Ramp.com

The buzz around the One laptop per child (OLPC) group has heightened this week. One laptop per child is a non-profit organization which works:

To provide children around the world with new opportunities to explore, experiment and express themselves.

OLPC has an intriguing and bold mission: to bring cheap, small, durable laptops to children in the developing world.

This month the OLPC project built and deployed the final round of beta machines. Thanks to some great innovative minds–including OLPC Chairman Nicholas Negroponte–the beliefs sustaining this project and its unique approach to education have been developing for many years. While some countries such as Uruguay, Libya and Rwanda have already signed up, Negroponte and OPLC hope to persuade more developing nations to commit to the OLPC project as they roll out their latest in durable, accessible, child-sized laptop technology.

PodZinger recently announced a unique partnership with the Cato Institute, which selected the company to power audio and video search capabilities on its Web site. Cato’s partnership with PodZinger will allow the renowned Washington, DC-based think tank to provide its audience with improved access to information contained in its Web site’s daily podcasts. Specifically, PodZinger will provide audio and video search capabilities for Cato’s Events Podcast, Daily Podcast and the entire library of archived podcasts, enabling users for the first time to easily search the contents of these files for specific topics of interest. Cato joins the growing, diverse network of content creators that are utilizing PodZinger’s innovative technology to increase their contents’ value by enabling users to perform in-depth research of audio and video content.

Cato is a great site for anyone interested in public policy and we encourage people to visit the site and search for the issue that matters the most to them.

According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 26 million Americans looked to the Internet as a source of news and information during the mid-term election this August, compared to only 21 million during the general election in ’04 and 11 million during the mid-term election in ’02. The increase in online videos and podcasts contributed significantly to this increase.

Online video created a new meaning for mudslinging campaigns, with political staffs airing any humorous event or mistake of their opponent, even skewing footage to slander a challenger. One of the most talked about videos currently is from the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which put up a video showing Congressman Harold Ford Jr’s staff “freaking out” while a cameraman follows him. There is speculation that it was a set up by opponent Republican Bob Corker.

Podcasts are a relatively new source for information, but a significant factor driving people who look to the Web for election news. During the mid-term election in ‘02, podcasts were not even avaliable to the public. In 2003, they could only be found on well-known Web sites. By 2006, according to the Arbitron/Edison Media Research Internet and Multimedia survey, 11 percent of the U.S. population had listened to a podcast. Some of my favorite podcasts for election coverage include:

Midweek Politics with David Pakman – Politics, news, and current events with heartheissues.com’s David Pakman.

Vote 2006 | NewsHour with Jim Lehrer Podcast | PBS – Coverage of the 2006 Senate, House and gubernatorial races including analysis from NewsHour’s Political Wrap. Reports on election trends and policy issues, and documentaries from key regions of the United States.

CNN News Update – The latest news happening in the U.S. and around the world.

For more policatical online video and podcast suggestions, visit PodZinger.

In a goal to raise $30 million nationally for Breast Cancer, 30,000 walkers in Boston participated in the 14th Annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer fundraiser. As October is the National Breast Cancer Awareness month, we thought it would be appropriate to point out some of the various video and audio podcasts that provide useful health tips and information including Katie Couric’s broadcast on Breast Cancer Awareness.

NPR: Health & Science gives in-depth reports on medicine and health, providing the latest information on issues such as heart disease, depression and stroke.

Family Health Radio, provides understandable information on common health problems and the latest health care developments from the College of Osteopathic Medicine and The Center For Public Media at Ohio University.

The Health and Happiness Podcast provides tips and hints for a longer and happier life through nutritional guidance and vitamin help.

I went the first part of the first day of PodCamp Boston today, and it was a fantastic unconference. PodCamp is modeled after BarCamp, where it’s not formally organized, and anyone can put on a session simply by adding it to the schedule.

I went to Steve Garfield’s morning session where he talked about getting started podcasting and demonstrated a few of his tools by putting up a few audio and video podcasts right there (one including an introduction to PodZinger – as captured on video by Beth).

The next session I attended was put on by Casey McKinnon and Rudy Jahchan of Galacticast, where they talked about how they got started, all the different equipment they used, and the software tools they use to produce their series.

I gave a session about how PodZinger works, and had a lot of great questions from the group. [Doug Haslam from Topaz Partners had some nice things to say about my session.]

There were a lot of other people there, including Rocketboom creator (and PodZinger partner) Andrew Baron, Rocketboom producer Sherng-Lee Huang, from whom I learned how to tie my shoes, Rocketboom producer Elspeth Rountree, an old classmate of mine David Tames, and former Rocketboom host Amanda Congdon.

I wish I could have stayed past lunch on the first day, but I had some prior family commitments.

Check out a few more photos in the PodCamp Boston 2006 photo album I posted.

Amanda Congdon and Henry Houh

Father’s Day is just a few days away. While you may have bought him that new set of golf clubs he’s been talking about, realistically you will be giving him a new tie. For those of us that can’t afford the golf clubs but would like to give something more original than a neckpiece, give him the gift of podcasts! We’ve found some great podcasts that will appeal to the fisherman or the sports fan, the do-it-yourselfer, bookworm or news junkie.

Below is a sampling of podcasts available through a simple search on PodZinger:

CNN News Update
The latest news happening in the U.S. and around the world.

ESPN Radio Podcast
The Best of ESPN Radio: Hear the best of news, opinion and commentary heard on air.

Much Ado About Books
Much Ado About Books, hosted by Laura Mills-Alcott, is the ultimate book talk radio show. Hear interviews with Heather Graham, Sandra Brown, Carly Phillips, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Diana Gabaldon, Virginia Henley, Kate Collins, Kathryn Falk and many more. With guests ranging from New York Times best-selling authors to new authors you won’t want to miss.

The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show
The Money Pit is a nationally syndicated, call-in radio show that helps listeners with their home repair and improvement questions. Hosted by Tom Kraeutler and Leslie Segrete, this show helps you take on home improvement projects from floorboards to shingles every single week. Tom and Leslie entertain, educate and inspire listeners with an encyclopedic knowledge that just plain fun to listen to. With this team you can do-it-yourself, but you really don’t have to do-it-alone.

MLB Radio Daily
A daily dose of hits from MLB Radio, the Internet’s only all-baseball radio station. This all-star lineup includes original shows, breaking news, outspoken opinion, insightful commentary and the usual shenanigans. Plus interviews with game-shapers and movers: from the players on the field to the front office brass and the media that cover them. Brought to you by MLB.

Why Fish Radio Podcast
It is our goal to share with you why you and your family should go fishing. Our goal is to help you understand the sport of fishing and the positives that can be gained from it. We want to not only tell you why you should go fishing but also teach the basics of why fish bite and how to set up for an enjoyable day on the water.

Forums and communities are the gathering space on the Internet for like-minded people to share ideas, ask questions, and possibly connect and make friends.

We decided to take a peek and observe some podcasting forums (which are abundant with chatter) to check out some of the popular topics being discussed on podcasts.

Here are just a few:

• Ways for podcasters to make money
• Promoting your podcasts
• Podcasting business models
• Podcast creation technology
• Recording phone calls on podcasts

If you are planning to do your own podcast, do check out some of these forums for some really good information. We found out a great get-together for podcasters in the Chicago area coming up in June. Check it out if you are in the area.

By the way, it seems like monetizing podcasts seems to be a hot topic in these forums. Many of these podcasters spend a lot of time and effort in producing their shows and they need to be rewarded in some way.

The Chronical of Higher Education had an article about the ouster of Harvard President Lawrence Summers.  As a sidebar, there was a short list speculating who might be offered the job, among which was the President of Tufts University, Larry Bacow, who also received his undergraduate degree in economics from MIT.  I heard that when Larry was asked about this article, he responded by saying:

 Do you think they would hire another economist from MIT named Larry?