Podcast Hardware

I’m doing a podcast now!  Adam and I started “The Untitled Geek Podcast” where we talk about various geeky stuff.  Partly it’s an excuse to talk about geek stuff, partly it’s an excuse to play with audio gadgets.

We’ve done 3 episodes so far, and it’s been a learning experience, since I haven’t really done audio stuff before.  We’ve slowly gotten better equipment, and more experience using it.  We’ve had technical hiccups in pretty much each episode, but nothing that destroyed a podcast.

Adam bought a mixer, but I wanted to play with my own, so I bought one too. =)

At first I got a Peavey PV6USB, thinking I could save space by getting a smaller mixer with a USB interface built-in.  The mixer itself seemed OK, a little quiet maybe, but the problem was, every time USB was active, there was a high-pitched whine in the output.  Not acceptable.  I returned it and ended up getting the same mixer Adam got, the overly large but highly rated Yamaha MG102C.

Our mics have changed over time, originally we both had USB mics, I forget what Adam had, I had a Blue Yeti.  I’d used the Yeti once or twice for quick voiceovers, but mostly it had sat on a shelf.  Of course, as soon as I went to use it for the podcast, it was non-functional.  Not sure why, it just stopped working.  I’d pick up a click if I switched modes on the mic, but otherwise no audio.  So I bought a cheap Logitech USB headset, which worked pretty well.  It was a little tinnier than Adam’s mic but worked OK.

Now, with the mixer, we are using Audio Technica AT2020 XLR mics, which are quite nice.

Automating Daily Affirmations

It’s pretty well-documented that positive thinking is good for you.  So here’s a simple idea:  set a password that you type often as a positive message that’s meaningful to you.

Don’t forget to mix it up so your password is secure, use upper and lower case letters, numbers, and symbols.

For example:

iAm@b3autifulpErs0N

g3Tthing$d0Ne2dAy

You will have a password that is more secure, easier to remember, and you will repeat a positive message in your head every time you type it.

Just a thought!