The Blank Canvas Podcasts
podcasting home | configuring iPodder | class home | web applications   Bill Booz - whbooz@infotor.com
   
  Subscribing to Bill's Blank Canvas Podcasts
     
 

First, you do not need an Apple iPod to listen to Podcasts! The files available through the podcasts are MP3 files and you can simply download them and listen to them on your computer with your favorite media player. Here are the direct links to the individual podcasts:
     
   
     
 

As noted elesewhere, you could simply come to this page each week and download the MP3 file corresponding to the week's lesson, but let's assume that you would rather schedule the automatic downloading of the six episodes in which I comment on the assignments I have completed for our Blank Canvas course. What do you need to do? Assuming you have already configured your iPodder installation, you need only subscribe to my Blank Canvas Podcasts. Here is how you do that:
     
  1. From the main screen ("Subscriptions" tab selected), click on the green and white icon with the "+" sign - the "Add new feed" tool tip will appear:
   
     
  2. The "Add a feed" window will appear and the "Title" and "URL" fields will be empty. You need to enter the URL to the XML file that controls the feed to which you are subscribing.
   
    You can copy the URL that appears in the image above from the next step.
     
  3.

Select and then copy the URL below. This is the address to the XML file that your RSS reader needs to subscribe to this series:

  http://www.infotor.com/podcasts/blankcanvas2_rss.xml
     
    Usually you will visit a web site describing its RSS or Podcast feed but it won't display the URL to the feed as I have above. Instead, they will display the "RSS FEED" icon (see below) and expect you to click on it, then copy the URL of the XML page that appears.
 
     
  4. Once you have the URL in the URL field, click on the "Save" button.
     
  5. The main screen will display again and the "InfoTor Podcasts" name should now appear in your list of subscribed feeds. iPodder has gone out to the URL you gave it and retrieved that name of the Podcast to which you have subscribed. If you click on that name, iPodder will then retrieve the names of the "episodes" in the series. The first epsisode available on the Podcast web site will be checked, indicating that is is ready to be downloaded (or iPodder may just go ahead and download it for you).
   
To download additional episodes listed for your new subscription, such as the "Blank Canvas - Lesson 1 Comments" episode above, click in the check box and then click on the "Check selected feed" icon (see image in step 6).
     
  6. If you choose not to schedule feed updates or if you just want to check a feed's new material prior to a scheduled update, select the feed on which you want to check and then click on the "Check selected feed" icon (see image below):
   
     
  7. So, now you have your episodes, but how do you listen to them? Locate the episode you want to listen to that has already been downloaded (look in the "State" column). Click directly on the green/white "Play" button to the left of the episode title.
   
     
  8. When you click on that "Play" button, iPodder launches your chosen media player and plays the episode:
   
The image above is from iTunes - notice that the third "song" has a speaker to the left of it....it is playing!
     
   
This image is from Windows Media Player displaying the playing of the same piece.
     
    You are on your way to being an active Podcast junkie!! Congratulations!! Here are the links to my Blank Canvas lessons:
    class home | week 1 | week 2 | week 3 | week 4 | week 5 | week 6
     
   
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All Podcasts ©2005 William H. Booz
whbooz@infotor.com