Transom is now offering its own Podcast (here), as well as RSS news feeds from our TALK discussion boards. This page explains the basics of these new features and how best to use them.

When you are done reading, please visit our main podcast page.

What is a Podcast?

Podcasting is one of the latest variations of RSS (Really Simple Syndication) -- the same technology that fuels Web Logs (Blogs) and other news feeds that keep you up to date whenever your favorite web sites refresh their content.

What makes podcasting a bit different is that, instead of just receiving headlines, podcast clients will automatically check the web for new audio files and automatically download them to your computer's audio player... or even straight to your portable mp3 player - such as Apple's iPod.

Think of it as the Transom Web fairy leaving you tasty little audio morsels while you sleep.

For more about podcasting and podcast software, please visit Adam Curry's iPodder site:
http://www.ipodder.org/whatIsPodcasting

TALK RSS Feeds

What is an RSS Feed? It simply checks web sites for new content and automatically forwards you any new postings, using free software that you can download. Our discussion software, Web Crossing, now provides for RSS on a per discussion, or per folder basis. To subscribe to a specific discussion, simply navigate to its location, copy the XML link provided in the right column, and follow the instructions provided by your news aggregator software to add it to your subscriptions. If you click on the XML link and get a page full of text or code, don't worry. Just copy the URL from your browser window into your news aggregator.

Any basic news aggregator can receive updates from our TALK boards. If you want recommendations on programs that work well with podcasts, please read below.

Note: Due to certain limitations, the Tools discussion area is only available on a per discussion basis. Don't worry - we're working on it.

What Software Do I Need?

Many news aggregators will receive a podcast feed and play the media contained within, but, if you want to utilize the automated features that work with your media player, you'll probably want an aggregator specifically designed to work with audio. These are known as podcast clients. Of the ones we've played with, we like: iPodder (Mac, PC), iPodder X (Mac), and Playpod (Mac).

If you don't care so much about automation and would just like an aggregator that can play most media files, you may want to check out Newsfire (Mac).

Each of the above programs will download audio to any folder on your computer. If you use Apple iTunes (Mac, PC), you can also set them up to automatically move audio files onto your portable mp3 player - that way you can just pick it up and listen in the car.

How Do I Subscribe to a Podcast / RSS Feed?

To sign up for a Podcast, or any other RSS feed on Transom, click the links marked as RSS, or XML (usually indicated by an orange graphic button). You'll be taken to a page filled with bunch of text and code. Don't worry, that's normal. Copy the URL out of your browser and follow the instructions provided by your news aggregator or podcast client to add it to your subscriptions.

Complete information about RSS feeds and how they work can be found at Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS_%28protocol%29

Any Questions? Comments?

Contact the Webmaster