Sorry, I'm a techno-dunce. Recently I've become quite excited about the potential of pod casting for the developing world would like to learn more.
A friend has an i-Pod with a little FM radio transmitter which allow an i-pod to be played on any radio. With the drought in Africa the production of electriciy has been severely reduced and many villages don't have electricity anyway. Being able to presenet progarmming via an i-Pod to radio simplifies distribution of information to the village settings.
There is a organization of American medical students an ongoing project in the Iganga area of Uganda were they volunteer for month or so during the summer in Uganda. They do some clinic work as well having sanitation and AIDS prevention curiccula. The feedback I've received from local people in the area is that their health education programs are boring--lol something I've never mentioned to the good doctors. I was thinking how young people today have i-pods and that these combined with being able to play programing on a radio could help make the health education programing more entertaining and effective. So I want to pitch the idea to them.
My friend also has an i-mike so he can make digital files of analog sources and voice.
Like I say, I'm really a dunce when it comes to this stuff. So I'm interested to know more about the technology. What I have in mind are programs which include music and recorded voice parts. I have seen digital recorders with a USB so recording can be easily put on a computer. One advantage is that the information script of the health program could be translated into local languages. And local music performances could be recorded too. The great thing is that the messages that these young doctors want to convey could be packaged with local voices and local messages. Suddenly their message is no longer us-to-them, but a collaboration with the local people which is what they really want anyway.
Can you give me some advice about the technical aspects that I should mention as I pitch this idea? What equipment do they need: Okay an i-pod with the radio transmitter for one, but what do you need for recording voice? It seems the i-Mike could be used to transcribe cassette recordings but maybe recording directly to a computer or a digital recorder is the way to go. I'm a PC user so I don't know about the editing software that's good.
I figure that some of these people will have i-pods and probably the radio thing. What do I need to suggest to them to have so they can produce pod-casts with local content? Some of the locals will have Walkman's which could be used for recording local voices. The i-Mike thing really seems useful. There is some Internet access their, but is limited, so any stuff that can be done off-line has a real advantage.
I know what I'm asking is way too general, but I'd really appreciate any responses if any of you techies have some suggestions. Thanks.
A friend has an i-Pod with a little FM radio transmitter which allow an i-pod to be played on any radio. With the drought in Africa the production of electriciy has been severely reduced and many villages don't have electricity anyway. Being able to presenet progarmming via an i-Pod to radio simplifies distribution of information to the village settings.
There is a organization of American medical students an ongoing project in the Iganga area of Uganda were they volunteer for month or so during the summer in Uganda. They do some clinic work as well having sanitation and AIDS prevention curiccula. The feedback I've received from local people in the area is that their health education programs are boring--lol something I've never mentioned to the good doctors. I was thinking how young people today have i-pods and that these combined with being able to play programing on a radio could help make the health education programing more entertaining and effective. So I want to pitch the idea to them.
My friend also has an i-mike so he can make digital files of analog sources and voice.
Like I say, I'm really a dunce when it comes to this stuff. So I'm interested to know more about the technology. What I have in mind are programs which include music and recorded voice parts. I have seen digital recorders with a USB so recording can be easily put on a computer. One advantage is that the information script of the health program could be translated into local languages. And local music performances could be recorded too. The great thing is that the messages that these young doctors want to convey could be packaged with local voices and local messages. Suddenly their message is no longer us-to-them, but a collaboration with the local people which is what they really want anyway.
Can you give me some advice about the technical aspects that I should mention as I pitch this idea? What equipment do they need: Okay an i-pod with the radio transmitter for one, but what do you need for recording voice? It seems the i-Mike could be used to transcribe cassette recordings but maybe recording directly to a computer or a digital recorder is the way to go. I'm a PC user so I don't know about the editing software that's good.
I figure that some of these people will have i-pods and probably the radio thing. What do I need to suggest to them to have so they can produce pod-casts with local content? Some of the locals will have Walkman's which could be used for recording local voices. The i-Mike thing really seems useful. There is some Internet access their, but is limited, so any stuff that can be done off-line has a real advantage.
I know what I'm asking is way too general, but I'd really appreciate any responses if any of you techies have some suggestions. Thanks.
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Pittsburgh
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Re: Podcast
Mon, April 3, 2006 - 9:44 PMCheck out Maurice's site, Urban Sound Project (www.urbansoundproject.com), to help in gaining some information. Also, scope Melanie Morgan's site, www.newmediacollective.org. -
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Re: Podcast
Tue, April 4, 2006 - 11:00 AMJW thanks for the links. LOL I've still got a slow Internet connection so I'm way s-l-o-w to get podcasts. In a way that's good when it comes to thinking about applications for digital stuff in Africa.
There was an article in my local paper on Sunday about churches using podcast for sermons and stuff for shut ins. One ot the points was not haing to buy cassette tapes--lol. What I have in mind is sort of a DJ thing where people can make a mix that would include some informational spots. One of the key needs is information in local languages. Language is a real issue not only with Americans doing projects in Africa but also within African countries.
From this blog post ntwiga.net/blog/ there's a bit of information about AfriAfya a project that gets health and development information out in Kenya. It's interesting because it highlights some of the challenges and also ways to address the challenges. One of the key issues is getting the digital conversations started in languages people use.
Steve Ntwiga Mugiri in his blog post gives a shout out to two other Kenyan bloggers Hash and Afromusing. Hash, aka White African recently did a post on a technology idea for using mobile phones as the Internet interface whiteafrican.com/ It's a good idea and I particularly like the discussion it's sparked. Those interested may want to scroll through some of the subsequent posts. Hash has also put up the idea at Change This and vote for it to be written up as a manafesto there by April 20 www.changethis.com/proposals/655
Many-to-many media can be enormously important to African people and connections to people outside the continent can really help. Even by sharing our space to keep stuff it allows more space for them to use. Building connections is enormously important. Maybe it's because I'm old--50--connections with young Africans who are optimistic and idealistic enriches me. There are so many young people who can benefit from our experience too. I'm glad there's and African Techies tribe to promote this.
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Re: Podcast
Sat, July 8, 2006 - 12:46 PMwow you are totally speaking my language -- actually i produce 2 podcasts and i market and promote a total of 5 podcasts along with establishing them in various viral online markets ...
i want to walk you through the process if you want I can call you and give you some very relevant info.
you can go to my webpage to see what I produce and to give you an idea of what I'm capable of.
site: codedsignal.com
email: ben@codedsignal.com
