Whenever I take a trip somewhere—like Copenhagen, for example—it’s a good opportunity to catch up on what I’ve been huffduffing. Trains, planes and buses are the killer apps of personal podcasting. In many ways, Huffduffer becomes more useful the further away you are from a computer and an internet connection.
I didn’t get the chance to see Mark speak at this year’s Web Directions @media in London, but now that I’ve listened to his talk on Designing Grid Systems, I’m cursing the two-track format of the conference and the fact that I couldn’t be in two places at once. This talk is superb; one of the best presentations I’ve ever heard. It’s got a fantastic long-zoom perspective and completely crystalises and clarifies the fundamental problem with the approach taken to most web design today: canvas in, rather than content out. Do yourself a favour and huffduff this today.
The audio from the hot topics panel I moderated at the same conference is also available for your huffduffing pleasure and you can read a transcript of the panel right here in the articles section of my site.
Matt Ridley’s usual area of expertise is in evolutionary biology but lately he’s turned his Darwinian gaze to the evolution of man-made systems. His talk on How Prosperity Evolves, based on his latest book The Rational Optimist is a fascinating look at how ideas have sex with each other.
Two new podcasts showed up on my radar recently. One is The Box from web designer Tim Van Damme. Episode 1 features a short, snappy interview with Neven Mrgan, one of the creators of the iPhone game The Incident. Expect more short snappy interviews to follow.
The other new podcast is called The Incomparable, a chat show about sci-fi and geek culture. The first episode, We’ll Always Have Zeppelins began with a discussion of China Miéville’s The City and The City (which I’m planning to read now) and finished with a look at Cory Doctorow’s For The Win. While I was sitting in a chair in the sky listening to the discussion, I remembered that I had downloaded the ePub version from ManyBooks.net. I began reading it on my iPod Touch and now I’m hooked.
So that’s just some of the stuff I’ve been listening to:
- Mark Boulton — Designing grid systems
- Web Directions @media: Hot Topics
- How Prosperity Evolves
- The Box - Episode 1: Neven Mrgan
- We’ll Always Have Zeppelins — The Incomparable
…and I haven’t even mentioned the prolific audio output of Dan’s excellent 5by5 network.
If audio isn’t your bag, then you might enjoy the beautiful-looking videos from Put This On, a web series about dressing like a grown-up
from the ever-brilliant Jesse Thorn and Adam Lisagor. You’re welcome.