March 21, 2009

How to Subscribe to a Podcast

Many people are still just learning How to Subscribe to a Podcast. The previous "how to" link includes links to "iTunes" & "Juice" podcatching software, both available for free, both work on macs and PCs.

There are different ways to subscribe to podcasts:

1) If you have iTunes or similar software, an easy way for you to subscribe right now is to click on the "Subscribe to GDAE Podcast" button in the right column of this blog page. (You don't have to use iTunes... you're given the option to select other MP3 playing software).

2) Another approach mentioned in the "how to" refers to copying and pasting podcast RSS feeds. Here's mine:
http://podcast.gdaeman.com/podcasts-only/rss2.aspx

RSS stands for "really simple syndication." So, you shouldn't be too intimidated by the notion of subscribing.

3) If you use "My Yahoo," or similar pages tailored to feed you particular news, sports, entertainment, etc, you're already "subscribing" to RSS feeds. To add GDAE podcast, Click on "Add RSS Feed" in your "My Yahoo" page and paste in the RSS feed URL I've provided above. Links to new episodes will appear in "My Yahoo" and you can then listen to them right from your "My Yahoo" page. Similar social networking pages that allow you to taylor your content most likely also allow you to subscribe to podcasts.

To give you some comfort, you can maintain total control of what is downloaded to your computer. That is, the "how to" instructions that say the podcasts are "automatically downloaded to your computer;" however, you have the option of NOT having the podcatcher automatically download podcasts... I've got mine set so I'm in control... I click "refresh" to download the newest episodes of my favorite podcasts .... It's not a big deal... you can always delete podcasts you no longer want on your computer and you and unsubscribe too.*

If you're curious, experiment. You can always delet your subscriptions.

* Note: If you use dial-up modem, downloading podcasts might take a while... perhaps too long, unless you're comfortable letting it chug away for an hour or two.

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