Favorite Video Podcasts July 11, 2013
Posted by shwaldman in Society, Technology.Tags: Apple Byte, Brian Tong, Engadget, favorite, Joshua Topolsky, Nilay Patel, On The Verge, Patrick Norton, podcast, Prizefight, Robert Heron, Stuff The Don't Want You To Know, TED, Tekzilla, top 5, Veronica Belmont, video
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Video podcasts. It is a tough medium, I think. With audio, you can start with a TV show or you can just talk. But to make a good video podcast, it requires a lot more effort and editing. I think there are probably a lot of good ones out there, but here are a few of my favorites.
The first and most obvious one has to be TED Talks. If you have already seen a few of these talked which I often repost here, you will know why. If you have never seen a TED Talk, you need to climb out from your rock and open your mind to the variety of 18 or less minutes speeches and presentations that are designed to entertain, enlighten and engage. You can find my favorite, reposted talks HERE. (Even though I may repost a higher percentage of them, not all the talks are about politics. They are often the most thought provoking in today’s divided world.)
And on the other end of the spectrum, is a podcast called The Apple Byte with Brian Tong as the host. Primarily focused on the world of Apple products, the show covers what is going on in the consumer technology sector including rumors or even mistakes that Apple is dealing with. It has some good insights and the host is a pretty entertaining character. I also have to give props to Brian’s other show which should on this list too. Prizefight pits two of the top gadgets in different categories and they get reviewed side by side. This a good show to check out if you are looking to buy a new toy.
Tekzilla has gone from a show to a franchise. There are various different shows under the Tekzilla and Revision 3 umbrella, but I seem to be stuck watching the main show. It offers great variety of coverage of news and questions from listeners. It discusses do it yourself projects, reviews and how to make the most of your technology. The three primary hosts include Veronica Belmont, Robert Heron and Patrick Norton. One challenge I have for you if you decide to watch this one is to try not counting the number of times Patrick says, “It is kinda funny (or interesting), right.” Good luck!
Are you a conspiracy theorist? I am not, but I often wonder if we are always getting all the information from our media sources. There is so much out there on the Internet. Many ideas and many crazy people. I don’t have time to research and look into every crazy idea out there, but the Stuff They Don’t Want You to Know is video podcast provides interesting insights and introductions into the conspiracy theories that are out there. They cover things like UFOs, the NSA, and The Free Masons.
And for my last recommendation, I have to give a tie, but not because these two are equally good. It is because they are the same. For anyone that remembers the Seinfeld episode where they were casting the stars for the show they were trying to pilot, you will get this “joke”. Originally, there was a site called Engadget run by three brilliant hip technologists. They had a some disagreements with their new parent company and decided to go out on their own and start a similar site called the Verge. They started their own tech journalism site along with a regular show called On The Verge. Well, The Engadget Show lives on but they had to cast copied, literally copied down the host with the same beard, the same team. The shows seem to be released on the same schedule and often cover similar topics, but in much different ways. Both are good and fun to watch and provide lots of good insight into the technology and gadget world.
Favorite Audio Podcasts July 9, 2013
Posted by shwaldman in Politics, Society, Technology, Work.Tags: audio, favorite, podcast, top 5
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There is so much good content online. You could read, watch and listen to anything and everything at any time. I have a hour long drive to work and from work. Rather than just listen to talking heads or bad radio, I download and listen to content as often as I can. I also listen when I work in the yard or exercise, but I still have growing library of information that seems to multiply everyday on my computer.
Here are a few of my favorites. Like I said, there are many more, so if you have one that I haven’t listed, please let me know.
Lifehacker. They have a great web site and once a week, they release an hour long podcast that covers the latest news, hints and listener questions. If you are looking for a way to improve your life in any way, through technology or not, you definitely need to check out their website and if you like that, these guys are fun to listen to each week. I usually come away with at least two things I want to implement into my life.
PTI (Pardon The Interruption) is an ESPN show with Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser. They are classic sports journalists who can speak to any sport and do. They cover all the latest news and action highlights and bring in often touch on hidden gems. They only down side is that this is an audio recording of a TV show, so they will reference videos or images you can’t see. I wish they would make this a video podcast and it would make my other (next) list.
NPR has some amazing content. I listen to several compilation podcasts that pull in stories of my favorite categories, like Economy, Education and Technology. But my pick for this list is a little known show from an NPR station in Dallas, TX. They run two one hour interviews shows every weekday and each one is usually very interesting. The host, Chris Boyd, is one of the best interviewers, always incredibly prepared and offering thought provoking questions for a great conversation with the interviewer. This show lives up to its name, THINK! I have a couple more blog post coming from recent shows that I listened to – unfortunately, I am about 8 months behind in my listening!
On CNN, Fareed Zakaria has a great global news coverage show called GPS, Global Public Square. It is another show converted to an audio podcast, but I find very little if anything is lost in this change. Fareed is another excellent interviewer and very well informed journalist and he can open eyes to the global situations that affect us all. I highly recommend this one if you are looking for a global perspective and how activities across the world affect Americans.
Daniel Pink is a well-known author of business, management and work environment books. He started with Free Agent Nation in 2001 and his most recent book is called To Sell is Human: The Surprising Truth about Moving Others. But I think he is best known for the best seller Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us from 2009. Pink’s podcast is call Office Hours. It is a casual interview/conversation with other authors and professionals in the field of organizational development and behaviors. While I don’t always agree with the accuracy of this assumptions, it often gives me something to think about how I operate in life and at work.
@jalenrose – The Hoops Podcast to listen to June 4, 2012
Posted by shwaldman in Fitness, Society.Tags: @jalenrose, basketball, David Jacoby, Fab Five, Grantland Network, jacoby_, Jalen Rose, podcast
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I have been meaning to post this entry for some time. A few months ago I saw a bunch of Twitter posts about how great the Grantland Network podcast with Jalen Rose was. Given that I rarely make time to watch a regular season game, I thought it would be good to get a crash course before the playoffs started. I subscribed to the Grantland series in iTunes and with it came a TV series recap called Hollywood Perspectives, a futbol discussion called Men in Blazers, and The Jalen Rose show where he has a one-on-one with David Jacoby about NBA basketball and some other current events.
Even without watching much of the shortened seson, it was not hard to follow the teams, players and goings on of the league. Rose has a great knack for making clear points for the novice weekend warrior and putting it in the basketball language we all understand. It is exchanges like the one I have edited down here make it fun to listen to. He follows up clear and concise analysis with a completely ridiculous and yet nearly sensical statement. Get to 40 seconds in and tell me what you think…
Having been in school at the same time as the Fab Five (’91 to ’95) and being a Michigan fan even prior to that (the 1987 Football National Championship drew me in), I have enjoyed following Jalen’s career. He had a very good athletic career, but I think his broadcasting career is set to be even bigger. I also think it is cool that my wife actually had a couple of classes with Jalen, Chris, Juwan (and possibly Ray and Jimmy, I am not sure).
And while I have mixed feeling about the role charter schools are playing in our educational system, I really appreciate the heartfelt efforts Jalen is making to improve the opportunities for youth in the Detroit area. I wish there was a way for these types of efforts to make differences in the public school system, but I understand the bureaucratic nature of the beast and this is the more straight-forward way for him to contribute and change lives. Jalen, your family should be impressed and proud of the man you have become!
New Favorite Podcast: Fareed Zakaria GPS September 29, 2010
Posted by shwaldman in Politics, Society.Tags: AC 360, CNN, current events, Fareed Zakaria, Global Public Square, GPS, news reporting, podcast
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I know there is no such thing as an unbiased viewpoint. Every person, even the best reporter and journalist brings with them a unique perspective shaped by their experiences. And on television today, individual networks have completely segregated themselves into categories of political and social categories. For me, I find CNN to be the actual “fair and balanced” viewpoint, as opposed to the network that very incorrectly uses that as their slogan.
I have watched the Anderson Cooper 360 podcast for a while now. He does a very good job of covering national issues. I feel like he tries to ask the tough questions and gets to the heart of controversies, running a regular slogan of “Keeping Them Honest.” The network is able to draw on lots of highly qualified contributors from both sides of the spectrum.
Unfortunately, AC 360 is very local and we live in a very global society now. So, in looking for another show to get international current events, I wanted a similar open and honest perspective. And so far, I think I have found it in a show called Fareed Zakaria GPS. GPS stands for Global Public Square (in this case) and I think it reflects the open dialogue that I connect with. Again, CNN is able to access many resources with a diverse background that provides a more honest, clear reporting.
The Fareed Zakaria show only airs once a week (Sundays, I think) and Anderson Cooper’s show is on Monday through Thursday. And while the entire show is not on their podcasts, it does eliminate commercials and I am sure lots of fluff. And of course, I find the convenience of being able to watch the podcast anytime, anywhere on my computer or my ipod. I highly recommend everyone checking these out.
Another Run with @JillianMichaels April 21, 2010
Posted by shwaldman in Fitness.Tags: @JillianMichaels, Cesar Millan, Dog Whisperer, exercising with dog, Goals, Jillian Michaels, low back pain, podcast, Running, sweat in eyes, waist line, will power
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After my run last week, I decided to back off on the running for a few days. My back did not feel great and clicking in the low back seemed to be progressing. I definitely notice it more while laying in bed. So, I have been focusing on core exercises and some light upper body work. Since I feel very weak in these areas and can not get many reps done, this is not a bad idea no matter what.
So today’s run was back to the normal path in the park. I am consistently running this route in about 38 minutes. Hopefully by the end of the summer, I will have magically lowered this time into the 35-36 time range. I am not exactly sure how I am going to pull that off, but we’ll see. Maybe the extra core and upper body strength will give me some advantages.
The second half of today’s run got a little hairy. It was only about 65 degrees, but my sweat combined with itchy allergy eyes and runny nose made it difficult to see and run. I had to stop a few times on the return section. I felt pretty good otherwise, so wish I had a way to keep the sweat out of my eyes. I think I might break out the visor again and see if that works this Spring. I used it last summer and liked it for the most part.
But during today’s podcast, I listened to another Jillian Michaels podcast from her 2008 talk show on WKFI. As usual, she takes calls from people and has a couple of developed segments. Two of her segments struck me as interesting this time. In one, she had a dog trainer on that was there to talk about exercising with dogs. Jillian brought her recent adopted dogs and how well they behaved with their trainer and how poorly they behaved with her. I found it very interesting that she was so unaware of her role in their behavior. Having see her episode on Cesar Millan’s Dog Whisperer, I think she probably has learned her lesson. Even still, as someone who clearly taps into human’s behavior and triggers, it really goes to show how even the best can miss the signals.
The second valuable segment for me was one on will power. She did not really talk about anything new or overly enlightening. But the thing that struck a cord in me was when she said something like “Envision what you want and start making steps toward it.” Ironically, last night I decided what it is I want to accomplish by this summer. As confident I am in my body and proud of my exercise routine, I am inwardly self-conscience of the little inner tube I have running around my waist. Since I starting listening to her podcasts, I feel it is possible for me to rid myself of this extra fat. So, my goal for the end of June (before our family trip) is to lose it. I am not sure if it will mean much weight loss, which I think will make it hard to measure, but mean I will be able to see the difference on my waist line. (My second goal is to continue to lower my Milford 5K time in August. I hope to be under 26 minutes.)
Today’s Run – A New Way with @gdgt April 16, 2010
Posted by shwaldman in Fitness, Technology.Tags: @PeterRojas, @Ryan, @THErealDVORAK, Cell Phone Industry, Dvorak, GDGT, Kin one, Kin two, Microsoft, Netflix, Nike, Peter Rojas, podcast, Running, Ryan Block, Verizon, WebOS, Wii
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This is my ninth posting for the week. Wow! I am closing in on 200 blog posts. If only I was getting that many hits! But it is fun nonetheless and people are definitely finding my writings interesting (I think). Thanks for everyone that keeps coming back and welcome to first timers.
This afternoon’s lunch run was a new route. Instead of heading to the local park, I opted to circle the County Administrative campus. Having run into an employee over there that is a fellow runner, I thought it would be interesting to see what types of options he has available to him. It was also good to get out there exploring and try something new. The run itself was good up until the end. As the graph below shows, I had to stop at the end for a short bathroom break before adding another 1/2 miles. It was good to get over 5 miles again.
During today’s run, I started with Dvorak’s Tech 5 – a five minute daily summary of technology new stories. I think I am pretty over this one. I like his other show with is a weekly round table to discuss the big topics. But in this summary show, he does no research and often provides mis-information. For example, recently he mentioned Netflix coming to Wii as being able to rent games from the movie delivery service. As seen in my last post, this is obviously just plain wrong.
But the majority of the run was with Peter Rojas and Ryan Block at GDGT.com. This is another gadget podcast much like Engadget that covers recent new stories and trends in the world of tech and gadgets. They talked a bit about a new feature on their site that allows for easier cross posting of information to discuss multiple tech toys. It is definitely a required feature for such a complex and robust site like their’s. Their talk also turned to the announcement from Microsoft that they are coming out with branded phones with the Danger (think Sidekick) platform. Of course, this is in addition to the Windows Phone 7 OS that should be out by year end. Add to that the conversation going to Palm’s recent poor financial recents and the rumors that they are looking for a buyer, potentially HTC.
Now, I have noted several time my displeasure with the cell phone industry. During this podcast, I was able to solidify what I want from the market. Now, the Kin products are being marketed to tweens (15-25 yr olds) that want to focus on social networking like Twitter and Facebook, but not apps and productivity tools. These phones are coming to Verizon (my current service company) and clearly these are things that are going have them require data plans, but the question remains if it will require the $10 or the $30 plan.
For me, I still fall into a different category. I love my ipod Touch and have it with me most of the time. It obviously has no phone features (but 100s of thousands of apps available), so I have to carry my basic cell phone. I can access the web through my Touch on wireless or pay the fees to use my cell phone. I rarely have a true NEED to get to the Internet when wireless is not available. So, for me, what I want Verizon to do is stop forcing people onto the data plan when all they want is wireless. My dream is for Apple to come to Verizon this summer with this option… I did say it was a dream!
Rough Friday Run at 75 Degrees April 2, 2010
Posted by shwaldman in Fitness, Society, Technology.Tags: @JillianMichaels, Bigge, Jillian Michaels, Nike, podcast, Running
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As the graph shows, today’s run wasn’t the greatest. But despite pausing for a couple of short walks, I managed my now regular 9:38/mi pace. I did try a couple of surges and today I ran the trail, so the terrain was a little more challenging.
I am up to 63 workouts (though that includes the shortest of walks with the kids and dogs) and 140 miles on my Nike+ since late January. Fifteen more miles and my status turns GREEN online. The more remarkable number coming from the sensor is the calories. By next week, I might break into the 20,000 calories burned level.
Not much to report of the podcast front here. I listened to another @jillianmichaels throwback radio show. She was talking about fitness myths or theories that had changed in recent year. She also mentioned a couple of times how she feels quite conflicted working for NBC on the Biggest Loser because they are forced into promoting products and working with contestants differently that how she would do it normally. And she had several thoughts on boosting your metabolism that she is not allowed to implement during the show tapings. It seems odd that they would not allow the trainers to really present the things that work for them. It goes to show that the show is definitely commercial in a lot of ways.
Running with @JillianMichaels March 31, 2010
Posted by shwaldman in Fitness, Technology.Tags: @JillianMichaels, Basal Metabolic Rate, BMI, BMR, Body Mass Index, calculator, Jillian Michaels, podcast, Running
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Today’s run was okay one. I tried to start off light, but found myself pressing throughout and my time actually slowed a lot more than my perceived effort showed or felt.
Today, I listened to a couple things in my Audio Smart Playlist. But the primary listen was a 2005 weekend show from @JillianMichaels. She used to have a WKFI radio show on Sunday mornings. This is a California based station, but the podcasts were stored off and are currently still downloadable through podcasts… iTunes lists it as “Jillian Michaels Podcast”, but more recent episodes are from her “biggest fan.”
The older shows are pretty interesting though. She goes through lots of fitness, workout and nutrition issues and takes calls from people with good and transferable questions. As someone who is looking to get fit, but not necessarily lose weight, I am starting to realize I need to do a better job to monitoring my caloric intake. I may burn 500-600 calories on a run, but how much do I eat?
Last night, I actually looked up my BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) at this site. I had been reluctant to do so because I do not like the BMI (Body Mass Index) standard and thought this would be similar. And probably, it really is… these standards do not take a lot of factors into account. My BMI is 24 which is on the high side of normal, but I am really at my ideal weight by many standards.
So, in looking up my BMR, I need to figure out how accurate this system is. @JillianMichaels repeated refers people to look up their info, so at least she considers this a good baseline. But since I have no idea how many calories I eat, I can not say yet. But the BMR calculator says my baseline is 1862.78. I will report back once I have a better sense the true calories, I am taking in.
Friday Run… Cold! March 26, 2010
Posted by shwaldman in Fitness, Technology.Tags: Apple, Cell Phone Industry, Engadget, iPod Touch, iTunes, Microsoft, Palm, podcast, Running, WebOS, Windows Mobile Phone Series 7
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I generated enough will power to head out into the cold today. It is about 40 degrees, which is still my lower limit on going out in shorts. It felt cold for a few minutes, but after a while only my hands and thigh stayed cold throughout. It was a bit windy, so that did not help.
But I decided that I will try to write one blog for each run to cover the music, podcast or TV show that I listen to during the run. Here is my Nike+ update from Twitter about today’s run: ran 4.57 mi on 3/26/2010 at 12:16 PM with a pace of 9’30″/mi
It was a good run. I tried to keep it light and not push too hard, but my heart rate monitor did not work right for the first half. It slide down to my stomach and registered up to 210 BPM. After I got it situated, I managed to keep it under 160 for the remainder of the run. Assuming that is right, it is about 10 points lower than normal.
On today’s podcast, I listened to Engadget’s audio podcast #188. I am actually three episodes behind, but listened to this thanks to the outstanding buggy ipod Touch/iTunes software. Unfortunately, you can not control the sort order on Smart Playlists. I have four special playlists that allow me to only sync the podcasts that I have not listened to yet. That is a nice feature, but I would like to listen to them in chronological order… thanks Apple!
Anyway, the podcast is over an hour long and I only ran for 43 minutes. In the parts I listened to, they talked about Windows Mobile Phone Series 7 operating system… nice name Microsoft. It sounds like it is going to be a Vista like improvement over the prior version. They have built it from scratch, so rather than just make version 6.5 better, they started over and left some key and touted functionality out, like cut and paste… really? Did you learn from Apple?
By the time I finished the run, the guys had moved onto Palm’s current financial status, which does not sound good. They have been getting tremendous reviews on the Pre Plus, so it is a shame. This really just goes to show that the cell phone market has gotten way to fragmented. Let’s take a look just at the number of operating systems: Palm WebOS, Google Android, Microsoft Windows Mobile Phone Series 7, Nokia Symbian, RIM Blackberry, and of course Apple iPhone… that is big list. Now, add to that the diverse set of phones from each carrier and phone manufacturers. It is too complex. I think the cell market is at a tipping point.
As they tout the roll out of 4th Generation cellular networks, it will add even more confusion. And the problem I have most with the cell services and manufacturers is they are ignoring the feature phone market. While they have added 5MP cameras on the expensive smartphones, they refused to move away from VGA and 1.3MP cameras on the feature phones. A year from now, they will still be at the same feature set and ultimately force people move up to the more expensive phones and services… that, to me, is unfair business practices.
Historical Questioning of Text July 11, 2009
Posted by shwaldman in Society.Tags: History, KERA, podcast, Religion, Think
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I was listening to a podcast of radio talk show in Texas, called Think on KERA the other day. They were discussing a book written about the books of the Bible by a university history professor. And I will admit that I know quite little about the Bible. However, I know enough about the Christian religion that it is supposed to teach openness and forgiveness. The author was discussing the different books of the Bible have discrepancies that can not be explained.
What I found interesting (at least enough to blog about)…. was how someone called in and made very disparaging comments about the author and his findings. She even went as far as saying she would not listen to this radio show any longer. Her tone was obviously one of anger and almost fear – the host, author and other callers were all clearly taken aback by this woman’s reaction.
My interest in this interaction took two directions… 1) was in the findings of the book and 2) was the reaction of the caller. Even I know, that the Bible is made of my several books, written by different people. These people all had different viewpoints and recollections. Much like the childhood game, Grapevine, where a message or story is passed down the line and everyone waits to hear what the differences are between what the first person said and what the last person heard. To me, these types of things are not at all surprising and after 2000 years, one would think most people would recognize these problems without surprise.
But the real concerning interest that I had in this call was the true energy and what I think was fear this caller was expressing. It really troubles me that a belief system that is supposed to give someone faith and enlightenment could cause such a reaction at the acknowledgement of discrepancies. I would not at all classify this person as a religious fanatist, but it looks like this is what religion is becoming. Everyone is right and everyone else is wrong. I hope that people start to understand what religion or any spiritual beliefs truly are… a person method to guide and lift the individuals through their personal life… no one is right or wrong when it comes to spirituality.
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