User:Singkong2005/pn

My favorite podcasting, news and search pages.

Favourites
Note: On this page, ABC refers to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
 * Science programs (ABC)
 * The Science Show (ABC) (guest viewpoints; presented by Robyn Williams)
 * Ockham's Razor (ABC) (presented by Robyn Williams)
 * All In The Mind (ABC)
 * In Conversation (ABC) (presented by Robyn Williams)
 * Check: http://www.abc.net.au/ra/innovations/ (ABC)
 * Other:
 * The Philosopher's Zone (ABC)
 * Check: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/lifematters/
 * General knowledge:
 * Self-improvement Wednesday (ABC)
 * Current affairs & international issues:
 * Saturday Extra (ABC)

Search for podcasts
SpeechBot

Searches the audio files of popular US radio programs. You can be taken to the exact points in the shows where the subject is being discussed.

PublicRadioFan.Com - public radio programming from around the world. (Review: Listen to the World, Jan. 28, 2003)

News
I don't watch or read a lot of news these days. It seems too depressing, pointless, and focused on the sensational, personal tragedies of a few people in Western countries. Followed by sports news. If you know of a better news service, please let me know!

Economics: I like reading Ross Gittins. The problem is, I don't know enough about economics to read as critically as I'd like.

Check this: News Search Engines (2003 review)

Google alerts aren't arriving any more - and I can't figure out why. They just aren't arriving.

Searching
Currently testing some metasearch & specialist engines for researching. Google is often good enough, but these engines have some advantages:


 * Turbo10. Interesting and useful interface. Claims to search the "Deep Net", but customizing the databases to do this is not easy, as it doesn't explain which databases do what.
 * Google Scholar A bit hit and miss - some very useful stuff, but also some very obscure, esoteric stuff. Sometimes it's only the title, sometimes it's an abstract, but they can suggest further directions for research.
 * Google Books Lots of info here. It's difficult to read large amounts, but you can always go and find the book if you really want it.

Will also look at:


 * Vivisimo - automatically organizes hits into categories.
 * Gimenei - can search by country.
 * Meceoo - can block pages, or search only (say) .org sites.

And of course, one can take the old-fashioned, slow but rewarding approach, and read a good book on the topic.

Alerts

 * ProFusion - has page and search alerts. Actual results don't seem any better than Google.

Forums
Sometimes forums or discussion lists can provide useful answers. Try these:
 * Worldchanging (choose a category and click "Go." Some interesting appropriate technology articles.)
 * HowStuffWorks - covers a wide range of topics.
 * CREST has some good discussion pages - see also the links on left side of this page.
 * Dr Karl's science forum