User:Singkong2005/pn

My favorite podcasting, news and search pages.

Programs
Programs I'm most interested in are in bold.

Note: On this page, ABC refers to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (radio).

Specific episodes - current or upcoming

 * Torn Curtain - The Secret History of the Cold War - 4 part weekly series starting 14 May 2006 on Hindsight. No transcripts available on Hindsight, so be quick.
 * The rise and fall of the 8 hour day: part two – the trade-off (Hindsight, ABC, 23 April 2006)
 * Sydney Futures Twilight Symposia - every 6 weeks or so from 1 June '06 till just before the March '07 state election. Attend for $22, or listen to the podcast. Also check the series blog.

Regular programs
Science programs: Society and culture: Other subject areas: Interviews & guest speakers: General knowledge: Current affairs & international issues: Check:
 * A World Without Waste - 4 part series by the ABC and BBC.
 * All In The Mind (ABC)
 * In Conversation (ABC) (presented by Robyn Williams)
 * Health (ABC), incl The Health Report
 * Check: http://www.abc.net.au/ra/innovations/ (ABC)
 * The Science Show (ABC) (guest viewpoints; presented by Robyn Williams)
 * Show all ABC Science programs
 * Hindsight (ABC). Social history - usually about Australia, sometimes international.
 * The Philosopher's Zone (ABC)
 * Ockham's Razor (ABC) (presented by Robyn Williams)
 * Late Night Live (ABC)
 * Self-improvement Wednesday (ABC)
 * Background Briefing (ABC)
 * Saturday Extra (ABC)
 * http://www.abc.net.au/rn/lifematters/
 * Big Ideas (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. See categories, e.g. documentary pods... (Review: Listen to the World, Jan. 28, 2003). My comments on specific programs:
 * Earth & Sky program list - some interesting; programs are so short that it's easier to just skim the page, but additional resources & more extended interviews are linked at the bottom.
 * ABC Radio National programs A-Z

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

Wikipedia search tool

 * Bookmarklet