Entry 183, on 2005-06-14 at 22:44:30 (Rating 1, Computers)
Keeping up to date with all the new information, news, and trends in the computer and Internet world is a real struggle, and an on-going problem. Every day there are new many things happening, and who has the time to catch up with all the new stuff, even through the Internet?
The thing is that many people do have spare time, they just don't have the chance to use that time productively. For example, I would like to spend 15 minutes per day reading through the Slashdot web site, and I spend 15 minutes per day driving to work, but I can't do both at the same time. Or can I?
This is where podcasts have become so useful to me. By listening to the Slashdot review podcast, I can catch up on news at Slashdot at the same time as I am driving to work.
For those of you who haven't caught up yet, a podcast is an audio (MP3) file, just like a computer music file, but it contains spoken news, comments, etc instead of music. Podcasts are downloaded through the Internet, and new podcasts are detected through an RSS (really simple syndication) news feed, similar to what is already used on news sites for web content.
So by combining the existing technologies of MP3, RSS and iPods (or similar music players) a new way to keep informed has been created. Usually, you would use a program specifically designed to manage podcasts (I use Playpod) but you can do the whole thing using existing tools, such as a web browser which knows about RSS (eg Safari) and your music program (eg iTunes).
Of course, you aren't limited to learning about computers this way. there are many podcasts on many different topics available. Slashdot Review is the most useful, in my opinion, but I also subscribe to Apple Log (Mac news), In Our Time (Philosophy), MacCast (Mac news), One Minute Tip (Mac tips), Science at NASA (space news), Slacker Astronomy (astronomy), This Week in Tech (general technology), and Universe Today (astronomy).
You can get a list of available podcasts at iPodder.org, and you can visit the Slashdot review web site at slashdotreview.com.
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