While selecting these cars it was imperative for us that we chose only modified cars, so no Eleanor (Shelby GT500).

Gadgetmobile

The Gadgetmobile is based on a 1964 Lincoln Continental Convertible and designed by Brenda Bradford. The Gadgetmobile can speak, track Inspector Gadget’s location, camouflage itself and move its tires upwards, among other things and thinks its stands above the laws (and does not need to respect speed limits).

American Graffiti Hot Rod

Millner’s yellow hot rod in American Graffiti is a ’34 Ford Coupe, carrying custom “THX 138″ license plates, which refer to THX 1138, George Lucas’ first movie.

Fab1 Thunderbird

The Fab1 in the 2004 Thunderbirds movie was a heavily modified Ford THunderbird and provided by the company itself. The Thunderbird on 6 wheels is completely road legal and has been featured in Top Gear. The car has bullet-proof, run-flat tires but ca not fly.

Minority Report Lexus 2054

The Lexus 2054 in Minority Report is a concept car running on fuel cells, with advanced safety features, including biometric security systems.
The car, painted in blue this time, also features in Micael Bay’s The Island.

I, Robot Audi RSQ

Built on the chassis of an A4 this Audi concept car, designed for product placement has 2 reverse butterfly doors and the Multi Media Interface (MMI) driver-to-car control system.
This collaboration was a first for Audi and similar to the previously mentioned Lexus concept car in Minority Report.

Judge Dredd Land Rover

22 Land Rovers 101 Forward Control were converted with fiberglass bodies for the movie Judge Dredd and only one had a functional interior for inside shots. The NY Cab is not road legal and had no floors. To see out the windshield you had to tilt your head to one side or the other and lean forward, this basically requiring a second person on board to look out for traffic.

Star Wars Land Speeder

Luke Skywalker’s Land Speeder actually was a modified car. Numerous problems hiding the wheels were encountered. Easiest was to photograph the car from angles not showing the wheels. In longer scenes the Land Speeder had a reflecting skirt, mirroring the sand beneath.

Blade Runner Spinner

Sinners have been used in several movies (See also The Fifth Element Taxi further in the list). Main characteristic is that the cars can take off vertically. In Blade Runner the Spinners are mainly used by the police to patrol the city. The Blade Runner spinner has been designed by Syd Mead.

Tumbler Batmobile

When Warner Bros decided to reboot the Batman franchise with Christopher Nolan at the helmet, the Batmobile was reinvented. Contrarily to previous Batmobile, the Tumbler was made around functionality. Instead of being one beautiful car with many gadgets, now it was a practical vehicle with rather ugly looks.

1990 Batmobile

When Batman made his first box office appearance on the widescreen, he needed a new car. Much meaner and darker than the 1954 Lincoln Ventura used in the TV series. Gotham was darker and so was the car.

The Batmobile in “Batman” (1990) was built on the longer platform of a Chevrolet Caprice, while producer Tim Burton opted for the platform of a Buick Riviera for “Batman Returns” (1992). The exterior of both Batmobiles was similar and all built-in gadgets were functional.

DeLorean Back to the Future

Who had ever thought that a car, based on a failure like the DLorean, could have become this iconic?
Although based on a fairly vanilla DeLorean, the BTTF car was a genuine flux-capacitor powered time machine. No one would have imagined the DeLorean could reach the needed 88mph to activate the time machine, but it really did (in the movies at least).

Lotus Esprit James Bond The Spy Who Loved Me

James Bond’s Lotus Esprit is probably the most understated Bond car but came with lots of special features: rear firing mud sprayers, full ‘underwater’ kit turning the car into a fully operative submarine, surface-to-air missiles, depth charges, underwater smoke screens and torpedoes. A Bond car as you’ld expect them.

Ecto-1 Ghostbusters (1959 Cadillac Ambulance)

The original Ecto 1 recently was listed on Ebay but with $45.100 the reserve was not met.

Motor Blade

Kaneda’s Bike – Akira

From the poplaur Akira movie, not much is known about Kaneda’s bike. Only very little information about the build and construction/design has been released. There is a big Japanese subculture, building replicas. You can often buy a customized replica.

The Fifth Element Taxi

The cab in The Fifth Element is a spinner car as well. All cars in this movie are spinners and there are very interesting trivia about the car designs and their decorations in the movie.

Speed Racer Mach 5

Speed Racer Mach 5 featured the same original button steering wheel as the car in the anime series. Most of time the car was hung from a crane and effects were computer generated.

Herbie

Although only a slightly modified VW Beetle, Herbie has managed to win the hearts of many kids and adults over the years.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Paragon Panther)

Bumblebee Transformers (1977/2009 Chevrolet Camaro)

Contrarily to in the series, Bumblebee is a Chevrolet Camaro in the 2007 feature Transformers and not a VW Beetle. According to Michael Bay, producer, Bumblebee stands at 17 foot tall as Autobot.

Honorable mentions

• Mini Cooper S – The Italian Job 2003
• KITT
• Doc Hudson – Cars (1951 Hudson Hornet)
• 14K’s 1980 Porsche 911 in Death Race

Space Robin

I’m a sucker for addictive flash games. I don’t know about you, but I think the best video games are almost always simple and fun. Flash games tend to have both qualities.

Now, I know that Flash games often don’t have much depth. But that’s ok for me. I just like to jump in and have some mindless fun. And Flash games do that for me.

TechCult put together a list of the 150 Best Flash Games currently available. Lots of new gems on that list that I hadn’t seen before.

What do you think of their list? Are there some great games they left out?

There are some rather tasty looking films coming out this year, and make no mistake.  Here, I’ve decided to look at what in my opinion will be the top five best films of the year.    Of course, I’m only looking at only the top five Hollywood blockbusters – I’ll look at indie films in a separate post.

The Incredible Hulk
The film I’ve already covered the trailer of is set to be a big one – in every sense.  The Hulk is back, with this film ignoring the Ang Lee movie of a couple of years ago.  This time round – and rather wisely I may add – they have given the Hulk something his own size to fight.  The evil and hugely powerful Abomination.  Will Bruce Banner use the Hulk to fight, or will he take the cure to live a normal life?

The Dark Knight
The caped crusader returns in this sequel to one of arguably the best comic book adaptations ever made – Batman Begins.  In one of Heath Ledger’s last roles before his death, he appears in this film as the Joker.  Not however as the black-comedic joker from the original Batman film (directed by Tim Burton and played by Jack Nicholson) but instead as a homicidal maniac intent on filling Gotham City with crime and fear.  Along with his Humvee, Batman drives a huge Akira style road bike.

Wall -E
Walt Disney and Pixar are behind what is potentially going to be one of the biggest blockbuster children’s films ever.  Wall -E is a robot that has been left on Earth to clean up after humans have left.  The trailer shows him tidying up and experimenting with the debris left on Earth.  However, along comes a female robot (!) from another planet who Wall -E falls in love with.  She however takes a journey far away, which will take Wall -E many miles from his home planet in search for her…

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
This movie is the follow-up to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.  The children (who were made princes and princesses of the land of Narnia at the end of the film) return to the realm of Narnia, only to find that the savage Telmarines have taken over the once-beautiful lands.  Evil king Miraz now rules with an iron fist, forcing even the majestic Aslan into retreat.  With the golden age of Narnia over after a 1300-year absence, what can the children do to put right the wrongs in their kingdom?

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Harrison Ford returns once again in May, for a fourth amazing adventure of Indiana Jones.  Why it took so long for him to return is anyone’s guess, but the movie looks just like one of his old-time adventures, with whip swinging, girls, an evil villain and this time around a young sidekick to do more of the action set-pieces.  Whether this is a handing over of the reigns is anyone’s guess but the adventures will go all the way from Area 51 (as shown in the trailer) through to the very heart of the kingdom of the crystal skull itself – which looks to be an Aztec temple of some sort.

Other films of note
Of course, the five films above aren’t the only Hollywood blockbusters worth considering this year.  No doubt the summer will bring many more, some of which we haven’t even seen very much of yet.  Here’s a few of the films I think will also be worth catching.

Iron Man – Another comic book adaptation here, with Robert Downey Jr playing the part of the eponymous hero Tony Stark.  Well cast and with apparently excellent special effects, this is one actioner that you won’t want to miss.

Hellboy 2: The Golden Army – Ron Perlman returns in a sequel for the role he was born to play – Hellboy.  This time round, the mythical world starts a rebellion for which only a few can stand against, including Hellboy and his team.

The Orphanage – If you haven’t caught this yet (I can’t have done as I’m in the UK) I’d certainly recommend it based on the five minutes of footage I have seen.  Whilst not a horror film per se, Bayona’s direction and Del Toro’s production skills should make this one of the most atmospheric films of the year.

Then there were the rest…some featured celebrities, some were thinly veiled knock offs of other successful shows…others were just plain crap. After careful consideration, and knowing full well that there this list could spark a debate that could burn as eternally as the Springfield tire fire, I present to you…the 10 Worst 80s Action Cartoons.

10. Dinosaucers

Anthropomorphic Dinosaurs that can “Dinovolve” into regular looking Dinosaurs?!? What’s not to love! It’s like Transformers…but 100% Dino-tastic!!! Dinosaucers last only 1 season in the 80s, but those 65 episodes would be broadcast well into the mid-90s on networks desperate for cheap content. The show as so unsuccessful that the toyline based on it was cancelled before it even hit the shelves.

9. Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs

Attempting to capitalize on the success of shows like Galaxy Rangers and Bravestarr, WEP, the company behind Voltron, decided to grab a moderately successful anime series called Star Musketeer Bismarck, and rework it as Saber Rider.

They did manage a catchy theme song that I will occasionally still burst out into song over, and you have to love their giant robot RAMROD, but overall…it was lame as lame can be.

8. Voltron Vehicle Force

Speaking of WEP and their sucktastic line-up, the Vehicle Voltron Force will forever earn a spot on lists like this if for no other reason than because the entire voice cast was the same as the Voltron Lion Force, and no one even bothered to TRY and sound different. Kids would sit down to something that sounded EXACTLY like the Voltron they knew…even the music was the same…but everyone looked different. It was confusing as all hell.

The robot did look pretty bad ass, though…but that alone is not enough to keep it off our list.

7. Dino-Riders

The second, and last, “Dinosaurs meet Technology” cartoon on our list are the Dino-Riders. 14 episodes of this show were produced, solely for the purpose of launching the Tyco toyline of the same name.

While the toy line met with limited success, and high enough praise that the Smithsonian released the Dinosaur figures (minus futuristic weapons) themselves as a toy line, the cartoon show blew.

6. Bionic Six

“They are a family…and they make me wanna puke…” those aren’t EXACTLY the words from the cartoon theme song…but damn they should be. I always liked the toys in this line because of their transparent bionic parts, but this show, which admittedly looks like it had high production values was just god awful…

5. Rambo – The Force of Freedom

Why, dear lord why, would you take an exceptionally violent film series (Rambo III is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most violent film EVER) and turn it into a cartoon where I shirtless man can fly through a glass window without scratch on him? Oh yeah…to sell toys. I forgot.

4. Mr. T and the All American Team

Speaking of things that ought not be turned into television shows…just why the hell is Mr. T traveling around the country with a bunch of gymnastics kids fighting crime? I mean seriously…is the because of all the cocaine in the 80s? Is that where this came from?

3. Tigersharks

What would happen if the guys behind Thundercats decided to do a show JUST LIKE Thundercats…but with sea life? THIS!

2. Gobots

These little bastards wanted to be Transformers so bad it hurts. Just look at them…they’re just waiting for the day when Hasbro buys them up so they can join the “real” transforming robots on a successful show.

1. Turbo Teen

Turbo Teen wanted to be Knight Rider so bad it could almost taste it. The horrible, horrible excuse for a cartoon aired duing the height of Knight Rider’s popularity, and mimicked the show in every way legally possible.

This terrible excuse for an animated series only last one terrible, terrible season.

***

So there you have it. I’m sure you can think of shows that you think would be better suited for this list, so feel free to mention them in the comments below…

Today marks the 30th anniversary of Star Wars. You can’t deny the affect that Star Wars has had on the world at large and geekdom in general. To celebrate the anniversary we decided here at Forever Geek to rank our favorite Star Wars characters of all time.

So…here we go…let the flame wars begin…

30. Padme Amidala Skywalker – even with the emotional range of a paper sack, you can’t deny Padme’s importance to the story of Star Wars. Mother of Luke and Leia, wife of Anakin, Queen of Naboo, and Senator of the Republic, she is a vital, albeit annoying, part of the saga.

29. General Grievous – A chilling foreshadow of what can become of a man when combined with machine, Grievous is a visually interesting foe.

28. Greedo – He didn’t shoot first. You know it, and I know it, but still this Rodian has the most memorable non-english speaking dialogue in all of Star Wars, and for that, he deserves a spot on this list.

27. Watto – this creepy flying, gambling addicted, slave owning, Toydarian is probably responsible for the destruction of the Jedi when you think about it. Maybe if he’d been nicer to poor Anakin when he was a kid he wouldn’t have ad such rage issues as he got older.

26. Count Dooku – Dooku didn’t serve much purpose in the prequel trilogy other than to move the Emperor’s plot along, and a lesser actor might have made the role forgettable, but Christopher Lee is not a lesser actor. Lee makes the role memorable by oozing off the screen every second he’s on it…right up until his arms and head get lopped off. ouch.

25. Darth Maul - Another instrument of Palpatine that really served only to look cool and move the plot along was Darth Maul. His look worked, however, as he is one of the coolest looking characters in the Star Wars Universe.

24. Biggs – The Burt Reynolds’ Mustache wearing friend of Luke may not seem like the most important character at first, but the loss of Biggs at the end of Episode 4 serves as a sobering reminder to Luke that the situation he is in is very real, and Biggs is really the last element of his home that is left…

23. Uncle Owen – All Owen ever wanted was the best for Luke – or what he thought was the best anyway. He wanted to protect Luke from everything his father had become, and while he ultimately wasn’t able to – it’s Uncle Owen’s guidance as a youth that helped shape Luke into the man he would become.

22. Aunt Beru – Aunt Beru, along with Uncle Owen, never get enough credit for raising Luke. Had they not helped shape him into the man he would become, Emperor might never have been defeated.

21. Porkins – That’s right, I ranked Porkins higher than Darth Maul, Count Dooku and everybody else from 22 to 30…I mean, COME ON, he’s a fat guy X-Wing pilot named PORKINS. He’s the character most of us are most likely to BE. He’s PORKINS.

20. Mace Windu – A Council leader who always came off to me as a stone’s throw away from the Darkside himself, Mace Windu is a vital part of the prequel trilogy, and being played by bad-ass extraordinare Samuel L. Jackson, makes it impossible to exclude him from the list.

19. Wedge Antilles – Leader of the Rogue Squadron, and vital member of the Rebellion, Wedge served as a good friend to Luke, and a key player in several battles.

18. Sebulba – Anakin’s first rival. Sebulba was both visually interesting, silly looking, and threatening at the same time. His role Anakin’s life played a key part in his anger management issues.

17. Jabba The Hutt – A master manipulator, giant slug, and party animal, Jabba loves a good time, and we’ll always love him for not killing Han when he stepped on his tail.

16. Lando Calrissian – Always a schemer and ultimately a hero, Lando is a poor man’s Han Solo…but he’s a good one.

15. Admiral Ackbar – Often referred to as Admiral Man-Fish around my house, Ackbar fought back not only being a man with a giant fish head, but also a terrible speech impediment to become a Admiral in the rebellion. My hat goes off to him.

14. Grand Moff Tarkin – Tarkin was just and evil bastard. I assume you’d have to be to incite fear while you have “Moff” in your name. I mean, come on…this guy even had evil bone structure.

13. Boba Fett – Mandalorian Armor wearing, bounty hunting bad ass. He gets the unlucky number 13 spot of that jet pack malfunction that sent him screaming like a girl to his doom.

12. Jango Fett – Mandalorian Armor wearing, bounty hunting bad ass. Why does he outrank his son? Two words: Sarlacc Pitt.

11. Qui-Gon Jinn – Mentor to Obi-Wan and killee of Darth Maul, Qui-Gon Jinn had very little screen time in the overall saga, but his actions are what brought Obi-Wan and Anakin together, and what ultimately led to the fall of the Jedi. Sucks to be him.

10. Chewbacca – Loyal friend and protector, Chewbacca saved Yoda’s skin in the Clone Wars, and served as co-pilot of the Millennium Falcon. While he may never say a word we can understand, his importance to the series is unmistakable…and dammit…he deserved a medal too.

09. C-3P0 – He started off as spare parts in a kid’s room, and ended a god to teddy bears…what more can you say?

08. R2-D2 – He’s the only character in the whole saga to know everything that’s going on, and he never says a word.

07. Palpatine – Pure evil in a robe. Palpatine’s manipulative fingers are in almost every episode of the series, and he is awesome to watch from his opening laughs in Episode 1 to his cackling death in Episode 6.

06. Leia Organa – A princess with a mind of her own, Leia served as both a positive role model for young women, and a sexual fantasy for every red blooded male from 1977 to 2007 (and she will continue to do so throughout time). She is a leader of her people, a strong woman, and a lost Skywalker…what more could you ask for?

05. Luke Skywalker – The son of Skywalker. The Redeemer. Luke helped his father find redemption, saved the universe, and helped lead a rebellion to victory…and he wore that cool black glove in “Return”…so…yeah…

04.Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader – The entire series is focused around Anakin, so it comes as no surprise that he ranks highly on the list.

03. Obi-Wan – One of the greatest Jedi that ever lived, played by two of the greatest actors in the series. We watch Obi-Wan grow from Padawan to Council Member over the course of the the prequel films, and his final confrontation with Anakin in “Revenge” is as heartbreaking as it is brutal. The “old wizard” we meet in the original trilogy is infinitely wise, and a father figure and guide-post that keeps the entire series together.

02. Yoda – There is something about puppet Yoda that will always be more “real” than his CG counterpart in the prequel films, but in every movie CG or Rubber, Yoda steals the show. From his training in “Empire”, to his battle with Palpatine in “Revenge” Yoda and his tribal screams of fury will go down in history make him forever great.

01. Han Solo – There is no one cooler character in the Star Wars Universe than Han Solo. He never held a lightsaber, but he saved the universe, got the girl, and flew the Millennium Falcon. It just doesn’t get any cooler than Han. He has all the quotable lines, and the best scene of the entire series (“I know”) was all Han. For that, he HAS to take the number one spot.

Let’s say you came late in the game. Perhaps it’s only now that you’ve purchased your own portable music player, got a broadband connection, or simply got wind of this wonderful new medium that lets you listen to just about anything under the sun, and even create your own audio programmes about anything under the sun, beyond the sun, and even the sun itself!

Let’s revisit some basic concepts on podcasts and podcasting. Let’s also have a brief rundown of how to produce your own podcast.

What is a podcast? And what is podcasting?

A podcast is an audio programme distributed via the Internet. It is very much like a broadcast on AM radio, with much commentary or discussion involved. Or, it can be like FM radio, with artists regularly releasing original music tracks on a regular basis.

A podcast is different from a regular downloaded audio recording or streaming audio, however, in that the content-distribution is automatically done through RSS (really simple syndication / rich site summary). For instance, a regular podcast subscriber would expect the audio recording to be automatically transferred to his computer (and portable media player, if available) once there is a new edition or episode of his subscribed programmes available.

What can podcasts contain and discuss?

Very much like blogs, podcasts tend to have niche audiences, with material specifically aimed at a target audience. And there are podcasts on just about any topic, from technology, to business, to politics, to fashion, to entertainment, and even very obscure and specific topics like, say, hairdressing, and your extensive Teletubby doll collection.

Podcasts can consist of short, ten-minute commentaries, but can also span to hour-long round-table discussions. Podcasters are not limited by airtime constraints, like in broadcast media; but one should be mindful of the boredom thresholds of listeners!

How are podcasts created?

Podcasting essentially consists of four steps:

1. Content preparation
2. Recording and post-processing
3. Publication (and syndication)
4. Marketing

How are podcasts delivered to the intended audience?

• Some listeners prefer to download podcasts as individual audio files over a web browser or sometimes even peer-to-peer file transfer software.
• Some would search submissions and entries in podcast directories, and download files individually.
• Others would play audio directly on a web browser as an embedded, streaming media.
• However, the standard way of receiving podcasts is by subscribing using a pod-catcher or a podcast-client like iTunes or iPodder. Subscription may be through podcast directories or by manually entering a podcast’s RSS feed URL onto the client.
• Podcasts may be listened to on a computer or on a portable media device (not necessarily an iPod).

What do I need to create a basic podcast?

Let’s start out with a simple setup—we begin with the most essential parts of podcast creation, as these would still be very much the same steps to take when you graduate into more technically-sophisticated setups.

Hardware requirements

• Computer – laptop or desktop running on a fairly recent processor (i.e. Pentium IV, Pentium M, or latter Celerons), and with a sound card
• Microphone – either analog or USB (but USB mics may be problematic with some setups
• Speaker or Ear/headphones

Software requirements. The following should be installed on your system:

• The base operating system – may be Windows, Linux or Macintosh, but for simplicity’s sake, let’s assume Windows XP
• For recording and mixing – Audacity
• For encoding – LAME MP3 Encoder
• Web browser – any modern web browser, such as Mozilla Firefox 1.xx or Internet Explorer 6.xx, will do
• A podcatcher or podcast client – iTunes or iPodder (now called Juice)

Other things you’ll need

• Music tracks (if so desired) – podcast-safe music can be downloaded from http://podsafeaudio.com and other similar sites.
• A web host, or a blog, or an account with a blogging provider
• An account with FeedBurner (to help standardize your RSS feed) – optional
• An account with any of the following (or any other) services that can host media, particularly audiofiles: Gcast, Odeo, OurMedia

Creating your simple podcast, step-by-step

Part 1: Preparing the content

Create a script. Unless you’re an experienced talk show host, then you’d need a script or at least an outline to guide your show. Otherwise, you’d have ten minutes of umms, ahhs, and errs which will surely annoy your audience. Some prefer podcasts that are spontaneous, while others prefer clear-cut ‘casts with a definite message. But I think it’s best if you have at least an outline or a summary of the flow of what you would be discussing.

Here’s a rule of thumb you can follow in creating a ten-minute podcast:

• 10 seconds: Intro music or audio
• 20 seconds: Introduce the podcast. State the title, your name(s), and the purpose of the podcast. Also state the URL where your podcast and the show notes can be found. Introduce your guests, if any.
• 10 seconds: If you have any sponsors, mention them now!
• 20 seconds: Provide a brief outline of your show, if you have a script; if not, state here what you plan to talk about.
• 9 minutes: The main body or discussion
• 20 seconds: Wrap up the discussion, outlining your main points. If you have guests, take this time to thank and acknowledge them.
• 10 seconds: If you have sponsors you’d like to mention again, now’s the time!
• 20 seconds: Introduce the podcast once more. State the title, your name, and the URL of the podcast and show notes.
• 10 seconds: outro music.
• Optional: 3 to 5 minutes: Podcast-safe song or piece from an independent band or artist at the end of your show

Of course, these are just suggested guidelines, but for a beginning podcaster, hopefully useful enough. You are free to do variations, as necessary. For instance, some podcasters place ads right before the intro music.

Part 2: Recording and post-processing

Record the audio. This is the most fun part of podcasting. Now you can fulfill your dreams of becoming like your radio idol Howard Stern, ranting and raving about anything under the sun! Here’s what to do:

• Open your preferred audio recording software, in our case, Audacity.
• Check if your microphone works, and if the recording level is acceptable. Press the round, red record button and speak a few test lines into the mic. Then end the recording and then play back your test message. If you don’t hear what you just recorded, then adjust the mic and volume controls accordingly.
  If the recording level is acceptable, then create a new, clean recording by pressing File-New. You may now start recording your programme.
• If you press the stop button and then record again, this will record the new audio on a new audio track (use the pause button instead, if you simply want to pause for a while).
• Make sure you save the Audacity project after recording.

Alternative means of recording include importing an existing voice recording (say, from a portable media player with recording features, or from CD), and recording a VoIP conversation/interview (i.e. roundtable discussions).

Edit the audio recording. Once you’ve recorded the audio, you may want to take out a few blank spaces (i.e. silent pauses) or unwanted portions, or bleep out inappropriate words. You may also want to vary the audio levels on some portions of the recording, or remove noise. You can use Audacity to:

• Delete any portion of the recordings.
• Bleep out portions.
• Change and vary the amplitude of the recording or any other track.
• Change the positioning of each track with the time shifting tool.
• Insert or move around portions of tracks by using copy/cut-and-paste.
• Merge your voice recording into only one track, for easier editing later on.

You can now mix the audio recording with the other tracks. Once the voice track has been cleaned and merged into only one track, it is now time to mix other audio and music tracks.

• You can import MP3 music into Audacity. You can then select and copy a few seconds, for instance, of the music intro, into the beginning portion of the recording. You can adjust the position of the voice recording using the time shifting tool.
• Try to use podcast-safe music as much as possible. We wouldn’t want the RIAA running after us for copyright infringement, would we?

Save the podcast. Once you’ve deleted the unnecessary tracks, save the audacity project (with the music and voice tracks separate). Then export the file into MP3 format with the “export as MP3” function. You are asked to type in the ID tags (title, artist, genre, etc.) for the MP3 file. This will be used by MP3 media players to identify the media while playing.

Part 3: Publication

Upload the media. Once the file export is through, you may wish to listen to the finished product first. If you are satisfied, then it is time to upload.

• You may upload the MP3 onto a podcast-hosting service such as Gcast, or Ourmedia. These have various features like automatic-XML/RSS generation and playing through an embedded player.
• You can also upload onto your own host (or a free host) and then link the media to your blog or website. We shall then use FeedBurner to convert our blog RSS or Atom feed into a podcast-compatible format.

Prepare your podcast’s RSS feed. RSS is probably 50% of what makes up your podcast, because this is the technology that lets people pull the content from your server automatically as soon as you have uploaded a new episode.

• You can hand-code your RSS feed, but this can be difficult and not recommended. Besides, blogging software and podcast hosting services usually already generate their own RSS feeds.
• If you use a podcast hosting service, do retrieve the automatically-generated URL of the podcast RSS.
• If you have uploaded your MP3 file onto your own paid or free host, you may use FeedBurner to automatically convert your blog’s feed into podcast-friendly format. Just make sure you use the <a rel=”enclosure”> tag when linking to the MP3 file.

Try it out yourself. Subscribe to your podcast’s RSS feed through your podcatcher, and see if it can automatically download the episode for you. If you’re using an embedded player, try to play a streaming version of your podcast on your computer.

Part 4: Marketing

Publicize your Podcast. What’s a show without an audience? If you have a fresh, new podcast, it pays to do some PR to get people listening in on your programme. Much like with blogs, the best way to market your podcast is word of mouth:

• Blog about it. The blog, the podcast’s close cousin is the first place to promote a podcast. If you’re using a podcast hosting service, then you can usually embed streaming versions of your podcast.
• Comment on other people’s blogs/sites. Link back, of course, but be sure you’re commenting on relevant blogs. Otherwise, your presence may be considered spam!
• Submit your podcast to directory services, such as www.podcast.net, www.podcastalley.com, www.ipodder.org, and www.podcastdirectory.com (Yahoo! has a great list of podcast directories)

The last step would probably be to start anew! Once you’ve published one episode of your podcast, it’s time to sit back awhile for a well-deserved rest, and to think up topics to discuss on your next episode.

Update: You can check out a follow-up post here – Successful Podcasting.

[DIGG this article]

Here are my top 3 favorites from the list, though most of them are all amazing.

I did find it however “strange” that they didn’t include this lego creation (at least in honorable mention) and included this one.

1. Carry your opponent’s proposition beyond its natural limits;
   exaggerate it.
   The more general your opponent’s statement becomes,
   the more objections you can find against it.
   The more restricted
   and narrow your own propositions remain, the easier they are to
   defend.
2. Use different meanings of your opponent’s words to refute his
   argument.
   Example: Person A says, “You do not understand the
   mysteries of Kant’s philosophy.”
   Person B replies, “Of, if it’s
   mysteries you’re talking about, I’ll have nothing to do with them.”
3. Ignore your opponent’s proposition, which was intended to refer
   to some particular thing.
   Rather, understand it in some quite different sense,
   and then refute it.
   Attack something different than what was asserted.
4. Hide your conclusion from your opponent until the end.
   Mingle
   your premises here and there in your talk.
   Get your opponent to
   agree to them in no definite order.
   By this circuitous route you
   conceal your goal until you have reached all the admissions
   necessary to reach your goal.
5. Use your opponent’s beliefs against him.
   If your opponent
   refuses to accept your premises, use his own premises to your advantage.
   Example, if the opponent is a member of an organization
   or a religious sect to which you do not belong, you may employ the
   declared opinions of this group against the opponent.
6. Confuse the issue by changing your opponent’s words or what he
   or she seeks to prove.
   Example: Call something by a different
   name: “good repute” instead of “honor,” “virtue” instead of
   “virginity,” “red-blooded” instead of “vertebrates”.
7. State your proposition and show the truth of it by asking the
   opponent many questions.
   By asking many wide-reaching questions at
   once, you may hide what you want to get admitted.
   Then you quickly
   propound the argument resulting from the proponent’s admissions.
8. Make your opponent angry.
   An angry person is less capable of
   using judgment or perceiving where his or her advantage lies.
9. Use your opponent’s answers to your question to reach different
   or even opposite conclusions.
10. If you opponent answers all your questions negatively and
    refuses to grant you any points, ask him or her to concede the opposite
    of your premises.
    This may confuse the opponent as to
    which point you actually seek him to concede.
11. If the opponent grants you the truth of some of your premises,
    refrain from asking him or her to agree to your conclusion.
    Later,
    introduce your conclusions as a settled and admitted fact.
    Your
    opponent and others in attendance may come to believe that your
    conclusion was admitted.
12. If the argument turns upon general ideas with no particular
    names, you must use language or a metaphor that is favorable to
    your proposition.
    Example: What an impartial person would call
    “public worship” or a “system of religion” is described by an adherent
    as “piety” or “godliness” and by an opponent as “bigotry”
    or “superstition.”
    In other words, inset what you intend to prove
    into the definition of the idea.
13. To make your opponent accept a proposition , you must give him
    an opposite, counter-proposition as well.
    If the contrast is
    glaring, the opponent will accept your proposition to avoid being
    paradoxical.
    Example: If you want him to admit that a boy must to
    everything that his father tells him to do, ask him, “whether in
    all things we must obey or disobey our parents.”
    Or , if a thing
    is said to occur “often” you are to understand few or many times,
    the opponent will say “many.”
    It is as though you were to put gray
    next to black and call it white; or gray next to white and call it
    black.
14. Try to bluff your opponent.
    If he or she has answered several
    of your question without the answers turning out in favor of your
    conclusion, advance your conclusion triumphantly, even if it does
    not follow.
    If your opponent is shy or stupid, and you yourself
    possess a great deal of impudence and a good voice, the technique
    may succeed.
15. If you wish to advance a proposition that is difficult to
    prove, put it aside for the moment.
    Instead, submit for your opponent’s
    acceptance or rejection some true proposition, as though
    you wished to draw your proof from it.
    Should the opponent reject
    it because he suspects a trick, you can obtain your triumph by
    showing how absurd the opponent is to reject an obviously true
    proposition.
    Should the opponent accept it, you now have reason on
    your side for the moment.
    You can either try to prove your
    original proposition, as in #14, maintain that your original
    proposition is proved by what your opponent accepted.
    For this an
    extreme degree of impudence is required, but experience shows cases
    of it succeeding.
16. When your opponent puts forth a proposition, find it
    inconsistent with his or her other statements, beliefs, actions or
    lack of action.
    Example: Should your opponent defend suicide, you
    may at once exclaim, “Why don’t you hang yourself?”
    Should the opponent
    maintain that his city is an unpleasant place to live, you
    may say, “Why don’t you leave on the first plane?”
17. If your opponent presses you with a counter-proof, you will
    often be able to save yourself by advancing some subtle distinction.
    Try to find a second meaning or an ambiguous sense
    for your opponent’s idea.
18. If your opponent has taken up a line of argument that will end
    in your defeat, you must not allow him to carry it to its conclusion.
    Interrupt the dispute, break it off altogether, or
    lead the opponent to a different subject.
19. Should your opponent expressly challenge you to produce any
    objection to some definite point in his argument, and you have
    nothing to say, try to make the argument less specific.
    Example:
    If you are asked why a particular hypothesis cannot be accepted,
    you may speak of the fallibility of human knowledge, and give
    various illustrations of it.
20. If your opponent has admitted to all or most of your premises,
    do not ask him or her directly to accept your conclusion.
    Rather,
    draw the conclusion yourself as if it too had been admitted.
21. When your opponent uses an argument that is superficial and you see
    the falsehood, you can refute it by setting forth its superficial
    character.
    But it is better to meet the opponent with acounter-argument that is just
    as superficial, and so dispose of him.
    For
    it is with victory that you are concerned, not with truth.
    Example: If the opponent appeals to prejudice, emotion or attacks you
    personally, return the attack in the same manner.
22. If your opponent asks you to admit something from which the point in
    dispute will immediately follow, you
    must refuse to do so, declaring that it begs the question.
23. Contradiction and contention irritate a person into exaggerating
    their statements.
    By contradicting your
    opponent you may drive him into extending the statement beyond its
    natural limit.
    When you then contradict
    the exaggerated form of it, you look as though you had refuted the
    original statement.
    Contrarily, if your
    opponent tries to extend your own statement further than your intended,
    redefine your statement’s limits and
    say, “That is what I said, no more.”
24. State a false syllogism.
    Your opponent makes a proposition, and by
    false inference and distortion of his
    ideas you force from the proposition other propositions that are not
    intended and that appear absurd.
    It then
    appears that opponent’s proposition gave rise to these inconsistencies,
    and so appears to be indirectly refuted.
25. If your opponent is making a generalization, find an instance to the
    contrary.
    Only one valid contradiction
    is needed to overthrow the opponent’s proposition.
    Example: “All
    ruminants are horned,” is a generalization
    that may be upset by the single instance of the camel.
26. A brilliant move is to turn the tables and use your opponent’s
    arguments against himself.
    Example: Your
    opponent declares: “so and so is a child, you must make an allowance for
    him.”
    You retort, “Just because he is
    a child, I must correct him; otherwise he will persist in his bad habits.”
27. Should your opponent suprise you by becoming particularly angry at an
    argument, you must urge it with all
    the more zeal.
    No only will this make your opponent angry, but it will
    appear that you have put your finger on
    the weak side of his case, and your opponent is more open to attack on
    this point than you expected.
28. When the audience consists of individuals (or a person) who is not an
    expert on a subject, you make an
    invalid objection to your opponent who seems to be defeated in the eyes
    of the audience.
    This strategy is
    particularly effective if your objection makes your opponent look
    ridiculous or if the audience laughs.
    If your
    opponent must make a long, winded and complicated explanation to correct
    you, the audience will not be
    disposed to listen to him.
29. If you find that you are being beaten, you can create a
    diversion–that is, you can suddenly begin to talk of
    something else, as though it had a bearing on the matter in dispute.
    This
    may be done without presumption if the diversion has some general bearing on the matter.
30. Make an appeal to authority rather than reason.
    If your opponent
    respects an authority or an expert,
    quote that authority to further your case.
    If needed, quote what the
    authority said in some other sense or
    circumstance.
    Authorities that your opponent fails to understand are
    those which he generally admires the
    most.
    You may also, should it be necessary, not only twist your
    authorities, but actually falsify them, or quote
    something that you have entirely invented yourself.
31. If you know that you have no reply to the arguments that your
    opponent advances, you by a find stroke of
    irony declare yourself to be an incompetent judge.
    Example: “What you say
    passes my poor powers of
    comprehension; it may well be all very true, but I can’t understand it,
    and I refrain from any expression of
    opinion on it.”
    In this way you insinuate to the audience, with whom you
    are in good repute, that what your
    opponent says is nonsense.
    This technique may be used only when you are
    quite sure that the audience thinks
    much better of you than your opponent.
32. A quick way of getting rid of an opponent’s assertion, or of throwing
    suspicion on it, is by putting it into
    some odious category.
    Example: You can say, “That is fascism” or
    “Atheism” or “Superstition.”
    In making an
    objection of this kind you take for granted
    1)That the assertion or
    question is identical with, or at least
    contained in, the category cited;
    and
    2)The system referred to has been
    entirely refuted by the current audience.
33. You admit your opponent’s premises but deny the conclusion.
    Example:
    “That’s all very well in theory, but
    it won’t work in practice.”
34. When you state a question or an argument, and your opponent gives you
    no direct answer, or evades it
    with a counter question, or tries to change the subject, it is sure sign
    you have touched a weak spot,
    sometimes without intending to do so.
    You have, as it were, reduced your
    opponent to silence.
    You must,
    therefore, urge the point all the more, and not let your opponent evade
    it, even when you do not know where
    the weakness that you have hit upon really lies.
35. Instead of working on an opponent’s intellect or the rigor of his
    arguments, work on his motive.
    If you
    success in making your opponent’s opinion, should it prove true, seem
    distinctly prejudicial to his own interest,
    he will drop it immediately.
    Example: A clergyman is defending some
    philosophical dogma.
    You show him that
    his proposition contradicts a fundamental doctrine of his church.
    He will
    abandon the argument.
36. You may also puzzle and bewilder your opponent by mere bombast.
    If
    your opponent is weak or does
    not wish to appear as if he has no idea what your are talking about, you
    can easily impose upon him some
    argument that sounds very deep or learned, or that sounds indisputable.
37. Should your opponent be in the right but, luckily for you, choose a
    faulty proof, you can easily refute it and
    then claim that you have refuted the whole position.
    This is the way in
    which bad advocates lose good cases.

    If no accurate proof occurs to your opponent, you have won the day.

38. Become personal, insulting and rude as soon as you perceive that your
    opponent has the upper hand.
    In
    becoming personal you leave the subject altogether, and turn your attack
    on the person by remarks of an
    offensive and spiteful character.
    This is a very popular technique,
    because it takes so little skill to put it into
    effect. (this is wha trolls like to do)

Taken from Arthur Schopenhauer’s Art of Controversy.