About A Minute - from @edent & friends: Recent Episodes
Terence Eden
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I've noticed an interesting trend on some of the blogs I follow. More of them - though by no means the majority - are including audio versions of the content.
The usually look something like this:
or
The ones which have this are mostly using commercial Text-To-Speech (TTS) engines. Although a few of the (perhaps wealthier?) bloggers have hired people to record audio versions of their ~~posts~~ newsletters:
I find this curious. I don't think it is bad or wrong or unbloggerly. Just a bit odd. I'm from the generation who hated phone calls and ruthlessly mocked voicemail. And now I see the youth leaving each other voicenotes and I feel bemused.
Reading is faster than listening. For me, at least. But reading requires focus. It's hard to cook dinner while reading text. But it's pretty easy to do most things while a podcast prattles on in the background.
Obviously people with visual impairments use TTS systems. And they often have those tools built into their computer or browser. But most people with adequate sight don't know how to use their machine's accessibility capabilities. So perhaps having an easily-findable MP3 of the article is sensible?
I often edit old blog posts. Sometimes to merely change a typo, other times to cover up evidence of my muddled thinking. In the land of traditional audio, that's a problem. It's tricky to re-record something and edit it together seamlessly. But, with TTS, it is the work of seconds.
Anyway, that's a long rambley way of saying that I'm experimenting with adding an audio version of my posts. If people like it, I'll start adding it to all of them - and back filling the old posts.
If you think this is a good idea, or a terrible waste of time, be a sweetheart and drop a comment in the box, yeah?
We're back again with Kim Rowan. Listen to her thoughts about what it's like to become a manager of technical teams. Read about how she got into tech.
How do you modernise the technology of a huge organisation like the UK's Ministry of Justice? Kim Rowan has some bright ideas. Read Kim's post on the Application Modernisation Team For more technical posts, read the Just-Tech blog on Medium.
Happy Ada Lovelace Day! I interviewed its founder, Suw Charman-Anderson, on an earlier episode. So here is a BONUS EPISODE for your ears. I hope you have as much fun listening to it as I had recording it.
After five long years, The Pod Delusion is back! This is a quick chat with host & producer James O'Malley. You can listen to back-episodes at https://poddelusion.co.uk/blog/ and I thoroughly recommend sticking it in your podcast app.
If two blokes meet up and don't record a podcast, did it even happen? Social Media Maven Documentally showed off his podcasting rig - an app called Backpack Studio. You can listen to the ramblechat we recorded on his feed. Here's our quick chat about this nifty podcasting app - which I hope will one…
Do you want an ultra-minimalist, open source, train times website? If so, Dan Pope, has created trntxt.uk just for you!
A quick chat with Rainey David all about the gender pay gap. Including top tips on how to value your worth to your employer. Find out more at ThePayGap.com
My pal Thea Cochrane is doing brilliant things with the British Library Sound Archive You can follow along @BLSoundHeritage.
How can you quickly tune up your computer security? Dan Raywood - Contributing Editor at Infosecurity Magazine shares his wisdom with us. If you're interested in an open source password manager, I'm happy to personally recommend BitWarden
I'm joined by my old school-chum Rebecca Bradshaw - as we talk about an innovative recycling company - TerraCycle. You can find out more about their recycling programme on Twitter. Sorry for the slightly iffy audio-quality. The call recorder on my phone is OK for admin, but not brilliant for podcasting. Will try to record…
I'm joined by Suw Charman-Anderson - powerhouse and founder of Finding Ada. You can follow Finding Ada on Twitter and you can support the project on Patreon. If you'd like to have a chat with me - get in touch.
Because podcasts are now cool™ again - I've decided to resurrect this feed. If you're interested in being interviewed - please get in touch with me. We can record in person, over the phone, or via Skype. In the meantime, here's the podcast's theme-tune to get you in the mood. And to test that I've…
Oxford's Bodleian library makes high resolution scans of Shakespeare's First Folio available under a Creative Commons licence. Pip Willcox tells us more. About A Minute is an amuse-bouche for podcast listeners. No long intro and outro. No waffling on. No adverts, competitions, arguing, or begging for iTunes reviews. You get to listen to an interesting…
Talking to Kerri Russell about the Oxford Corpus of Old Japanese. About A Minute is an amuse-bouche for podcast listeners. No long intro and outro. No waffling on. No adverts, competitions, arguing, or begging for iTunes reviews. You get to listen to an interesting person chat for about a minute - that's it! Get About…
Student Paula Clerkin has just run a successful conference for Women In Technology. Read about how she organised the conference, check out her blog, and follow her code on GitHub. Get About A Minute as soon as each episode goes live. Stick this Podcast Feed into your podcatcher Or you can Subscribe on iTunes Intro…
Once again I'm joined by Rosie Clarke. Today we talk about the artist Amy Sharrocks. To learn more about Amy Sharrocks' work, visit the Museum of Water and follow her on Twitter. And, as a special bonus, here's Rosie talking in a bit more detail about the Sea-fall. About A Minute is an amuse-bouche for…
Chatting with Oxford University's Kerry Russell about their Shakespearean Hackfest. You can access all the data from the Bodleian library's digital First Folio. You can also read about my Hamlet Audio Hack. Get About A Minute as soon as each episode goes live. Stick this Podcast Feed into your podcatcher Or you can Subscribe on…
Ever wanted to explore a museum at night time? Rosie Clarke tells you how! Museums at Night is Culture24's festival of inspiring after hours cultural events at museums, galleries and heritage sites. Next year it's on across the UK from Thursday May 14 until Saturday May 16 2015. Get About A Minute as soon as…
What do famous people sound like? The Wikipedia Voice Introduction Project seeks to find out. Learn more on Andy Mabbett's blog or follow #WikiVIP on Twitter. Get About A Minute as soon as each episode goes live. Stick this Podcast Feed into your podcatcher Or you can Subscribe on iTunes Intro music "Gran Vals" performed…
Rosie Clarke and I have a chat about her new favourite website The-Toast.net. Here are some highlights that Rosie asked me to share. There is a feature where historical characters are reimagined as teenage dirtbags – Iike Dirtbag Teddy Roosevelt There are haunting folksy horror Letter from the Editor Presenting the affectionate monthly Dad Magazine…
A delightful chat with Andy Mabbett about http://orcid.org/. Get About A Minute as soon as each episode goes live. Stick this Podcast Feed into your podcatcher Or you can Subscribe on iTunes Intro music "Gran Vals" performed by Brian Streckfus. Stopwatch Icon by Ilsur Aptukov from The Noun Project. This podcast is licensed under a…
Mike Rohde talks about his work teaching people to draw while the take notes. Join the fun at Sketchnote Army - and follow Mike on Twitter or his Blog. Buy Mike's books from Amazon: Get About A Minute as soon as each episode goes live. Stick this Podcast Feed into your podcatcher Or you can…
Does your email suck? Chris Woods has some suggestions on how to fix it. Check out his Better Emails tool for Outlook. Get About A Minute as soon as each episode goes live. Stick this Podcast Feed into your podcatcher Or you can Subscribe on iTunes Intro music "Gran Vals" performed by Brian Streckfus. Stopwatch…
A short chat on why accessibility matters - and what we can do to improve how we approach it. Get About A Minute as soon as each episode goes live. Stick this Podcast Feed into your podcatcher Or you can Subscribe on iTunes Intro music "Gran Vals" performed by Brian Streckfus. Stopwatch Icon by Ilsur…
Chatting once again with Chris Woods - find out more about infantile spasms at With Big Hair. Get About A Minute as soon as each episode goes live. Stick this Podcast Feed into your podcatcher Or you can Subscribe on iTunes Intro music "Gran Vals" performed by Brian Streckfus. Stopwatch Icon by Ilsur Aptukov from…
The Internet's own bearded wonder - Documentally - talks for about a minute on the wonder that is... The No Phone! Get About A Minute as soon as each episode goes live. Stick this Podcast Feed into your podcatcher Or you can Subscribe on iTunes Intro music "Gran Vals" performed by Brian Streckfus. Stopwatch Icon…
Today, a quick natter about how Intel wants to reinvent Cloud Computing. Find out more from Intel about Cloudwave or follow Chris on Twitter. Get About A Minute as soon as each episode goes live. Stick this Podcast Feed into your podcatcher Or you can Subscribe on iTunes Intro music "Gran Vals" performed by Brian…
If you visit The National Museum of Computing, you can see a real working Cray Supercomputer! An interview with @Computid. Get About A Minute as soon as each episode goes live. Stick this Podcast Feed into your podcatcher Or you can Subscribe on iTunes Intro music "Gran Vals" performed by Brian Streckfus. Stopwatch Icon by…
A brief chat with Lynn from TNMOC - go visit it up in Bletchley Park. Get About A Minute as soon as each episode goes live. Stick this Podcast Feed into your podcatcher Or you can Subscribe on iTunes Intro music "Gran Vals" performed by Brian Streckfus. Stopwatch Icon by Ilsur Aptukov from The Noun…
A quick chat with Paul Johnston of Padajo about his ideas on the future of mobile. Get About A Minute as soon as each episode goes live. Stick this Podcast Feed into your podcatcher Or you can Subscribe on iTunes Intro music "Gran Vals" performed by Brian Streckfus. Stopwatch Icon by Ilsur Aptukov from The…
I had a chat with Laura Kalbag, one of the designers at Ind.ie. If you're interested in helping build platforms and phones which are free of corporate spyware - please donate to their crowdfunding campaign. Get About A Minute as soon as each episode goes live. Stick this Podcast Feed into your podcatcher Or you…
I've decided to start a new podcast. Something nice and short - snackable content, if you will. I'll be interviewing people for about a minute on something interesting they've done or found. If you'd like to appear on a future episode, please get in touch. For the first podcast I'm interviewing myself. So here's a…