Posts Tagged ‘Daisy Whitney’

Podcast Zeitgeist, Jan. 26

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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    Podcast Zeitgeist, Jan. 10

    January 10, 2009

    The list this week is tech-heavy and later than usual, mainly because of the “last” MacWorld Expo. {See all lists].

    • MacBreak Weekly 122: Macworld Expo Live from the floor at Macworld Expo in San Francisco. Leo Laporte gathered some of his stalwarts, following the last Apple keynote (the company is pulling out of the convention, a fact that seemed to hang over this event with sadness). The discussion focuses on the high points of the keynote presentation from Phil Schiller of Apple: improvements to iMovie editing; new iPhoto features like facial recognition, geo-tagging, and integration with Flickr; the new 17-inch MacBook Pro; and the end of DRM on iTunes. General agreement that Schiller is no Steve Jobs when it comes to giving a speech. Many of the panelists are camera geeks who don’t use iPhoto, so they are hoping that some of the features will be ported to Aperture, Apple’s high-end photo software. No real picks, though Boxee was plugged; some good show notes are here. I also watched a short 5-minute MacBreak video podcast featuring Merlin Mann pestering people on the convention floor. It was amusing with low information content. Length: 1 hour 9 minutes. Released: Jan. 6.
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    Podcast Zeitgeist, Dec. 19

    December 19, 2008

    Here are more quick takes on podcasts that caught my attention this week, in the order I listened. [See previous lists.]

    • Night of the Living Podcast 122. A cast of men and women discuss all things horror around a table in Cinncinnati. Not that you would know that is their focus for the first 15 minutes or so of the episodes I’ve heard. They tend to open with off-color, off-topic discussions. For example, this week featured recordings of farts, birthday messages to people you probably don’t know and Andy Rooney impressions. Fifteen minutes in, the horror discussion started, with news about VH1′s “Scream Queens” reality show, a riff on surviving zombie attacks, an extended negative review for the straight to video flick “Primal,” about a killer sasquatch, then some reader voicemails. They crack themselves up a lot, and I’m sure someone finds it fascinating, but I’m not enough of a horror fan to stick with it. Length: 1 hour, 52 minutes. Released: Dec. 14.
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    Podcast Zeitgeist, Dec. 5

    December 5, 2008

    There are 8 million podcasts on the naked Web. Each week, I listen to 10 or more of them and write some reviews. Here’s the latest survey of independent audio featuring assorted nerds, geeks, freaks, mystics, fans and experts talking about the things they love. In the order I listened this week:

  • TWIT 171: Chocolate Sox” Not a great week for news and information about tech. Leo Laporte makes good on his threat that his This Week in Tech podcast is “unscripted, unplanned and sometimes completely off the hook.” He is joined by John C. Dvorak, Andrew Horowitz and Sarah Lane. They discuss Beaujolais Nouveau, insult Adam Curry, taste chocolate, reminisce about Tech TV, brag about how many Twitter followers they have, complain about AT&T customer service, plug a useful Web site (Gethuman.com), discuss the financial crisis, demonstrate an ignorance of journalistic practice and browse a few tech headlines. It’s entertaining, if not enlightening. Length: 1 hour, 42 minutes. Release date: Nov. 30.
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    Podcast Zeitgeist, Nov. 28

    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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