The EarthCore Audiobook / Podcast was awesome!

Note: I moved most of this post over to my new blog, and you can find the migrated post here. What is listed below is part of a conversation with Scott that I didn't include when I migrated the post. I didn't want the comments hanging out there, and you wondering why all that was said. Anyway, come on over to my new blog.

Hey Scott, what a great story! Like I said, I can't wait for the Sequel. Thanks!

I do have one question though, everyone who has a military background served in the Marine Corps. Is there some personal tie-in there? I'm a Jarhead, so I was curious.

I caught that you kept referring to them as soldiers, even though it should have been Marines. I figured it was because they were all in civilian employment now. Next time though, since they have Marine backgrounds, you can also refer to them as Leathernecks, Jarheads or Devil Dogs. They can run around shouting Ooh-Rah!, and referring to things by their naval terms, like bulkhead, deck and scuttlebut.

Just a suggestion.

Free Audio Books

This post was migrated to my new blog, Port 16. You can find it here.

Mike has finally bought an IPod!?!?

I just purchased an iPod, which is really amazing for me, because I don't get to buy gadgets, mostly because I'm cheap, but I finally broke down and bought a refurbished Nano.

It is really nice to add some really enjoyable content to the parts of my life where it fits. Ever since I ran across the TWIT Netcast network, I started really getting into some of the excellent Podcasts or Netcasts that are out there.

I had tried to listen to podcasts at work, but to be perfectly honest, I can't sacrifice that much of my brain's CPU cycles to actually paying attention to the podcast. After all, I want to really listen to the podcast, not just have it as background noise, and since I am at work, I am really trying to cram as much "work" into my time as I can, so I am already doing several things at the same time.

So Podcasts just don't fit well into my time at work, but I will tell you where they do fit, they fit very nicely in the 40 minutes to an hour each day that I spend driving back and forth to work, or the time I spend cleaning the house and yard. I mean come on, how much brain power do you need to pick up dog turds (in the yard, not the house).

So far the battery life is pretty darn good, it lasts me several days but of course I am not listening to it non stop. I was also surprised that the Nano supports a calendar, contacts, and can be used as a USB drive when it is plugged into your computer. It even has a couple of games on it.

The only thing that I don't like about the IPod is the tremendously huge ear buds that come with it. They pop out at the slightest head movement. I think I am going to have to find a replacement for them, although I think I may be getting used to them.

Twit, Screen Size, and Cory Doctorow

I was listening to "Twit Episode 84: Hahn, I'm Home!" and I will have to say that I was very impressed with some of the things that one of the guests, Cory Doctorow said. TWIT has had many guests, and although all of them are likable, I will have to say that I don't think I have ever been as impressed with any of them as much as I was with Cory.

One of the first things that made me kind of sit up and take notice was when the group was talking about viewing media on various screens, like the ones on IPods and cell phones, and John C. Dvorak didn't think that there was much of a future for smaller screens, and that he would never watch a movie on a smaller screen like the one on an IPod.

Cory was talking about how the computer, being as much of a multi-function device as it is, really demands media that doesn't require much of an attention span. This was mentioned as kind of a backup to what many people had said about E-Books, that no one would sit in front of their computers long enough to read a book, which really isn't true, as he points out.

Of course, partly because of my job, and partly because of my love of computers, I spend at least 8 hours a day in front of a computer, which is more than long enough to read a book.

Of course, what I am doing is looking at or reading things which don't require large blocks of time. Web page snippets and other items related to what it takes to do my job. I'm not even going to talk about some other things that people spend an ungodly amount of time doing on a computer, such as World of Warcraft, or blogging :-)

When it comes to all of these screens that we are seeing in cell phones and IPods, it isn't Screen size and resolution that is important, and this is also something that Cory pointed out, what is important is the context that the screen is being used in.

If I am waiting in line at a DMV, then I would be extremely happy with a screen the size of an IPod's screen, of course if I am in my living room, then I probably will not pull out that smaller screen in order to watch a different show. Leo backs it up with saying that what we as consumers are really after is a wide selection of screens, we want the screen that fits where we are, and what we are doing.

After listening to the Podcast, I decided to go ahead and look Cory up. They had mentioned on the air that he just released a new book of short science fiction stories called "Overclocked", but I was really surprised to learn that you can download the entire book online, either in print or in podcast form for free. He also has a whole slew of other stories available for download in print or podcast form, for free.

So I went ahead and subscribed to the site, and I plan on checking out his writing. You should too.

Related Links:
Cory's Website - CrapHound.com
Twit.tv - The Twit Netcast Network
Twit Netcast - The Week in Tech
TWIT makes Time Magazine's Top 10 Podcasts
The TechTV Crew

Time Magazine's Top 10 Podcasts - TWIT made the List!

Amber Mac did a post on this, and If you can get past the repeated clicking (you have to hit next for the Podcasts) there are some interesting Podcasts listed there. The surprise for me was that Time was smart enough to place The Week in Tech (Twit) in the list, unfortunately it was the ninth in the top 10.

I have really started listening to a bunch of Netcasts and Podcasts lately, and the TWIT network has many of my favorites on it. Just to name a few:

- The Week in Tech (TWIT) - A Weekly review of Tech news storys, with many of your former favorites from what used to be TechTV. It is funny, smart, and although it runs a little over an hour sometimes, never long enough.

- Net @ Night - Featuring Leo Laporte and Amber MacArthur, features all sorts of fun stuff, interesting web sites and stories, always very entertaining.

- Security Now - With Leo Laporte and the famous Steve Gibson of GRC. Ahh, I remember when Steve's sight was shut down by a DDOS Syn attack. I hung the letter to his attackers on my wall. Steve has been around forever, and caught a lot of bad press because of his problems with Microsoft Fixing the TCP/IP stack, but his worries turned out to be very valid. Just ask the hundreds of thousands of computer Zombies out there now.

- Windows Weekly - With Paul Thurrot, focusing on Windows and other topics in the Microsoft World. I had ran across Paul's Windows Super Site once or twice, but didn't recognize the name. Great Podcast though.

There are plenty more Podcasts on Twit.tv then I have mentioned here, your really should check them out if you are into technology.

Congratulations to Leo and the whole TWIT cast!

The Tech TV Crew

I used to love to watch TechTV, and I was sooo broken hearted when it was pulled. Well, technically it wasn't pulled. G4TV bought it, and then shut it down. I'm not sure why, G4 Sucked.

Anyway, I stumbled across the TWIT site because I was looking to see what happened to the podcast, and boy am I excited to hear that the crew from TechTV is still making a living. I sure do like those guys. It sounds like Leo Laporte is the one who got things going, what a guy. Patrick Norton is also on the show, and some new voices.

I also saw that Megan Morrone was one of the hosts on Inside the Net. I checked out her web site and it was just really cool. When I moved I couldn't get TechTV, and just before I had to stop watching it, Megan was pretty far along in her pregnancy, and now to see that she has at least one very cute daughter. Here are some of their BIOS listed in the Twit site. I am just really glad to see all of the familiar faces, or hear their voices as the case may be.

Update 2006-01-09 - The TWIT Netcast made Time Magazine's Top 10 podcasts!