How to Podcast

ptorrone writes "Engadget shows how to get Podcasts on your iPod and for the DIY Radio enthusiast, how to make your own Podcasts using mostly free tools. What's a Podcast? To put it simply, a Podcast is an audio file, a MP3, most likely, in talk show format, along with a way to subscribe to the show and have it automatically delivered to your iPod or other music device."

Comments

broad-pod-casting!

[pchan-]

bah, that's nothing.
how about modding an (automotive) fm modulator to increase the power output, hooking up an antenna to it, and using your mp3 player as your source? share some interesting radio with the cars parked around you in traffic. bonus points if you attach an led display to your rear window showing "now playing".

Re:broad-pod-casting!

[connorbd]

I think that's exactly what he had in mind, though I don't think it's a terribly practical idea on the FM band, simply because you can't broadcast to more than a couple of cars at a time. It would work a little better on AM (part 15 rules are much more lenient on the AM bands), but really there's a reason they don't do mobile broadcasting.

Of course they don't make transmitters for AM, and it's illegal to mod something like an FM transmitter because of something called type-acceptance -- in other words, the FCC gives your "pocket radio station" implicit approval because it knows what the device is supposed to be capable of. If you mod it, it's no longer legal to use because it doesn't fit the profile that the FCC has on file. (Your mileage/kilometrage may vary outside the United States.) This is the same rule that makes it illegal to mod FRS or CB gear.

All we need now...

[Mike Rubits]

...are some decent shows to subscribe too! For some reason, I can't see The Scripting News catching on for the general populace.

Awesome idea though, just shows all the cool things you can do with RSS. Here's hoping Apple's next MP3 player will support WiFi for Shoutcast streams.

Re:All we need now...

[flyingsquid]

...are some decent shows to subscribe too! For some reason, I can't see The Scripting News catching on for the general populace.

I would love it if you could set up your iPod to automatically download NPR in MP3 format.Currently I stream a lot of their programming (Morning Edition, Wait Wait, Fresh Air) through my computer but it'd be great to be able to put this on an iPod and listen to it while running, on the subway, whatever. It's nice to be able to listen to it whenever you want, catch stuff you've missed, rewind, etc.

Possible uses?

[MinusBlindfold]

Sports scores, weather, news reports, etc? Maybe a college professor can make his lecture available in this format?

Re:Possible uses?

[Wanderer2]

Maybe a college professor can make his lecture available in this format?

Wasn't that the reasoning behind Duke University giving 1650 students iPods?

Phish Show Lot Jam DJ

[aLe-ph-1(sh)]

I had an idea quite similiar to one of the above posters during the last Phish show up in Coventry. I was thinking if you could up the wayyahe output on an iTrip or similiar device, and then have say 10 cars park around your central location, and turn up the volume, tuned in to your broadcast. This could be a much cheaper way of doing a DJ gig, without all the messy expense of renting and lugging generators, and such. Now if only I could scratch on the iPod...

Re:Unfortunate...

[erick99]

From the article:

So what's a Podcast? To put it simply, a Podcast is an audio file, a MP3, most likely, in talk show format, along with a way to subscribe to the show and have it automatically delivered to your iPod when you plug in to iTunes. The show isn't live, so you can listen to it whenever you want.

I can think of a lot of free content that would work great with this. And while there are things that could be done that wouldn't be illegal, I don't think that trumps the legal uses.

Pod Jockeys

[G4from128k]

Is the commentator/mixer on an iPod a PJ?

Nice timing

[Bluelive]

Finally got my bittorrent proxy working for a few of the audio blog feeds. http://blue.student.utwente.nl/jrss/blbtab.rss its not really usefull yet but i could use some help debugging.

Security Problems? Buffer overruns?

[Discotechnica]

Might this open up some security problems?

iPodderX, which is basically a newsreader that reads RSS 2.0 feeds with enclosures, takes those enclosures and automatically downloads them in the background. If the file is an audio file, it then moves it to iTunes for download to your iPod, so with iPodderX you constantly have fresh content to listen to. iPodderX downloads any type of file, (even Torrents) so you can wake up in the morning with a fresh set of audio shows, video programs, or whatever else you've subscribed to.

What if someone were to take advantage of these auto downloads and use them to send you infected files. Maybe there are problems in iTunes' coding that will allow buffer overruns like those found with JPGs?

Finally, cable access programming for my iPod!

[VidEdit]

Ahh, finally a way to get cable access quality, home-brew radio talk shows delivered directly to my iPod! The world will be changed forever! No longer will I have to worry about listening to up-to-date news and information on my computer or via the radio, now I can listen to old news that has been automatically archived on my mp3 player. And best of all, I don't have to worry about listening to interesting podcasts from the NPR or the BBC because their aren't any.

Don't misunderstand me, having my iPod loaded with mp3s via RSS is a cool idea, but the lack of DRM insures that the copyright and royalty-driven major media players will not be sending out RSS feeds anytime in the foreseeable future. So, podcasting seems destined to be a bit player.

Tivo for radio.

[Frappuccino]

This is a good idea, although it seems that i've never come across a decent internet radio show. I'd love to download Howard Stern shows every morning to listen to throughout the day, but for that to happen this would need FM capability. There was something like that on slashdot a while ago, but it was ugly and not mac compatible. The truth is, I would pay Howard Stern a buck a day to "Tivo" his show onto my iPod. Good internet radio shows are pretty much nonexistant, but it's nice to know if I find a good one I can "tivo" it onto my ipod.

Re:another engadget paid placement

[ptorrone]

hey seth- WIN doesn't pay slashot anything at all, ever, i and others on engadget write and edit articles, and submit them, most of what i submit doesn't get approved here, some of the text even gets editted. all that said, i personally try and write articles i think folks would enjoy, if they get picked up and approved, all the better, if they're not that interesting, you won't see them here. if you want to email me feel free to and i'll gladly do my best to answer any questions.

Re:How about RSS synching for iPod

[rasterboy]

Well, if you like jogging I guess this sounds good, but I was recording Slashdot articles and comments to cassette tapes using my Mac and listening to them in my car's tape deck back in 1998 or so...

Welcome to the future! ;)