Twenty Acre Lake

Discovering a used book store leads to some fun finds in paperback. This week we careen from the latest ‘greatest American’ poll and its odd inhabitants to Doblin’s ten types of innovation, from the decline and fall of the national nightly TV news to portable walls made of honeycombed paper. Dante and Virgil stroll through the relatively tame First Circle in the Inferno, but is it just the calm before the storm? The podsafe music this week is a funky song from Wattwuzzat.

Let me know what you think. You can email me via the Contact link in the sidebar. You can also post comments here and/or join the forum.

The Discovery Channel’s Ten Greatest Americans
The Ten Types of Innovation
Declining Evening News Viewership

Wattwuzzat at the Podsafe Music Network
Wattwuzzat at MySpace

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I’m back this week with a very full episode. From the Time 100 People Who Shape Our World to the 50 Greatest Robots Ever, from the bad design of plastic wrap to the good design of a hot new lamp, there’s so much to talk about… And that’s not even counting the next installment of Dante’s Inferno in this episode! The podsafe music this week is a great song from Something to Burn.

It may seem silly, but bad design can drive you crazy, even with something as mundane as the plastic wrap in your kitchen. Maybe the wrap itself is good, but the packaging is so bad you might never know.

A well-designed home appliance, like a small personal lamp, looks great whether it’s in use or not. And what a smart idea, so many different effects to match different needs, spaces and conditions.

Let me know what you think. You can email me via the Contact link in the sidebar. You can also post comments here and/or join the forum.

The Time 100
The 50 Greatest Robots Ever

Something to Burn at the Podsafe Music Network
Something to Burn at MySpace

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Wow, that was entirely too long of a break. First I had a cold - first cold in forever - and then was busy with work. So I finally got this episode recorded and posted, and I think it’s really worth it.

I went to Las Vegas for the first time and this episode starts with my first impressions of the place. Then I’ve got a couple of stories of my two “brush with greatness” encounters. And listening to WankerGirl a couple of weeks ago prompted me to watch Robocop again and talk a little about why I think it’s a great movie. The podsafe music this week is a great song from Jack in the Pulpit.

Remember the Ferrari vs. Mustang pictures? I heard from Jayne that she prefers the Ferrari. Excellent taste, Jayne. The Mustang is a thoroughbred American muscle car, without a doubt. But the Ferrari has classic Italian grace and curves.

Let me know what you think. You can email me via the Contact link in the sidebar. You can also post comments here and/or join the forum.

Five Terrible Fake LiveJournal Memes
Robert Fripp
Amy Van Dyken

Jack in the Pulpit at the Podsafe Music Network
Jack in the Pulpit at MySpace

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Still on target for Episode 6 to be out in a couple of days. In the meantime, Nick from The Nick and Jayne Show posted his interview of me. I tried not to sound like a total dork. He interviewed me via audio chat using Apple’s iChat. He’s all the way over in New Zealand, and I’m not sure he was operating at full bandwidth at the time, and I sound somewhat muffled. But it all worked out.

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The Lists of the Week were fun this week—all about the richest fictional characters, and the scariest celebrities on HDTV. Next week’s Question of the Week could yield some good stories—who’s the most famous person you’ve met? I finally get started on the subject of design, and there’s a new Design of the Week. The podsafe music this week is a great song from Coppermine.

Here is the Briggs & Riley rolling computer case I describe in this episode. It’s very compact when all zipped up, but it still has plenty of room for a surprising amount of stuff. I can put everything I need into it, and then some, and it still slips easily under an airplane seat.

I thought the picture below would be a fitting image to go along with this episode. Raise your hand if you recognize it. Extra points if you can name what’s at the center.

Let me know what you think. You can email me via the Contact link in the sidebar. You can also post comments here and/or join the forum. I’ve started writing some things in the forum, and I plan on doing a lot more of that.

Forbes Fictional 15
10 Scariest Stars in HDTV
Briggs & Riley rolling computer case

Coppermine at the Podsafe Music Network

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I covered a lot in Episode 4. There are the Lists of the Week—top sci-fi shows and top gadgets. Next are the Question of the Week and next week’s question. And we finally start the Inferno journey! This week’s biggest addition is a great podsafe song from Stingray.

A couple of days ago, I had another video chat with Nick from The Nick and Jayne Show. He called the international celebrity superstar herself—Jayne—at her house so we could chat, but it was via his fax machine’s phone halfway across the room and I could barely hear her!

Let me know what you think. You can email me via the Contact link in the sidebar. You can also post comments here and/or join the forum. I’ve started writing some things in the forum, and I plan on doing a lot more of that.

Boston.com’s top 50 sci-fi TV shows of all time
PCWorld.com’s 50 greatest gadgets of the part 50 years

Stingray at the Podsafe Music Network

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After last week’s podcast-from-a-hotel show, here’s show number 3.

In this episode, I finally finish up the ‘distinctive guitar players’ list and the ‘top 100 movie voices’ list. Introducing the next two lists: boston.com’s ‘top sci-fi tv shows’ and pcworld.com’s ‘top 50 gadgets of the last 50 years’.

Last week’s Question of the Week gets discussed and I ask the next Question. For the overnight-skill-or-trait, I wanted to be a great pencil drawing artist, since I’ve always liked drawing but I’ve never liked practicing.

In this week’s design discussion, I compare three hotel room clock radios. It all came down to usability, with one style designed to be simple and easy and the other style not really designed so much as slapped together. Guess which one I had last week? Photos are behind the link…

Let me know what you think. You can email me via the Contact link in the sidebar. It’s a Gmail account. I’ve also got ‘paul at twentyacrelake.com‘, so feel free to use that, too. You can also post comments here and/or join the forum. The forum’s still brand new, but there will be updates to it within the next week (that’s the plan, anyway).

(more…)

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Here’s show number 2 of Twenty Acre Lake. I had recorded another episode earlier, but I wanted to do some editing on it. I was in the middle of it and just plain ran out of time before I had to take off on another business trip. So when I hit my hotel room, I recorded a new Episode 2, edited and uploaded it, made all the updates everywhere… stayed up way too late.

In this episode, I remind everyone of the Lists of the Week, I describe the Design of the Week and ask the Question of the Week.

Let me know what you think. You can email me via the Contact link in the sidebar. It’s a Gmail account. I’ve also got ‘paul at twentyacrelake.com‘, so feel free to use that, too. You can also post comments here and/or join the forum. The forum’s still brand new, but there will be updates to it within the next two weeks (that’s the plan, anyway)

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Finally, everything’s set and ready and the first episode of my podcast is uploaded. Twenty Acre Lake is now available for subscription.

I expect a lot of changes as I move through these first 5-10 shows. I’m just figuring out what the show is about, anyway, so it will morph and grow. But I’m definitely going to be changing the theme music, and doing various segment bumper themes, too.

After I get 3 shows released, I’m going to sign up with iTunes and some others. I just want to make sure this is going well and I’m committed to it before I really start spreading the word.

Let me know what you think. You can email me via the Contact link in the sidebar. I decided to start out with a Gmail account, just because I know whatever account I post here will be spammed. I’ve also got ‘paul at twentyacrelake.com‘, so feel free to use that, too. You can also post comments here and/or join the forum. The forum’s all set up but there’s plenty more details to work on, so watch for that to change a lot, too.

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