Here’s my review just posted on GoodReads.com:
Just finished the audio book Tribal Leadership: Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization. Well worth the free download from Zappos.com but also available at Amazon.com. The book is not quite 5.5 hours and if you can’t get the free version, worth the purchase price. I plan to buy the hard copy as reference. Played on high speed on my iPod, I was able to finish it in one week’s daily commute.

The book leads the reader through five stages of tribal leadership with solid examples of each level for both individuals and organizations. Of special interest to me was the description of word choice as individuals move from lower to higher stages. Some of this is obvious (me/I to we). But a significant difference for stage five organizations is how they define the competition. Instead of identifying other organizations they tend to discuss the competition in terms of their noble cause. For example, “cancer” as competition instead of XYZ company.

View all my reviews at GoodReads.

As mentioned in the past, I make extensive use of Apple Scripts to convert my downloaded podcasts to audiobooks and Audiobook Builder to rip CDs to audiobooks.  This allows me to rate and manage on my iPod and then remove them easily with iTunes smart playlists.  It also allows me to play the file at high speed on the iPod.  The process involves converting an MP3 to AAC (M4A), then changing the file name to end in M4B, then deleting the file and sending it to the trash, then recovering it from trash and readding it to iTunes.  Now do you see why I use a script to do that?  It appears that iTunes has finally made this process a little easier.  I’m not sure how it works with MP3, for instance, will it convert them to AAC?  I’ll still use my scripts for my workflow since I typically receive a dozen or so new podcasts daily but this is certainly a good way to handle one or two files at a time.

Hat tip to Lifehacker for this one.

I don’t have an iPhone or iPodTouch yet.  I’m waiting for my killer app before I break my Verizon contract and jump.  The app for me would be the ultimate podcast player.  As I’ve shown in other posts, I jump through a few hoops to manage my podcasts (see here and here).  This helps the workflow associated with download, listening and removing and with a few AppleScripts it isn’t to cumbersome.

My bigger issue is capturing notes and bookmarking specific portions of podcasts and audiobooks so that I can quickly retrieve those notes when I get out of my car.  For instance, I’d like to be listening to a podcast via bluetooth headset, be struck with an insight based on the content, press the button on my bluetooth, speak a quick note or two, then get back to listening.  When I’m out of the car and back to the office or syncing with my Mac, I could pull up a list of “notes” and the app would show me a list of all files that had attached notes, allow me to skip directly to that spot of the podcast or audio book, play back the note and perhaps the section of the podcast…you get the idea.

I thought maybe the iPhone version of Evernote could work but a few conversations with the developer pointed out some limitations with iPhone in that it doesn’t run multiple apps at once. So that indicates that I’d need an all-in-one solution.  Unfortunately, it looks like Apple may not allow that app to be created. A new iPhone app, Podcaster, may not make it to the app store having been rejected by Apple because:

Apple Rep says: Since Podcaster assists in the distribution of podcasts, it duplicates the functionality of the Podcast section of iTunes.

This app isn’t exactly what I’m looking for but the developer’s experience would indicate that the journey may be tough.  It’s really a shame that a helpful $4.99 app can’t make it to the store but the $1000 I Am Rich app can.  Come on Apple.  We expect better from you.

Lifehacker recently posted a list of great add-ons for iTunes.  I’ve tried a few and there are a couple on the list that I plan to try primarily for controlling playback.  A couple of my favorites are missing from the list:

• Markable for creating audiobooks from MP3 or audio CDs (Windows)
• Audiobook Builder from Splasm (Mac)
• AppleScript and Doug’s Scripts to automate just about anything in iTunes (Mac)

More posts on Audiobook Builder and some of my favorite AppleScripts coming soon.

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I often buy from Amazon Marketplace sellers and have always had great experiences until my last order. Beware of the seller named Caiman. I ordered an audio book from them on 10/5. According to Amazon policy the item must ship within two business days. On 10/16 I received confirmation of shipping. When I received the package the shipping box was in fine condition but when I opened it the small audio book box was crushed indicating that it left the warehouse in that condition. I contacted the seller via email and they were quick to send a business reply label so I shipped the item back. Two months later and I haven’t received a refund or new merchandise. I’ve contacted them every week by e-mail (they will not provide me a phone number) only to receive a short email reply indicated I’ll be contacted by the warehouse. So far, no contact.

According to the reviews on Amazon, it seems like 9 out of 10 customers have no issues and typically rate them five stars. However, if a customer doesn’t rate them five starts, they rate them one star! So it is completely hit or miss. For me a major miss!

Did you catch the “Next Great American Band” auditions a few weeks ago? After a tune performed by a traditional sounding bluegrass band, one of the judges asked if the band could play anything more “mainstream” than traditional bluegrass that would appeal to a wider audience. They launched into a bluegrass version of Madonna’s “Like a Virgin.” Granted it was tongue in cheek but it was pretty creative.

Today my iPod randomly dished out Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way.” But wait, that sounds like “newgrass” not hard rock. Sure enough, it wasn’t Aerosmith but rather The String Cheese Incident and they were pickin’ and grinnin’ “Walk this Way.” How fun is that?!?

Last week I cashed in on a free trial at eMusic. A free two week trial yielded 25 DRM-free MP3 music tracks and one MP3 audiobook. I picked up a couple of CDs worth including The String Cheese Incident and Bare Naked Ladies plus the audio book Super Crunchers. I don’t recall when I first heard of The String Cheese Incident but being from Wisconsin, I was certainly attracted to the name. I’m pretty sure it was on some music-related podcast. Any who, sometime in the last year or so I added them to my Amazon wishlist which is how I typically “bookmark” books and CDs for future consideration.

I’ve posted a link below so you can try out e-Music, too. The free two-week trial comes with no string (cheese) attached. (Which is good since that could be messy.)

Prefer Amazon.com?
Aerosmith - Walk This Way
A String Cheese Incident
Super Crunchers: Why Thinking-by-Numbers Is the New Way to Be Smart

The BusinessWeek blog, Management IQ, recently mentioned then new book by the authors of the bestselling Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High.   My company offers Crucial Conversations training and I’m scheduled to participate in December.  From what I understand the tools are appropriate for both home and the workplace.  I’m looking forward to the class.   I receive the Crucial Conversations newsletter so I’ve had my eye on the release of the new book: Influencer: The Power to Change Anything.

The book purports to provide “eight powerful principles for changing behaviors” of others and of ourselves.  Perhaps it is worth a read (or listen)!

I listen to a lot of audiobooks and podcasts on my iPod. Though the process works “ok”, I frequently dream of the ultimate player. Here’s my list. What would you add?

• Ability to control the speed of MP3 files (I currently convert to M4B to accomplish this)
• Ability to place index marks in large files while listening to bookmark key points
• Ability to place chapter marks similar to Audible (probably done on the computer)
• Ability to annotate on the fly (I usually listen in the car and often want to capture a key point or make an observation. Currently, I carry a digital recorder to do this. I stop the iPod. Start the recorder and capture the title, the time location of the track and my key thoughts or notes. It works but would be much better if I could do it all on the same device.)
• Better yet, be able to quickly fast forward to my indexed marks.
• Mark tracks with status by using a button on the player. It would be great to push a button to indicate things like: remove from player on next sync, remove from player and computer, in progress, finished listening, save for review, etc.

What would you add to the ultimate player?

I listen to a lot ton of audio books. Most I listen to from start to finish. Some I give 15-30 minutes then turn them off. I probably buy 20% of the books that I “read” with my ears. My preferred source is Amazon.com since I can often buy used Audiobooks for less than an Audible.com download.  Plus, when I’m finished I can donate the audio book to my library for others to enjoy. (Click here to search Amazon’s audio book selection.) I only use Audible when I absolutely must have a book now! Personally, I’m not crazy about the quality of the download (probably because I listen at high speed.)  So where do I get free audio books?

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I had lunch the other day with a fellow audiobook enthusiast. I mentioned that I listen to everything at high speed. It took a little getting used to but eventually I learned I absorbed more content. Similar, I suppose, to speedreading. Your brain can process incoming information much faster than the typical spoken word so it is constantly waiting for you eyes or ears to catch up! In fact, the other day I started a new book while driving to work - The Personality Code. (Yes, the audio version.) I was having difficulty following the dialog until I noticed my iPod was set to normal speed. Changed it to fast and I was back on track! To learn how to make your podcasts and mp3 audiobooks play faster on the iPod, see the rest of this article.

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