My Thoughts on iPhone 7 2016

 

Background: Our household buys one new iPhone a year and then passes them around. This year I get the iPhone and I not really happy. The total cost is much higher than previous years and the headphone arrangements is really poor.

  1. No wireless charging Why not ? No, really, why the HECK not ?
  2. Not cheaper The model I’m planning to purchase is £100 more expensive than equivalent model from last year. (iPhone 7/ 128G). Thats nonsense, it should be cheaper or at the very least same price.
  3. Proprietary Wireless AudioApple has introduced (AFAICT) a proprietary system for wireless audio between handset and headset because Bluetooth is broken. No one is holding the the IEEE to account as a standards organisation. Why isn’t Apple making an open standard that anyone can use ?
  4. Mandatory Wireless headphones I’m not basically opposed to removing the headphone jack. Apple could have seeded the market first by announcing new wireless audio this year. Then remove the socket in a couple of years when wireless headsets exist so I can treat them like a consumable.
  5. Expensive Headphones entry level price on the proprietary wireless headphones is US$159 (AppleAirpods or BeatsX). Thats not cost practical by any measure I have. It also represents 15-25% of the purchase price of the phone.
  6. Accessories sales are hidden costs I see them as consumable items. Quality isn’t a mandatory requirement. Digital music quality is compromised at source, balanced in production and sound is always subjective. Must have cheap headphones that can be treated as consumables.
  7. iPhone colours don’t matter. The majority of people use a case to give some protection these expensively fragile things. (I don’t think I’ve ever seen an iPhone without a case)
  8. Camera improvements meh. Nice but limited value. I don’t take photos to look amazing to other people. (Yes, I know some of people care but I really wonder what your motivations are)
  9. Other hardware better CPUs, force touch, etc etc. All about inline with competitors so expected. Nothing really exciting. No doubt Apple does it better but that is built into the price and its expected.
  10. Extra storage Finally. 128G as the mid-tier option. Sure, power efficient flash storage is hard but this is overdue.

Unity Adam demo

Short movies created with a graphics-engine from a computer game where the power of storytelling really shines.

Also: This is just testing ? I’ve seen Hollywood movies with less polish, less character development.

www.youtube.com/watch

 

www.youtube.com/watch

Average Days Left To Live

At time of writing I can averagely expect to live for 10306 more days.

This website: Life Expectancy Tables - Actuarial Life Tables | Life Expectancy Calculator

As a 50 year old male, I need to plan to live to 79.

Sobering.


As a 40 year old, plan to live to 77.8. I’m guessing the difference is that you’ve survived this far so your life expectancy improves marginally as you get older. Aka, you don’t always reach 50 and those that do are survivors ?

Interesting PR Spam/Malware

I received this innocous looking “infographic spam” email (I get a LOT of these, we never publish them).

It demonstrates why I use plain text when sending email to prevent spam, malware etc.

Screenshot of MailMate (27-07-2016, 09-42-11)

I was going to send a polite reply when I noticed this text in the response. I see this because I always respond in plain text email (to the annoyance of many people)

Screenshot of MailMate (27-07-2016, 10-19-04)

When I look at the source code, I can’t make much sense of whats actually happening here. I think I’m looking at a vulnerability in some mail clients (Outlook?) that would spawn a click fraud to something related to asbestos.

Screenshot of Coda (27-07-2016, 10-28-25)

 

Twatters - 20160726

An archive of my cynical , snarky thoughts published on social media over the last month, or two. Or weeks. Like who cares, its social media.


Boss: How'd you fix the WAN problem ? Me: I'm the WAN whisperer. Fear me

Boss: Me:

Boss: You ignored it. Me: Whatever.

--

Arguing with an engineer is like fighting a pig in mud. You soon realise they enjoy it. If you are farmer you slaughter the pig & replace it

Sure, ITIL-compliant Prince2 Project Manager, I can lower my standards to the same level as yours.

Not now. I’m enjoying real life.

Its my going away party and I’ll tell the ITIL project managers what I really think of them if I want to.

It was a case of having a hot body or the doughnuts that people bring to project meetings. Bastards.

Its clear that the Enterprise has very little fear of failure. Look at what ITIL driven projects has delivered in the last decade ….

Hey Clouderati, my data centre includes a 80's power ballad mix tape with a bag of poprocks

Daughter: What its like to go to work every day, dad ? Me: Its about working hard to ensure a good turnout at your funeral.

IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, FaaS and *jerk off hand motion*

“There is more than one way to get your head stuck in a park bench” I said to the project manager.

Walked out of that project meeting without slapping anyone. I feel like such a success today.

Hang on. Give me a second. I’m thinking how much or how little I care about you.

5 is better. Its bigger than 2.4 - Me as the #WiFiWhisperer

Soaking my teeth in beer #beeroclock

I’m an engineer. Thats why its 'anal catharsis’ when I go to the toilet.

I’m tolerating the heck out of this sales call. I should get an award.

Got into a debate with storage admin. Realised they are right. Now arguing violently because I dislike storage admins ¡

My superpower ? Not helping people. I don’t want people to know I have a superpower


Me: I want an Openstack that is ready to go. Genie: Nope. Too hard.

Me: How about containers ? Genie: Still no.


PM: "What we need is a some vendor support” Engineers: <burst out laughing>

Cenosillicaphobia is the fear of an empty beer glass.

Stress oozes out. Inspiration soaks in.

Results make a splash.

Angry Colleague: “Where the hell did you learn route redistribution ?” Me: /flashbacks to stealing cookies from other pre-schoolers/

My safe word is “Lets start the meeting"

Progress in Ebook Software - Finally

Lets face it, ebook reader software is crap. I use both Amazon Kindle and Apple iBooks and we haven’t seen any change to the software in years. The usability and quality of the software is rubbish. Its complex to load new books, they look awful. Kindle fonts are a joke.

So this is something. At least. Kindle has added some new features to its Kindle software. No one should cheer, this is THE LEAST THEY COULD DO.

Your move Apple.

www.youtube.com/watch

MacOS: Getting 200MB disk emoticon bloat from Skype

I was doing a search in Houdah Spot when I realised that there are hundreds of megabytes of video files in Skype  Application support directory.

On checking thes evideo files, they are MP4-encoded memes. What that actual bloody hell is that for ?

skype-400-mb-space-wasted.png

So I deleted both the media-cache_v3 and media_cache_v3 directories (I need that space for real work).When I restarted Skype it promptly downloaded 200 Megabytes of emoticons from Azure. Luckily I was not running on a 3G/4G modem as I sometimes do.

Screenshot of Little Snitch Network Monitor (27-06-2016, 10-24-24).png

I haven’t been able to find a way to ditch this 200 megabytes of emoticon cruft that Skype  forces me to download and bloat the disk drive on my computer, if you find out, please let me know.

I mean, normal software developers would use the emoticons provided by the operating system. Why the heck are they downloading hundreds of megabytes of cruft!!

skype-emoticon-bloat.png

 

Features I Want In the Next Apple iPhone

  1. A cheaper price.
  2. Nothing else.

Thats it. You see, I don’t need a new iPhone.

Because a better camera won’t make much difference to my photos.

Longer battery life isn’t a problem. I deleted Facebook and LinkedIn apps and disabled background refresh for apps that dont need it. This increased my battery life by 40%.

I’m deleting apps these days because I never use them. Don’t care about new software features. I’ve used the Siri voice interface but it doesn’t really help much, its kind of dumb.

Mostly I’m just weary of futzing with my smartphone. I love my smartphone but times have changed and its just not worth the price I’m paying for it.

Twitter Thoughts 20160607

An arhive of cynical and snarky thoughts publishing on social media.


Walked out of that project meeting without slapping anyone. I feel like such a success today.

Hang on. Give me a second. I’m thinking how much or how little I care about you.

5 is better. Its bigger than 2.4 - Me as the #WiFiWhisperer

Soaking my teeth in beer #beeroclock

I’m an engineer. Thats why its 'anal catharsis’ when I go to the toilet.

I’m tolerating the heck out of this sales call. I should get an award.

Got into a debate with storage admin. Realised they are right. Now arguing violently because I dislike storage admins ¡

My superpower ? Not helping people. I don’t want people to know I have a superpower

Me: I want an Openstack that is ready to go.

Genie: Nope. Too hard.

Me: How about containers ?

Genie: Still no.

Cenosillicaphobia is the fear of an empty beer glass.

Stress oozes out.

Inspiration soaks in.

Results make a splash.

Don't Do Crowdchat

I'm often invited to participate in Crowdchat sessions on twitter. The answer is always no. Here's why:

  1. I have found my followers complain about the pointless chatter that Crowdchat creates.
  2. 140 characters limitation makes Twitter a frustrating discussion platform.
  3. High levels of unfollowing when I do CrowdChat™ sessions
  4. I will unfollow people using Crowdchat because they clutter up my feed. If I don't like it, why would I participate.

What I Think Is Missed

The majority of people on twitter have low levels of engagement. They don't use it much and haven't taken the time to work out how it works. They are unlikely to see or interact with your content regardless of the content, they will tend to passive consumption and quit the app.

Lets leave discussions of demographics out of it (older people struggle often because they learned IRC, many people aren't used to being social and public etc etc)

The most important followers are those who are completely engaged with your account. They see most of your activity and engage with it. Those are the key people in the graph. Anything that drives them away from you is a death blow to your growth.

My view

In my view, Crowdchat (and other  noisy twitter activities) us  brand suicide and received as twitter spam by the very people who are most engaged with my content.

Simple rules for using twitter for marketing:

  1. Don't make tweets for the sake of it. If you have nothing to say, then say that.
  2. Be useful. Point to valuable content, be helpful, be useful.
  3. Be targeted. Keep your themes consistent or people won't pay attention.
  4. Start conversations don't have them. You can't communicate in 140 characters.
  5. Repeat tweets at long intervals is fine.
  6. Write well. Tweets should be written in advance and look for nuance, errors & misinterpretation.

Crowdchat is antithetical to this approach. Its spammy, noisy, unfocussed and basically shows that you hate the people who follow your account.

 

Fear and Loathing at Interop Las Vegas 2016

I’m just back from presenting at Interop Las Vegas 2016. The conference was great and you really should have been there. Seriously, it was awesome and content that you missed would probably have made your mind bleed and eyes bug out like this:

giphy

Tell Me How You Really Feel

Interop doesn’t tell me how, what or why to talk to about. This means that I can tell you how I really feel about the state of networking. If you listen to the Packet Pushers podcasts, you might think that I’m a mildly amusing engineer with some crackpot views and a tendency to rant on crazy stuff.

The feedback from my speaking has been strong. I like to challenge the audience with a wide range of different, creative and even radical ideas and this doesn’t work if you aren’t in the room. (Gots lot of positive feedback but I’m waiting for the reviews).

Speaking of the room - it was huge.

[caption id=“attachment_3778” align=“alignnone” width=“900”]http://gregferro.com The Packet Pushers Future of Networking Audience - Ready to Get Blasted[/caption]

Content Conference

One thing about Interop- its a conference that has content. Once upon a time it was a “trade show” where a vendors could put up their tents and you could peruse their wares in a huge bazaar-like atmosphere.

Today, conference must have lots of content to attract the technology audience. Packet Pushers have a preliminary booking to return next year (clearly, I didn’t break anyone).

Recordings

None of the sessions will be published on the Internet and, I guess, you will have to attend to hear the goodness.

One thing: Because I’m not recorded I can tell you how I really feel. Seriously. I’m much more open and unfiltered when speaking without official video.

[gallery ids=“3811,3813” columns=“2” link=“file” size=“medium”]

Photos - Drinking etc

[gallery ids=“3816,3824,3825,3826,3827,3828,3829” columns=“2” link=“file” size=“medium”]

 

Photos SD-WAN event

[gallery ids=“3814,3810,3809,3808,3807,3806,3805” columns=“2” link=“file” size=“medium”]

 

Keynote Panel

I was privleged to present a panel during the Interop Keynote on Thursday. Here are some photos I collected from twitter.

[gallery ids=“3804,3803,3802,3801” columns=“2” link=“file” size=“medium”]

 

 

 

 

 

Video: How To Husk A Coconut

With your teeth, of course.

www.youtube.com/watch

Warren Ellis on Proof Reading in MS Word

I hate Microsoft Word. I loathe it with an special passion I have for things that never work, bugs in commercial software, and the fact that I have to use the worst software because "lowest common denominator" always wins.

Dammit mathematics how come you rule everything in my life.

Proofing NORMAL, the novella.  Proofing, these days, involves opening a Microsoft Word file, clicking on Review and then screaming and poking randomly at buttons until the comments and edits from the copy editor and the production editor are revealed. And then finding one of them has put their comments in a pale blue that is essentially invisible.

So you lose time to fashioning a little voodoo doll and then smashing it with a hammer and then burning it.  Also you get to put in your own comments replying to their comments, so, by the third hour of processing the manuscript you're basically Charlie Sheen on Twitter. I even used #winning as a comment somewhere during part two.

From a Orbital Operations newsletter by Warren Ellis (the writer)

Dd I mention how much I hate Microsoft Bloody Word ?

Video: Rise

Synopsis: In the near future, sentient robots are targeted for elimination after they develop emotional symmetry to humans and a revolutionary war for their survival begins.

vimeo.com/156050986

Video: Steve Jobs Insult Response

When your CEO really knows about his products, the technology that makes them and also has insights into customers as people.

And superlative response to the question.

www.youtube.com/watch

Twitter Thoughts – 20160228

Irregular and incomplete collection of various snark that I published on social media (mainly twitter) in the last few months.


 

“Design like you’re right, listen like you’re wrong.”

Todays Action Plan: 1. Doo 2. Bee 3. Doo. 4. Bee 5. Doo

Dear Americans, universal health care means you can have guilt free, risky, adventurous sex.

Good engineers make small mistakes. Great engineers make huge mistakes and blame it on the good engineers.

My 2016 Prediction: Most of you will spend a large part of 2016 looking at your smartphone and computer.

This thing has bugs in it. Can I get my purchase order back ?

Being snarky doesn’t solve anything but I feel better. I learned that in Sales perception is reality so things are now better.

The charm of a killer, the smile of a sales grunt.

A positive attitude won’t save you from dying but it will annoy everyone around you.

I’m good at keeping my inner awesome under control.

Its Feb 2016. For network engineers, its still February 2002. Nothing has really changed since then.

I’m training this customer to stamp his foot and shout “discount”. Its my version of “bad uncle” that teaches kids to swear.

Was told today that my “banged my knee” face and “hey the vendor sales grunt is here” face are the same.

For every positive outcome of Enterprise IT, there is an ITIL process waiting to prevent it.

Now imagine that we redistribute those RIP routes into BGP using a policy. No, more like a head-on car crash at 60mph.

New Years 1985 - disco, dance, alcohol, car seat sex, 1995 - dinner with friends, hotel sex. 2000 - on call/site for Y2K. 2005 - party with friends with kids. 2015 - [already asleep]

When I return from a well deserved holiday, I will delete all of my unread email. If its important, then you can send it again after 7th January.

Dragonfruit

Dragonfruit is a real thing.

I wonder why I’m eating it. Tastes like looks, cross between a kiwi fruit and crocodile steaks.

201602251853593300.jpg

Things Are Making Me Stupid

Everywhere I turn the INTERNET OF THINGS is headline news. Lightbulbs, activity monitoring, hours sleep, hours awake and hours spent “in the zone”.

The first tier is quasi-rabid neo-capitalists of silicon valley who are working on guaranteeing their privilege by controlling the message of the techno-utopians in silicon valley. The second tier is middle class software developers who have reached new levels of self-delusion that their technology startups will actually change the 7 Billion in the world who don’t give a flying fart about technology. If only they reach the “zone” for more hours a day, the software that will be deleted next year might change the world this year.

Connecting cars to the Internet means that we can deliver more content to people who have nothing to do. Its not enough to put billboards on the side of the highway, lets get an ad-tech algorithm INSIDE THE CAR so they can’t possibly ignore the money we are going to make.

The INTERNET OF THINGS is about the quantified self. Because the number of times you have sex matters. Or say burgers. Or cups of coffee. The selfless act of self-awareness is going to save people from their own ignorance.

Maybe we are so frightened of the uncertain world around is that a techno-fetish can make it less strange ? If only you could count everything and place it on a chart, then the world wouldn’t seem so strange. The random variable would be taken out.

Lets not forget the instant and instinctual vanity of messaging platforms. Any thought can be spat out for an audience to witness. Any experience can be reduced to filtered photograph with pouty lips. The sensual slick sense of DOING slides up your fingers and into your lizard brain with every photo, message and chat session. Your life is enhanced when messaged into an Internet where no one is actually listening.

Efficient lightbulbs, doors that know you are coming, and room temperature thats just right for you because you live alone in IOT-driven world.

We use tools like IFTTT in vain attempt to weld different brands into a useable solution.

As I sit in my car glaring at my SatNav which is taking the long way to my destination, I get the feeling that technology is making me stupid. I can feel my common sense sliding away from me. The jibber jabber of tweets and the mindless “happy stuff” on LinkedIn isn’t fulfilling, its just fart-smells turned into web content.

And I’m also reminded that I shouldn’t write blog posts after a bottle of wine. But the voice of good sense isn’t winning as I press publish

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blogging Success Is Simply About Doing

You can be guaranteed that nothing will happen if you publish nothing. I can guarantee that something will happen if you publish something.

After you are publishing something, people can find you. And you can improve. And you can work out what can be done better. And then iterate.

Nothing beats that feeling of people telling you that something you did helped them out.

podcast-good-for-me-optthaks-my-family-opt

I'm Not the Only One

I’m not a huge fan of Gary Vannerchuk because his personality grates against my introvert nature. This video is an extroverts view of how to be successful in social media which is

  • to keep publishing when no one is listening.
  • To keep it humble
  • participate widely.
  • don't count the numbers

Just start today.

www.youtube.com/watch

Video: Libraries in 1922

Its so easy to forget the hundreds of hours I spent in libraries studying for school and university.

Today I have no reason to leave my desk. Here is what access to information was like in 1922:

Featured libraries include the British Museum, the Central Library for Students on Galen Place, Islington Central Library and Croydon Library. Though as “books know no frontiers nor garrisoned forts” we also catch a glimpse of travelling rural libraries and a seafarer’s library.

The film is a joyous celebration of libraries and their services; “libraries are living things and each has a life of its own.” How are you celebrating National Libraries day? Tell us in the comments.

www.youtube.com/watch

 

Video:Adele - Hello / Lacrimosa (Mozart) – ThePianoGuys

Weird but it works. Enjoyed it.

 

www.youtube.com/watch

Microsoft Still Hates Its Customers

I hate Microsoft Office. To further insult me Microsoft has a proprietary installer that is incapable of partial updates.

How the heck does a 2.5 Gigabyte download make your customers happy ?

microsoft hates it customers-opt.png

Stuff you Microsoft Office. Go home. You’re Drunk.

Twitter Thoughts - 20160104

Irregular and incomplete collection of various snark that I published on social media (mainly twitter) in the last few months.


 

If you think education is expensive, try ignorance" -Silvia Hagen, Do’s and Don’t of Transition

Comfortable is more satisfying than responsible.

Got myself a pair of noise cancelling headphones for my wife’s birthday.

What do I have to do to get the silent treatment from my colleagues ?

The bus you are waiting for was always coming.

Have you got your crayons so I can explain it to you ?

Twitter has really improved my email skills. I’m much quicker at saying nothing with less typing now.

I’m bringing the sexy stomach back.

Warning: Do not look into a laser beam with your remaining good eye.

I’m happier on Twitter than I am in person.

Attempting reverse psychology intelligence test on this project manager. “No it doesn’t not work”. Too easy.

Sometimes I stop and think to myself that no one else is actually thinking. I hate thinking about that.

A lot of people think that Network Engineers don’t get regular sex but this is untrue. We are constantly being screwed hard by management.

Thinking about putting a friendship ring on this beer bottle. #BeerOclock

Podcasts I Would Recommend To You - 2016

One the reasons I co-founded Packet Pushers Podcast is that I love listening to podcasts. Around 2008/9, I was commuting by car for roughly three hours a day, a nightmarish amount of unproductive and wasted time and it was podcasts kept me sane. After time I found, arguably, that they made me smarter by having a “big picture” view of the world.

I’m often asked what podcasts that I listen to. This is not that list. My podcast client is constantly in flux with new channels being added and others being deleted. Some aren’t relevant, some are boring, many simply stop publishing after a while as people get other interests.

These podcasts are the ones that are always in my feed and so they are the podcasts that I would recommend to you.

Some general notes on how I judge podcasts:

  • I find it difficult to listen to poor quality audio and will skip to the next show because of it unless the content is especially awesome.
  • Content must be interesting, useful and, in some way, mind expanding.
  • The show hosts must have rapport, banter and good speaking voices. (yes, show mechanics matter)

Every Show

In Our Time With Melvyn Bragg - BBC

Format: Get a bunch of recognised experts around a table at the BBC recording studio to talk about Religion, History, Science, Culture, Philisophy. Lots of preparation, editing and Melvyn Bragg is a good interviewer to keep the content moving.I get an rounded education just listening. Some shows are better than others.

Audio quality and production is excellent, as you would expect from the BBC.

Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qykl

Podcastle

Format: Weekly Podcast of Fantasy Fiction of very high quality that has been running for years. I listen to every show and donate regularly to support the show. A sister podcast

Audio quality and narration is excellent.

Link: http://podcastle.org

Escape Pod

Format: Weekly Podcast of Science Fiction of very high quality. I have listened to every show, sometimes within hours of publishing. One of my top three podcasts.

Audio Quality is high quality. Narration

Link: http://escapepod.org

Far Fetched Fables

Format: Weekly podcast of Fantasy Fiction of high quality run by fans in the District of Wonders network. Host, authors and narrators are unpaid so the quality can sometimes vary but its always worth your time.

Audio Quality is excellent. I listen to every show.

Link: http://farfetchedfables.com

Starshipsofa

Format: Weekly podcast of Science Fiction of high quality run by fans. Host, authors and narrators are unpaid and fans of the genre. Content format changes over time as the Tony Smith changes things around on a regular basis.

Audio Quality is excellent. I listen to every show.

Link: http://www.starshipsofa.com

Exponent

Format: Two people discussing one or two topics on business and technology for about an hour every week. Ben & James are great to listen to, are well prepared and are able to debate topics. Ben is well researched based on his work at Stratechery and James is an excellent foil.

Audio Quality is excellent. I listen to every show to build a big picture in technology.

Link: http://exponent.fm

Most Shows

Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4

Format: Weekly Comedy podcast that has a couple of different shows in rotation. Content is often based on current events in the UK

Audio Quality is excellent. I listen to nearly every show when I have time or am in the mood some laughs.

Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02pc9pj

Background Briefing

Format: Australia’s public broadcasting service publishes hard hitting journalism about national and international topics. High quality journalism on criticial topics where I often learn something. I especially  listen to shows that interest me on international politics. Note: I grew up in Australia so content may be more relevant to me.

I can highly recomend this show about ISDS/TPP:

Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provisions that allow foreign investors to sue host governments have become a ticking time bomb inside trade agreements, like the soon to be signed Trans-Pacific Partnership. Some countries are now refusing to agree to the provisions and question their legal legitimacy. Jess Hill investigates.

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/backgroundbriefing/2014-09-14/5738942

Audio Quality is excellent.

Link: http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/backgroundbriefing/

Some Shows

Peter Day's World of Business

Format: Peter Day is a well known British business journalist that interviews people acorss the world about their corporations, business and people that move the world of business.

I learned from this show that the process of running a business is predictable, fixed and consistent. Every industry, all products, all process are fundamentally the same regardless of location, vertical, people or product. I listen to business people across the world who have the same stories, same problems, same worries, same failures and same answers to put the IT echo chamber into perspective. Technology is no different from any other business.

Audio Quality is very high. Commercial media production levels. I now listen to about 50% of shows because I don’t have the time to listen to more.

Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02nrwfk Downloads: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02nrwfk/episodes/downloads

Geek Whisperers

Format: Content is currently focussed on interviews with people in IT who talk about their lives and how they got into their career. The show format changes around to keep it fresh. Some shows lose their pacing, poor audio or the content is not my thing - hence why I currently listen to one in five.

Audio Quality is OK. Editing is usually good.

Link: http://geek-whisperers.com

The Cloudcast

The content and audio quality of The Cloudcast tends vary widely so its a hit or miss show for me. The content tends to follow the current “big thing” in Cloud and generally involves chatting with executives about their product. Occasionally there will be real insights and useful information but show guests tend to speak marketing or the hosts don’t control the conversation to keep it useful. Hence I skip a lot of episodes to find the good shows.

Audio Quality is often poor. Little or no editing.  Listen to maybe one in ten.

Link: http://www.thecloudcast.net

A16Z Podcast

Andreesen Horowitz is one of the biggest and most successful technology venture capitalist firms around. Podcasts vary widely from being a CEO, business, funding and the future of a wide range of technologies. The podcasts format of “insiders talking to insiders” tends to be boring so I listen selectively.

Audio quality is good. Listen to maybe one in five.

Link: http://a16z.com/podcasts/

Ted Talks

Format: Video presentations from the TED foundation.  Content varies widely. I really don’t think I need to tell you about them. If you watch too many at once, you can clearly see how heavily speakers have been coached to use the same techniques.

I do not watch every video because some topics are boring, uninteresting or tedious. I have no interest in art, poetry or music for example but I would never have watched something about architecture, social policy and maths. I guess I watch about half or less of the videos.

Quality is  very high, production values are high. I watch them in iTunes on my computer..

Link: http://www.ted.com

 

 

Video: Uncanny valley

Brilliant. SciFi short on virtual reality. Totally got me into the story in less than 10 minutes.

In the slums of the future, virtual reality junkies satisfy their violent impulses in online entertainment. An expert player discovers that the line between games and reality is starting to fade away. 3DAR’s latest short film explores the frightening potential of our next technological revolution. 

vimeo.com/147365861