Author: Andy Affleck

Randomness

Published on by Andy Affleck

So, catching you up on all things me, because I know so many of you out there have been wondering…

  • Getting Things Done Yes, I too have tasted this Kook-Ade. I read the book this past weekend and spent a chunk of time Monday morning redoing my organization system. Luckily, I was already pretty invested in Microsoft Entourage 2004 so it was no great shakes to alter my basic workflow in that program for this system. I’m only two days in so I don’t yet trust it but I do feel a lot more productive. It will take time before it feels like second nature and not something I am forcing myself to do. We shall see… Thanks to 43 Folders for getting me into this and being such a great resource for tips and tricks.
  • ipodder Yes, I have also drunk the podcasting Kool-Ade (see previous post). What I’m having a lot of fun with is the new, interesting music I am discovering via the blogdigger media feeds. Today I discovered 3 great tracks. Luckily, the metadata was in the tracks so I know what CDs to look for…
  • The Red Sox clinched a playoff berth (and just this minute they beat Tampa Bay in extra innings) so we’ll have some October fun again this year. Funny Sox story. I was sitting in our local Starbuck’s (I should say one of our local Starbuck’s reading GTD on Saturday wearing my trusty Red Sox cap. A family was in getting their drinks. While the man and woman were doing the sugar/whatever things to their drinks, their 2 year old daughter wandered in my direction. I’m always a bit weirded out when kids that young are let roam freely so I was keeping a close eye on her (it’s a parent thing). The man noticed and said “Honey, you can sit in the chair next to that man. He’s OK. He has a Red Sox cap on.” I laughed and she sat in the chair next to me and I say “Hi” to her. Then her father pulled out his cap which was, of course, Red Sox and collected his daughter and they left. Who knew that Starbuck’s caps were the sign that someone is OK to be safe with your children?
  • That same cap in that same Starbuck’s got me a big smile from the barista. A, as I described her to my wife later on, threateningly attractive blonde woman. She might have been flirting with me for all I know. Then again, dressed as a schlep, unshowered, and with my badly-needing-a-trim hair sticking out from under the cap in weird directions (why do the gray hairs refuse to do what the still-brown hairs do?) I’m sure it wasn’t flirting so much as being a good salesperson. But, dammit, I can dream, can’t I?
  • Movies I’ve seen recently: Sky Captain (Liked it), all three of the new Star Wars DVDs (loved ’em), 50 First Dates (liked it), Love Actually (loved it, actually)… we’ve joined our local blockbuster and rediscovered that we really enjoy just renting random DVDs and then lying in bed with a laptop perched on a belly watching movies at night.

OK. That’s enough for now. Thanks for listening.

podcasting

Published on by Andy Affleck

On podcasting: “Sorry Adam, Dave, Doc, and Dan, but I hate podcasting. It’s a total waste of my time to listen to something when I could read it.” — Hack the Planet.

I agree and yet I completely disagree. While I can get far more information quickly and easily via NetNewsWire and reading in place (I keep current on over 200 sites daily), I do get a lot out of the podcasting as well. I’m sitting here listening to back Daily Source Codes and most of what I am hearing are things I doubt Adam would ever blog. Some are anecdotes about his MTV years, some are random stories of life in Belgium and others are thoughts on the media, politics, Macs, the tech industry, etc. What he normally blogs are short snippets. What he discusses in the Daily Source Code are involved, and have a lot of depth to them. Perhaps given his background, that makes sense. Someone who’s been a writer their entire life might do terrible podcasts. But in this case, I doubt I’d get this interesting content any other way.

That said, I also agree in that the rise of podcasts means I will get less and less content. I only have a small window of time in my busy life to actually listen to these things. I’ve already unsubscribed from everything except Curry’s because I just don’t have the time. My commute has gone from 70-80 minutes on a bus/train each way to 30 minutes in a car with my neighbor where sitting under headphones would be rude. And once I’m home, I’m daddy and there’s just no time until late at night for things iPod. And at work, I can only handle music, not voice. So, this is of limited use to me in the long run. And given how much of Curry’s podcasts that are focused on the mechanics of podcasting, I am not even sure why I am so into listening to them. Maybe they’re new. Maybe I’m just starving for interesting radio (my neighbor surfs the morning shows in the car on the rides in and I’ve learned first hand just how utterly horrible radio has gotten). It’s hard to say. But I am both fascinated by them and annoyed by them.

So, I agree and disagree with the sentiment.