RADIOLAB

What's this? Well, it's a radio show & is probably one of the best ones at that. It covers science, the topics are varied & interesting. It's produced by WNYC. The show is hosted by Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich. Although Krulwich joined Jad after it began. It'll begin it's fourth season in February & is absolutely one of my favorites.

It's on the radio, but I never catch it there. Thanks to iTunes & the wonder called podcasting, I listen to it on my iPod. I first heard it about a year ago when my friend recommended it to me & am hooked to it since. If you use iTunes (still not? It's free!), you can subscribe & download the podcast editions. You don't have to be in New York to catch this show if you have iTunes. I wonder if there's something similar in India?

It covers topics like, sleep, space, time, morality, stress etc. Although it's about science, it isn't one bit boring. On the contrary it the opposite. The presentation & the way the topics are discussed make it a fun experience. And in the process you learn something unusual, something amusing, something you didn't know about. The quality of this show amazing, right from the sound mixes, the structure, the format of the show, the light & entertaining nature of the hosts, the humorous way of presenting things, the explanations that are easy to understand. It isn't easy to describe the show. I'll paste something about it I found on the web -

"Radio Lab is an investigation. Each episode is a patchwork of people, sounds,
stories and experiences centered around One Big Idea. On Radio Lab, science
bumps into culture...information sounds like music."

And here's something from their website -

"Radio Lab is designed for listeners who demand skepticism but appreciate
wonder, who are curious about the world but who also want to be moved and
surprised."

This is one of the ways to use you iPod. It's not all about music. Folks who take a train or a bus & ride for about an hour will find this a nice way to spend their journey. A highly recommended show, do check it.

Your favourite universities on iTunes

We all love our iPods & the interfacing software, iTunes. The two have been hailed all over the tech world & the seamless integration between the two is legendary. Their popularity speak for themselves. The newer iPods allow you to do more. Along with storing & playing your music, you can view photos on them, listen to audiobooks, watch/listen to podcasts, watch videos/movies etc.

The podcasts & audiobooks were already a nice addition which became extremely popular among users. Apple found an even better use for their iPods. It expanded the usage of its MP3 player further with itunes U. It's about universities providing courses in digital format to not only the students, but the whole world. Anyone who uses iTunes, can go to the iTunes store & search of iTunes U. There you'll find plenty of (over 200) universities providing audio/video podcasts. Here's a sample of some universities on iTunes -

Stanford

MIT

Harvard

Yale

As you can see, the list is not just some average around-the-corner city college, but some of the most respected ones. There are audio/video podcasts from a variety of topics/subjects.

Here's what it's about (from Apple) -

Education evolves.
iTunes U has arrived, giving higher education
institutions an ingenious way to get audio and video content out to their
students. Presentations, performances, lectures, demonstrations, debates, tours,
archival footage — school is about to become even more inspiring.

Of course, this news is not new. This began back in 2006, albeit only as a partnership between Stanford & Apple. This partnership met with such success, that soon Apple approached others & the list has now ballooned to over 200. Almost half of the top 500 schools in the US now offer courses on iTunes. The next time you use iTunes, check iTunes U.