MEMO #8

Top Three Favorite Podcasts

#1. Japancast.net – (Japanese Lesson)

Address: http://www.podcastdirectory.com/podcasts/6214

Comment: Japancast.net is the number one podcast I enjoy. The reasons why I like this it can be summarized as effective organization and detailed explanation. The overall organization of the lessons makes them easy to follow for the listeners. In addition, the detailed explanations definitely increase the level of understanding. If you want to learn about basic Japanese conversation and pronunciation, this podcast can be a good choice.

#2. New York Times Wine Updates

Address: http://www.nytimes.com/services/xml/rss/nyt/podcasts/wineupdate.xml

Comment: If somebody wants to know more about wine and wine-making than just drinking wine, “New York Times Wine Updates,” hosted by Eric Asimov, their chief wine critic, can be a wonderful choice. I like this podcast because the host’s easy explanations definitely provide chances to learn about wine, from knowing the best tasting wine in the world to actual professional wine-making. In addition, this podcast provide interesting news and updates on the famous wine makers and the industry.

#3. Money Girl’s Podcast

Address: http://moneygirl.qdnow.com/

Comment: If you would like to learn about basic tips for managing and understanding investments, taxes, and general finances, “Money Girl’s Podcast” can be useful. I like this podcast because the podcast tends to be relatively easy to follow compared to other financial podcasts I know, and the casters usually provide easy explanations about financial concepts such as taxes filing, and stock investment tips. However, to be honest, the explanations of the casters are not always clear or easy.

The Three Least Favorite Podcasts

#1. Ryan’s Helpful Hints (Nuance Talks Screen Reader for cell phones)

Address: http://www.podcast.net/show/85507

Comment: I do not like this podcast because the overall atmosphere is boring, and it’s hard to follow the caster’s explanation about cell phone’s talks screen reader, although I already knew something about the topic. The caster tried to demonstrate the concept by using his cell phone but it was hard to follow his explanation. The caster needs more time to prepare for his podcast.

#2. The TechWeekly Podcast (Episode3: Recent Technical News)

Address: http://www.podcast.net/show/2138

Comment: I do not like this podcast. There was the lack of explanation in episode 3. Although the caster introduced various recent technical news, such as the current market state of Nintendo Wii and Playstantion 3, Second Life bug, and WiFi complaints, every topics mentioned by the caster lacked details and in-depth explanation. The caster just mentioned the titles of the news and provided really short and almost useless facts.

#3. The Best Damn Tech Show

Address: http://feeds.feedburner.com/BestDamnTechShowPeriod

Comment: Sometimes, this podcast can be useful for highly knowledgeable techies, but not for the average or non-technical person. I think the casters, including Drew Olanoff, Paul Fleming, and Adam Plante, are quite smart, but they often fail to consider the average or non-technical group of listeners during their discussion about some technical concepts. To catch what the caster talks about, much background knowledge is usually required. Without enough technical background, it is hard to follow this public podcast.