technology is cool

I'm working on this interpretative project for class, and we have to have an electronic component. I decided I'd do a podcast audio tour of the grounds of the site (which happens to be the Frederick Douglass Nat'l Historic Site). I thought that I had a microphone here, but I don't, so I went down to Radio Shack and bought one. (I also then stopped at a restaurant in Chinatown for lunch) This is so super nifty. I downloaded free open-source software last night, and now I'm working on the script, because I realized that otherwise I'll have fits and starts. It doesn't have to be the whole thing, but I need a sample I think at least. I thought for a minute the microphone was broken, and was about to head off to Radio Shack to return it, but since I'd had it work for a minute, I decided to first mess around with Windows, and it does indeed work, it's just that when it's turned on you don't hear it in the headphones unless you play it back. So now it's all configured and I'm going to make an mp3 which I can then take to class. Hooray! What I really like about this idea is the low cost of it- the mic was under $15, the software was free, so basically it's the cost of webhosting so visitors can download it and the cost of the staff time to write the script and record the tour, and of course the computer, but those are all resources the site already has.