Last night I was on the Typical Mac User Podcast with Victor Cajiao, and it was great to be able to have a chat about some of the apps we love, and our predictions for this year’s Macworld. I’m hoping for a ultraportable laptop, and Victor has a crazy prediction that has to do with AppleTV (you’ll need to listen to get the full scoop!).

But the best part about the show was taking live calls from listeners via Talkshoe. This was my first time using their interface, and I think they’re definitely on the right track. It reminds me a lot of Stickam and Ustream, except without all the pesky video. Yes, sometimes it’s nice to not have to deal with video, it’s true. Users interact with the host over chat, phone, VoIP or not at all (just listening). The host can queue up questions and bring them into the discussion at will.

The chat interface could use a little improvement, but I heard from someone over Twitter that they’re planning on implementing an IRC-based chat interface sometime in the future. Despite that (and it’s a small issue — I got used to it after a couple of minutes) I really enjoyed the experience. I didn’t even mind downloading their small app, which usually drives me crazy.

I love that there are new services enabling podcasters to really engage with their audience. My favorite part of podcasting is interacting with users, whether it be via forums, emails, social networks, etc. Now we have to figure out how to do a live Mahalo Daily, and we’ll be all set!

I’ve had my iPhone rebate burning a hole in my pocket for some time now, so I decided it was time to head on down to the Apple Store to pick up a little present for myself. I’ve been meaning to buy a speaker dock for a while, because I wanted an easy way to play music off my iPhone away from my existing setup in the office.

Yes, I know that technically you’re not supposed to use iPhones with standard iPod accessories, but it works just the same. If you can tolerate the occasional interference from the phone, that is (”deet deet deeedeeedee deeet!”). Anyhow, after a little poking around, I found this iHome2Go OutLoud dock. So far, so good! You can use it with only one cube, or both for stereo sound. The sound is very good, impressive considering the terrible acoustics in the apartment (and especially the totally square bedroom… major phase cancellation issues).

It comes with a tiny little remote, which is always nice, and it has line-in. We’re probably going to set it up for with the Squeezebox that I’ve been wanting to use for a while now. What I like best about the OutLoud is the design — all the other players had about ten different knobs and buttons on them. Yes, this may not have a clock radio built in, but that’s not what I needed it for. I already have an alarm clock, and I hate the radio. Three buttons are enough for me. Well, I’ve only had it for a night, so hopefully nothing will go wrong to shatter my good impression in the near future!

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With the opening of The Golden Compass this Friday, I thought it would be appropriate to have a movie meet up for members of The Sword and Laser book club! It was the first book that we read together, and so it seems fitting that we all go see how well they adapted the book to film. Anyone is welcome, but I’m theming it for S&L members.

I’m also trying to get a dinner thing set up beforehand. I’ll give out more details tomorrow, probably. Here’s the info for the movie:

The Golden Compass
10:30 PM, Dec. 7th
AMC Loews Metreon 16
101 4th St., San Francisco, CA

Buy tickets here!

Hope to see you there! If you aren’t in the Bay Area, go see it anyway so we can discuss it in the forums!

This morning Kent over at The iPhone Blog pinged me to show me a blog post a reader had sent him. Rakesh Agrawal’s (CEO of SnapStream) 3-year old daughter came up with a very inventive solution for watching her dad’s iPhone and using both her hands to learn Yo-Yo at the same time: stick it up on the fridge, 3-year old height level, with magnets! They’re calling it the “iPhone TV” over at their house, but I think I’d call it the “Toddler Distraction Device.”

Not only am I thrilled that she liked the show and is learning how to Yo-Yo from it (which speaks volumes of Doctor Popular’s teaching abilities, even over video), but I’m also amazed at how brilliant kids can be. I’ve heard that magnets aren’t the greatest thing to have around your gadgets, but since this is flash memory, I don’t think it should be a problem. They’d better get working on the patent application!