MakeUseOf » broadcast

Transmit RSS Feeds By Sound Using Morse News [Windows]

Ryan Dube — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 22:31:50 +0000

There are a lot of really weird things that you can accomplish when you start combining different technologies that exist today. Today, you’ve got email, text messaging, RSS feeds, chat rooms, and countless other text-based methods to communicate. There are so many ways to communicate information to each other, that sometimes it’s easy to forget all of the methods we’ve used in the past to communicate.

However, when you do pause for a moment and look back at how we used to transmit information in the past, you can discover some very unique and interesting ways to transmit information today, by combining both new and old technologies.

Combining RSS Feeds & Morse Code

One method of data transmission that I will share with you today is through the use of a very cool Morse code software tool called Morse News, which will read in textual RSS feeds, and actually convert them to morse code for you.

The application actually has the capacity to send the output to the serial port to emit the morse code out of a telegraph sounder. The method that I’m going to use Morse News doesn’t involve any physical hardware though. I’m going to use it to record an RSS feed to an audio file for sending to a recipient who can then decode the audio file.

The main control display of Morse News is very straightforward. Type in the RSS feed that you want to convert to morse, adjust the speed and how recent you would like the extracted news items to be, and the application will do the rest.

How you record the emitted morse code can get a little tricky. Windows 7 doesn’t let Audacity users record straight from the sound card, unless your sound card has the “record what you hear” functionality. Mine doesn’t, so I just plugged in the earpiece microphone that I use to record phone interviews, put on my stereo headset, and recorded the morse code that way.

When you press start on the Morse News app, it will extract the RSS news items and start scrolling them along the bottom of the window while emitting the corresponding morse code.

Here’s what the morse code looked like while I was recording it via audacity. Even if you are using my method, where there may be a little bit of background noise, so long as the distinction between tone / no-tone is clear enough, the decoding software (which I’ll show you below) shouldn’t have a problem extracting the actual text.

Transmitting & Decoding The Morse Code

Your first question now might be what exactly would you use this for? Why would you want to send a morse code translation of news rather than the textual RSS feed itself?

Well, with some creativity, it’s a tool that you can use to transmit information without anyone realizing it. Most of the Internet surveillance efforts out there, whether it’s a small-time private investigator or an FBI agent, involves tapping into the Internet transmission and then analyzing the packets of information to extract the information. If you live in a country like China, sharing the news with friends (or receiving news from the outside) can be difficult because of the great firewall of China. Using this method, it’s harder for eavesdroppers to catch that information.

But how does the recipient decode the morse? I prefer a little app I wrote about here at MUO earlier called CwGet.

In that article, I created a message to transmit, and then translated in CwGet. In this case, Morse News is creating the morse code. When you’re using CwGet to translate, the speed and the code you’re using needs to be right. Set Morse News to International, and try to slow the speed down to about 15 words per minute or less.

As you can see below, all I got was gibberish until I landed on the right morse code format (International) and made it slow enough so that CwGet could analyze the sound and convert it back to text.

As you can see above, once CwGet is tuned to the morse code you’re creating with Morse News, it converts it to text pretty well – you just need to figure out where the spaces go, but it’s not that difficult. The transmitted news above reads: “1602z = ap – When David Evans needed a hernia operation, the 69 – year old farmer became so alarmed by the long wait, that he used an ultrasound machine for pregnant sheep…”

Not a single letter missed from the original text message. Pretty slick. And what’s nice about Morse News is that you can set up multiple news feeds that you want to extract recent news from to convert to morse code. You just have to create a text file listing the feeds.

Then, in Morse News you click on “Get Feed List” and select the file.

If you think about it, the ability to transmit news via sound (maybe over a radio channel or CB), rather than straight text, could have a whole list of cool uses, with just a little imagination and ingenuity.

Now that you have the ability to translate Internet news into sound transmission and then back again using the technique above, what sort of uses can you think up for it? Share your own ideas in the comments section below.

Image Credit: ShutterStock

Create Better Online Shows With The Uprompt Teleprompter

Ryan Dube — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 18:31:11 +0000

A few months ago, I was approached by a company to audition for the part of a host in a documentary. Even though I had no on-screen experience at all, I felt pretty confident that I could shoot a quick 15 minute audition tape, based on topics that I’ve researched and written about, with very little effort. Four hours later, I finally had a video audition, but the process was far more difficult than I ever imagined it would be.

It was this experience that made me realize how talented all of those YouTube video bloggers and entertainers are. They make reciting monologues on-screen look so easy! Believe it or not, it actually is possible to come across on-screen in much the same professional way as these pros. What separates the expert video blogger from the amateur is the lack of mental pauses that distract the listener and take away from the message you’re trying to convey.

The trick is to remove the need to memorize what you’re going to say, and instead just focus on saying it as professionally as possible. You can remove that need for memorization with free teleprompter software called uPrompt. We’ve offered other tools for making videos, like Israel’s list of 5 tools to make a home movie, and Travis’ list of 5 screencasting apps. But uPrompt is probably one of the most unique tools available.

Let Teleprompting Turn You Into A Pro

Even some of the best TV commentators turn to teleprompting to deliver on-screen statements and monologues. It isn’t that they can’t memorize what they need to say, or that they can’t improvise – it’s just that many people don’t have the time to memorize everything they want to say.

When you first install and run uPrompt, it looks like a fairly simple application. There is a center area where you’ll see the uPrompt logo – this is where the scrolling text will display. There are three control areas that you can use to control the text movement and speed. There are clickable buttons on the lower left, keyboard shortcuts listed to the lower right, and then off to the right side of the window you’ll see two scrollbars, one for speed and one for “course” movement.

If you right click where it says “Right click for menu“, you’ll see the different options you have to bring in the teleprompting script that you want to use. If you don’t have any existing text and you’re starting from scratch with your scripts, go ahead and choose “Quick Edit Script.”

This opens the Quick Edit editor, which is essentially a glorified text editor. The free version of uPrompt allows for about 2,500 characters, which is around 25 full lines in Microsoft Word – a couple of large paragraphs. Once you’re done writing, just click File -> Save and it’ll save the file in .upr (Uprompt) format, and then instantly open it in the uPrompter.

If you used the default font size settings in the editor, the font in the teleprompter will also show up in that same font. As you can see, it would be pretty hard to quickly read the text off the screen when the font is this small.

You can change this in the editor by clicking the “F” button in the menu and selection a larger font size. 36 usually works best if you’re going to be sitting right in front of the computer screen, and using the webcam placed at the top of the screen.

You can also modify the font from inside the teleprompter software itself by going to the right-click menu and choosing “Font“. When you’re ready for lights, camera and action, just click the “W” button on your keyboard, or click the button to increase the speed, and the teleprompter will start. The words will scroll up the screen at the speed that you select. Pause the scrolling by tapping “Q” (or clicking the mouse), and then restart it with the “W” (or clicking the mouse again).

It only takes a little bit of getting used to, but once you get used to using the teleprompter, you’ll be able to speak naturally while appearing to look at the camera – people will think that you’re a trained pro!

Also, keep in mind that you don’t have to use the built-in editor. uPrompt is able to import script from text or rich text files as well. So, if you prefer writing your script in Word or Notepad, go for it.

In the display below, I’ve imported an RTF file into uPrompt. The speed and course slidebars are on the right, and elapsed and remaining scroll time is displayed at the small bottom panes.

The way to use the uPrompt teleprompter software when you have one of those laptop or computer screens with a webcam installed into the top of the screen is to place the uPrompt window at the very top center of the screen, closest to the webcam. This way, as the text scrolls across the teleprompter window and you read from it, it appears as though you’re actually looking right at the webcam itself. Set the speed of the text just right, and everything will look entirely natural.

If you struggle to create that YouTube monologue, or otherwise need to record yourself speaking on camera, give uPrompt a try and transform yourself from an amateur to an on-camera expert overnight.

Give uPrompt a try and let us know if it improved your video quality. Do you know of other tools that work as well or better? Share your insight in the comments section below.

Image credits: Jgclarke

Shortwave Numbers Stations & The Conet Project: An Online Education In Espionage

Tim Brookes — Fri, 13 May 2011 01:31:48 +0000

There are some thought-provoking subjects that just don’t get enough attention from the offline media. Many such phenomena are picked up by enthusiasts, and documented in their spare time as a hobby (or the next stage; obsession).

Shortwave radio is known as the global band – despite poor sound quality (hiss, pop, crackle), it travels well and is still a popular choice in many countries around the world. So-called “numbers stations” have been heard on the shortwave radio band since the 1950s, leaving many to question their purpose and origin.

Of course the enthusiasts have well and truly done their research, and put most of it online. There is now an incredible amount of information, evidential audio and expert insight into the world of unlisted shortwave broadcasts. Read on to find out more, if you dare…

What Are Shortwave Numbers Stations?

A “numbers station” refers to a radio station usually broadcasting on a shortwave frequency of unknown origin. This is to say that numbers stations are generally referred to as unidentified broadcasts that do not fall under the category of commercial or public radio.

Over the years, the evidence has stacked up and many are convinced that these broadcasts are being used to send messages to spies and government agents around the world. This isn’t yesterday’s news either – many numbers stations are still alive and heard today.

As recently as 2009 the United States charged an individual – Walter Kendall Myers – with spying charges related to numbers stations. The US accused Myers of receiving and decoding messages from shortwave broadcasts believed to be operated by the Cuban Intelligence Service. Of course, there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that the US is also playing the shortwave numbers stations game (just like everyone else).

Messages can be delivered by a synthesized or human voice, often preceded and followed by a distinct melody. Sometimes other methods are used, such as morse code or noise. There is evidence to suggest that many numbers stations are designed for use with a one-time pad, an unbreakable method of encryption (provided only the desired audience has the key).

Something’s going on – these broadcasts are clearly not intended for public consumption. Luckily there’s a great little collection of numbers stations broadcasts, available to download for free.

The Conet Project

Named after the misheard Czech word “konec” (meaning “end”) which would often mark the end of an Eastern European broadcast, The Conet Project is a swelling collection of questionable shortwave recordings.

There are more than 150 separate tracks, some of which could be heard 24 hours a day and others at regular intervals. The collection includes recordings in many languages, including the famous German “Swedish Rhapsody” station which delivered an encrypted message in a (chilling) female child’s voice.

The project is available for purchase, but is also available online from the record label and is hosted at The Internet Archive. The collection is an absolute must for anyone with an interest in numbers stations, espionage or radio transmissions.

Download: The Conet Project [Irdial: CD1/CD2/CD3/CD4 | The Internet Archive: Stream/Download ]

Conclusion

If you’ve got an old shortwave radio in the attic, then it might be time to dust it off. Remember you’ll need good reception, a well-designed custom antenna (or an expensive one) and some top notch scanning equipment to get the most out of shortwave radio.

If that sounds like too much money and effort then be sure to check out and follow the numbers station scene online. Don’t have nightmares…

Image Credits: Grundig Satellit 750, Shortwave Antenna

How To Make Your Own Podcast For Free

Angela Alcorn — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 19:31:08 +0000

Have you ever thought about making a podcast, but didn’t really know where to start? Don’t stress – you’re not alone. There’s a lot of people out there who aren’t quite sure what a podcast is, let alone where to begin.

Then, when it comes to actually creating a podcast, the options are a little daunting. How do you decide how much space and bandwidth you need? Is there a free option without ads? Do I need a professional set-up just to make it half-decent? It’s a world of confusion. Today we’re going to try to clear up all that confusion for you.

What Is A Podcast?

Podcasts are essentially a series of video or audio media files which can be subscribed to using a syndicated feed such as RSS or Atom. The name “podcast” came about by blending the terms “iPod” and “broadcasting”. In fact, iPods have never been essential to subscribing to a podcast, but the term has nevertheless stuck.

How Do I Make a Podcast

There are plenty of ways to make a podcast. Essentially, you just need to get the two essential ingredients working together: video or audio media and an RSS/Atom feed.

It’s possible to find a hosting solution for the individual files (free or paid) and then feature each file in a blog post using any blogging platform you like. So, your podcasting options could include:

A self-hosted WordPress blog with sufficient file space for audio/video media.
YouTube (provides video hosting and an RSS feed for free).
Blip.TV (provides video hosting and RSS feed for free).
Free file storage like DropBox and a free Blogger blog.
A dedicated podcast hosting service.

What Amount Of Storage & Bandwidth Do You Need?

With audio files, space consumption does vary a lot depending on the audio compression. A generous estimation for MP3 is that you will need about 1MB space per minute of audio. So, if you record a few sessions of half an hour long (30mins = approx 30MB) to start with and intend to make a half-hour segment per week, you’ll need to start with storage space of about 100MB which increases by at least 150MB per month. Plug in your own proposed segment lengths and frequency to get your personal estimate.

Bandwidth requirements for podcasts will entirely depend on your audience. Let’s say you had 100 listeners (quite a lot for a new podcast) which means each person automatically downloads each of your 30MB weekly installments. Essentially, you’re going to need 100 times more bandwidth allocation per month than your monthly storage needs. In this case, you’ll need at least 15GB bandwidth to get you through the month.

With video files, it varies wildly depending on the compression you use. For instance, an MPEG-4 can average about 15MB per minute of video, while an AVI file can average 60MB per minute. That’s a huge difference! But, lets say you’re using MPEG-4 to make a 30 minute video. That could be 450MB! If you start with three videos that size and want to do one a week, you’d need a start-up space of about 1.5GB and an increase of 2.5GB per month.

Bandwidth needs for video podcasting? Let’s just leave it at LOTS.

Where Can You Easily Host A Podcast For Free?

With free dedicated podcast hosting you generally have peace of mind, knowing that you will not be charged more than you can afford for hosting and that a reputable company is backing up your data for you. Plus, many of these hosts will help to promote your feed wherever possible to people with similar interests.

Because of the size of video podcasting, it’s usually recommended that you use a free dedicated service rather than hosting your own. YouTube and Blip.tv are both good options.

YouTube limits each file upload to 15 minutes and 2GB at a time. There’s no limit to the number of videos you can upload. Blip.tv doesn’t seem to have a size limit or a limit on the number of videos you can upload. To submit to podcast directories though, you may need to do a little hacking.

With audio podcasting, the free podcast hosts generally come with size and bandwidth limitations. Plus, they may place adverts in your audio or on the web page your feed is promoted on. Another serious limitation is that they often require you to download their own software to upload your audio.

Due to these limitations and the much smaller size of audio files, it’s recommended that hobby audio podcasters either use a dedicated free service or a free file storage service with a free blog. Meanwhile, professional audio podcasters are recommended to use their own hosting and blog.

If you choose to host your own podcast, don’t forget that many file storage services and personal web hosts have bandwidth limitations or possible extra charges. Make sure you read all the fine print and work out your real costs.

Many of you just want a simple, free one-site-does-everything audio podcast solution, like the video hosts previously mentioned. I have seen several options and, due to the various limitations, would only be comfortable recommending Podomatic. The other options simply have too many limitations on free accounts. Also, if you ever need to upgrade to a paid pro account, Podomatic has some great options that won’t require you to relocate your podcast.

Using Podomatic

Podomatic is really easy to use. Sign up only takes a minute and you can be uploading audio or video in no time at all. Although, if you keep in mind the size of video, you’ll realise the free account is best suited to audio podcasts.

There are many uploading options, including recording the podcast using the website, uploading a file through the web interface or uploading via FTP. This means you are free to make your podcast using your favourite tools on your computer, like GarageBand. Each episode gets an individual photo for promotion purposes and the Podomatic podcast directory will help you promote your feed to people who want to hear it. What more could you want?

The above should get you well and truly on your way to starting your podcast. If you have any questions or problems, let us know in the comments below and we’ll see if we can help.

Image Credit: Shutterstock

How To Make Podcast On The Go With Your Mobile Phone

Nancy Messieh — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 19:31:09 +0000

If you don’t want to lug your laptop around with you everywhere, and are looking for an easy solution for podcasting on the go, you don’t need to look any further than your cell phone. If you want to know how you make a podcast with your mobile phone, there are free apps available for both iPhones and Android phones, and failing all else, you can call in your podcasts from any cell phone using your own personal access code.

Each of these apps makes it easy to automatically share your content on a variety of social networking sites, blogging sites, and even on iTunes. With time limits ranging from 3 to 60 minutes, to no limit at all, complete control over the recording process, with pause, resume and playback capabilities, as well as the ability to save your recording for later upload, these applications have left nothing out when it comes to putting together a professional podcast.

Cinch

Cinch [iTunes link], an iPhone only app, allows you to connect your account immediately to Facebook or Twitter, using either of those services to log in. You can also sign up for a Cinch account if you prefer.

Cinch is unique in that it does not impose any limit at all on the length of your recording – but they do encourage you to keep it short and sweet. However, the lack of a limit does make Cinch the ideal choice for serious podcasters.

Recording using Cinch is, forgive the pun, a cinch. You can pause and resume as you record, playback your recordings before publishing them, and add a title and photo to each recording. You can also record the podcast, close the application, and upload it later when you have access to a wireless connection, which can prove useful when conducting interviews when you’re out and about.

Cinch also has its own community, where you can browse other people’s recordings either directly on your iPhone or on their website. You can also follow other users, and their podcasts will be available under the ‘My Content‘ tab on your iPhone. One interesting feature available in Cinch is the ability to comment on other user’s posts, by recording your very own response.

Sharing with other social networking sites is limited to Facebook and Twitter, and you can set Cinch up to publish to either of these networks automatically, provided you have authorized them by connecting to your account.

Cinch provides a US number for those who would like to call in their mini-podcasts rather than use the iPhone app, and recordings can also be made directly on their website..

ipadio

Launching the ipadio iPhone app [iTunes link] for the first time, you will be prompted to register for a free account. The information that they require includes your country of residence and your phone number, to allow you to call in podcasts as well, if you prefer.

ipadio is limited to recordings of up to 60 minutes, making it another ideal option for the serious podcaster who needs an on-the-go solution. You can also record the podcast, close the application, and upload it later when you have access to a wireless connection.

Learning how to make a podcast with ipadio is simple. You are given a 3-second countdown before it begins to record, after which you can pause and resume recording as you need to. The record screen displays a counter and the size of the file. You are also able to playback your recording before uploading it.

Once the file is ready for upload, you can add a title, tags and a description, and four accompanying photos. You can also choose, on a case-by-case basis, whether or not you would like geotag each podcast. All of your recordings will be available for playback on your iPhone, where you can also delete them.

Once you’ve registered on your iPhone – you are able to log in using your phone number and provided pin number on the ipadio website. From there, you can access all of your podcasts.

ipadio makes sharing your podcasts easy by allowing you to connect your account to a variety of blogging and social networking sites including Twitter, Facebook, Blogger, WordPress and Posterous. If you publish your podcast on iTunes, you can also link your ipadio recordings directly to your iTunes account.

If you would rather call in your podcast, you can call in the UK number provided. From your iPhone, clicking on ‘Live Phonecast‘ will automatically close the app and dial the UK number to call in your recording.

ipadio also has its very own community, where you can find other like-minded podcasters to follow. Playback on the iPhone is limited to the latest podcasts, but from their website, you can explore the latest recordings, explore by tags, or perform a search.

iPadio is also available for Android phones, as Ryan recently wrote about, and recordings can also be made directly on their website.

AudioBoo

AudioBoo [iTunes link] is a popular podcasting app but it limits you to recordings of up to three minutes long. This is certainly a drawback for the more vociferous podcaster, but you’d be surprised how much you can say in three minutes.

Logging in on your iPhone for the first time, you can link AudioBoo to your Twitter account, or alternatively, you can create a new AudioBoo account.

Like recording on ipadio, after a 3 second countdown, you can start recording, after which you can pause and resume as you need to. You can also playback your recording before uploading it. AudioBoo allows you to record the podcast, close the application, and resume recording later, as well as upload it when you have access to a wireless connection.

Once the recording is ready for upload, you can add a title, picture, tags and a description. You can also choose whether or not to geotag your podcasts under the Account tab.

Like both previous apps, AudioBoo has its own inbuilt community, and you can listen to and follow other people’s ‘Boos.’ The recordings can be displayed on your iPhone by location, popularity, by date, or you can listen to the featured recordings.

Logging into your account from the website, gives you the opportunity to alter the settings on your account. You can automatically share your recordings on Twitter, Facebook, Posterous, FriendFeed and Tumblr.

You can also enter your Google Analytics ID if you would like to view statistics on visitors who are listening to your podcasts.

AudioBoo also has a UK call in number for people who want to phone in their podcasts. Call their UK number from the phone you will be using to record your podcasts, and it will provide you with an access code and the instructions to set up your call in podcasts.

AudioBoo is also available for Android phones, and recordings can also be made directly on their website.

How do you record podcasts when you’re on the go? Let us know in the comments.

Image credit: RAWKU5

6 Sites To Watch Super Bowl TV Commercials Online

Steve Campbell — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 19:31:06 +0000

Commercials. Every time we turn on our televisions we are bombarded with advertisements. Companies devote time, resources, and large amounts of cash into targeting these ads to us – the consumers – in hopes of converting their efforts into profits. Some of us enjoy watching the commercials, sure, but most of the time we try to ignore them, save for those few that actually catch our attention. I suppose that’s why the DVR is so popular, but I digress…

Super Bowl Sunday, however, is a very different story. Millions of people will watch Super Bowl XLIV (#SB44), and many could care less about the outcome of the game. Everyone loves the commercials; and they should, because companies pay top dollar for their 30 seconds in the spotlight. Some of the best ads you’ll see all year are shown during the Super Bowl, which brings me to my point.

You can view the best Super Bowl TV commercials on the Internet. In this article, I will point you to various sites where you can view past and present Super Bowl TV commercials online, so get ready to laugh.

CBS

The game is being televised on CBS this year, so that’s a good place to start. They have a page set up for you to watch every 2010 commercial as soon as the game is over. You can sort the list by what quarter of the football game the ad appeared or by advertiser name.

Earlier in the week, CBS had a vote for some of the greatest Super Bowl commercials of the past. You can view the ones that made the top 10 here. They range in years from 2004 to 2009.

YouTube AdBlitz

YouTube AdBlitz is a great place where you can watch ads during the game and vote on the ones you like best. When it’s all said and done, the viewers’ top choice will be featured on YouTube’s homepage as the best Super Bowl commercial of 2010.

FanHouse

Similar to YouTube, FanHouse will be displaying ads from this year’s Super Bowl. You can watch live and I’m assuming you will be able to vote for your “fan favorite” as well. They also have a page for you to view 2009′s commercials in excellent quality.

SuperBowl-Ads

If you are a long time fan of Super Bowl commercials and want to view some of the best ads of all time, SuperBowl-Ads.com is the place to be. They are the only site (that I have found) that has a mass collection of Super Bowl advertisements from 1998 to 2009, and I’m sure after the big game they will add 2010 to the list.

The videos are a little small but are of reasonably good quality. They also have 6 of the all-time great ads that go way back, including Mean Joe Green’s infamous Coke commercial (my personal favorite).

Hulu

Hulu has a nice page where you can view all of last year’s commercials in high definition. Hulu started their advertising campaign last year with a Super Bowl commercial starring Alec Baldwin. I think that worked out pretty well for them.

NFL.com

NFL.com also has a page for viewing all of 2009′s Super Bowl commercials in widescreen, high def format. There’s no telling on whether or not they will be displaying commercials from this year’s game (or when that would be), but I’m sure they will be.

And there you have it, the best places to watch Super Bowl TV commercials online. That should keep you busy for a while, or at least give you something to show your friends at your Super Bowl party. Hopefully companies will come out with some great commercials this year!

As always, I hope you found these sites useful””and I wish you the best of luck if one of your teams is in the big game this year. Please leave any thoughts, ideas, comments, etc. below!

Livestream: A Free Video Streaming Host To Share Your Live Video Feed

Grant — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:01:59 +0000

So you have a great idea for a web show but you have no idea where you’d like to archive it yet alone no idea where you’d like to stream it live to your viewers. But you want a good service. In this article, we’ll take a look at the popular, free live video streaming host Livestream. So, if you’ve got the show idea, a webcam, a good internet connection, microphone and a computer, Livestream has the tools you need to get your show live!

Livestream, originally known to some as Mogulus, is a free video streaming host that provides a live stream solution which allows you to create your own internet TV channel for broadcasting on your website through their player or on your channel page with them, 24/7. Livestream provides the “studio”, an elaborate flash app on their website where you can create a team of reporters, cue webcams, manage your library, record shows, control an “autopilot” that manages your channel, and manage a video-on-demand for your viewers.

The Studio of Livestream provides a sophisticated titling engine where you can make TV-like titles for your free video stream, either full screen or a “lower third” for naming people. You can also add a scrolling ticker for your channel that runs at the bottom of the screen and even include live RSS feeds on it to include over your video.

Each channel also includes a library area where you can add videos from files, YouTube videos and more and then arrange them into storyboards and folders for playback on the channel when you’re not live.

Embeddable video players from Livestream can be downloaded to allow you to post your channel’s live feed and/or your channel’s chat feed on your own website, MySpace or even as a Facebook application. Livestream’s Studio also allows for Twitter integration, which will automatically send out tweets on your behalf when you’re live.

You also have the ability to invite other contributors to your channel and then host a web show with multiple people in different places.

Although Livestream is free, they do insert their own video overlay ads on your channel to make money to cover bandwidth fees, but they do offer a somewhat pricey premium account upgrade which lets you remove their branding, broadcast in widescreen HD, add your own ads and more.

Finally, Livestream provides a free software download called Procaster, which enables you to broadcast directly from your desktop, and show your screen or camera. The software also allows for 3D video mix effects, Twitter integration and also chat capability with others on watching your channel.

Procaster also allows you to broadcast feeds of computer games, which makes it perfect for gamers looking to show their skills to all.

Also check out other MakeUseOf articles on how you can stream live to the web from your phone and how you can stream video live through Twitter.

Do you use a similar service to Livestream to share or host a live, streaming video feed? What do you think of Livestream’s service? Let us know in the comments below.

Image Credits : Dryicons

How To Produce Your Own Internet TV Show

Dean Sherwin — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 18:01:46 +0000

Starting your own TV show is the dream of millions ““ that’s why video podcasting has been a huge success. Some of these podcasts have become extremely popular and have gathered followings of hundreds of millions such as Ask a Ninja. However, what if you want to create your own Internet TV show?

Much of the same principles apply. You’ll still need the equipment such as sound, lighting and of course the camera. A blog to publicize and act as a base will be essential and a make-do studio to film the masterpiece will also be needed if the show is stationary. One crucial difference is how to get your content LIVE in the form of an Internet TV show.

Setting up the equipment

Most of us will have a digital camera around the house with a megapixel rating around the 5 or 6 mark. This is ideal for streaming a video as it’s good quality but not so good that it causes lag.

Connect your digital camera to your PC using the USB cable. Most cameras will have an inbuilt microphone which will be fine however, if possible connect a small microphone to the camera. The earphones that come with many cell phones have a microphone to pick up voice or indeed you can simply modify a headset by removing the ear pieces leaving just the microphone. By attaching this to your speaker(s) or having it in their proximity, background noise is reduced and their voice is clearer.

For lighting, use household lamps. Manouvere the lampshade so that the base is tilted towards the set as shown in the diagram, with the lamp always behind the camera. This will stop glare from showing up on the screen and it will also subtly light up the set. Having direct lighting on the set such as a lamp on a desk can cause a big white patch on the screen ““ especially if the camera is of a low quality.

Streaming Service

One of the best, if not the best video streaming service on the internet is Ustream.tv. Celebrities such as Ashton Kutcher use it to stream quick internet TV shows and broadcasts to their fans.

The reason why we’re using it in this demonstration as it is similar to the YouTube set up in that you can simply create an account and stream using their easy tools and you can embed the media player on your blog/site for your fans to enjoy.

First, simply go to the site and sign up. It takes a few minutes and once you do you’re ready to create your show. After signing up you’ll immediately be asked to “˜Name your show’. I simply entered MUO Test Show but I recommend thinking of something catchy that will be stuck in the minds of viewers.

After you have clicked “˜Create Show‘ you’ll be brought to the “˜My Shows’ page where you can customize your show by adding a theme for your pages background, uploading a logo, entering a description and much more.

Also, as seen in the screenshot there is a tab called “˜Off Air Clips’. This will dictate what appears in your media player when the show is off air. You can tell it to play some of your old episodes or simply the most recent one. I suggest the latter as it will be more current and will have a better chance of hooking the viewer.

The “˜Schedule’ tab is where you should announce upcoming episodes and other events related to the show. By doing this you’ll inform subscribers and new visitors as to when you’ll be live next so they don’t miss out. Failure to schedule your performances will cause a major drop in viewer numbers simply because they won’t know when you’re on next!

To the right-hand side of the screen in the “˜My Shows’ tab there is a column entitled “˜Share Your Show’. Here you will find embedding HTML code and links so that you can embed your show on the official website, similar to the embed HTML found next to YouTube videos. Simply copy & paste this code into your blogs HTML editor to embed the video stream there.

3″¦2″¦1″¦LIVE!

Up in the top right hand corner of the screen there is a “˜Broadcast Now’ button. This will launch a popup that will be your HQ during broadcast.

Along with this popup, a small box seen here on the right will open requesting permission to access your AV equipment. Click “˜Allow’. Whoever is using the PC during broadcast has the job of making sure things go smoothly. This includes selecting the right AV sources (i.e. which camera and audio equipment to record from) as seen in the screenshot below.

You can also run polls, tweet, ask questions and add in Audio and Video overlaps either from YouTube or from uploaded videos to coincide with the program. When you’re ready to go live simply click “˜Start Broadcast’.

However, I also recommend clicking “˜Start Record’ as this will record your broadcast and enable it to be played while you’re off air as described above.

Below is my test show that I broadcasted which lasted for just a few seconds, containing the view from my bedroom window.

So that’s the tech side of things taken care of, whether or not your show is good is entirely up to the acting/broadcasting skills of those involved.

Do you have your own internet TV show? Let us know all about it in the comments.

How to Create & Broadcast a Podcast with Garageband [Mac]

Jeffry Thurana — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:00:55 +0000

When I was a child, I always thought that languages were static. They were always like that from the beginning and they will always be like that forever. But the more I study them, the more they appear to have certain qualities similar to living organisms. Languages born, grow, evolve (and sometimes die) along with the cultures that use them.

The growth of technology contributes so much to the vocabulary expansion of modern people’s language. I still remember the first time I read ‘google’ as a verb. It was a sentence in one Sunday newspaper article explaining about how one technology journalist found materials for his writing.

We have hordes of newly invented words from the technological world entering the dictionary all the time. One of them is “podcast“. One dictionary defines podcast as:

An audio broadcast available as an MP3 file that you can play on a portable music player, such as an iPod, or on a computer.

The thing that didn’t even exist a decade ago, now can be found almost everywhere with almost any topic imaginable ranging from small talks, light jokes, breaking news, tutorials, to university lectures by well-known professors.

Podcasting

Some people never know about the production side of how to create a podcast. Some don’t even want to know, because they think about all of the difficulties that lurk behind it. But actually, creating podcasts can be fun. And any Mac user armed with Garageband could learn how to create a professional-quality podcast as easy as creating a ringtone for iPhone.

Open Garageband and pick “Podcast” from the New Project and click “Choose”.

You will have to tell the app where you want to save the project.

There are three pre-set tracks ready: Male Voice, Female Voice, and Jingles; and basically, all you have to do is drag and drop the jingles to accompany your voice.

Let’s start with the fun part: exploring the jingles. Click the Loop Browser and choose Podcast Sound View. You’ll have tons of ready-made jingles, stingers and sound effects that you can use by dragging and dropping them to the “Jingles” track.

While I can safely say I understand what jingles and sound effects are, I still don’t know what stingers are. My best guess is (CMIIW) that they are things that you put before, during or after a short talk in order to emphasize it.

You can add as many Jingles track as you need. The easiest way to do so is by duplicating it (Track –> Duplicate or Command + D).

And then, the voice recording. Click on the track (Male or Female Voice) and click on the record button below.

There are many factors that determine the quality of the recording, but two of the most essential are the quality of the microphone and the recording environment. So, invest in a good microphone and do your podcasting in a place with minimum distractions.

Don’t forget to put a face to your podcast. You could use a picture from the iPhoto library for this purpose. Open the media browser from the right pane and choose “Photos”. Browse around to find the one that you like (or the one that you’ve prepared before), drag and drop it to the empty Episode Artwork box.

To change the name, just click on the “podcast track” bar above

and write down the title on the information pane on the left.

Broadcasting

Broadcasting comes right after the podcast production process. Garageband provides you with several alternatives in the Share menu. You could send the podcasts to iTunes (before submitting them to iTunes Music Store), to iWeb, or save it (hard drive, USB or any other kind of storages).

We have discussed a little about building websites using iWeb. Adding Garageband-made Podcasts to enhance iWeb-made sites is as easy as clicking a menu.

You could get more information on submitting your podcast to iTunes Music Store on this page.

Garageband is one of the tools that can help you create great quality of podcasts easily and at the same time having fun doing it. While there are still so many things that we can discuss about Podcasting using Garageband, I hope this short article could help you to get started in the Podcasting world.

Have you tried podcasting? Do you know other podcasting tools? Share using the comment below.

How to Host Your Own Talk Show Online

David Pierce — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 22:00:37 +0000

So you’ve seen The Today Show, or Oprah, or Jerry Springer, and you’ve thought “hey, that could be me!” Well, except Jerry Springer ““ let’s hope you’ve never thought you could be Jerry. But anyway, being a talk show host looks like one of the most fun (not to mention most lucrative) jobs out there, if you ask me.

But how do you get a talk show? And how do you use it to make millions of dollars? Well, I can’t help with the second part (let me know if you figure it out), but I can help with the first. It’s called BlogTalkRadio, and is a fantastic Web app for becoming the host of your very own Internet talk show.

BlogTalkRadio is really two things: it’s a place to find talk and radio shows (sort of like a podcast library, really), as well as a way to create your own show. There’s tons of great stuff on BTR, but for now, we’ll just stick with creating your own show.

First things first: create an account with BTR (don’t worry, it’s both free and easy). The link’s a little hard to find at first, so I’ll help ““ it’s the “Register” link, at the top right of the home page screen.

Once you’ve created an account, you’ll see your Account central; it’s probably pretty empty at the moment. No worries, we’ll fix that. Click the “My Account” tab, and then select “Become a host now!” on the left side. Then, create your Host account ““ give it information like your Twitter account, Facebook account, show category, and all that jazz.

You get to personalize your show like crazy (though it’ll still be hosted by BlogTalkRadio) ““ add a logo, a link to a website, lots of links, and an audio clip to play at the beginnig; you can also change the link to the show (http://www.blogtalkradio/somethingorother) which lends to much more branding and personalization.

Show created, go back to the “My Account” page, and select “Add New Episode.” Add information about your soon-to-be-hit show’s first episode, as well as a time and date for the show. There are even a few ways to make some money with the episode, like showing related Amazon books. Once you’re done setting it up, you get a link to the show to share with the world.

When you’re ready to begin the show, the real beauty of BlogTalkRadio shines through. To get the show started literally couldn’t be any simpler. Every show has a phone number. You give out that number to one person, or a million, or make it public ““ totally up to you. During the show, people call the number to get connected to the show. You, as the host, can, with the press of a button, allow them to talk. Otherwise, they just sit in the queue, listening to the show and waiting for their turn. When you allow someone to talk, they’re connected with you as if you’re in a studio together – until you mute them again. Then they go away.

People can listen to the show either by calling in, subscribing by email or RSS, or just hunting you down and listening on your BTR page. After the show is completed, it gets archived on your page, where people can still listen to it or download the show.

BlogTalkRadio probably isn’t going to be your one-way ticket to super-stardom. But it’s a great place to create a show, talk about what your interested in, and get some real experience being a talk show host. And hey, who knows? Maybe you’ll be the first “straight from BTR to Late Night” story.

Jer-ry! Jer-ry! Jer-ry!

Are you already an Internet radio star? Have you tried anything like this before?

Photo: John Edwards 2008