The
word podcast is a combination of the words iPod and broadcast. Actually,
you don't need an iPod or any other portable players to listen.
And the podcast itself is never broadcast over the Internet.
A
podcast is simply a digital recording, such as a radio broadcast,
made available on the Internet for downloading to your computer
or personal audio player.
Podcast feeds are the real advantage
of podcasting. After subscribing to a podcast, new episodes are automatically
downloaded to your computer. Listeners no longer need to worry about
checking Web sites for the latest podcasts. You can listen to any
file at any time on your computer or portable player. It will be
automatically downloaded since you have subscribed.
To listen, or subscribe, you must have
a computer with an Internet connection. If you use iTunes or My Yahoo,
click on the orange icon that says "POD". That should take
you directly to that podcasting service. You may then play the episode
through that service or load onto your portable player.
If you do not have iTunes or My Yahoo,
but do have other podcasting software, click the orange icon that
says "XML". Copy the URL (page address) from the XML page
and paste it into the subscription field of your software.
There are many Web sites with both
free and paid podcasting software available for downloading. Just
go to your favorite search engine and use the words "podcast" and "software" to
begin.
To view the choices of podcasts in
this Web site, go to our News
home page and look for the POD icons.
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Really
Simple Syndication (RSS) enables Web site authors and developers
to post short site summaries of new or updated items and links to
a file created in XML format (eXtensible Markup Language).
RSS
readers, or aggregators, search that file daily if wanted, then
report back to the interested reader, or subscriber, if there
is something new to read.
There are a few Web browsers, such as Firefox and
Safari, with built-in RSS readers. And there are a few Web services,
such as My Yahoo and My AOL, that offer aggregators as part of their
packages. If you have none of those, and want an RSS reader, there
are dozens of programs available online. Use the words "RSS" and
"reader" in your favorite search engine to find many free
and paid choices.
To add RSS channels, or feeds, you have to look
at Web sites with small orange icons either in the text or in the
top right corner of the address area of your browser. They may say
XML or they may look like the icon on this page (above).
If you can see the icon in your address bar, then
your browser is RSS ready. Simply click it and your browser
should help you with instructions. If you don't see that icon, then
you will have to find a link to the XML file. It may look like the
small icon at the top of this page. After finding the link click
it to go to the XML file, which looks like a page of alphabet soup.
Copy the address and paste it into your RSS reader software. Just
follow your software's instructions after that.
An RSS news feed is available from our site. Go
to our "Headlines"
page to find the XML location.
For more information:
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