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Digital salutations to you all!

It has been a tremendously busy and fun week for Pods and Blogs. You can listen to the fruits of our efforts right here on the podcast.

If you would like to follow up a link or a guest mentioned on the program, you should be able to find them all here in the show notes.

First of all I caught up with Suw Charman Anderson, creator and organiser of . On March 24, people around the world pledge to highlight an inspiring woman in science and technology. It can be a tweet, a song, a comic strip - anything. The work of this network is creating a great collection of information that shows exactly how women in this field are continually making changes.

Onward. One of the growing names on Chatroulette and YouTube in the past week is that of Merton, the Piano Improv' guy. Chatroulette is where you can be connected to any other stranger around the world who may be logged in and talk to them in video and text via your webcam. It can bring up some rather shocking connections, so brace yourself if you choose to explore. makes Chatroulette a more fun place to be by improvising at his piano and singing about the people he meets there. Much more fun than being a spectator.
By all means have a listen to Merton's innovative work - but please take care as there is some adult language involved.

Chris Vallance and I escaped the compound again at the weekend and managed to make it to the Steam Punk Ball known as . A cabaret show of spectacular delights, a crowd of Neo-Victorian participants and a bazaar full of unusual wares. It is one night where the Steam Punk culture spills out of the web and into real life and full costume. Chris made friends with many great people there including members of and . Old fashioned science fiction mayhem!
White Mischief is an over 18 event. So please show caution when you visit the website as it is for grown ups.

The ´óÏó´«Ã½ Technology online team were also at the event - you can see their wonderful video round up with as the guide!

Finally, this week I got to talk to one of the content producers from my all time favourite podcast. ´óÏó´«Ã½ Ouch! has kept me enthralled for years and now they are headed for their 50th edition! Zoe Breen told me about how the show covers disability issues by disabled people in ever innovative and continually excellent ways.

I might have to go and have a lie down after that one - it's all been very exciting.

Naturally next week will be just as much fun and you can help me make it so. If you have seen something amazing online that you must share then drop me a line.
You can email me at PodsandBlogs at bbc dot co dot uk or come and say hello on Twitter where you can find me as .

Until next week!
- Jamillah

Good day to you all,

This week we have been considering time travel. The clocks are changing in the UK for British Summer time - but there are some people on-line who manage to change time to suit their needs whenever the situation fits.
You can hear more about their adventures of course on the podcast.

For starters this week, we're getting our game on. returns and one of the organisers - Philip Trippenbach dropped into the studio to explain why gaming is one of the most important and vital industries of our time.

Chris Vallance returned to the coop this week. He's been writing excellent articles and creating great radio packages as part of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ News Super Powers season. As a part of that work, he took a closer look at moral boundaries online and chatted with Mike Bonanno, one half of , so see where the line is crossed when it comes to being a political prankster.

So who travels through time - apart from Dr Who? We do - for sure, each year the clocks change and we adjust our time, almost without thinking. But there is much more fun to be had with some research and presentation.

Matt Novak runs the blog . As a paleofuturologist, he unearths visions of the future from the past. Entertaining, eerie and sometimes beautiful, the commentary on what we had hoped or feared for our future decades looks strange in comparison with the future we already inhabit. I wonder how close to the mark current designers are as they look decades ahead of us today?

You too can time travel, according to Chris Wild. He's a Retroact and his blog - plays with our understanding of historical documents, encounters and time itself. He came into the studio, although he didn't mention his method of travel that day, and told me all about our durational and directional time expectations.

Well - even in the company of time travellers, that was all I could squeeze into this week's edition. But this means that there are fresh topics ahead of us in the next episode.

If there is a podcast, blog, creative space or time that you know about, or maybe you are making for yourself, don't hesitate to drop me a line and let me know about it.
You can email me at podsandblogs at bbc dot co dot uk or come and say "Hi" on Twitter where you can find me as .
Until next week!
Jamillah

More Maker Faire coverage. The lovely Rain Ashford put together this video compilation of happenings at the Faire. A nice addition to our coverage over the weekend.

Looking ahead to our next edition, we'll be marking the clocks leaping forward for British Summer time by exploring some time based blog action. Already I have spoken to a time traveller - he arrived early by a day, but didn't say which era he came from. Find out more in next week's edition!

Jamillah

Hi there,

Over the weekend for Pods and Blogs I took a journey to Newcastle to see what was happening at the

All manner of makers, crafters, electricians, roboticists and creators gathered at the event to share, teach and show off their projects. You can hear many voices from the event on the podcast but if there is a link that you missed, they are listed below.

First up I had a chat with David Fanning, PR for the Maker Faire event to get a sense of the scale and breadth of those in attendance. David's enthusiasm went from talking about makers to getting involved himself and he managed to solder and create his own LED toy over the weekend.

Mitch Altman teaching simple code to David Fanning.

Maker Faire certainly was buzzing and not least because BrightArcs were there with their Tesla coils making music. The air smelled like electrical burns and the sound was phenomenal!

Electronics and crafting is beautifully blended by . She had brought a Cthuhlu knitted toy with red glowing eyes to the Faire - along with many other treats. Certainly a woman of many, many talents.

Even stopping for a coffee break was a somewhat unusual experience. Do you often make your coffee using the pressure of the Earth's atmosphere? No, me neither, but that just makes it all the more fun when it's explained in simple terms.

Robots are definitely something I can get excited about, so it is predictable that I would hit peaks of enthusiasm at Maker Faire. I'm not entirely sure what the collective noun for hexapod might be - but safe to say that it was quit a gathering, created by .

Graffiti as artistic expression is something that divides opinion. Though can anyone begrudge a little knitted or digital graffiti? Stuart Childs of the in Leeds was teaching people how to indulge in the latter as well as extolling the virtues of sharing your ideas.

More crafting was being encouraged by the . Sounds dangerous, but in fact they are a lovely bunch who helped visitors stitch their own achievement badges. The badges are a bit like scouting patches but instead of for camping or orienteering, you can make your own to show that you can parallel park, or my favourite - "I am very good at yelling".

Maker evangelist and inspiration to us all, was in residence at the Maker Faire. Not only was he giving talks, he also helped visitors to solder, program and provided general encouragement to people taking their first steps in electronic creation.

Right, I'm off to find my soldering iron and see if I can make something neat with LEDs. Small steps, but the Maker Fair certainly inspires the urge to create.

In the mean time - send me word of the great digital things that you have seen, or even better that you are making. You can email me at podsandblogs at bbc dot co dot uk or come and say hi on Twitter where you can find me as @Podsandblogs

Until next week!
Jamillah

Hi to everyone!

I've been scooting about the web as usual, picking up tasty morsels to share with you here and of course on the podcast. This week it's you lot that set a lot of the agenda, letting me know about podcasts and websites that rock your socks.

If there is a link that you missed on the radio, or didn't managed to make a note of while listening to the podcast, you should be able to find all of our guests for the week on this page.

For openers, you may want to take a look at the Super Power season on the ´óÏó´«Ã½ News website. Interestingly, is working with for a couple of weeks to see how they might pair up news headlines and the work of bloggers. The Super Power season looks at the impact of the web and it's growth, I particularly like the interactive . Another bonus of this season is that Solana Larsen, managing editor of Global Voices has come to work in the newsroom with the online team, so I naturally had to have a chat with her about the importance of changing news.

As always, I love it when Pods and Blogs listeners get in touch to let me know about what they are up to and what they like on-line. Following our coverage of a few themes in accessibility, Dave Uhlman wrote me an email to let me know about his Hear and There audio magazine. takes us on a journey where Dave shows us what is around him in audio form. Initially designed for blind or partially sighted listeners, I think you will agree that this podcast is a revelation to most of us.

Last but certainly not least, Charminglochie also wrote in to point me at a great podcast. "Knitting and London and the internet!" she enthuses. She's right too - Hoxtonhandmade's podcast, is a delight for all you crafty people and probably those who are just curious. As the host explained to me - when you are knitting, you have your hands full, so you are more likely to be interested in listening to something, it's not as though you can read a book.

So this week has been brilliant for finding out what you like online. Please do send in more ideas and tips or people you think we should find out more about for the Podcast.

You can email me at Podsandblogs at bbc dot co dot uk, leave a comment here on the blog or come and say hello on Twitter where we are known as . Everyone is welcome.

Next week I am off to Maker Faire - finding out what the clever bods area creating with their soldering irons, chips and more unexpected materials. The ´óÏó´«Ã½ R&D department will be represented there too - so do drop by and say hello if you are nearby.

Until next week!
- Jamillah

Hello again,

This week on Pods and Blogs I have been opening up that phishing scam on Twitter, the MOD told me about it's social networking hub and a listener leads us to more philosophical thought.

If there is a page you are interested in or a character you want to follow up and find out more, this is where you will find all of the links. The podcast is waiting for you here.

As mentioned earlier on the blog here, I managed to click on a link in that lead to a phishing scam. After sorting out passwords and settings I decided it was time to refresh my knowledge on the topic and had a chat with , security expert at . Not only did he tell me about the incredible statistics when it comes to malware online, he also let me share this video with you about the current scams on Twitter.

From one type of security to another. The UK Ministry of Defense has launched its in beta. You can take a look at what the armed forces are up to on social networks and see what their bloggers have to say. Robin Riley explained why it is important.

Last weekend I also managed to escape again from the screen and the studios to take a look at the exhibition at the in London. Whilst marvelling at the interactive clever code there, I met who was running open coding classes at the the museum. He kindly took a moment out to chat to me about why coding should be for everyone and the joys of teaching at the V&A.

In the mean time, I was messaged by Andrew Salt via Twitter. He was very excited about the social search site which has recently been acquired by Google. He had some questions for them, so I tracked down philosopher, CTO of Aardvark and Google engineer Damon Horowitz to put some of those questions to him.

Thanks to Andrew for his top tip there which brought about a really interesting chat for Pods and Blogs. If there is a news item about life online that you would like me to explore further, then get in touch.

You can email me at Podsandblogs at bbc dot co dot uk, leave a comment here on the blog or come and say hello on Twitter where we are known as . Everyone is welcome.

Until next week!
- Jamillah