Offline and podcasts

I've had a frustrating day as my Internet connection has been down (still is). The other computers on our wireless network at home are fine; I have been singled out for an "IP address conflict" and nothing I can do will cure it. So I am posting this from Jenny's computer. I have been curious about the increasing interest in podcasting that I've observed for the past year or so, to the point where there is a crescendo of rival podcasts and a plethora of blog postings about them (usually offering yet more features). Why are they so popular? I don't listen to the radio so this might account for why podcasts leave me cold. I would rather see my information, preferably by reading but also via plays, films etc. Pre-digested boli (is that the plural of bolus?) are unappealing in the extreme. Naturally, I find people listening to iPods, MP3 players and the like very annoying when on my commute to or from work, as the noise seeps out between people's headphones and their ears, and one has to listen to a tinny meaningless, pulsing hiss -- punctuated by (almost always inane) phone conversations. I quite sympathise with Malcolm who told me the other day that he was going to start wearing his noise-reduction earphones (for flights) on the train to shut it all out so he can get some work done. To return to podcasts, I was enlightened by an item in "People" in the Times today. "The BBC is to offer dowloads of classic Jeremy Paxman maulings. Which means you can stick that famous Michael Howard interview on repeat on your iPod and hear him fail to answer the same question 45 times in a half-hour journey." That explains it, then. (Malcolm has just come in and suggested recycling the power on the central wireless router to get my Internet connection back, as my final desperate ploy of cutting power to the printers did not work, so I'm going to try that. "I may be gone for some time", to (mis?)quote Oates.) [information technology] [silly stories]