It’s been a busy day for my little rooftop garden. A friend and I stopped by GreensGrow, an urban farm in North Philadelphia today for a workshop on seed starting. We picked up some very large bags of soil with perlite and vermiculite mixed in, as well as some mushroom compost and then headed down […]
Setting up my rooftop container garden
Last year I grew a couple of sweet pepper plants on the roof. This year I plan to do better, bringing bok choy, snow peas, scallions, green beans and a few other goodies into the mix. It’s still a bit early to put any plants outside, but I’m already starting to prepare my workspace and […]
Growing food at home… on the roof
My wife and I bought a house about two years ago, and while there’s virtually no usable outdoor space on the ground level of our property, we have access to a nice flat rooftop. So when I decided I wanted to grow some food, the only place to look was up. On the ground level, […]
Are subscription-based apps the future of newspapers?
For about as long as newspapers have been profitable, the secret to success has been a combination of subscriptions and advertising. Find customers who value your content enough to pay for it and advertisers looking to reach those readers and you’re golden. And then along came the internet. A growing number of readers are getting […]
Read this
When I was a kid I was an avid reader, sometimes zipping through 300 books every two days or so until I finished with a series and then moved on to the next. When I was in college I got a part time job working in a book store, but ironically I started reading for […]
Zoom launches Q3HD video recorder
Zoom has introduced a new digital video recorder which has the same mic capsules as the Zoom H4n digital audio recorder I reviewed last year. The difference is that the new Zoom Q3HD also happens to be able to record HD video. It’s distributed in the US through Samson, and you can pick one up […]
Audio editors: Hindenburg Journalist for desktop, Monle 4 track editor for iPhone
I came across two interesting new audio tools recently. One is a multitrack digital audio workstation for Windows and Mac, while the other is a mobile app designed for the iPhone and iPod touch. Both tools were designed with journalists in mind, which means that they give you the tools you need to produce radio […]
Introducing mobiputing: My new blog for smartphone apps, tips, and news
I’ve just launched a new web site covering smartphone applications. As a sister site to Liliputing, the new site is called mobiputing. But while both blogs cover the mobile computing space, my aim is to make mobiputing a resource for people looking for software tips and recommendations for their phones, not a site for news, […]
Boxcat Laney
Every now and again I look around my office and wonder why I haven’t gotten rid of all the cardboard boxes littering the place. And then I hear a little snoring sound and walk over to one of the boxes to see this: And then I decide never to throw away a box again.
Sony PCM-M10 handheld audio recorder reviewed
I got my first chance to see the Sony PCM-M10 in person last week at a store in New York. The handheld recorder is significantly smaller than its more expensive siblings, the PCM-D50 and PCM-D1. But it has the same large buttons, vivid backlit display, and the ability to record in 96kHz/24-bit stereo audio. The […]
Blue’s latest USB mic is Yeti, looks more like R2D2
I mean seriously… if you were going to name this thing, would you have gone with Yeti, or would you have picked everyone’s favorite droid? You know… up until recently. On the other hand, I suppose R2D2 didn’t talk, which would make it a strange name for a microphone… Anyway, the Blue Microphones Yeti is […]
On the Media covers the music biz
Just got around to listening to the podcast of this week’s On The Media, and wow… what a great example of public radio reporting. This week’s entire show is devoted to an examination of the music business during the 10 year anniversary of the launch of Napster. NPR reporter Rick Carr guests hosts and gets […]
New audio recording tools and reviews
When I first set up my home studio a few years ago I looked at using a USB microphone in order to voice tracks for radio news reports and podcasts. But I wasn’t happy with the latency on the first USB mic I purchased, so I decided to go all out and pick up a […]
M-Audio MicroTrack II price cut: $163.99
The M-Audio MicroTrack isn’t necessarily the highest quality portable digital audio recorder around. It lacks built in mics, and the built-in battery isn’t removable. But the MicroTrack II does have a few things going for it. It provides 48V phantom power for powered mics. It may not have XLR inputs, but it does have quarter […]