What Is Podcasting?

Podcasting is the latest in on-the-go, on-demand technology. With podcasting, you can listen to radio programs or events whenever and wherever you choose. Podcasts are MP3 audio files that are automatically downloaded to your personal computer for listening whenever you wish. If you want to listen to them when away from the computer, they can be transferred to an iPod or other MP3 player using a podcasting application. There are also devices available that allow one to play the iPod or other MP3 player through a car radio. Beware that the files are big and may take a long time to download if you are using a dialup connection.

You can sample those listed on the previous page by clicking on .

What equipment do I need?

The basic requirements for podcasting are a computer (PC or Mac), podcasting software and an Internet connection. For portability, an iPod or other MP3 player is needed. MP3 players can be bought for $40 to $400 depending on the capacity and features.

How do I get started?

Simply download and install podcasting software onto your computer. Although applications vary, each should provide instructions on how to add podcast feeds to your list. A popular and free program is Juice which is available for both Windows and the Macintosh OS-X operating systems. You can get it by clicking on the icon below.

Once you have installed Juice, you will have to add some podcasts to be downloaded. On the previous page, right mouse button click on the desired program and select "Copy Link Location". Then, on the "Subscriptions" tab of Juicer click on the plus sign in the green circle. Go to the "URL" entry field, click the right mouse button and select "Paste". It is a good idea to then select the "Cleanup" tab and set the program to delete podcasts after a specified length of time to keep from filling up your hard drive. Then you can click the "Save" button to add it to your subscriptions.

To download new episodes of your subscriptions, click on the green "Check for new podcasts" button on the Subscriptions tab.

Once podcasts are downloaded, you can play them by going to the Downloads tab and right clicking on the desired program and selecting "Play episode in mediaplayer." If you wish to transfer them to a portable device, they will be located in the "My received podcasts" folder under "My Documents" (for Windows and somewhere similar on the Mac).

More help is available at http://juicereceiver.sourceforge.net/docs/iPodderUserGuide.html