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Sources of Intelligent Audio for Commute?
confusus writes "Trapped in the daily routine of commuting for 1-2 hours every day, I started to ponder different ways of recycling commute-time waste. I tried listening to the radio, but 9.9/10, it ends up being just 'duh-whatever.' Then, I tried listening to audio books: it is really hard to find audio books that are tailored toward nerds. Thus I decided to find audio of interesting/geeky/nerdy/sciency interviews, talks, lectures. What would be the websites which provide such content?" I'd really like to find more informative downloadable audio content, too. Perhaps informed commentary and self-guided tours of historical and other sites, like national parks and significant buildings in the U.S. and elsewhere, basically self-guided audio walking (or driving) tours. Can anyone recommend a source?
I found that getting the audio files of the Wall Street Journal and listening to them on the way to work was a very good way to keep abreast of the latest developments in the world. Sure it is dry and not nerdy, but if you work in corporate America it pays to be informed.
Seriously... I see way too many people that are doing who-knows-what behind the wheel, with visible evidence of the impact it has on the amount of attention they're paying to traffic. Weaving all over a lane, tailgating, running traffic lights, etcetera.
I want my in-car entertainment to be duh-whatever. If it's something that makes you think, then it's reducing the bandwidth you have to be putting towards the road.
Less is more.
Quirks and Quarks is now also available via the CBC in a Podcasting form, along with a program called "/Nerd".
The CBC has been doing an excellent job of exploiting the types of technologies /.ers love recently. First providing radio stream in Ogg Vorbis format, and now Podcasting. Cool :).
Yaz.
I was going to mention NPR. There are pretty good shows on during rush hour, and it's certainly more intelligent than the other networks. And it's free.
My other car is first.
I've seen people read while they drive.
They scare me.
The Pimsleur language tapes are great for commutes.. sure you get stared at for talking to yourself... but they are really awsome.
I always thought German was too much for me, but I did make it through 60 lessons before other things came into my life
waiting for ad.doubleclick.net
Westerns, detective stories, science fiction, comedy, you-name-it. Back before TV existed, radio was it, and a huge amount of quality drama was made for radio broadcast.
There are many binary newsgroups where oldtime radio is posted and it won't take you many days to download enough material to keep you listening for several years.
A lot of old time radio is amazingly good.
If you're a zombie and you know it, bite your friend!
Traffic stationary ahead... Big grin...
Filter
Filter
Filter
Filter
Careful, gap on the right
Filter
Filter
Oh. Indicators ahead.
Filter
Road on the right.
Filter
Traffic turbulence ahead, joining road on the left
Filter up to the lights beside front vehicles.
Lights green, empty road ahead, check for jumpers and give it some welly, front goes light. Blip to second.
Intersection on the left, car waiting to pull out, seen me? Aye, right... Go wide anyway.
Favourite bend coming up, nothing close, pull it over, peg scrapes, a bit more throttle to keep it steady, rear squirms. Mwhahahaha - Halleluyah Shellgrip!
There's *NO* dead time on my commute. The concentration required is actually quite tiring, as well as exhilarating. But then, I don't sit in a cage for several hours a day.
Government of the people, by corporate executives, for corporate profits.
As much as I dislike her, without some context, a simple factual mistake is no indictment.
After all, I am strangely colored.
Actually, your objection seems to stem from ignorance regarding that to which you object. Podcasting is more than just "downloading sound files." Podcasts are recorded audio content syndicated via the enclosure properties of RSS feeds. So, while it could be simplified to just downloading sound files, it's really much better than that. It's using RSS feeds to "broadcast" audio to Podcast clients who can subscribe and then schedule these downloads.
Put simply, it's waking up every morning to find that my Powerbook has loaded my iPod with new audio while I was sleeping. And what did I do? I just subscribed to the Podcast. It's highly-specialized content offered with the ease of TiVo, combined with the distribution capabilities of RSS feeds and the Internet, while sticking up a big middle finger to Clear Channel and the like.
Listen to something mindless that does not require your concentration.
Regardless of the question, these "How do I do XYZ" articles always generate a fair amount of "Don't do that!" answers. That said... how can the parent post be insightful? He didn't ask: "Hey, do you think it's a good idea to listen to thought-provoking audio in the car?". As such, your thoughts are off-topic.
Not that they were insightful otherwise -- a lot of people can listen to something other than bubblegum pop while driving and manage to live to tale the tale. In fact, I'd argue that the increased mental alertness would be a good thing that would possibly make your driving better
I think it would be best, rather than look for ways to occupy your mind on your 1-2 hour commute, to get a job closer to home.
Long commutes are very irrational and do extreme amounts of damage to the enviroment at your own expense.
Wouldn't it be better to consider getting a job closer to home or moving to live closer to the place you visit (and currently waist 1-2 hours getting to) almost everyday of the year?
I'm not sure why, but fundamentially I find it far less distracting to talk to someone physically present. I know that personally I am not as good a driver on the cellphone, and so I slow down accordingly when I have to use it on the move at all.
I think partly this is because other people in the car are, in part, also paying attanetion to things around you and so you react to subtle signals from them that something is going on you might not be aware of. Also, they will stop talking when something tricky is going on whereas a person on the other end of a cellphone might just keep going and you fell compelled to tell them they need to stop which takes time.
It is a tool but also a distraction, and though I am sure that people are are bad drivers on cellphones are also not that great normally as I said I know it impares me, and I am pretty sure it impares everyone to some extent - and I know that something like an audiobook simply has no effect on my driving at all that I can detect.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
or, say, jazz. just get some CDs and listen on your way. You can read about the composer/performer/particular piece beforehand. I've been doing it for quite a while. Even if you are familiar with either, there is always something new to learn. Like I've spent a couple of years listening (and learning) jazz of 60-70s, and now I'm focusing on pre-Bach time (early Baroque and Renaissance).