Richard Farrar's Blog

Podcasts, by their very nature, are designed to be listened to on portable media players such as the ubiquitous iPod. However, podcasts are merely computer audio files that can be played back on a variety of media devices, be they portable or not, which opens up a host of possible listening opportunities.

A podcast at its simplest level is nothing special. In essence a podcast is a simple computer audio file (usually in an MP3 format), that can be played back on a range of equipment from desktop PCs to mobile phones and MP3 players.

The vast array of modern devices that now support the playback of MP3 files, and consequently podcasts, is bewildering. This in part has been instrumental in the success of podcasts, because they can be listened to practically anywhere, making them an extremely accessible media format.

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Photo by tanakawho

It’s no longer the season to be jolly, but the season to turn over a new leaf, or so custom has it. Whether it be loosing weight, giving up smoking or keeping your bedroom tidy; most people will have a New Year’s resolution or two (at least for the first few weeks).

You can tell it’s the New Year, not by looking at the calendar, or even by the weather outside, but by the television. Not, because we’re constantly being reminded by television programmes of the New Year, but rather more subtly (or not as the case may be) by the type of advertisements that we’re being bombarded with at this time of year.

The television advertisers are capitalising on the fact that we all tend to make some (hopefully) life changing promises to ourselves, that we will invariably fail dismally at, but with a little additional help, and perhaps a little hard earned cash, they purport to be able to help us with.

The obvious examples being nicotine patches (and other products) for those giving up (or attempting to) cigarettes and the plethora of diet programmes after the festive gorging season.

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The Internet Monthly is a monthly podcast featuring 20 or so short Internet related articles, tips and tricks and a regular search engine of the month feature.

In this, the first issue of the New Year, the 40th birthday of the mouse is celebrated and we contemplate the middle age of the Internet as it grows by one zettabyte a year.

There’s news of a new Internet domain that aims to become the online equivalent of the phone book, a free alternative to satellite that lets you watch TV channels via your PC browser, a follow-up to Google Answers that pays you to reply to questions, and a valuation tool that estimates how much you could get by selling your web site.

This podcast is derived from a monthly newsletter published by Zen Internet and recorded and produced by Silicon Bay. The podcast is reproduced by kind permission of Zen Internet.

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