Four of my favorite podcasts and the reasons why I like them

Here are some of my favorite podcasts:

The Micheal Baisden show at the www.baisden live.com carries

an audio cast of the Micheal Baisden Radio show as featured 

on the radio, without the commercial advertisements.

The podcast includes snippets of old school R&B and 

“grown folks” music and conversation.  Various current

controversial topics are discussed. The audience can

participate through calling in and commenting on facebook

the show’s websites.   Regular guest appear periodically.

 Health issues such as nutritional healing and sexually transmitted

diseases   Baisden is a promoter of entrepreneurs and small business.

I like this podcast for the same reasons that I like the radio show. 

  If I do not get a chance to finish listening to a topic I

 am interested in, I am able to find the podcast on line finish the rest of it. 

  If information is given such as a website address, it is still accessible at

another time. I find the show informative; I am interested in the topics

and what the audience thinks about them. The presentation is light and 

often humorous and the guests are provocative. Some of these podcasts

are available on i-tunes.

American radio works is part of America Public radio is another

of my favorite podcasts.  Podcasts may be accessed through their

web site: http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/documentaries.php 

  and through i-tunes.  American public radio works, which airs on the

radio features full length radio documentaries, of about 50 minutes in four

areas: Economy, War and Conflict, Climate Change, and History. They also

do a very good job of taking a purely audio medium “radio” and converting

it into a visual form that will draw you in on its website.  The visuals promise

an interesting podcast to listen to and the podcasts live up to the advertising.

I enjoy the American Radio works because of the breadth and depth in 

coverage of the chosen topics in the podcasts. The documentaries thoroughly

cover the subject matter. Although long in length, they are broken up by music

related to the topic.  For instance Audio montages and archival audio is added

to podcasts that are exploring historic topics.

A third podcast favorite is “Goodie Bag” by Kirby Ferguson, available

through i-tunes: http://itunes.apple.com/lk/podcast/goodie-bag/id268723028 

and through vimeo: http://vimeo.com/1905874 .

 Kirby Ferguson is a filmmaker who does high quality

(much better than youtube) video podcasts.  He speaks on several IT,

graphic, film and social issue topics. His podcasts include, amongst others,

a very creative yet gory battle of Macs versus PCs, and a missive on Trajan

Roman fonts. 

I like Kirby Ferguson’s podcasts because I find them fun, creative, insightful

and enjoyable.  He has an irrelevant attitude but often makes some pretty

relevant points.  I love his “everything is a remix” series.  He has released the

first two which deal with music and film. This series is particularly relevant to the

topics we covered in class. 

My fourth favorite is News and Notes, from npr radio. www.npr.org . 

My favorite show covered politics, analysis, interviews  with celebrities

and politicians, sports, a feature about African current events, a “digital life”

feature that analyzed current events concerning computers and technology,

 and reporter’s and  blogger’s round tables. News and Notes covered

current events that African Americans were interested in from an African American

perspective.

I like the podcasts as the radio show.  It discussed issues that I am interested in,

in a thorough intelligent manner. I am big fan of its anchors and commentators

Fariya Chidea, Tony Cox and Tavis Smiley. Different perspectives were given

the topics are relevant, even now, though the show is no longer broadcasted.

For example reviews of the arts are still relevant. Classic interviews of people

who I admire such as Alice Coltrane, Gordon Parks and many unsung heroes

can be found.  Events that were current then give a historical perspective on 

what is happening now and it is also interesting to listen to speculation and

predictions while knowing the outcome.

Random Thought

Macs vs. PCs

The Week magazine: Mac people vs. PC people: Top 5 differences

 http://theweek.com/article/index/214640/mac-people-vs-pc-people-top-5-differences.

Kirby Ferguson: Macs versus PCs (Warning: a bit gory, viewers discretion advised) http://www.goodiebag.tv/episodes/12_macs_vs_pcs.htm

Throughout this semester we looked into technology. We also looked into how we can prepare ourselves for our changing world. 

And,

We worked on Macs using several of the software features that give us an expanding ability to create digital media of a quality that was impossible to obtain in the past, unless you were willing to part with a huge amount of money.

And,

We spent a great deal of time discussing entrepreneurs, the kind of people who can take risks, find new niches, create new technologies and find new ways of implementing that technology using new business models. We viewed a video on presenting like Steve Jobs and we saw the launch of the IPad 2.  We looked and listened to podcasts on I-tunes. And, created our own podcasts using garage band. 

Of course the world is not all Apple based. There is also that other computer platform known as the PC. And there  has been a long contentious history of dissention between   MAC and PC users. Some people who are aficionados of one or the other demonize their counterparts and characterize them in stereotypical ways. People seem to feel as strongly about their platform as they do their sport teams or political parties. The comments on the Week magazine’s article profiling  MAC and PC users, illustrate that Kirby Ferguson’s take on this disagreement, though a bit exaggerated and gory, is not far off the mark when depicting the level of animosity.

As technology progresses, brand name loyalty seems limiting.  People will get the best from technology by evaluating their needs and seeing how the particular item meets their needs. It is also important to decide for ourselves what our needs and wants are, not to let someone else define that for us.  A computer is a tool not a badge that gives us social status or defines what group we are in. Ideas like MACs are for young urban professional and PCS are for suburbanites, are limiting.  We are not the people that marketers say we are.

Comfort and competence on multiple platforms; and openness to different ways of doing things allows flexibility and multiple pathways to innovation and success.  No not PC versus Macs, PCs along with Macs.  The rivalry ends… could a partnership begin? Will the last MAC user and the last PC user standing find out that they are soul mates?

Death by Power Point

Present like Steve Jobs

http://www.bnet.com/videos/present-like-steve-jobs/192173

March 2, 2011 Steve Job announces

roll out of I-pad 2

http://events.apple.com.edgesuite.net/1103pijanbdvaaj/event/index.html

Gates, Jobs and the Zen Aesthetic:

http://presentationzen.blogs.com/presentationzen/2005/11/the_zen_estheti.html

One thing nearly all college students will find themselves doing from time to time is a power point presentation.  If you arrived at this blog through my e-portfolio, you can see that I have had to put together a few for my classes. 

The use of the power point application is also pretty popular in the business world.  As an employee at a local brewery, I have put together numerous presentations using power point for such uses as safety training, classroom training prior to hands on training and for use in facilitating briefings and updates in meetings.

Once someone learns the basics of power point, they can easily put together, modify and add all sorts of bells and whistles to their slides. It is also quite easy to put everything someone thinks of in a presentation, rather than editing it. Since a great deal of information can be put on the slides, many will put everything they have to say on their slides rather than then relying on good preparation.

In the video we watched in class during the sixth week, “How to Present Like Steve Jobs“, Carmine Gallo discusses the methods used by Steve Jobs in delivering effective inspiring presentations that make him an admired speaker with many followers.  On his blog "Presentation Zen", Garr Reynolds in his blog post “Gates, Jobs, & the Zen Aesthetic” also discusses Jobs' methods while comparing him to Bill Gates CEO of Microsoft, Power Point's maker.

We all would do better by keeping their tips in mind.  It is unfortunate that when we are taught how to use power point and given assignments that will be graded, there are often requirements for the amount of transitions, the number of slides used and the number of animations such as bullets sliding in from the side.

All the motion from animation and slide transitions often takes away from the simplicity of the experience, obscuring the message. Requirements to have a certain amount of clip-art take away from the simple visual elegance often overwhelming and confusing the audience. Compare Steve Job’s presentation for the roll out of the I-pad 2 to the photos of Bill Gates in “Gates, Jobs, & the Zen Aesthetic” and you can easily see what I mean.

It would be more appropriate to be graded on the effectiveness of the presentation.  Does it inspire enthusiasm in the audience, are they informed or do they learn from the experience or do they tune out the presentation, fearing “death by power point”?

As new technology is rolled out we need to look at how we make use it. Just because something is possible with the technology, does not mean it should be done. Over using power point’s features just because they are there is analogous to racing through a crowded, congested city at 100 mile per hours just because cars are able to go that fast.  

 

Observing Steve Jobs and following the advice given by Carmine Gallo and Garr Reynolds will help you deliver more effective, inspiring and persuasive presentations, whether you use power point or not.

Four of My Favorite Podcasts

Here are some of my favorite podcast:

Is CIS106, We had the opportunity to create our own podcasts using Garage Band.

Here are some podcasts that I enjoy and follow on the web:

The Michael Baisden show at the www.baisden live.com carries an audio cast of the Michael Baisden Radio show as featured on the radio, without the commercial advertisements. The podcast includes snippets of old school R&B and “grown folks” music and conversation.  Various current controversial topics are discussed with interaction from the audience through call-ins and participation through commenting on facebook and his websites.   Regular guest appear periodically, who talk about health issues such as nutritional healing and sexually transmitted diseases.  He is also a promoter of entrepreneurs and small business.

I like this podcast for the same reasons that I like the radio show.  If I become interested in a topic that is being discussed, but do not get a chance to finish listening to it, because I usually listen in the car, I am able to look up the show and listen to the rest of it.  If there is information that I am interested in, it is still accessible at another time.  I find the show informative; I am interested in the topics and what the audience thinks about them. The presentation is light and often humorous and the guests are provocative. Some of these podcasts are available on i-tunes.

 American radio works is part of America Public radio is another of my favorite podcasts.  Podcasts may be accessed through their web site: http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/documentaries.php  and through i-tunes.  American public radio works, which airs on the radio features full length radio documentaries, of about 50 minutes in four areas: Economy, War and Conflict, Climate Change, and History. They also do a very good job of taking a purely audio medium “radio” and converting it into a visual form that will draw you in on its website.  The visuals promise an interesting podcast to listen to and the podcasts live up to the advertising.

I enjoy the American Radio works because of the breadth and depth of the coverage of the chosen topic during each podcast. The documentaries thoroughly cover the subject matter. Although they are quite long in length, they are broken up by music related to the topic.  Audio montages and archival audio is added to podcasts that are exploring historic topics for instance.

A third podcast favorite is “Goodie Bag” by Kirby Ferguson, available through i-tunes: http://itunes.apple.com/lk/podcast/goodie-bag/id268723028 and through vimeo: http://vimeo.com/1905874 . Kirby Ferguson is a filmmaker who does high quality (much better than youtube) video podcasts.  He speaks on several IT, graphic arts, social issue and film topics. His podcasts include a very creative yet gory battle of Macs versus PCs, and a missive on Trajan Roman fonts.

 

         I like  Kirby Ferguson’s podcasts because I find them fun, creative, insightful and enjoyable.  He has an irrelevant attitude but often makes some pretty relevant points.  I love his “everything is a remix” series.  He has the first  two parts  out that deal with music and film. This series is particularly relevant to the topics we are covering in class. 

 

 

          My fourth favorite is News and Notes, from npr radio. www.npr.org  .  My favorite show covered politics, analysis, interviews  with celebrities and politicians, sports, a feature about African current events, a “digital life” feature that analyzed current events concerning computers and technology, reporters’ and  blogger’s round tables.  News and Notes covered current events that African Americans were interested in from an African American perspective.

 

          I like the podcasts for the same reason why I liked the radio show.  It discussed issues that I am interested in, in a thorough intelligent manner. I am big fan of Fariya Chidea, Tony Cox and Tavis Smiley. Different perspectives were given; the topics such as reviews of the arts are still relevant, even now, though the show is no longer broadcasted. Classic interviews of people who I admire such as Alice Coltrane, Gordon Parks and other heroes both sung and unsung can be found in the archives.  Events that were current then give a historical perspective on what is happening now and it is also interesting to listen to speculation and predictions while knowing the outcome.