Three months ago, I wrote that I had stopped listening to radio and spent all my commute time listening to PodCasts.   I’m happy to report that wasn’t a fad and PodCasts have fundamentally changed my interaction with broadcast media.  Gone are Elliot in the Morning, Howard Stern and the Don and Mike show.  I am perfectly content (happier even) to listen to Leo Laporte and Adam Curry. 

PodCasting is also an amazing technological development to observe.  One year ago, it didn’t exist.  Today, it is embraced by 10 million listeners and there are over 6000 folks providing content.  It has progessed to the state that Apple released a version of iTunes today with extensive PodCast support.   If that isn’t mainstream, I don’t know what is.  I would expect that Adam Curry will meet his hundred million listener drive in the next two years.  How long, if ever, would it take Sirius or XM to meet that kind of goal.  My friend Eric got a Sirius unit for Christmas, and now that I got him into PodCasting, he is considering cancelling it.  Wow….talk about a paradigm shift.  I won’t be tuning in the radio again any time soon as I love the fact that I can touch my scroll wheel and be listening or content from the heart of Santa Monica or Guildford UK.

Here are the PodCasts that help me make it through my commute:

• This Week in Tech
• Adam Curry’s Daily Source Code
• KCRW’s the Treatment
• KCRW’s the Business
• Evil Genius Chronicles
• IT Conversations
• In Our Time
• 2600 - Off the Hook
• Rock and Roll Geek Show
• Inside Mac Radio
• Coverville

Quite the selection for every mood and if I get bored with them, there are 7990 more to chose from (and counting).

It is no secret that I am a big fan of Steve Jobs.  Therefore, it should be no surprise that I find his commencment address to Stanford to be very interesting.  Originally from here.

"
I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the
finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth
be told, this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to a college graduation.
Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That’s it. No big
deal. Just three stories."

(more…)

You saw it here first….

Okay, maybe not.  Full Story

The Terrorism Early Warning Group concept fulfills the intelligence
requirements outlined in Homeland Security Directive 8: Interim
National Preparedness Goal. Existing and emerging TEWs can serve as a
foundation for a national intelligence sharing and analysis network
bringing critical information and capabilities to local jurisdictions.
This paper articulates a vision for expanding the Terrorism Early
Warning Group (TEW) network that meets the local and national
requirements as specified in, Homeland Security Presidential Directive
8: Interim National Preparedness Goal (HSPD-8). This paper contains two
core sections; the first of which demonstrates how the TEW concepts
meet the requirements of HSPD-8 specifically, those associated with the
Goal and in the heart of the Goal, the Target Capabilities List (TCL);
the second section describing the vision for utilizing TEW Groups to
enhance our national capabilities in this critical area.  Download Concept Paper (PDF Format)

A wonderful evening in Istanbul…

To hold an event like this at the Palace, requires the approval of the Prime Minister.  The tables and open bars were actually set up outside the palace entrance, in a secured courtyard.  Lights were set up to set the mood and live Turkish music was performed throughout the evening.  We dined on wonderful Turkish food and due to the hospitality of our hosts, our drink glasses were never empty. For more information on the Palace, you can visit this site.

Apple computers are moving to Intel processors.  Not sure what I think about that yet.  As a shareholder, I worry about the transition over the next year.   Who wants to buy a Mac when you know a entire new processor base is coming….