Category: audiocasts

NOW … Boing Boing TV

On By Rick McIn audiocasts, blogs, geek babes, product endorsements, videocastsLeave a comment

Boing Boing is perhaps the world’s most popular blog, winning the Bloggies in 2004 and 2005. It features Mark Frauenfelder, Cory Doctorow, David Pescovitz and Xeni Jardin.

Boing Boing Boing is their fabulous, but infrequent, audiocast.

NOW … Boing Boing TV.

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screenshot of a most intriguing woman

WOW! Their internet TV show is just as weirdly fascinating.

You have to watch this, their first episode: Visions of the Future/Listography – Boing Boing TV

Boing Boing – blog

Boing Boing Boing – audiocast

Boing Boing TV

Amazon takes aim at iTunes

On By Rick McIn Apple, audiocasts, music, product endorsementsLeave a comment

Apple is well known for disregarding the competition.

But when an 800lb gorilla like Amazon walks in the room, even Steve Jobs takes notice. Amazon.com is now the new go-to music store. (Unless they don’t have the track you want, of course.)

iTunes will have to respond.

Remember when Amazon.com was just a bookstore? On Tuesday morning, the online retailer launched the public beta of its much-anticipated rival to Apple’s iTunes Store: Amazon MP3, which features over 2 million songs free of digital rights management copy protection, which means they’ll play on any computer, music player, or music-enabled cell phone. …

Each song is encoded at 256kbps, the file quality that Apple offers for its DRM-free iTunes Plus premium music selections, which it sells for $1.29 apiece rather than its usual 99 cents. Amazon’s pricing for Amazon MP3 ranges from 89 cents (including the top 100 best-selling songs) to 99 cents; albums are priced from $5.99 to $9.99.

It goes without saying that Amazon is aiming squarely at Apple, and it’s attempting to hit the digital music monopoly where it hurts–with regard to pricing, file quality, and versatility, all of which have come under scrutiny by critics. But this could also be a painful blow for eMusic, the online music store that has made a small name for itself by selling exclusively DRM-free music.

Amazon launches beta version of DRM-free music store | Webware : Cool Web apps for everyone

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AmazonMP3 beta

I expect Audible.com is scrambling too. Everyone knows what Amazon did to competing book stores.

satellite radio is AWESOME

On By Rick McIn audiocasts, economics, music, product endorsementsLeave a comment

I’ve yet to meet anyone who tried satellite radio who later canceled the service.

I’m listening to SIRIUS RADIO right now.

The Coffee House station (Acoustic rock, singer-songwriter, a favourite of Dave and Lisa Adlard) is terrific. It’s only one of 69 streams of music and 65 streams of sports, news and entertainment.

Fantastic.

Perhaps commercial-free is the way to go for the internet too. Simply PAY for what you want to see.

Most of the channels are also available to subscribers via internet, as well.

Cost about $13 / month.

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SIRIUS radio Canada

Molly Wood is a dit – Buzz Out Loud

On By Rick McIn audiocasts, product complaintsLeave a comment

My favourite audiocast these days has been Buzz Out Loud replacing TWIT which I had to drop due to a self-declared boycott of regular John C Dvorak.

Buzz Out Loud is a daily podcast about tech related subjects …

… the show stars CNET editors Tom Merritt, “the segue king,” Molly Wood, “queen of the rant,” and up until July 20th, 2007, Veronica Belmont, “the serious-comic relief.”, who left CNET to work at Mahalo …

As early as 30 March 2005 during the “pre debut” phase of the podcast, Molly and Tom discussed subjects that have grown into mainstay themes throughout the life of the podcast: patent infringement lawsuits, the Apple iPod, and DRM.

Buzz Out Loud – Wikipedia

molly_wood.jpgSadly, I may next need to cancel my subscription to Buzz Out Loud because Molly Wood is so bad. Why does anyone take this arrogant, unprepared, over-the-top tech pundit seriously?

Molly Wood should be fired.

Otherwise I need to flee as did Veronica.

Fossil Fuels: Friend or Foe?

On By Rick McIn audiocasts, booksLeave a comment

I’ve not particularly speculated on the Mad Max future of the Earth as we run out of fossil fuels.

We can assume that new technology will come on-line as the price of energy rises.

But recently I heard an audiocast of a lecture for the excellent CBC Ideas radio program. The speaker has the most believable, coherent vision I’ve heard as yet:

Mark Jaccard is a professor of environmental management at Simon Fraser University and an internationally acclaimed energy economist and consultant.

In this lecture he challenges the assumption that fossil fuels will be the death of us and posits that they may offer the most sustainable future for the planet.

Fossil Fuels: Friend or Foe? – listen to the audiocast

It’s a LONG lecture.

If you don’t have time to listen to the whole thing, Jaccard concludes that the Earth has at least 200yrs of reasonably priced energy left. That’s counting only existing reserves and technologies.

No worries. Right?

Actually Jaccard feels humankind has plenty of potential to destroy our planet and environment. But that fossil fuels will not be the mechanism.

The Unusual Suspect in the Quest for Clean and Enduring Energy
Donner Prize in writing Canadian Public Policy

Sustainable Fossil Fuels: The Unusual Suspect in the Quest for Clean and Enduring Energy

Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11

On By Rick McIn audiocasts, books, governmentLeave a comment

GREAT podcast. I listened to it several times:

Lawrence Wright spent five years researching the history of the events leading to the destruction of the World Trade Center Towers in New York City.

His book about the subject, The Looming Tower won the 2007 Lionel Gelber Prize, and the 2007 Pulitzer Prize. In this public lecture, Wright analyses the forces that created Al-Qaeda, and adds to our understanding of what we must do to fight them.

Download File – 24.3 MB or Listen To This Podcast – CBC’s The Best of Ideas Podcast

Or if you have time and money to spare, get the book:

Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11

The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11

Imus, Limbaugh, Hannity – which to push first?

On By Rick McIn Apple, audiocasts, government, product complaintsLeave a comment

In Canada I never hear a thing from American right wing politically oriented talk radio personalities.

But driving a rent-a-car in the States, they are unavoidable.

Pandering to racism, misogyny, and homophobia is profitable in the USA.

Seems to me these rogue commentators, getting away with things not allowed on TV, will say whatever brings in the ratings. Talk radio is all about the money.

Don Imus I did not know until his recent and ridiculous scandalous dismissal. (He’ll be back bigger than ever, no doubt. Perhaps on satellite.)

Sounds like Imus was probably best of breed of rabid radio shock jocks. He garnered some praise from some pretty credible people.

Rush Limbaugh, of course, the Big Fat Idiot, has some folksy charm. I’ve never heard him less intelligible on this last trip. Is Rush “losing it”?

I had never actually heard Sean Hannity. I knew he was widely ridiculed by Jon Stewart and others.

Then I happened to see him debate the Mayor of Salt Lake City on TV. Hannity came off second best. Unprepared, disorganized and … as a good looking idiot.

Bill O’Reilly I have to spare because he inspires Stephen Colbert’s great comedy.

com.jpgThe first one I’d push off a cliff is still … Dr. Laura.

She’s a dangerous hypocrite.

Image from Dr. Laura Naked.

John Dvorak is dead to me

On By Rick McIn audiocasts, dead to me, internet, product complaints, videocastsLeave a comment

I’ve known for a long time now that tech reporter John Dvorak is a sloppy, irresponsible yellow journalist.

Time to cut him loose. Let him sink to the bottom of the dead pool.

I’ve cancelled my RSS subscription to his blog and videocast. And will plug my ears when he happens to appear on other audiocasts.

His buffoonery is getting old.

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Dvorak is known throughout the tech community as being a Troll_(Internet). His theories are far fetched and is almost invariably wrong at most of the conclusions that he draws.

Wikipedia

definition of “Troll”:

… someone who intentionally posts derogatory or otherwise inflammatory messages about sensitive topics in an established online community such as an online discussion forum to bait users into responding.

Wikipedia

Chris Bosh – blogger, podcaster, geek

On By Rick McIn audiocasts, blogs, sport - proLeave a comment

Since the NHL is dead to me … (I believe the playoffs have been cancelled) … I can turn my attention to NBA.

I like everything about this guy, the star of the NBA Raptors out of Toronto.

He’s the featured blogger on NBA.com right now:

I know that I seem like a quiet guy to a lot of people, but I’m actually not. I like to talk and I’ve been told I’m funny. That actually surprises people because I come off as a shy person most of the time.

I love basketball, but when I’m not playing I like to chill at home a lot too. I have every gaming system out right now, but my favorite is the XBOX 360. If I’m not doing that I’m on my computer. I’m kind of a computer geek. I’m always surfing the internet, reading, or downloading stuff. I’m also working on my website, http://www.chris-bosh.com, all the time. Me and my friend are revamping the whole thing.

I’m going to have a lot of cool stuff to check out. It’s a chance for people to see what I’m like of the court. I have a Podcast called Max ‘n’ out too! Me and a radio personality named Devo Brown are on it just talking about current events, entertainment, movies, etc.

Blog: Chris Bosh

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Chris-Bosh.com

audiocast – assessing BIG MEDIA

On By Rick McIn audiocasts, product endorsementsLeave a comment

If like most people you never download and listen to audio podcasts, On The Media, heard on NPR radio, might just be the one to try.

Or you can listen to it on your computer right now. Click PLAY below. It takes some time to buffer even with a high speed connection. (Far better is to subscribe by some service like iTunes.)

It’s amazing how poorly the traditional media does at getting the right stories right.

This is my favourite podcast right now.

On The Media: This Week