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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?

97 of 550 comments (clear)

  1. podcasts by fishdan · · Score: 5, Informative
    Here's everything you need to know about podcasting

    Here's a good source of podcasts

    If you look around, you'll find plenty of what interests you available as a podcast. Should you not find what you're looking for, with any luck we'll see YOUR podcast up there soon too.

    --
    Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm
    1. Re:podcasts by alatesystems · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Read the article I wrote for my LUG on podcasting. I also gave a presentation at our last meeting.

      I link several podcasts that I like.

    2. Re:podcasts by Jeff+DeMaagd · · Score: 2, Informative

      There is some good talk radio, but just like everything else, 90% of it is crap.

      The Inside Mac show podcast is pretty good. I like the Leo Laporte podcast. The NASA Scitech podcast is interesting, but new issues come out rarely. Sexgeeks is pretty interesting.

      If anyone was considering getting into making podcasts, for the love of $DEITY, get more than one person and have civil discussions. The podcasts where only one person talks are lamer than the ones with discussions. Get a good sound capture device, decent mics and such.

      Also, avoid the politics and religion if you are too easily riled up, even more so if you like to label people that disagree with you. I turn off the stuff where they say "oh those $PERJORATIVE, they are trying to do $BAD_THING".

    3. Re:podcasts by barnaclebarnes · · Score: 5, Informative

      Exactly...So here a couple that I like:

      • Lug radio. This is good linux news mixed with humor. Some good interviews and views.
      • It Conversations. Just started listening to these a couple of days ago. Seems like good interviews with high profile people.
      • On The MediaWell I can't get NPR in New Zealand so I download OTM which is pretty good commment on the media industry.
      --
      [Please type your sig here.]
    4. Re:podcasts by rah1420 · · Score: 2, Informative

      I know this may be a dumb answer, but let's start with:

      Move closer to work, objections to:
      * Cost of living is higher closer to work.
      * Economic conditions preclude selling your house and getting something equivalent (related to number 1.)
      * Kids in school, other ties to the area.

      Now, working closer to home, objections to:
      * These jobs are goin', boys, and they ain't comin' back (apologies to The Boss.) There is simply none of what you do that's close by.
      * Nothing that would pay the equivalent amount close by.
      * Difficult/impossible to be retrained in what IS close by, if you even entertained such an idea.

      In short, you were either trolling, or you should have been able to guess the answers.
      I know all of these from experience. I used to commute an hour and a half until I was lucky enough to get a job in the next town. I had a blissful commute of 10-12 miles for 3.5 years and then the economy turned sour, businesses shed their workforce, and here I am; with a newly-built house, three kids in the school system, and no reasonable job prospects nearby. I have a 1:10 commute now with no signs that it's going to change for the forseeable future.

      Cest la vie.

      --
      Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens.
    5. Re:podcasts by thakadu · · Score: 2, Informative

      Just put a bunch of wgets in your crontab to pull the excellent content from Radio Netherlands here: http://www2.rnw.nl/rnw/en/listenonline/weeklyarchi ve

    6. Re:podcasts by frantzdb · · Score: 2, Informative

      The Santa Monica NPR affiliate, KCRW, does podcasts of their in-house news and information shows.

  2. Record your next D&D game by Timesprout · · Score: 4, Funny

    Then relive the glory on your way to work

    --
    Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth
    What truth?
    There is no dupe
    1. Re:Record your next D&D game by digitalgiblet · · Score: 2, Funny
      "I ask you, what better way is there to spend a Saturday night?"

      You, sir, need to discover a woman with +5 Ta-tas.

  3. GNU Lectures by lunk · · Score: 5, Informative

    There are lots of informative and geeky lectures available at:
    http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/audio/audio.html

    --
    http://tf2.digitaljedi.com
  4. WebTalk Radio? by drewzhrodague · · Score: 2, Informative

    Perhaps Web Talk Radio might be a good answer? I'm biased 'cause I did a segment with them, tho.

    --
    Zhrodague.net - I do projects and stuff too.
  5. Wall Street Journal by jsimon12 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.

  6. Public Radio International's lineup of shows by The+I+Shing · · Score: 5, Informative

    Check out the offerings distributed by Public Radio International. The archives of many of their shows are available to listen to for free. Specifically, check out This American Life , To the Best of Our Knowledge , and Sound & Spirit . If you're able to record these shows from the archives (using some sort of scheduled stream-ripper like iRecordMusic or WireTap Pro), or purchase them (through Audible or ITMS), they can make an hour-long commute feel like mere minutes.

    And for your Monday morning commute, make sure you've got the latest installment of Wait Wait -- Don't Tell Me! , the NPR news quiz.

    --
    You are in error. No-one is screaming. Thank you for your cooperation.
    1. Re:Public Radio International's lineup of shows by maird · · Score: 5, Informative

      Add to that the BBC (along with NPR, a member of PRI). All of the BBC radio stations have content available for 'Net re-broadcast (I believe you have to record them while playing as well). Radio 4 has excellent speech content with some fine comedy alongside in-depth art, science, current affairs and analysis (e.g. political interviews with members of both sides of an issue in the same studio at the same time).

      Some of the BBC music stations are pretty good too. Many of them are segmented by market the way that US radio is but none of them have the sort of motivations that make much of the US radio I have heard just crap (IMO). Long live NPR!

    2. Re:Public Radio International's lineup of shows by interiot · · Score: 4, Informative

      Also, don't forget PublicRadioFan.com, which lists a HUGE number of NPR streams available on the internet, searchable by program, time, and stream-type, making it easy to find the perfect stream to rip).

    3. Re:Public Radio International's lineup of shows by mattegger · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I cannot emphasize enough the value of This American Life when it comes to my 2 hours of commuting each day. I use vsound, realplayer, lame and gtkpod on Debian to make mp3 files of the freely available real streams from their website and get them on my ipod.

      I'm sure someone more clever than me could script something in bash to automate this, but I just have it record in the background while I'm doing other things on my PC.

    4. Re:Public Radio International's lineup of shows by raddan · · Score: 2, Informative

      In the NPR vein, I highly recommend On Point with Tom Ashbrook. I listen to it most nights. Unfortunately, downloads are limited to streams (unless you have a stream ripper), but I sometimes just set my computer to record off the air. It's a great way to spend a couple of hours. Even with topics that I am not particularly interested in, I feel like I've spent the time well.

    5. Re:Public Radio International's lineup of shows by R.Caley · · Score: 2, Informative
      Fighting Talk [...] so popular, it's uniquely available as an MP3

      Pedant mode on:

      Actually, it's not unique, nor is it down to popularity. The main problem with having things available for download, as opposed to replay, is the performing rights.

      The BBC have been trialing MP3 download for some programs, picked for easy rights issues. I think the first was In Our Time, which is just some people talking about an issue which is usually complex enough to make re-listening worthwhile, all except Melvyn Bragg are authors or accademics and so not uptight about broadcast rights (its free advertising to them), and Bragg was enthusiastic about the project (probably because he likes himself so much he thinks we should all hear him more often, even if he doesn't get more money for it).

      Fighting Talk has some of the same advantages (pundits, not performers), though I can't for the life of me imagine why anyone would want to keep some has-beens and journoes wibbling on about this week's trivia about kids games.

      --
      _O_
      .|<
      The named which can be named is not the true named
    6. Re:Public Radio International's lineup of shows by XScB · · Score: 2, Informative

      It's not at all unique in being the only BBC radio content available as an MP3.

      In Our Time is also available as an MP3. Bits of the recent Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series as well as a whole selection of other Radio 4 programmes were also available for download as MP3.

  7. IT Conversations by daviddisco · · Score: 2, Informative
  8. LUG Radio by elleomea · · Score: 2, Informative
    1. Re:LUG Radio by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      A quote from their website:

      "LugRadio contains language and topics that some may find offensive."

      I guess they are talking about Perl?

  9. A Short History of Nearly Everything by almeida · · Score: 3, Informative

    A couple Christmases ago, I gave my brother the audio version of A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. I think it's around six hours long. At the time, he had a four hour daily commute, so he breezed through it pretty quickly, but he seemed to enjoy it. Amazon has it for under twenty bucks. Might be worth a shot.

    1. Re:A Short History of Nearly Everything by DisKurzion · · Score: 2, Informative

      I can vouch for Bill Bryson's books. While not strictly geeky, they are witty and often informative.

      I'm currently reading "Notes from a Big Country," and it is quite an interesting perspective on the differences between the US and the world (at least the UK).

    2. Re:A Short History of Nearly Everything by loraksus · · Score: 2, Informative

      Agreed. This audio book is very good.
      I ripped it to MP3. 500 minutes (a tad over 8 hours)
      Good for long trips, although there is a lot of information in it. Can't say that your eyes won't gloss over after an hour or two.

      --
      1q2w3e4r5t6y7u8i9o0pqawsedrftgthyjukilo;p'azsxdcfv gbhnjmk,l.;/
  10. Wall Street Journal Audio Link by jsimon12 · · Score: 4, Informative
  11. How about just paying attention to the traffic? by TigerNut · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.

    1. Re:How about just paying attention to the traffic? by Delta2.0 · · Score: 5, Funny
      If it's something that makes you think, then it's reducing the bandwidth you have to be putting towards the road.

      Only on slashdot will you see your level of concentration refered to as "bandwidth."

    2. Re:How about just paying attention to the traffic? by vrmlguy · · Score: 3, Insightful

      He doesn't say that he's driving, just commuting. Lots of people spend hours on the train commuting between Connecticut and NYC, for instance.

      --
      Nothing for 6-digit uids?
    3. Re:How about just paying attention to the traffic? by rpdillon · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I am a "when you drive, just drive!" kind of guy.

      That said, I find the real "bandwidth" eater while driving is anything that requires any sort of response (besides the driving, obviously). That includes talking on the phone, holding anything (requires attention and response to handling the physical object - cup of coffee, magazine/book, radio, whatever), using navigation systems or even talking to the passengers.

      If something is simply streaming information to you without interaction (leaving the radio on one station, sticking in a CD and not messing with it, listening to a talk show you downloaded), I do not find it interferes at all. I simply tune it out when I need to think about the traffic, and tune it back in when the situation is resolved. This doesn't work when you're doing something that takes your eyes off the road for any reason, but for audio based entertainment, I really don't see it as a problem.

    4. Re:How about just paying attention to the traffic? by weighn · · Score: 2, Insightful
      If it's something that makes you think, then it's reducing the bandwidth you have to be putting towards the road.

      Can you chew and walk at the same time?
      Also, "commuting" doesn't imply "driving"

      --
      Mongrel News all the news that fits and froths
    5. Re:How about just paying attention to the traffic? by Jackie_Chan_Fan · · Score: 3, Funny
      How about just paying attention to the traffic? Seriously... I see way too many people that are doing who-knows-what behind the wheel...
      Yeah like once i saw this guy looking at everyone else in their car... when he should have been paying attention to the traffic ;)
    6. Re:How about just paying attention to the traffic? by Mantorp · · Score: 3, Funny
      I want my in-car entertainment to be duh-whatever.

      So it's you they've been targeting with all the crap morning shows.

  12. Well, in the UK... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    BBC Radio 4 is pretty much my staple diet of commute audio. Most days it's the Today Programme, intelligent, topical, and responsible for breaking a lot of big stories, such as the David Kelly Iraq WMD story.

    The last edition is always posted online at the above address as a 'Listen Again' stream - worth checking out.

  13. CBC "Ideas" by gvc · · Score: 2, Informative

    CBC has a number of interesting shows. I particularly like "Ideas", which you can get on cassette or just record live from the internet. http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/

    CBC also has "Quirks and Quarks" which covers interesting topics and has interesting guests, but the commentary is a bit juvenile.

    I really like "As it happens" but I'm not sure how good that would be recorded - they phone people who are in the day's news.

    1. Re:CBC "Ideas" by poopdeville · · Score: 2, Insightful

      As much as I dislike her, without some context, a simple factual mistake is no indictment.

      --
      After all, I am strangely colored.
  14. IT Conversations and Podcasts by billnapier · · Score: 5, Informative

    Check out the content available from IT Conversations. Lots of geeky stuff from lots of geeky people (People like Cory Doctorow, Steve Wozniak, Bruce Schneier, etc.).

    You may also want to try listening to podcasts. Check out ipodder.org to see a directory of them. There is more than enough content there to keep you occupied on a daily basis. Oh, I guess I'm also assuming you can listen to MP3 in your car...

  15. Do the math by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    If you commute 2 hours per day, 5 days
    a week, 50 weeks a year (for a total of
    two weeks "time off" for good behavior
    each year), you pull in 500 hours/year
    in a metal cage. If you do a decade of
    work like this, that's about 208 days
    in a car. Or, about the length of time
    for a first-time non-violent felony
    prison sentence, like robbery without a
    real gun, grand theft auto (the real
    thing, not the game), embezzlement,
    and similar crimes. The difference
    is that if you committed a real crime,
    you'd at least have a chance of getting
    away with it. But since you took this
    crappy job, you're being sentenced to
    a metal cage, without the benefit of
    having potentially profitted from a crime.

    Pray tell, what crime did you commit to
    be sentenced to this metal cage that you
    call "your commute"? Or do you not value
    your freedom enough to demand or expect
    something better out of life? (Don't be
    ashamed if this is what you want for
    yourself; the world does need cogs after all.)

    1. Re:Do the math by gvc · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I got married. My wife and I work at places that are about an hour's drive apart. I get the commute, but in exchange I get a beautiful wife and a nice house on the Niagara escarpment.

      I am easily able to entertain myself. At home I often sit in a chair and think. I use my commuting time to do more of the same. Yes, I listen to CBC radio and sometimes to classic rock, but mostly I entertain myself with my thoughts.

      Would I prefer not to commute? You bet. While I don't find the time torture, I'd sooner have the 25-minute walk I had before I moved. And I do feel guilty consuming the amount of energy that I do.

      Some day we'll get positions in the same vicinity. But our present circumstances don't make it all that easy.

  16. An elegant solution... by Faust7 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Put a laptop with wireless Internet access in your car, hook it to your stereo, and install some software that speaks the text of websites. Then point your browser to Slashdot commentary.

    You'll be laughing so hard that you'll drive into a telephone pole, and you won't have to worry about commuting for a while.

  17. SICP Lectures by bwalling · · Score: 3, Informative

    I downloaded MIT's Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (SICP) lectures from here, and converted the audio portion to MP3 so I could play it on my iPod. Outside of that suggestion, I have the same question as you. I recently cancelled an Audible subscription because I had run out of books I was interested in hearing. The local library seems to have mostly fiction in audiobook.

  18. Quirks and Quarks by yo303 · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Quirks and Quarks is a Canadian science radio show from CBC. Endless hours of content can be downloaded from the past shows archive here.

    As a bonus, you can even get it in Ogg.

    yo.

    1. Re:Quirks and Quarks by Yaztromo · · Score: 2, Insightful

      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.

  19. Quirks and Quarks rocks. by Stoutlimb · · Score: 3, Informative

    http://radio.cbc.ca/programs/quirks/

    This Canadian radio show has been running weekly since at least 1988, and covers a broad range of science news. I find they rarely dumb down their news, and often they will cover obscure and very interesting areas of research that you just won't hear about anywhere else in the news.

    The website supports podcasting, realaudio, and you can download every weekly episode since 1988 right from their website. Pretty cool when you think about it.

    This is definately superior news for the science nerd.

  20. The wonders of the BBC by jabuzz · · Score: 4, Informative

    As probably the largest producer of English language spoken word material in the world, you could try looking at the BBC material.

    On a factual note there is "This Sceptred Isle" series, a 2000 year history of the British Isles that is about 44 hours to start off with. They have plenty of other stuff as well.

    On a SciFi note they have HitchHickers Guide to the Galaxy, Doctor Who, Earth Search and a whole pile more as radio plays. As Fantasy they have the excellant Lord of the Rings dramatization, and a complete canon of Sherlock Holmes among others.
    They also do a good range of comedy, though much of this does have a U.K. slant.

    Outside the BBC there is a whole series of lectures by Feynman if that takes your fancy, try Amazon. If you are into Terry Pratchett, then try ISIS audio books for unabridged audio books of his Discworld novels.

    Fortunately for me I live in the U.K. and I get much of this stuff piped directly into my house via digital radio straight onto my hard disk in MP2 format via the wonders of BBC7 :-)

  21. democracynow.org by michaelmalak · · Score: 2, Informative

    Democracy Now! makes its entire shows available in MP3 and OGG. It's about the most informative show out there. It's liberal-libertarian and is regrettably pro-choice, but mostly deals with issues about oppressed people from around the world. Domestic issues are generally limited to libertarian issues such as privacy, analysis of the mainstream media, etc., and to liberal issues such as race relations.

  22. Here's the usual traffic report. by Kjella · · Score: 2, Funny

    Car 2 meters ahead of me, stalled
    Car 2 meters ahead of me, stalled
    Car 2 meters ahead of me, stalled
    Car 2 meters ahead of me, stalled
    Moved 5 meters
    Car 2 meters ahead of me, stalled
    Car 2 meters ahead of me, stalled
    Car 2 meters ahead of me, stalled
    Car 2 meters ahead of me, stalled
    Moved 5 meters
    Car 2 meters ahead of me, stalled
    Car 2 meters ahead of me, stalled
    Car 2 meters ahead of me, stalled
    Car 2 meters ahead of me, stalled

    You just got to have some priorities, know when it is time to stop paying attention and concentrate on the road ahead. There's usually plenty of dead time in the typical commute. (Unless you work odd hours).

    Kjella

    --
    Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
  23. You're kidding, right? by prgrmr · · Score: 2, Informative

    Then, I tried listening to audio books: it is really hard to find audio books that are tailored toward nerds

    How hard did you look?

    All of Tom Clancy, Tolkien, Douglas Adams are available on tape and CD, as well as more Star Trek and Star Wars shite that you'd ever want to know about in your life.

    Maybe start with Spock vs. Q

  24. My 2 cents by Bootard · · Score: 2, Informative

    I say check out the Feynman Lectures on cd. I only listened to the first couple, but they seemed to be worthwhile. Maybe someone who has a little better experience with them can give some more information. Defenitly high on the nerd factor though. The other thing I would recommend is language tapes. Pimsleur are the ones I have experience with and they are really good. Kind of expensive, but it's defenitly some good stuff to fill up the noodle with on your way to work.

    --
    exceptio probat regulam in casibus non exceptis
  25. Fifth HOPE by darkfnord23 · · Score: 3, Informative

    The Fifth HOPE conference had some great lectures. Here's a link.

  26. Two Bits by BrynM · · Score: 4, Informative

    IT Conversations
    Talking History
    These two have kept my train ride going for a while ;)

    --
    US Democracy:The best person for the job (among These pre-selected choices...)
  27. NPR! by mary_will_grow · · Score: 2, Informative

    NPR.org makes _tons_ of audio content available online.

    From Grand Master Flash to Donald Knuth...

    --
    Why stick up for big business?
  28. Foreign language? by KI0PX · · Score: 3, Interesting
    How about getting something like Pimsleur tapes and learning a foreign language?

    It is a perfect setting - lots of free time, a CD player, and nobody else around. (You feel pretty stupid repeating words over and over again in a foreign language if you are around other people). All of the Pimsleur lessons are 30 minutes each.

  29. Re:What about actually reading? by fgb · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I've seen people read while they drive.

    They scare me.

  30. Pacifica Radio and CBC if you can get them. by billstewart · · Score: 2, Interesting
    If you're somewhere that has a Pacifica radio station, try listening to that. (And if you can't, they webcast - try kpfa.org.) It's listener-sponsored non-commercial radio, so the content is much different and usually better than most commercial stations. Most of their stations carry a mixture of local music, leftist-oriented news, and random silliness. Don't let the "leftist" bit bother you - they'll carry a lot of news that other stations don't, it's often much more in-depth than anything except the best of NPR, and it's much easier to recognize the occasional biased leftist whining than guess what stories CBS and PBS are leaving out or reporting from a government press-release.

    Also, Canadian Broadcasting is good if you can get it. You'll recognize a few programs as "oh, *that's* what PBS was ripping off when they did this program...".

    Back when I was doing an occasional 1.5-hour-each-way commute from NJ to Long Island, I found it was just about right to listen to a bit of traffic radio plus tapes of the Grateful Dead Hour. These days I usually work from home, with an occasional 1-hour commute into San Francisco by train, but since I don't have to drive I can use my laptop.

    --

    Bill Stewart
    New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
  31. Re:podcasts - what they are... by djhalon · · Score: 5, Informative

    Podcasting is made up of two parts. Part one is the show itself. This show is recorded in MP3 format and then posted on a site. This site then has an RSS feed that points to the MP3 file and has details about the current show. The second part is the client app. Some of the current apps are ipodder, ipodderX, doppler, jpodder, etc.

    The client users makes the app subscribe to the RSS feed. The client app then checks the subscribed feeds on a regular basis and then if the RSS changes it will automatically download the new show. The client user can then setup the app to create a playlist and then import it into iTunes or onto your iPod (or any MP3 player).

    Because the show is just an MP3 you don't have to get the client, you can just download the MP3 from the podcast site and listen to it or burn it if you want to.

    Since this post does seem like a opp to pimp podcasting, I have to pimp mine...

    http://www.fakescience.com/labreport.htm

    The Lab Report covers the new digital music industry and highlights new underground and unsigned music. This week we have Rick Carr, formely of NPR, and he is talking about his new show TechnoPop and also about Sandy Pearlman's $0.05 song economy. Check it out!

    -halon-

  32. SETI Radio Network by mpthompson · · Score: 4, Interesting

    If you are into space related science you may wish to listen to MP3s of the SETI Radio Network broadcasts. The topics are generally much broader than just SETI and the interviews with scientists and researchers are actually pretty good. They only produce an hour a week, but it will at least cover one of your commutes to work.

  33. 2600 by NitsujTPU · · Score: 3, Informative

    It's going to sound lame, but you can get some reasonably good audio from 2600.

    2600

    Or Sun has their Java evangelists create real audio lectures.

    Also, I purchased Verbal Advantage

    Verbal Advantage

    When going through DC I listen to C-SPAN Radio, or whenever available.

    C-SPAN Radio

    When available, I listen to NPR.

    NPR

    If it's the wee hours, I listen to Coast to Coast AM

    Coast to Coast AM

    I also like Neil Boortz.

    I also purchased "Word Smart" and "Grammar Smart" on Amazon.com, which are published by the Princeton Review.

  34. low level high level language by dbcad7 · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Why not try some language learning tapes or Cd's ?

    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
  35. 2600 off the hook by diginux · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Listen to off the hook, they have archives and hourly long episodes of many years, should keep you entertained for awhile. http://www.2600.com/offthehook/archive_ra.html

  36. Doing the same thing ... by Titusdot+Groan · · Score: 2, Informative
    I have the following on my ipod for commuting, all are really good listening (I won't list the ones that don't work in audio -- trust me -- there's a lot). The following I've listened to multiple times:
    • Lord of the Rings (the unabridged Rob Inglis reading, 49.5 hours)
    • The Hobbit (unabridged Rob Inglis again, 11 hours)
    • The Entire Harry Potter series (read by Jim Dale, works REALLY well in audio format, 8.5 hours up to 26.5 hours)
    • Foundation (didn't realize how conversation oriented these books were until I heard them)
    • Ender's Game (pretty clear that OSC is a playwright)
    The following are worth listening to at least once:
    • Dumas (The Three Muskateers, Count of Monte Cristo)
    • LeGuin (The Earth Sea Trilogy)
    I got a one year membership at a "Books on Tape" rental store, currently I'm going through the classics. The old heroic novels (The Three Muskateers) are amazing on tape.

    One thing that's interesting -- I find books I've already read to be especially good; there's a whole different feel to the story when read by a good character actor.

  37. Old Time Radio Plays by innocent_white_lamb · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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!
  38. Noam Chomsky and other political tirades... by inmate · · Score: 2, Informative
    if you enjoy the occasional feeling of indignation (hell, this is slashdot after all!!), you might want to get some of chomsky's speeches.

    all are available on the web:
    http://www.chomsky.info/audionvideo.htm
    http://www.zmag.org/chomskyaudio.htm

    zmag has further links to similiar audio files.

    enjoy!

    --
    --- blackironprison, where ignorance is bliss....
  39. Richard Feynman - Deifnitely worth your time by timcrews · · Score: 5, Informative

    Richard Feynman, prominent physicist, Nobel laureate, and general renaissance man, was also a prolific and entertaining author, and many of his books are available as unabridged audio books. I find it hard to imagine that any geek would not find these interesting, insightful, and humorous (+5 on all scales, of course!)

    Audible.com has them.

    "The Pleasure of Finding Things Out"

    "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!"

    "What Do You Care What Other People Think?"

    1. Re:Richard Feynman - Deifnitely worth your time by eh2o · · Score: 2, Informative

      the feynman lectures on physics (recorded from his lectures at caltech) are excellent; and a good way to learn something.

    2. Re:Richard Feynman - Deifnitely worth your time by Stanza · · Score: 2, Informative


      I listened to Six Easy Pieces on audio while driving. They were great.

      I listened to Six Not So Easy Pieces on audio while driving. I found that I could not follow the physics and drive at the same time. I wouldn't recommend these for driving. For home they're great, though.

  40. Supreme court audio by jgrider · · Score: 3, Interesting
    I have really enjoyed listening to early (and modern) US supreme court oral arguments. These are available as mp3s, with a creative commons license (Hmmm... legal legal mp3s... and can be found here:
    http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/nitf/273/

    They provide a basis for our legal system, and reflect some pretty important times in our history. Plus, there are inevitably arguments for and against that I had never considered, (Can I mod justices +1 insightful?)

  41. Already asked... by kabrakan · · Score: 2, Informative

    I already asked this sort of question, albeit I wanted something to listen to while i'm AT work.. Lots of good replies though, a lot of good conversations to get into and pass the time.

    --
    Slartibartfast:"Is that your robot?"
    Marvin:"No, I'm mine."
  42. Here's mine by Moderation+abuser · · Score: 2, Insightful

    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.
  43. You can pay attention to both. by debest · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It's interesting how it is with listening and driving. They seem to use totally separate and non-dependant "processing power" in the brain, or at least in my brain. I have noticed that attempting to communicate in any way (speaking to a passenger, a cell phone, whatever) is detrimental to my attention to traffic and the road, but having tunes or talk radio on does not.

    I really do not see an issue with the poster's request. Having something to listen to does not, in my own experience, reduce the "bandwidth" that goes to the road.

    In fact, I'll even go further: when fatigue starts to set in, having silence in the car is far worse than listening to anything that keeps your brain occupied. Nothing seems to induce sleep better than a quiet, monotonous drive.

    --
    Look at the tomato! Isn't it sad? He can't dance! Poor tomato!
  44. Re:against podcasts by nicktripp · · Score: 2, Insightful

    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.

  45. Slashdot by Eternally+optimistic · · Score: 2, Funny

    A slashdot poster with any pride would play a reading of their own posts and congratulatory resonses. Each one twice.

    --
    What keeps me going is my inertia.
  46. Podcast of Harry Shearer's "LeShow" by Beebos · · Score: 2, Informative

    Harry Shearer, of Spinal Tap, Simpsons, and A Mighty Wind fame has a great a hour long radio show that is part sketch comedy, part social commentary, and part eclectic music. Harry does hilarious parodies of the usual suspects, O.J., political figures, journalists, etc. He has also introduced me to a lot of great music I wouldn't have heard otherwise. Some of the show can be an aquired taste, e.g, reading from trade magazines or the L.A. real estate transactions. Do your self a favor and go through the archives and lsiten to anything about O.J. Simpson phone calls. For more info check out;

    http://www.kcrw.org
    http://www.harryshearer.com /

  47. Real nerds by StikyPad · · Score: 3, Funny

    That's a no brainer. Download your topics of interest and record the dialup audio. Any real nerd knows that. Naturally, that requires learning binary -- at least the printable ascii characters. You shouldn't have any problem removing the parity bits, ACK/NAKs, and other overhead data from the audio stream by hand, or with a custom algorithm of your design. Since you're a beginner, you'll probably just want to start out at the oldschool 75bps. As you improve, you can step up to faster bitrates. Since modem speeds generally double, you might want to set the playback speed variably to give yourself more of a natural progression. Once you get up to 28.8kbps, you can listen to War and Peace in under 20 minutes. I would highly suggest you don't go beyond 33.3kbps though. One fellow tried to make it to 56k, and now he's locked away. Poor guy thinks he's a tangerine. Anytime someone opens their mouth to speak to him, he tries to flee in terror to avoid being eaten. It's even worse when he gets hungry himself. Naturally they have to keep him away from mirrors.

    But I digress. Good listening to you!

  48. Just get Sirius by disc-chord · · Score: 4, Informative

    You could do all that manually, but I would recommend getting Sirius instead. You get NPR Talk, NPR Now, PRI, BBC, etc... etc... etc... Really great unbiased intelligent talk.

  49. Howard Stern! by tilleyrw · · Score: 2, Informative

    For all those just returning to the program, Howard Stern was proclaimed King of All Media.

    --
    This post encoded with ROT26. If you can read it, you've violated the DMCA. Handcuffs please, sergeant.
  50. There are plenty of great audio books and lectures by Dr.+Spork · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Right now, the best source of the geek-friendly audio books you mention are two: My favorite is my public library. They have the excellent 51-hour reading of the three Lord of the Rings books on CD, and right now I'm in the middle of Dune. These are all things that I've read before from paper, but I get something different, and not substantially worse, from hearing the books read aloud.

    Then there are two excellent "audio lectures" companies that basically record college freshman-level lecture courses on CD. (One of them is called the Teaching Company, and the other, I forget.) Most of these are decent, and some are quite excellent. There are lots of titles available, and if you're like me and have an interest for almost everything academic, you won't run out of stuff.

    Now, I hate to say this, but it has come to my attention that many of these recordings are available illegaly through newsgroups and some p2p sources like eMule. I leave it to your conscience what to do with this information (keeping in mind just how many immoral acts are legal and illegal acts moral). If you asked me whether I prefered motorists who enrich their minds with bootleg lectures about the Aneid, Roman history, or Feynman's excellent lectures on Relativity to motorists who adhere religiously to federal IP laws, I must say that I'd choose the former. But don't ask me. I teach ethics at a major university.

  51. http://freeaudio.org/ by Russ+Nelson · · Score: 2, Interesting

    http://freeaudio.org/
    -russ

    --
    Don't piss off The Angry Economist
  52. H2G2 by jonasj · · Score: 2, Informative

    Are the original Hitch Hiker's Guide episodes available from bbc.co.uk? I haven't been able to find them there.

    They're available from http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/cgi-bin/h-browse?sh=1&butto n=Browse&dir=%2Fpub%2F.arch-download%2Fhhgttg&sort =type anyway, in case anyone wants them.

    --
    You know, Microsoft's street address also says a lot about their mentality.
    1. Re:H2G2 by jabuzz · · Score: 2, Informative

      Of course they are, however you have to either pay for them on a CD or wait till they play them on either Radio4 or BBC7 again. You can even buy them as a single CD ready encoded in MP3 format. The site you list above is of course totally illegal.

      For legal BBC material see http://www.bbcworldwide.com/

  53. Festival and guttenburg by donscarletti · · Score: 2, Informative

    I like to take project guttenburg books then feed them through festival. The voice is slow and awkward, but it is still very clear, and you can listen to just about anything for free.

    --
    When Argumentum ad Hominem falls short, try Argumentum ad Matrem
  54. The "tape" part of books-on-tape by ziegast · · Score: 2, Informative

    One expensive route is going to the local book store and just getting your items on tape. you've probably gone you yor local books store and have been frustrated by either the selection or price.

    I've found that my local public library has a great selection of fiction, and it's virtually free. Recently I listened to a Clive Cussler book. It's just a little geeky with some action, adventure and women thrown in. Dune audio books will get you all the way across the country. I just enjoyed Dune House Atreides (which was 6 tapes)! I had much fun with the very large selection of Star Wars audio books (not the real episodes, but all of the in-between stories). If you ever fdo buy an audio book, don't let it sit in a box somewhere. Donate it to your local library so that others can enjoy it!

    A good source for digital content may be Audible.com. For example, I just noticed they have all of the books from my favorite Ender Wiggins series by Orson Scott Card. If they have all of those books on MP3, I can imagine what else they'd have. For a tech geek, try a one-year subscription to "Technology Review"! You'd download them to your PC and then transfer them to your MP3 player or iPod or whatever and broadcast to your stereo as long as the batteries last (buy rechargable batteries!).

    Some (like me) haven't made the bold leap into the 21st century and still have a stereo/tape player as their primary audio device in their car. I recently found a PC-to-tape device being advertised and reviewed. It looks great, but I don't have such a disposable income that'd warrant such luxury. I'll probably jury-rig some software to connect a cheap wireless Linux PC around my house to my stereo and record that way.

    -ez

  55. Get a job closer to home! by malsdavis · · Score: 2, Insightful

    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?

    1. Re:Get a job closer to home! by seraphina · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I am fed up with all the replies saying get a job closer to home. It's not that simple. I love my job. It's in London. My husband's job is in Cambridge. We live in between. It takes me an hour to get to work but it keeps me in a job I love and living with the person I love. Deal with it and don't be so short sighted.

  56. Convert to mp3 by Linuxathome · · Score: 3, Informative
    If you use linux, you can download the streams with the commandline program curl:
    curl URLofRMfile.rm -O
    Then you can convert the rm file to mp3 with mplayer and lame:
    mplayer infile.wma/ra/rm -ao pcm -aofile outfile.wav
    lame -f outfile.wav mp3outfile.mp3
    You don't need curl to get the rm file if you don't want it. You could always play the rm stream straight with "mplayer URLofRMfile -ao pcm -aofile outfile.wav". With linux, you can also automate the whole thing with a simple bash script if you wanted (and then insert it as a cron job for full automation); then with the script, wait until a new show comes on and play.

    This and a number of other tips can be found on my blog.
  57. Easier to talk to people in car because... by SuperKendall · · Score: 2, Insightful

    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
  58. interesting audio by lapilot · · Score: 2, Informative

    Did you think of going to http://coasttocoastam.com andbecoming a streamLink member. You could then download the latest program (mp3) anddump them on your iPod. I do as it is good for trips, or your daily commute. They have some excellent scientists. Including my favorite Michio Kaku. Worth a try....

  59. interested in learning classical music? by porky_pig_jr · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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).

  60. Audible.com by mikehunt · · Score: 2, Informative

    Note that if you get these audio books from audible.com, you will be lumbered with yet another pathetic DRM system. Derrick Story on O'Reilly already found out how restrictive it was
    http://www.oreillynet.com/cs/user/view/wlg/2522

  61. Audio books rock by Adam+Wiggins · · Score: 2, Informative

    I've always hated every moment spent in the car - I see it as completely wasted time and energy. Recently I started listening to audio books and it completely changed my attitude. Now I actually look forward to getting into the car, much as I look forward to resuming reading whatever paper books I am reading.

    There is plenty of great stuff on audio cd, but my two main sources have been Simply Audio Books (a sort of netflix for audio books) and Great Courses.

    Simplyaudiobooks has a lot of fiction (including the first volume of Stephenson's Baroque Cycle, if you can believe that) as well as semi-pop science books like Hawking's the Universe in a Nutshell. You can also get this stuff on Amazon if you prefer to buy.

    The Great Courses are basically a bunch of recorded colledge lectures, but (unlike my actual colledge experience) they are mostly pretty interesting. Topics include science, history, math, economics, biographies, and philosophy.

  62. In Our Time by slim · · Score: 2, Interesting
    There have been many mentions of podcasting, and many of the BBC's talk output, but (visible in slashdot's top level, at least) no mention of In Our Time.

    In Our Time is a show presented by Melvyn Bragg, who discusses a different subject each week, with expert guests. In general they apply a historical context to some scientific, technological, religious, philosophical or political movement.

    Interesting recent subjects have been:
    • Cryptography
    • Stoicism
    • Dark Matter
    • The Cambrian Explosion
    • 2nd Law of Thermodynamics
    • etc

    Quality of guests is high: for example, Simon Sing was on the crypto program, Roger Penrose and John Gribbin are regulars, etc.

    As well as being broadcast on Radio 4 on old fashioned analogue radio, In Our Time has the honour of being chosen as the BBC's experiment in podcasting. ... and is worth installing iPodder for! My only qualm is the occasional compression artefact. They seem to crop up when the female guests are speaking...
  63. In Our Time by rleyton · · Score: 2, Informative

    Faced with frequent flights down from Glasgow to London, I've been listening to BBC radio (In Our Time PodCast) and audio books (so far Dirk Gently). Certainly beats looking out the window and sternly avoiding making eye contact with my adjacent passengers.

    --
    ooooooh! What does this button do? - DeeDee, Dexters Lab.
  64. Dr Karl by petdr · · Score: 2, Interesting

    One podcast that I enjoy is Dr Karl on JJJ in Australia. It's a segment where people ring up and ask science questions and Dr Karl tries to answer them. He also takes answers from other listeners on the web. Normally quite interesting.

    Find out how to listen at http://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/stn/podcast.htm

  65. Get OpenBook 7.1 by Nalyd · · Score: 2, Informative
    This software is targeted to the blind, but would work pretty well for anyone who wants to listen to web pages, newspapers, books etc. on the go. Essentially, you scan your document, or copy and paste it into OpenBook, then save as mp3. It is really simple and pretty quick. It can have a number of different voices, and you can control how fast it speaks, the pitch, etc.

    Check out the product at http://www.freedomscientific.com/fs_products/softw are_open.asp/

    --
    We are all atheists about most of the gods that humanity has ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further. -Rich
  66. Re:What about text to MP3. Re:podcasts by digitalgiblet · · Score: 2, Funny
    "Use voice sinthesizer software to turn text into aoudio stream."

    GREAT! Now I can listen to that debate between Stephen Hawking and a Speak'n'Spell! I've been wanted to sit through that one for YEARS.

  67. The Teaching Company by Hamlet+D'Arcy · · Score: 3, Informative

    The Teaching Company [http://www.teach12.com] offers a wide variety of college lectures on CD. They are expensive but worth every penny... I just got through listening to a 48 CD lecture and was left wanting more.

    --

    If I seem short sighted, it is because I stand on the shoulders of midgets
  68. NASA Science by Shezi · · Score: 2, Informative

    Just fresh out of the NASA news: NASA science podcasts: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2005/21mar_podc ast.htm?list68870

    --
    From Wordnet (r) 2.0: hacker n 1: someone who plays golf