I’ve been enjoying listening to podcasts while on my work commute, and also viewing the video podcasts at home, usually in bed right before I nod off. Here’s a short list of my favorite Video podcasts I subscribe to. I’ll list some of the audio podcasts in a later post. Oh, if you know of any other good podcasts, let me know!

Channel Frederator – Lots of really cool animation.

TikiBar TV – Very funny podcast with a nice drink recipe after every episode.

GeekBrief – Cali Lewis hosts this show about the latest tech gadgets. I much prefer her to Amanda Cogdon from Rocketboom.

Hawaiian Tropic Models – Ok, I’m a guy. Sue me!

Movie Trailers – Keep on top of all the movies that are on the horizon.

Yamato Damacy – These two gaijin guys are great. Lots of interesting interviews from the streets of Japan. Funny stuff!

PodDiver – Scuba diving footage is always fun to watch.

TerraTV – Ok this is a podcast where you can really learn something about the world. From abalone to Native American issues, this is really interesting.

French Maid TV – Last, but certainly not least, it’s the French Maids. Only a couple episodes, but… wowza!!

I’ve been enjoying my new iPod for a couple weeks now, and figured I would write a little review… so on to the show!

Comparing the 5th Gen. iPod (2006) to the Creative Nomad Jukebox 3 (2002)

The iPod wins on these counts:

Display: The iPod display is great, with anti-aliased text for titles, and bright colors for the album covers. The videos look excellent as well. The Jukebox’s screen is tiny, and it’s just b&w lcd. Not really nice to look at.
Podcasts: iTunes makes it really easy to subscribe to and manage podcasts. If I wanted to listen to a podcast on the Jukebox, it would have to be an mp3, and I’d have to copy it over like any other song. Kind of a hassle. In fact, too much of a hassle to even get me to try to listen to any. Maybe there are apps that will make it easier, but I haven’t found them. With the iPod/iTunes, it’s right there in front of you.
Physical size: The iPod is tiny! It takes up hardly any space in my bag or jacket pocket. The Jukebox was big. Like a CD player, only thicker.
Storage size: 30GB for the iPod and 20GB for the Jukebox
Visual design: The iPod looks so cool. Slim, shiny and glassy. The Jukebox looks so “dasai”. (uncool) Bulky, dull and plasticky. No one would think to steal my Jukebox, though.
Video: the iPod’s got it, the Jukebox doesn’t. I love watching podcasts and videos while falling asleep in bed.

The Jukebox wins on these counts:

Controls: This is where the Jukebox scores big. Clunky old buttons with good feeback are a real good thing to have. The iPod’s slick wheelie thing is simply hard to use for precise control, like when you have to select something that is one “click” away, the wheel is a pain. For instance, changing a rating from 3 stars to 4 is harder than changing 3 stars to 5. The scroll wheel on the Jukebox is more precise and easier to control, since it is “stepped” scrolling. Plus, the Jukebox’s old-school buttons make it easy to operate without needing to look at it. And you know how much volume you are changing by the number of time you press the button. On the iPod, you need to look at the screen to know how much you had changed the volume. The iPod’s smooth wheel and button may look cool, but it makes it really hard to use without looking at it. Plus, it’s too sensitive. If I am reaching for it, it’s too easy to mistakenly change the volume by brushing the wheel with my finger. And if I don’t hit the button squarely, I will change the menu item right before the button gets pressed down, resulting in the iPod playing the podcast just below the one I wanted to hear. And I wish the big center button was a bit more distinct than the wheel.
Sound Quality: I never realized how good the Creative Nomad’s line-out 98dB signal-to-noise ratio quality was until I compared it to the iPod’s headphone out. The iPod sounds good, but it can’t touch the crystal-clear audio of the Jukebox’s dual line-out ports.

A toss-up:

Durability: The iPod feels very fragile. I guess that’s the tradeoff, though, and one that I will definitely go for. Smaller and lighter is better as far as a portable music player is concerned. However, the iPod scratches *way* too easily. Just brushing my thumb across it made a bunch of hairline scratches within the first few minutes of use.
Syncing/File Transfer: The iPod is more automated and user-friendly. The Jukebox software is more manual. Just depends on what kind of user/mood you are in. With 3rd party software, though, you can have a range of solutions for either one.

Whenever I drive past a Hooters, I always try to look in the window to see the waitresses. I can’t be the only one? Hmmm…

Yesterday we had a nice Valentine’s Day at the house. Nothing fancy, just a couple gifts and a nice dinner. I made some roast beef using tri-tip roast, and it turned out pretty good. It’s the simplest thing to make, but really tasty! Just coat the outside of the roast with fresh cracked pepper and salt, and garlic powder if you want (we didn’t), put it in a 425°F oven until the internal temp reaches 135°F, take it out of the oven and let it rest a bit, then slice and eat! Mariko made a great asparagus dish with fresh garlic and balsamic vinegar, and we also had homemade sourdough bread that her manager baked.

For gifts, Bay and Koa gave Mariko a Hello Kitty card. Bay wrote “Happy Valentines Day” and “Bay Koa Papa” on it. We also gave her a cookbook that she is very happy with (yokatta!). Mariko gave me some new pajamas, which I wore to bed last night. My old ones were getting kind of ratty, with the left cuff falling apart. Anyways, it was a good Valentines Day!

I finally took the plunge and got a new iPod a couple days ago. My old Creative Nomad Jukebox 3 served me well (and still works great), but it was time to upgrade so I could use all the neat iTunes features. Plus, Mariko is always saying how dasai my old mp3 player is. The Nomad will continue to be used for home stereo use since it has dedicated Line-out jacks for great sound quality, so Mariko is not rid of it yet!

Now, on to the new toy… It’s a black 30GB iPod, with video capability. I was at the store looking for the new 1GB iPod Nano, but the video features of the bigger iPod were amazing! The screen looks great, and the video playback is smooth. I was watching Kung Fu Hustle last night, and was able to read the subtitles easily. To bring it all together, you need to use iTunes, which is great. It’s very easy to keep track of podcast subscriptions and sync them to the iPod. I gotta admit that the combination of iTunes and iPod is really powerful. It’s all organized so neatly, although the photo implemenation is not quite there yet. But, it is light years ahead of anything that Microsoft has. I still have not scratched the surface of playlists and smart playlists yet, but luckily I have my friends Mikey and Chris to ask about anything iPod/iTunes related!

Now I am thinking about using the computer to hold lots of tv shows, which my friend Chris is already doing. I also want to try hooking my laptop to the tv, since the laptop has an s-video out. Then I can play anything that we have in our iTunes library and/or hard disk on the tv. It’s great since we are using a wireless network, because things become so portable. Wireless iPod connectivity would be next, I suppose.

Well, we finally moved into the new house and it is great! The strong enamel paint smell is going away, with the help of a brand new Mitsubishi air cleaner, and our allergies seem to be a lot less severe compared to when we lived in the apartment.

The builder still has a lot of little things to do, but they did stain the wooden stairs and railings outside yesterday. We have found a few things wrong with the house that we didn’t catch during the walkthroughs, like a broken door knob and a loose faucet, but for the most part, it all looks good. We are really happy with the dual AC units, one for upstairs and one for downstairs. It really makes controlling the daytime and nighttime temperatures easier and more efficient.

There’s a lot of construction going on in our neighborhood, so the noise level is pretty high during the days. But, I like it so much more than living in the apartment. I’d rather hear the droning of a tractor than the voices and yells of the party crowd outside our apartment. And nevermind about the cigarette smoke and parking space disputes. Man, a lot of the apartment dwellers were real losers! In contrast to them, our neighbors are really nice and we like them a lot. Besides our next-door neighbors, we have met a couple of our future neighbors, whose homes are still being built in our cul-de-sac. They all seem nice, but none of them have kids. Looks like Bay and Koa will have full reign over the cul-de-sac for a while.

Still no Internet connection or TV access yet, but we should have it shortly!

I said it before and I will say it again… SBC IS EVIL. I HATE SBC. A-HOLES.

Last night I spent an hour in our apartment garage getting the C70 ready for the move. I emptied out all the gasoline using the carb overflow tube. It took a long time to drain 3/4 gallon thru that skinny little tube, but it was a clean operation. In the past, I used to disconnect the fuel line from the petcock and drain it into the gas can, which can be messy and smelly, but quick. The method I used last night involved removing the gas cap, loosening the drain plug, turning the fuel petcock to reserve, and letting the fuel flow into the carb bowl and out its overflow tube.

It dripped for about half an hour, while I packed up all the tools and spare parts and removed the fragile legshield. I told the moving company that we are moving “a little moped, which is not working and is dry”, and they said that’s ok. The C70 is a bit bigger than a moped, but it is such a funky looking bike that people in the U.S. don’t necessarily think of it as a motorcycle or scooter, especially with the legshield off. They don’t really know what to think. Anyways, I hope that the moving goes smoothly!