Savvify

When they’re not listening to music, many people enjoy listening to podcasts on their MP3 players or iPods. Podcasts are great, but have you ever tried listening to old time radio dramas?

Before televisions were in every home, families would sit around listening to shows on the radio. There were thousands produced from 1920-1960, which is considered the Golden Age of Radio. Many of these shows were recorded and are now available in MP3 format.

I started listening to old time radio dramas last year, and they have been a blast. I find that they are the perfect length for my bus ride to work (usually under 30 minutes an episode) and engage my imagination much more than watching something with a visual – some of the sound effects are quite amazing. Here is a list of my favorite radio dramas, followed by links to where you can find OTR shows online:

1. “Box 13″ – This detective drama stars Alan Ladd as writer Dan Holiday. He runs a column in the newspaper that reads, “Adventure wanted – will go anywhere, do anything – Box 13″. Each episode features him investigating a letter he receives in Box 13.

2. “Gunsmoke” – A classic western show considered by many to be the greatestradio drama of all time. It takes place in Dodge City in the 1880’s and features characters you probably already know, Chester, Doc, Kitty and Matt Dillon, US Marshal. I honestly think this program is better than half of the shows on regular television today.

3. “Barry Craig, Confidential Investigator” – Another great “Whodunit?” type detective show featuring William Gargan as Barrie Craig, a Madison Avenue private detective with great one liners that remind me of a Raymond Chandler novel. Many episodes have great surprise endings!

4. “Six Shooter” –  Starring Jimmy Stewart, this western ran only from 1953 - 1954. It’s still one of my favorites, and Stewart’s acting is top notch.

5. “X Minus One” – Great science fiction series that featured stories by such authors of Isaac Asimov and Ray Bradbury.

Of course, there are many more shows work checking out – Variety shows, Comedies, Soap Operas, and even Quiz Shows. Why not add them to your playlist? The following links all have free shows you can download to get started:
Old Time Radio Catalog: http://www.otrcat.com/index.html
Old Time Radio Lovers: http://www.radiolovers.com/
OTR Network Library: http://www.otr.net/

If you’re like me, you love to surf the net. You sit down at your computer with one specific task in mind and then – three hours later – you realize that you still haven’t gotten it finished!

There’s just so much great information online that it’s easy to lose track of time following links and exploring. I heard just the other day that the average America processes more new information in one month than most Americans did in their entire lifetime 100 years ago. I have no idea if this statistic is true or not, but I’m sure that I could look it up in seconds!

All this information can be a two.sided coin. While it’s great for information junkies and autodidacts like you and I, it can also lead to a condition where you brain feels stuffed with too much information. Some are now calling this “information overload”. Here are some tips to help you surf more efficiently:

1. Choose A Specific Online Task You Want To Accomplish
If your goal is to research airline prices for your trip to Las Vegas next spring, don’t get lost reading travel pages. Name a specific goal before you even turn on your monitor. Also, estimate how long it will take you to finish that goal. For example: “I want to find out average airline prices for my spring trip. I estimate I can do this in 30 minutes.”

I find when I have a specific goal that my online time is better spent. Of course, this is only when you are in a rush and need to do something. If it’s Saturday and you have extra time, surf away and learn something new by accident!

2. Formality Is Unnecessary In Most Email
Until very recently, I still sent email to my friends that began like this: “Dear Matt,”. That kind of formality in writing has definitely become an anachronism that went out when “snail mail” did. Of course, there may be some formal emails you need to write for business, but for friends, family, and people you mail frequently a header and even are signature line are often unnecessary.

In fact, most people appreciate short, non-rambling emails these days that don’t force them to go on a wild goose chase, scanning formidable blocks of text to find out what the point of the message was. I once thought writing a reply of just a few sentences was rude. Lately, I think it may be more polite. Some people regularly read and manage 100.200 emails a day – and that’s just at the office!

Another trick that is getting popular is to use a “NRN” tag in the subject line – that stands for “No Reply Needed” – so the receiver doesn’t have to waste time writing back “Thanks” or “That’s great” or “OK, see you Thursday night”.

3. Make A Handwritten List Of Things You Want To Google
For all those things you just want to look up in Google or Wikipedia, but which really have no direct effect on your life at the moment (“What is the official currency of Macau?”), consider keeping a notecard in your pocket. Write down ideas you get for things to research while you are standing in line at the post office or driving to the carwash. Then, when you have time to surf freely, look them up.

If you don’t have extra time, but still are dying to get your daily fill of esoteric information, pick the top two off your list, look them up, and then save the rest for next time.

All joking aside, having things you want to look up is not a bad habit at all; it’s a great way to learn. I  regularly write down new vocabulary I don’t know when I am reading a book on the train – I include the page number of the book on my notecard. Later, when I have time, I go to an online dictionary and look up the word.

4. Have A Second Email Address For Unimportant Stuff
Give this one to people you don’t want to hear from but who ask you for your email address – stores, people who might subscribe you to lists without permission, etc. Give your “real” email address only to friends, family, and other people whose email you never want to miss.

When you are busy and sit down to check your email, skip the garbage account until you have time. Check the real account for important messages. To avoid spam almost completely, never post your personal email address online and tell your contacts not to either.

A lot of the spam you get comes from robots that “grab” your email address when you post in classifieds or discussion groups. Other spam comes when you give your email address to marketers or online stores. Save all that for when you have time to sort through the “garbage” account. Give the real address to the hot girl you met in the grocery store check.out line last week.

5. Take A Day Off Once A Week
Have you taken a vacation recently where you had no internet access? Even if it’s just a day trip, it really clears your head and puts things in perspective. You log back in after the trip and realize you really haven’t missed so much. Most of the tasks you wanted to do waited just nicely. Meanwhile, you got a break and had time to enjoy some nice trees and fresh air.

Scientists now say that one of the functions of sleep is to help our brains integrate information. In that sense, sleep is actually a form of learning. So catch up on your sleep and give your poor brain time to make sense of all the information that’s recently flown across your screen. Spend some time with your family, ride your bicycle or go to the park. Consider turning your computer off one day a week; no email, no web; no nothing.

Sound totally impossible? Maybe that’s all the more reason to do it. As much as I love the information revolution (honestly, I don’t think I would have wanted to live during any other period of human history), the internet is truly “the thief of time”. It’s like that famous potato chip ad: you eat one and you can’t stop.

When I was young I always loved libraries, so now I’m like a kid in a candy store with all the online libraries. But seriously, everybody needs a break sometimes, so take one, OK?

Until last year, I still listened to music on a portable cassette player. All of my friends were telling me that I should get an MP3 player, but I was just too intimidated by the technology. It seemed too complicated for my tastes – I just wanted to enjoy some music during my morning train ride to work.

Then, one day I was browsing an electronics store and realized that the price of MP3 players had seriously dropped. In fact, some MP3 players today are even cheaper than tape players. Shocked by this, I started reading everything I could about them. Soon after, I bought my first MP3 player and have never looked back.

My initial resistance to MP3 players was silly. They are easy to use if you have basic computer knowledge and loads better than just a cassette or portable CD player. If you still don’t have one, here are the basics you need to know to get started.

• Buying Your First MP3 Player – The Brand Doesn’t Matter!

I’m sure some “brand loyalists” would disagree with this claim. But, really, as long as a device plays MP3 files, then that’s all you need. My own MP3 player is not one of the most famous brands, but it works just fine.

The most important thing to consider is how many songs (how many MP3 files) the device will hold. Some people like to store their entire music collection on their MP3 player. For me, I find that I need less than 1 gig of storage space, because I delete songs frequently to make space for new ones.

Some MP3s players also have other features, like the ability to play videos. The more features and the larger the storage size, the higher the price will usually be. Other factors to consider are size of the player (my MP3 player is not much larger than a box of matches!), style of the player (does it match your shoes?), and compatibility with your computer (my MP3 plugs into my computer’s USB port to get new songs and to recharge its battery).

• There’s More To Life Than Just Music

I originally got my MP3 player to listen to music, but now I find that I hardly listen to music at all!

The reason is that I soon discovered podcasts. If you’ve never listened to podcasts, you are in for a real treat. Podcasts are like radio programs, but distributed over the internet as MP3 files. You can download podcasts on almost any subject. Unlike commercial radio, which has to appeal to a large spectrum of people, podcasts are designed to appeal to a very specific group of people. For this reason, some people also refer to podcasting as “narrowcasting” (rather than “broadcasting”).

I have learned a lot from podcasts and always stay informed by listening to podcasts about current events, science, and even writing. I also enjoy talk shows, interview shows, and programs that feature new and independent music.

My other big discovery was old time radio shows. The Golden Era of Radio is generally considered to have been from about 1920 to 1960. At one time, millions of people would sit by their radios, enjoying radio dramas and other shows. Many of these programs were recorded and are now available as MP3 files (try doing an internet search for “old time radio”).

Personally, I find that these programs exercise my imagination much more than TV or movies. I enjoy the cool sound effects and like imagining what the characters and settings look like. My favorite programs are detective shows and westerns, but there are all types of programs (comedies, variety shows, old news programs, etc.) available on MP3. Check ‘em out!

• But The Music Is Still Great!

The MP3 player is superior to my old cassette player for many reasons. First, there’s the lack of “tape drop-off”, that unfortunate deterioration in sound quality you get after playing your favorite tape too many times. (Don’t forget the portable CD players that “skip” when they are bumped!)

Next, there’s the amazing storage capacity. While my old tape player could hold maybe a 75-minute cassette tape at most – which is about one CD’s worth of songs – even the smallest MP3 players can hold dozens of full length albums. If I had wanted to carry that many songs around with me before, I’d have had to pack a ton of tapes in my backpack.

Finally, transferring music to an MP3 player is pretty easy. You can transfer CDs you currently have in your collection (using your computer) or download new songs online. Lots of bands now put free MP3s on their websites just so you can be exposed to their music. There are also file sharing sites – which are totally simple to join and use – where you can upload your own original music.

MP3 players differ in how they connect to your computer. My personal MP3 player plugs directly into my laptop’s USB port. From there, I can transfer songs using standard Windows software commands. Just ask the person at the electronics store how to connect your player to your computer; it’s likely a simple task.

Of course, nothing beats a classic vinyl record for sound quality. But, if it’s portability you’re looking for, the MP3 option is a beautiful thing!

• It Doubles as a Digital Recorder and Alarm Clock

Many MP3 players also allow you to record your voice digitally, and the sound quality is top-notch. Mine has a built-in microphone but also allows you to plug in an external microphone. This is very useful for taking quick notes, recording a lecture, and many other things. I used my MP3 player to record common foreign language expressions my friend was teaching me before taking a trip to Southeast Asia this past summer.

There’s also no need to carry a wristwatch or alarm clock when you have an MP3 player, as this is also a standard feature on most.

• Take It Anywhere.

Listen to your MP3 on the bus, the train, or in your car (with a plug-in that connects to your car’s stereo system). Many MP3 players also allow you to listen to local radio stations – if for any reason you’d need to. Waiting in line at the post office or working out at the gym? Add some music to your wait or work-out!

All in all, MP3 players are a great tool and a fun toy. I’m amazed that so many music lovers are still afraid of the technology. In my opinion, MP3 players are the best thing since, well, my old portable cassette player.