hsu06 ([info]hsu06) wrote,
@ 2006-10-17 11:30:00
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Podcasts
Because I get into the office between 7:00 and 7:30 in the morning, there's a couple of hours of dead time before anyone else arrives.  It's actually great for productivity because I can get a lot done without interruption.  However, I like to work with background noise, like music, and I've gotten tired of the CDs I have here.  So lately, I've been going to the ITunes Store to check out podcasts to subscribe to.  The ones I have on ITunes now are:

  • Blue Man Group Video Podcast
  • PodRunner - music to work out to, but also good for working to
  • PotterCast - my favorite Harry Potter podcast -- actually, probably my favorite podcast, period
  • The Leaky Mug
  • Scholastic Harry Potter Podcast - there were only three episodes, but I'm holding out hope for more in the future
  • The Official Lost Podcast
  • The Lost Podcast with Jay and Jack
  • The Transmission - I was sad when they ended this, but there have been occasional updates since, including a great interview with Daniel Dae Kim and Jorge Garcia last month
  • Totally Lost - by the PotterCast folks; totally bummed that they ended it
Yes, I subscribe to multiple Harry Potter and Lost podcasts, but this is actually my list after deleting the ones I listened to but didn't like.  I tried subscribing to sports podcasts, but I found that I couldn't concentrate on listening to the podcasts and working at the same time.  For some reason, I don't have that problem with the Harry Potter and Lost fan podcasts, probably because I don't need to listen so intently to those to enjoy them.

If you know of any other entertaining podcasts that are good to work to, let me know!

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[info]hammerdata
2006-10-17 08:27 pm UTC (link)
I've seen offers of various "podcasts" but have never tuned into one. What is meant by a podcast? What happens when you subscribe to one? Is a particular device needed?

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[info]hsu06
2006-10-17 09:11 pm UTC (link)
A podcast is like ham radio on the internet. Most of them are created by regular folks and some expectedly sound very amateurish. Each podcast episode is actually just an MP3 file, which you can download with your browser if you want to. But you can also use software like ITunes to subscribe and listen to podcasts. The software provides a nice UI for you and will check and download new episodes automatically. Podcasts are one category of merchandise in the ITunes store, and they're almost always free.

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[info]hammerdata
2006-10-18 12:49 pm UTC (link)
Does one need some sort of broadcasting package to deliver these in a way that enables ITunes to check for "new" episodes, or is it just a question of dumping them to a known directory and updating the timestamp?

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[info]hsu06
2006-10-18 02:53 pm UTC (link)
I've never created a podcast, but from my friends who have, it seems like you just need to record your episode in MP3 format and then create a corresponding RSS file so that readers like ITunes know when there's a new file to download.

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[info]hammerdata
2006-10-18 03:48 pm UTC (link)
Ah, RSS. That explains it.

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[info]justwestofmars
2006-10-17 09:04 pm UTC (link)
NPR's Science Friday with Ira Flatow! And my very favorite--This American Life--is not a podcast, but they archive the shows on their webpage (streaming MP3 format) at www.thislife.org

Oh wait! I just went to their webpage and they do have podcasts now!! They're only leaving the latest show on iTunes, though; to get past shows you still have to go through the archives page on their website.

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[info]hsu06
2006-10-17 09:15 pm UTC (link)
I tried out the NPR podcast but found I couldn't listen to it while working. I'll check out This American Life.

Do you listen to any of the Lost podcasts?

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[info]justwestofmars
2006-10-19 09:49 pm UTC (link)
No, I listened to a Lost podcast once (it was the "Official" one, if there's any such thing), but they spent a decent amount of time just on actor interviews, and I just don't care about that sort of thing. Same reason that I didn't like the Leaky Cauldron podcasts--I'm not that interested in the movie stuff.

I wasn't thinking about attention level. I only listen to podcasts at work when I am doing data rejection: for our EEG datasets, we have to go through each individual set, look at the entire (45minute long) record and manually remove any portions of noise due to muscle artifact. Very time-consuming, and totally mindless. I let datasets pile up for a few weeks and then spend an entire afternoon on them, which allows me a few hours of listening time.

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[info]hsu06
2006-10-19 11:22 pm UTC (link)
The Official Lost podcast doesn't always have actor interviews anymore. If they do, it's just for the first couple of minutes. Most of the time, it's the producers talking about the show.

Same thing with PotterCast, although they do have more interviews than the Lost podcast. I just skip through the parts I don't like though. :-)

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[info]hsu06
2006-10-18 03:03 pm UTC (link)
I tried out This American Life. Unfortunately, it requires too much attention for me to listen to it, so I can't work and listen to it at the same time. :-(

I just subscribed to the Battlestar Galactica podcast. Since I don't have time to watch any of the episodes on TV, maybe I'll know what's going on from listening to the podcasts.

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[info]justwestofmars
2006-10-18 04:42 pm UTC (link)
I used to listen to the Galactica podcast--I think I did all of Season 1. If the format hasn't changed, it's usually Ronald Moore talking, and it's pretty interesting getting the behind-the-scenes breakdown. The downside is that he used to assume you had already seen the episode--he doesn't explain a whole lot. As a matter of fact, the way the podcast is really supposed to work is that you tape the episode, and watch it and listen to the podcast at the same time. Moore has the episode going as he's recording himself, and so there's a lot of "Oh, wow, this shot came out beautifully" or "This bit of dialogue was something that we argued over for an hour" but unless you are watching (or have just watched) the episode, it's hard to know what he's talking about.

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