Audio Editing

One of the things that I do in my work- edit audio clips for podcasts and other media productions.

I have a couple of tools on my Mac that are standard tools--a piece of freeware called Audacity, and Adobe Audition.  (Not to mention that Garage Band comes with the Mac OS)

I have been using Audacity for years, and like the ease of use, and the ability to quickly edit a piece of audio.

I have only been using Audition for about 18 months.  It is one of the best tools out there, and I have not used all of the options available to me. It is more than I need for my use (and I would never pay the price to personally own it).

So, the experiment had me looking for apps that could help me edit audio.  I ran across the Beautiful Audio Editor App over the weekend and thought I would try it out.

The first tests were conclusive-it can be done.

Was the recording capability as good as my current set-up in the office? No.

Was it easy to use? Yes.  Even someone who has never edited audio before could earn it in a few minutes.

Were there many options for editing? Not a huge amount, but adequate for a simple project.

Was it worth the price? Yep, free is good.

So, here's a first project that I tried in the app (and then I uploaded it to my Spreaker account so that I could post the widget below):


What do you think?

Sunday Morning with Chromebook

I make no secret of my history and background.  You can see my whole job history here.

I have worked in the church for much of the last 38 years.  I've had other jobs too, but the church keeps calling me back. Currently, I am not a pastor, but I make my living doing Web & Communications work for the church.

The Bible has been a big part of my life.  I read it, study it, refer to it on a regular basis.  In older days, I carried it in book form.  I wore out any number of copies through the years.

Now I carry numerous copies on my phone, and use the You Version app.  The Chrome Web Store has a browser version of the app.

It has a few more capabilities than the mobile version, it is easier to read, and fairly easy to use all of its tools.  The app is quite portable and user friendly.  More and more of my friends in ministry choose to use apps like this as they lead their congregations.

I could see using the Chromebook as a regular part of a Sunday School/Christian Education program in a local church or community. The possibilities are huge for people of all ages to use technology for regular learning.  I can imagine some customized apps that could be tailored to a congregation/class and as easy as the Chromebook is to use and manipulate, it wouldn't be just the 18 and under crowd that would find it helpful. (I had a complimentary idea a few years back that might be worth exploring)

This Sunday, I am going to read the Bible on my Chromebook.

Saturday Morning with Chromebook

It is Saturday morning and the Chromebook is on my lap.

Most Saturday mornings are fairly lazy, when there isn't a work event to attend to.

My preferred Saturday morning is to spend time listening to NPR from 9 am to noon.  Weekend Edition, followed by Car Talk, and then Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me.

Sometimes I play it through my smart TV app- Tune In, sometime it is on the NPR iPad app, this morning was a day for the Chromebook.

There is an app in the Chrome Web Store called NPR Infinite Player.  It takes you to the website- NPR One, which also is an iPhone app.  It is easy to sign on as a user, and have access to news features and your local NPR station stream.

So I have tried listening to my three hours of radio in a number of ways on the Chromebook...with the speakers on the laptop, with headphones plugged in, and through my Bluetooth sound system.

The speakers are a little tinny and not as high quality as my MacBook speakers.  They will do in a pinch, but they are not a true multi-media experience.

The headphone quality was good.  Richer than the speakers, but then I can't get more that a foot or so from the laptop.  I am not carrying my laptop to the bathroom.

My favorite by far is using Bluetooth.  Rich, stereo sound with excellent connection.  I would guess that this will cut down on battery life, but it is effective.

So, here's to the Chromebook and a little leisure.

The All Day Battery

I have owned laptops since about 1993.

The first one I had started out with the ability to hold a charge about 3 hours, and within a year, battery life was down to an hour before having to plug it in.

I had an iBook back around 2003, that started out at 4 hours battery life, and then slowed down to less than 2 hours after a few years.  But I can say that this laptop can still be found in my home, and still runs much of the software that I had 13 years ago.  (Though Internet capabilities are quite the experience since it is using a 9 year old browser that cannot be updated further).

My MacBook will get 2.5 hours of use before it sleeps peacefully (it started out at almost 4 hours in 2013), and my Windows machine can get nearly 3 hours due to the the SSD drive being light on power usage.

The old 2011 Chromebook hasn't been off the power cord for a few years now.  I know that it had okay battery life before it became a dedicated streaming media device, about 8 hours on the charge in its beginnings, closer to 5 when it took its place with the TV and sound system.

Yesterday, the first day of the experiment was a great beginning for the Lenovo 100S.  The reviews said I could get up to 11 hours, and that was about right.

I took it to work, turned it on and left it running for much of the work day.  I tested out streaming music programs and Google Play (will report on this on another day) and some basic tasks like writing the blog, surfing the net and checking out some new extensions.  I brought the laptop home, surfed in front of some shows we watched, and piddled some more, and at about 8:30 pm I plugged it back in (with 8% showing in battery life).  Nearly 12 hours after I took it off the charger, it was still doing its job.

Currently as I am writing this piece at around 2:30 pm, a click on settings says I have 11 hours + or 97% of the battery left.  Granted, I didn't work it as hard today, it has mostly sat idle, but I would say that this Chromebook is on its way to being the least power hungry machine I have every owned.

I will get back with you in about 6 months with an update on battery life. Right now, I am pleased.

Experiment Launched

I am not new to the Chromebook.  I am an early adopter.

Sometime during the first year that they were available (2011), I saw a bright red tag in Best Buy with the price of $149, and I jumped on it.

I used it as my personal laptop for a couple of years, until I bought a Macbook, and then the Chromebook was relegated to becoming the family TV laptop. (That's right, we do not have cable, and the Chromebook streams all kinds of shows and movies from Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, etc.)

That nearly 5 year old laptop is one of the most reliable devices I have ever owned.  It has not slowed down, and it actually does more than it could in 2011 because there are so many more apps and extensions than in the beginning.  (I can't say that about my Macbook which is starting to show its wear after three years, a couple of hardware updates, and an investment of $1000 before upgrades).

This experiment begins today with a new Chromebook.  Again, it was a bright red sale sign at Best Buy with a price tag of $149 that kicked it off.  The Lenovo 100S was on its way out of stock, and it was a solid product that I knew something about, so why not?

My wife would say that I have too many computers and devices already (and she would be right), but since this is a valid experiment, I am chalking it up to science.

So, here's the experiment...

• I am going to keep my new Chromebook handy, try to write every day, and put it through its paces as a competent replacement to one of my business computers (I have both Mac and Windows machines currently on my work desk).
• I will try and do some of the same things that I do every day in my work on the Chromebook, and compare the experiences.
• I will try things on my Chromebook that I have never tried before and report on my findings.
• Though I adopted the Chrome browser in its first months (Fall 2008), and have used various Google products for years, this experiment will look deeper at the applications and extensions available for this environment.

So, this writing project is off and running...on a new Chromebook.