Hi. I’m Rob.

Podcasts and Podcasting became big buzzwords in 2005, and you still might be wondering what they’re all about.  Like blogs, podcasts are a very simple concept with a fancy name.  The simplest way to think of them is as online radio shows.

Oh cool…just like the 1930’s, right?  Well, the real magic of podcasting is in the variety of topics covered.  Since they’re not constrained by the scarcity of space on the radio dial, people have created podcasts on just about any topic that interests you.  I listen to some podcasts on video editing, advertising, and technology.  You might find one that teaches you Chinese, or kibbitzes on your favorite sports team.

Podcasts are typically free, and run the gamut from amateur dreck produced in some kid’s bedroom to audio from commercial TV and radio (for example, you can download the complete audio of NBC’s Meet The Press as a podcast.  NPR podcasts all of its shows as well).

The name podcast implies that you need an iPod to listen to them.  While you can listen to them on an iPod, that’s not the only way to enjoy them.  A recent study found that 80% of podcast listeners listen on their computers.  Think of it as a talk radio show dedicated to just the stuff that matters to you.

I download my podcasts and burn them to a CD to listen to in my car.  The downside of this approach is that I go through alot of CDs, but hey, blank CDs are cheap.

Another neat thing about podcasts is that you can subscribe to podcasts, so you’re notified when new episodes are posted.  More on how to do that in a future posting.  Stay tuned, sportsfans!

So, what did we learn today? Podcasts are free audio programs you can download from the web.  They cover a variety of topics and can be listened to on your computer, an iPod, or burned to a CD.

Originally written on 4/7/06.  Revised on 8/15/07 for my buddy Esther.

A friend of mine recently asked me for some tips on buying a laptop.  He’s not particularly a power user, a gamer, or someone who would otherwise need a ton of computing horsepower.  He just wanted a basic machine to do some work, some email, and some web surfing.  Probably like 95% of the rest of the computer-using public.

I’m a big believer in the notion that we shouldn’t overbuy our computers.  It’s a fallacy to buy something super-high end and think you’ll “grow into it.”  That said, there are some features worth a little extra and some that are not.  Don’t let some computer store sales guy look down his nose and tell you otherwise.

So, here’s the list I gave my friend of things to keep in mind while shopping for a laptop:

• Weight (less than 5 pounds)
• Memory—1GB is good.  2GB is better
• Make sure it has an internal DVD burner.  Some manufacturers shave off weight by making them external, which is a pain.
• Windows Vista Premium, not Basic
• Screen Size – it’s personal preference…some people like the small size of a 12 inch screen, others prefer a 14 or 15.  17 inchers are ginormous and a real pain to lug around.
• Don’t worry about processor speed.  Anything made today will be plenty fast enough.
  It is important, however, to get a laptop with a CPU that’s designed for laptops (they consume less power and generate less heat).  Look for something with the Intel Core 2 Duo Processor.  Bargain basement laptops use chips designed for desktop machines.  Those chips consume more power (and thus reduce battery life), run hotter, and make for heavier laptops.
• Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook) is pretty much a must-have too.  Microsoft offers a Home and Student Edition of Office that is functionally the same as its more expensive boxed versions.  Many laptops come with a trial version of Office that works for 30 days.  You’re going to need it for longer than that.
• Because it’s a laptop, it’s good to get an extended warranty.  They’re pricey, but worth it for the piece of mind.  Laptops do have alot of moving parts, get jostled around alot, and are very expensive to fix.  Best Buy’s warranties are particularly good.
• It’s good to get a nice mouse and carrying case.  They make some cool small mice that are designed for laptop users.
• You’ll have people trying to convince you to buy a Mac.  Ignore those people like they were handing out pamphlets on the Vegas Strip.
• I don’t think there are any other brands I’d recommend against.  The Sony’s though, are particularly well designed.  I just bought one myself.
• Having just been in the market for a laptop, I learned that there are wild fluctuations in the price of any given model.  Some of the major brands will be full retail priced one week, then discounted by $250 the next.  Watch the Sunday circulars for sales at Best Buy, Circuit City, etc.  Costco is also a good place to buy a laptop, though their selection is often limited.
• It’s ok to buy mail order, but I personally liked the ability to look at the laptop screen, keyboard, etc.  I also like the ability to walk ino a store for service vs. mailing it back somewhere.  Some good places to buy online are Dell, Amazon, PC Mall, PC Connection, and Newegg.

I’m sure this post will look decidedly quaint in a few years, but for August, 2007, that’s my answer and I’m sticking to it.

In the last post, I discussed the benefit of using an RSS Reader, and recommended BlogLines as the best among the many free alternatives.  In this post, I’ll show you how to set up a BlogLines account in greater detail

1. Go to www.bloglines.com.  You’ll see a page that looks like this:

   
   (note: clicking on any picture in this post will bring up a new window that shows a full-size version of it)

2. Click the yellow “subscribe” button.  You’ll be asked for your email address and a password of your choice.  An email will be mailed to you, asking you to confirm your request to sign up.  This small inconvenience prevents people from signing you up without your permission.
3. Once you click the link in the confirmation email, you’ll be brought to a page that allows you to quickly sign up for some of the most popular RSS feeds.  It looks like this:

   The left side box contains a categorized list of popular feeds.  Clicking on the “+” sign expands each category.  The right side box contains the most popular feeds used by BlogLines subscribers.  Select a few from either box that tickle your fancy, then click “Subscribe to my Selections.”

4. And just like that, you are an RSS Reader!  You’ll be presented with the standard view of your subscriptions.  They’ll look something like this:
5. Your list of feeds runs down the left side of the page.  Feeds in bold indicate that there are new items to read.  The number in parentheses indicates the number of unread articles for that feed.  Once you click on a feed, it marks your items as read, and displays them in the right-side section of the page.
6. While the handful of feeds you chose when setting up BlogLines will get you started, the real magic is in finding the obscure RSS feeds that are most interesting to you.  BlogLines gives you the ability to subscribe to the RSS Feeds of sites via a bookmark “or “favorite.”  On the bottom-left of your BlogLines page, you’ll see a link that says “Easy Subscribe Bookmarklet.”  Click that, and on the right, you’ll see instructions on how to add that to your list of Internet Favorites.
7. Here’s an example of how that bookmark can be used.  Let’s say you’re totally into crochet, and you discover this site:

   To subscribe to that site’s RSS feed, choose “Sub With BlogLines” from your “Favorites” menu.

8. You’ll be presented with a screen that looks like this:

   I know…it’s quite busy, but don’t let it overwhelm you.  For reasons far too arcane for this blog, you actually have several choices as to which RSS Feed you subscribe.  Don’t worry about that.  In most cases, the first one listed will do just fine, thank you.  Click the checkbox that says “Subscribe to This Feed.”  Also, note the options below the feeds, one of which allows you to keep your blogs organized into folders.  Finally, click “subscribe.”

   Follow this step and the one before it every time you want to subscribe to a new feed.

9. We’re almost done!  One last thing you might want to do is bookmark your BlogLines page (www.bloglines.com/myfeeds).  That way, you can always come back to bloglines and see what’s new.  Also note that no matter what computer you go to, your BlogLines subscriptions will follow.
10. For extra credit…download the “BlogLines notifier” from the bottom left section of your page.  This will let you know when your feeds have been updated.

So, what did we learn today? That Rob has no future as a technical writer?  Well, yeah, that and we also learned how to set up a BlogLines account to monitor RSS Feeds.  Enjoy!

As a follow up to my previous post on “what is a blog?”

Suppose you have 10…20…50 blogs you follow.  Rather than going to all of these websites every day to check and see if there’s anything new, you can use an RSS Reader.  RSS Readers allow you to subscribe to your favorite RSS feeds, then get notifications when there are new stories.

There are a number of RSS readers out there.  Some are completely based inside the web browser, others are standalone programs, and some even integrate with Outlook.  Live.com and MyYahoo allow you to add RSS feeds to your home page, but these are not dedicated readers.

For my RSS reading, I use a web-based product called BlogLines.  BlogLines is owned by Barry Diller’s IAC (Which also owns Expedia, Match.com, TicketMaster, Ask.com, and HSN).  It’s a free, web-based reader that allows you to view your feeds from any computer.

When you sign up for a BlogLines account, you have the option of adding a “bookmark-let” that allows you to subscribe to the RSS feed of a site you are on.  They also have a notifier service that lets you know when your feeds have been updated.

Of course, it’s quite possible that you’d prefer not to mess with all this RSS Reader mishegas.  You could do it the old-fashioned way–email.  A service called FeedBlitz allows you to subscribe to an RSS Feed by email.  In other words, every time a blog is updated, you get an email with the new post.  You can subscribe to this blog’s postings that way by entering your email address near the “get email updates” button on the right side of this page.

However, once you start following several blogs, I think you’ll find that setting up an RSS Reader is well worth the effort.

So, What Did We Learn Today? RSS Readers provide an efficient way to follow many blogs.  Rob recommends BlogLines as a great way to get started.