Broadcast #7 of T&A's Chicken Lips is in the can.  We are DJs at the local community radio station here in Salida, Colorado: KHEN-LP 106.9 FM (website).  You can catch our show, T&A's Chicken Lips, on Wednesdays at 8 am Mountain Time or streaming on the World Wide Web.  It includes a weekly audio "editorial" on technology called "Tech Kernels from the Chicken Lips." The "column" appears in text form below and is pretty close to what I read on the air.

Attached is a low quality (48kbps) copy of the show.  Where is the audio? Check enclosure or "Attachment(s)" links at the bottom of this entry for the audio!

We have underwriters!  Big thanks to our underwriters, First Street Flooring at 139 W First St, Salida, CO 81201 - (719) 539-6182

Here our play list:

Tech Kernels from the Chicken Lips

May 21, 2008
Blogs

Do you ever remember the days when it took a concerted effort just to stay in touch with your friends?  Back in the day, you had to sit with pen and pencil, a typewriter, or a word processor and actually compose a letter for each and every person you needed to write.  I remember using mail merge years ago to address a holiday card to friends.  Now a days, it's as easy as simply plunking yourself down in front of computer with intertnet access and blasting a single e-mail to as many friends in your address book as you want, and that e-mail appears in your friend's inbox whether they want to read that blindly forwarded joke for the fourth time or not.  But thankfully, now there is a better way:  Blogs!

The term blog originally came about when some genious mashed the words web and log.  Wikipedia describes a blog as a "website, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order."  A blog is a great way to let your friends keep up with you, letting them check on you at their leisure.  There are websites out there that allow you to set up your own blog for free, including blogger.com, livejournal.com, and many others.  Or for the adventurous type, you can install free blog software such as wordpress in a web hosting environment.

This has leveled the playing field for anyone who wishes to publish content to the world.  As an example, and for some entertainment, check out WaiterRant.net.  The author's stories are so intriguing that a publisher noticed his blog... now he has a book deal.  Most campaigning politicians also have blogs, as do editorial authors at many news magazines such as Wired.  But there is a downside.  Freedom of speech extends to the web as well.  Generally, it has become so easy for anyone to publish information on the world wide web, that you need to be on the look out for pages filled with hatred, bigotry, or mis-information.  You should always confirm any questionable material with sources you trust, and that goes for those e-mails your friends are blindly forwarding to your inbox.  I like to use Snopes.com.

Lastly, I'll mention we currently have a blog that features this show on the world wide web, including the text read from past Tech Kernels.  You can check it out on our blog at www.adventure.koransky.com.  Or you can find some links on the KHEN FaceBook page.  We'll talk more next week on a nifty technology that has arrisen out of blogs called RSS or really simple syndication.

We appreciate any feedback you have on our shows thus far.  Thanks to all our listeners.  We sure are having fun with this, and hope you enjoy it as well.