After a fairly long vacation form portable media players, I've found myself the owner of a new iPod. (again --The minis didn't last long)

Just took a trip through the iTunes store and signed up for what appears to be some good podcasts. Do any of you do this, or get them elsewhere?

Just curious as to the pulse on this stuff.

You like older stuff?

If you do check these out:
http://www.mefeedia.com/feeds/14634/videos/
I wish "Off the Record" from KGON had podcasts that you could at least listen to. Never can seem to tune in on Sunday evenings!

I used to get a free motocross-related talk radio programme, The Dead Motocrosser Society <http://www.dmxsradio.com> up until about a year ago. Used to record it on disc and play it back on the CD player in the truck. It's tied in to a motocross magazine "Racer X Illustrated", which I stopped subscribing to about as long ago.

But then I deleted it from my list in my "I-podder" programme because some of the subject matter was starting to get too stupid for words..........

(Rule of thumb: CD-RW discs can always be erased!!)

Sometimes I will retrieve a copy of "Off The Hook" from <http://2600.org/> but that seems to be a rarity.

check out

www.podshow.com

it has music and videos

The nice thing about podcasts is that there are programmes about nearly every "niche" subject under the sun. At times I like to follow the "inside" back stage suff in the pro-wrestling industry. (ROH, WWE, TNA, some of the independent promotions--don't ask me why--because I myself have no idea why I'm interested in all of that nonsense!) There are a myriad of pro-wrestling radio podcasts which range from amateurish to not-too shabby, as far as content and production are concerned.


The Minority Report: Something to offend everybody--definietly NOT for kids or your grandmum, unless your grandmum is a hard drinking, chain smoking, retired hooker--sometimes these guys get a bit carried away. At times they tackle subjects and use language that would make Howard Stern blush. Production value--4 out of 10


In Your Head: Slightly less adult content--but very amateurish production due to the fact that these 3 guys are slightly less adult--still hilarious to listen to...Production value--2 out of 10

My favourite podcast is--

Wrestling Weekly with host Doc Young and long time pro-trainer Les Thatcher. Lots of inside info and opinions without the adult content. These guys seem to know their stuff. Halfway decent production values as well(for a podcast) 6 out of 10.

Good stuff everyone! Thanks.

I've got a few regular feeds setup on iTunes. It's time once again to treat the pod like the radio. Just gonna turn the radio off for a bit, let the pod accumulate content overnight, or when plugged in and listen.

Really the key is get a day behind and all is good.

I'll post some favorites here in a bit. Don't let that stop you though. If you find a podcast (audio or video), post it here.

Moto: That was an interesting site. Pretty busy, but lots of content. Thanks!

Qpat: There is nothing wrong with morbid curiosity. That's basically the Bravo! network mantra.

Thought I would also post the link (again) to the book converter:

http://www.ambience.sk/ipod-ebook-creator/ipod-book-notes-text-conversion.php

This little service will format your text book into the notes format on the pod. I posted it here a long while ago, when I tried this the first time.

That pod went south. Moving parts in portable media players is a bad idea, IMHO. Maybe this one will last for a while.

Anyway, I do the book thing and really like it. I missed this capability huge.

I've got some fiction, Thomas Paine, some literature, and whole bunch of systems notes, contacts, numbers, etc... sitting in easy to read text files on the thing. The newer screens really do make for some good reading, at least on the wider screen models.

If your portable device does this, or anything like it, I highly recommend getting some great text in there. There will come a time where you are waiting, and it's just great.

Missing--

Are you referring to the 2600 site or DMXS?

I was able to get 2600 to load on my computer last night but DMXS just seemed to stall out at a blank gray screen............

This might be good:

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/podcastlandingpage.guest.html

Yep. Good entertainment. Goes with the Lars Larson show.

(and I do, from time to time, listen to both disagree or not, they are both excellent broadcasters)

Same for me too. Only the 2600 link worked. I've always liked those guys. Lots of interesting subject matter, given one can get past the "l337" attitude.

Do you listen to these kinds of things Deane, or just checking out the scene?

>>>"Do you listen to these kinds of things Deane, or just checking out the scene?"

I have all the noise in my life I need. No iPod for me.

Same here, really. I don't really have much use for an Apple I-Pod, myself. I use a CD player, which also supports MP1L3 and WMA audio (for the most part, an older I-River "Chrome-X" machine; though I rarely [if ever] use WMA nowdays, some of my oldest recordings were done in WMA format. Support is there if I need it, at least.)

It can run formats the Apple I-Pod can't, on an electronic level but also a physical level as well!!

You ever tried playing a CD in an I-pod? Not really the easiest task in the world..... ;o)

*laughs*

CDs load onto an iPod very quickly. I have more than 1,000 hours of music on my iPod, mostly transferred from CDs.

My 8 year old grandson, can load a cd onto his Ipod.

Deane_johnson:

I have all the noise in my life I need.

You sure as hell do if you're listening to Rush. Oh, I forgot, he's smart.....

Hey Missing, you want truth in broadcasting? Public radio, which if you have itunes it should list everything they have to offer. Try the Bryant Park Project. It's good information, plus it's quite entertaining.

I am always watching or listening to something--sometimes watching one thing that doesn't require audio commentary(like a hockey/football game) and listening to another.

Generally the only times I have only one thing going on in front of me is at when I'm doing some computations at work that require my full attnetion, when I'm in church, when I'm producing/editing radio programmes at KKJC and when I'm watching an episode of the Corner Gas TV show or Chilly Beach cartoon.

I just love portable mp3 music players...I've had a bunch of them since the first Philips portable mp3/cd player came out in 2000. I currently own and use:

A Zune music player: Player is really cool and has good quality "widescreen" video. Sounds really good too. 30GB--I can fit a ton of mp3 Bible studies, variuos videos and songs on it. Unfortunately, the Microcrud interface software does something I always thought went against the laws of physics--It both sucks and blows.

A Pogo brand "Radio Your Way": Neat little player, but overly expensive for what it is(a re-branded Japanese import) and only accepts a maximum 2GB SD card(limited to FAT16 formatting) It is one of the only(maybe the only) portable player that has an AM tuner(good for taking to games) and can record AM/FM/mic/line-in at various rates from 32-256kbps. It also has several recording timers. This is my "exercise" player. The memory acts like a portable disk drive--makes it very easy to move files to/from the machine.

Creative tx/FM 1GB flash player: This keychain sized player is unique as it uses 1 AA cell that can be replaced on the fly. This is the one and only player that I will be taking on my train trip across Canada in November. Keychain sized--diesn't take up much room. Can also record from FM tuner or built in mic.

I know, a little longwinded, but hopefully helpful.

Totally.

I like the iPods, because of the strong industrial design focus. Small things need to be composed of good design elements, well realized, or I'm just not up for them period --no matter what it is they actually do.

Used to carry a fair number of devices. A while back, I just gave all that up. No PDA --that's what ones grey matter and some simple paper is for. Cell phone works. The value returned totally exceeds the hassle of keeping it handy.

The iPod is 50 / 50 right now. I may carry it more, I may not. I think I might just keep in in the laptop bag and carry it sometimes.

It's somewhat annoying this model does feature improved iTunes lock in. At the moment, there are no alternatives. This will not last, so I'll deal. If it were not for the strong design effort, I would pass on that basis.

Having the books handy is excellent. Have used that repeatedly already. On my next flight, this will be a welcome, and light weight addition. I carry as little as possible there too.

Most of my sysadmin notes are now in the thing, along with some reference material. That's worth keeping it in the bag, for sure. The bonus, over keeping paper, is mass, and the ability to just pull the text over to the machine, if warranted, for some nice cut, copy, paste action.

I've stashed some core utilities on it as well. PUTTY, a Registry tweak program, some win32 process tools, and a copy of iTunes, just in case I need to deal with another computer.

It's too bad about the dual formatting. If Apple would just choose one or the other, the software necessary to get the pod running could be right there on the pod! Just connect, nav to the install folder and double click on the iTunes installer... oh well. Mine is done after the fact.

I'm loving the Bill Mar show audio podcast. I didn't think about his program translating to just audio, but it does come across well. The NPR stuff is well produced and interesting as well. Will likely just sign up a couple of these.

Our local Thom Hartman broadcast is also very well produced. Does have some level trouble, from time to time, but otherwise is clean and clear.

Many of the AM talk podcasts are not so well done. It's almost better to just listen to these on the AM, despite the bandwidth difference. Too bad on that, as I like a lot of the shows.

IMHO, some of the better radio stations, that have in-house productions, should try and do the "superstation" thing, and air these on iTunes.

I don't think my model has recording capability. That's an interesting option though. I think I would use that more than I realize.

The video is nice, on this model. IMHO, it's similar to the Zune. Most of this is lost on me however. I'm not into buying for the machine --too difficult to transcode onto other devices, and when possible, not always such a good idea.

From what I can tell, the device only does quicktime, so that's a net loss getting it in there as well. Transcoding required (bummer).

At 4GB of total storage, probably not a good idea anyway. Some of the video podcasts are interesting, but I'll probably just use the better screen for reading and call it good.

Not having a user replaceable battery is a bummer. The little cheap player, I picked up at Frys does this, and uses memory cards. So far, I've liked that thing, but the interface is horrible.

That Pogo sounds like a gem! Having an AM tuner is a big plus! Recording too. Probably worth it on form and function, even if the actual materials and labor markup on it is too high.

So far, I've left the car radio off. I don't think this will always be the case, but I must say it's been a great experience. I'll listen on the drive, and the pause state is excellent. I can pick up the next day and be right there, or next trip, etc...

Somebody, somewhere, needs to make car radios that work like PVRs. Just let people drive and listen. When they have to get out, have one simple button that buffers the content. When they get back in, they hit the play button and continue on.

If in play mode, just have channel up and down translate into FF / RW, and one is set!

Hit the button again, and it starts off another track, or maybe just starts a new buffer. Just something simple would do.

Would be a hit for sure, once people grokked how it works.

It's amazing just how many spots are on AM!! A three hour broadcast production ends up being just short of 1.5 hours. UGH...

Missing--

Here is what I want to know:

Aside from CD players like my old I-river, are there any MPEG1L3 audio devices available that actually *do* use standard-size (i.e. AA's or AAA's) user-replaceable batteries? Or are there and I may not be looking hard enough, in the right places, etc?

That is possibly the major thing hindering me from devoting any energy and financial resources towards migration to any kind of solid-state MP3 device (I don't fully trust hard drive-based machines, especially when I am on the bike!) because when the rechargeable runs out, there I'd be with a non-functioning device in my pocket and as a result, dead weight.

AA's (or AAA's) are readily available pretty much anywhere you can buy consumer products, it seems, so if my machine was to go out in the middle of a ride, I'd just have to expend maybe one minute out of my day changing out the batteries and then go back to what I was doing.

If it's a voltage issue I'd propose making a machine that runs on a 9V (an internal transformer might likely be needed in conjunction, depending on what kinda hardware you have) but that may become a bit bulky, though probably considerably less so than the Chrome-X of course...........

My (now retired) Rio Forge ran on a single AAA.

If you can still find a Creative MuVo TX/FM 1 or 2GB audio player/flash drive, they run on a single 'AAA' cell. Quite convenient. Staples carried them for a while, don't know if they still do or not. Their website lists them:

http://www.staples.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StaplesProductDisplay?langId=-1 &storeId=10001&prodCatType=1&catalogId=10051&productId=157818&cmArea=SC3:CG61:CL 162859

So does the Emprex cheap mp3 players.

Qpatrick, see also Office-Max~
http://www.officemax.com/max/solutions/product/prodBlock.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes& expansionOID=-536907170&prodBlockOID=1611596079

I don't think that i'd be too crazy about using a device that doesn't have a removable memory or other expansion system of some sort (i.e. a Sandisk, Compact-Flash, SD/MMC, Memory Stick inter alia) though. I tend to find music recordings sometimes can get repetetive quickly, which is why I had opted for a compact-disc based system to begin with.

Truth be told, carrying a small packet with, say, 20 or 25 3 or 4GB Sandisks carrying ~300 songs each (assuming stereophonic 44100@320kbps CBR MP3) is preferrable (not to mention, well, more efficient!) to/than carrying the equivalent amount on CD!

(Sidebar: I did see advertised somewhere a while back, a portable CD player, a walkman-like thing [like my I-river] that could also run M1L3 audio off DVD-ROM as well as the conventional audio CD/ROM. Supposedly it could also support DVD-Video through a composite (yellow cable) output. I think it might have been a Samsung..................

Haven't really seen anything similar since, tho.)

The Rio Forge looks kinda cool........I may be scouring the local Goodwills for one (or two) of those within the coming weeks.................

BUG REPORT!

My notation of fourty-four thousand, one-hundred hertz at three hundred twenty kilobytes per second, mentioned in my post above, is *not* an E Mail address.

For some reason, it appears the software upon which this forum is based likes to confuse things with text within close proximity to the "at" sign (i.e. "Muzak used to have a studio@Wallingford Avenue in Seattle" - "Studio at Wallingford") as a false E Mail address of sorts.

Try unchecking "Automatically activate URLs in message" when posting, located below username/password and above "Preview/Post Message."
44100@320kbps
100,000w@96.9MHz
Fourth Plain@Andresen
See, posting@pdxradio doesn't have to annoy you!

I was in the Goodwill@4th Plain today....found a Rio 600 but didn't buy it. Didn't have a removable memory system and the battery itself was a small cartridge of some kind (likely rechargable.)

The search goes on!

And note above, it didn't fake "Goodwill at 4th Plain" as an E Mail address. ;o) Thanks Newflyer!