Podcast-listening Update

I’ve pretty much stopped using the PSP for podcasts. I still really like the automatic downloads over WiFi. However, I’ve been playing Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories. The automatic downloads don’t work when you’ve got a game running. And when you’re playing a game on the PSP, you’ve got it running all the time. You just put it to sleep when you’re not playing to save the nasty UMD load times. Switching in and out of games on the PSP doesn’t work so well.

So I’ve switched over to using the iTunes+iPod combo. It makes me feel dirty. I still want to switch over to [iPod Linux](http://www.ipodlinux.org/Main_Page) (or [Rockbox](http://www.rockbox.org/); I haven’t decided). The thing I like about iPod+iTunes, honestly, is the listen count. There’s a little blue dot beside the episodes I haven’t listened to (not, admittedly, started listening to, but usually if I’ve stopped, I didn’t really want to listen to it). So it’s easy to tell at a glance whether there’s new content there.

But whatever. Here are a few more podcasts I’ve taken to listening to… Let’s get the TWiT stuff out of the way first…

[Macbreak Weekly](http://www.twit.tv/mbw)
: Okay, they spend way too much time talking about iPods and crap, but [Merlinn Mann](http://www.43folders.com/) is funny. The episodes with him and Leo on are the best. They also point out nifty Mac software, which I wouldn’t have known about otherwise. That’s one thing I have to hand to the Mac: it’s got a rich shareware ecosystem. Freeware/FOSS, not as much, sadly, but there’s lots of cool shareware.

[Windows Weekly](http://www.twit.tv/ww)
: In the interest of balance… It’s actually pretty good. Not as fun as MBW, maybe, since it’s just Paul and Leo chatting about what Microsoft did this week. Still, Paul isn’t a Microsoft shill, and they talk about interesting stuff sometimes. And iPods. Even on Windows Weekly. I don’t know why everybody always talks about iPods.

[FLOSS Weekly](http://www.twit.tv/FLOSS)
: Just started up again this week. It really needs to find its groove, but one thing I think I want to get out of podcasts is listening to developers talking about development. And this touches on that. Speaking of which…

[The Command Line](http://cmdln.wordpress.com/)
: Just a guy with a microphone talking about hackerish stuff. He’s at his best when he’s talking about his own experiences and observations. Those parts are really good to listen to. He spends maybe a little too much time essentially going over Slashdot headlines. That’s… well, okay I guess. I’ve never been a huge fan of Slashdot.

[Big Ideas](http://www.tvo.org/TVOsites/WebObjects/TvoMicrosite.woa?bigideas)
: TVO’s lecture series is also available as a podcast. I don’t listen every week… Sometimes it’s boring. Sometimes it’s someone just droning at the front of the room, just like back in school. Sometimes they start off with “Webster’s dictionary defines _____ as…” and I hit the skip button. Sometimes it pisses me off with logical fallacies and sloppy thinking. But sometimes… sometimes it’s brilliant. Like the one a couple weeks ago that still has me thinking about stuff: [the one about the guy who invented the stethoscope](http://www.tvo.org/podcasts/bi/audio/BIJacalynDuffin011307.mp3). It starts off like a boring lecture, but everything comes together in the end. And it’s fascinating.