Glen Stadig's Posterous

There is handy application called Stitcher. It allows you to stream radio stations and podcasts straight to your Iphone or computer on demand. This isn't a novelty on it's own, but what you can also do it stack your favorite channels to make your own playlist. Stitcher offers many pre-configured channels covering technology, health, news etc. Many of my favorite podcasts from NPR and TWIT were already in there and it is nice to have the opportunity to checkout new ones I was unfamiliar with. Where Stitcher shines is that it doesn't need to sync to provide any of the content and may be configured and accessed through a single account for the browser and or Iphone.
Drawbacks....if you listen to a show and leave the application it has to start your show from the beginning, it doesn't remember your place..this isn't good for long shows. Upside....Free www.stitcher.com

Also of mention on the application front for streaming music is SomaFM. Stream music via browser or iphone with several commercial free channels...Two of my favorites are Boot Liquor and Covers. This is great for when you just want something a little outside the mainstream and here is the link http://somafm.com/listen/  If you hear something on the channels you like you can bookmark it for buying on itunes later. The stream quality will change depending if your phone is on WiFi or Edge so you always get the best quality with minimal buffering. Drawbacks....on Iphone the channel will play for 20-30 min and you need to press play again. I presume this is to reassure SomaFM your still listening and they are not wasting bandwidth. SomaFM is commercial free and is listener supported.

Pandora is a new kind of radio that plays only music you like. Pandora works via a browser and Iphone application that allows you to make your own station(s). Simply enter an artist or a song and it will serve you that artist or song along with similar tunes. You can vote each song up or down if you like and skip it if you hate it. This is a great way to experience artists you have never herd of and the tunes served typically do fit the profile well. You can see information about the artist and bio when the songs playing. Pandora is commercial free and allows you to save many personal channels. The application and service is free. http://www.pandora.com/#/stations/create/

So when you are tired of the same old playlist, step outside the box and expand your horizons with these great browser and Iphone applications.