The Argothald Journal

Remember that libation bowl I mentioned in my previous Shapeways post? Here's how it turned out.

What I designed	Material I chose	What I got
	ceramic with pale yellow glaze

I've been playing a lot with 3D lately, even though I have no depth perception.

( Read more... )

This newly-discovered disease refers to the inability to keep quiet when you see someone else using using a device with a speech interface.

What the device's user says: "Note eight dollars for lunch."

What Siri hears: "Note ten dollars for lunch wow is that an iphone I've thought about getting one but Apple products are so expensive does it really understand everything you say"

The only known cure is duct tape, applied orally.

OK, audio geeks, I need help and I need it fast.

In one week, I go to the Free Spirit Gathering. I hope to do some voice interviews. The set-up will probably be people sitting around in a circle, from 10 to 30 feet across (I have no idea). I want to make audio recordings of my questions and people's responses. My original idea was to put a microphone in the center and let it pick up the voices.

My recording device will be my iPad. Note that this has no internal input amplifiers for its microphone; input volume cannot be adjusted. I purchased an external microphone (a CAD U1); it's a USB microphone (any mic for the iPad must be USB). It has no amplifier either, just a mute button.

In my initial tests a few months ago, this mic seemed fine. I just ran a more realistic audio test, and to my horror I found that if the mic was more than a foot away from my mouth, the sound became almost too faint to hear. In an outdoor environment like FSG, I'm afraid everything will disappear into background noise.

Video cameras seem to capture sound from a long distance away, and with no special equipment. There must be something out there that will do what I want.

If I must, I'll pass the mic around. But this is awkward, and will interfere with my ability to take notes while people speak.

I don't have much time for shopping. If I have to, I'll pay extra for overnight shipping from Amazon, but I have to know what to get.

So: What's a good audio set-up for capturing voices speaking in a circle?

Nothing sophisticated here. If you're looking for deep thoughts or heavy philosophizing, you'll get that in my next blog post.

( Read more... )

As I posted in my recent Twitter/Facebook status updates, I've finally indulged in a burst of rampant consumerism and purchased a Blu-ray player.  No, I did not buy it on credit!

With the purchase of this new toy, I took the opportunity to remove some electronics from my home theater system. I'm never going to use these items again. I know about Freecycle and whatnot, but I thought I'd offer to give them to my friends first before I gave them to strangers.

( Read more... )