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One of These Days
- Neil Young is awesome. From what I've read, he was a bit of a creative sphincter* when he was younger, but apparently at some po...
on podcasts, npr, and gadgets
13 September 2009, 4:54am
i recently bought a completely unnecessary iPod shuffle, a small $70 purchase with 4gb of storage, no buttons, and replacements headphones in case my iPhone headphones break (which is the main reason i bought it. it's $40 for the headphones, $70 for the shuffle, including headphones). i love it. the battery life is significant, it's small enough that i can fit in my breast pocket along with headphones, and i never need to worry about draining my iPhone battery (since my iPhone is much more than just a music player).
additionally, when i was in houston, i listened to a lot of npr while driving, because i didn't have a tape adapter until later in my trip. i listened to some npr in high school, and a bit in college, but mostly only when i didn't have my iPod/minidisc/CDs and was stuck in a car for a while. i was always amazed at how decent radio people could talk continuously without ever talking too much. and they often said some pretty interesting stuff.
meanwhile. iTunes has these things called podcasts. i've never used them before (even went so far as disabling them because i never cared to dedicate much time to even browsing). i subscribed to one or two here or there, but it never worked for me. it took too long to download, and slowed down my network connection when i didn't want it to. (thinking back, i did subscribe to ze frank for a while...)
then a light bulb went on. i've got a media server now. and i've got this great little device that i can plug in whenever i get home, and then take whenever i leave. that way, the podcasts will always be waiting for me, the sync takes a minute or to, then i can listen from this tiny little device that's clipped to my collar.
i'm subscribed right now to four feeds:
- apple keynotes - i always just streamed them. but this is even better, because streaming in china sucks due to govt filters, and now it'll download while i'm doing other stuff
- dilbert animated comics - since i sold my soul to work in an office, this has become way more funny than i previously realized
- npr: all songs considered - this is one of the ones i used to listen to, or even download on occasion. but now it's all done for me!
- npr: story of the day - this is my favorite so far. they're quick (about 5min) stories that are very interesting, and a great start to the day to get your brain moving a bit.
i sync them to my iPhone too so i can watch the dilbert and apple casts on my beautiful 3.5" screen.
i'm very excited about this. and enjoying it a lot so far. any of you subscribe to any podcasts you'd recommend?
update
[21 November 2009, 12:30am]
i'm not sure what changed — perhaps it's because i travel too much — but i haven't exactly listened to a podcast in a while. except maybe the dilbert animated comics, because those are super fast, sometimes funny, and not blocked by the chinese government the same way that the onion is.
comments
Will
[14 September 2009]I occasionally listen to Podcasts. BUT, the thing is, for me, when I have a long period of time where I can listen to something and zone out, I'd rather listen to music. Just personal preference. The Economist's podcast is good, but you already get those RSS feeds I think.
THE Lowly Peon
[17 September 2009]WJerome: I agree about the music zone out thing. I guess NPR is like driving for me — it allows me some level of zone out, but still keeps me a bit focused.
Will
[17 September 2009]Niiiiiiiice.
THE Lowly Peon
[17 September 2009]NPR just released a new iPhone/iTouch app iTunes link, with which you can listen to any radio station from anywhere. haven't had time to check it out uetc but sounds pretty neat (assuming the government here doesn't block it)
Will
[18 September 2009]thelowlypeon: That does sound pretty cool. Too bad I don't like radio that much to begin with. Radiohead, on the other hand...
THE Lowly Peon
[18 September 2009]WJerome: nice.