The Final Blog

Hello

            Personally, I’m not unhappy with how my podcast turned out, but I wish it were better. I had planned on incorporating my own composed music but my piano wasn’t cooperating with my computer and before you know it, it’s 11:59pm. Then looking for music late notice without worry of copyright infringement is suicide. When I find something I like I can’t use it or I have to pay some absurd amount of money.

            If I had a chance to go back and do something differently, I would probably change topics. Although I was interested in finding out information about the polar vortex, it wasn’t a strong area of knowledge for me to present on. Other than that, just figuring out the music a little earlier and everything would be all right.

            I have to say though, my family seems to wish for my academic demise as I asked for quiet while recording but my brother is coughing as if he’s an 80-year-old smoker and everyone else is walking in and out of the house. If I could change recording places, I would. So if you hear someone hacking in the background, or someone kicking their shoes against a door, just know I removed what I could.

            My advice to anyone starting this course is figure out your music beforehand and just enjoy the experience. It’s a fun project when everything goes right.

                        Thanks for reading

                                                Christopher Chin

Polar Vortex Uncovered

Hello

            My podcast deals with the polar vortex, what it is, how it contributed to our coldest winter in years and the effects it has on global warming. I also explore the debate if the polar vortex is or is not a result of global warming.

            The polar vortex is it here to stay? Or is it just a once in a lifetime occurrence? Find out!

Thanks for reading, Thanks for listening, I'll see you next time.

                        Christopher Chin

Software and Hardware

Hello

            For my podcast, I will be using Audacity for both my recording and editing needs. I have used it briefly before, very minimally in recording but quite a bit for sound editing music. For me, it is an easy software to get into and perform well in. For this project, I know it will fill my needs perfectly. I have tried Adobe Audition before and although it can outperform Audacity, it takes time to master.

            Honestly, the easiest way to understand how Audacity works is to just sit down and play around with it. However, to remove audio all one has to do is highlight the audio they wish to remove and simply delete it. Almost like a word document when you highlight the words you wish to remove and simply press delete. Same principle, the only difference being that you’re looking at a sound wave instead of words.

            If you’re looking to download Audacity, here’s a link.

            If you’re looking for helpful guides, outside of videos, for Audacity check this page.

            I have recorded my voice and I’m happy with the quality of the sound. Everything technical is in check. I recently did an interview assignment where I recorded the interview and had to listen to myself, so I’m not as annoyed by my voice as before.

            Thanks for reading

Christopher Chin

Structure with All Things Considered

Hello

            I imagine my podcast following the All Things Considered structure like the picture above (My phone picture quality is poor and my drawing skills are apparently worse than I first anticipated). My podcast will present events of recent happenings in the weather and then go into detail about how and why. The trough represents the information that is required to understand the events in deeper detail. After the trough returns upward becoming level to the beginning, the podcast is concluded by explaining its impact and possible speculative insight that the polar vortex can bring to our future weather conditions.

            The structure All Things Considered follows the structure of the episodes of Everyday Einstein. The show always begins with either a small story or a question that either Lee Falin comes across or a viewer asks. In both cases, the podcast begins and ends with a question and an answer with the middle containing the reason and logic behind the answer.

            As for the total number of citations for episode 102 “Icon for Access” of 99% Invisible, I counted 17 citations used in the podcast.

Thanks for reading

Christopher Chin

Search Strategies, Boolean Logic

Hello

            Boolean logic, while completing research, can be a very useful tool. I have used it in the past and it has served me well before. Boolean logic helps to make specific research searches to get relevant hits on the internet.

            Putting “and” between search words would make a search engine look for results containing only BOTH parameters. Putting “or” would broaden the search to either parameter. Putting “not” between search words makes the results show stuff about the former, but anything containing the latter would be excluded. For a much more in-depth explanation, I recommend visiting this site. Putting “” will make the search engine try to find everything inside the quotation marks exactly the way it is written in the search engine. However, some search engines don’t adhere to the quotation marks.  

            For this assignment, the Boolean logic has not served me well. The results kept repeating or some results were just too out dated. It has helped me with other subjects and can still help me on this assignment I just need to find the right parameters. I will continue to use Boolean logic in the future.

Thanks for reading

Christopher Chin

Digging Deeper

Hello

            My research steps have been tentatively taken and I’m still learning how to walk. I’m currently gathering information still and the research looks promising. As of currently I have not found any scholarly sources that I am aware of but I have found some significant information from popular sources like National Geographic. I am however still looking for a documentary I remember seeing about a year ago that outlined a good amount of the information on wind that I’m seeking.

            I’m continuingly looking for other information, but as I narrow down my search to the effects wind has on the polar vortex I believe my resources will change to news-oriented articles.

 

            Thanks for reading

Christopher

Topic Refinement

Hello

            The pitch exercise did help me to refine and decide on my topic. However, I think the act of presenting helped far more than just writing. Having to present made me decide on a topic and, having the possibility for feedback is always helpful.

            For other writing assignments, I’m unsure if it would be a useful writing exercise. Perhaps if we received feedback, it would provide some solid progression but otherwise it’s just another form of brainstorming, which never hurts, but I feel there are better brainstorming methods.

            My refined topic is how wind works and how it contributes to the polar vortex creating our coldest winter in recent years.

            Thanks for reading

Christopher Chin

Pitching

Hello

            How to Make a Good Pitch (quickanddirtytips.com)

            I have deemed the information that this site is reliable because it is consistent with other articles and information we received in class. Having an author with expertise in the subject is always reassuring. The information is not directed specifically towards a podcast, but the information is consistent with presenting an idea in an effective manner, which is very helpful nonetheless.

            Pitch to CBC Radio (cbc.ca)

            Information from CBC I imagine to be a truth table to eat from for pitching points and guidelines. CBC is recognized for its radio and broadcasting but I still like to check the honesty in the words that are written and if they comply with a similar truth as other articles. I always like to compare information, chances of one source being wrong is higher than multiple.

            How to Pitch a Podcast (Sanfranciscobookreview.com)

            Like the sources above, I like to see how well a source fits with others. Although this article focuses on pitching podcasts electronically, the methods can easily be extrapolated into a pitch with a voice in an effectively helpful way matching or building upon other sources.  

            From the advice I’ve gathered, I need to have a direction for my podcast, points of interest for my audience and an effective topic to present. Above all, I need to make the pitch and topic relevant to make the audience also care.

            Thanks for reading

Christopher

 

Works Cited

"CBC Radio Pitch - Index." CBCnews. CBC/Radio Canada, n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2014. <http://www.cbc.ca/pitch/radiopitchguide.html>.

"How to Make a Good Pitch." Quick and Dirty Tips. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2014. <http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/business-career/public-speaking/how-to-make-a-good-pitch>.

"How to Pitch a Podcast." San Francisco Book Review. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2014. <http://sanfranciscobookreview.com/2013/02/how-to-pitch-a-podcast/>.

Christopher Chin, W14

Hello

             The podcast show I have chosen to emulate is Everyday Einstein. I enjoy its range of topics and the everyday explanations of what we take for granted or ask a question but never make the effort to seek an answer. Every child has asked their parents “Why is the sky blue?” or “Where does sand come from?” and even today I remember asking, I remember that I once knew the answer but at the present moment I could not answer the question with full confidence.

            In my previous post I wanted to do The Science Times or Spark, but after listening to them in detail I much prefer Everyday Einstein. I like the style of the show, the way it’s presented and the topics it covers. I also like the way Lee Falin speaks throughout the show, sometimes jokingly but most of the time serious. Some of the topics come from his personal experience of things around the house he questions or a topic for an episode may come from a “viewer” with a question.

            For a topic for my show, I’m not entirely sure exactly what I want to do. I wish to come across an everyday simple question, and simply answer it. I do have a concern of length because I feel the topic I have might not be sufficient for 15 minutes. But I’m currently toying with the question, “Why do farts smell worse in the shower?”

            I tried to consult from Spark for writing advice but it was in the form of popup windows and poor videos that did nothing to help me. The advice did not help me select a topic, and personally, it was more work to look for advice than to just consider the first things that came to mind. My advice would be sit down, think for a couple seconds and then see what comes from it. Should that fail you, grab a friend who you can bounce ideas off because friends like that can help immensely. Might have to call them though, makes things move along quicker than texting.

            Thanks for reading

Christopher

Hello

Hello

            I’m Christopher currently in second year for the professional writing program. I’m interested in many subjects but lack the attention to call it an area of study. From math lost to its tedious repetition, science lost to understanding, digital art lost to talent but found an interest in writing. I have found a place among them with cold and heartless embraces.

            I believe I have used Refworks before but to what end, what class and what reason I cannot recall. My research experiences are always constant and attract an air of futility. The information I seek for school is always eluding, buried deep in the recesses of the internet, the information I seek for hobbies is always exactly what I need but never in my ability to perform and information that I seek for social contexts is always to make a point. Claims of truth always bring the best in social gatherings. The one thing I want to learn about research—and I believe everyone else does too—is how to find what I need as fast as possible without navigating the entire internet.

            I have no experience with radio and podcasting aside from participating as an audience. I feel more intimidated than excited about the podcast episode merely for my audience, who wants to hear my voice for extended periods without interruption? I however, have no qualms about doing the assignment though, as of yet.

            The topics I’m considering for the assignment are The Science Times and Spark. I enjoy speculating on what could be, what can be, or what might be and The Science Times looks to give me a cohesive opportunity to do so, though I might get lost in understanding. Spark seems to allow a similar opportunity in a different area.

            Thanks for reading

Christopher