Podcast Evaluation

After deciding to produce my podcast on RFID tags I enjoyed looking into and researching the topic. It made me come up with lots of ideas and I could have talked for ages on the thoughts and ideas that I have, but were unfortunately limited to 3 minutes. I decided to produce it on PowerPoint as I had used the program before to produce a movie file and it had been successful and shown all the sounds, transactions etc. Unfortunately Macs do not have the capability of doing this like a PC, which I only found the day before the deadline, therefore I regret not using Final Cut Pro. With using PowerPoint as well, I was not able to produce an aesthetically pleasing format and the transactions and way of presenting it could have been a lot better. I also think that using my own voice over the top could have benefitted the listener as I could have talked clearer and in more detail with some enthusiasm about the subject. Using the AT&T website for the text-to-speech was an easy and efficient way of narrating the podcast but not the best as the monotonic voice didn’t sound very interesting at all. Video footage and editing of this would have been good to use and would have enabled me to show my thoughts and explain them a lot clearer. I was pleased with the research I did although I could have posted more of the information that I couldn’t put in the podcast, on my blog. I am still not fully confident with ‘blogging’ as it doesn’t feel natural to just write about anything, I would much rather speak about it and use visuals.

All in all I am not very happy with the podcast that I produced as I think I was lazy in what I did. Although the subject was really what I wanted to research and talk about, I don’t think I did it justice. In the future, I will definitely use Final Cut Pro or a similar program and definitely not use powerpoint as it is far too basic for what I wanted to achieve. I will certainly use a real persons voice and not a text-to-speech program when talking or informing people about a subject. The text-to-speech is ok for maybe short sound clips or for a small flash computer game but not for a 3minute video that needs to be clear and interesting. Videos from the web or some captured by myself will be considered in later projects as I think they could really benefit the watcher and make them understand exactly what you’re talking about and make it more interesting

For my first podcast it is ok in the way that it talks about a certain topic and includes my views and ideas about it, but the presentation could have been considerably better. I also need to get into the routine of blogging so it becomes more natural and enjoyable to do.

Digital Cultures Podcast

Here i my digital cultures podcast based on RFID tags which i have been researching and thinking about throughout the module.

What is an RFID tag???

An RFID tag is a microchip combined with an antenna in a compact package; the packaging is structured to allow the RFID tag to be attached to an object to be tracked. "RFID" stands for Radio Frequency Identification.

The tag's antenna picks up signals from an RFID reader or scanner and then returns the signal, usually with some additional data (like a unique serial number or other customized information).

RFID tags can be very small - the size of a large rice grain. Others may be the size of a small paperback book.

description found at: http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Technology-Article.asp?ArtNum=50

Tags are currently used in: Lap scoring and timing, Libraries, Passports, Transportation payments, Product tracking, Animal ID and many other uses.

Digital Cultures

For the next module at college 'Digital Cultures', I will be looking at Leeds as an ubiquitous city and the technology that may be involved. I have chosen to look into RFID tags and how they are used and could be used in the future.

Some useful links and information which I will be able to use in the module are posted below...

http://www.rfidjournal.com/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3632009.stm
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/rfid.htm
http://www.edri.org/edrigram/number4.20/rfid