Podcasting: Pretty cool
As I mentioned last post, I’m the proud owner of a Creative Zen Touch, a Christmas gift from the folks. (I’ve never called my parents that before, actually.) I’d heard of something called “podcasting” before, and decided to give it a try.
What is podcasting? Well…. It’s like blogging, only with mp3 files instead of webpages.
Here’s what I do: When I find a podcast I want to listen to, I drag the link to it from the web browser to BlogMatrix Sparks!. After a few moments, Sparks! figures out what to do with it and it pops up on my list of Podcasts.
As you can see, there are two different kinds of posts on the list. The ones with just a blank page icon are text posts; the ones with a green note on them have MP3 files attached. The next step is to right click on the new blog’s title and click “Settings,” then to select the Attachments and Podcasting tab. Check the “Automatically Save Attachments” checkbox and hit OK.
Now Sparks! will download all the attachments automagically. I have Creative MediaSource, the horrendously ugh-ly Media Player software that was included with the Touch, set to monitor the folder that Sparks! downloads to. When I plug my MP3 player into my computer, MediaSource detects it and opens, again, automatically. I then click the “AudioSync” button, click next, and the new files are added to the player.
Now, whenever the new website is updated with a new MP3 file, all I have to do is to plug in my MP3 player and click a button. A minute later, I can listen to the new content wherever I go.
My favorite podcast is the Rip ‘n’ Read Blogger Podcast. Every day I can listen to a quick summary of the most popular topics of the previous day. I’m also subscribed to The GodCast Network for The Whole Truth, a podcast which will read the the whole New Testament over the course of 2005.
It’s all very cool. All I need to do is figure out some way to make it so that I don’t have to click *anything*.
UPDATE: I don’t recommend Adam Curry’s podcast, seen in the screenshot. Here’s a tip for any podcaster wanting my attention: Watch your language. And say something interesting. Thanks.