Author Archives: benfranske - Page 19

A rash of updates

Posted by on February 7, 2006 1 comment

You may have noticed that I’m trying to be a bit more regular with updates to the blog. Instead of posting a glut of entries when I have time I’m writing them all ahead of time and then simply posting one each day unless it’s a date sensitive story. I hope to keep the website more reliable and fresh by having new content each day. I don’t know how long I can keep this up, right now I have a huge stash of topics to do stories on but some are more involved to write up than others so eventually I may not be able to keep up the pace but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. For the time being you should see regualar updates to the blog.

Microphone Selection for Portable Recorders

Posted by on February 6, 2006 Comments Off on Microphone Selection for Portable Recorders

For some time I’ve been keeping my eye out for a portable archival-quality audio recording device. This fall I finally purchased the recently released M-Audio Microtrack 24/96 and I’ve been thrilled with all this little recorder can do. I looked at similar products from Marantz and Roland but they didn’t meet my requirements as close as this.

One common accessory to these small recorders is a good microphone. Thanks to the folks at minidisc.org for putting together this great guide to microphones commonly used with small recording devices. As the saying goes “garbage in, garbage out” so a good microphone is key to getting a good recording. Of course this guide was originally written for MiniDisc recorders but the research should be valid for portable digital recorders as well.

As podcasts become more prevalent many people are finding that a good recorder and a good microphone are second only to content when it comes to podcasting to a large audience.

The End of an Era

Posted by on February 6, 2006 Comments Off on The End of an Era

On January 27, 2006 Western Union officially stopped sending telegrams. The fact that this was a non-event should tell you something about how important the telegram has become in our society but it wasn’t always that way. For many years the telegram was the only fast way to get a message transmitted over long distances. Indeed telegrams contributed much to our culture during the latter ninteenth and early twentieth centuries.

One of the contributions was the widespread use of code phrases and words to shorten a message. Today this may look something like “LOL” or “ROFL” in an instant message window but long before the invention of instant messaging telegraph companies and customers were abbreviating common messages with codes such as Western Union “92” code or “Wood’s 1864 Telegraphic Numerals”.

For more information on the history of the telegraph I suggest looking at “A Brief History of Telegrams” by the folks at retro-gram.com. You might also enjoy browsing some of the photographs at the British Science and Society Picture Library, which coincidentally has many other interesting historic science photographs, or reading about telegraph workers at the Norwegian Telecom Museum.

Crime may not pay but it sure is fun to watch

Posted by on February 6, 2006 Comments Off on Crime may not pay but it sure is fun to watch

You may be surprised to know that I’m a fan of the US TV series “Cops“. After all, it’s not known as the most intellectually stimulating show but I do find it amusing to see what kind of trouble people can talk themselves into. “Really, I just pulled you over for a headlight that was out and in the end you’re going to prison because you told me I could search your car and I found a dozen guns and five pounds of drugs.” It’s also interesting to keep an eye on police tactics and see just how close they themselves can walk the line of illegal activity such as entrapment.

Along the same lines the website BaitCar.com has some fun videos you can watch. In case you didn’t know bait cars are cars that police agencies have rigged with video and sound and which usually can be remotely disabled. The departments put them out on the streets in the hopes that someone will steal them and they can get a car thief off the street. Now most of these thieves are not the brightes bulbs on the tree to begin with but how can you not laugh when they’re praying they’re not driving a bait car.

Propaganda is Fun!

Posted by on February 6, 2006 Comments Off on Propaganda is Fun!

Regular readers may note that I’m a big fan of old “Mental Hygiene” and other government propaganda films. These historic films are readily availible through the Prelinger and A/V Geeks film archives as part of the Internet Archive project. I’ve spent countless hours downloading and viewing these classic classroom films.

Following the tradition of such propaganda the Modern Humorist website has created three propaganda posters for the internet age. This is really a fun site and I especially enjoy these spirited pokes at the RIAA and MPAA. Personally I think they’d make great artwork for my walls.

Historic Photographs

Posted by on February 6, 2006 Comments Off on Historic Photographs

It’s important to remember that even in this digital age many resources can still be provided by local agencies. One such example is the photography collection at the Minnesota Historical Society. While not all of their resources are avilible online, many are.

One of may personal favorites is the Northwestern Bell Telephone Company collection. It’s amazing what you can find if you know where to look. On this site you can find photos of everything from power plants to the Alaska Highway Construction to Minneapolis Saloons. What a great resource!

Let’s also not forget that it would be impossible to get such insteresting photographs as the power plant and telephone company photos with the restrictions (real or just imposed by unknowning officials) in place today. Will our modern infrastructure be documented in art such as this for future generations to enjoy looking back at?

Digital Video Self-Help

Posted by on February 6, 2006 Comments Off on Digital Video Self-Help

As more people start producing digital video they have more questions about how to format and convert it. One site with quite a bit of history in helping people with the thorny issues surrounding digital video is VideoHelp.com.

This site started off as VCDhelp.com. As you may recall VCDs (Video CDs) were a popular pre-DVD digital format in Asia but never made a big hit in the United States. The site grew to include SVCDhelp.com and eventually DVDRhelp.com but is now branding as VideoHelp.com.

Here you can find a number of tutorials that walk you through just about any digital video format conversion you can imagine as well as forums, background information and hardware/software suggestions and links. The site is a virtual trasure trove of all things digital video. In my mind there is no doubt that VideoHelp.com and doom9.net are the definitive resources for help with digital video projects. Next time you’re looking for help with one of your digital video projects be sure to take a look at one of these great sites.

Learning Your Preferences

Posted by on February 6, 2006 Comments Off on Learning Your Preferences

The folks at the Music Genome Project have spent the last six years analizing songs from over 10,000 artists. If you have ever wanted to expand your musical horizons but wanted some good suggestions about what music you might like take a look at their web-based music suggestion utility, Pandora. You start out listing some music you enjoy and the free service will start making suggestions of other music you may like. By listening to and rating these selections the service will start to build a profile of music you would like and theoretically get even better about suggesting new songs and artists. Pretty cool stuff if you ask me. I’m surprised someone like the iTunes store or Amazon hasn’t started licensing this technology as a way to encourage people to buy more music.

The Mac Minitosh

Posted by on February 6, 2006 Comments Off on The Mac Minitosh

Normally I’m not one for case mods but this is a really interesting one I found. Many people are familiar with the Macquaiums but the folks at destruc.tv have put a Macintosh Mini inside an old Macintosh Plus case. OS X running in a compact Mac case, now that’s something worth mentioning.

PS: Detailed instructions for building a Macquarium can be found here along with photos if finished mods here and here.

Photography is Right

Posted by on February 6, 2006 Comments Off on Photography is Right

Now more than ever photographers are under fire from government officials to stop taking pictures of “sensitive infrastructure”. Never mind that there is no evidence showing that photography has played an important role
in any terrorist attack in the last forty years. Perhaps more importantly unrestricted photography by private citizens has played a critical role in the fight for civil rights and protecting the freedoms we hold so dear. Much of the harassment faced by photographers is due to a lack of understanding by both the general public and police forces about what is and is not permitted in the United States. In general, if you’re on public property or have permission from the land owner you can photograph anything you want from that location. This has not changed by the implementation of the PATRIOT Act or any other national legislation to date which is a common mistake made by government officials. For a more complete understanding of the laws involved I suggest taking a look at Attorney Bert P. Krages The Photographer’s Right”. For a truly in depth look at the laws and concerns for photographers take a look at Bert’s book “Legal Handbook for Photographers: The Rights and Liabilities of Making Images“.

Unfortunately, many police officers (and even federal agents) fail to understand these rights. One grievous example of this is the story of Ian Spiers, a Washington state resident and photography student, who was harassed by police on two occasions for taking photographs of a local lock and dam as part of a photography assignment. He details his experience on his web site Brown Equals Terrorist. Lest you think this is an isolated case I suggest you listen to the National Public Radio Morning Edition story where they interview several East coast photographers who have also been harassed. The rights of photographers are being trampled from coast to coast and over zealous government officials who seem to have no understanding of the law and little regard for individual rights are making a mockery of the constitution. If you’re interested in this sort of thing one resource where you can stay up to date on the issue is the news site PhotoPermit.org which tracks news stories related to legal issues surrounding photography.