Since I got some money for a wedding anniversary present, I’ve been trying to decide what to buy. Settled on a Creative Zen Nano Plus – has 1Gb of memory and does protected wma files which is what I have most of my music on. Oh, and I got it in black of course, and bought a pair of black earphones.

1Gb demands a bit of thought in choosing tracks – it isn’t enough for arbitrary selection from my tracks, so I decided to go for a balance of music, bits of classical (Beethoven and Saint-Saens), bit of modern rock (Evanescence, Linkin Park and Kelly Clarkson), odd bit of pop (maybe that’s where Kelly Clarkson goes) and trip-hop dance (Faithless), electronic (Depeche Mode), and of course – podcasts.

Quality varies in the podcasts I’ve listened to, and I think because a PC screen has so much going on that the spoken word washes out a bit. And that’s just the editorial control, the production quality can really vary too. I’ve really got in to the ARCast series, and I’m working my way back through them. Notable highlights so far have been the Ivar Jacobson chat. I didn’t know that he was a Project Manager by trade, and he also put the whole process thing in context. Another good one was on agile methodology with Colin Bird of Conchango. I’ve downloaded the ARCast set to my Nano and I’m working through them on the bus to and from the park and ride. The only thing is, like I discovered years ago watching Hong-Kong Fuey back to back – the intros get a bit cliched. Ron Jacobs says “Welcome, Welcome Friends, Welcome” every time.