Mind Over Matter

Last night I was walking down Killingsworth on my way to a meeting. The chill in the air...ok the freezing cold weather, made me think. About other people braving this cold. About how lucky I am to have clothing, shelter and food.

How many are without shelter? How many are families? Women? Children?

Will they at least have “just warm enough” bedding and have enough walls, cardboard they may be, to valiantly shield their frail bodies against the bitter winds?

How many will instead shiver, their bodies generating barely enough warmth to fight the impending freeze? They impatiently await for the sunrise and the feeble warmth it may bring to an Oregon winter day.

A cold breeze the likes of which I've never experienced jolted me back to reality and my surroundings. My thoughts turn inward, toward my battered, chilled body. Wearing black denim (is that a fashion faux pas these days?) , polo shirt and a light 2-button hound tooth pattern sports coat, I feel feeble against the wind. Old Man Winter's breath, no matter how light, blows through my clothing to chill me as if I was naked.

I am uncomfortable, my skin crawls trying to escape the cold and find any semblance of non-existent warmth. But I will survive, I will be alright, my destination mere blocks away. The warmth of family, friends and a heated meeting room awaits. Infinitely a better option than many.

So why was I so reluctant to get out this morning? I dreaded checking the thermostat, afraid that I would see the red colored alcohol barely breaking through its bulb. That was what I saw. I should have stayed neatly tucked in my blanket on the folding chair that I slept on.

What a difference my state of mind can have on my outlook. From a placid larvae in the warm embrace of my blankets to bravely facing, nay even conquering Mother Nature's challenging cold. With a flick of a switch, deciding to get up and that the world out there is worth taking becomes the overwhelming desire of the day. So I will give you a break today...stay in your comfort zone. Tomorrow, forge the will to conquer the new day and break out of your shell. Seize the day.

On Communicating

Being able to say something in the clearest, most concise manner does not make one a good communicator. As a matter of fact, I have found that the more someone prides themselves as a good communicator, the worse they are. That's like saying they're a giant for being the tallest person in the crowd of 6th graders waiting in line for lunch at the school cafeteria.

One key ingredient is being sensitive to what the audience needs to hear and having the skills to give the audience what they need to understand your point. Listen and watch your audience's reactions. If necessary, explain the concept from a different context. When talking to a literary scholar, I can start with examples or quotes from famous writers. When talking to an engineer or scientist, I have to address the facts and figures that I can back up.

The biggest mistake someone can make is to put the other person on a defensive.

Once this happens, any semblance of logic usually goes out the door. In discussions and arguments, there must be logic. Even if it's one sided, at least one party needs to be logical enough to be able to deal with the other party's emotional outbursts. The best communication circumstance is when both sides are logical and being open to agree to disagree.

When someone disagrees with us, it very seldom means they're not a good person. Each of our experiences and points of views are unique. In our circumstances and point of view something can be correct and appropriate. But under a slightly different circumstance and/or point of view, that same something can be incorrect and inappropriate. We must be aware of this at all times.

Assume the best intentions of someone. Why assume otherwise? It only creates stress and turmoil in ourselves. If you're curious about their intention, ask. Though in my opinion, simply assuming the best intentions work even better. When someone critizes us, assume they're not personally attacking us personally. They are simply telling us what we did that was disagreeable to their point of view. Take this opinion, analyze it against your morals and your experiences. If they're right, do something about it. If you disagree simply say, "thank you for the input, I will be sensitive to your needs if I can" and you continue doing what you're doing.

One thing that really bothers me is when I argue/discuss an issue with someone sometimes we're saying the same things but under different definitions. Or we think we know what each other means by a definition but we don't. This has caused many misunderstandings. Be aware of this. Ask to make sure our definitions of key concepts are the same.

Last but not least, honesty. Not only do we need to be sincere and honest in our communications with others, they need to be honest too. Tell each other what you like AND didn't like. If I don't know that you don't understand my earlier point, we will have what the McMennamin brothers call a Communication Breakdown. By honesty I don't just mean not to lie. But honesty as in don't be embarassed to ask questions or to show dislikes.

Being a good communicator is not easy. The rules change almost every time you communicate with a different audience; sometimes even with the same audience. Don't be arrogant and think you are a good communicator, listen and watch your audience. Make sure to remember these points:

- be honest and let your audience feel at ease for being honest with you

- don't put someone on the defensive

- assume the best intentions

- they're not a bad person for disagreeing with us

- listen, be aware of what the audience needs in order to understand you

- define your boundaries and make sure they're the same with your audience

On Anger and Other Emotions

Some would argue that humans, like animals behave according to our emotions and instincts. I however, would argue that we have logic that can overcome emotions and instincts. Undeniably, we all have emotions and instincts no matter how much we suppress them. The difference between us and "lesser" beings is that we are capable of sorting through our emotions and make decisions based on more than the current emotions and instincts we are feeling.

Emotions and instincts are tools for survival in the wild, they are neither good or bad. Our reactions to them make our actions good or bad, not the emotions themselves. Sadness, anger, fear, even jealousy are only negative in that they don't make us happy in the present. They have their uses. Sadness lets us know that whatever we're doing or experiencing is not a positive one for us. Fear sharpens our senses and makes us mindful of our surroundings...unless we let it paralyze us. Jealousy lets us know that we are in the presence of a rival. Anger lets us be brutally honest and lowers our inhibitions for hurting others.

Yes, even anger can help us. Now prolonged irrational anger is not healthy either for us nor the person(s) we're angry at. But it does let us communicate our disdain for whatever it is that angers us. I always tell my friends that I don't expect them to never be angry at them nor should they expect me to never be angry at them. But being friends mean we'll be done with the anger and we'll continue being friends after resolving the issues.

I am one of the more emotionless people I know when it comes to completing tasks. I can work with anyone no matter how I feel about them because I can set aside my emotions toward them and just complete the task/project. My utilization of the anger emotion is even less; I often don't even feel angry. Not only can I not show anger, most often I don't feel anger when I probably should.

This is unfortunate. Anger can be a great tool, especially in communicating with the people we love. Often times we guard our words and actions in order not to "hurt" the ones we love. This results in masking our true selves to our loved ones. Being angry lets our friends and family know that we cannot accept the current situation and it is a big deal to us.

Yes, we can tell them nicely that we don't agree with their actions, words or whatever situation we find ourselves in. But in a few circumstances, being angry has its advantages. We tend to say what we think, ignoring our assumptions of consequences. Now I don't mean complete uncontrolled anger (that would be like the HULK) or going berserk. More like a logical anger where we let go of our inhibitions of "hurting" the other person. Let them have a piece of your mind, release your tension about the subject and let the other person know how you feel.

If you truly love each other (at any level, friends or family), and the anger is fairly controlled, you would have just communicated to each other at the basic level. Sometimes this is what is needed to resolve a situation. The key here is to have love for the person you're angry at (and they for you) and to be done with the anger after a good discussion that should follow the anger episode.

So use your emotions, even anger. Remember they're just tools for us to live life to the fullest, to learn, and to be better. Emotions are neutral, it is our actions and response to them that makes us, our behavior when dictated by emotions, good or evil.

I'm a celebrity...on the web...kind of

Ok ok it's me. OMSI interviewed me for their Sound Science podcast (thanks Kim)last year. I didn't think much of it but recently several people told me they found other cool things about OMSI when they looked for my podcast. So go forth and find yourself cool things to do at OMSI (science pub anyone? Or OMSI after dark?) www.omsi.info/podcast/archive.cfm and look for sound science number 88

A few things I've done

Since connecting to old friends and acquaintances, everyone asks what I've been doing. So here it is in no particular order, you guess the order!

Became an EMT
Flunked out of college
Working on getting enough support for the first annual Northwest Alternative Fuel Vehicle Auto Show (got contacts who can probably get the hydrogen car, Volt, new hybrids, etc from BMW, Toyota, Honda and GM)
Designed, built and raced off-road gokarts
Became interested in girls
Finished high school
Got a Blackberry for $20
Helped build a soap box derby car
Pushed a soap box derby car
Working on a micro-hybrid system for heavy trucks; basically a start-stop no idle system
Fell flat on his booty while pushing a soap box derby car
Raced a soap box derby car
Finished college with nerdy degrees
Fought forest fires
Put on workshops and taught middle/high school teachers how to teach certain science subjects and specific engineering/science topics (math and science in every day life, engineering a mousetrap car, and science is fun)
Working on a method of utilizing shipping containers/trailer roofs to generate power; a method to connect them together when stored in the shipping yard and utilize the same connection to provide power to the truck that's pulling the trailer to increase fuel mileage
Spoken in front of 1000+ people
Participated in a spelling bee (Mondays at Mississippi Pizza, Portland OR)
Spoken to 50 different K-12 classes (~1000 or so students I think) about math, science and engineering
Sold some of his photographs for money
Spent too much money on fountain pens; finally stopped buying one after the last $230 pen
Working on a wireless data transmission for heavy truck electronic controllers (switches and sensors)
Chaired a local chapter of an international engineering society (still on the governing board)
Had the idea and wrote the original bylaws for a leadership club
Working on designing a human-hybrid electric vehicle
Became homeless
Saved too many voice messages from his 4 yr old nephew
Watched Dancing with the Stars on a regular basis
Felt lucky to have met his friends and acquaintances so far
Had a photograph published in a local art magazine
Found out that about 80 feet is as high of a cliff face he can free climb
Found out the hard way that his brain does not transfer the information to his limbs quick enough to survive too many novice level downhill mountain bike races

There are more of course, maybe I'll keep adding to this

Games To Play with Scrabble Tiles

Bananagrams/Gorilla Scrabble:
Why pay for a bananagrams tile set when you can use your existing scrabble tile set? Here's how the game goes:
- place all tiles face down on the table, no need for the board
- each player take 15 letters face down
- last winner say GRRR and everyone flips their 15 tiles
- try to use all 15 tiles to make words in a crossword manner
- first person who used 15 tiles yell out Jungle Feed and everyone take one more letter
- the last person who yell out Jungle Feed when the tiles run out is the King Gorilla
- everyone inspects King Gorilla's board for misspellings, if none, King Gorilla wins
- if there's a misspelling, King Gorilla becomes a Lemur and their tiles gets dumped in the middle and play continues for everyone else
(*variations: take two instead of take one, count points by number of tiles used, count points by points on the letters, etc*)

Snatchagrams:
This is another no turn based game. Basically the only turn is for a person to flip a tile over, otherwise anyone is free at any time to yell out the words he/she sees and pick up the letters. valid words are 3 letters or more. Can use someone else's letters that has been used in a word, but can't simply rearrange the letters, must add to it. Here's how the game goes:
- Place all tiles face down on the table, no need for the board
- first person to go flips 3 tiles, as soon as the tiles are up anyone can yell out the word he/she sees
- first person to yell a word gets to use the letters that are up to make a word and put it in front of them
- that word can be snatched by another player to make another word as long as every letter in that word is used and at least one more letter is added to make the new word
- play continues until all tiles are gone or no other words can be formed
- winner is the person with the most words
(*variant: winner by points as counted by the letters used or by points on the tile*)

Bingoagrams!
Take seven letters, no board needed
First person try to make a 7 letter word, their turn ends when they swap one or more letters
Next person tries to make a 7 letter word, again their turn ends when they swap letters
Play continues until someone comes up with a 7 letter word
If the word is valid, that player gets one point, if not, loses one point and out of play this round
Rounds continue until someone reaches a predetermined point or time runs out (play to 5 or for an hour)
(*variant:turn ends by player turning in the letter(s) they want to swap but does not take replacement tiles until it's your turn; this way you don't get to think unless it's your turn)

Bingo-cross
Same as above, but when someone gets a seven letter word, the word is laid down on the table. Play continues with that player having 1 point. The next winner can use the letter(s) of previous winner that's face up on the table in a crossword manner. So after the first winner, the second must come up with an 8 letter word.

Pick me!
This is not an easy game, at least not for me. Place all tiles face down on the table, no board needed
Turn over 3 tiles. Each player/team that come up with a word using these three letters in order (either left to right or right to left) wins the round and gets to keep the letters.
Game ends when all tiles are gone and winner is the person/team with the most letters kept

Scram!

Every player picks an agreed upon 4-letter word

Divide remaining tiles evenly upside down so no one knows what they have (set aside leftover, don't lose it!)

Last winner (or youngest, or...?) yells Scram! and everyone turns over their tiles

If you can make a new word out of the original 4-letter word by substituting one of the letters with one of theirs, yell out the new word

The first person who yelled out the new word gets to discard the letter being replaced and replace it with their letter to make the new word

Based on this new word, anyone can yell the next iteration of the word

Winner is the first person who gets rid of their tiles

I'll add more if I can think of or find anything else

Tribute to Oma

All of my grandparents have passed away. The last was my mom's mother. My mom's family is a close knit one of six sisters and one brother. On average, they have two children each give or take a couple (more on the give). I am glad for each and every one of my aunts and uncles and cousins. The only thing I keep hearing is how my aunts and uncles help each other and their families (ie my cousins). My mom's only brother was also the oldest sibling, and he waited to get married until every one of his sisters were married and cared for. He was tough and stern, but also one of the gentlest person I know.

I can't help but think that our family's closeness is from Oma's teachings. Her morals and values were her most valuable inheritance to her children, and consequently to us, her grandchildren. Both her and Opa lived with us after Opa's stroke. He needed full time care. Oma was by his side, every day without complain. Feeding him, cleaning him, taking him outside to enjoy the sun. And she still had the time to care and love my sister and I.

Back then, I didn't know that's what it was. I was annoyed at her for keeping the food from me until she deemed the food (especially the soup) was cool enough for me to eat. It was especially annoying when she kept tasting the food to check it.

When I was in grade school but old enough to come home on my own, I would often play soccer or hang out with my friends after school. Many times I would come home after dark. Oma would be walking up and down the street worrying for me. Back then, I didn't know that's her way of expressing her love for me. I was mad at her for waiting for me...maybe I was embarrassed.

Opa passed away after a while. Then we moved away, but we couldn't take Oma with us. So she stayed with her other children. As I grew older, and away from Oma, I wasn't lacking love and attention from my own family. Ok, so I have a stubborn and rebellious sister, a stubborn dad, a stubborn mom and I myself am stubborn and rebellious. Oh, yea we were all stubborn about different things at the same time OR the same things at different times.

I received several letters from Oma. All full of her wisdom and advice. Many were the usual things, study, get my degree (Opa was a teacher and they both believe in the value of education), respect my parents, and many others Her most progressive though, was about marriage. She simply told me to make sure that when I got married, it was to someone who I care for and who care for me.

When she passed away, I took stock of my family. My sister has her masters, I have my physics and engineering degrees, my cousins have their degrees (including engineers and doctors). We are close to each other as in if we need help, we will give each other help with no hesitation. Sure we don't talk or email often (well my sister does), but we have a strong bond...Oma. I think she would be proud of the legacy that she and Opa left, us.

Oma, I'm still looking for the one who you would approve of. I know you will pull me up by my ears if I don't ask her out when I meet her.

The Tale of Notebooks

Netbook = small and light laptop with fairly limited capabilities. Can't really play the latest 3D games of play 1080p HD movies, doesn't have any optical drives, etc. The cost are normally in the $199-$450 brand new

I used to own an Asus 1000H, and having many friends with computers asking me questions, I pondered about who can use netbooks and which one.

Netbooks are great for people who use their computer mostly to watch videos (netflix, hulu, etc), browse the net, look at pictures, listen to music, do office work, even programming (web, or otherwise). If you travel a lot, you will enjoy the 7+ hours of battery life, 3lbs or less weight (including power supply) and most of all, it doesn't take much room when deployed (think airline trays)

Netbooks are NOT for people who watch blueray videos or 1080 high def videos, want to play the latest video games, extensively do photo editing or movie editing (simple to moderate photo editing is fine, movie transcoding is a little slow).

One thing to remember about the price: You can buy a full featured laptop starting at $499 or so with 15" screen and very fast dual core processors. I wouldn't pay more than $400 for a netbook.

Why wouldn't you buy a regular laptop over a netbook:
- if you travel a lot 3lbs for the laptop and power supply is a far cry from 5lbs weight of the laptops alone
- most people don't need the computing power on the laptops
- it's at least $100 cheaper than the cheapest laptop
- the 8+ hours of battery life (with 6 cell batteries) is very handy when you're on a long flight
- laptops don't easily fit in a Coach purse

How to use them for everything you might need at home:
- get a larger screen, hence the accessible VGA port is important
- get a wireless mouse and keyboard
- even if you don't travel a lot, it's nice to not take up a lot of room for your computer

What to look for when getting a netbook:
- get the Intel Atom processor (either N270 or N280)
- get the 6 cell batter (less = less battery life, more = heavier)
- 11.6" screens are usually paired with the less capable Z520 processor
- watch out for keyboard size and layout
- watch out for touchpad size, layout and button placements
- make sure all the ports are accessible (Asus 1008 places the VGA port on the bottom)
- easy upgrade for memory (usually comes with 1GB, want 2GB) and battery

My choice:
- Asus 1000H (older, decent battery life at 8+ hours, but can be had for <$300 and has almost everything the more expensive 1005 HA)
- Asus 10005HA (very good battery life at 9+ hours, decent keyboard and build quality
- Toshiba NB205 (has accelerometer for hard drive protection, very good battery life at 9+ hours, one USB port is always live for charging devices even if the netbook is turned off)

Would not buy:
acer aspire one ao751h - weak cpu (Z520, 1.2Ghz)
acer aspire one 250 - cramped keyboard
asus eeepc 1008 - vga port on the bottom, non replaceable battery
hp mini 110 - hd screen available (1366x768), video accelerator available, ok battery life, side mouse buttons (this one is ok to get, I prefer the above three)
MSI WInd U100 - nothing to boast about (this one is ok, I prefer the above three)

There are many others that I looked at but quickly dismissed (Samsung NC310, Dell Mini, Lenovo IdeaPad S12, etc)

Hope this helps.

On Changing the World

Mahatma Gandhi believed that we must be the change we want to see in the world. We must demonstrate to the world why they need to change. Starting with ourselves. As our behavior attract others to behave similarly, theirs will attract yet even more.

If we want to change the world to be better, we must show the world. Not just tell them. Our every day behavior must reflect how we want the world to be. We are ambassadors of that change. Many great causes succeed because of the influence of one person. Mother Teresa and Gandhi are examples of changing the world by personal actions.

Whatever cause you believe in, be good ambassadors for it. That means being passionate without being confrontational. That means practicing whatever cause you believe in with compassion. That means let the world see you be the change you want them to be.

In order for things to change, I have to change. I can only change myself, I am not God and I can't change others. Just because we believe in a cause, it doesn't make us better than a person who doesn't. When we genuinely believe in the cause, so much so that we practice it, we are more apt to change others to be like us.

Be the change we want the world to be and the world will change with you.

Scooter Time

I've been riding my 50cc scooter everywhere. Yes, through the rain and cold wind and sunshine. Because I can only go about 38mph or so at 75mpg, it changes the route I've had to take and lets me find new things.

There are a few downfalls though. A few are obvious, like longer travel times, getting my glasses wet with the rain, smelling like exhaust from other vehicles, smelling like whatever bad smell you had to endure (sewer malfunction anyone?) or actually getting too hot in the sun with a helmet on.

Some are not so obvious. One of them is tripping the sensor on stop lights, or rather the scooter doesn't. It's not so bad when there are other vehicles coming to you. But when it's 1am and you're on Halsey Blvd in Wood Village or Troutdale, that's a lonely road. With my luck with getting traffic violation tickets, I dare not run the lights. So I always make a right turn, then take a left into a parking lot and get back on the original road I want to be on. Let me tell you, that feels silly with absolutely no one around.

Another one is the ritual of getting the extra clothing on and off. With the weather getting colder, I have to put on a wind breaker and a warm layer on top of what I am wearing. Then my headset, because I want to be able to talk on the phone and ride like the big boys in their cars. I used to shove the phone between my ear and the helmet. So what, you say. Well this is all fine and dandy normally. But when you've got to use the rest room really bad, you don't have time to take all of those accoutrements off. Let me tell you, standing in front of the toilet with a helmet on is not a pleasant experience.

Oh, and you can't forget the weird looks people give you when you're on a scooter. Wait...that's just me they're looking strangely at. OK, so my leather welding gloves covered with slightly burnt fleece gloves that surprisingly still let the cold wind through may have looked odd. Or my offroad helmet with red, orange and white designs on it. Or the Mad Max look of my scooter with a lot of the plastic covers taken off.

And what is it with watering the lawn/garden at 1am in October, in Portland Oregon? At least make sure the sprinklers are aiming toward your own greenery. Also, how much pressure do those things have? The whole street is wet and I feel like going through a rain storm with a clear sky!

On the positive side, yes there are many, I'm learning a lot about Portland neighborhoods. Did you know there are more than a few houses painted pink in SE Portland? All of the neighborhood restaurants I've found in my travels have been great! One of my friends is going to have to come back to Tart fro-yo place to get her fix of pumpkin fro-yo with the pumpkin spice sauce. Or what possibly could be the only clean, spacious, unpretentiously not for hipsters and decently priced coffee house at Caffe Pallino (no I didn't misspell it, that's the name of the place).

So as we brace for the winter, will I be winterizing my scooter until the sun comes out in May? No way! I'm going to thrift stores to find better gloves, a dry bag (maybe at Next Adventure's basement) and a hard case for my laptop.

Connecting globally on the cheap (besides Skype and Vonage)

It's not that I dislike Skype and Vonage, just that I think there are better values for your money and computer resources. The world is made much smaller by technology. For some reason, we continue to strive to make vast distances seem reachable. This has been going on for many millennia. Starting with domesticating animals to pack gear so we can travel long distances. Then riding them, then vehicles they can pull. Then boats, bicycles, cars and motorcycles. Next came airplanes. Now we are riding on the sea of electrons to reach the other side of the world in an instant. Yes the Internet.

Some of these are specific to US phone numbers, but many works just fine for anyone with a decent internet connection.

1. phone calls using Magic Jack. You will be given a US phone number (or you can select your own custom number for a small fee) Free to US numbers AND free to other Magic Jack numbers. $20/year + $20 initial purchase for the device. It's a small USB dongle. The best part is you can talk on your computer, or you can hook up a regular telephone (wireless) to the device. Plus if you leave the computer on, people can call you at this number just like any other US phone number. 

2. Voice/video chat on the computer. I use Google's gtalk. Both sides will have to download a small add on to your browser. But many other ones are available such us Yahoo Messenger and MSN Live. Free service

3. phone calls using google's google voice. You'll be issued a phone number and when you're in gmail's website or google voice's website you can make phone calls directly from there.  Free to US numbers.  Have to talk using the computer's speaker and microphone. Will also forward your US number's phone calls to this service and keep copies and transcribe voice mails. Free service

4. phone calls using Ribbit.com. Mostly a call forwarding service to a number you'll be assigned. You can then get a transcription of your voice mails. But they've also added a free online phone.  You can call US numbers for free.  Free service

5. video conferencing using tinychat.com.  It is a big virtual room where people can join and start chatting! Just like a big ol' meeting room. Of course you don't always have to use this as a business tool. 

6. Conference call with many people in the US using Magic Jack's conference call number. Create your conference call ID number by calling 305-848-8888. Distribute this conference call ID number and let people know when you'll be on. voila! Wait but you're not in the US, how do you call in for free from Indonesia (or other countries)? Well use one of the services I've mentioned before silly (magicjack device, ribbit, or google voice).

7. SMS using Google Voice or a number of other services.  Or you can find out the provider's email to SMS server and you can then send an email to the appropriate address.

T-Mobile: phonenumber@tmomail.net 

Virgin Mobile: phonenumber@vmobl.com

Cingular: phonenumber@cingularme.com 

Sprint: phonenumber@messaging.sprintpcs.com

Verizon: phonenumber@vtext.com

Nextel: phonenumber@messaging.nextel.com

US Cellular: phonenumber@email.uscc.net

SunCom: phonenumber@tms.suncom.com

Powertel: phonenumber@ptel.net

AT&T: phonenumber@txt.att.net

Alltel: phonenumber@message.alltel.com

Metro PCS: phonenumber@MyMetroPcs.com

where phonenumber = your 10 digit phone number

Podcasts I love

This American Life - Great human interest stories that somehow gets me thinking about a lot of different things. From economics, to science, camping, etc etc

Think Out Loud - Good discussions about current events, some are more obscured than others. Topics like the economy, budget cuts, the impact of digitizing books, etc

How Stuff Works - They have more than just how something works, but also podcasts on things you missed in history class, things your mom never told you and stuff you should know. Topics like how often you should wash your hair, obscure facts in history, etc

Intelligence Squared - A great show, an Oxford style debate of one topic/motion, three panelists for and three against the motion, one moderator and audience questions. Some topics include carbon footprint reduction is too expensive, Bush is the worst president in the US, the art market is less ethical than the stock market, universal health care is the responsibility of federal government, etc

Michael Feldman's Whad'Ya Know - A fun show, I listen to this when I need a fun podcast rather than an informational/heavy one or when it's on the radio. If you've never heard this, you should try listening to it at least once

Portland State of University's Center for Transportation Seminars - Podcasts of their seminars, covering topics such as zoning strategies, new technologies in measuring physical activities and travel, the future of transportation, etc etc

OPB's Morning Edition - Stories and happenings around the state

Wait Wait Don't Tell Me - NPR's weekly current events quiz program. Usually the quiz is based around the week's happenings. A pretty good way to catch up on the highlights of the week

Modern Manners - Tips on how to be polite in the modern society. How to pick your nose politely, how to complain in restaurants, when to answer your cell phones, etc

Live Wire - A variety show recorded at the Alladin Theatre in Portland, Oregon.
"Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door. (Yes, it's more than a movie, but are you able to yell, drink beer and write haiku in a movie?)"

NPR podcasts - They have a lot of different ones. Some of the ones I subscribe to are Science Friday, Pop Culture, Story of the Day, and others. I will mention specific NPR podcasts if they warrant it (like Intelligence Squared)