Dotmad.net

.Net Rocks show 251 on Enterprise architecture - Roger Sessions talks about enterprise architecture, focusing on reducing the complexity of enterprise applications by breaking them into smaller parts (sounds a lot like SOA). He also talks about a mathematical model for deciding on how to break the application to it’s components. Could be useful for SOA architects. (3/5)

SE Radio episode 65 on Embedded systems - The show was composed of 3 segments. The first listed the differences between “normal” development and developing an embedded system, including various pitfalls for an enterprise developer. The second segment listed common architectures and design patterns in the embedded world, and the third listed existing operating systems and development languages in the embedded world. (4/5)

.Net Rocks show 261 on open source with Phil Haack - Phil talks about his experience in developing the OSS blog engine Subtext. (2/5)

SE Radio episode 59 on static code analysis - Detailed description of static code analysis, explaining the concept, methods and available solutions (not many of which deal with .Net, and focusing mainly on security and memory leaks). (3/5)

I decided to publish a review of podcasts I listened to recently. I usually download a bunch of them every week or two, so I don’t necessarily listen to them in the order in which they were broadcast:

• Recording of the Churchill club panel with Guy Kawasaki on “No Plan, No Capital, No Model…No Problem” - a talk with 5 entrepreneurs who lunched companies without VC funds or business plans, and some of them (James Hong from “HotorNot.com” and Markus Frind from “PlentyofFish.com“) were incredibly successful (maybe because of it). Highly recommended. (5/5)
• Hanselminutes show 70 with Timothy Ferriss of The “Four Hour Workweek” book - Lifehacker style tips regarding concentrating on completing important missions. Most of the ideas in there are common sense (”avoid e-mails while trying to work on something”), so I’m not sure how effective those ideas are. (2/5)
• Arcast with David Platt on “Why Software Sucks” - Explaining common mistake in software design in terms of bridging the gap of usability perception between the developer and the user. Platt is very entertaining and enlightening. (4/5)
• Channel 9 on Catharine van Ingen - as a commenter defined it, it’s more of a “mini-biography”, so it all depends on how much the person in focus interests you. (1/5)
• Channel 9 show with Rico Mariani - Same type of show as the previous one. I’m more familiar with his work, so it held more interest for me, but I wouldn’t define listening to it as a must. (2/5)
• Hanselminutes show 72 on becoming a better developer - discussion of recommended activities and techniques to improve the professional skills of a software developer. Most of the ideas were already discussed in various blogs and other podcasts, but if you are relatively new to this type of discussion, you should listen to it. (4/5)
• .Net Rocks show 244 on Aesthetics - another show focusing on UI, focusing on the look & feel of the application from the user’s point of view. Scott Stanfield is worth listening to even if the subject doesn’t interest you. (just skip the first 12 minutes to get to the actual interview). (4/5)

Webcasts differ in style. Some are screencasts, displaying the presenter’s computer screen, others display mixed content of power point presentation and a screencast, and there are many more types.
And there is the kind in which an interviewer and an interviewee sit in a studio and talk. Or in other words, a podcast pretending to be a webcast.
That’s the type Rico Mariani’s recent webcast belongs to. And to make things worse, someone at Microsoft thought it would be funny to store the one hour webcast in a wmv file consuming more than 800mb of disk space….
That’s where Video mp3 Extractor comes in - it’s free, and allows you to convert video into mp3 files. This particular webcast was converted into a 55mb file, much more easier to manage.

I previously published a list of podcasts I listen to, but since then I found several new ones:

• AudioPill - Technical podcast in Hebrew
• Ted Talks - Influential people talking about their vision
• Manager Tools - Management related, but also useful for any developer

I also started enjoying DotNetRocks (show 244 was great), by fast-forwarding 8-12 minutes, to the point where they actually start talking with the show’s guest.

I like to listen to technical podcasts while I’m driving or otherwise have time while not being near a computer.

I tend to like focused shows over “talk shows”, meaning I like to hear someone deliver a “lecture” on a subject with the maximal amount of data in the minimal amount of time. I don’t like to listen to two people chatting with no specific direction.

Here are shows I like to listen to:

• Hanselminutes - My favourite. Each show delivering a concise, in-depth discussion of one subject.
• Arcast - Good shows hosted by Ron Jacobs, dealing mostly with architecture. Now with TV shows!
• PolymorphicPodcast - Another good show, partly hosting interviews and partly explaining interesting subjects.
• Software Engineering Radio - Interview based, focused on the interviewee rather than a specific subject.

Shows I listen to less frequently:

• DotNetRocks - Basically a radio talk show, meaning 20% of the show is spent on the hosts chatting on non-technical stuff (usually the actual show starts after 8-10 minutes), spending few minutes on ads at the middle of the show, and the rest is spent talking with a guest on various subjects.
• Web Dev Radio - Another interview based show. Not very focused on technology (during the show on the power-tools-book about half of the show revolved around the process of writing a book)
• CodeSermon - A short show, but seems to me it mostly deals with the basics (”how to debug without a debugger”).
• Ask Udi - Udi Dahan’s answers to questions on SOA.