POD iconWhat's Podcasting?

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.

Podcast iconA 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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   XML iconWhat's RSS and XML?

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 feed iconRSS 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.

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