Akkam’s Razor

What do Suzanne Vega, podcasting, Seinfeld, cover songs, and the history of the MP3 file format have in common?

For starters, I’d like to introduce you all to the concept of “the podcast”. People quickly realized that it could be extremely expensive to fill up an iPod (20GB equals about 5,000 songs at 4 MB each, or about $5k by iTunes prices), so there’s certainly an opportunity to fill it with “other” content. The tools for creating your own audio have also become incredible cheap and easily accessible. Enter the podcast – people recording their own shows and distributing them over the web. They tend to focus on web-geek type subject matter, but some of them are getting quite popular (and mainstream media, like NPR are starting to get in the act too). Check this directory of popular podcasts. Also see sports, education, technology, and comedy podcasts via PodcastAlley.

Now, cover songs are a particular fetish of mine. And now that I have an MP3 player, I try to fill it with something interesting everyday for the ride home. So yesterday’s choice was this podcast from Coverville featuring Suzanne Vega’s “Tom’s Diner”. Suprisingly, the version that most of you would recognize wasn’t the original – the original was acapella, with the well known version being a remix by two British DJs known as DNA. As far as the Seinfeld connection, I’d recommend listening to the first 10 minutes or so, or check the links within this post.

Audio link from Coverville and show notes.

Lastly, as far as the MP3 connection – when the original developers of the MP3 format where checking the compression algorithims of their new file format, they used the acapella version of “Tom’s Diner”. Via Wikipedia:

Karlheinz Brandenburg used a CD recording of Suzanne Vega’s song Tom’s Diner to asses the MP3 compression algorithm. This song was chosen because of its softness and simplicity, making it easier to hear imperfections in the compression format during playbacks.

If after you’ve read this you want to hear some more podcasts, here’s a list of sites you can check out:

• Loomia: A podcast search engine and community.
• Odeo: Another search engine and community, which eventually have tools for podcast creation.
• Podscope: Searches the words spoken inside of each podcast.
• Aurgasm: New music you’ve never heard of.
• PodcastAlley: Directory and Top-10 List.
• Podcast.net: Another directory.
• Ipodder: Indie-pendent podcasts.