__ Connecting the Dots Podcast __

CTD for August 28, 2007

You probably didn't notice, but I'd taken a hiatus from podcasting since last March. Then this summer a business opportunity provided an imperative to no longer outsource our audio production so I went on a hunt for some new audio gear that would provide me with a world-class, broadcast quality sound.

I found it in the Shure SM7B, the Digidesign MBox2 Pro (includes Pro Tools) and the iZotope Ozone 3 set of plugins -- but not after an angst ridden adventure with a bunch of different types of gear!

Download or listen to the podcast (duration: 5:35).

CTD for March 28, 2007

Interview with Mike Shaver, Mozilla Corporation

The Mozilla Corporation's CEO, Mitchell Baker, recently published a Mozilla Manifesto providing a guiding set of principles that sets out a vision of the Internet as a piece of infrastructure that is open, accessible and enriches the lives of individual human beings.

My friend Marc Orchant of ZDNet's Office Evolution and Foldera, was kind enough to invite me to sit with he and his interviewee today, Mike Shaver, (and they graciously agreed to my lurking behavior recording the interview) to talk about the reasons behind the Manifesto, what it means, why it came into existence and why it matters.

Download or listen to the podcast

CTD for March 11, 2007

Are you blessed with a child (or yourself) who has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)? Then you might want to listen to this week's podcast where one guy who has ADD discusses it and his son who enjoys ADHD.

Signs point to Thomas Edison, Wolfgang Mozart, Ben Franklin, Winston Churchill and others who "suffered" with this "deficit".  Discussed is Thom Hartman's "hunter in a farmer world" metaphor that he espouses in his book ADD: A Different Perception. Also discussed is the Learning Breakthrough program and the Dore program (which is partially based on the LB methodology) and the possible cerebellum exercises which might offer some brain hacking breakthrough.

Listen to or download the podcast

CTD for February 10, 2007

A brief podcast about Skype...the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) computer telephony software. In this show, I explain why I'm BOTH enthused and dismayed by Skype:

a)  Skype is a quiet and therefore tension-reducing product enhancing voice communications making them more intimate. It really enhances conference calls and simple voice calls in new and more important ways;

b) I tell a couple of personal stories of how Skype has provided meaningful communications for my family and one other with whom I've shared my Skype enthusiasm

c) Demonstrate Skype quality with a recording of a call with my bride who is on a Frankfurt, Germany hotel phone at the same time my daughter is racing through a shopping mall in Florida while on a cell phone

d) With a recording of using the Skype dialpad to get into interactive voice response systems, I demonstrate why Skype can't yet be trusted or fully utilized for business voice telephony since its DTMS (Dual Tone Multi Frequency or touch tones) implementation is flawed

e) Lastly, I want to test out Skype-to-Skype recording while we're both on decent microphones (vs. headsets) so I connect with fellow podcaster Tim Elliott of the Winecast podcast and we do an impromptu -- albeit NOT optimized quality -- discussion which I recorded.

Download or click to listen to the podcast

CTD for September 16, 2006

This week's podcast discusses microjets while next to the Flying Cloud Airport in Eden Prairie, MN.

In December of 2004 I wrote a post entitled Get Ready for a Revolution in Air Travel. No one seemingly cared except those handful of folks that knew microjets were coming and that they held the promise of being disruptors of the airline industry.

A March 2006 article (PDF) in The New York Times provided the best overview I've seen yet:

Thousands of tiny passenger jets will soon begin flying, the Federal Aviation Administration said on Tuesday, which will open up travel opportunities at small airports, and perhaps eventually gum up the air traffic control system.

In its annual forecast, the F.A.A. projected sharply higher levels of flights because of a new class of small planes, called very light jets, or microjets, with only 6 to 8 seats. The planes can fly about two-thirds as fast as an airliner, and at higher altitudes, but land easily on short runways found at small airports that have no scheduled airline service.

It went on:

The F.A.A. expects about 100 or so of the jets to begin flying this year. Proponents of the microjets, which have a range of 1,000 miles or more, said they would spawn a new generation of air taxis and charters that would carry travelers to small airports, usually within 20 minutes of their homes or destinations, at coach fare prices.

"We're on the cusp of a new business model," Nan Shellabarger, director of the Office of Aviation Policy and Plans at the F.A.A., told several hundred aviation executives on Tuesday at the agency's Annual Forecast Conference at the Washington Convention Center. The agency made the prediction after reviewing manufacturers' orders for the microjets.

The revolution in air travel is at hand...download or listen to this week's podcast

CTD for September 4, 2006

Mention of Getting Things Done by David Allen; a fair amount about Skype; advertising in-game and in-world (video games and virtual world's like Second Life) and NOT interfering with game play; and a mention of an article in The Register about Google listening and advertising to you based on your conversations.

Listen to or download this week's podcast

CTD for August 19, 2006

Today's podcast is the first one I've done since May 23rd...nearly three months ago. No, I'm not going to do one "once per quarter" as some have suggested, but I've just been too busy to focus on it *and* I've wanted to line up others to talk to about meaningful and important stuff. I had grown a bit weary of hearing myself talk and -- since I get so much energy talking and brainstorming with others -- that's what I intend to do and I think it'll be a helluva lot more interesting.

This show refers to a couple of Pew Internet studies (and I heartily endorse their research and it's free!). In the next few weeks, I'll be posting a free PDF paper on some of my thoughts related to the explosion of the Participation Culture and what I'm seeing, what it means, and the dots I think are connecting.

Download or listen to the CTD podcast

CTD for May 23, 2006

This week's podcast is a bit rambling...but discusses such things as community, net neutrality and the exploding number of Web 2.0 applications. As promised for the show notes, the following links are provided:

• Richard MacManus' post listing Web 2.0 lists

• Steve Forbes, editor-in-chief of Forbes magazine, says 'beware of net neutrality' which I beg to differ with...

Listen to or download this week's show

CTD for April 21, 2006

A quick catch up podcast (yeah...it's been awhile).

On this show it's about the path I've been on and, especially, how many of the things I've been learning about social connectedness, human consciousness, striving for meaning and other basic wisdom is now informing my thoughts and direction with respect to next generation internet.

It's not just the flipper-flappers, dweebezaarb's and other tactical technical protocols and formats that make a Web 2.0 destination. There are so many other intangibles that inform the creation of an online space...and I talk a bit about some of the exploration I've been doing with others in that realm.

Plus, I reveal how Homer Simpson is colluding with the National Security Agency to analyze all my television viewing through the magic of TiVo. ;-)

Download or listen to this week's podcast

CTD for March 3, 2006

It's been a few weeks since I've done a podcast. I've been busier than a one-armed, wallpaper hanger but had a bit of time this afternoon and have really been missing it -- so here you go. I'm geared up to continue the weekly podcast series so keep those earphones in.

This week's show covers my current adventure...and some things you might want to consider if you're working (but not feeling like you're in the right spot) or are considering an entrepreneurial adventure of your own. Understanding your values, purpose and what puts a spring-in-your-step is key to creating your future, and there is some data you can gather that will help you understand yourself and the choices you make will become increasingly clear.

Staying with my roots of connecting dots, I then segue in to a discussion about Web 2.0 companies and this list of 907 of them...and something to consider before you embark on investing your time, energy, effort or money in a new Web offering.

Listen to or download this week's show

CTD for February 5, 2006

No...I'm not wearing a tinfoil hat but instead am connecting the dots. This week's dots are U.S. intent on geopolitical, space and cyberspace dominance. The pieces are falling in to place to ensure that, over time, the ability to control (and perform surveillance on) the internet is achieved. Discussed in this podcast are the following:

* Project for the New American Century. The PNAC proposes to control the new "international commons" of space and "cyberspace" and pave the way for the creation of a new military service—U.S. Space Forces—with the mission of space control.

* National Security Agency warrantless surveillance and the issues surrounding it and as a precursor to control of cyberspace.

* At Stake: The Net as We Know It. "(I)n a Nov. 7 interview with BusinessWeek Online, AT&T CEO Edward Whitacre Jr. declared: "What [Google, Vonage, and others] would like to do is to use my pipes free. But I ain't going to let them do that." Whitacre and AT&T argue that they need flexibility to exact a toll from Web services that hog bandwidth."

* EFF Sues AT&T to Stop Illegal Surveillance: The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed a class-action lawsuit against AT&T Tuesday, accusing the telecom giant of violating the law and the privacy of its customers by collaborating with the National Security Agency (NSA) in its massive and illegal program to wiretap and data-mine Americans' communications.

* Esther Dyson on CSpan discussing "The Future of the Internet". Provides an interesting perspective on the internet, U.S. position and other countries lack of participation.

Download or listen to this week's podcast

CTD for January 21, 2006

Lots to discuss:

• A Whole New Mind
• The Singularity is Near
• Entrevis
• Heartland Circle
• Newsvine
• Raising of the collective consciousness,
• Participation, participation, participation (did I mention participation?).

Download or listen to this week's podcast

CTD for January 10, 2006

Perspective on the Microsoft, Google and Yahoo CES announcements; Apple's announcement today; and a brief discussion about what I'm seeing with innovation and how that ties in to my great, great Grandfather's store: Borsch's Cheap * Cash * Store.

Download or listen to this week's podcast

CTD for December 31, 2005

Has it really been a year of my blogging and podcasting?

An end of the year podcast discussing blogging, podcasting, citizen media, the flight of ad dollars from traditional media to internet-centric offerings, and being on the threshold of a new year filled with possibility.

Download or listen to this end of the year podcast

CTD for December 21, 2005

a) Discussing the revelation of how President Bush authorized the National Security Agency (NSA) to spy domestically inside of the United States *and* what is possible with the rumored supersecret Echelon and its technology;

b) Fantastico as an add-on to CPanel at hosting companies;

c) Needs that remain unfulfilled with using open source software 'cause it's just too hard to make it all work together;

d) Web 2.0 and the dirty little secret post #1 and #2; and some other miscellaneous ramblings.

Download or listen to this week's podcast

CTD for December 11, 2005

Quick discussion of choosing our path in life as well as organizing the tsunami of data and content that threatens to drown us all. The tool Devonthink is discussed.

Download or listen to this week's podcast

CTD for December 5, 2005

Gadgets are discussed but mainly meditation, science and Steve's pending next step. This photo (one of my favorites that I call "Morning Storm Approaching") is a metaphor for where my head is at right now: a beautiful sunrise means a new day is dawning; clouds are rolling in meaning the day may be turbulent; but above all it is peaceful and serene -- and I find storms are amazing and beautiful too.

Listen to or download this week's podcast

CTD for November 27, 2005: Show me the way...

In the now classic Christmas movie "It's a Wonderful Life," George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) feeling trapped in "this crummy little town" has his world crash down around him. In Martini's bar, he talks to God praying to please "show me the way."

Most of us may not have seen how God resolved George's dilemma if not for a copyright accident.

You may know the story of why this five-times-nominated (but never won while fading in to obscurity) for an Academy Award movie but if not, listen to this week's podcast and how the story of It's a Wonderful Life is an allegory for the current situation we all face with stale copyright laws, a remix culture, and the enabling tools combining to accelerate the demand for new ways of thinking about content and its protection.

Also listen to the segment "The Radar Screen" which covers topics that hit Steve Borsch's radar screen this past week.

Listen to or download this week's podcast

CTD for November 20, 2005

The topics of this week's show are:

a) The Audible "new format" announcement and its impact on podcasters,

b) Tapping in to the Collective Consciousness for Fun & Profit,

c) Connecting (with people...not dots).

Listen to or Download this week's show

CTD for November 13, 2005

With literally a day spent wandering along the south shore of Lake Superior and down through the middle of Wisconsin, I had a lot of time to think, experience, wonder and explore. Several of my musings were around internet connectivity that would need to cover A LOT of geography.

Lots of people (like George Gilder) are comparing-n-contrasting the U.S. broadband penetration with that of Korea, Japan or Singapore. Come on...South Korea alone is 70% the size of Wisconsin! Just as a point of comparison, South Korea has a land mass of 98,640 square kilometers and Wisconsin has 169,642! Isn't it obvious why a tiny country like South Korea has ubiquitous (and fast) broadband and internet infrastructure? The US geography is so enormous -- and population density a fraction of other countries -- that the investments needed here are huge.

While driving for hours I thought, "Hey! I could grab my M-Audio Microtrack and record a podcast." So I did. Hope you enjoy it.

Listen to or download this week's podcast

CTD for November 7, 2005

Recorded on the M-Audio Microtrack...this week's show discusses Web 2.0-like web services and more about the "dirty little secret" of performance with them.

I'm a user of several different web services (Flickr, Typepad, Gmail, Bigstep) and am growing increasingly anxious

In addition, some thoughts about Apple, iTunes and what *could* be known about you and your listening habits is brought forth.

Listen to or download this week's podcast

CTD for October 30, 2005: Dad's new computer

It's all about Dad (my 79 year old computing father). This week's show is about dumping an old PC with a HUGE old 17" CRT in favor of a new Mac mini and a 19" Acer LCD monitor (less than $800 for the whole shebang). This is the perfect combination of a system easy to setup for a newbie. Plus, no viruses. No adware. No spyware. No worms. Yet.

Having an easy system to maintain is vitally important for those of us who wear a "tech support" hat for family and friends!

Listen to or download this week's podcast

CTD for October 22, 2005

All the top superheroes listen to Connecting the Dots

Apple's Aperture, Who is controlling the internet?, Quantum Dots and LED lighting plus a brief audio demo of microphones (AudioTechnica's ATR55 and Pro24 mikes) to complement my new field recorder (the M-Audio Microtrack) are the main topics of this week's podcasting audio adventure.

Listen to or download this week's podcast

CTD On The Road in New York City, October 16, 2005

This week's show from New York City comes comments about the ZDNet Digital Life show at the Jacob Javits center; Streamload...a company with a business model to address the exploding world of personal media; and a few musings about publishers and a broadcaster in the heart of the city.

Listen to or download the mp3 file of this week's show

CTD from Web 2.0 in San Francisco for Oct. 9, 2005

A podcast after the close of the Web 2.0 conference in San Francisco.

• Tim O'Reilly's Web 2.0 White Paper which came out a few days before the conference
• Blogger's write about the Web 2.0 Conference
• Coverage about the Web 2.0 Conference
• Jeremy Allaire's Brightcove
• Launchpad companies: AllPeers 2.0; Flock; Joyent; KnowNow; Rollyo; Socialtext; Wink; Zimbra; zvents
• Other: Google Reader

Download or listen to this week's podcast from San Francisco

CTD for October 2, 2005 (M-Audio MicroTrack review)

This week's show covers my new toy: the M-Audio MicroTrack portable compact flash recorder.

For those of you who have listened to my podcast for awhile, you'll know that I've been on-the-hunt for a small, phantom powered, brain-dead-simple-to-operate device for portable podcasting. For now, I've found what I've been searching for (though an iPod with greater-than-8khz recording would be my all-in-one-device choice).

There are a multitude of stories I want to capture. Many are ones my 79 year old father has stored away in his brain. I plan on taking him to places within Minneapolis where he grew up and where he had experiences...since I loved listening to them as a kid and don't want to lose them.

Download or listen to this week's podcast

CTD for September 26, 2005

Topics are: GoogleNet, Personalization, Recommendation, Predictive Analytics & Serendipity. I asked and you responded. Last show I requested that people email me and tell me if there was an interest in a multi-topic podcast...or a single one. Doing a single one won out.

So this week's show covers a main theme about our pals at Google as well as some of the things that are possible (and being done) on the internet as companies watch, learn and act upon the data we're handing them on a silver platter.

Listen to or download the podcast 

CTD for September 18, 2005

Photography Fest from the Brainerd Lakes area in Northern Minnesota. This Fest is *not* an officially sanctioned photo event by the National Geographic Society. Rather it's 3 guys getting together at one of the guys lake home in northern Minnesota for three days of snapshotting and getting in to the Zen of photography.

Listen or download this week's podcast

CTD for September 12, 2005

This week's show talks about the new John Batelle book "The Search". The show also features those topics which hit Steve Borsch's radar screen this week. Radar Screen is a segment that adds some "color" around the blog posts from Borsch.TypePad.com in the past week.

Download the mp3 file of this week's show

CTD for September 5, 2005

Talk about the web host BlueHost and tools for hosters called cPanel and the fabulous Fantastico, as well as items around New Orleans (and the blogger from there called The Interdictor). The show also features those topics which hit Steve Borsch's radar screen this week. Radar Screen is a segment that adds some "color" around the blog posts from Borsch.TypePad.com in the past week.

Download the MP3 file.

CTD for August 28, 2005

This week's podcast is a brief discussion about Mac OS X vs. Windows vs. Linux from one person's perspective.

Frustration started with an attempt to install Linspire (a Linux distro) but it hung...creating a cascade of events with effort to rescue data from a hard drive that got corrupted, necessitating a re-install of Windows. Knoppix is discussed briefly which is a bootable CD distribution of Linux and -- going forward -- the only way Borsch will use Linux!

Also, the segment "The Radar Screen" follows with a brief recap of the items that hit Borsch's radar screen this past week.

Download MP3 of this week's show

CTD for August 19, 2005

It's a podcast from the 5th Annual Dad & Son Adventure. Up at a cabin on the north shore of Lake Superior for the weekend, Alex and his Dad record this week's podcast.

Besides goofing around (and Alex dissing his Dad constantly), the theme was how Alex's world with technology (and books) is incredible in comparison to what Dad experienced at 10 years of age. A lot has changed but the lake -- and the waves rolling in you can hear on the podcast -- have not. (Though it's probably fair to point out that, due to its proximity to the Minneapolis/St. Paul, the north shore is quickly being built on, traffic is increasing and it's becoming more commercialized).

Listen to or download this week's podcast.

CTD for August 14, 2005

Topics: Intelligent Design vs. Evolution; PodcastMN meetup; a new segment called "Radar Screen" which covers several of the past week's events that hit Steve's radar screen and were worthy of more thought and perspective.

Washington Post UPDATE 8/14/05, 9:33pm: Harvard Jumps in to the Evolution Debate. Harvard University is joining the long-running debate over the theory of evolution by launching a research project to study how life began.

Evolution is a fundamental scientific theory that species evolved over millions of years. It has been standard in most public school science texts for decades but recently re-emerged in the spotlight as communities and some states debated whether school children should also be taught about creationism or intelligent design.

Download MP3

CTD for August 12, 2005: iRiver iFP899 Test

In an ongoing quest to find an affordable and high quality portable podcasting device, I make a brief recording with the iRiver iFP899 and the AudioTechnica ATR55 shotgun, powered, condenser microphone with mini-plug.

After investing about two hours trying out this device and putting it through its paces, I decided that it wouldn't be acceptable for portable podcasting. I need a device that is as simple as a point-n-shoot digital camera if I hope to focus on the audio content vs. goofin' with the recorder (and its crackling mini-plug line-in is a deal-killer). Also, my bride won't be able to quickly perform on-the-spot interviews at trade shows unless it's just like using a handheld digital camera: powerful and of excellent quality but able to take those shots a person has two seconds to set up.

Take a listen and you'll also hear the crackles and pops of the mini-plug moving around...not good. So I'll be returning it to Best Buy tomorrow morning and I'm back on the hunt for an acceptable quality, easy to use, portable podcasting device.

Still going to check out Giant Squid whose products have been discussed at the Podcast Alley forums and people seem to love his stuff.

MP3 File

CTD for August 7, 2005

INCENTIVES AND FEAR: This week's show is going to take a bit of a twist on connecting the dots and hopefully will act as a wakeup call. The focus is on seemingly benign moves that could become a threat to you if you are not watching, listening and thinking.

Freakonomics, Beyond Fear, the FCC, terrorism, and the government all play a role in this week's podcast.

MP3 File

(CTD podcast is now available via Odeo)

CTD for July 29, 2005

Bandwidth discussion with excerpts from Adam Curry's Daily Source Code, Mike O'Connor's Sex & Podcasting, a snippet from John Furrier's Podtech series and a Podshow Podsafe Music Network artist The Ride Theory and their song "I'm On Board".

MP3 File

CTD for July 24, 2005

This week's show covers the Technorati "monetizing controversy", the internet as collective consciousness and a great new podsafe music site with a tune by Lisa Bell.

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CTD for July 17, 2005

Today's show cover's "Connecting the Dots is live on iTunes!"; quick snippet from Dr. Moira Gunn's Tech Nation interview with author Harry Dent as well as one from Diggnation's podcast.

Lastly, an interesting moment (which happened during recording) where Steve quickly quantifies the number of podcasts on iTunes, Podcast Alley and Podnova.

MP3 File

CTD for July 9, 2005

Today's show discusses Steve and family's trip to Japan during the July 4th week. A little bit of tech talk, impressions of the country, and areas of Tokyo -- with some tips for you if you're traveling out of the country and especially to Tokyo.

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CTD for June 26, 2005

A spirited team of leaders from a diverse group of organizations convened in Redondo Beach, California June 20-23, 2005. The goal? To successfully complete the Spencer/Shenk/Capers & Associates (SSCA) "Leadership Process: Motivating Achievement" workshop led by Dan Collett and Susan Peirce of SSCA.

This podcast is an 11 minute, 41 second overview of the impact it made on me and some thoughts about how it could impact you too.


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CTD for June 12, 2005

Today's show covers MNSpeak.com (Minnesota Speak); Eric Rice and an "Edirol update"; PodcastMN.com (shortlist of Minnesota podcasters); and my friend George and some stuff around audio streaming and recording.


MP3 File

CTD for June 7, 2005

A 10 minute podcast discussing my new toy: the Edirol R1, portable WAVE/MP3 Recorder/Player.

This is quite a nice, small, compact field recorder that I'm just beginning to understand. Not yet fully pleased with the results I've achieved, but it's not the hammer...it's the carpenter that needs more experience!

Still, I can sense the possibilities that a device of this quality and capability will bring to mobile field recording. Can't wait to get better at using it and the results it's sure to bring.

MP3 File

CTD for June 5, 2005

Today's 10 minute show discusses the Griffin radioSHARK. A couple of recorded snippets are included so you can hear the quality. Ends with a brief overview of This Week in Tech (TWIT) from the former show staff of The Screen Savers on TechTV (learn more at www.twit.tv).


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CTD for May 18, 2005

A second podcast (15 minutes, 24 seconds) on a speech by Bill Moyers' speech to the National Conference for Media Reform as well as a brief rant about the secret Patriot II Congressional discussions occurring and that mainstream media aren't asking the tough questions.


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The Man Who Planted Trees

Not really a podcast per se...but this is a story that touched me. The Man Who Planted Trees By Jean Giono (Translation from French by Peter Doyle).

One person can change the world...


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CTD for May 14, 2005

A brief (and first official) podcast on my adventure today playing "Johnny Appleseed" for a couple of people with whom I interacted...

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Conjuring Mr. X

Not really a first podcast...but my son and I were goofing around with our setup and I told him a scary story. He encouraged me to record it and I added spooky music and sound effects for fun.


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PROMO: Connecting the Dots Podcast

What is Connecting the Dots podcast? Hear a short promo for this weekly show covering a wide array of topics resulting from miscellaneous observations of Steve Borsch.

Download MP3 file