Archive for category Books and Writing
Cook from your Mac
Posted by Andy Affleck in Books and Writing on October 8, 2007
My latest article for TidBITS is now live. “Cook from your Mac: 10 Recipe Tools Compared” has been many months in the making. It took more work, more testing, and a lot more time than I thought it would but I am very pleased with the results. And I found a program, MacGourmet, I love using and have been moving all of those recipes lying around the kitchen on little pieces of paper into it. Now I just need to stop playing with it so I can actually get back to cooking! Update: The article finally went out in an issue of TidBITS and I’m starting to get some email feedback. I’ll respond to the more interesting comments in this blog in a day or three. Thanks for the comments!
Take Control of Podcasting on the Mac
Posted by Andy Affleck in Books and Writing, Computer Geekiness, Podcasting on March 24, 2006
I just realized that I never posted a note that I updated my e-book, Take Control of Podcasting on the Mac. This new edition covers GarageBand 3 and talks about enhanced podcaasting and cleans up a lot of small things that needed cleaning. (UPDATE: I did post it. Just two entries below this one. Clearly I am not on my blogging a-game right now.)
Along with the release of the updated book, I have launched a new podcast companion, Take Control of Podcasting on the Mac: The Podcast, to the book to help flesh out concepts in the book. Subscribe in iTunes to Take Control of Podcasting on the Mac.
Technorati Tags:
Podcasting, TakeControlBooks, MacOS X, GarageBand, Mac, Writing
Ok, ok… sheesh…
Posted by Andy Affleck in Books and Writing, Home & Family, Podcasting on March 22, 2006
So, once upon a time I was messing with my sister’s laptop and I made this blog her home page in Safari. So, when I was down visiting last weekend she gave me a hard time for not updating my blog recently. So, here’s an update so her browser’s home page has a more recent date. I’ve been (everyone say it with me) busy.
Since my last post I’ve been doing a lot of contract and volunteer work and I started a full-time contract with Sykes who sells me to SAIC who sells me to Pfizer. In short, I’ve been working for Pfizer in New London, CT for the last 5 or 6 weeks as a project manager.
The nice part about this work is that my main customers are all in the New York headquarters. In the last five weeks I’ve been to New York three times on business and am already racking up the Amtrak Acela frequent… uh… rider? miles. And I get to see my sister and her family a lot which, in turn, means getting a hard time for not updating my blog.
Outside of work and travel, I’ve also updated Take Control of Podcasting on the Mac to a new edition which covers GarageBand 3 in depth and launched a new podcast companion to the book as well. And I just finished reading Matt Ridley’s Nature Via Nurture, a truly fascinating book about genetics and the long, and silly battle over nature versus nurture (short answer: it’s both).
So, that’s a quick summary of my life over the last two months. I’d say I’ll be posting more and more frequently but I am insanely (everyone say it with me again) busy. But I’ll try. Really, I will.
Currently playing in iTunes: Naked As We Came by Iron & Wine
Technorati Tags:
Podcasting, TakeControlBooks, MacOS X, GarageBand, NatureViaNurture, Genetics
Take Control of Podcasting Press Release
Posted by Andy Affleck in Books and Writing, Computer Geekiness, Podcasting on December 2, 2005
If you’re excited about the idea of creating your very own podcast but need help getting started or working efficiently, you can now hop on the podcasting bandwagon with the start-to-finish guidance in our latest ebook, “Take Control of Podcasting on the Mac.”
<http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/podcasting-mac.html>
Written by long-time podcaster Andy Williams Affleck, “Take Control of Podcasting on the Mac” leads you along the path to podcasting success from beginning to end. Andy starts by helping you think about your topic, format, and polish; assemble the best audio gear; and understand the pros and cons of recording in four popular programs – Audio Hijack Pro, GarageBand, Audacity, and SoundStudio. You’ll find step-by-step directions for how to record in each of those programs, along with instructions on how to edit your recording by mixing in additional audio and eliminating any awkward bits. Andy also explains how (and why) to encode and tag your podcast file. Finally, he discusses how to choose a podcast publishing tool, offers essential advice about bandwidth costs, and gives you seven ways to promote your podcast.
The ebook is available on its own for $10 or in a $17.50 bundle with “Take Control of Recording in GarageBand.”
Book Details:
“Take Control of Podcasting on the Mac” by Andy Williams Affleck
<http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/podcasting-mac.html>
PDF format, 70 pages, free 19-page sample available
Publication date: December 1, 2005
Price: $10
ISBN: 1-933671-06-8
Ordering Info
————-
To order, visit the Take Control Web site and click the Buy button, or just click the link below.
At the end of the order process, click the Download button to
download the Zip archive that contains the PDF of the book. If you
have any trouble, check out our Ordering Tips at:
<http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/faq.html#ordering0>
Technorati Tags: books, iTunes, Mac, Macintosh, MacOSX, podcast, podcasting, TakeControl, puppy
Harry Potter as historical allegory?
Posted by Andy Affleck in Books and Writing on July 15, 2005
I just read a fascinating article which compares Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix to England in the 1930s with Dumbledore as Churchill, Voldemort as Hitler and Harry, perhaps, as FDR’s America. It’s rather clever. I am in the midst of reading that book getting ready for our copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince which we get tomorrow.
Technorati Tags: WWII, books, harrypotter
Interview with David McCullough
Posted by Andy Affleck in Books and Writing on July 10, 2005
Powells.com Interviews – David McCullough. I read John Adams last year and I have 1776 on my stack for this summer. A great interview.
TidBITS: Apple Releases iTunes 4.9 with Podcasting Support
Posted by Andy Affleck in Books and Writing, Computer Geekiness, Podcasting on July 4, 2005
My latest article for TidBITS has been published: TidBITS: Apple Releases iTunes 4.9 with Podcasting Support. In it, I discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly about Apple’s support for Podcasting in the latest iTunes.
Technorati Tags: iTunes, Apple, podcasting
Sally Jenkins on Writing
Posted by Andy Affleck in Books and Writing on April 1, 2005
Poynter Online – Performance Under Pressure :
“I’m also surprised by how much writers fumble around in the dark, just hoping for a blast of fortunate inspiration. And I’m surprised by what a minor factor inspiration is in the overall process. It helps. But frankly it’s the glazed donut of thinking. Writing is breaking rocks with a shovel. It takes a certain kind of strength.” — Sally Jenkins
Very inspirational article.
Podcasting Article Published
Posted by Andy Affleck in Books and Writing, Podcasting on February 14, 2005
Finally! I’ve been working on an article on podcasting for TidBITS since December or so and it’s finally published! Podcasting: The People’s Radio appears in TidBITS #766. The companion interview with Dave Winer, cited in the article was part of Podcrumbs #8.
Listen to a Book on Your Cell Phone
Posted by Andy Affleck in Books and Writing, Computer Geekiness on September 23, 2004
The Shifted Librarian talks about how companies are enabling people to Listen to a Book on Your Cell Phone. That’s great but I would love to see these people support Daisy which is an open standard for allowing people to navigate hierarchical data (left/right to go back and forth in the book and up/down to go through the hierarchy itself… chapter to section, etc.)
At Devis, we built a prototype system to deliver Daisy formatted books over the telephone and it works very well.
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