Shuroki Online

The past couple weeks I’ve been really getting into Podcasting. I’m writting this article because I wanted to share my favorite Podcast sites and feeds.

For those of you who already know what Podcasting is, you can skip the background stuff and go straight to Podcast Listening Resources below.

[ Some updates added 03/28/05]

Background Stuff

Podcasting is a phenomenon started a few months ago that is a new way to take audio programming on the road with you. Podcasting is a natural progression of Internet audio distribution that is really starting to explode.

There have been “”streaming”" audio shows around since the mid-90s, which basically follow the format of a traditional on-air radio show. Most streaming shows archive their streams on a webpage for later download / research / catch-up / posterity.

With the proliferation of portable MP3 players, people have gotten into the idea of downloading these archived streams to listen to on the road.

Some brilliant hackers took this desire, combined it with a feature of RSS and Podcasting was born.

[03/28/2005 -- Update: One of the people that really got Podcasting going (not sure if he coined the phrase or not) is Adam Curry.. yep, the MTV VJ! Apparently he's a tech geek now )]

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is the technology that gives you live headlines on the sidebars of most websites now a days. Right here on Oxfoot you can see the Top-10 iTunes songs, the newest additions to our video library, etc. on the sides of the front page.

I don’t manually update those lists, I simply placed a subscription to those RSS feeds. The Oxfoot web server automatically poles those feeds and if there is new info, then it integrates it into this site. Pretty cool. Of course, Oxfoot has it’s own RSS feed to subscribe to )

Oh, and RSS uses XML for the formating of the information, which is infinitely configurable.

Well, there is a feature of RSS called “”enclosures”". Enclosures are the same thing as attachments in e-mail. Basically, it’s a way to attach a binary file (like… say an mp3 file) to an RSS entry. By using those enclosures, whenever you ping an RSS feed you can download any new enclosures along with the headlines.

RSS has been around for a few years now, and there are programs called RSS “”aggregators”". An aggregator pulls all of your feeds into one place and gives an easy-to-use interface to add/remove/modify feeds and how you view them. Mozilla Firefox has aggregation features (called Live Bookmarks) and it is rumored that Microsoft is working on something similar for their next version of Internet Explorer.

There are now RSS aggregators available that are specifically written to grab enclosures and at least one, iPodder, that is designed specifically to grab Podcasts and load them onto you mp3 player automagically.

That’s a brief (and likely incomplete/incorrect) history of Podcasting.. here are the resources )

Podcast Listening Resources

The only Podcasting program I’ve used is iPodder. It runs on the Big 3 platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux) and I believe was the first Podcasting downloader. I plan to try out a couple others, but iPodder seems to do the job just fine, so I’m not in a big hurry.

There is a great website called Podcast Alley that includes a directory of Podcasts and facilitates chats/forums on them. It also has the only Podcast Ranking list that I’ve seen which allows listeners to vote for their favorite Podcasts and keeps track of the top 50 rated casts.

As for the Podcasts themselves, below is a listing of my current favorites.. As you can imagine, it is heavy with techie/geeky casts. For the parents reading, I’m including my own rating as I haven’t seen any kind of rating system for Podcasts (hmmm… interesting…)

The Dawn and Drew show [R for language and subject matter]:
DnDS is currently the #1 rated show on Podcast Alley, and I don’t really know why.. Don’t get me wrong — it is my current FAVORITE podcast — I just can’t figure out why. It’s a guy and a girl who I think are married (they sound married, but have different last names so I’m not 100% sure) who talk for 30 minutes every couple days about their lives.. Stuff they’ve done that day, stuff people e-mail/mail to them, etc. That’s all there is to it. What makes it addicting to me is that their banter very much reminds me of talking with my wife and they have a simliar sense of humor. Dawn drops the S-bomb and the F-bomb regularly and they discuss many adult-oriented topics, so this isn’t one you’d listen to in the car with the kids.

Off the Hook / Off the Wall [G]:
These are recorded from a live terrestrial radio broadcast/internet stream from Emmanuel Goldstein of 2600 fame (the quarterly hacker magazine). The content is pure geek but heavily revolves around privacy/civil rights. Kid safe content, though I’m sure they’d be bored to death as the topics are pretty heavy.

The Chris Pirillo Show [PG]:
This is a pure geek show. You may have seen Chris Pirillo when he was on the old “”Call For Help”" show before TechTV merged with G4 and the show format changed. Chris is famous for his site Lockergnome and is a pretty interesting tech guy (even if he’s a Microsoft weenie). Chris does lots of interviews and has correspondent reports on a wide range of techie topics. Chris seems to be biased towards Microsoft products (at least, that is what he uses primarily: Windows desktop/laptops, Windows Media Edition PVR, etc.) – and all of his shows seem to be “”brought to you by”" MS products – but he is totally fair in talking about Linux/Apple and really knows his stuff no matter what the topic or platform is. The content is pure geek, so there’s nothing inappropriate there. Also, Chris minds his P’s and Q’ languange-wise, but I’ve heard some of his guests drop the S-bomb.

Free Talk Live [PG, maybe G]:
I’ve only listened to one episode, but I really enjoyed this one. I’m pretty sure this is captured from a live terrestrial radio broadcast. It had (I think) three guys just free-style talking about “”stuff”" and people can call in at any time and give their opinion/change the topic/whatever. The views of the hosts were interesting and funny at times. The main topic on the episode I listened to was dealing with cops pulling you over and the lies they use to get you to give up your rights and submit to searches when there isn’t probable cause. Language-wise I think this is a “”G”" show, but I suspect that the content may get racey.

[03/28/2005 -- I've listened to a couple more episodes and realized why they were talking about police and your rights on that first one: the show is all about personal freedoms. I am really getting into this one now. I've heard them talk about a range of subjects from gun control to health care, and other current events. I've been leaning more libertarian lately and their views fall right in line with that. If you believe that the Government gets too far into our lives, that there are way too many laws, and beleive in true personal freedom, then this show is right up your alley! I guess I should have figured it out from the name, but I thought it just reflected the open nature of the format (any caller can change the topic of discussion).

Leo Laporte on KFI [G]:
Leo is famous as the host of “”The Screen Savers”" show before TechTV merged with G4 and the show format changed. This Podcast is archived (possibly streamed) from his terrestrial radio broadcast and is basically “”The Screen Savers”" on the radio. Leo answers callers tech questions, does interviews and brings technology news. I haven’t decided if I can keep listening to Leo or not. He is VERY knowledgable about Windows/Mac/Linux and just about all technologies, but there’s just something kind of sappy about how he speaks. The content and language is totally kid friendly.

Binary Revolution Radio [PG-13 for language and content]:
Binary Revolution is a fascinating hacker/cracker show. The hosts bring tech reports, tutorials, and interviews on various hacking/cracking topics from social engineering, to computer exploits, to phreaking. The language was mostly clean with an occasional F-bomb, but the content seems safe.. that is, if you are prepared to keep up with your kids trying to implement some social engineering or cracking technique to get free pizza, skip class, or build a hydrogen bomb. You know what they say – knowledge is power )

That’s all for now.. I’ll be adding new Podcasts I like as I come across them.. Happy listening!!

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