 | Mac Edition Radio involves all these fine folks in producing this site and the interviews and reviews it contains. |
Andy Alm, Web guru for Mac Edition Radio, has worked with organizations around the world for two three decades -- since that first 300-baud BBS on an Apple //e -- to introduce the use of computer networks for internal and external communications, and to integrate online networks with time-honored communications practices. His recent projects include collaborative portals, e-learning systems, a web-based curriculum-authoring tool, and an online open-source database for environmental monitoring. As an environmental writer and editor, he spent more than a decade as a professional journalist. Based out of the beautiful Northern California coast, he is currently solving the world's problems with the aid of Drupal, WordPress, and lots of patience.
Jon Burlan, Audio and Music Technology Analyst and Photographer-at-Large for Mac Edition Radio, has never met a computer, guitar, roller coaster or rock band that he couldn't photograph! Jon's expertise encompasses high-end audio and sound engineering, and he has been published internationally in Rolling Stone, Spin, People, Creem, and VH1. His album credits include Oingo Boingo, Testament, and Anthrax, and he has worked with Foo Fighters, Motorhead, Stevie Ray Vaughn, among others. When not occupied as a globetrotting audio engineer, Jon can be found listening to all kinds of music and/or playing one of the fine specimens in his world-class guitar collection. He's a big fan of the San Diego Padres and a damn fine cook. Jon has had extensive experience with PCs and various iterations of Windows and Android, but, as you might have guessed, he prefers Macs. In fact, his first computer was a blisteringly fast SE/30. Jon passed away in 2020, and we miss him everyday.
Nancy Burlan, Editor and Reporter for Mac Edition Radio, began her quest to rid the world of misplaced modifiers on a Macintosh Plus in the late 1980s. She has worked her way through a Mac Classic, a Quadra, a 7100/90, an iMac, a Mac Pro Tower, a Mini, and a number of MacBook Pro's, and appreciates the joys of all things laptop, including her current 13-inch MBP Retina. Nancy's favorite color is Bondi blue, and she is still wondering why the Apple operating system naming convention skipped Tabby.
A. D. Coleman, Technology Analyst and Reviewer for Mac Edition Radio, is a critic, historian, theorist, and curator who has published over 2500 essays and 8 books on photography and related subjects. Wired magazine called his book The Digital Evolution "required reading for today's media-savvy or information-obsessed artist." He teaches and lectures internationally, and also publishes widely as a poet and writer of short fiction and creative nonfiction. At his heavily trafficked website, The Nearby Café (http://nearbycafe.com), he offers a section titled "WordWork: Survival Strategies for the Professional Writer". Coleman's first computers were "some kind of weird-assed off-brand suitcase-size 'portable' I bought from DAK in 1988 that never worked right, and a Tandy 102 from Radio Shack, second model of the very first laptop, that stored a total of 32 pages' worth of material if you bought the two memory upgrades." His Mac-hinations began in mid-1994 with a Performa 637CD.
Ron and Jane Cooper, Media Analysts for Mac Edition Radio are also the creators of the graphics for our site. They report on new technologies and developments in the design area. They are also the gurus behind Cooper & Cooper Creative Services. Their Los Angeles-based design firm has created marketing and PR campaigns for clients including Levi's, Columbia Pictures, International Paper, United Telecom, Honeywell and Nestle Foods. They've also helped launch cutting edge software developers and Internet marketing firms. In the early '80s their studio relied on a then-state-of-the-art Compugraphic 7200. A business breakfast with author Cary Lu whose book 'The Apple Macintosh Book' had just been published led to a discussion on the potential of the new Macintosh 128k and how it would revolutionize the industry. In 1984 it inspired them to make the switch to a Macintosh 128k with a dot matrix printer.
Daniel East, Technology Analyst and Reporter for Mac Edition Radio, is an author and freelance writer of his Real People Reviews™ columns for several Mac-specific media outlets and magazines (including Photoshop User, Layers, Make and others); contributing editor for MacsimumNews.com; frequent guest on several Mac-specific radio shows/podcasts; a live presenter/speaker and an Apple consultant. East is also the founder and president of The Apple Groups Team (TAGteam), a free support network for user groups, vendors and developers. Harris met Daniel when they both on Rich Levin's PC Talk Radio show! In addition, East has more than twenty years of experience as head of a national marketing firm working with musical production, promotion and professional audio – of course, it is completely Mac-based. Daniel's first computer were his toes, with which he could count and keep a beat, at the time time, with different syncopated rhythms.
Harris Fogel, Host and Executive Producer and Founder of Mac Edition Radio, has been reporting on technology since the Apple //c. Harris is the former Chairman of the Media Arts Department (Photography, Film, Animation, & Digital Video), Photography Program Director & Coordinator, Director/Curator of the Sol Mednick and 1401 Galleries of Photography, and formerly an Associate Professor of Photography at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Starting his journalism career at KHSU Radio in Arcata, California, before creating Mac Edition Radio, he was the Co-Host and Executive Producer of PC Talk-Mac Edition with Rich Levin. He maintains a substantial exhibition and lecture record, and his work can be found in numerous collections, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art; The National Museum of American Art at the Smithsonian Institution; the International Center of Photography in New York; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, France; and the High Museum of Art in Atlanta. Harris is well known as a consultant to institutions and industry who seek his expertise with digital imaging software and hardware, and has travelled to Bulgaria and Poland to participate in photographic festivals, with the support of the U.S. Embassy, sponsored by the Department of State. His first computer was a Sinclair/Timex, that hooked up to your TV antenna. in 2021 he was made a "Sharp NEC Display Solutions | Member of the Color Visionaries Program" #colorvisionaries #sharpness #sharpneccolorvisionaries
Thomas Fogel, Reviewer and Analyst for Mac Edition Radio, has never met a computer, video game, or cell phone that he couldn't analyze! He has extensive experience with PCs and various iterations of Windows, Android, but, as you might have guessed, prefers Macs and is a lifelong Mac user starting with the legendary OS 9 Application for toddlers, KeyWhack! Thomas is a big fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers and has done extensive research into Sabermetrics. When he isn't immersed in reading, he can be found listening to all kinds of music, or playing jazz bass, cello, and percussion at Franklin & Marshall. His first computer was a blisteringly fast PowerMac 7100/80.
Martin Friedman, Education Analyst for Mac Edition Radio, is a passionate advocate of technology in education, accumulating many years experience as a teacher and district administrator in K-12 education through his former role as Assistant Dean for Instructional and Information Technology at Temple University. Martin is currently CEO of ALEMAR Consulting, Inc. an educational technology consulting firm supporting schools and District across our tri-state area. His involvement as President of the PA Association for Educational Communications and Technology (PAECT), Board member and Program Chair of the PA Educational Technology Expo and Conference (PETE&C) provide him opportunity to work with key state leaders in support of his passion. A consummate Mac user, it all started with an Apple II...
Brian Greenstone, Reviewer for Mac Edition Radio, is also President of Pangea Software (www.pangeasoft.net) and has been creating Macintosh games for 15 years. Always interested in 3D visualization technologies, he has worked on Quickdraw 3D at Apple, refined the use of stereo anaglyphs in video games, and worked on panoramic photography technologies including the first OpenGL accelerated Quicktime VR viewer plug-in for web browsers. He currently works out of his home office in Austin, Texas and continues to develop new projects. His first computer was an Apple II+, and everyone knows and loves his creations, beginning with the original Mac game classic Nanosaur, which shipped on the first iMac. One of the first developers to conquer the transition to the iPhone and App Store, he is the role model of the independent developer for the Mac platform.
Gerry Gropp, Photographer and Analyst for Mac Edition Radio, is a freelance editorial and corporate photographer who is based in San Francisco and Texas. Over his twenty year career he has worked for Time, Newsweek, Businessweek, Forbes, Fortune, Atlantic Monthly, Smithsonian, Geo, New York Times Magazine, People, Sports Illustrated, and many other publications. Some examples of his contributions to these publications can be viewed on his website: www.gerrygropp.com in the portrait section. His computing career has veered from a cutting edge Power Computing mac clone, to a G3 iMac, and he swears that one day that he will quit smoking, organize his files, and learn to create his own color profiles.
Bill Kouwenhoven, Technology Analyst and Reporter for Mac Edition Radio, is also the International Editor of HotShoe International, a London-based photography magazine featuring the latest in art photography, documentary photography, and exciting gear picks for photographers. Bill was the editor of the San Franciso based Photo Metro magazine from 1997-2001. He also freelances from his base in Berlin for a variety of photography magazines from Finland, Germany, Great Britain, and the United States. In addition to looking at the latest developments in art and photojournalism, he is interested in the way new technologies enable photographers to express their vision and to communicate it seamlessly and immediately to the world at large. A long-time Dell user—his first desktop, a 386 machine, had only four MBs of RAM and a big wind-up key in the back and was coupled to a HP Deskjet 500, he has worked with many other systems as well as a wide range of Macs. After a terrible run of luck with his latest Dell laptop, he is eagerly looking forward to leaving the dark side for a new MacBook Pro!
Ken Kramar, Technology Analyst and Reporter for Mac Edition Radio, has 20 years of experience in assessing technology for use in creative production environments. As Director of Academic Computing at The University of the Arts, he evaluated and procured hardware & software solutions for arts-based curriculum and managed IT deployment projects. Recently, his focus includes Apple iOS, Android & Linux apps for music, recording, graphics and general productivity, Windows system support and tinkering with a Raspberry Pi. Ken was one of the founders and guitarist for the seminal Philadelphia punk band "Trained Attack Dogs". In his spare time, he keeps a low tech (no diagnostic computer!) classic sport car on the road. His first computer was an Apple IIe.
John Mulhern III, Technology Analyst and Reporter for Mac Edition Radio, is a strong believer in placing appropriate, effective, and personalized technology in the hands of users. John is currently Principal Technology Advisor at the University of Pennsylvania, a role in which he cares about the computing needs, wants, and desires of everyone from incoming freshmen to emeritus faculty members. His first personal computer was a Macintosh SE FDHD.
Benjamin B. Olshin, Ph.D., Technology Analyst for Mac Edition Radio, is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy and History of Science at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, as well as the former Director of the Center for the Creative Economy. A former Fulbright and NEH scholar, he has over a decade of experience in international education, research, and consulting in the U.S., Sri Lanka, England, Portugal, Canada, Brazil, Taiwan, Japan, French Polynesia, Italy, France, Turkey, and Ghana. He is also the founder of S2R ConsultingT (www.s2r.biz), a firm specializing in research and cross-cultural communications, and Asian business practices. Olshin is a very loyal Mac user, especially after he almost lost his entire doctoral thesis in a PC crash. He also believes that even giant corporations can and should be using Macs... but denies having had "geeky beginnings," insisting that he was one of the cool crowd, and didn't even own a computer until 1992! Moreover, he remains a big believer in file cards.
Thomas Porett, Technology Analyst and Reviewer for Mac Edition Radio, is a Professor Emeritus at the University of the Arts, previously he was the Director of Electronic Media at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia.His first computer was an Apple II modified to an Apple II Plus acquired in 1979. His work has been selected for inclusion in the Siggraph Art Shows in 1982, '83, '85, '86, '87, '91, '99 and 2000. His photographic and digital work has appeared in 21 books and numerous exhibitions and received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1972. As befitting a pioneer, his work graces the cover of Frontiers of Photography from the landmark Time Life Library of Photo series, His current studio is equipped with a MacPro, MacBook Pro, MacMini and a G4. His website URL is www.dimagery.com
Frank Schramm, Technology Analyst for Mac Edition Radio, is experienced in analog and digital imaging, with an emphasis on the intersection of technology and professional workflows. He is President of Frank Schramm Photography, founded in 1980, and his photographic and digital work has appeared in numerous exhibitions and books, and is represented in museum, corporate, and private collections in the US and Europe. He has lectured for Hasselblad, received the PDN Personal Project award, and his work has appeared in most leading fashion magazines. His first computer was an Apple PowerBook 100. Yes, it was built by Sony, had an external floppy drive, powered by a somewhat unique lead-acid battery, and he still has it today!
Adam Sohmer, Music Reviewer for Mac Edition Radio, is the president of Sohmer Associates, a marketing and public relations firm that caters to clients in audio technologies, consumer and business-to-business matters at every level. However, his lifelong passion is music, especially the rock, pop, jazz, and rhythm & blues from the early 20th century right through tomorrow. Not surprising, his client base past and present includes some of the most notable names in in audio, including Polk Audio, KICKER, Emotiva Audio, HIFIMAN, and Acoustic Research High Fidelity. As he puts it, “The main reason most of us get into the audio business is so we don’t have to pay retail.” His first foray in music journalism was as a contributing editor to Listener Magazine, followed by similar roles with DVD Angle and Big Picture Big Sound. His first computer was a big, beige 1994-era Compaq that is as much of a dinosaur as it sounds.
Jim Van Metre, Technology Reviewer for Mac Edition Radio, is a multi-disciplined industrial designer (Pratt Institute) and the creative force behind Emergent Studio a boutique design agency at the intersection of design and culture. Jim has worked with major brands, companies and cultural institutions – in areas ranging from consumer packaging, retail environments, furniture, and fixtures to technical exhibits and exhibition spaces. Jim’s first PC was a hand built 386 with 4 mbs of RAM -- with a life extension upgrade of a floating point processor – it allowed for a few additional years of sketchy CAD work using CadPro. Jim’s first MAC was a G3 iMac (1999) and more recently added a MacBook Pro and MacPro. A portfolio of Jim’s work can be found online at Coroflot.com and it’s also available on Krop.com
Equipment Used on Mac Edition Radio: The audio interviews were originally recorded with a Marantz PMD-222 Mono Cassette Recorder, followed by a Marantz PMD660 Compact Flash Recorder. The PMD660 records natively in either AIFF or MP3, and those interviews were recorded in MP3. Currently we are using other (smaller) tools such at the Phillips recorder series. The files were then edited using Felt Tip Software’s wonderful audio utility, Sound Studio, Version 4, and originally saved as MPEG4-AAC Audio. Now, we open the master files, covert to AIFF, and save. All our work from that point on is lossless. We have since switched from the Marantz to Phillips Voice Recorders with an external microphone for a lighter weight solution in the field. The Intro & Outro clips were inserted automatically using Sound Studio’s free Monobot Bookend Audio application. Finally, the resulting files were opened again in Sound Studio, mixed down to mono, EQ'd, normalized, and saved at a bit rate of 160 kbps. Because this was being done on a MacBook Pro or Mac Pro, and the LAME Framework originally wasn't compatible with the Intel chip set, we used Apple iTunes to covert the files to MP3 format at a bit rate of 48 kbps to make the files smaller to save bandwidth and make it easier to download, although a loss of quality occurred in the process.
However in fall 2006, an Intel compatible LAME Framework was released and we can now stay in Sound Studio 4.8.14 for the entire process, which not only simplified the workflow, but also resulted in better sound quality. We are still experimenting with different encoding rates to find the best balance between audio quality and size. We chose MP3 because it is universally used and platform independent, but there are better encoding schemes out there, but they are not in common use. Apple's excellent AAC encoder is mostly supported only via iTunes, making it unsuitable for true cross-platform distribution. Ambient noise reduction has been accomplished with SoundSoap5+ from Soundness Corporation, which is both powerful, yet easy to use, with a high degree of fine-tuning, which is especially important in the sometimes less than ideal environments we record interviews in!
The intro theme was originally created with Apple’s GarageBand 3, which is part of their iLife suite. Earlier cassette recordings were digitized in The University of the Arts, Dubbing Room facility (then ensconced in the then Media Arts Department) as full resolution AIFF files, after which the same Sound Studio workflow was maintained.
All recent photographs taken by Harris were made with the superb Ricoh GR, while earlier images were shot with Olympus E-Series DSLR cameras or Olympus Pen Series Micro Four Thirds cameras, while Gerry Gropp prefers using Canon & Sony NEX series cameras. Kingston memory cards captured most of the images, image files were processed using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, all the way to the current Lightroom Classic, and we use Seagate internal and external drives, and in the past Western Digital and Hitachi external solutions as well. Kingston RAM made sure our computers ran with the least disk swapping possible. The site was originally created utilizing the open source web tool, PostNuke. In 2011 we started the migration to Drupal, and in 2013 launched the Drupal verson of the site. This allowed for a more robust architecture, as well as eliminating any use of Flash, so we were finally fully compatible with the iOS. Over 2015 and into 2016 our version of Drupal was no longer supported, so our Webmaster and Site Wizard Andy Alm migrated the site to the current version of Drupal. 2016 also brings the beginning of our migration to Tech Edition Radio to better reflect our broader interest base. We utilize NEC SpectraView precision color calibrated displays, with calibration provided by NEC SpectraView II software and hardware. And as you might expect, everything was built on a Mac!
FTC 16 CFR Part 255 Guidelines: The products that Mac Edition Radio reviews are sometimes provided by the companies, manufacturers, or their marketing partners or representatives. However, we don’t allow this to influence our opinions.
