How to Create a Podcast & Downloading a Free Podcast

Podcasting is easy to get involved in for anyone whowants to create a podcast. The first thing necessary isaccess to a web server. The user needs to be able toupload files to the server itself, so podcasting can't bedone from a simple blogging or journal site. It'sprobably best to register a domain and find a host forthe site. Once the site has been set up and the user hasaccess to the host server, a small program calleddircaster.php should be customized for your site, andcan be used to automatically generate the RSS feed thatthe subscribers will download.

The mp3 files should beuploaded to the proper directory after all theinformation about the file has been attached. After theyare in the directory, the address of dircaster.php, as longas it is in the same directory as the mp3 files, willgenerate an RSS file that will tell your subscriberswhere to download the latest podcasts from. To updateand and a new episode, create and upload the new mp3file to the same directory. When dircaster.php isaccessed, it will recognize the new file and relay theinformation on to your visitors.

With these steps, it is easy for anyone to create apodcast with a small expenditure of time and effort. Thesite is easy to set up; domains and hosting are nowcheap enough almost anyone to have a small site, andthe programs necessary are all easy to find and use.

Downloading a Free Podcast: Its easy to find and download a free podcast. The bestway to find free podcasts is probably to check a podcastdirectory. A podcast directory is a listing of many,sometimes thousands of different podcasts. The podcastdirectory will usually organize the podcasts by topic andgenre, making it easy to find the type of podcast that issought. In addition, podcast directories often allow thevisitors to comment on the podcasts listed, and providea list of the favorite podcasts on the site, making it easyfor users to find the best podcasts available.

Thesepodcast directories can be used to browse through,introducing users to many different podcasts theyotherwise would not have found. Once a podcast has been found that interests the user, itis necessary to download the free podcast. The vastmajority of podcasts will be free, but there will be a fewthat may cost a small amount of money. The process tosubscribe to and download the podcasts is the same ineither case. First, a podcast client needs to be found andinstalled. There are many free podast clients available,all providing a slightly different user interface and rangeof options.

They come with many different names, suchas Podscape, or Nimiq, and searching for 'free podcastclient' or something like it will turn up manypossibilities. When the podcast client has beeninstalled, inputting the feed address will allow thepodcast to be downloaded. The podcast client willcheck the address given for a small, machine readablefile called an RSS file. This file will containinformation about the podcasts, perhaps some textabout the individual episodes, as well as the location ofthe episode file. Once the podcast client has beenlocated the file referred to in the RSS feed, it will bedownloaded and stored on the users computer until thewant to view it.

Sometimes, of course, access to a personal computer isnot available, but it is still necessary to check a certainpodcast. Fortunately, many podcast directories offerbuilt in podcast readers in the site. Not only do theyoften show each recent episode that is available, theymay also offer a way to view or listen to those podcastepisodes from within the site. By using the viewercontained within the site, it is no longer necessary toeven download the podcast episodes. However, theability to move and share the episodes afterdownloading is one of the wonderful things aboutpodcasting. The files can be placed on almost andmedia player, ranging from iPods to the new PlayStation Portable. This flexibility is one of the reasonspodcasts have succeeded, despite other technologieslike streaming music and video. The desire ofconsumers to have control over technology cannot beover estimated.

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Blogging News Stories as They Happen

Blogging news stories as they unfold is one of the most exciting and controversial applications of technology that bloggers have discovered. One thing that makes the blogosphere so active is the fact that it is possible to update a blog instantaneously, so the news on blogs tends to be more current than the news in the paper, oron television. Unlike news delivered by these othermedia, news that appears on blogs does not have totravel through a series of editors and administrators before it reaches the public eye. This has some advantages, and some distinct disadvantages.


One of the most notable cases of news hitting a blog before appearing in other media took place when terrorism struck London. As passengers wereevacuated from a subway car near an explosion, oneman took several photographs of the scene with hiscellular phone, and within an hour these images wereposted online. First-person accounts of the catastrophebegan appearing on blogs soon after these photosappeared, and people all over the world learned aboutthe events in London by reading the words and seeingthe photos posted by bloggers.


The fact that these stories and images were being spreaddirectly by individuals operating without the addedfilter of a reporter helped to make the crisis feel veryimmediate to people across the globe. When it comes toblogging, news often appears in a very personal context.This has the potential to be the beginning of an excitingnew era of reporting, one that takes "New Journalism"to it's logical next step by putting the power to shapehow the news is written and read directly into the handsof the public.


Many bloggers and cultural commentators who arechampions of the weblog movement feel that thisgrowing trend of individuals who getting their newsfrom blogs is a good thing, because it makes the flow ofinformation more democratic. By decentralizing thecontrol of news, blogs allow more voices to enter thefield of debate about important current events.However, many people are adamantly opposed to theuse of blogs as news outlets, and there are plenty ofgood arguments on this side of the debate.



Unlikenewspapers or television stations, few blogs have fact-checkers, and there is little attention paid to journalisticaccountability on many blogs. This can lead to the rapidspread of misinformation, and more than one falsehoodhas taken the blogosphere by storm. The questionsabout whether blogging news as it happens is ethical ornot are very complicated, but no matter where you standon the topic of current events blogs you are almost sureto agree that this movement has the potential torevolutionize how modern people get their news.

Building Your Mailing List with Downloads

A mailing list is the lifeblood of your online business. The old adage "the money is in the list" cannot be true enough -- if you had a targeted list of prospects to contact each time you have a new product, you will be able to save a lot of effort by marketing it to your existing list of targeted prospects.

You can actually build up a targeted list of prospects that are interested in your products by offering a relevant download on your website. For example, let's take a look at a very good example -- apple.com. When you download the free iTunes and Quicktime software from their site, they will ask you to fill in an optional name and email form so that they can send you offers on songs that you can purchase via -- guess where -- iTunes!

In reality, you do not need to offer such a "heavyweight" download such as a full-feature software like iTunes. You can attract prospects equally well with some quality freebies such as a simple report, a free wallpaper, and so on. The important thing is that your download offers enough value for the prospect to be willing to give away his/her own email address to get it.

However, slapping together a simple download and putting a link on your website won't be enough to attract qualified prospects. You will have to do some homework in order for your lead-generating mechanism to work well for you.

First of all, you must place your download form prominently on your website. Preferably, dedicate a page to it and link to that page from every other page of your website. That way, there is no way your visitors cannot find the download page, and when they do, you'll get some of them converted into your prospects!

Also, you have to put a little effort into promoting your download. Explain and elaborate on the values of the download, and why your visitors should download it. You might think why would anyone want to pass on a freebie, but most of your visitors would be too lazy to take the effort to download it because most of their downloads just sit on the hard disk collecting virtual dust. It is hence important to show your visitors why they should download your freebie.

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