Author: Michael

On my frequent trips to 7-Eleven I have often noticed the inexpensive cigars behind the counter. Yesterday I decided to check them out at Cruft Labs.

My take on tech podcasts.

I don’t listen to the radio much in the car these days. Typically, I’m listening to a podcast instead. Here’s what I like. You probably won’t find them as enjoyable, but to each their own.
1) Infected by Martin Sargent – This is the podcast with an irregular schedule that I get the most belly laughs from regularly. Hosted by Martin Sargent and his friend, The Gator, they discuss strange things found on the internet and topics that are rarely discussed. Vulgar, offensive, and hilarious, it’s not for everyone. (That means you aren’t going to like it Mom.) Guests range from porn starlets to inventors to weblebrities. I do miss Joey-Bird since he mved away. I felt he added a great presence to the show. Martin’s story is always good, but my favorite ever is Gator’s story at the beginning of episode 11.
Catchphrase: Don’t get ripped by the riptide. Quasi toe-toe!
2) SModcast – Film writer/director Kevin Smith and Producer Scott Mosier host this podcast. Simplest of all the podcasts, it’s just Kevin & Scott talking. Again, it’s vulgar, offensive, and hilarious, and I love it. It’s the way friends talk when no one is listening. Let me rephrase it, it’s the way the men talk to their long time friends. No holds barred, no censorship, nothing off topic, and no tangent goes too far.
Catchphrase: Have a week.
3) Geekscape – This podcast is the mutation of an older podcast called Geekdrome that imploded after a good run in a mysterious way. Jonathan London was the half of Geekdrome that went on to start Geekscape. His former partner, Dan Trachtenberg, went on to launch the The Totally Rad Show, which is too overproduced and saccharin for my tastes. On Geekdrome, Jonathan has gone the route of having various guest hosts, even his girlfriend, to talk about films, video games and comics. Along the way, he’s picked up quite an entourage of sidekicks that add to the flavor. Jon’s passion comes through clear and cleanly. He’d firm in his opinions and able to explain why in a way that some critics avoid. While I disagree with some of his opinions, it’s good to see him stake out unconventional positions and stick with it.
Catchphrase: Robotitties!

Those three podcasts exemplify what I find most appealing, honest talk and opinions about topics that the individuals have real passion about. Too many of today’s podcasts are simply regurgitated newscasts based on what ever is hot on the net. They may be popular, but they are so produced and careful about what they say that I find them dull. Many of the podcast aggregation sites love this kind of news podcast, but I think they are lame.

4) The Adam Carolla Show – Adam Carolla is the host of a morning radio show in many parts of the country. Not exactly a shock jock, Adam is more like a smart libertarian with common sense (unlike most Libertarian Party members). Honing his skills for over a decade on Loveline, a nightly radio show, he speaks smoothly and intelligently on most any topic. Unlike that typical radio host that strives to create drama, Adam strives to move people toward sanity in an insane world. The podcast is simply the recording of the show, broken into segments, minus the commercial breaks. I love listening to his show this way since I can skip over guests or segments I’m not interested in.
Catchphrase: Mahalo
5) Wine Library TV – First, I’m not a big wine drinker. I prefer a glass of a good scotch whisky on ice, but host Gary Vaynerchuk, is a fantastic host. His passion for wine is evident and the fluidity of his patter is impressive. Never at a loss for descriptive words for the smells and flavors of the wines he tries, it’s always an impressive performance. My only regret is that he doesn’t review whisky. If you like wine, this is a must-watch show.
Catchphrase: We’re changing the wine world, aren’t we.
6) Metafilter Podcast – A podcast that discusses the MeFi site & community by Mathowie and Jessamyn. Calm and easy going, this podcast is for people that follow the Metafilter website. With a very narrow audience, this podcast serves them well. I’ve followed the site for over 5 years and find it a relaxing listen with a few good chuckles tossed in.
Catchphrase: [none yet, but they need one]
7) Diggnation – Probably the most popular podcast on my list, I’ve been listening since the second episode. Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht talk about popular posts on Digg.com. The topics they talk about often aren’t news to me, since I follow Digg. what’s interesting is when Kevin & Alex mix it up a bit and open up about their experience or passion about a topic. Some episodes, they seem to be phoning it in, just trying to get to the end, not really giving a shit. Other times, they are hilarious. They are at their best in front of a live audience, where their professional TV skills take over, and they really get on a roll, fueled by alcohol.
Catchphrase: Next story!

Overall, what I find interesting in a podcast is interesting people that speak from their hearts. You can get talking heads and news aggregation anywhere, but it’s not so easy to find interesting, smart people. Many podcasts don’t seem to get this. They seem to think that finding a niche and talking about recent events is enough, it’s not.
So, Loyal Cruft Readers, what did I miss?

Several people have been discussing how to handle communications these days (Sean, Jason, Tantek). All suggesting that email is a bad way to communicate. I agree and thought I’d throw in my 2¢.
I get a lot of email, so I would like you all to bend to my specific desires to reduce my email stress. At the office I get 300-400 non-filtered emails a day and often don’t check my personal email for days at a time.
So, that said, here is how I prefer to be contacted:

1. Human Courier – You will hand write a letter to me, seal it with wax and your personal seal, then have it personally delivered by a human courier. The courier will present the letter to me on a silver tray. The courier will then wait for my reply, waiting the hours or days it takes me to come up with my thoughtful reply. Be aware, if you send bad news, I reserve the right to physically harm the messenger.
2. Telegram – If you don’t have the time for a handwritten letter, I will accept a telegram. Yes, you can still send a telegram to me. Western Union got out of the game, but there are several other companies providing service.
3. Battlefield 2142 – Get a copy of Battlefield 2142, install and start a character. Then track me down to a time I’m playing and join the server I’m on. Next, hop into my squad. I’ll be happy to VOIP chat with you in game, while we play. I like to play engineer, defending Toll Station on Gibraltar, so please spawn as Support to resupply as needed.
4. Adam Carolla Show – I listen to the podcasts of the Adam Carolla show fairly regulalry, so find a way onto the Adam Carolla show on-air and I’ll probably hear what you have to say in a day or so. Be aware, that I don’t like the Angel Adam/Devil Danny segment, and tend to skip those.
5. My Secretary – The first rule of corporate life is “Listen to your Secretary.” That being said, if you can track her down and convince her of the urgency of your message, she will be able to track me down wherever I am and get me out of any meeting I may be stuck. Of course, she is aware that Wednesday Lunch is Comic Book Day and I am not to be scheduled before I have picked up my books for the week.

Obviously, this leads to me creating a new community called mypreferredmeans.com where you can register your preferences and that other people can check. I will be Web 2.0, run on Ruby on Rails, be Ajaxy, we’ll have a corporate blog, it will be open sourced, the community will get a vote on everything, and it’ll have a large presence in Second Life…

Michele and I were at the 7-Eleven on Friday getting coffee, when we saw this.

SxSW starts this weekend in Austin. This is my fifth year and these are my helpful tips for the novice.
Introduce Yourself – People are at SXSW because they want to meet people and see new things. Strangely, many of the blogger types that go are introverted types that are a bit shy. Do yourself a favor and say “Hello, I’m So-and-so” to that person you are sitting next to. (Don’t say So-and-so, use your name…) I guarantee that they will be happy to talk to you.
ABC – Always Be Charging – If you bring a laptop, you need to be charging it every single chance you get. No battery lasts long enough. Try to sit near an oulet in the session rooms. Share power outlets with others.
Personal cards – Make up business cards with your name, email, and website info on them to hand out. Bring your regular business cards if you want, but what people really want is a card that ties you to your online persona so they can find you after SxSW.
Session Info – When you arrive on Friday go to the Convention Center and pick up your badge. They will give you a large canvas bag of swag. You don’t want to haul this around, so you need to figure a way to drop this off at your hotel before a long night of partying. In the bag are two crucial items. First is the program which has detailed session descriptions. Second is a small pocket card with the session schedule on it. You want these to be in your daily walk around bag, not in your hotel room.
Shiner Bock – Shiner Bock is a local Texas beer that you find everywhere. Often referred to as simply ‘Shiner’.
Fray Cafe – Go to the Fray Cafe on Sunday night. It’s one of the best things about SxSW.
Stay Warm – It can get cold and rain in Austin this time of year. Bring a good jacket or coat.
Sharpeners – There are no pencil sharpeners at SXSW. People think writing on a pad of paper with a wooden pencil is a bit strange.
The Backchannel – Be aware that there is a backchannel of real-time IRC discussion going on. Probably on irc.freenode.net, probably on #sxsw. The trick is to not make the backchannel into the front channel for you. It can distract you from listening to the speaker/session that you paid to see…
Secure connections – Wifi traffic is in the clear and people are sniffing packets all the time. Arrange for secure email, FTP, and if possible, secure browsing while at SXSW. It’s unlikely that a malicious hacker is gunna do bad things, but it’s best to be prepared.
Street Signs – For some reason, downtown Austin has few street signs. Get a map and study it before venturing out.
Food – Eat food. Austin has a great bar scene. You will be drinking. Don‘t drink on an empty stomach.
Texas BBQ – IMHO, Texas BBQ pales in comparison to BBQ in other areas like Kansas City and Carolina. That chopped beef sandwich stuff just doesn’t cut it, but people will want to eat it for lunch.
Say Hello to Me – I would love to meet Loyal Cruft Readers. On Friday night I will be at Break Bread with Brad drinking beer and smoking cigars. Email me or IM at pusateri AT gmail.com and I promise to respond.
Any questions?

My eldest daughter Zoe, loves herself some anime. As Loyal Cruft Readers may recall, we dressed as Naruto characters for Halloween. This weekend was the Anime Los Angeles convention. After gathering the approval of our family cosplay/anime expert Rachel, I decided to take Zoe to her first anime con.
Now, I’m been to sci-fi cons, gaming cons, all kinds of cons, but I had never been to a anime convention in costume to be part of the cosplay. Cosplay takes things to a whole new level of geek. I mean, I’m a corporate exec type, not a crazy cosplayer right?
Before I knew it, it was Saturday morning around 9AM and I was standing my kitchen dressed as Kakashi, drinking my coffee wondering if I was really up for this. Zoe was nervous in her Hinata costume and beyond excited to go. There was no backing out now.
Once we got there, I knew it would a different kind of convention as we walked in the door and someone yelled out “Yay! Hintata!” runs up and give Zoe a big hug. Zoe had to explain that the other girl was dressed as an older Hinata.
Within about 30 minutes, we were in the groove and I had been asked to pose with other people a few times. I was a bit perplexed by a girl wearing what appeared to be a bikini made of cotton puffs, wearing a mask like mine, and nothing else. She and her girlfriends were laughing up a storm. Zoe informed me that she was dressed as Sexy Jutsu Kakashi. It took me until the next day to actually find out what Sexy No Jutsu was.
Soon enough Zoe made friends with another group of Naruto cosplay kids and the rest of the day was spent following them around like some sort of ninja bodyguard.