MurDog and Podcasting

Here is the official heads up! I am going to be a guest on the Roger and Jason podcast in their next episode. I am going to record with them tonight, so be expecting a link in my blog to their podcast in the upcoming days.

What?... You don't know what podcasts are... well then let me fill you in. Podcasting is a relatively new phenomenon where people record radio shows on their computer and then upload them as mp3s for people to listen.

Huh??... you say that mp3s are nothing new... well the way these shows are distributed is new. It all goes back to a little technology called RSS or Really Simple Syndication. Some web sites and most blogs (like the one you are reading right now) have the ability to set up an RSS feed. It is a file that is published at the same time a new post is made to a blog or website. People who are interested in the content have a client on their computer that understands these RSS feeds. The client reads the new RSS file and alerts the user that new content is available. This is really handy when it comes to blogs because people rarely publish new blog entries on a regular basis.

Podcasters took that RSS Feed idea and applied it to distributing audio content. There are "pod-catching" clients, a.k.a. iPodders, out there that check the RSS feeds to see when there is new content to download. When it finds a file, it downloads it automatically and puts the file into iTunes or Windows Media Player so that the content will be uploaded to the user's MP3 player.

I have really been into it over the past month. It's neat that everytime I sync my iPod, there are new shows to listen to. It's even neater that I get to participate and be a part of a podcast!

Check back soon for a link. In the meantime, check out www.ipodder.org and learn more about podcasts and podcatching. You may not be as into it as me, but it is important that you at least know about it!

MurDog OUT!!!