Ralph Towner April 10, 2008
Posted by alan in : music , comments closedRalph Towner is one of my favorite musicians. This is a tune called Jamaica Stopover.
Local Radio is Dead April 4, 2008
Posted by alan in : tech , comments closedIn the spring of 2005 I started to listen to a few PodCasts on my original iPod. I bought an iPod connection kit so that I could listen to the podcasts during my daily commute. As podcasting became more popular, shows were available on every conceivable topic.
Over time I started spending more and more time listening to podcasts in the car, while turning on the radio less often. After three years of spending less and less time listening to local radio, I now find myself almost never turning it on. Occasionally I’ll turn on the radio to try and get information about a traffic problem on the expressway but I usually give up after ten minutes when I realize that they aren’t going to provide any useful information in a timely manner.
Here are a few of the podcasts that I try to listen to every week:
TWIT: This WEEK in TECH (TWIT) is a Twit.tv creation produced and hosted by Leo Laporte. Each episode features a different group of people offering their views on the tech news of the week. The discussion is usually pretty lively, but the amount of interest you may have in a specific episode can be influenced by the actual tech news they discuss as well as the guests on the show that week. Occasionally they don’t seem to have much to talk about. Listen to a few episodes before deciding whether you like this one or not.
Net@Night: Another TWIT production, Net@Night features Leo Laporte and Amber MacArthur discussing cool websites, and viral videos. This program usually features one guest who discusses their work on creating a new website or technology and how what they do is different or important. The beginning of each show is a review of interesting websites Amber has recently discovered.
Linux Reality: The Linux Reality podcast is produced and hosted by Chess Griffin. His focus for the podcast is helping the new linux user, but the presentation and depth of coverage of the material makes this podcast an interesting series even if you are not a new linux user. Chess is no longer producing new Linux Reality shows, having finished 100 episodes. All of the episodes are still available on the website, and I would highly recommend the series to anyone with an interest in Linux.
Chinese Pod: ChinesePod features several podcasts, each directed to a specific type of student studying Mandarin Chinese: Newbie, Elementary, Intermediate, Upper Intermediate, or Advanced. Each lesson is short and they repeat the phrases many times so that you can actually learn Mandarin by listening to this podcast. Of course, you will need to find someone to practice with but this podcast will get you started in the right direction.
