I had the pleasure of meeting Tom Coates at FOO Camp ealier this year. Although he has just left the BBC, he was allowed to post this description of an awesome internal project he and others worked on to build an audio annotator in Flash and AJAX. Check out the demos linked to in his blog. [Source: Mitch Ratcliffe]

We need something like this for IT Conversations, don’t you think?

(Hear the MP3 version with additional commentary in beautiful monophonic audio.)

New Programs Last Week

Listed in increasing order of listener rating.

• Gary Flake – Yahoo!’s Research Lab (2.8) Yahoo!’s research department of scientists is busy creating new products and developing new ideas. At the time of this talk, Dr. Gary Flake was Director of Yahoo!s Research Lab, and he discusses the philosophy behind the Research Lab. He also demonstrates some of the new tools being developed a Yahoo!, including a collaborative prediction system (with prizes!) in which you can participate.
• Richard Monson-Haefel – Java Superplatforms (2.9) In this session from the Application Platform Strategies track at Burton Group’s 2005 Catalyst Conference, Richard Monson-Haefel compares J2EE "superplatforms" — application platforms packed with integration, deployment, and management frameworks. Richard gives advice on choosing a superplatform and lays out how Burton Group sees this market developing as superplatforms add still more features demanded by enterprise IT developers.
• William Terrill – WLAN Technology Update (3.0) In this session from the Network and Telecom Strategies track at Burton Group’s 2005 Catalyst Conference, Burton Senior Analyst William Terrill gives an overview of protocols and products for enterprise deployment of Wireless LANs. Quality of Service (QOS), security, and centralized management are all available now. New 802.11 suffixes will standardize features that are still vendor- specific, such as mesh networking. Bill gives recommendations for your enterprise wireless deployment.
• Eamonn Kelly (3.6) On Tech Nation, Dr. Moira Gunn speaks with Eamonn Kelly, the CEO & president of the Global Business Network, and the author of "Powerful Times: Rising to the Challenge of Our Uncertain World." He takes us through the major impacts on the world today. It’s his contention that we are in the midst of a great leap forward, not unlike what history has called The Enlightenment.
• Vernor Vinge – Accelerating Change 2005 Keynote (3.7) The idea that a superhuman machine intelligence could be created within our lifetimes is one that captures the imaginiations and fears of many. How can we plan for something which, by definition, changes the world in unimaginable ways? Vernor Vinge is the populizer of the term "Singularity" to describe the point at which technological progress advances so much that we cannot predict anything beyond that point. He discusses how we could prepare for this type of event.
• Peter Ax – On-Line Pharmacies (4.0) Ever wondered about those on-line pharmacies? Drugs like Viagra and even narcotics prescribed without even a face-to-face office visit? Peter Ax is the CEO of KwikMed and claims it’s the only on-line pharmacy to have been granted regulatory approval in the U.S. (by the state of Utah in this case). Larry Magid presses him for the real story.
• Bindu Varghese (4.0) On BioTech Nation, Moira interviews Bindu Varghese, Graduate Research Assistant in Biochemistry at the Department of Chemistry, Purdue University. They talk about her research and new strategies for auto-immune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.
• Paul Graham – An OSCON 2005 Keynote (4.5) Paul Graham, popular essayist and Lisp programmer, discusses what business can learn from open source. According to him, it’s not about Linux or Firefox, but the forces that produced them. He delves into the reasons why open source is able to produce better software, why traditional workplaces are actually harmful to productivity and the reason why professionalism is overrated.

The O’Reilly Pick of the Week:

This week’s IT Conversations/O’Reilly Pick of the Week is a new program from 2004:

• Marc Fleury – JBoss (3.4) JBoss married J2EE to an open source business model and came up with something that revitalized the enterprise Java world. Scott Mace talked with JBoss Founder, Chairman and CEO Marc Fleury at JavaOne. Listen to Marc’s views on the push to open source Java, the importance of aspect-oriented programming, rich Internet clients, and much more.

We need one or two volunteers with MiniDV video cameras (with tripods!) to videotape the full day of sessions at the Podcast Academy on November 10 in Ontario, California. We’ll be recording the laptops, but we also want some talking-head video to intercut as well as shots of things that speakers hold up, etc.

If you have a good MiniDV camera, a solid tripod, you know what your’e doing and you’re willing to contribute your recordings to the non-profit Podcast Academy, I can offer to cover your $50 registration fee. Email me at doug@itconversations.com.

At the one-day Podcasting Academy event, we’ll have the usual presenters with their Windows and Apple laptops feeding a VGA projector. Here’s my challenge. I want to record the audio and video (screen video, not camera video) and create online archives of the presentations. I don’t need to see the talking heads, just the screens. I’m on a tight budget, of course; that’s a given.

What would you recommend in the way of software and hardware to (a) record the sessions, (b) edit the recording, and (c) encode the files in a format that’s pretty tightly compressed (for Internet download, not discs) and playable on both PCs and Macs by the largest number of people?

My first choice would be to record and edit on a PowerBook, but I could use a PC if necessary. I’ve got a fair amount of experience in the world of broadcast-quality video, but when it comes to images on little screens, I’m a newbie.

We’ve just added an Advanced Audio Editing class to be taught by Daniel Steinberg (O’Reilly Media) at the Podcast Academy on November 10. There are still some seats left in the 100-seat amphitheatre-style classroom. Only $50 and that includes refreshments and a box lunch.

(Hear the MP3 version with additional commentary in beautiful monophonic audio.)

New Programs Last Week

Listed in increasing order of listener rating.

• JC Herz – Flickr for Satellites (rated 2.4 by listeners) The military often uses overlays on top of satellite images for strategic purposes. However, the same images can also be used for civilian purposes, in cases such as monitoring reconstruction activity in regions hit by disaster. JC Herz discusses how these "Flickr for satellite" images are used in combination with geographic data-mining to extract enormously detailed area-specific information to save lives in war zones and rebuild towns in devastated areas.
• Eddy Cue — The Video iPod (2.4) It’s hard to know what’s more significant about Apple’s video iPod. Is it the hardware — thinner device, more storage, larger screen and video for the same price — or is it the deals that Apple struck with Disney/ABC for television content? Host Larry Magid grills Eddy Cue, the VP of iTunes at Apple, to try and find out what the secret sauce might be that has given Apple a 75% marktet share in portable audio players despite what should be competitive devices from other vendors.
• Richard Oste (2.8) On BioTech Nation, Dr, Moira Gunn interviews Dr. Richard Oste, Food Chemistry professor at Lund University. They talk about the widespread prevalence of lactose intolerance and the new science which offers an alternative for everything from milk to ice cream.
• Legal Tips: What You Can Get Away With (3.0) As blogging becomes more mainstream, bloggers need to be aware of the legal implications of their work. What are your rights as a blogger, what can you write about legally and what should you avoid? At BlogHer 2005, moderator Jennifer Collins speaks with Lauren Gelman and Wendy Seltzer about legal issues facing bloggers.
• John Smart – Accelerating Change 2005 (3.3) We are all ambassadors to the future — this is the guiding principle behind the Accelerating Change conferences. In this opening address, kicking off the IT Conversations of this terrific event, organizer John Smart introduces the speakers presenting and the ideas discussed at the conference. For early access to our audio files, see our new QuickCast service.
• Ray Kurzweil (3.4) Moira is on-stage with prolific inventor Ray Kurzweil. You know him best as the inventor of speech recognition systems and music synthesizers. In more recent years he’s moved his focus to artificial intelligence, human consciousness and biological intelligence. They talk about his latest book: "The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology."
• SDForum’s SearchSIG – Media Search (3.4) Audio is exploding on the internet, and now even video is becoming easier to create, download and view. However, finding the content you want to consume is still a challenge. Join IT Conversations’ own Doug Kaye as he talks with Evan Williams of ODEO, David Marks of Loomia, Eric Rice of Audioblog and Jeff Karnes of Yahoo! at SDForum about the current state of search for audio and video.

The O’Reilly Pick of the Week:

This week’s IT Conversations/O’Reilly Pick of the Week is a new program from OSCON 2005:

Paul Graham – An OSCON 2005 Keynote Paul Graham, popular essayist and Lisp programmer, discusses what business can learn from open source. According to him, it’s not about Linux or Firefox, but the forces that produced them. He delves into the reasons why open source is able to produce better software, why traditional workplaces are actually harmful to productivity and the reason why professionalism is overrated.

What can I say? Pop!Tech so far is everything I hoped it would be. Terrific and inspiring presentations and discussions. Try to join us on the live audio stream Friday, Saturday and even Sunday morning.

Ian Forrester has even found a way to listen on his Xbox.

Tomorrow (Thursday) through Sunday IT Conversations will be bringing you the free, live audio stream from Pop!Tech 2005 at the Camden, Maine, opera house. Even if you’ve got to work Thursday and Friday, make sure you tune on on the weekend. This is arguably the #1 event of the year.

Of course, we’ll publish the sessions for download over the next eight months, but if you can’t listen to the stream or can’t wait for teh free podcast, check out our new QuickCast™ service.

(Hear the MP3 version with additional commentary in beautiful monophonic audio.)

New Programs Last Week

Listed in increasing order of listener rating.

• Peter Marcus – Online Gambling (rated 2.2 by listeners) To most of us, online gambling means email spam and other annoyances. But to Peter Marcus and his customers it’s a $6 billion/year legitimate business that represents more than 5% of the total gambling market worldwide. You may be surprised at the legitimacy of this operation. (Did you ever imagine that they might be audited by PriceWaterhouseCoopers?)
• Highes and Keeler – Blog Design (2.5) You have started a blog and you’re writing great articles, but how do you attract and, more importantly, keep readers? According to Lynda Keeler and Gina Highes, a key aspect of your blog is its design. At BlogHer 2005, they share tips and tricks to take your blog from blah to bang!
• Daniel Blum – Managing Security (2.9) Every enterprise using information technology today needs to be concerned about security. As IT becomes more important to business, the number and severity of security threats also increase. Daniel Blum of Burton Group kicks off the Security stream of the Catalyst 2005 conference with this overview of topics in IT security.
• Wen Jiang (3.3) On Biotech Nation, Dr. Moira Gunn speaks with Dr. Wen Jiang, Professor of Surgery and Tumour Biology and the Head of the Metastasis & Angiogenesis Research Group at the Cardiff University in Wales. He tells us how he developed a new predictive test for those with the unfortunate diagnosis of breast cancer.
• Kartik Subbarao – Enterprise IT: Open Source Powerhouse (3.7) How can enterprise IT organizations embrace open source but still meet their critical individual business requirements? This presentation from Kartik Subbarao at HP provides a successful framework illustrated with numerous real- world examples in production at HP.
• Jacqueline Winspear (3.8) Moira Gunn speaks with Jacqueline Winspear, the author of "Maisie Dobbs" and "Pardonable Lies." They discuss the social impact of The Great War on Britain, and medical breakthroughs which shaped a generation.
• Robert Kaplan (4.1) Moira also interviews journalist and author Robert Kaplan, who wrote "Imperial Grunts" about the vast reach of American military presence worldwide.

The O’Reilly Pick of the Week:

This week’s IT Conversations/O’Reilly Pick of the Week is a new program from OSCON 2005:

• Larry Wall – State of the Onion 2005: The core design of Perl 6 is largely complete, to the extent that the language is now being implemented in earnest. In Larry Wall’s ninth annual State of the Onion address, he explains Perl 6’s Five Year Plan, how Perl programmers are like spies (or vice versa), and how open source can learn from the intelligence community.