Don't read but listen to my articles

You might have noticed a small link “Listen to this article” near the title of each article in my blog. It’s actually a link to an MP3 file that will open in any audio player. And you don’t need an Apple IPod to listen to my podcasts.

Podcasting is a way to tell your personal computer to automatically download audio files onto your mp3 player.

Steve Bass clears the myths surrounding Podcasting. For him, Podcasts are nothing more than MP3 files that you play on your computer with Windows Media Player, or any other software audio player. If you want portability, you can copy a podcast to your MP3 player.

You need an aggregator to make it easier to find, download, organize, and ultimately send to your MP3 player the podcasts you’ve subscribed to. IPodder is free but it’ll still take you 20 minutes to understand how to use it. If IPodder’s not your cup of tea, read Tom Spring’s “Podcasts Go Mainstream" for more suggestions.

The content of podcasting ranges in quality. Talkr lets you listen to blogs on your IPod. If you have a blog and want to podcast your feed, Talkr is the best. Point to it an RSS feed and TalkR will convert it from text to speech. Talkr keeps tabs of your RSS feeds and sends audio to your computer as those audio files become available.

You might be ready to abandon working on your home page redesign and try your hand at creating a podcast. Read Dan Tynan’s “Radio Blogs?” for a better idea of how to podcast and what tools and applications you’ll need.

SkypeCasting - you can use Skype to create “great sounding audio recordings from interviews and conference calls” without, as the site proudly claims, “resorting to studios, or fancy gear.” It’s worth a look, especially if you don’t have either a studio or fancy gear.

If you want that fancy gear, take a look at the $2850 WorldVibrations Radio Station, a broadcasting, streaming, and podcasting appliance.