eric135

Listening to Podcasts on the Kindle

I've been experimenting more with my Kindle. I downloaded a few podcasts onto it, but it wasn't that great of an experience using the Kindle's experimental "Play Music" function. It turns out that function can only play the mp3's in the order you loaded them onto the Kindle. The mp3's didn't appear on my Home menu. Also, if you stop the mp3 and then turn off the Kindle, there is no way to start up where I left off. I had been loading mp3's into a folder that was automatically titled "Music".

Then, a couple of days ago, I noticed, instead of a "Music" folder on my Kindle, there was a folder called "Audible." When I loaded the mp3's into this folder, they appeared on the Home menu so I could listen to the podcasts in whatever order I wished. Plus, while the podcast was playing, I could skip forward or backward by 30 seconds. If I turned the Kindle off, I could pick up right where I left off. Overall a much better experience loading into the "Audible" folder instead of the "Music" folder.

I still enjoy listening to podcasts, even though there seem to be fewer and fewer good podcasts being produced.

My favorote podcasts:

 This Week in Tech: I used to watch Leo Laporte back when he was on TechTV on The Screensavers. After that show passed on, I kept track of him through his Leoville website. He has a way of making technology accessible, whether you are a complete technophile or you're the kind of person that can't program their Tivo.

 Power Trading by Online Trading Academy: Just about the only (if not the only) podcast that publishes daily when the US markets trade. You not only get commentary on that day's market news, but good advice on how to assimilate news. You also get good general advice about trading, market indicators, trading platforms and trading strategy. From the RSS feed:

Power Trading Radio is a daily progressive trader focused program, hosted by long time trader Merlin Rothfeld, who offers expert analysis of the market from a trader’s perspective.  Fueled by Online Trading Academy, the show is designed to take average investors and give them the skills that they need for real success.  The show covers issues relating to Stocks, Forex, Futures, Options, Wealth Management, Retirement Planning, IRA’s and more.  http://www.powertradingradio.com

I have started listening to these podcasts at work on my break. I don't know if it's just a phase, but I usually eat by myself when I am at work, and enjoy the peace and quiet. Usually sitting in one of the empty surgical waiting rooms, I can eat a meal away from patients and without the distraction of talking about nursing while I'm at work. Many of the folks that I have worked with have left, or are looking to leave, so it can sometimes be discouraging. Listening to Leo Laporte or listening about the stock market can make it more bearable.

Christmas, Curtis iP220, podcasts...

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. I worked Christmas Eve, had Christmas Night off, and then worked another three days but Christmas was still great. It was another decadent orgy of gift giving and receiving. I think I'll post a review of the items as I actually use them (which makes it more searchable anyway).

CURTIS ALARM CLOCK RADIO WITH DOCKING STATION FOR IPOD

I love my iPod Mini, but over the past year, I've lost both of those ear pads and had wanted a way to listen to my iPod without using earpieces. This alarm clock radio recharges my iPod, has two alarms, 10 pre-set radio stations and the remote control is easy to use (well it did take some practice). The speakers are impressive considering it's not that big a unit.

It's been one of those gifts that has gotten me to widen my use of the iPod. I've downloaded lots of tunes and I've added all of my favorite tracks from my CDs, but I've now gotten into podcasts. I didn't really get the idea of why podcasting is taking off so much, but now I listen to podcasts through my ipod clock/radio (for whatever reason, I couldn't get into them when limited to earpieces that were hurting my ears).

I've been subscribing to podcasts via iTunes, but just found out it is just as easy to subscribe to them from their individual web site, which I didn't know I could do. Some of my favorites:

Calmcast: Very relaxing music and nature tracks. About 20 podcasts, about 20-35 minutes long. A nice way to wind down when I hit the sack. Unfortunately, no new episodes have been produced since February 2007.

Chillcast with Anji Bee: Another podcast based on relaxation and de-stressing. Still in production. The host's voice is absolutely hypnotizing.

Idyllic Music: Another podcast with really cool music.

Magnatune: A wide variety of great music, including classical, piano, folk, electronica... oh and Hammered Dulcimer. New podcasts monthly. And actually, the hammered dulcimer podcasts are quite beautiful.

WGBH Classical (Classical to Go)

LSAT Logic in Everyday Life: Not at all musical. This is a weekly 5-10 minute discussion of current events and news, and the common flaws in logic used by the media, politicians, speakers, etc. Admittedly a bit dry.

Discover Magazine's "Vital Signs": OK another weird one. These are podcasts of medical mysteries.

To add a podcast manually (not through the iTunes store), click to Advanced > Subscribe to Podcast and enter the xml feed from the podcast website. Useful since many podcasts that I listen to I find through digg, not iTunes.

If you play podcasts through iTunes, they play one at a time, most recent first. I like to listen to them in the order they were published, and I like my iPod to play them all one after another. To do this, I make a playlist of the podcasts I wish to hear and put them in the order I wish to hear them. To do this automatically, I make a Smart Playlist. The directions to do so are found on the Apple iTunes podcast tips page.

I'm on the look out for interesting podcasts.