21 January 2010
Introducing Think Vitamin Radio: Episode #1
Those of you who subscribe to the Think Vitamin Newsletter (just look to the right of the page for the signup form) will know that I have been talking about some changes and developments for 2010. As well as making the newsletter a regular event we decided to launch a bi-weekly podcast. You can listen to “Episode #1″ above using the player. We are in the process of getting the episode transcribed.
Update: For the “Huff Duffers” out there here’s a direct link to the mp3 file.
Update 2: Full transcript now available.
What’s it all about?
Think Vitamin Radio, or TVR as we like to call it, will be hosted by me, Keir Whitaker, and I will be joined around the mics by Ryan Carson and Mike Kus. Assorted guests and friends will be popping in from time to time. We will cover three main themes, web design, web development and web entrepreneurship.
Our aim is for the show to be around 20 – 30 minutes each episode, ideal listening for your workout at the gym or commute to the office.
We are learning
This is new for us. We have invested in some kit and will dedicate the time to ensure a quality listen but we are still learning the ropes. Please bear with us whilst we figure out the tech and editing techniques.
Get involved
If you have an app or design you would like us to discuss or an announcement you would like to make drop us a line at thinkvitamin@carsonified.com. In future episodes we will be making “Community announcements” during the show.
Subscribe to TVR
We hope you enjoy the show. Let us know what you think in the comments.
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James Deer
# January 21, 2010 - 4:28 pm
Really enjoying it so far, would be nice if you included links to the things you are talking about.
Keir Whitaker
# January 21, 2010 - 4:48 pm
Hey James, great point. We will be getting the show transcribed so you will get a full set of links. We just wanted to get it out there. Thanks for listening.
Chris
# January 21, 2010 - 4:29 pm
Sounds good from what I could hear. Volume is really low though, makes it hard to listen to in my office, even with the headphones on. Will listen to it all when I get home.
Ryan Carson
# January 21, 2010 - 4:42 pm
Cheers for the feedback. We’ll fix that next time :)
Chris Lentz
# January 21, 2010 - 6:34 pm
+1 I can barely hear it on my Macbook Pro speakers at full volume.
Stefanos Hadjisoteriou
# January 21, 2010 - 7:28 pm
Yeah I’m sorry but i’ve got to agree – the main speaker’s voice isn’t too low, but the other guy is almost impossible to hear.
Keep it up though – look forward to hearing more episodes :)
Shane
# January 21, 2010 - 4:30 pm
Hi Guys, really good start !
For me, the audio volume dips in and out but im sure over time you guys will perfect the setup and become more fluent.
I will be subscribing !
Sam
# January 21, 2010 - 4:41 pm
Ideally, you should have those mics closer to your mouths on a boom. With the mics you have you’d probably need a pop filter to get rid of the ‘plosives. Perhaps throw a compressor on each mic and then a compressor + limiter on the master output of your audio editor. These effects are available in garageband, but I’d go with a copy of logic express.
The panning…this really makes the two people panned much quieter than the ‘host’. Maybe pan a little less if you still want some separation. I don’t think they pan people on the radio very often, so you might use that as a rule.
Keir Whitaker
# January 21, 2010 - 4:52 pm
Great feedback Sam, thanks a lot.
We know we have work to do on the tech side but we will get there :) Pop shields are on the list. The ones I wanted are seemingly out of stock everywhere I looked but it’s top of the shopping list.
Thatch
# January 21, 2010 - 11:27 pm
Hi,
Re the pop shields, there is always the old standby of wire coathanger, pantyhose and gaffa tape.
Not pretty, but it does help
Nick Pettit
# January 21, 2010 - 4:43 pm
Really great stuff gentlemen! Looking forward to listening to these. My favorite part is at 19:00, of course. ;)
It’s slightly amusing to us that you weren’t sure what to call Doctype. “It’s like a… what do they call them… vidcasts… video… video podcasts…” That’s something that we actually have strong opinions about. We’re certainly not offended or anything like that, we just find it interesting that as video on the web continues to evolve as a medium, people aren’t really sure what to call it. We usually just refer to Doctype as a “show” because it’s easier for people to understand. There’s more I could say, but perhaps this merits a blog post. :)
Again, tremendous effort. Keep it coming! :D
Keir Whitaker
# January 21, 2010 - 4:50 pm
Hey Nick, fair point :) I will make amends next time round. I am sure I referred to it as a “show” as well. If not I am telling myself off right now.
Nick Pettit
# January 21, 2010 - 5:19 pm
Haha, no worries! :D
Jin
# January 21, 2010 - 5:57 pm
You had me at Lego Starwars. :)
Kevin Dees
# January 21, 2010 - 6:03 pm
Hey guys great job! However, the sound level dips in and out at times. Otherwise all is well.
Tom
# January 21, 2010 - 6:36 pm
Great stuff – enjoyed your discussion. Keep them coming!
In addition to the suggestions re: audio quality – I’d also suggest using a higher bitrate – there are noticeable compression artifacts for me.
Ryan Carson
# January 21, 2010 - 7:07 pm
Thanks for all the great feedback guys – we’ll get the audio right next time. We’re newbies at this :)
Let us know if you’d like anything in particular for content in future shows!
Shawn "Doc" Boyd
# January 21, 2010 - 7:37 pm
Aloha Ryan,
The show is awesome, Good Idea and Implementation.
As someone who is coming back to web design from a long hiatus I need help with my design workflow. It is no longer as simple as Photoshop, Slice, Dreamweaver.
I having to learn modern JQuery, CSS Frameworks, G960, and MooTools… their are too many choices out there these days. It’s like tacky tourist shirts and coconut sunscreen at a luau! Argh!
The show just glazed over this topic so I need some VITAMINS soon.
Mahalo and Aloha from your friend in Paradise,
Doc
Gavin Smith
# January 21, 2010 - 7:08 pm
Had to give this one a miss, because I couldn’t hear a thing – but what I did hear towards the beginning was promising!
Keir Whitaker
# January 21, 2010 - 8:17 pm
Hey Gavin, we hear you and apologies for that. It’s a learning curve but we have a got a lot of ideas from feedback here and in a few emails so we will definitely be addressing it. Do check back, we’ll do a better job with the audio in Episode #2.
Mike
# January 21, 2010 - 10:56 pm
Awesome, I can’t wait to check it out!
Jeremy Keith
# January 21, 2010 - 11:19 pm
Good work, chaps. Here’s to many more.
Personally, I found the volume to be just fine …maybe because I’m listening through headphones.
One small request: how about including a link to the individual mp3 file? That way, people can download (or huffduff) episodes on a case-by-case basis.
Looking forward to the next episode.
Ryan Carson
# January 21, 2010 - 11:27 pm
Hey Jeremy
Thanks for the kind words :)
Regarding MP3s: Keir’s in charge of that department, but I’m sure he’ll be happy to help with that in the future.
For now, feel free to grab the MP3 here.
- Ryan
Keir Whitaker
# January 22, 2010 - 6:52 am
Hi Jeremy, great idea. I have added in a direct link to the mp3 at the top of the post for the “Huff Duffers”. I will ensure this gets put in all future show posts as well.
Paul
# January 22, 2010 - 4:05 am
How about offering a radio specific RSS feed for audio podcatchers, i subscribe to articles in my feed reader and podcasts on my phone.
Thanks guys, great to see this stuff coming out of uk companies :)
Paul
# January 22, 2010 - 4:11 am
And now I catch the subscribe link tucked away there. Perhaps you can add a and a right hand column button for TVR with episode 2’s sure success :)
Gavin Brockis
# January 22, 2010 - 10:49 am
hi guys – interesting podcast, but yeah a few problems with levels and clarity; you’re not really within our education remit, but you might find my screencast about microphone technique useful for improving the voice quality…
http://www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk/blog/entry/microphone-technique-screencast/
keep up the good work!
Matt
# January 22, 2010 - 4:29 pm
Enjoyed the podcast — shame it’s not longer if anything ;)
Alex Obenauer
# January 22, 2010 - 7:31 pm
Make a video version, and I’m in!
Scott
# January 23, 2010 - 12:17 am
Loved the podcast. Really look forward to hearing Mike talk more about his design process. I really enjoyed his explanation of making a site accessible in every way possible. I would also love to hear Ryan’s process from conception to completion of a web app.
As mentioned earlier the volume was extremely low but I know you guys are just getting started with this thing. I know it shall only get better.
Cliff Ravenscraft
# January 23, 2010 - 4:01 am
Love the fact that another new podcast has been launched! Great job guys!
Darryl Snow
# January 26, 2010 - 2:10 pm
I was really looking forward to this but unfortunately, even sitting in a quiet office with my headphones on and volume on max… etc. etc. etc.
All I could make out were mumbly voices… well they sounded particularly mumbly after just having listened to the rather more eccentric Mr. Boag.
Early days… eagerly awaiting future installments!
Veerle Verbert
# January 27, 2010 - 7:34 am
the same for me – I really looked forward to listening, but I had to stop trying .. (indeed, Mr. Boag was loud & clear on the same device)
On the old Rissington Podcast they argued that you can always adjust your volume slider, but that’s not always true: a lot of mp3-players limit the max volume so you wouldn’t damage your ears.
Just listened to the episode on my mac, but I’m really having trouble listening when I’m distracted by my screen.. so much to read & click & work on – hope to listen to the next one on the road!
Ryan Carson
# January 27, 2010 - 3:42 pm
Apologies Darryl and Veerle. We’ll nail it on our 2nd podcast! Please give it another try :)
Veerle Verbert
# January 28, 2010 - 8:54 am
Off course! Thank you for initiating a new pod cast!