A long, long time ago in a place not so far away the Google overlords decided that it wasn’t enough that the BlogSpot faithful could upload text and images to their blogs. Something needed to be done to make their Blogger baby distinct from the masses.
So after much thought they unleashed their geek powers and created AudioBlogger, which allowed BlogSpot disciples to post audio clips from their phones upon their blogs for the low price of free.
Unfortunately the service became “too popular” and thus the Google overlords struck down AudioBlogger to the horror of podcasters everywhere.
Now it seems as if WordPress is helping making audio blogging popular again by introducing the service to their users for free. read more
RadioWaves, the British podcasting site aimed at school kids, has had a makeover and new features making it easier for children to share their thoughts with others in a safe, moderated environment.
The new “friends function” brings an element of social networking to the site, allowing students to connect and send secure messages to one another, bookmark other pages and access a news feed so they know when friends pages are updated. Not new features for anyone used to blogging and other social networks by any stretch of the imagination, but good to have them added to this more secure, niche educational site. read more
Unpublished author (magician and comedian) John Lenahan faced the scenario typical for many unknown writers: rejections from publishers and no-one to sell his book.
Yet when he started to record instalments from his “Shadowmagic” book on the podcasting service PodioBooks.com, he built up a loyal following of some 20,000 listeners and was soon beating back excited publishers with a big stick.
He had bought some good quality recording equipment and practised before committing his voice to the online service (“I wanted it to be good from the start and not starting to sound good by chapter six,” he said). read more
BlogTalkRadio is you chance to host your very own radio show, participate in, or just listen to one. The service’s been around for some time, and has attracted quite a few celebrities, both online and the more traditional kind. With that in mind, I got in touch with Community Manager Deborah Ng to hear what she had to say about BlogTalkRadio, podcasting, and other things. The interview was a treat to good to pass up. read more
The British government is embracing the world of online communication and wants to ensure that children get a head start in the world of blogging, microblogging and podcasting, amongst other things.
Traditional skills such as mental arithmetic, spelling and handwriting will still be taught, but children will also learn how to type and use spell checkers. read more
On Monday, popular online radio network BlogTalkRadio announced a set of several new user interface features that encourage social networking and show participation.
The network has a What’s New page explaining the recent changes in detail.
Mashable says that “the focus is clearly to get visitors listening to more shows.” I agree. Without listeners, BTR dies on the vine.
A secondary pair of focal points to the changes at BlogTalkRadio appears to be to get BTR show hosts to talk to each more and to get more people to discover BTR via social networking websites like Twitter, MySpace and Facebook. read more
Hawaii Geek Week continues in Honolulu, Hawaii. Yesterday’s Web Weavers Workshop with Lorelle in Hawaii was a tremendous success. A couple dozen people learned how to blog beginning with what a blog is and ending with how blogging is already changing their lives by giving people a platform upon which to speak and share and learn.
Web Weavers Workshop for bloggers by Lorelle VanFossen
The participants ranged from total newbies trying to understand what this “blogging thing” is all about, to business owners and professionals familiar with website technology and development and eager to take it a few steps further into blogging and social media.
Each participant made a plan for their blog, signed up for a free WordPress.com blog, and started filling in the blanks and choosing a WordPress Theme.
Many arrived with the preconceived notion that blogging is hard and complicated, and left realizing that blogging is easy. It’s finding your passion to share with the world that is really the hardest part of the puzzle. A few had set ideas on what they wanted to blog about when they arrived, but through the step-by-step process of drilling down their idea into an actionable plan for their blogs, they realized that they didn’t have the content, nor the commitment, to blog their idea over the long term. A few changed paths midstream and left the day-long workshop inspired and ready to embrace their blog in a new direction.
Lately, video and podcasting blogs are making a huge inroad in popularity. A common question I’m asked at workshops and speaker gigs is how long a podcast or blog video should be.
I thought I knew the answer: thirty minutes. That is what works for me. An hour long program means that I typically have to pay attention to it in two sections since I rarely have that much free time in one chunk. But that’s not the answer I got from those I talked to.
Most people have told me that they enjoy 45 to 60 minute shows on their favorite blogs with multimedia. They listen to them while driving, running, jogging, exercising, and working, and a few even while relaxing instead of spending time with television.
But what about you? How long is long enough for you for a podcast or blog video? Are you willing to listen to a podcast longer than watch a video? Or the reverse?
If you are a podcaster or video blogger, have you found some trends in time lengths that work best for you and your blog?
PodPress is probably the most used podcasting plugin for WordPress, and the one we’ve been using here at The Blog Herald. However, there have been issues with it since WordPress 2.5, and it doesn’t work with recently released 2.6. Among others that are frustrated are David Peralty, who’s written about the issue.
Like most bloggers, I use a variety of tools and applications to get things done.
But while many of the tools that I use have me enthralled and singing their praises, others leave me frustrated and seeking a better solution, only to be dismayed that none seem to be available.
The problem is that, as with most things in life, the best solution is not always the most popular one (Ex： VHS beat Beta). Sometimes we get brilliant answers to difficult problems and other times we’re left with something a bit more frustrating.
In honor of that, I’ve decided to highlight some of the tools that I use daily and love, as well as some of the ones that I’m hoping to find replacements for.
On Monday, popular online radio network 
Lately, video and podcasting blogs are making a huge inroad in popularity. A common question I’m asked at workshops and speaker gigs is how long a podcast or blog video should be.
