July 18, 2005

Podcasts that Focus on College Hopefuls

I just wanted to make note that I put up a series of podcasts for college hopefuls that may be useful for all you recent high school grads out there. These are podcasts put out by Thomson Peterson, and I’ve found them to be really accessible and highly professional. I showcase these as a taste of the podcasts I’m gradually making available via LearnOutLoud. Look at what people are doing and imagine the potential for podcasting as an educational medium! I’m really excited that we’re starting to support educational podcasts and I hope that you find these shows as valuable as I have. Keep looking, I’m adding these podcasts daily. Here are the three Thomson Podcast I recommend:

July 16, 2005

Odeo is cool…sort of

I took Odeo for a test spin this afternoon and I’ll have to admit that for the most part I liked what I saw. It was incredibly easy to submit our podcast and they have a very cool and friendly user interface. (You can see our podcast up on Odeo at http://odeo.com/channel/6070/view.)

I did encounter a problem though when I went to listen to our podcast. For some strange reason the podcast played at a rapid rate making David and Seth sound straight out of a Chipmunks cartoon. It’s pretty humorous actually. I’m pretty sure this is a problem on their end as our feed works fine on Podcast Alley, iTunes, etc.

That issue and a couple of misspellings on the site were less than outstanding but for the most part it’s a cool site (Note: I haven’t had a chance yet to try out their Sync or Create tools. I hope to do that soon and promise to blog about it.) I’m not sure where exactly it will sit on the competitive landscape with iTunes-Audible-Podcast Alley-Podshow but it should be fun to watch the battle play out!

July 11, 2005

LearnOutLoud’s Podcast up on iTunes

While after a bit of work we’ve managed to get our “Audio Learning Revolution” podcast up on iTunes. Given the astonishing number of people who are downloading podcasts off of iTunes, this was pretty good news. If you would like to subscribe to our podcast through iTunes, just search the podcast directory for “learnoutloud” and you’ll find it. It’s amazingly easy to subscribe and download through the iTunes interface.

For more information on our podcast or to download previous episodes, check out LearnOutLoud.com Podcasts.

July 10, 2005

Podcasting Goes Mainstream

With Apple’s release of iTunes 4.9, interest in Podcasting has exploded after months of built up interest. If you haven’t already seen us yakking about it in recent weeks, Podcasting is a revolutionary form of broadcasting that allows you to subscribe to and automatically download mp3s to your iPod or other digital audio player. This innovation was made possible thanks to RSS feeds (Really Simple Syndication), the same technology that allows you to subscribe to Blogs. Apple’s popular music downloading software has added a section to their store dedicated solely to free Podcasts, and the result has been decisive. Within the first week of its release, Podcast downloads numbered in the millions; all but assuring Podcasting’s place as a new mainstream force.

LearnOutLoud.com is excited to take part in this revolutionary new medium that has dissolved the boundaries placed on how we receive valuable information. As Podcasting becomes more pervasive, expect to see hundreds, if not thousands of Podcasts devoted solely to education. Already shows like the Al Franken Show Podcast, this WEEK in Tech and History According to Bob are making the potential of this new medium as an important educational tool readily apparent.

In addition to showcasing educational Podcasts on our site, we are proud to continue recording the “Audio Learning Revolution” Podcast on a regular basis. Each week our Podcast devotes time to particular aspects in the audio learning field. To download our show for free, visit this page.

Alternatively you can use your iTunes application to access Podcasts, or popular Podcasting clients like iPodder to subscribe to our RSS feed. “Audio Learning Revolutions” is not currently featured on iTunes 4.9, but you can still listen to it using that application by clicking “Advanced” on the top menu, and then “Subscribe to Podcast”. Itunes will then bring up a box that asks you to paste in LearnOutLoud.Com’s XML feed, which is:

https://www.learnoutloud.com/podcasts/podcast.xml

After you paste this URL in, you’ll be able to listen to our show whenever you like using iTunes 4.9. Certainly it is getting easier and easier to access the brave new world of podcasting. At LearnOutLoud.com, we promise to search out and feature the best educational podcasts that are currently being released to the world by people like you.

June 28, 2005

Podcasting and Radio, the Bitterest of Pills

Melodramatic subject header aside, I want to get serious. We’re not a bunch of gothed out highschool drama geeks here, this is adult business I come to share! Interest in podcasting is rising at a friggin’ hourly rate. I’ve been reading alot of introductory articles from news sources located all over the country. Soon my mom will know what a podcast is, and my dad will be posting sermons to an xml feed. If you still don’t know what podcasting is and you want to know more, here’s a good example of what I’ve been getting in my email lately.

The only part of this article I disagree with is the labeling of podcasting as a mere “trend”. I was talking with Jon about it the other day and while I do think the heat over this innovation will die down, I don’t think it has the transient quality I would associate with the word “trend”. The difference between podcasting and something trendy like say, neon legwarmers, friendship bracelets and Paris Hilton’s Career is that the technology has broken an irreversible barrier. Now that the podcast cat is out of the cultural bag, there’s no stopping it. Podcasters have tasted the freedom that comes with throwing down the shackles of mainstream radio, and like file sharing, this new technology will continue its spread indefinately. Podcasting works for people on a basic level: now ANYONE is capable of talking about WHATEVER they wish, and they are allowed a platform to grab the world’s ear. People inherently crave a podium, and that is what podcasting taps into. So no, we’re not talking about a trend when we consider it on that level.

Just wanted to add my 2 cents there. Carry on.

June 22, 2005

The Summer of the Podcast

I heard it from Seth yesterday. “This summer is going to be the summer of the podcast.” Every indication I’m receiving says this is dead on the money. For example, check out the following links that I stumbled across today:

Odeo Review and First Look at Odeo

Podcasting Profit @ Audible.com

iTunes 4.9 to Support Podcasting

What’s all of this going to mean for the audio learning space? A lot. Now in addition to having a wide array of audiobooks to choose from when you want to learn something, you’ll now have podcasts to choose from as well. And while we’ll be the first to admit that the quality of the typical podcast isn’t all that great we expect that to change dramatically over the next year. Once it’s as easy as a single click in your iTunes to subscribe to a podcast, the market goes from thousands to millions almost overnight.

Yup, it’s going to be a hot summer.

June 6, 2005

The First Breakthrough

We found a way finally! June 2nd’s edition of Adam Curry’s formative podcast
the daily source code featured a modest promo for our podcast. I don’t know how many people will listen in now, but if you’re out there, and you’re reading this, I want to tell you that we have something really fun cooking. Thanks go to Adam for giving us a nod, and I hope to see you out there on the Podcast Waves. We should have a chat on the podcast alley forums too, while we’re at it!

Speaking of Podcast Alley, if you’ve listened to the show and liked it, I’d apreciate it a great deal if you’d hop over there and give us a vote. All you do is go here, click on our link, and then click the vote button. We really want to get to as many ears as possible with this thing and that means a collective effort. I gave my vote, but that sort of doesn’t count. Its sort of like when you see those photo ops of the president voting for himself on election day or something.

May 24, 2005

Podcasting and the New Radio

We’ve been sort of bashing radio a little too much without giving a good alternative. Well now we can give you one. Take a look out our very own podcast page. Here you will find out what we’ve been doing in the world of podcasting and will be provided with links to listen to it all. These always fun to make and the results are getting better and better with each ‘cast. We are always looking for comments on our podcasts and welcome your thoughts. Also, if you like our podcast, we suggest voting for it over on podcast alley. Have a good one!

May 19, 2005

A Fresh View of the Catholic Church has Emerged

I wanted to make mention of a podcaster that I recently got the chance to finally hear. As we all now, the new Star Wars movie is obliterating the minds of every male born between 1965 and 1981 (my guesstimate of the “star wars generation”). I was listening to the Daily Source Code today and there was a blurb for a one Roderick Vonhögen, catholic priest and collossal Star Wars fan. I remember Roderick the most from his old website The Virtual Edition which tried to create Episode One wholly from spoiler information leaked on to the net. It was a fun site back in 98 and its good to see how this guy’s use of the internet has morphed. Now he’s a full blown priest and an accessible entry point into the world of catholicism. I’ve listened to a few podcasts and this guy’s attitude and enjoyment of what he talks about, whether it be Episode III or Benedict XVI, is what I like the most about him. Seriously, the Vatican could use this guy for their PR Machine, he’ll turn all the bad press they’ve been getting around in no time. He may repeat himself alot during his podcasts, he may even be annoying to some listeners, but I truly think he is probably the first real podcast celebrity besides Adam Curry. He’s been so popular that the vatican radio is now doing a podcast thanks to his efforts and you can probably expect more innovations to from this young priest. Give him a listen, it would take a real cynic to not acknowledge that this guy has a ton of heart.

May 17, 2005

Focus on Zen

We’ll be recording a podcast on audio religion soon, and I’ve been focusing on Zen Buddhism for this endevour. With that in mind, I’ve created an author page for Thich Nhat Hanh. Hanh came to world renown in the Vietnam-era when Martin Luther King nominated the quiet monk for the Nobel Prize. Since then, Hanh has been traveling the world and writting TONS of books on Mindfulness, Peace, and Zen in general. If you want to start anywhere with zen, this is the guy to look at first. Personally I’ve put down some of his books as must reads for the future. Enjoy the page!