Is it getting easier to be green?

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Back in the old days as a child, I and many of my generation were taught the importance of the environment, and how we had to work to protect and conserve it for the future.  This was a reasonably straight forward thing for us, as most of us lived or were brought up on farms where our lives and future seemed very intertwined with said environment.

Now, farming and a lot of the direct industries which work with the environment, have undergone massive changes to their practices and products.  Farming today is more in tune with the environment that it shares, mainly because if it wasn't, there probably wouldn't be a environment to support farming.

I often wonder if any of that education on the importance of protecting and conserving the nature has had any effect on the technology that we have.  If those of my generation have been working on new technologies destined to solve the problems or practices of the previous generation's technology.

I found a post on Environmental Graffiti on "11 Green Technologies That Vanished..." and I found some of my answers.  It appears, and I can remember a few, that there have been a number of noble efforts to create green technologies, it's just not many make it to market.  Classed as 'Eco Vapour-ware', these technologies have promised much, and as the conspiracy theorists fight over the reasons why they came to nothing, we can only hope that the real technologies will one day make it through.

As a side note, it is interesting to see the role that the new tech 'A' listeners seem to be taking.  Kevin Rose grabbed a bit of attention with his iPower idea this week, and as the Tesla's start getting delivered, it seems that the tech crowd are putting their money where their carbon footprint was.  As much as I won't be able to afford to buy into these green technologies now, as was pointed out by Jason Calacanis, (when questioned about his coming Tesla ) he and the others are founding the development of better price, and featured versions.

So maybe the above list of failures may have been shorter if they were pitched to the 30 somethings that had the dollars and the celebrity to support them.  Are we seeing the changing of the old business guard? and the power of the little company to make the odd dollar, giving more of the Jason's and Kevin's of the world the chance to practice their Eco conscience's?  I hope so, because a cell phone I can charge just by shaking it would be really cool.

Jason Remnant.

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What is this Digg thing?

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Once upon a time there was this thing called television, and one of its jobs was to deliver News and information about the world into the homes and minds of the populace.  For a long time it did this job, but then came the internet and it proved to be a better way to get News out there.  The problem was that there was so much News.

One day a young entrepreneur, Kevin Rose, having nothing more than a sense of cool and some money decided that he needed to do something with his life and settled on world domination (probably not true).  He knew that there was too much news, and being in the tech media, that there was no good way to access the good technology news.  The mainstream media controlled the time on the air, and kittens, war and sex scandals rated better.  So he started Digg.com.

Digg is the epitome of a social News web service.  It started out as a technology News website, but because of its very nature of being controlled by the users, has turned into one of the best independent news aggregates on the web.  I have been using Digg for a number of years, and it tends to be my main source of news.  But when I refer to it, many haven't seen it or know what it is.  So here comes a basic run down to diggin on Digg.com.

User Controlled

If you're going to come up with a online business, start one where the users do the work for you.  The news on Digg is submitted by the users and promoted by the users and censored by the users.  Now in the beginning, most of the users were tech, following Kevin, or just found the site a great source of tech news.  But as its popularity has grown, there is an amazing cross section of users and news, giving a truckload of variety and information.

This submitting is done by finding links on the net and then submitting them to Digg.com.  The news can come from the mainstream media or some guy's blog in Australia.  The only criteria is that the Digger finds the information interesting and wants to share.

Sorting the mess

When you have an odd million people using your service, there is a little bit of variety in the news posted.  Also Digg's strength, user control, is also its downfall as it can suffer from a wash of political items during an election, and celebrity gossip when a new sex tape is dropped.  Almost makes me long for the early days of geek control where it was all tech news and benchmarks on the video cards.

The user settings has matured to cope with these problems, allowing you to customise the news the site will display for you.  Just by ticking and un-ticking, you can break down the submissions to the information you need/want.  And this is what we want, as who has time to read all the stuff that is out there?

Digg.com is a great site to have in your bookmarks, or maybe your browsers home page, as it can be used to open your eyes to the world, and as a resource for thought for the day.  Digg.com is also a example of the power of the internet, as it can give a voice to the nobody and sometimes that is the voice we need to hear.

Well, that is Digg.com, worth checking out if you haven't already.  Other sites that are also worth a look are StumbleUpon, Google Reader, reddit, and del.icio.us.


Jason Remnant

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TBL Picks - Podcasts

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My work allows me to listen to a the odd Podcast, whilst working with heavy machinery.  Well, OK, maybe the boss doesn't know, but anyway, I get most of my information and entertainment from a couple of choice Podcasts.  I normal shun radio and TV, mainly because to listen and watch you have to run your life by someone else's schedule and listen to Green Day, and really I have enough trouble keeping up with my own schedule.  So the ability to take Podcasts with me on an iPod, gives me the practical freedom I crave.

If you haven't heard of, or listened to, many Podcasts, I urge you to check out a couple.  There is such a variety, and if you have an interest in any topic, I'm sure you should be able to find something worth listening, or watching.  In the interest of public awareness I thought I might put together a list of five of the Podcasts I check out, in an effort to promote some good entertainment, oh and you might learn stuff from them too.

As a side note, the term "Podcast" comes from the iPod as it was one of the dominant mp3 players in the market.  A "Podcast" is known by other names depending on the people producing them.  You do not need an iPod to be able to listen to them.  One of the easiest ways to access Podcasts is through iTunes, if you are interested, I'll run through the getting of said Podcasts in the a future post.

1. this WEEK in TECH (TWIT) - TWiT.TV

TWIT was one of the first Podcasts, or Netcasts, that I found, and got into.  Surprisingly it is a tech podcast, but don't let that stop you, as TWIT is a round table discussion with some of the top personalities in the tech world.  Meaning that you get an interesting and entertaining hour or so of tech talk radio.  Personalities such as Patrick Norton, John C. Dvorak, Kevin Rose and Will Harris talk about the week's tech issues and events.

TWIT is the first show in Leo Larpote's TWIT.tv network that I found, and even after a couple of years, it is still at the top of my listening list.  There are only two other programs that I regularly get of Leo's, so don't think I'm a fan boy, but all of the netcasts Leo does are of a high quality and are a nice way to get a taste of what Podcasting, sorry, Netcasting can be.


2. The Totally Rad Show - Revision3

OK, I will will be getting to the small independent one man Podcasts soon, I'm just trying to show the quality of the medium first.  Revision3 is pretty close to being an online TV station, and I believe that is their aim.  Because of this, Revision3's shows are video, with some audio versions, and are well produced and delivered.  These guys are aiming for your TV time attention, for the young professional audience.  Really worth checking out some of their other shows.

I'm trying to to watch more of their shows, but lack of TV time is holding me back.  The Totally Rad Show is one that I check out regularly, which features three guys around my age talking about everything Rad.  Their own description is apt:

"The Totally Rad Show is the summer blockbuster of geek news shows. Every week, hosts Alex Albrecht, Dan Trachtenberg, and Jeff Cannata rip into the world of movies, video games, tv, comics, and more and pull out what's rad." - http://revision3.com/trs/

Always check out the opening intro's, as the three of them act out scenes from movies, very Rad.


3. The Sword and Laser - Veronica Belmont, Tom Merritt

TSAL is a great example of how a Podcast can provide for the niche audience, OK, it's a big niche audience, but still niche.  Now even though Veronica and Tom aren't really amateurs in the Podcast/Tech space, this is a nice little Podcast based around Sci-fi and Fantasy books.  This is a great example of two friends sitting down to discuss a topic they like, in a informal style.  Personally I cannot think of a better reason for a podcast.

The show is sort of the Oprah Book Club for Geeks of Sci-fi and Fantasy, without the Oprah, thank goodness.  It is light and funny, drawing on comments and questions from the website's forum and building on them.

This style really shows the strength of Podcasting, which is to focus on information rather than star wipes.  Also shows how a Podcast can cater to the niche audiences that just can't be catered to by the mainstream Radio or TV on the global scale.  And I guess that this is the charm of the Podcast, catering to the niche factor for anybody with a computer.

4. Podnutz - Steve Cherubino

I only found Podnutz recently and I'll say that it doesn't have the style of some of the previous recommendations.  But this is why Podcasts work, because if you have the content/information, you will find a audience.  With the byline of "DIY Computer Repair Podcast", Podnutz is a great series of interviews with professionals and amateurs that are doing stuff in the industry, and providing resources for the rest of us in this crazy mixed up computing world.

Although Podnutz is pitched at those in the industry, I found that most of the content is more suited to Newbies and older ones getting into the field.  Lots of home PC information here, so not much discussions on TCP/IP Stacks, or router mods.  I haven't been checking the Podnutz Daily live shows on Ustream, but I'm enjoying the interview series and suggest you check it out.


5. 1UP Yours - 1UP Network (Videogames)

This is a Video gaming Podcast for us adults, who were the original gamers, and want the game news from other adults, not kids.  Garnett Lee, Shane Bettenhausen and John Davison take a couple of hours on a Friday night and recap the week in gaming, with a bottle of something. Don't try and tell me this is not the best way to recap a week.  There are others as well from around the gaming media and even the odd special guest from the Industry.

This is a great Podcast if you would like to be entertained while being informed.  I also find these guys pretty honest in their views and reviews of games. Happy to call out the time wasters, even if it is against the publicity grain.  The laid-back round table approach seems work as the best way to discuss subjects that are no longer just the realm of the 10 y.o's.



These are by no means the only, or the best, from the Podcasting world.  They are just a couple that jumped out when I glanced at iTunes.  There is truly something for everyone.  After asking my people on twitter @timelady came back with five I haven't heard of, apparently Stephen Fry is doing one now.

What are your favourites?  let's share the best around.....  
Jason Remnant