Kodo’s Blog

Some good shows in here and possibly something for everyone, especially if your into tech.

The Top 10 Podcast Episodes of 2005 - Diggnation Clip Show is #2!:
A great round-up of the year’s best podcast shows. Diggnation and TWIT made the list as did IT Conversations. Some other really good ones as well like the physics of superheroes!

Apple Hides Subscribe Stats From Podcasters.:

Adam Curry mentioned on his Source Code today, towards the end that Apple let him see his number of subscribers in iTunes.

This is something that Apple lets no other podcasters see. If the information is available, why not share it with at least the podcaster?

I am not a podcaster but I listen to a LOT of podcasts and communicate with a lot of the people I listen to and a continuing frustration amongst them is that they can’t get a good idea of subscriber numbers because Apple won’t release the figures. I do listen to the DSC as well and why should Adam Curry get special treatment over someone else?

If it’s good enough for one it’s good enough for all and it really should have been something they had when they introduced podcasts in the first place.

My friend Cameron Reilly from The Podcast Network recent interviewed one of the world’s leading thinkers of the 20th Century Professor Noam Chomsky. Unfortunately due to time constraints the interview is only about 30 minutes long but Professor Chomsky discusses political issues since World War 2 and other interesting topics.

Listen and maybe learn something and maybe even think. Maybe he will say something that will make you take a look at the world around you and investigate it further.

You can listen to the interview here, Noam Chomsky interview

Today’s official announcement by Apple finally made the reality of an Aussie iTunes Store after many months of frustration for Australian iPod owners.

The main details are that the standard iTunes DRM will be incorporated with all songs. Songs will cost $1.69 and albums will be $16.99 (with some slight variations), Pixar shorts/music videos will cost $3.39, Coles Myer will be stocking $20, $50 and $100 iTunes Music cards and Sony/BMG artists and TV are not yet available.

It also appears Apple resellers are not able to sell the iTunes Music cards till at least February 2006 which is a decision made between Apple and Coles but I am sure a lot of Apple resellers are disappointed with that.  There is already a bit of tension between these two recently and this may add to that tension.

Browsing the AppleTalk Australia forums it appears that some albums aren’t able to be bought but individual songs are for the same album.  This seems odd and possibly a bug but unsure at the moment.

I will probably sign up for an account when I get home but am unsure if I will download any music from the store as yet.  I mostly listen to podcasts nowadays but to have an account will be handy nonetheless. 

I will report my own experiences with the store later and let you all know what I think.