Merging Blogs

I've come to the conclusion that I cannot keep up multiple blogs and have all of them filled with content.  I loved the idea of having a blog all about tech, but I am afraid I just don't have the time to make it a great blog.  For that reason, this will be my last post.  I've already merged the posts I did create on to my main blog My Thoughts, My Opinions, My Life.

No worries, I will still be talking about my tech on my main blog, cause I still love tech.  And hopefully I will be able to do so more often.  I know that in the next couple of days I plan to write an update to the My Favorite Podcasts post.  It's been more than a year since I wrote that and things have changed a lot in the tech podcasting world and that post is completely out-of-date.

If you stopped by this blog, I hope you will stop by main blog.  It covers a lot more than just tech, but it also has a lot more content.

In the future, I hope to have time to make this a much more active blog.  If that happens I will resume posting about tech right here.  But for now, this is my last post on this blog.

Roku Box

My deepest desire is to go Over the Air (OTA) and Over The Top (OTT) for watching television.  In other words, I want to cut the Comcast cord.  The problem is that I live pretty far from all of the network towers, except for ABC.  I wish that wasn't the case, because the ABC HD channel looks so good OTA because it is not being compressed before being sent to me.

About a week and half ago, received my Roku XDS box from Amazon.  I was pumped when it finally arrived because I've been wanting one for some time.  And my initial impression was positive.  I loved the small size.  It's just so cute.

Getting it hooked to the TV was easy.  Getting all the channels chosen was time consuming.  (Click here to see a list of available channels.)  That took most of the evening.  But we did have time to watch a little television once we were done.

One thing I really liked on that first evening was the fact that once a show gets buffered, it doesn't have to keep re-buffering.  That was a nice change of pace.  And the wifi is strong.  We have the Roku box in our bedroom and it can be hard to pickup the wifi signal in that room.  The Roku box hasn't had any problems.

We've installed more channels than we have had a chance to use.  But so far I have been very impressed.  The video looks good and it is easy to use.

I only have two complaints.  One, I wish there were more channels.  But I know that Roku is adding channels at a pretty good clip so I can be patient.  My other problem is that I wish there was some sort of guide telling me what was available to watch on the different channels rather than having to go to each channel to see what is available.

I am very glad we finally got the Roku Box.  We have used it every day since we received it and it has been well worth the money.

My Favorite Podcasts

Since the beginning of the year, I have really gotten into podcasts. David has loved listening to them forever, but I have always been more of a "music in the car" person. However, podcasts are about all we listen to in the car these days. There are a number of podcasts we listen to and I'll list them all for you at the end of the post.

My absolute favorite podcast is Buzz Out Loud from CNET. There are daily episodes of Buzz Out Loud available Monday through Friday. There is a rotating cast with Tom Merritt and Jason Howell hosting the show daily. There are two reasons that it scores as my favorite. One, it is about tech news, one of my favorite topics. Two, it is funny. I am always well entertained by this podcast. Subscribing to this podcast is very easy, as there are links for subscribing on their homepage.

My second favorite is the podcast from Engadget. (I'd really like to be saying the podcast from EngadgetMobile, but I can't. I will explain why in just a bit.) The topic for this broadcast is gadgets and consumer electronics, so very similar to Buzz Out Loud in what is covered.. The hosts for the podcast are Joshua Topolsky, Nilay Patel and Paul Miller. This is a weekly podcast that tends to be longer than Buzz Out Loud and fewer topics are covered. However, they do go more in-depth on each topic. Joshua, Nilay and Paul can be entertaining, but not as much as the crew from Buzz Out Loud. Engadget doesn't make subscribing quite as easy as CNET, but you can do so here.

Last, but by no means least, on my list of favorites is also from CNET. This podcast is called Gadgettes. This podcast is also about gadgets, but not just electronic gadgets. They discuss everything from blingy espresso machines to gadgets that claim to be able to tell you what your baby's cries means. The hosts for Gadgettes are Molly Wood, Kelly Morrison and the aforementioned Jason Howell. There are a wide variety of topics covered, but Molly, Kelly and Jason are always very entertaining. Like Buzz Out Loud, you can subscribe to the Gadgettes podcast from their homepage.

Now to explain why the podcast from EngadgetMobile is not among my favorites. When David and I first started listening to podcasts together, this was my absolute favorite. I just love learning more about the new mobile phones coming out. It was a weekly podcast and I looked forward to each episode. Then, starting this summer, the podcasts became more sporadic. Actually, for three months there were no podcasts. Then, at the end of August they returned.  With promises of podcasts appearing on a regular basis.  Two weeks in a row we had podcasts. I was really hoping, although doubtful, that this would be the return of my beloved EngadgetMobile podcast. My hope does not seem to have been well placed. It has now been over three weeks since there was a podcast. However, I have not given up, as I still love the show, so I check weekly for a new podcast. If you are interested in subscribing to the EngadgetMobile podcast, so that you will be ready when they finally do another episode, you can do so here.

Before I give you a list of the other podcasts that I listen to, I wanted to point out a new podcast to which I just started listening.  It's the Sword and Laser podcast with Tom Merritt and Veronica Belmont.This podcast focuses on another love of mine, reading.  This is a monthly podcast on Science Fiction and Fantasy books.  I've just started listening to this one, so have only heard a couple of episodes.  However, so far, I really like it.  They also make it really easy to subscribe by putting a subscription link on their homepage.

Here are a list of the other podcasts I listen to.  If you have any other suggestions, just post in the comments.  I'd love to have a few more listening options.

The Real Deal - Tom Merritt and Raif Needleman
Reporters' Round Table (new)  - Raif Needleman
Dialed In - Bonnie Cha, Kent German and Nicole Lee
The Buzz Report - Molly Wood
Loaded - Natalie Del Conte (the subscription button is right below the video)
Geek Brief - Callie Lewis (to subscribe, click here)
Car Tech - Brian Cooley, Wayne Cunningham and Antoin Goodwin

And so it begins...

Watch this blog! That's right folks. After holding on to this blog url forever, I am actually going to use it. Be watching here to see what my first full post will cover.