Podcasts I Listen To

A person's reading, viewing, and listening habits say a lot about them. Here's a peek into my listening habits. If you're visiting my blog, it's probably because you're interested in a lot of the same things I am, so you'll probably find something here that would interest you. My current crop of podcasts runs the gamut from serious to geeky . . .

Peter Kreeft: Not a podcast in the usual sense: this isn't someone sitting down at a computer and recording his thoughts, it's actually free recordings of Peter Kreeft's lectures. Kreeft is a scholar and theologian and expert on C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. His "podcasts" are interesting and insightful, dealing with spirituality, literature, and more often than not connecting the two. Already, I've enjoyed Kreeft's writings in hte past. Finding his lectures online was an incredible discovery.

Kaijucast: Kyle Yount is a huge kaiju fan. (Kaiju, basically, is the Japanese word for giant monsters like Godzilla.) Kaijucast has news, reviews, and interviews about Japanese monster movies and related things. He always has a guest with him, which is a good thing. I can't stand listening to people just talking on and on at length about things, even though they are things that interest me. I'd much rather listen to the give and take of a conversation. If you're a fan of giant monsters (like I am) you'll enjoy this podcast.

Gateworld Podcast: I'm a Trekster. And ironically, the best Star Trek podcast I've listened to is actually a Stargate podcast! I enjoy Stargate, and recently I've started watching many of the episodes free on Hulu.com, which has been a lot of fun. I can't remember how I stumbled on this podcast, but it was around the time the Star Trek movie came out, and I noticed they had a review of the movie in one of their episodes, so I downloaded it. It's a fun podcast, again a podcast with more than one host. The primary focus is Stargate, but they drift into many other geek areas, like Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, etc.


Old Time Radio: A lot of old time radio is in the public domain, or something that resembles the public domain. I don't know, really, what it is. Here's a few old time radio shows that have been converted into podcasts that I enjoy listening to:
Gunsmoke: Marshall Matt Dillon keeps the peace in Dodge City in this series, which is pretty gritty at times and touching at other times. Sometimes the bad guys get away, sometimes the good guys make mistakes, and there's a dramatic tension that makes for good storytelling. Much of that coems from likable characters. I just started listening to some of these episodes based on the recommendation of a friend. Glad I did.
Box 13: Because of this series, I want to see some movies with Alan Ladd, although I'm a bit afraid to do so! It cant match with my imagination of him from this series. Dan Holiday is a newspaper writer turned novelist who places an ad in the newspaper: "ADVENTURE WANTED! Will go anywhere, do anything. Write BOX 13, c/o Star-Times". He won't accept payment. Instead, payment comes in the form of the story ideas he gets. he won't break the law, although he frequently ends up as a suspect in a number of different crimes because of his adventures. Very fun, and Alan Ladd's portrayal of Holiday makes it awesome.
Six Shooter: Jimmy Stewart plays a thoughtful gunfighter. He plays the character in classic Jimmy Stewart fashion ("Well, now, let's think about this before you start shooting. I mean, I'm faster than you are and it wouldn't be wise to, you know, call me out.") The reputation of his character proceeds him, and as he travels from job to job, trying to just quietly get along, he ends up in some pretty serious and dangerous situations, and also in some pretty absurd and funny situations as well. How many westerns can you think of where the main character takes on a gang of cattle rustlers in one episode and then judges a town fair jam contest in the next?
Bold Venture: Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall bring their chemistry and banter to this radio program. Every episode has them trading barbs and flirting while they deal with a crime in the Caribbean, usually something that has to do with Bogie's boat: The Bold Venture.
Zero Hour: Rod Serling hosted this series of suspense stories that were usually adaptations of current books. Each story was, at the beginning of the broadcast run, broken into five half hour episodes, which would air each weekday. I really enjoy these stories, although at first I was disappointed that they didn't have the same kind of "supernatual allegory" of Serling's Twilight Zone. This series was from the '70's.

Film Score Monthly: This is a great podcast that updates way too infrequently. They discuss different film scores, as you guessed from the title. I enjoy listening to film scores, and because of this podcast I've discovered a couple new scores to use while I'm writing. Again, this is a podcast with more than one host and they do a great job of making things informative and interesting.

MyMac Podcast: I'm a Mac guy, exclusively. This is the first Mac related podcast I've listened to. Truth is, I only started listening to it because of a Twitter contest they sponsored. But I like their podcast. Like the others I enjoy listening it, they have a topic that interests me, and they have more than one host, giving it a conversational give and take that is more enjoyable to listen to. I'm just getting into their podcast, and so far I want to keep on listening to it. They bring in guests and have news items and stuff. (Full disclosure: I actually won the contest! But that's not why I like their podcast.)

EXTRA CREDIT:

Here's a podcast I'm not listening to, but only because it hasn't started yet! Their first episode goes live tonight. There's a lot of webcomic podcasts out there, although all too often they can be pretty raw. This podcast looks to be something more in line with the type of thing I'd like ot listen to:

The Lightbox -- Illuminating Webcomics: From their website: "The podcast will focus on the craft of creating comics, the business side of the online comics industry, upcoming events, and webcomics news."

~ Ben

More reasons the iPhone is the most awesome device on the planet

I've been doing some research on iPhone development. I don't pretend to be able to be a developer -- supposedly the iPhone programming code is easy to use, if you know how to use programming code, but I have no pretensions about being able to do it myself. (Heck, I had a haard enough time installing this new Blogger template!)

No, I've been researching it so that I can be knowledgeable as I try to step into the realm of iPhone comic apps. I want to know what to look for . . . and who to look for.

So articles like THIS are interesting to me:

App Watch: Mirror, Mirror on the iPhone, for Free

Favorite bits from the article include:

By Inner Four co-founder John Swartz’s own admission the app “doesn’t do anything.”

and

Even inside the company, the developer who created the app has become the butt of jokes. Its description on the App Store actively discourages users from downloading it, saying “Honestly, don’t download this. It is just a blank screen with a frame.”

and

AdWhirl’s co-founder Sam Yam says the app could generate as much as $2,000 a day in ad revenue. “Maybe because there’s no use for the application, they click on the ads,” says Swartz.

Wow. Now THAT'S the American spirit at work!

On a different angle, there's this guy:

The Numbers Post (aka Brutal Honesty)

His post is very interesting and very eye opening. Basically, he's created a game for the iPhone. The game cost him $32,000 to develop. In its first month, it netted him $535. Not a great return on investment. But his article, and updated articles, cover a number of facets. Update articles include him getting a minor upswing when his first article was picked up by Slashdot (w/ some responses to feedback he's gotten); a post where he announces a mark down on the game's price; and a "Number Post: Part 2" that details more follow up information about his game, upswings from press and exposure, and dropping the price. All of it makes for a VERY interesting read, quite educational, that I recommend to anyone who's interested in developing for the iPhone. I appreciate his whole "brutal honesty" thing, and have taken the information he's shared to heart.

But the interesting thing to me about the iPhone is that here are two examples (and I say this without irony, now) of the American spirit, Or whatever you want to call it. The iPhone has taken publishing and distribution to a new place. Like the internet, it breaks down the walls with their gates and gatekeepers and allow anyone to find an audience.

I can't wait to see the TouchBook when it comes out . . . which will be that cross between the Kindle and the iPhone. (I'm guessing; I don't know if it's really coming.) But we're looking at a whole new frontier here. To quote Scotty from the new Star Trek movie: "I like this ship, it's exciting!"

Now, off to get that developer working on our comic reader!

~ Ben

The iPhone: Universe's Most Amazing Machine

And here's proof . . . a video from a guy who dropped his iPhone in a pool while shooting video . . . wait until you see what he says after fishing it out:

Wow. Just . . . wow.

~ Ben

The Future of Publishing

With all the new technology, there's a lot of exciting stuff happening . . .

And a lot of depressing stuff . . .

Because of the economy and digital competition, print publishing is on life support. It's not dead, and won't die soon (I don't think paper publishing will EVER die). But it's hurting. Mom and Pop shops are closing left and right, unable to stand under the pressures of the economy, when combined with competition from Wal-Mart (and stores like it) and Amazon. Amazon and Wal-marty type stores equal convenience and low prices -- you can shop for just what you want in the privacy of your own home, or while you're at a store you're already visiting every week. Those bookstores that are staying afloat are doing so because they manage to offer something else: unique service or coffee or atmosphere. But even the chain stores aren't immune. I'm not sure about Barnes & Noble, they seem to be doing well, but Borders has been on the cusp of bankruptcy for what feels like a long time. In the comic book realm, there's been a number of shake ups, including much higher price points on products and distribution difficulties.

These factors also make small press publishing harder. Wal-Marty-type stores aren't going to carry something with no history or "hotness" to it. Mom and Pop Shops that are still in business can't afford to take a chance on a book that they might not sell -- it's a financial risk. Amazon will carry anything, but in all of these scenarios the end result is the same: people are not likely to stumble on your product if they are browsing the shelves.

Print publishing and its future looks bleak.

But, there are some exciting things happening as well. Because while all those doors are closing to small press publishers, and increasingly to larger publishers who are trying to promote new material, the same factors that are causing the problem are actually opening new doors.

Amazon's Kindle DX is an incredible machine, a nearly paper-like book reader. The iPhone and iPod Touch are making some pretty interesting book applications and readers in a much more compact (and diverse) format. (Games, music, internet, social networking, communication -- all on a device that can fit in your pocket.) (Not to mention the Google Android and the other iPhone-like devices . . . I'm just partial to Mac stuff.)

Publishers who are not thinking digitally are missing the boat. Every hardcover a publisher sells in a store should come bundled with a disk that has the book in a format that the Kindle, Sony e-reader, etc. can read (at least, it should be a PDF -- although that makes piracy easier), so readers get the digital book but also the paper book. I don't know why no one is doing this, but they are foolish not to. (Licensing fees may be the reason, and in that case publishers can't be faulted.)

I predict, though, that in the next year or two we will be seeing a new product from Mac. I'll even go so far as to name it. They will call it the TouchBook. (Laugh at me when I'm wrong; but admit it, it's not a bad name.) It will basically be the iPod Touch, with a screen about the size of a small laptop. But it will be a touch screen, that you can use a stylus with, with optional plug-in keyboard (although it will retain the touch-style keyboard). It will be an artistic canvas, a desktop publishing composer, a video viewer, a music player, a book reader, and an internet connection. I don't know much about how Mac reveals stuff to the public, or their development process, but I wouldn't be surprised if it happens soon.

That's all pretty specific, but even if they don't do exactly that, a product like that will be available soon . . . and these types of things break down all sorts of walls that used to be in the way of publishers. Suddenly, printing costs aren't as much of a factor. In comic books, I see comics being made available in two formats: one strictly digital, and one strictly collectible in that it comes in paper with a digital format. Just like my hardcover book publishing idea.

The only factor in this equation that has to change is price. When the reader prices finally come down, more people will buy them . . . and more people will use them. And more publishers will be able to find their niche audience easier.

Yeah, it's not all "sunshine and gumdrops" . . . but it's also not all "rainy days and Mondays".

I'm excited to be a part of this new frontier.

~ Ben

Mac vs. PC

I’m sitting in Border’s, writing. I look around and see three people reading magazines. Two with books. And four people working. I’m not sure what they are working on, but they are engrossed in their laptops. Except the guy in the business suit. He’s got a laptop bag, but he’s working on a stack of papers. Not sure if they are papers he’s grading or business reports. Doesn’t matter.

Here’s what matters. Of the four people using laptops (three plus me), THREE of us are on Macs. The fourth has a Compaq.

I found it interesting. Not sure if anyone else is gonna care, but I found it interesting.

~ Ben