Netcast List April 2010

It’s been a long time since I updated my netcast list, but my habits have changed a bit.  Here is what I currently listen to regularly:

• This Week in Tech – Weekly Tech News Roundup
• GeekBrief – Daily snippet of gadget news
• Games with Garfield – Monthly gaming podcast featuring the creator of Magic: The Gathering
• StackOverflow Podcast – The podcast is changing so I have to decide whether the new format stays in heavy rotation.  It has been a good podcast for programming types.
• Windows Weekly – Everything Microsoft

 

I listen to these when I can:

• Manager Tools – I’ve learned a lot about being a better manager from these guys.
• Tekzilla – Video tech news
• Cranky Geeks – More tech news
• FLOSS Weekly – Interviews with open source projects.  Very interesting if you are a programmer.
• Econtalk – Interviews with economists.  Usually pretty accessible.
• Berkeley Webcasts – All kinds of classes from Berkeley in podcast format.  I suggest CS61a which teaches through SICP.
• Sound Investing – Investment discussion focused on buy and hold index fund investing.

 

If you have suggestions, leave them in the comments.

A Taste of Stack Overflow DevDays

If you missed Stack Overflow DevDays, there is some audio from it available on Stack Overflow Podcast #71.  I wish there was a longer version of this.  It’s only about 1/2 hour of outtakes from the conference, but it is still interesting to hear.  These snippets are followed by a long discussion with some of the speakers.  The conversation rambles and the audio quality is poor so feel free to stop listening after the conference outtakes.

Alan Kay on User Interface Design

As part of the Berkeley Webcast project, a pair of presentations by Alan Kay (of Smalltalk fame) is available.  The presentation is from the early 1980s and discusses the development of user interface design from the 1960s onward.  If you ware into computer history at all, these are very interesting.

Part 1

Part 2

The entirity of CS61A is available in podcast format if it is easier to access that way.

 

James Whittaker Netcast

James Whittaker is the author of books like How To Break Software.  He ran one of the few university-level testing programs at Florida Tech.  He's now as Microsoft and helping Visual Studio become better at testing.  The guys at .Net Rocks caught up with him for an interview.  James explains what he thinks the future of testing is and what's right and wrong with testing at Microsoft.  Put this on your Zune/iPod.  It's worth the hour.

June Netcast Update

By popular demand (seriously), here is an update of the netcasts I'm listening to on a regular basis.

 

Audio:

• This Week In Tech - Round table discussion of technology topics.  Sometimes should be known as This Week in Twitter.
• This Week In Media - Round table discussion of issues affecting media.  Everything from DRM to Red cameras.
• Windows Weekly - Everything Microsoft.
• Manager Tools - Great resource for both aspiring and current managers.  Practical advice.
• Stack Overflow - Joel Spolsky (Joel on Software) and Jeff Atwood (Coding Horror) chatting and we get to listen in.  A bit rough, but fun and informative.
• I, Cringely - Robert X. Cringley reading his weekly column.  Not always correct, but usually entertaining.
• FLOSS Weekly - Interviews with the names behind common open source projects.

 

Video:

• Tekzilla - User-driven technology news and how-tos.
• Cranky Geeks - Like TWiT, but on video.
• Geek Brief TV - 5-minutes a day on the latest in tech.

 

Suggestions for additional podcasts are welcome.

Better Writing

The Manager Tools podcast has an interesting series on better writing.  This isn't a management-specific topic.  Rather it is something everyone can benefit from.  In a day and age where so much communication is via e-mail, having the ability to communicate your thoughts clearly and quickly is important for everyone.  One of the points the podcasts make is to keep your writing succinct and readable.  Be careful how many 3+ syllable words you use and how long your sentences are.  Put the main points up front.  Save context for an explanation after the main point or just leave it out.  Business e-mails are not a place to increase the drama by building up to the main point.  A professor once told me that in technical papers, you should be able to understand the paper by just reading the first sentence of every paragraph.  This is true of all good technical and business writing.  There are some other good tips in the podcast.  Put it on your Zune/iPod and give it a listen.

Part 1

Part 2

Hello World Podcast

MacBreak Tech has a recent podcast talking about learning to program.  They begin with the question "how do I start programming games" and break it down.

1. Pick a project.  Don't learn for learning's sake.  Learn to accomplish something.  It will give you a structure to hang your learning on.


2. Pick a language.  They suggest Python, Basic, and Flash.  Those aren't bad places to start.


3. Book or class?  Think about your learning style.  Classes force the pace.  Books are often better than reference material.  They make a cohesive whole out of all the parts.


4. Borrow code.  Think about starting by modifying something someone else has already done.

Of course, the podcast is a little Mac-centric.  They don't mention Visual Basic or C#, but most of the content is applicable to any language.  If you have an MP3 player and are wondering where to start, try this podcast.

 

Podcasts I Listen To Regularly

It's been a while since I posted my list of podcasts and my tastes have changed since then.  Here's what I'm listening to on a regular basis right now:

 

Audio:

• This Week In Tech - Tech news round table
• This Week in Media - Mac news round table
• The Dave Ramsey Show - Personal finance.
• Manager Tools - How to be a better manager.

Video:

• Tekzilla - Tech stories.  Long and short format.
• G4's Ninja Warrior - Snips from the Ninja Warrior show.
• Ask a Ninja - Comedy.
• Geek Brief - Daily tech news.

There are a good number of others that I listen to with less regularity.

Inbox Zero

If you're anything like me, you have way too much e-mail to read it all.  To try to cope with this, I've resorted to a collection of rules that sorts my mail into a Byzantine structure of folders.  This helps a little, but has the problem of helping me miss a lot of mail as well.  Things get neatly sorted into specific folders where they are summarily ignored for large periods of time.  I just ran across a talk by Merlin Mann discussing a concept he calls "Inbox Zero."  There are basically two main concepts:

1. Don't let e-mail run your life.  Check it only periodically.
2. When you do check it, take action on each piece of mail right away.  The key is the nature of the action taken.  In my world, taking action has always meant reading and responding to the mail.  This takes a long time and it's hard to get through the mailbox this way.  Instead, Merlin suggests doing one of the following, all of which are quick:
1. Delete.  If the mail isn't important, delete it immediately.
2. Archive.  If this isn't something you need now but might want later, move it to an archive folder.  He says to use just one.  That way you don't need to think about how to file it.  In Outlook 2007 (or earlier if you used desktop search or Lookout) and online mail programs, searching can solve the problem folders were intended to solve.  The advantage of only one is that you don't need to think about how to file it.
3. Respond Quickly.  If you can answer in 1-5 sentences, just do it.  Then delete (or archive) the mail.
4. Just Do It.  If action is required that can be done now, get up and do it.
5. Flag For Follow-up.  If the mail requires more time, move it to a follow-up folder or mark in such a way that you know to get back to it.  This lets you move on.  Come back to this folder at the end of the day and clean it out.

That's all.  I'm going to give it a shot and see how it works.

Apparently this talk was based on a series of blog posts.

Video Podcasts

With my new Zune, I've started watching some video netcasts.  Here are the ones I've found the most interesting so far:

• Tekzilla - Feels a lot like old TechTV.  1/2 hour an episode talking about everything from routers to Black Friday sales.
• The GigaOm Show - Om Malik interviews headliners and comments on the Web 2.0 world.
• DL.tv - Another technology news show.
• Cranky Geeks - John Dvorak hosts a panel discussion about the latest trends in technology.  Think Twit but with video.  Not quite as good though.
• Ask A Ninja - Short form comedy.  Hard to describe.  Just watch it.
• Tiki Bar - Comedy show set around the adventures in a tiki bar.  Well written and high production value.

If I'm missing any good video casts, let me know.

Orson Scott Card Talks Firefly

One of my favorite authors is talking about one of my favorite shows.  Orson Scott Card was interviewed by the Firefly Talk netcast.  Card is the author of such books at Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead,  and Ender's Shadow.  All of which are excellent books and should hit your reading list if you haven't read them already.  He talks about Firefly which was a short-lived Fox series about people living on the uncivilized edges of space and what they have to do to get by. The writing is amazing.  It was followed by a feature-length movie called Serenity.  Check them both out if you haven't already.  You won't regret it.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

[Update June 5 - Part 2 link fixed.  Part 3 still not posted.]

[Update June 12 - Part 3 posted.]

Great Discussion of HD Photo

HD-Photo is a new image format coming from Microsoft.  It is intended as a replacement for JPG.  Bill Crow, the program manager for HD Photo, took the time to hang out with the guys from This Week in Media.  The netcast covers a lot of interesting ground including what is wrong with RAW, JPG, and TIFF and why we might want yet another format.  The new format uses floating point values instead of integers which allows for high dynamic range.  That means it can represent parts of an image that are whiter than white or blacker than black.  Unlike some other formats, however, it is highly compressed so the files aren't too large.  I was skeptical that we needed yet another format but after listening to the arguments, I'm convinced this is a good thing.  I'll be watching closely to see how well the industry adopts this format.

Agile Testing Netcast

I tried a new netcast today.  It's the initial netcast from Jason at Parlezuml.  I believe the weekly show will be about agile development in general but this first one is all about the concept of agile testing.  There are several interviews.  The topics cover agile vs. waterfall testing, exploratory testing, and others.  Some of the interviews were interesting.  Others less so.  It's a good freshman effort though.  I'll be back next week.

April Netcast Update

About time for another update of my netcast list.  It's changed a little and some have moved locations.  It's still fundamentally the same list though.

This Week in Tech - Leo Laporte hosts a roundtable discussion of the news of the week.

This Week in Media - Technical and political discussion of media production.  Nte the new address.

Windows Weekly - This month saw an interview with Dave Caulton of the Zune team.

The HDTV Podcast - The latest in HDTV news and equipment reviews.  Only 1/2 hour. 

The Dice Tower - Weekly discussion of boardgames.

Major Nelson - Larry Hyrb of the XBox Live team talks about XBox 360 gaming.  News and interviews.

Interview With Dave Caulton of Zune

Windows Weekly has an interesting interview with Dave Caulton of the Zune team in this week's netcast.  Dave discusses interesting issues like:

1. The Universal deal


2. Zune Christmas sales


3. Is the Zune doing as well as expected?


4. Zune's wireless capabilities and future


5. What about Netcasts?

Dave Caulton is well-spoken and answers the questions candidly.  I didn't get the feeling he was trying to spin.  Then again, I'm a Microsoftie too so I'm probably biased.  If you are interested in the Zune, I suggest you give it a listen.

February Netcast Update

It's been a while since I posted my list of netcasts.  I've had less time of late to listen to netcasts so my regularly scheduled netcasts have dwindled.  Here is a list of those I listen to on a regular basis:

This Week in Tech - Leo Laporte hosts a roundtable discussion of the news of the week.  Great one-stop-shopping for all noteworthy tech/geek happenings.

This Week in Media - Content creation and politics.  Everything from discussions of DRM to the latest news about the Red camera.

Windows Weekly - Really more like Microsoft Weekly.  Despite working here, there's a lot I don't know about.  It's also fun to hear someone else's perspective on what we do.

The HDTV Podcast - The latest in HDTV news and equipment reviews.  Only 1/2 hour. 

A few notable mentions that I listen to when I have extra time:

The Dice Tower - Best board gaming netcast I've found.

Security Now - The world of computer security in layman's terms.

Interview with Clayton Christensen

The Innovator's Dilemma is an eye-opening book that everyone in the technology industry should read and understand.  I recently ran across an audio interview with the author, Clayton Christensen.  In it he gives a brief explanation of the main thesis of his book.  That is that there are certain types of technology that are disruptive.  They are at first underperformant of the market but allow for new uses.  Over time, they become good enough to subsume the previous solutions.  A good example is that of the PC.  When the Apple // and IBM PC first launched, they couldn't do the work of real business.  For that, you needed a minicomputer.  Over time, however, the PC became powerful enough to do everything that a minicomputer could and eventually totally replaced the minicomputer.  In his book, Clay uses examples as diverse as hard drives and earth moving equipment.  In this interview, he also starts to flesh out what he calls the "Law of conservation of modularity" which attempts to explain how the ability to make profits in a market changes over time.  He talks about how this affects Intel and how it will affect the software market.  I don't know that I agree with all of his characterizations but it is definitely thought-provoking.

 

HD-DVD Podcast

Our Vice President, Amir Majidimehr, gave an interview to XBox Live's Major Nelson.  He and one of the program managers for HD-DVD talk about the market, the discs themselves, scripting, interactivity, codecs, and what makes HD-DVD better than BluRay.  It's a very informative interview.  Load it up on your media player or burn it to CD and listen away.  It's well worth your time. 

Two versions are available:

WMA

MP3

My initial take was that HD-DVD was losing the battle.  The studios all seemed to be siding with BluRay, the PS3 seemed like an unstoppable juggernaut, and HD-DVD didn't seem to have much going for it.  Now all that has changed.  The studios are still largely with BluRay but they'll go wherever the players are.  The PS3 is looking more like a hobbled old horse than the inevitable winner of the race.  HD-DVD has made a decent showing in the market.  It is available and costs 1/2 of the BluRay players.  Things could get interesting.

June Monthly Podcast Update

It's been a busy month (thus the last listing and the sparse postings in June).  No new podcasts were added for the month of June.  The regularly-scheduled programming is the same as it was in May.  I tried a few new podcasts but didn't get into them. 

I listened to The Vintage Gamer but found his style too dry for my liking.  He spends an hour talking about one game--I listened to the Diplomacy episode--but still manages to stay at too high a level for my tastes.  There isn't much meat there and the voice has no energy.

I also tried Linux Reality but found that also not to my liking.  The content is way too high level and is often incorrect.  As someone who has only toyed with Linux, I shouldn't be able to spot glaring errors in the content yet.  The voice here is also lacking energy.

DX10 Interview

The ExtremeTech Podcast for last week was an interview with one of the DirectX 10 architects, David Blythe, and Chris Donahue who is on the Biz Dev side of the house.  The interview covers the new graphics architecture in Vista as well as what has changed for DX10.  There is a lot of useful information in this interview.  You'll get the most out of it if you have some understanding of how graphics pipelines work already but it doesn't get too deeply technical.  There is a lot of exciting stuff made possible by the more generalized shader model and the new geometry shader in DX10. 

We don't do a lot of DX10-related work here in video land but do rely heavily on the new Vista display driver architecture (WDDM).  Here is a presentation David gave at WinHEC a year ago on the subject.  If you are curious, much of what I work on in the video realm falls into that box labeled "DXVA."  You can learn more about it from this WinHEC presentation given by Rodolfo Vargas, a PM that I work closely with.

Let me warn you that the sound quality of the interview is terrible.  If you don't want to suffer your way through it, there is also a transcript of the interview available here.