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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 21st, 2023

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  • Maybe a small condenser microphone. The Samson Go is a bit old (not that consumer-grade microphone tech has changed much) but it’s small and just plugs into a laptop with a USB port. There are probably newer small models that do a better job and I’m not aware of its existence.

    I suspect a conferencing type product will have the same issue since it’s made to record sound coming from like two feet away from the mic

    This is the case with dynamic microphones (the microphones typically used for live events), but condenser microphones are usually very sensitive and will pick up almost every bit of noise with enough gain.

    I’ve seen like giant fuzzy mics used on movie sets - should I look for something like that?

    These are condenser shotgun microphones. The ones used in movie sets use XLR and need some kind of audio recorder (you’ll be carrying a lot of stuff with you). There are small ones that use 3.5mm connectors though (usually made for cameras). You need to have this pointed at the sound source at all times (hence why you see people manually operating these in a movie set).

    Anyway, I recommend looking into handhelds with built-in microphones (like the Zoom H1) so you can move it around easily.


    Disclaimer: I’m not an audio professional, just an audio hobbyist who works on student films sometimes. :D















  • How was the concept first explained to you, or when did it click?

    I don’t remember. We had classes throughout elementary school that taught us how to use computers. I learned how to read the news and use email from my mom. I learned how to play games like Silkroad and StarCraft from my dad. I don’t remember who taught me how to watch videos on YouTube. It kind of felt natural I guess.

    Do you understand how insane it is to have the aggregate of all human knowledge — the only comparable thing once being a physical library or university — one search away? That it’s absolutely insane you can engage in a real-time conversation with someone on the opposite side of the world? That you can find niche communities in an instant?

    No, not really. I never thougt about it that way until I was much older.

    Were your parents super strict about internet usage? How quickly did you find workarounds?

    Very strict. I could only use the internet if it was for school work during the week days. But during the weekends, I was free to use it however I wanted.

    There were no workarounds until high school when I was free to play games and surf the web as much as I wanted any day of the week.


  • People have suggested making a portal/quiz for instance signups, but that adds to the barrier. There are also problems like how in-depth and inclusive it should be. It reminds me of Linux distro pickers that often suggest weird niche distros.

    There are already big/default instances in the Fediverse though but there are people who actively discourage this. Maybe Mastodon just had a bad start and Bluesky learned from that. I wonder if Bluesky’s PDS will be like Fediverse instances though. Many Fediverse instances are built around shared interests but the PDS just looks like a glorified handle.

    Personally, I think the Fediverse discourse should shift to designing social media with decentralization in mind rather than mimicking mainstream social media with a “decentralized twist”. I don’t think the Fediverse will ever be as big as Twitter, but it doesn’t have to be. It just needs to be sustainable enough to keep new conversations going.

    Doesn’t answer the question but maybe it’s worth sharing anyway.