Tuesday, July 19, 2005

iPodcast

Can I tell you how much I love Podcasts? They make my everyday existence so much nicer. I spend 8 hours a day in a cubicle, mouse clicking away, headphones blaring some kind of audio distraction. Sometimes it’s books-on-tape, sometimes NPR, sometimes SomaFM, and sometimes MP3s. I’m always looking for some kind of new audio distraction to make the day less monotonous. Sure the design process itself is intriguing, but when you work on books, some pages are a lot less thrilling than others.

Enter podcasts. Apple recently released iTunes 4.9 which has podcasting built in. Now it’s really easy to subscribe and listen to all kinds of interesting shows. For a phenomenon that started just last year, it’s amazing the diversity of what’s out there. I’ve decided to list a few of my favorite shows for y’all. Even if you’re stuck with an IBM PC, you can still use iTunes (or a straight RSS feed) and enjoy this stuff.

Cinecast - Movie reviews and such. Updated weekly.

Tips from the Top Floor - Helpful advice on digital photography. It’s not all techie, so it’s easy to understand. Produced three times a week by some German guy.

Earthcore - a Podcast-only novel, read by the author. It took me a while to get past the author’s annoying character voices. His women just sound creepy. Plus, he tries a bit too hard to sound badass. But the story seems interesting enough, Crichton-esqe with a sci-fi theme. New chapters come out weekly.

EDIT: I just finished this one. DON'T BOTHER with it unless you like pointless horror novels. Bad writing, bad plot. Don't waste your time.

Engadget - Weekly news and discussion about technology and new products. I find it entertaining. It speaks to the nerd in me.

MacCast - Like engadget but focuses solely on Mac-related stuff.

Science@Nasa - all kinds of space-related news and stories. Interesting stuff. The male host’s voice can be a bit distracting, however.

Accident Hash - great mix of “pod-safe” music (not owned by a record label). Some real gems in there. Updated frequently.

And for a good directory of podcasts: Podcast Alley

7 comments:

grace said...

everyone seems to just love podcast, but... i haven't gotten around to loving it yet.

maybe i'll check your list of faves out...

kris said...

This isn't a comment on this post, but another comment for your last one. I wanted to come back to say that I have read many, many, many posts this week, and your last one was the best written of the bunch. Great stuff. Just wanted to pass that along.

Heard it was 100 degrees today somewhere out West. Hope it gets better!

Cece Martinez said...

Jeremy you are so hi-tech.
That does sound cool.

Anonymous said...

What Cece is SAYING is that you're "hi-tech" but what she MEANS...is you're a nerd. Its ok man...I am too. Wanna hug?

I was kidding...now back away slowly.

NARDAC said...

I think I listed this as a response to your comment, but just wanted to tell you to check out Simulacrum, on Pod Alley. It's a blast... the Robert Mugabe one is really tops.

Either than that, I have to admit, I listen to hillbilly podcasts, every now and then, just to hear the lingo. It makes me giggle... almost like the american version of danish, a language that never stops making me laugh.

Jer said...

Grace: Do a little experimentin' -- you might like it.

Kris: Well thanks. It's still over 100 here -- but I got my evaporative cooler fixed. Life is glorious.

Cece: podcasting really ain't that high-tech. If you can blog, you can subscribe to a podcast.

Monster: Damn, cause you know I really wanted that hug.

Nardac: Will do. In fact, I'll go there right now. Right this very second. Don't wait up for me.

Katie said...

hoo hoo - little did i know that my curiousity with your profile would pay off so handily! Just this very day I updated my iTunes and saw the Podcast option show up on my Pod. Now I know what to do with it!