Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Digital Audio Recorder Fiasco

I was excited. Last week, I ordered an audio recorder for my iPod off of Amazon and couldn't wait for it to arrive. Day after day I eagerly awaiting its arrival in the mail and finally, after nearly a week, it came. However, when I went to plug it into my iPod, I was dismayed when the screen said, "software not supported by this iPod."

Well now I was thoroughly annoyed. First because I was disappointed my new toy didn't work, and secondly because now I was out of $28 plus shipping on the device. Fortunately, I capitalized on my parents' visit to Gainesville and my upcoming birthday. After hearing my whine about my problem, they decided the perfect gift would be a new iPod. So off to Target we went.

After purchasing my new video iPod, I couldn't wait to get in the car and plug in the recorder. But once again, I was disheartened. Now my iPod was too advanced for the recorder I purchased. DANG IT!

So off we went to Best Buy and Circuit City to search for a recorder that would work with my new iPod. Well, neither story had anything and my depression was going. Really, I just wanted to curl up into a ball and pretend none of this was happening. Then my dad had the idea of calling Radio Shack at the Oaks Mall. Personally, I thought this would be hopeless considering Radio Shack's spotty history with high prices and such. But, to my great pleasure, the guy on the phone, Robert, said that they had one recorder left that would work with my video iPod.

So we quickly turned out family van around and headed towards the mall. Finally, I could record and have a groovy iPod to flaunt to all of my friends. It was great! I recorded my self with the cheesy, "Test 1...2...3." the first time around and uploaded it to my iTunes. Granted, I hate the sound of my recorded voice, but hey, I was amused.

Monday, January 22, 2007

Great Grammar Podcast

So I was being a nerd this morning and reading CNN's Web site and saw an article titled, "'Grammar Girl' a quick and dirty success." I'll confess that I thought some grammarian had been involved in a National Inquierer-like scandal that had turned heads, but actually the story ended up being about a grammar podcast that has soared in popularity recently. Since I teach grammar and basic writing, I was intrigued and immediately opened my Itunes to search for the podcast series. To my surprise, there was almost 40 podcast in the series. I subscribed to the service and found a wide range of downloads from the difference between lay and lie, and another explaining colons. It's grammar lovers' podcast heaven!

To find the podcasts for yourself, log onto Itunes and search for "Grammar Girl's Quick & Dirty Tips for Better Writing." They're fab!

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Hello!

Greetings everyone. My name is Gordon, and I created this blog as a place for my to talk about digital learnings, software and all things electronic. Although I don't have the strongest background in any of these areas, I am hoping to have a better understanding by the end of the semester, and hopefully will be able to apply those skills to my future jobs.

On the most basic level, my favorite computer program is AIM. Granted this is a cheesy first post, AIM helps me stay connected with my friends, family and students (and relatively cheaply for that matter). Although I hopped on the AIM bandwagon late in life (my sophomore year of high school), it has become a staple in my day-to-day life. Not only am I able to see what my "buddies" are up to by checking their away messages, I am able to talk with them instantly. Gee, maybe I've become obsessed.