A Podcast, Uploaded.

Here’s a link to my Podcast:

http://bryan-whelan.podomatic.com/rss2.xml

Podcasts and WordPress
I have been having difficulty uploading and subscribing on iTunes, as per the instructions in last week’s class. My difficulty here lies in trying to identify the RSS feed for my podcast. My attempt to verify the feed failed, as it specified that what I was trying to verify was a website. It’s back to the drawing board (and by drawing board, I mean the class slides) for me. Hopefully I will be able to upload to iTunes shortly. My podcast is currently sitting in my iTunes podcast section, but I don’t think it’s uploaded in the traditional sense.

On Using Podomatic:

I found Podomatic relatively easy to use, however there does not seem to be an immediacy in viewing your Podcast once you’ve submitted it. I am also finding WordPress a little frustrating at not giving me the option to imbed links into my posts. In addition to this, it would be nice if there was a feature to directly link the Podcast to your WordPress account.

The main problem I’m having, however, is an issue with the finished product. Listening back to my podcast on Podomatic, I noticed that it cut off a tiny section at the very end, which made it sound like I had accidentally deleted that section myself when editing the podcast in Audacity. Listening back over the saved files in Audacity, however, showed that the recording is perfectly edited. I uploaded a second podcast, and the same fault remains. I’ve tried searching through Podomatic for help on this area, but the search function simply brings up other podcasts. I have a feeling it’s something to do with the length of the podcast one is allowed on a free account, but I can’t find any further information on this. I will have to try a more in-depth search.

Why Podcasting?

It is easy to see why podcasting is so popular, and is already a fixture in the world of digital media. Most people in Ireland and other ‘developed’ countries have access to devices which allow playback of podcasts. A good podcast means people actively seek out a blog or other form of media in order to access their content. Good examples of media outlets which produce excellent podcasts include the Guardian and the Irish Times.

What’s surprising is the degree to which many companies don’t fully utilise the benefits of the service. A good example of this would be. Although fully versed in the world of new media (they are particularly strong in promoting the library through Twitter and Facebook) they have yet to fully exploit the benefits of podcasting, despite having a wealth of interesting speakers, topics and exhibitions to promote. A different kind of problem with podcasts can be found in sites such asand. Some of Newstalk’s podcasts are excellent and of a high quality. One of these would be Patrick Geoghegan’s Talking History podcast. Despite this, there are issues even with such a high quality example. This podcast only features the ‘main’ topic discussed, and so misses out on the second half of the show. This may be due to a time-limit available to Newstalk, however. Another issue which should surely be looked at is how most companies do not use advertisements in their podcasts. While this makes the experience far more enjoyable to the listener, surely the producing company could charge premium advertising space for audio which a listener has actively sought? A general problem with Newstalk would be the differences in standards when comparing one podcast to another. While the Talking History podcast is, as said previously, to a very high technical standard, the Future Proof podcast, while a very interesting programme, has a noticeably lower technical standard in terms of sound reproducing on their podcasts.

It might seem that the only way in which to access high quality podcasts is through large commercial media outlets. This is not necessarily the case. The is a very interesting podcast, seemingly initiated by a non-commercial body. Although professional in content, however, there are slight issues with the sound level and the regularity of the publishing of the content.

Overall, however, the amount of time, space and dedication given by many of the most respected media outlets shows the importance of podcasting in the current digital media world.

My Introduction to WordPress

This is a blog to chart my progress at familiarising myself with aspects of DigiMedia. Setting up the blog was easier than I expected, although access to slides might have helped there.

Is Posting An Image Difficult?

Not really! This is the view from an apartment I used to live in, looking west over the Liberties.

How About Linking To A Video?
Again, this is fairly straight forward. I must admit, I wasn’t quite ‘new’ to this type of (basic) linking from an early, ill-advised livejournal account. Here’s a very interesting time lapse video showing the Northern Lights in Iceland. Click on the link, go for the widescreen option and relax.

Can we embed videos as well?

This is a very strange video from Casiotone For The Painfully Alone. It is interesting that it is posted twice on Youtube, one with nearly half a million ‘hits’ while the one I’ve linked to has only 6,000. I initially linked to the video with less hits as I thought that there wasn’t an advertisement, but subsequent viewings have shown that both carry advertisements.

My Initial Thoughts On WordPress

I like it. The site is very straight-forward, and very easy to navigate. The range of options for the look of your wordpress site (even the ‘free’ options) are numerous and cover a whole range of styles. The toolbars to edit your posts may seem overbearing at first glance, but their placing at the left (and right) of the screen means you can forget about them for the time being (while always keeping themselves in your peripheral vision, so that you don’t forget to clean up afterwards). The autosave function is a blessing while the little extras to personalise the whole thing (for example, the ‘gravatar’) make the whole experience pleasant.

Some minor dislikes would include some resistance from the site to painless linking occasionally. Sometimes it does not prompt you to enter a ‘title’ for your url link, which means you are left with an empty space instead of a link. Keeping an eye on this, however, will prevent it from occuring again.