Nothing Really Poignant - James in Taiwan

If you have a MP3 player and you have been listening to the latest tech news, you have probably heard about podcasts. What is a podcast you may ask? Wikipedia’s definition of a podcast follows:

Podcasting is a method of publishing via the Internet, allowing users to subscribe to a feed of new files (usually MP3s).

So what does this mean? This means that many radio programs (and non-radio programs) now have a method of publishing their audio content to the Internet, allowing people to download it and play it on their MP3 player. I use my iPod, but you can even use your computer.Apple’s Itunes now supports podcasting, and they think it is going to revolutionalize radio. I happen to agree. It is radio without wires, radio any time you want it.

One of the things I miss the most about being back in the US is the radio. Every day on the way to work I used to listen to 88.5 FM or 810 AM and listen to the news, the latest gossip and reviews of upcoming events in the Bay Area. While living in Taiwan, I feel I have lost this connection, this quiet time that I had every day to and from work. Podcasting has solved this by allowing me to download all of this content and listen to it on the way to work. I no longer have to hear someone talking to their grandmother on the phone, listening to the advertisement jingles on the bus, or listen to the driver’s bad taste in music if I am in a taxi. I have my own “bubble”, my own little world where I can listen to what I want to hear and tune out all the other nonsense.

One of my favorite podcasts is Morning Stories with Tony Kahn. Here are all of the ones worth mentioning now:

James’ Podcasts:

• Ebert and Roeper
• Hearing Voices
• Forum
• Living on Earth
• Making Contact
• Science Friday
• Slacker Astronomy
• Morning Stories