EDAD660 (2010)

This brief tutorial will walk you through how to embed a widget on your blog that can play any podcast RSS feed.

1. Find a podcast RSS feed – copy it using Edit->Copy
2. Visit http://www.widgetbox.com/widget/media
3. Paste in the RSS feed link in the box labeled “Playlist”
4. Click “Get Widget”
5. Copy the HTML code and paste it onto your blog as HTML code

In class I mentioned that a podcast is nothing more than an RSS feed that contains at least one link to an audio file.  Once you have created an MP3 file using Audacity (see this tutorial) you can easily use your blog to create your own podcast.  Here’s how:

1. Open up your blog’s dashboard
2. Create a new post
3. Give your post a title
4. Click on the ‘Add Audio’ button
5. Upload your MP3 file
6. When this finishes, click on the ‘File URL’ button and then click on ‘Insert into Post’
7. A hyperlink should appear in your post.

That’s it!  People can now use the RSS feed for your blog to subscribe to your podcast.  The feed URL is usually located at the bottom of the page, but if it is missing you can add it back in by enabling the ‘Meta’ widget.

Keep in mind that podcasts created in this way have a few limitations, including:

1. At most, you can only have one audio file per post
2. WordPress limits the maximum size of file uploads.  Currently this is set to 5mb on globalblogs.org

If you want people to be able to play your MP3 file without having to subscribe to your podcast feed you can provide a MP3 player directly on your post.  Here’s how:

1. Make sure that your post is published
2. Visit your post and right-click on your audio file – copy the URL to the file
3. Visit this widgetbox page:  http://www.widgetbox.com/widget/mp3-player
4. Paste the URL into the ‘Music URL’ box
5. Click ‘Get Widget’
6. Copy the embed code and post it into your blog post as HTML

Audacity is an audio editing program that allows you to record, mix, and add special effects to your sound files. It is completely open-source, and is available at http://audacity.sourceforge.net/.  Here’s how you can get started with a new audacity project:

1. Open up Audacity.  A screen simliar to the following will appear:
   

   Audacity startup screen

2. Make sure that you have a microphone installed.  You can use the built-in microphone on your laptop if need be, but a USB powered external microphone will really help to make your audio come out crisp and clear.
3. Click on the record button (#1) and begin speaking.  A waveform will begin to appear (#2) as your voice is detected by the microphone.
4. Click on the stop button (#3) in order to stop the recording.
5. Click the rewind button (#4) and play button (#5) to listen to your recording.
6. To trim your recording make sure that the selection tool is clicked (#6) – then highlight the portion of the audio that you would like to cut.  Click on Edit->Cut to extract the selected area.
7. To record a second clip, click the record button (#2) – a second waveform will appear beneath the first.
8. To reposition a clip, click on the slider tool (#7) and slide the desired clip back and forth.
9. Using the volume adjustment tool (#8) you can increase or decrease the volume of a specific clip.
10. Your can import other audio files (WAV, MP3) by clicking on Project -> Import Audio.  The audio file will appear as a new waveform. Here is a small collection of sound effect files to get you started.
11. You can also apply special effects to your audio clips – this can be accomplished by selecting a portion of a clip using the selection tool (#6) and then using the Effect menu.
12. When you are finished working on your clip you should save your project by clicking on File -> Save.
13. You can export your project as an MP3 file by clicking on File -> Export as MP3.  Note that Audacity does not come pre-loaded with MP3 export capabilities – you can add this feature into the system by installing the free LAME MP3 Conversion Library (available here).

With your newly created MP3 file you can create a soundtrack to a video, remix a song or even create your own podcast.  For more information on using your WordPress blog to create a podcast, click here.

Today we took a brief tour into the world of Second Life, including a short demonstration of how TCNJ uses its small virtual “island” to connect students and teachers in the virtual world.  If you’d like to try Second Life yourself you can begin by getting an account at http://secondlife.com – once you’re all set up with a new avatar name you can use the following guide to get started.

Moving around Second Life

• You can make your avatar walk by using the arrow keys. Up will move your forward. Left will turn you left, Right will turn you right and back will make you walk backwards.
• Hitting the “Page Up” key one time will cause your character to jump.
• Holding down the “Page Up” key will cause your character to fly!
• When you are in the air you can use the Up, Down, Left and Right keys to move around
• Holding down the “Page Down” key will cause your character to land on the ground.

Changing the appearance of your avatar

• Right-click on your body and select “Appearance”
• Use the different buttons (Shape, Skin, Hair, Eyes) to change the look of your avatar

Putting on new clothes

• Click on the Inventory button at the bottom left side of the screen
• Open up the “Library” menu
• Open up the “Clothing” menu
• Open up a folder (i.e. “Boy Next Door”) – find a piece of clothing or body part that you wish to wear
• Right click on the item and select “Wear”
• You can take the item off by right-clicking on the item and selecting “Take Off”

Chatting with your friends

• Hit the Enter key to enter “Chat Mode”
• Type in your message at the bottom of the screen. Click Enter when finished.
• Everyone around you will see your message!
• Hit the Escape key to get out of “Chat Mode”

Places to visit in Second Life

Check out this fun self-test by the Pentagram group that helps you assess your ideal font by assessing your personality traits.

http://www.pentagram.com/what-type-are-you/

PS: My type is “dot matrix”

My ideal font type as determined by Pentagram's font type analyzer