podcasting
Wed Aug 21 21:12:03 EDT 2013
Today was the Kindle's commute debut. I hadn't had time to download more podcasts to the MP3 player. There's a pile of TED Talks in the Kindle. And the Bluetooth headset is pleasantly unencumbering. Visuals and graphics are integral to some of the TED Talks, and incidental for others. So for some talks I didn't need to suspend the program to change trains or leave the METRO. The talk about the virtual Internet choir didn't fare so well over the train's background noise. But it's easy enough to switch to something else, and come back to it later. (Or not.)
There's no reason I couldn't listen to audio podcasts on the bike this way too, with the Bluetooth headset, and the Kindle in my pannier.
anniemal says she's going to consider cooking dinners again. I've been coming home at a fairly consistent time, and she says the unpredictability of my schedule was the reason she stopped cooking before. That wasn't the impression I had at the time, and it's not what I'd consider a valid reason anyway. I was still going to eat something, whatever time I got home. (It's not like I somehow got dinner at the office those nights I came home late. Well, once in a blue moon I did, but not enough to have been a factor.) Ironically, I'm going to be working late tomorrow night. (We're moving a data center. Another one.) The bus schedule puts my return in half-hour steps, but there's still nothing preventing nights when I might stay 2 or 3 hours late. And once I'm biking again there's no schedule constraints at all - including the limit of needing to leave in time to catch the last bus.
Thursday 01:10
I installed Podcast Addict and Simple Podcatcher on my Kindle tonight. Simple Podcatcher doesn't seem to support video podcasts, so I didn't spend any time on it. (I've already decided I like the TED Talks video podcasts.) (Hmmm, looking at the website, it looks like Simple Podcatcher only streams podcasts; it doesn't download them. To download, you need to pay money for Podcatcher Deluxe or Video Podcatcher Deluxe.) Podcast Addict looks like it will do everything I need. It recommended lots of interesting feeds. It didn't offer the TED videos, just the audio, but it took the URL I had from gPodder (Linux) with no problem.
The most helpful favorable reviewThe most helpful critical review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars1.0 out of 5 stars
Love this podcast organizer/player.lousy
This is definitely the best podcast app. Easy interface and great selection of podcasts. I would definitely recommend this to anyone.This podcaster is just plain hard to figure out and unusable. I'll stick with the BeyondPod app instead of this one.
There were a couple of negative reviews from people who couldn't figure out how to use the app. Everyone else loves it.
I didn't want to run separate podcatching software on my laptop and the Kindle, but the Kindle's MTP connection for file transfers isn't recognized by the Linux podcast software. The laptop can download the episodes and I can transfer them to the Kindle, but it's just the audio or video files without any metadata. (E.g. the TED files are named by the speaker, not the topic. Real podcast software shows an episode title and a description.) So maybe the Kindle will just be my primary podcast device, instead of the laptop downloading to the MP3 player and the Kindle.
[This entry was originally posted as https://syntonic-comma.dreamwidth.org/621341.html on Dreamwidth (where there are
comments).]
Today was the Kindle's commute debut. I hadn't had time to download more podcasts to the MP3 player. There's a pile of TED Talks in the Kindle. And the Bluetooth headset is pleasantly unencumbering. Visuals and graphics are integral to some of the TED Talks, and incidental for others. So for some talks I didn't need to suspend the program to change trains or leave the METRO. The talk about the virtual Internet choir didn't fare so well over the train's background noise. But it's easy enough to switch to something else, and come back to it later. (Or not.)
There's no reason I couldn't listen to audio podcasts on the bike this way too, with the Bluetooth headset, and the Kindle in my pannier.
anniemal says she's going to consider cooking dinners again. I've been coming home at a fairly consistent time, and she says the unpredictability of my schedule was the reason she stopped cooking before. That wasn't the impression I had at the time, and it's not what I'd consider a valid reason anyway. I was still going to eat something, whatever time I got home. (It's not like I somehow got dinner at the office those nights I came home late. Well, once in a blue moon I did, but not enough to have been a factor.) Ironically, I'm going to be working late tomorrow night. (We're moving a data center. Another one.) The bus schedule puts my return in half-hour steps, but there's still nothing preventing nights when I might stay 2 or 3 hours late. And once I'm biking again there's no schedule constraints at all - including the limit of needing to leave in time to catch the last bus.
Thursday 01:10
I installed Podcast Addict and Simple Podcatcher on my Kindle tonight. Simple Podcatcher doesn't seem to support video podcasts, so I didn't spend any time on it. (I've already decided I like the TED Talks video podcasts.) (Hmmm, looking at the website, it looks like Simple Podcatcher only streams podcasts; it doesn't download them. To download, you need to pay money for Podcatcher Deluxe or Video Podcatcher Deluxe.) Podcast Addict looks like it will do everything I need. It recommended lots of interesting feeds. It didn't offer the TED videos, just the audio, but it took the URL I had from gPodder (Linux) with no problem.
The most helpful favorable reviewThe most helpful critical review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars1.0 out of 5 stars
Love this podcast organizer/player.lousy
This is definitely the best podcast app. Easy interface and great selection of podcasts. I would definitely recommend this to anyone.This podcaster is just plain hard to figure out and unusable. I'll stick with the BeyondPod app instead of this one.
There were a couple of negative reviews from people who couldn't figure out how to use the app. Everyone else loves it.
I didn't want to run separate podcatching software on my laptop and the Kindle, but the Kindle's MTP connection for file transfers isn't recognized by the Linux podcast software. The laptop can download the episodes and I can transfer them to the Kindle, but it's just the audio or video files without any metadata. (E.g. the TED files are named by the speaker, not the topic. Real podcast software shows an episode title and a description.) So maybe the Kindle will just be my primary podcast device, instead of the laptop downloading to the MP3 player and the Kindle.
[This entry was originally posted as https://syntonic-comma.dreamwidth.org/621341.html on Dreamwidth (where there are
comments).]