Phil's RSS Feed

whoa! elephants

2010-08-14T11:38:00.001-07:00

whoa! a bunch of elephants walked right into the public library where i work.

i'm teaching blogger today

2010-08-14T11:27:00.000-07:00

anything here. now edited.

yodio test

2010-01-17T15:36:00.001-08:00

Scratch Day 2009 - Computer Programming for Kids

2009-05-14T06:16:00.000-07:00

Scratch Day 2009 is shaping up to be a lot of fun.

The Wright Brothers - video and reading comprehension quiz

2009-03-25T21:02:00.000-07:00

The Wright Brothers

Take Me Out to Ubuntu song

2009-03-03T05:46:00.000-08:00

Here's a little song I composed about Ubuntu Linux.

YouTube reaches a billion video views per day

2008-07-28T03:30:00.001-07:00

This looks like it might be a milestone. YouTube is receiving about a billion video views per day.

Kant's Law

2008-07-24T06:10:00.000-07:00

You Kant build what you Kant imagine .

Moises Blanco teaching at the Takoma Park Computer Center

2007-10-14T13:07:00.001-07:00

Book talk - Richard A. Stack on his book Dead Wrong

2007-09-30T18:28:00.000-07:00

This spellbinding book talk was given by Richard A. Stack at The Culture Shop, on Cedar St. NW, Washington DC on 9/29/2007.

Here is a QuickTime file of the first 30 minutes of the talk.

Here is a QuickTime file of the second 30 minutes of the talk.

This file should play well on any computer from 1998 onwards.

Here's what I took away from the talk. The word "gallows" has the same word derivation as the word "gala," which also means festival. It's probably a good idea to stop having a festival of killing criminals.

Heartfelt thanks are owed to Valentine, the proprietor of The Culture Shop for hosting this event.

Dead Wrong - book talk by Richard A. Stack

2007-09-29T17:48:00.001-07:00

A brief review of Mark's Kitchen's Mango Curry entree

2007-05-31T04:08:00.000-07:00

this evening some friends and i ambled over to Mark's Kitchen. my mind was set on the Stuffed Acorn Squash, whose barley and mushroom flavors are a festival for the tongue.

when the waitress explained that the evening special was Mango Curry, i thought my willpower was robust and up to task. then she casually mentioned the dish had, "lots of asparagus on top" -- and i heard my willpower snap.

how to describe this dish? the dish can best be described as a rich melange of metaphors and similes, delicately garnished with wages. (delicately garnished with my wages, that is.)

visually, the dish is a work of art, suitable for hanging on the wall at the I M Pei Wing of the National Gallery. such colors. such style. such mood.

the dish is presented in a wide, round bowl --heaped in a healthful mound. i started my ascent on the south face and wended my way leisurely to the other side.

instead of boring rice, the carbs in this dish are scrumptious noodles. cuddling among the noodles are bountiful quantities of beneficent broccoli.

dabs of bright, fresh mango adorn the wide, curved edges of the plate. i went looking within this dish for a cliche and could find none.

you're going to like the Mango Curry dish. trust me.

phil shapiro

"Public Geek" job title

2007-05-19T02:36:00.000-07:00

a few days ago i posted the following message to the excellent web4lib email list.

Hi Web4Lib community,

I asked my supervisor at the public library where I work, the Takoma Park
Maryland Library, whether I can call myself the "Public Geek." "Sure," she
said. "It's fine to call yourself the Public Geek." "What does that make you?"
I asked mischievously. "I'm the Geek in Chief," she replied, without batting an
eyelid.

Now during staff meetings I'll be able to say, "Speaking as the Public
Geek, I'd just like to say..." You think I'm making this up? Here's
photographic proof!

I introduce myself very matter-of-factly to people who come into my
workspace, "I work here as the Public Geek." I fully expect someone to walk up
to me and say, "I'm so glad to meet you. I'm the neighborhood nerd."

"You're the neighborhood nerd? I'm so glad to meet you. I'm the Public Geek."

Video chosen as YouTube editor's choice

2007-04-28T07:09:00.000-07:00

On April 14, 2007, an editor at YouTube, citizensteve, chose YouTube Paneltalk - Participatory Media as an editor's choice. As a result, the number of views of the video went from about 1,200 to about 2,100 in a few days.

Webcams can work well for music videos

2007-04-08T08:41:00.000-07:00

I've been wondering whether it's possible to create a clear sounding music video using a $30 webcam. The answer to this question is, yes you can -- although it takes a few extra steps.

I shot this video using a $30 webcam, the Logitech Communicate STX, which is available from Buy.com and other places. I recorded the audio separately using my iBook laptop, and then imported this audio into Windows Movie Maker 2. Synchronizing the audio and the video took about 10 minutes of trial and error -- sliding the audio file to the right and then the left a bit.

You don't need to use an iBook laptop to record audio. I have a hunch you could get quite good audio recorded from an affordable portable cassette player. Here are some instructions on how to pour analog audio from a cassette player into your Windows computer's sound card.

You probably don't need the Plus! Superpack to accomplish this task. A free audio recording and editing program, such as Audacity ought to do the trick. This Sony portable cassette player/recorder might work well.

If your video consists only of voice narration, you don't need to use any external sound recording device. A simple headset with microphone will do the trick. These sell for about $15 to $30. Here is a headset with microphone being sold on Amazon.com. To avoid the shipping cost, wait until you buy something else on Amazon and add this item in to that purchase. (Or find a friend who also wants to buy one of these headsets, and add in their purchase to your purchase.)

To view a version of the above music video with higher quality video and audio, download the source file I uploaded to the Internet Archive. (This Windows Media file is about 60 megabytes in size.) You can download it by clicking here. (By comparison, the Flash video file on YouTube is about 12 megabytges in file size.)

New song - There Were Two Brothers

2007-04-06T05:57:00.000-07:00

There Were Two Brothers Created using AppleWorks and Powerbullet.

This Flash presentation may be freely distributed on refurbished computers and via other non-commercial means.
You can download it here.

If you'd like to download the source audio, you can find it in a zip file here.

Video commentary for themail, March 31, 2007

2007-04-01T10:06:00.000-07:00

YouTube Paneltalk - Participatory Media

2007-02-20T04:22:00.001-08:00

Community Voice at the Seattle Post -Intelligencer

2007-01-28T19:55:00.000-08:00

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, true to its name, has started publishing community voice blogs. But the newspaper is calling these "New Reader Blogs." Much better to describe these blogs as "Community Voice Blogs."

Speaking of the big changes happening at newspapers, check out the Harvard report titled Goodbye Gutenberg. And since every freedom movement needs songs, here's a song titled "Goodbye Gutenberg."

2007-01-10T01:16:00.000-08:00

"When our tools are broken, we feel broken. And when somebody fixes one, we feel a tiny bit more whole." Lev Grossman

using youtube for screencasts

2006-12-23T17:54:00.000-08:00

one of the best screencasts on youtube is about the free, open source screencasting tool named camstudio 2. i learned a lot from this screencast. don't let the icelandic narration deter you from watching it. it's just a plain excellent screencast.

pat furr's in chico, california

2006-12-06T05:39:00.002-08:00

pat furr has been doing inspiring computer refurbishing work in chico, california. one of her organization's volunteers, renee roy, has created a very useful powerpoint explaining how to update windows and install/use anti-virus and anti-spyware software.

2006-11-11T23:41:00.000-08:00

Howard Kohn of the Takoma Voice newspaper has written a concise overview of some of the creative projects I'm involved with. The link above is a screen grab from the Takoma Voice web site, so the links listed in the article won't be active.

song - We Can Take It From Here

2006-11-09T03:52:00.000-08:00

article - Bundle OpenOffice.org

2006-10-08T18:40:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking that the time is right to bundle OpenOffice.org with all new computers that are sold.

some thoughts about warren buffet's donation

2006-09-17T12:38:00.000-07:00

this is a fun proof-of-concept rosetimes video project i've been working on. yes, it's possible to combine four video streams into a single quicktime. these four streams could be four different people (or four groups of people) participating in a panel discussion, brainstorming session, etc.

you'll need a G4 macintosh (or similarly fast linux or windows computer) to view the above quicktime. you might need to download quicktime 7, which is available for free.

would you like to create similar videos yourself? i explain how you can do so using quicktime pro ($30 from apple) in several screencasts accessible from the "making rosetimes" link at the top right of the rosetimes web site.

Video of Nonprofit Technology Resources, in Philadelphia

2006-09-11T09:39:00.000-07:00

Stan Pokras and the others at Nonprofit Technology Resources (NTR) are doing good work to expand access to technology and technology understanding. This 15-minute video shot by Justin Swain shows NTR in action on one recent Saturday afternoon.

Talking with Marco Figueiredo

2006-09-11T09:35:00.000-07:00

Marco Figueiredo, the director of the Center for Community Informatics, at Loyola College, in Columbia, Maryland, is doing some very interesting things bringing computers and the Internet to small villages in Brazil. Here's a 54-minute video where he talks about his work.

a video tribute to a favorite teacher

2006-09-09T22:18:00.000-07:00

Grand Strumstick - Joy to the World

2006-09-06T18:53:00.000-07:00

Last week I bought at Grand Strumstick at the House of Musical Traditions in Takoma Park, Maryland. Wow this thing is fun to play.

Joy to the World (2005)

2006-09-04T07:56:00.000-07:00

I'm a big fan of the Internet Archive, but I need to start supporting YouTube as well.

So here's a music video I shot at a friend's house.

creative project - Infinite Museum

2006-08-18T17:53:00.000-07:00

What would it be like to design an infinite museum using Google Sketchup? I've been wondering about that and have created three screencasts to explore that topic. A screencast is a narrated explanation of activity on a computer screen.

For those who are interested, here is some info to learn more about Sketchup.

creative project - Sammy's Autograph Book

2006-08-18T17:50:00.000-07:00

Here's a creative children's story project I've been working on collaboratively with some folks in Takoma Park, Maryland. Agnes Jasinki at the Takoma Gazette newspaper did a real nice write-up about this project.

article - An Almost Impartial Look at Web Browsers

2006-06-03T19:03:00.000-07:00

An Almost Impartial Look at Web Browsers

article - Should Google Support Computer User Groups

2006-06-03T18:49:00.003-07:00

When Google recently launched the Google Foundation (google.org), I couldn't help but wonder if there ought to be a role for Google in supporting computer user groups. Should Google be supporting computer user groups? The answer is not entirely clear.

article - learning more about sketchup

2006-05-20T04:40:00.000-07:00

google's free sketchup 3D drawing program is simply incredible. here's a brief article i wrote to help people get started with sketchup.

article - Redecorating Tips for Computer Refurbishers

2006-04-16T16:39:00.000-07:00

Redecorating Tips for Computer Refurbishers

review - $89 Ubuntu Computer Review

2006-04-16T16:33:00.000-07:00

Ubuntu Computer Review

review - Terry White's Mac OS X Training DVD

2006-04-16T16:32:00.000-07:00

Terry White's Mac OS X Training DVD

article - Protecting that Phone Call

2006-04-16T16:31:00.000-07:00

Protecting that Phone Call

article - RSS Explained

2006-04-16T06:08:00.000-07:00

I'm still trying to understand the concept of RSS and wrote this article to help me understand it deeper. Thanks are owed to the many people who assisted with this article.

Telling Your Multimedia Story Using Free Software Tools

2006-03-31T07:11:00.000-08:00

i've uploaded this 52-minute video to the internet archive. click on the word quicktime on the left of the screen to view the video.

this video is best viewed with safari, firefox or opera web browsers. internet explorer sometimes makes you wait for a quicktime to completely transfer before you can start viewing it.