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I spoke to Dave McClure, investor, producer of Graphing Social Patterns, and blogger at Master of 500 Hats after moderating the panel Social Networking Platforms and Music at the SanFran MusicTech summit in San Francisco. He admittedly doesn’t know much about music, but he’s very tuned into social networking. After speaking to music tech geeks, I asked Dave what he learned. Looking at his notepad, he rattled off a list of services that were brought up during the discussion that he wants to learn more about including SongKick, JamBase, MyStrands, iMeem, and Last.fm. Dave also talked about the panel and the audience disagreeing on the issue of what service-YouTube, iTunes, or MySpace-has been the most influential in the music industry.
Make sure you check out the other three videos from the SanFran MusicTech conference:
Rusty Hodge with Soma.FM was my coworker ten years ago when I worked at ZDTV. All of us have such fantastic memories working at that place that I asked Rusty to tell me some of his favorite memories. I know this has nothing to do with the SanFran MusicTech conference, but I thought it would interest any geek that remembers those days. At the end Rusty mentions SRL which is the Survival Research Labs, an art collective that makes very violent loud machines that shoot fire.
Make sure you check out the other three videos from the SanFran MusicTech conference:
After watching Tim Ferriss, author of “The 4-Hour Workweek” speak at the SanFran MusicTech conference, I asked Pete Cashmore of Mashable what he learned from the conference and the session. Ferriss moved many of us to think differently about how to manage our time, communicate and learn from others, and how to delegate ANY duty to someone else including reading your own email. Pete also revealed his plans to improve the readability of Mashable beyond the top ten posts on the blog.
Make sure you check out the other three videos from the SanFran MusicTech conference:
Saw Tim Ferriss of “The 4-Hour Workweek” speak at the SanFran MusicTech summit about the need to break everything you do into a process that could be repeatable by someone else that’s not you. Any service (for work or personal life) can be delegated to someone else, often on the other side of the world. At the end of the discussion, he brought up the subject of appropriate ways of approaching bloggers. When I we spoke after the discussion, I asked him to elaborate on that topic.
Make sure you check out the other three videos from the SanFran MusicTech conference:
Last night I appeared on KQED’s This Week in Northern California talking about the birth of the Web. Fifteen years ago Tim Berners-Lee convinced his bosses at CERN to make his design of the Web open and free to everyone. It was a critical decision as we all realize now. Billions upon billions have been made as a result of that decision. San Francisco and Silicon Valley are the hubs of innovation in the Web. What can we expect in the next 15 years? Plan on the development of the semantic Web (Web 3.0), wireless ubiquity, and mobile content following us wherever we go.
Today was yet another day where I found myself engaged in another discussion with a friend about what podcasts we each listen to. After the conversation we end up sending each other links to our favorite podcasts. I thought it would just be a lot easier if I published my entire list of podcasts and then point them and you to that.
I’m always looking to be turned on to new shows, so please let me know your top recommendations. I find it very difficult to constantly keep up with all the shows, so if I take on a new show, I’ll need to let one go.
Apologies to all my friends who have podcasts that I’m not listening to. Now you know. :)
Here are my favorite shows and why.
Audio podcasts
BusinessWeek - Cover Stories: Pretty much says it in the title (which is always a good idea). Gives you a good background on how the reporter discovered the story and gathered the information to write it.
CNET News.com daily tech news podcast: Former colleagues Leslie Katz, Charlie Cooper, and others from ZDTV/TechTV host this short daily podcast. Great way to get caught up on the day’s tech news in just ten minutes.
KCRW’s The Business: This is probably my favorite podcast. Thirty minute weekly show about show business in Hollywood. Great interviews and insightful reporting.
NPR: Technology Podcast: Just some good tech reporting from NPR. They group together the best tech stories from the week in one podcast.
NPR: Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!: Yes, it’s a funny show, but this may be the first to go if I get a good new podcast recommendation. They need to change their format. It’s getting really stale.
The Official Lost Podcast: (video too!) I’m a total fan of Lost, but not so much a fan that I want to listen to the mind numbing conversations of the fan podcasts.
PJK Podcast: Good friend Patrick Kearney has a podcast about the ups and downs of living a digital lifestyle. Highly recommended even if you’re not a friend of Patrick’s. :)
Savage Love: Dan Savage is an incredibly entertaining host. Often makes the questions on Loveline seem tame.
Sparkletack: Podcast about different aspects of San Francisco history. I’m a big San Francisco history buff. I give walking tours occasionally. Richard Miller is probably the best podcast host ever. I don’t know of anyone that delivers their podcast with as much research, preparation, and passion as he does. He hasn’t made many episodes in a while, but he’s got an archive of 60+ evergreen episodes.
Unintended Detours: Good friend Sue Mell (former stand up comic) produces a show with production and story development that’s equal to the shows heard on WNYC’s Radio Lab.
WNYC’s Leonard Lopate Show: Great interviewer out of New York pumps out a handful of shows every day. I’m very selective of which ones I listen to, but I hear at least three every week.
WNYC’s Radio Lab: Just got turned onto this show from my friend Pete Alcorn at iTunes. Great audio production. Highly recommended for anyone wanting to learn about audio storytelling.
Video podcasts
Comedy Insider: Really well produced show from ON Networks. While I don’t learn anything new about comedy, I do see friends of mine on the show and it is valuable for those people looking to break into comedy.
Life as a Comic Videoblog: This is a better show from my comedian friend Rob Paravonian, now opening for George Carlin. It’s a great series about what it’s like to be a working comic.
Izzy Video: Offers segments on video shooting and post production. Also a really good model of free/paid content. Israel Hyman, the host, gives some podcasts away for free and has some others behind a paid subscription.
Photoshop for Video: More than 70+ episodes so far about preparing images for video production. I’m admittedly a Photoshop moron and I need all the help I can get.
Play Value: My favorite show from ON Networks is about the history of video games. I’ve learned a lot watching this show.
TEDTalks: If you don’t learn anything watching sessions at TED, you’re either not listening or you already know everything. In that case, please contact me, I’d love to meet you.
I returned last week to Green 960 to give a wrap up of last week’s Web 2.0 Expo. Host John Scott and I talk about the differences between Web 1.0, 2.0, and even 3.0, plus we discuss the worst product demonstration I’ve ever seen.
WARNING: This is very geeky and should only be watched by people who want to know about Microsoft’s Mesh networking announcement. Robert, a former Microsoft employee, gives a good overview.
David Spark is a journalist, analyst, producer, and comedian. This is his blog for his occasional technology radio report, The Spark Minute, on Green 960 AM in San Francisco (formerly 960, The Quake).