Hey everyone,

Even if no one is checking the blog anymore, I’d like to thank everyone for a great class and lots of fun discussion.  I hope our paths cross again (and often) throughout our careers at Baylor and beyond.  I have a blog now, I don’t know if I’ll be faithful to it or not, but it can be found here.  Thanks again and have a great Christmas break, guys.

Sorry, all, for my obvious lack of activity these past few weeks on this blog.  I have been attempting to find a home for my podcast and hopefully, a blog which I’ll continue even after FYS.  I decided to settle on tumblr–it’s easy and has a smooth interface for both myself and (possible) visitors.  The blog features both the video and audio editions (revised, as per Dr. C’s request) for your viewing/listening pleasures.  Thanks for the interest.

On another note, I found the searching for a good “blogspot” was, like most things involved with this class, very recursive.  I actually searched technorati along with google for reviews on blogsites.  This means, essentially, I was searching for new media within new media and blogs about blogging.  Surely this would be biased, I thought, and this presents a problem.  There aren’t, to my knowledge, many people who are willing to review blogs and the many features of them without being a blogger themselves.  To this end, those who review these blogs who are bloggers are very much biased to the service they use.  It was difficult to find out what the issues with a site were unless I logged on and used it myself.  I ended up deciding to use tumblr because every aspect of it was simple, including the RSS feed system… which is now what I am most interested in.

Hi everyone, this is my conclusive post of this year’s thoughts and ideas in terms of podcasting/RSS, my final project.  As you may have noticed, iTunes has yet to publish my video nor audio podcasts, so I will simply show them from my computer for you tomorrow.  Thanks for a great year with many interesting people and wonderful opinions.  Following this you will find my written component of the project, an essay of approximately 1000 words summing up what I found to be notable.

Meta-Podcasting

It is no longer the how, what, or where, but the why and when which dictate the norm of media in the Age of Information. In a rapid emergence, beginning only around fifty years ago , thinkers like Douglous Englebart (1952), Jorge Luis Borges (1941), and Vannevar Bush (1944), revolutionized the idea of a dynamic-kind of data. In his essay, “As We May Think,” Bush grapples with the practicality of such a capable medium, saying “A record if it is to be useful…must be continuously extended…it must be consulted” (Bush 38) in ways that were not yet available to the Gutenberg generations. In a short time, however, the computer came to be—and the Internet could not help but to follow. In conjunction with Moore’s Law, which states, basically, that as technology gains more memory and becomes more advanced, it will, as a whole, become cheaper. This has held true and has been the most likely cause of the rise of Podcasting. Although Podcasting is a comparably rare service with respect to giants such as Youtube, it represents a significant bound into the Age of Information. Podcasting is a medium which symbolizes the shift from the past’s fully Professional information processing to a more integrated, 21^st century form of media.

The podcast has humble beginnings, rooted mainly in linguistics. In February of 2004 writer Ben Hammersley, for The Guardian Newspaper of London, wrote an article analyzing the newest medium to gain recognition. He struggles with a name, asking readers “But what to call it? Audioblogging? Podcasting? GuerillaMedia?” Obviously, one of these terms stuck and continually permeates into the world of media, bringing conflict with it. Later that year, in September, a company named iSpider attempted to release the free aggregation software titled iPodder. Soon, Apple sent a “cease and desist letter” to the company, requiring a prompt renaming of the aggregator. Since then, many similar issues have arisen for Apple but are not documented publicly, according to iSpider’s own conflict report. Notwithstanding, Apple has become highly involved in the medium, producing software such as Garageband, iMovie, and Photobooth with built-in podcasting tools. These have led to the creation of over 125,000 free podcast subscriptions available on iTunes and to the increasing number of “hits[1]” on Google when “podcast” is searched (over twenty-eight million). To travel back a bit more, beyond the naming of the medium, the desire for and idea of such a service is not so young.

I believe the best example of the first idea of a podcast medium is the essay of Alan Kay’s, “Personal Dynamic Media.” Kay saw the computer as “a medium for expression,” a place to “materialize thoughts,” and ultimately, an “interaction of humans with their media…[which] change in response to the viewer’s wishes” (Kay 393). The premise of a podcast could be no better explained; although Kay is speaking of his vision for the next computer, he accurately captures an evolving and adaptive hope which has followed new media from its beginnings. Podcasting is merely a poster-child for a greater wish, one that may be fulfilled even farther in the future. Despite this inherent change and want, podcasting meets the current expectations for self-expression.

The creation and management of podcasts are two very different, though essentially integrated components. For two years I have listened to BBC radio broadcasts through the iTunes podcasting service, delivered directly to my iPod each morning. This service is convenient, simple, and keeps me connected to the larger world around me—in short, it is education. And this is exactly what Ivan Illich proposes in his book Deschooling Society: Chapter 6 Learning Webs. He laments the current educational foundations, arguing that there is some “hidden curriculum,” which undoubtedly leads to “an illusory” sense of the world (Illich 74). Podcasting, a medium of completely independent production and education, promotes a more stable, Illichian form of schooling, wherein one may “make free speech,” create “free assembly, and” synthesize “a free press truly universal and, therefore,” be “fully educational” (Illich 76). Creating podcasts meets this very definition—the process is, at first, difficult but is immensely rewarding as well. This experience is one of individual performance, one must write script, interview, direct, edit, and probably act or speak in the video/audio to make a podcast. It is a full job, and the results are just as real. This bolsters self-confidence and provides a valid feedback of aptitude—with no teacher involved.

Sadly podcasting, like Illich, is not a very popular method among the larger majority of users. In fact, according to a Pew Internet Project Survey in May 2008, only a total of nineteen percent of Internet users (1,550 users) had ever downloaded or listened to a podcast, and of these, only seven percent had actually downloaded one or more. It is only valid, then, to assume that podcasting is not even reaching its full potential, as it is an inherently social medium. To be more effective, podcasting requires the extra push of higher quantity without sacrificing the variable quality. Subscription distinguishes podcasting from other video/audio services, which many assume weakens its appeal to the younger generation (ages 18-24), who as a whole, find the idea of commitment daunting. The lack of advertisement is also a direct contributer to this regrettable phenomenon—and not many are doing anything about it. Those podcasts which are popular remain so, but newer ones are becoming less and less common in the face of competitors like Youtube, where single videos may be posted in a string called a “channel.” Unlike Podcasts, these do not promote subscription and have nothing to do with Really Simple Syndication (RSS), the backbone of podcast distribution.

It is regrettable that podcasts are, though fun and effective, not reaching a larger audience. The power of podcasts to educate and empower, when measured against the oft-repeated regurgitation of memorized articles in traditional schools, seems altogether more promising and desirable. The numbers are yet to speak for this opinion, however one should note that the future is dynamic, and so will be our minds.

Final Project!

Meta-Podcast
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<channel>

<title>Candid Shots</title>
<description>The day-to-day’s of life, when we feel like it</description>
<link>http://courseblogs.gardnercampbell.net/thdrummer/</link>
<language>en-us</language>
<copyright>Copyright N/A</copyright>
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<itunes:author>thdrummer</itunes:author>
<itunes:subtitle>Candid Shots are the day-to-day’s of life, when we feel like it.</itunes:subtitle>
<itunes:summary>Candid Shots is about the day-to-day’s of life and the intricacies of how we handle them.  This podcast was begun during an introduction to new media course at Baylor University . </itunes:summary>

<itunes:owner>
<itunes:name>Troy H</itunes:name>
<itunes:email>thdrummer@gmail.com</itunes:email>
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<itunes:explicit>No</itunes:explicit>

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<itunes:category text=”Technology”>
<itunes:category text=”Podcasting”/>
</itunes:category>

<item>
<title>Candid Shots Episode 1:  Meta-podcast</title>
<link>http://courseblogs.gardnercampbell.net/thdrummer/</link>
<guid>FIX ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!</guid>
<description> Welcome to the show it is November 23rd and this is our 1st
show.  Today we’ll be analyzing the medium of podcasting. Please visit this podcast at http://courseblogs.gardnercampbell.net/thdrummer/ </description>
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<itunes:author>thdrummer</itunes:author>

<itunes:explicit>No</itunes:explicit>
<itunes:subtitle> Welcome to the show it is November 23rd and this is our 1st
show.  Today we’ll be analyzing the medium of podcasting. Please visit this podcast at http://courseblogs.gardnercampbell.net/thdrummer/  </itunes:subtitle>
<itunes:summary>Welcome to the show it is November 23rd and this is our 1st
show.  Today we’ll be analyzing the medium of podcasting. Please visit this podcast at http://courseblogs.gardnercampbell.net/thdrummer/ </itunes:summary>
<itunes:duration>00:10:25</itunes:duration>
<itunes:keywords>candid, podcast, podcasting, podcaster, Interviews, Media, Meta</itunes:keywords>

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</rss>

I. Introduction

II. Podcasting from a consumer’s POV

· A. Survey and Analysis of results: Do you listen or make podcasts regularly?

o 1. Survey

§ 10-15 subjects

§ Results:

o 2. Analysis

§ What does this say about the technology?

ú Could it be more convenient or is it just not exposed enough?

· B. Brief history of the podcast

· C. Case study of podcast users

o 1. —

III. Podcast Production

· A. The Basics

o 1. Theme

o 2. Resources

§ a. Sets

§ b. Camera/Voice recorder

§ c. Computer

o 3.

· B. Resources explained—with relation to money

o 1. Camera/Audio Equipment

§ a.

o 2. Sets

o 3. Computer

· C. Answer the “wh’s?”

o 1. Why do you want to make the podcast?

o 2. Who is the intended audience?

o 3. What is the purpose?

IV. Podcasting dissimilation

· A. The Basics

o 1. XML

o 2. RSS

o 3. Platforms

· B. Preferred platform: iTunes

o 1. This is why…

§ a. Ease of use

§ b. Integration

§ c. Large audience

V. Conclusion

Feel free to comment–My plan is to publish this, along with others on iTunes and a website/blog dedicated to it.  I would really appreciate a quick comment from everybody declaring whether or not they use podcasts regularly.  I would also like to get a quick video interview from all of you after class, if possible.

Fortunately, the world never changes.  Inherent meaning, that which is beyond the interpretation and is of the purest motivation, has not a reason for change.  It seems to be easier to run a long-lasting (ideal) society with unwavering purpose and definition of that purpose.  An example, covered in class today, is that of the word communication.  To go a little “onespeak” on everyone this word has a plethora of meanings both independent of and completely conditional of “communication.”  My basis for this argument is the transformation from Lucasfilm’s Habitat to the ever-present Second Life; a major shift in technology is, for the aforementioned reasoning, still based on the framework of Habitat.  The purpose of Second Life is communication in a broad medium separate from those we experience in Primary Life.  Though Second Life interactions emulate Primary functions, there is something–wait for it… INHERENTLY different-to be expounded upon later… but here’s a great illustration of our discussion from today…

“History, Stephen said, is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake,” and awake we have not.  School, as we discovered in reading Illich[ian] literature, may actually be examined as a medium.  We are, therefore, urged to discover what this medium is intended to mean, for after all, the medium is the message.  This initial quote from Joyce’s Ulysses is one of my favorites, as it represents a deep human struggle we often find is universal.  Ulysses is considered one of the most difficult books to read of all time, but I believe it is only difficult for those not looking in the correct place.  It is all about the premise; Joyce was cynical, intelligent, and radical; his readers should be the same.  Illich, I suppose, is not altogether different.

According to him, this is the enemy:

To me, though, this image is altogether safe and somewhat comforting.  This, Illich would say, is the poisoned paradigm rearing its ugly head–I seem to have been infected.

School, though taken with a grain of salt, has had an apparent effect on mine and my peers’ thought process.  Earlier this semester, in fact, in this very class, we learned that every person has a particular way of thinking, which we can breakdown into a few categories.  The most broad observation produced the idea that all thought is sequential to some end.  There is no such thing as a random thought process, and accordingly, humans tend to categorize every facet of life possible.  For this reason we sub-categorize these modes of idea realization into three main brackets:  deduction, induction, and enthymeme.  The first is the process is of concluding from general to specific, the second from specific to general, and the last a more spontaneous compilation of the latter two.  All of these processes are considered legitimate in particular rhetorical situations, and to each are merits and faults.  Illich does not ever defame thinking, rather he does the opposite, harshly criticizing the forces (school) which suppress a valid and personal exploration of the three.  While I see the beauty and applicability of Illich’s arguments, I continue to wallow in the comfort of “school,” or, in the least, I cannot accurately describe the ways in which I’ve broken free.  The rest remains to be told…

In a system hard-pressed into our societal definition of the world, Seymour Papert finds the essential components of the current status of education to be a crude and worthless undertaking.  Reminiscent of Illich’s ideas, wherein “school,” as a medium, is torn to shreds point-by-point, Papert proposes a structure which he calls “learning without a curriculum.”  The “Piagetian learning” would remedy the “intellectual environment offered to children by today’s cultures,” which are considered to be “poor in [epistemological] opportunities.”  He believes children should be thinking in terms of a new, revolutionary question; rather than asking “whether [something] is right or wrong,” a child should wonder “if it is fixable.”  Papert says, without citation, that “children develop…components of thinking preconsciously and ’spontaneously,’…without deliberate teaching.”

Dora, while a wonderful teacher, is just not up to Papert’s expectations of education.

Dora invites participation, albeit elementary, interaction is still the basis of her methods.  She, in fact, epitomizes the ideal child, in Papert’s words:  “children [should] embark on an exploration about how they think,” and this is done by “teaching [others].”  Dora utilizes, and forces her viewers to utilize, a particularly practiced and effective form of systemic inquiry.  The skeletal process of:  something’s missing, figure out what it is, ask someone who knows about it (the map), follow the clues, overcome the obstacles, and solve the problem becomes a type scene for everyday life among the viewers of the show.  And rightfully so–such a system has been perfected by philosophers like Nietzche, Thoreau, and others.  Dora, while not using a computer, is in fact doing exactly what Papert expects; and the fact that she extends this power to her comrades and compadres across the medium of the television only strengthens her ethos in this respect.

Last Thursday, October 29, 2009, FYS 1399 was ripped from the comfort of the sheltered harbour that is societal propriety.  The scene was devastating–students were asking questions, the professor gave real answers, and the class formulated conclusions.  In this surreal excursion from the “real life” experience, students were awestruck by the things they saw.  When the idea, rather than the thing itself, is examined, the whole picture finally begins to come into focus:  the results are often unimaginable.  School, construed as a medium, is quite the interesting invention (recall from high school rhetoric that “invention” is the ability to discover all arguments in particular situations).  Upon this plane, school becomes less about what is taught and more about what is learned.   Illich, who wrote Deschooling Society, implies in the chapter “Learning Webs” that the message of School is:  keep on doing what has already been done.”  And, really, what else is it?  He said that if, by chance, one actually learns something at school, it is probably a mistake.

For the purposes of clarification:  I am not attempting to damage the reputation of teachers, professors, or educators anywhere, I am merely regurgitating ideas from a philosopher in the hopes of being educated by the very system with which we all seem to find much contention.  Notwithstanding, I have likes and dislikes with Illich’s ideas and I must admit, he was right.

School, itself, is a dangerous idea.  It spreads knowledge but prevents invention (remember the definition).  Many lawyers, for example, are taught for years how to discover the fallacies, mistakes, and misunderstandings within a case, but rarely are they found arguing something new.  To bring the focus in a little more and add a touch of personality, I’d like to apply this same conversation to my years of cross-examination debate in high school.  My partner and I (along with the other team from our school) were talented at debate because we saw, or at least argued, what others did not.  A favorite argument amongst every other debate team was “nuclear war.”  Apparently Russia will attack the United States if California puts even one more solar panel up on their roofs.  Typically, my partner and I would simply say, “use logic” and determine the entire argument false, but judges would often say, “that doesn’t make any sense.”  Sad, no?  Anyway, we still won most of the time, but only after much blathering about nothing in particular.  And this, my friends, is exactly what school is teaching us to do… have much ado about nothing.  Shakespeare captures this very well, and if I weren’t so darn educated, I would bet he could have predicted this…

Well, how do I describe this in any way besides different.  I used to play Final Fantasy and tactics games as a child, but my premature adulthood days have been sheltered from the MMORPG (I’m using this term loosely) world for reasons I now know.  After my character had a couple epileptic seizures and kept “editing his appearance” when I told him to sit down, I’m convinced that the world of Second Life, albeit interesting, is not for me.  I really appreciate the fact that we were able to hold class (without a substitute) with our professor being in Barcelona.  If it were for the class’s generally dysfunctional ability to participate I believe we could call that a truly collaborative, dynamic, and innovative form of education.  If video games (I guess this would fall under Kinesthetic, though virtual, education?) were my cup o’ tea, then I feel as thought this approach would be extremely effective.  Did I ever mention that, as a child, I learned bigger words not only from reading, but from video games?  They aren’t all bad.

Now that the video game part of my life has long since departed and driven off the side of the cliff, I feel as though I was able to take more away from this experience.  It helped me realize that there are viable alternatives to the education system we have today, and though they would require much more testing (and trust, of course), they could be the models of the future.  We all know that each person learns in a different way, and to effectively train minds for a successful or fulfilling career (or both), education should be able to harness new techniques capable of doing so.  This is the future, and it already looks cool; let’s hop aboard this train, see where it takes us.