Just picked up the just-released collection of Tom and Jerry cartoon shorts directed by one of my favorites, the late great Chuck Jones, and if you are a fan of animation and Jones, this is a must own for a couple of reasons. First, and obviously, it collects all 34 shorts Jones did for MGM – including a favorite, The Mouse from H.U.N.G.E.R. (a crafty James Bond and Man from U.N.C.L.E. parody).
Second, and the reason it was a no-brainer for me, is it includes the short documentary Chuck Jones: Memories of a Childhood, which appeared on cable earlier this year. This short film features extensive interview footage of Jones in his final days, and if you aren’t crying (and maybe smiling) by the end of it there is no hope for you. I wish there was a youtube clip I could show you, but all I can do is direct you to the Amazon page for the DVD that features a clip from the movie.
About two years ago I did a podcast and put a LOT of effort into it (I am an ex-radio guy, after all). It took me several hours of editing to put together a single 22-minute show. Well, it lasted about six months and I finally gave it up because A) I had way too many other things going in my life to invest that much time in anything and B) Nobody was listening.
Well, thanks to Leo Laporte and Macbreak Weekly I have discovered an app that revives my interest in podcasting AND allows me to do it in almost real-time. It’s Audioboo for the iPhone and it allows you to record and then upload audio from your phone on wi-fi or 3G. You record with the built-in iPhone mike and it sounds REALLY good – It’s as good as any sub-$100 USB mike I have ever used. It compresses the audio before uploading to the server, you can syndicate it through RSS and… well, here, judge for yourself:
Again, not bad. You can even upload a picture (here’s the Tricorder toy I reviewed above) with the audio clip as well as your location (it is very similar to the Qik app, but that is only available for other smart phones and jailbroken iPhones). The app is FREE in the iPhone app store and it’s definitely worth trying out (you can listen to boos at audioboo.fm).
Joseph Dickerson is a User Experience Architect focused on improving the usability of on-line and mobile applications. With over a decade of experience in software design and user research, Dickerson has made it his mission to make technology easier for people to use.
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