Leo Laporte of This Week in Tech best defines podcast

Netcasting (also known as “podcasting”) is a great new way of distributing audio automatically. When a site (like this) offers a netcast feed you can subscribe to the feed using netcasting software and any new items will be automatically downloaded to your computer. If you have a portable audio player, the files can also be copied to the player. However, and this is a common area of confusion, no iPod or other MP3 player is required (that’s one of the reasons we prefer the term “netcast” to “podcast”). You can listen to the audio on your computer just as you would any MP3. In fact, with our feeds you don’t even need special software. Just click the feed link and download the show you want directly, or use the player built into every page. If you decide you want to listen to a show every time it comes out, you might consider using a netcasting or podcasting client. Think of it as Tivo for Internet audio. You subscribe to content you want by visiting the web site and getting the netcast URL. Your netcast software automatically downloads any new shows and copies them to your MP3 player. There’s always something new and interesting to listen to and you never have to check the web to see when a new show is available. By far the easiest way to subscribe to netcasts is to install the free iTunes program for Windows or Macintosh.

Bike Across Wisconsin is a 6 day, 360 mile organized bike trip, rolling through the wonder Wisconsin country side. Jeredb will be podcasting the historic light houses, picturesque marinas, spectacular views of Green Bay and Lake Michigan. Photos of the quaint shops and other unique attractions in northern Door county will follow soon.

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Huh? So what’s this page about?So here is how it’s going to work. I’m on vacation for two weeks. The first week, I’m not riding my bike, and ya can’t make me.It’s the second week you will be listening to. It’s this Bike Across Wisconsin thing. 360 miles (not all at once) over 6 days and no, it’s technically not “across Wisconsin.”Oh, okay. So what are you doing again?I’m going to podcast the whole ride. How I’m feeling being on the bike for 6 days, all the attractions I see, everything. For those of you who are still scratching your head, a podcast as defined by Wikipedia: Podcasting is the method of distributing audio programs or music videos, over the Internet using syndication, for playback on mobile devices and personal computers.Right! So you’re taking a recording studio? No.I’m going unwired the whole trip, no ipod, no computer, no pda. The only technology I’ll have is my cellphone. Wait. You’re wondering how I’m going to do this podcast thing. The cellphone is the key. Through the magic of technology, I will be able to call a secret hotline and after talking to a computer, my voice will magically appear on the internet.I’ll call in from rest stop, on the road and every night to tell you all about the events of the day. I’m going to interview my family and people we are riding with and hopefully give you an idea of what this crazy bike ride is like. I’m not going to be wired at all. No computer, no studio setting, it’s all over the cellphone. We call that the modern marvels of technology.Some of you have RSS readers (if you don’t know, don’t ask) and you can subscribe with this link. But for the rest you, don’t worry. You don’t need an ipod or some fancy technology. All you have to do is click the badge below (the black and pink one) and that will take you to the page where my podcasts will be. Look for the ever familiar play button. Best of all, it’s free.Got it!

So please come and listen to my experience at Bike Across Wisconsin. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them in the comments section below. No guarantee I will get to read them while I’m on the road, but I will try.

Update

Esther and I have posted a few podcasts from the Lake of the Ozarks, but they never appeared. We are swithcing to a back up system, Gcast, which should work just as well. It’s going to be hard to tell you that we are having problems… You’ll just have to wait until we get back.

Check out the updated (and backup) podcast at http://www.gcast.com/u/jeredb/main.

Make sure to click on the “posts” button in the player to hear all the audio.

About the ‘cast Jeredb is a design monster, a multimedia man for the ages. How better to connect with everyone that through the spoken word (or atleast a grunt). Usually the audiocast will feature Esther, Jered’s co-pilot/co-host for life. They’ll talk about what they have been up to (like hanging out, chill’in and cool stuff), or not up to (like flying to Europe or defeating Godzilla). Hopfully, through the wonders of technology there will be other guests as well as the possibility of some mobile podcasts, but we will see about that. Not sure what a netcast / podcast is? Check out this great definition. To Subscribe Jeredb.com offers a variety of types of content: video, audio or both. The combined audio/video goodness is what Jeredb is calling his netcast. To subscribe to the Jeredb.com netcast, you’ll need some podcatching software. Don’t worry, you don’t need an ipod! Any computer or MP3 player will work just fine. The most common way to subscribe will be in iTunes (download). To download the combined feed (both audio and video) add this link to your podcatcher or iTunes software: http://feeds.feedburner.com/JeredbcomNetcasts. If you want just the audio (because of Jeredb’s great Barry White bass voice) you’ll want to add this your podcatcher or iTunes software: http://feeds.feedburner.com/JeredbcomAudiocasts . If you love the video (and who doesn’t?), add this link to your podcatcher or iTunes software: http://feeds.feedburner.com/JeredbcomVideocasts .

Jeredb podcasts (or netcasts, or audiocasts, or videocasts) are a multimedia way for Jeredb to reach his readers (or viewers … ?). You don’t have to have an iPod to listen or watch them. You really just need a computer (and an internet connection). It helps to have some podcatching software like iTunes or another variety. To download all of the Jeredb netcast goodness, copy http://feeds.feedburner.com/JeredbcomNetcasts into your podcatcher. To download audio only Jeredb audiocast, add http://feeds.feedburner.com/JeredbcomAudiocasts to your podcasting list. To download the amazing Jeredb videocast, copy http://feeds.feedburner.com/JeredbcomVideocasts and put it into your podcatcher or iTunes.

The technical acronym for RSS is “Really Simple Syndication”, an XML format that was created to syndicate news, and be a means to share content on the web. Now, to geeks and techies that means something special, but to everyday folks like you and me, what comes to mind is, “Uh, I don’t get it?”

So, to make RSS much easier to understand, in Oprah speak, RSS stands for: I’m “Ready for Some Stories”. It is a way online for you to get a quick list of the latest story headlines from all your favorite websites and blogs all in one place.

Suppose you have 50 sites and blogs that you like to visit regularly. Going to visit each website and blog everyday could take you hours. With RSS, you can “subscribe” to a website or blog, and get “fed” all the new headlines from all of these 50 sites and blogs in one list, and see what’s going on in minutes instead of hours. What a time saver!

That one place where your RSS list is created is called an RSS Reader, and it gathers all the headlines from all the websites and blogs you have subscribed to.

From: Back in Skinny Jeans : How to explain RSS the Oprah way

Feed Options

Most of the services listed below require you to sign up in advance. Check them out, and subscribe.

	Standard RSS
	Google Reader
	iFeedReeder
	My Yahoo!
	Bloglines
	Newsgator
	My MSN
	My AOL
	Rojo
	Technorati Faves
	Netvibes
	Windows Live

First time here?

Then howdy and welcome.

• This is page is a pretty good place to start. It will give you a little background about Jeredb.com and it’s author, Jered Benoit.
• Now that you are familiar with the site and it’s author, you might want to check out the archives or select a category from the sidebar.
• You can also “subscribe” to the blog through RSS (Really Simple Syndication) through the “subscribe” panel on the sidebar. Read about the how to subscribe or what RSS is check out the subscription page.
• If you have a desire to contact Jered, fill out a simple form and hit submit.

About Jeredb

Jered designs, creates, explores and drinks coffee in Hampton Roads, VA. He is currently a graphic designer and “head coffee-brew master” at a local liberal arts university, as well as a freelance graphic and web designer and blogging consultant.

Jered is a design animal. when not eating, sleeping, or breathing design and new ideas, he is available to help with your “creative person trapped in a non-creative body”. Heck, if you’re a creative and you want to colaborate, Jered is your man too.

While Jered knows a few corny jokes, he can pull coins from thin air, if you really want him to. And while not having a specific “code of design” he strives for freshness. Mmmm, freshness.

Jeredb stuff and internet delights

A variety of internet communities and properties have been touched by Jeredb, most of which are here. If you find one that isn’t listed here, email Jeredb at the contact page

• Jeredb on Flickr
• Jeredb’s Bloglines
• Upcoming.org
• Jeredb’s del.icio.us links
• Jeredb’s Biking Across Wisconsin Podcast

The other night, Esther and I were perusing the ringtones available for our new phones. She found literally everything. Law and Order, Star Wars, everything… Except a normal ringer. The phone comes with two and they aren’t really good to begin with. Why is it that I have to pay 2.99 for a small part of a song that is pretty unintelligable. I don’t own it, can’t listen to the rest of it, and definately can’t burn it to CD. Ringtones are a rip-off. How did this even become a part of the telecommunications industry? Are we really that stupid? I guess so, next time you hear a guy with some gangsta rap ringtone, remember: He was stupid enough to pay 3 dollars for 15 seconds of a rap song that you can’t even understand.

Esther and I have broken down and gotten cellphones. We have been “mooching” off of my parents plan for the past two years. Just before we left for VA they got cellphones with an additional line so that I could call home if needed. When Esther started her masters, we decided that when she’s on the road back and forth she should have the cellphone, incase she ever breaks down, etcetera, etcetera. With my parents plan running out and them wanting to get a different plan, we were forced out of the nest, order our own cellphones last week. After ordering over the internet, we got the phones yesterday and after letting them charge over night, we are now cell-totting hooligans members of society.

The only thing that really bugs me is that they cripple everything on the phone to make a buck. There is a voice dial feature on the phone but there is some confusion whether it must be paid for or if that’s for the “voice dial” from Cingular… GRRR.