In a talk at South By Southwest, held March 9-18 in Austin, Texas, filmmaker Kevin Smith (Clerks) said that podcasting saved his career.
“I had no idea, but that would become the fucking center of everything I’m doing now,” said Smith. “The ultimate freedom that allowed me to walk away from the ‘heroin’ [money] of the movie business – what gave me the strength to walk away – was podcasting.”
Podfather Adam Curry is trying out Perversion for Profit, a new video podcast.The rough video demo is ‚Äúthe first test episode of my new video show” according to Curry.
Curry first came to fame as an early MTV VJ, and is considered to be one of the fathers of audio podcasting, and is one of the founders of PodShow, a podcasting startup company.
The demo video is surprisingly low-budget, considering PodShow’s millions in venture capital investment.”The software I‚Äôm using is a demo version,” notes Curry, “and I‚Äôm waiting for the CD‚Äôs to arrive, but the result is one of the formats I‚Äôve been tinkering with. This episode is titled: Hampton Court Palace.‚Äù
We’re not sure if this is a sign of a trend or just the latest gag-gift, but The Sexy Society, an online lingerie store, has introduced iGroove Panties, iPod-compatible underwear for women.The iGroove Panty for iPod nano is made of black lace with a white ribbon trim and a pink bow.
AnchorFree, an online guide to free WiFi hotspots, has introduced wiPod, an iPod guide to free hotspots. wiPod uses the notes feature of iPods to let you store a database of locations.
Select an area you’ll be visiting, and you can download a guide to hotspots for that area.
wiPod is a free download, but you need to register at the AnchorFree site to access it.
AnchorFree also plans to release a Mac version of Hotspot Shield, software that encrypts and protects Internet traffic on your computer while you’re using free Wi-Fi.
HBO has released one of its original documentary films, the cautionary Too Hot To Handle, in its entirety as a free podcast. The documentary, which offers a guide to the effects of global warming in the United States, is available as a four-part download.
Too Hot To Handle features contributions from leading scientists in the field, including in-depth discussions of such subjects as the greenhouse effect, hurricanes, snowpack, hybrid vehicles and alternative power sources – showing how businesses, local governments and citizens are taking positive actions to reduce global warming emissions.
GoDaddy, a popular domain registrar and web hosting service, has introduced a new service for podcasters, GoDaddy.com Quick Podcast. The service is designed to let users easily publish and manage their shows.”As North America’s largest hosting provider, Go Daddy is in a strong position to support the podcasting community. I’m a podcaster myself with my show, ‘Life Online,'” said Bob Parsons, CEO and founder of The Go Daddy Group, Inc. “The tools in Quick Podcast are ideal for small to medium-sized businesses, as well as individuals looking to get into the podcasting game.”
GoDaddy.com’s Quick Podcast, starting at $4.99 per month, helps users host and publish their podcast, using a Go Daddy developed platform. After uploading the media file for the program, the system generates and publishes the RSS feed.
The Lincolnshire (UK) city council is offering robo-podcasts, podcasts that are automatically generated using text-to-speech software. The city’s offerings include a news podcast and a jobs podcast.A recent podcast about Authentic Flamenco From Andalusia (MP3) demonstrates both the capabilities and limitations of using text-to-speech software to create podcasts. The technology lets organizations podcast automatically and inexpensively, but the results pale in comparison to a well-produced podcast.
Deputy council leader Peter Robinson said, “This is a significant step forward for our council. I hope this new technology will add another useful communication channel with the people of Lincolnshire.”The council hopes its podcasting service will allow it to take advantage of developments announced by mobile phone manufacturers that will allow the next generation of mobiles to receive podcasts directly.
Pocket Podcasts, an open source podcast client for Windows Mobile devices, has been updated. The beta 2 version adds support for RSS viewing, podcast downloading over WiFi and video support, when combined with TCPMP.
“Now you can turn a Pocket PC into a wireless-enabled “Video iPod” with excellent podcast support,” notes Wes Henderson at the Pocket Podcasting blog. “Despite owning an iPod, I rarely use it anymore. I originally had doubts when I bought my Pocket PC. Now that I think of it as a WiFi iPod that can do Skype, web, games, etc., it’s quickly turned out to be a worthwhile purchase.”
Pocket Podcasts is described as “a complete podcast client for Windows Mobile devices”. Pocket Podcasts lets you search, subscribe, and play back podcasts, all from your Pocket PC or Smartphone.
“Ara Derderian and Braden Russell are the producers of HDTV Podcast,” writes Barnako. “They should be making money with it. They’re not.”
Barnako suggests that “The lesson may be that the independent podcaster will have to be satisfied with psychic income. The ‘medium’, so perfect for small guys to build a business, is already getting away from them.”
Barnako makes clear that, if you have a successful podcast and you’re not making money from it, you’re probably leaving money on the table.
Tourism Ireland and Aer Lingus has announced that it plans to send three winners to Ireland to podcast.”Tell us why you would like to travel to Ireland and learn to be a good podcaster for Tourism Ireland‚Äôs Your Very Own Ireland contest and you could be one of three winners of a one-week tour to the Island of Ireland for two this fall ‚Äì including round-trip airfare, accommodations, ground transportation, a sleek MP3 player and logistical support in Ireland to produce your own podcast.”
No podcasting experience is necessary. According to the Tourism Ireland, “All that is required is enthusiasm!”
Podfather Adam Curry is trying out Perversion for Profit, a new video podcast.The rough video demo is ‚Äúthe first test episode of my new video show” according to Curry.
We’re not sure if this is a sign of a trend or just the latest gag-gift, but The Sexy Society, an online lingerie store, has introduced iGroove Panties, iPod-compatible underwear for women.The iGroove Panty for iPod nano is made of black lace with a white ribbon trim and a pink bow.
AnchorFree, an online guide to free WiFi hotspots, has introduced wiPod, an iPod guide to free hotspots. wiPod uses the notes feature of iPods to let you store a database of locations.
GoDaddy, a popular domain registrar and web hosting service, has introduced a new service for podcasters, GoDaddy.com Quick Podcast. The service is designed to let users easily publish and manage their shows.”As North America’s largest hosting provider, Go Daddy is in a strong position to support the podcasting community. I’m a podcaster myself with my show, ‘Life Online,'” said Bob Parsons, CEO and founder of The Go Daddy Group, Inc. “The tools in Quick Podcast are ideal for small to medium-sized businesses, as well as individuals looking to get into the podcasting game.”
Tourism Ireland and Aer Lingus has announced that it plans to send three winners to Ireland to podcast.”Tell us why you would like to travel to Ireland and learn to be a good podcaster for Tourism Ireland‚Äôs Your Very Own Ireland contest and you could be one of three winners of a one-week tour to the Island of Ireland for two this fall ‚Äì including round-trip airfare, accommodations, ground transportation, a sleek MP3 player and logistical support in Ireland to produce your own podcast.”