feel that they are naturally superior to the person they are condescending to. And there are still plenty of men out there who think that they are naturally superior to all women, in all things.
(Waits quietly for someone to reply, “why yes, I am, as a matter of fact.”)
“being arrogantly condescending to a complete stranger is something that men tend to do to women”
This is what kind’ve gets me. I appreciate you’re pissed off at this guy, but I feel a little put upon that I’m being lumped with them. It’s not unlike me thinking all Austrians are racist serial killers because of Hitler.
On a related topic – I would welcome you creating your own podcast. I always look forward to you being on Jonathon Strahan’s every now and then.
I understand your concern, and certainly it wasn’t my intention to lump you in with this guy and I’m sorry you feel that way. Had I said something like “typical male” I would have been guilty as charged.
My problem is that this guy did something specifically because he is a man and I’m a woman. The whole point of sexism (and any similar -ism) is that people behave on the basis of categories, not on the basis of individuals. You can’t accuse someone of being sexist without implying that they are of one gender and their victim(s) are of another. If, as you suggest, merely calling a man on sexist behavior is, in itself, sexist, because that can be taken as treating all men as a category, how are we ever to combat sexism?
Podcasts are fun, but kind of scary because it is hard to edit your foot out of your mouth if you accidentally put it there. I do hope to do more, however.