Posts Tagged ‘Andy Ihnatko’
March 15, 2009
I happened to find myself in a Whole Foods store a week ago and noticed the wide coffee selection. Not being able to help myself, I picked up some single-source beans from Ecuador. For much of the week, I have been drinking it, mostly as espresso, alternating with the pricier Kenyan beans from an indie shop that I wrote about last week as part ofmy ongoing coffee quest.
This has kept me alert through a few hours of an extracurricular project, listening to the audiobook version of “Shantaram,” by David Gregory McDonald, a potboiler set in India. (It was a MacBreak Weekly pick from Andy Ihnatko). Listening to fiction is harder work than nonfiction, and this book, though entertaining and well-narrated in many accents by the award-winning Humphrey Bower, stretches to 43 hours and 3 minutes (I’m in the third hour). Coffee is needed to get through it.
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Tags: America's Top Model, Andy Ihnatko, audiobooks, Battlestar Galactica, Big Love, Coffee!, comics, David Gregory McDonald, Ecuador, Espindola, espresso, graphic novels, HBO, Jim Cramer, Jon Stewart, MacBreak Weekly, NYC, organic, podcasts, Shantaram, The Daily Show, Tyra Banks, Watchmen, Whole Foods Market, Will Ferrell
January 26, 2009
This week’s installment is the Podcast Zeitgeist of second chances, and probably the last such post for a good long while. I’ll continue to listen to a few favorites, but a hiatus is in order. This started as an effort to make some notes about what worked for me as a listener. But it became an exhausting and time-consuming exercise, particularly since I sampled many more hours than I ever wrote about. It was cutting into my Twittering time. At some point I may summarize what I have learned, or not.[See all lists.]
Cranky Geeks 150: Big Wig Bailouts As tech podcasts go, this is one of the best, hosted by John C. Dvorak, with Sebastian Rupley of PC Magazine, Chris DiBonaof Google and Jason Cross of Extreme.com. Topics: Steve Jobs, Bernie Madoff, the fake Belkin reviews scam, disruptive technology like location apps and more. Dvorak keeps it moving. Good stuff. Running time: 31:40 minutes including several ads. Released: Jan. 21.
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Tags: 40-Year-Old Boy, Alex Lindsay, Andrew Horowitz, Andy Ihnatko, Apple, Blogs, computers, Cranky Geeks, Daisy Whitney, Dr. Kiki, economy, Geek Loves Nerd, geeks, idiotboxradio, investing, iPhone Apps, iPhones, iPods, iTunes, John C. Dvorak, Jonathan Larroquette, Leo Laporte, Lisa Bettany, MacBreak Weekly, Monty Python, NYC, Pixelcorps, Podcast Zeitgeist, podcasts, recession, Scott Bourne, Seth Romatelli, Steve Jobs, Super Bowl, technology, TiVo, Twitter, Uhh Yeah Dude, Vomitus Prime, YouTube
January 19, 2009
Welcome to the Podcast Zeitgeist list: presented in apparently random order, at inconsistent intervals, its purpose obscure, its usefulness in doubt, its taste questionable, its methods and motives suspect. [See all lists.]
This Week in Tech 177: There’s a Little Shatner in All of Us and 178: Call of Doody. I’m catching up here with two episodes. A special guest on the first of these was Star Trek’s Geordi LaForge (Levar Burton). Burton held his own as a geek on a panel with Leo Laporte, John C. Dvorak, Ryan Block, and Lisa Bettany. A lot of talk about TVs. (Block: “Plasma TVs are on the way out.”) Reviews of the “disappointing” MacWorld Expo and the Consumer Electronics Show. Whether the Palm Pre phone can save Palm (Dvorak: “They’re done.”) They end with the prospects for another Star Trek movie and a discussion of Geordi’s visor. The latest episode, recorded Sunday night, devotes 20 minutes to the news that Steve Jobs is taking a temporary leave from Apple for health reasons, with a focus on news coverage, from Ron Goldman of CNBC to this profanity-laden Gizmodo post. Dvorak predicts that Apple will go into decline in two years. This is followed bya discussion of the Downadup/Conficker worm that infected 9 million Windows computers in four days (download the security updates, people). Laporte is wiggy on this episode (“Conficker? I hardly knew her!”), perhaps because he and panelist Tom Merritt attended a concert the night before by the geek troubadour Jonathan Coulton and the improv duo Paul & Storm. (The “doody” in the podcast title refers to panelist Patrick Norton, who has to change his son’s diaper during the show and never returns.) The liquidation of Circuit City. A discussion of digital TV up-converters (Dvorak recommends a model.) Laporte recommends an audiobook: “Predictably Irrational.” United Kingdom porn filters are blocking Wikipedia and the Wayback Machine. Are Are Google layoffs and the killing of <a href="“>features like Jaiku and Dodgeball a sign of a market bottom? The episode ends with a clip of Coulton’s “Mandelbrot Set.” Running times: Both 1 hour 20 minutes, give or take a minute. Released: Jan. 11 and 18.
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Tags: 40-Year-Old Boy, Alex Lindsay, Andy Ihnatko, Apple, Blogs, Christian Comedy Podcast, computers, Dinner Party Download, Facebook, Futile Podcast, Geek Loves Nerd, iPhone Apps, iPhones, iPods, Jonathan Larroquette, Lamont Mozier, Leo Laporte, MacBreak, macs, MacWorld, Mike Schmidt, movies, netbooks, Podcast Zeitgeist, podcasts, Seth Romatelli, technology, This Week in Tech, Twitter, Uhh Yeah Dude, Weekly
January 1, 2009
There has been a lot of chatter about the podcasting business model, and whether it has been a failure. That talk intensified when a major commercial podcaster, Podango, warned recently that its death seemed to be near. None of this is of concern to me: I leave business models to the money people. My interest is content.
I had more free time than usual this week, so the list is longer than usual (in the order I listened). [See all lists.]
Grammar Girl 149: Top Five Pet Peeves of 2008 Grammar Girl (Mignon Fogarty) has a business model, or, at least, some regular advertisers and a dedicated audience of grammar enforcers. The top peeves suggested by her listeners: carelessness with language, misuse of “myself,” overuse of the word “tapped,” the phrase “baby bump,” and the use of “slay” as a noun, particularly in New York Daily News headlines. It’s an idiosyncratic list, to be sure, but all these targets are worthy of scorn. (I also listened to the slightly less interesting Episode 150, about podcasting a book. I doubt I would ever listen to a book in serialized podcast form.) Length: 8:33 minutes. Released: Dec. 19.
Make-It-Green Girl 34: The Story of Stuff A sister podcast to the one from Grammar Girl, with the same “quick and dirty” preaching to the converted. Anna Elzeftaway suggests you stop buying so much stuff and suggests holiday gifts that require no products, packaging or other waste. “Make it special without making a footprint.” The smug message grates a bit. Length: 5:06 minutes. Released: Dec. 24.
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Tags: 2012 Mayan Prophecy, ads, advertising, Alex Lindsay, Andy Ihnatko, Apple, Barista Exchange, Buddhism, business models, cellphones, Christianity, coffee podcasts, Coffee!, Coffeegeek, Doc Ellis, espresso, Futile Podcast, grammar, Grammar Girl, hip-hop, iFart Mobile, iPhone Apps, iPhones, Jonathan Larroquette, Jorianne the Coffee Psychic, Jun Po, Leo Laporte, Lethal Weapon, MacBreak Weekly, macs, Make-It-Green Girl, Mel Gibson, movies, Oprah, PETA, Podcast Zeitgeist, podcasting, podcasts, psychics, Rinzai Zen, seatbelts, Seth Romatelli, This Week in Tech, Twit.tv, Uhh Yeah Dude, Wall-E, WFMU
November 28, 2008
Here’s my weekly roundup of podcasts from selected geeks, nerds, kooks, freaks, comedians, self-styled tech gurus and other denizens of the audio Web, in the order I listened this week:
- “Extra Life Radio, #202, #203, and #204” “Geek tested, nerd approved!” A likable group of geeks and nerds, Scott Johnson and his friends are Web comics artists who talk about films, TV, gaming and comics, among other topics of a certain type. The first episode (“Vacillating Two Oh Two”) encapsulated what I value in a podcast — a deep and serious discussion that makes me care about a niche interest, in this case, Web comics. The next episode (#203 “Spinimal!”) was a wide-ranging discussion of movies. The Thanksgiving episode (#204, “Choot the Turkey”) was the least compelling, more movie talk and a long, easily skipped conversation about soccer parents (they often take a good 15 to 20 minutes to warm up). This podcast was the winner in the general category of the mostly meaningless 2008 Podcast Awards, sponsored by the marketing company Podcast Connect Inc. The contest bases the awards on how many fans repeatedly click on an unscientific online survey, as Mr. Johnson, to his credit, notes. He and his co-hosts also won for a “World of Warcraft” gaming podcast, The Instance. Length: Ranging from 1 hour, 7 minutes to 1 hour, 32 minutes. Released: Nov. 12, Nov. 17 and Nov. 25.
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Tags: Alex Albrecht, Andy Ihnatko, Brian Stelter, brocabulary, Daisy Whitney, Diggnation, Extra Life Radio, I Want Sandy, iPhone Apps, iTunes, Jonathan Larroquette, Leo Laporte, MacBreak Weekly, macs, misogynists, movies, Podcast Awards, Podcast Zeitgeist, Seth Romatelli, Stikkit, The Bugle, This Week in Media, This Week in Tech, Uhh Yeah Dude, Uli's Talking Moose, Vomitus Prime, Web comics, You Look Nice Today
November 13, 2008
What I got out of this week’s podcasts for nerds and geeks:
“TWIT 168: Dirty Pedro” This week’s episode proved useful for getting to sleep on Tuesday evening. Otherwise, I might be asking, how do I get this 1:34 hours of my life back? The signal to noise ratio is quite low, despite heroic efforts by John C. Dvorak to keep the discussion focused on technology. The Audible.com ad was mercifully short. Topics: Google/Yahoo, Obama’s technology and FCC policy, cameras, keyboards, an argument for aggressive comment moderation on blogs. Released: Nov. 9. Length: 1 hour, 34 minutes
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Tags: Adam Christianson, Andy Ihnatko, Apple, Dan Savage, Five Tacos and a Taco, Found magazine, geeks, iPhone Apps, iPods, Jesse Thorn, John Gruber, John Hodgman, Jonathan Coulton, Jonathan Larroquette, Leo Laporte, MacBreak Weekly, Maccast, macs, Merlin Mann, nerds, Podcast Zeitgeist, Seth Romatelli, Sound of Young America, This Week in Tech, Totally Rad Show, Twit.tv, Uhh Yeah Dude, You Look Nice Today
I happened to find myself in a Whole Foods store a week ago and noticed the wide coffee selection. Not being able to help myself, I picked up some single-source beans from Ecuador. For much of the week, I have been drinking it, mostly as espresso, alternating with the pricier Kenyan beans from an indie shop that I wrote about last week as part ofmy ongoing coffee quest.
