A few news items + opinions on podcasting

So, Barack Obama today updated his webpage with the announcement that he has formed a Presidential Exploratory Committee- this means he's going to be listening to his supporters and people he meets on tour to decide what his platform would be should he decide to run for President. So, this doesn't mean that he is running- yet- but it does mean that it's very possible. Very. The fact that he is going through this motion at all tells me he isn't stooping to big business or some puppetmaster. Of course, everything remains to be seen- but the man used to be an lawyer of, and then proceeded to teach, Constitutional Law- and I'm pretty sure that this is what everyone hated about Bush. He flogged the fuck out of the Constitution these past six years, and our only alternatives so far have been politicians who play weak opposite games with Bush. I'd vote for him over McCain, easily. God, just think- a woman and a black man may be running for President of the United States soon! This will be a test of how forward thinking we are- though the fact that Bush was reelected is a bit discouraging. I've been subscribing to his podcast, and while I don't agree with everything he has said so far on it, and while the fact that he voted YES for the Patriot Act is scary, I really like what he has had to say. Before this I sort of viewed him as a popstar of politics, but I've begun to take him seriously. Anyway, here is the link to his site:

www.barackobama.com

Speaking of podcasts, I love them. Fuck satellite radio- I get my news from Democracy Now! and the Diggnation podcast, and everything that satellite radio should have, podcasts provide. Hell, most of G4 is posted free for the public from their site. Now, podcasting isn't just for iTunes- there are other great clients for this stuff. My favorite other service for podcast subscriptions so far has been 'Democracy TV'- alot of YouTube is put out on there, at better quality in non-Flash format. Anyway, I've compiled a short list of iTunes store and non-iTunes store available podcasts for you to check out whenever:

-Channel Frederator-
You may remember seeing Frederator logos at the end of alot of Nickelodeon cartoons- this podcast is a full screen video podcast that showcases cartoons from art schools and up-and-coming talent in the animation industry. Pretty awesome, and free, and nice to stick on your portable player.

-This American Life-
Ira Glass' Radio broadcast- one of the last good things about radio- is frequently updated in podcast form. It features short fiction and first-person opinion pieces that deal, well, with America today. It's fucking great. It's only in Chicago. You should listen to it from there.

-Escape Pod and Pseudopod-
Both of these podcasts are put out by the same editors, and both are fucking awesome. Escape Pod is a science fiction podcast of various programs that range from audio readings of short SF stories to reader reviews of the latest science fiction films. It is well into it's 80th episode, and for the most part the core readings- usually an hour long- are updated every week. Pseudopod is younger, as it has been out for only a few months, but so far it's pretty good. The host of the show isn't as good, I think, as Escape Pods- the amazing Stephen Eley- but I have high hopes. It's like listening to Old Time Radio, but a bit less pulp and no static quality.

-Old Time Radio Suspense-
This is awesome- I've discovered alot of strange stuff on here, and alot of awesome stuff I do know. There have been lots of The Shadow episodes, Batman radio dramas, but also really pulpy police dramas and sci fi from the era that boggles the mind.

-Zencast-
A bunch of people talking about Buddhist Dharma. Nice for those of us that try to follow the Buddha.

-MacBreak (video)-
This basically updates you on all the indie developing and nifty features of Mac OS X, as well as news for it. If you own a Mac, and want more to do with it or want to know how to use it better, it's nice to browse through and download some stuff from time to time.

-1UP.com Podcasts-
I've read EGM for a long time because they are the least unbiased, most intelligent video game mag out there. I've been watching 'The 1UP Show' and '1UP.com- Retronauts' for a month or so now, and I really like it. The 1UP show is a full-screen video podcast that acts as an opinion forum shot like a reality show, among various editors and freelance writers for the magazines that Ziff Davis Media puts out. Retronauts is just about old games- but also pretty good insight into the industry, as it has so far proven to be more of an analysis of what is "changing" in the industry. With all the weird crap in consoles now, it's informative.

-The Essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson-
If you have trouble getting through Emerson, listen to someone read the essays. There are alot up now, and for some reason listening to someone speak speeches just works better.

-Various Open-Source Audobooks-
With the advent of open-source knowledge such as Project Gutenburg and Wikipedia comes fiction in the public domain. I'm about five chapters into Mary Shelley's Frankenstein on here, and there are plenty more.

Thats enough blogging. Carlo, signing out.