What is Podcasting? What is Webcast? What is RSS Feed?

What is Podcast?
What is Podcasting?

A podcast is a series of digital media files, usually digital audio or video, that is made available for download via Web syndication. The syndication aspect of the delivery is what differentiates podcast from other files accessible by direct download or streaming: it means that special software applications, generically known as pod catchers (such as Apple Inc.’s iTunes or Nullsoft’s Winamp), can automatically identify and retrieve new files associated with the podcast when they are made available, and that these files can be stored locally on the user’s computer or other device for offline use. This is done by the podcatcher accessing a centrally-maintained Web feed, which lists files associated with a certain podcast.

I have created the Podcast and Live News page for the WCNY- public broadcasting station of CNY (www.wcny.org).  Several types of media were used on the Virtual TV page.  Feed from PBS with programs preview,  video streaming,  audio streaming, RSS feed reader that read feeds from NPR, PBS and other trusted source of information.

Podcasting in Plain English:

A 3 minute explanation of podcasting.

Video & Audio Podcast in iTunes:

How does iTunes and iPod treat podcast files compared to song or audio book files?
Podcast won’t show up in Party Shuffle unless you drag them into the Party Shuffle playlist, and Auto fill won’t include podcasts when copying files to an iPod. In iTunes 4.9, there were some limitations to how podcasts could be used. For example, you could not access podcasts using Music Sharing or create a Smart Playlist of podcasts. These limitations do not exist in iTunes 5 and later

On an iPod, podcasts shouldn’t appear when you select Shuffle Songs or Music Quiz.

What is an enhanced podcast?
An enhanced podcast can include chapter marks and photos. When you play an enhanced podcast in iTunes, a menu icon appears to the left of the display at the top of the iTunes window.

what is podcast and how3 podcast work

If you click this icon, a pop-up menu appears and displays the podcast’s chapter marks, artwork, and start time of each chapter.

podcast and live news

(Note: Mac OS X 10.2.x users won’t see artwork in the pop-up menu, but everything else works the same).

When you play an enhanced podcast on an iPod, your iPod displays the name of the chapter you’re listening to above the playback position in the episode. To see this, press the Select button during play to make a diamond appear in the bar. You can then scroll the wheel right to scrub forward, or left to scrub backwards.

What is Webcast?

A webcast is a media file distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology. A webcast may either be distributed live or on demand. Essentially, webcasting is “broadcasting” over the Internet.
The generally accepted use of the term webcast is the “transmission of linear audio or video content over the Internet”.
A webcast uses streaming media technology to take a single content source and distribute it to many simultaneous listeners/viewers.

Visit Wikipedia to find out more about podcast and webcast

View more presentations from VEE.

What is RSS?
RSS in Plain English Video. A short explanation of RSS and how it helps you save time reading the web.

 
RSS (an abbreviation for Really Simple Syndication) is a family of Web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format. An RSS document (which is called a “feed”, “web feed”, or “channel”) includes full or summarized text, plus metadata such as publishing dates and authorship. Web feeds benefit publishers by letting them syndicate content automatically. They benefit readers who want to subscribe to timely updates from favored websites or to aggregate feeds from many sites into one place. RSS feeds can be read using software called an “RSS reader”, “feed reader”, or “aggregator”, which can be web-based, desktop-based, or mobile-device-based. A standardized XML file format allows the information to be published once and viewed by many different programs. The user subscribes to a feed by entering the feed’s URI, often referred to informally as a “URL” (uniform resource locator), although technically the two terms are not exactly synonymous, into the reader, or by clicking an RSS icon in a browser that initiates the subscription process. The RSS reader checks the user’s subscribed feeds regularly for new work, downloads any updates that it finds, and provides a user interface to monitor and read the feeds.

Several types of media were used on the Virtual TV page. Feed from PBS with programs preview, video streaming, audio streaming, RSS feed reader that read feeds from NPR, PBS and other trusted source of information.
webcast is a media file distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology.

PBS Top Ten – PBS Social Media Gallery

What’s popular around PBS? Popular PBS Podcasts according to iTunes
Top Search Terms on PBS.org
Top PBS Programs on the Web
Most Popular PBS Web Pages

PBS Innovation Showcase - Explore PBS projects in social media.


NYS Canal System Interactive Area Map.

WCNY’s NYS Canal System Google Map connects educators, our local community, and the world at large to the “New York State’s Contemporary Canal System” educational resources. These resources include video, an educator’s guide, and the Canal map. The video highlights important locations along the Erie, Oswego, Champlain, and Cayuga-Seneca canals and is indexed into short clips for each location. The educator’s guide provides an instructional unit on the canal system, both past and present. Interactive map connects visitors to each location by providing to and from driving directions, a quick link to video associated with that location, and the physical address.

Created by Nikolay Gul for WCNY’s "New York State’s Contemporary Canal System Educator’s Guide."
Functions: Navigate Erie Canal, Oswego canal, Champlain canal, and Cayuga-Seneca canal.
Find and Print direction from and to canals location.
Used:
Google Map API, javascript, XML, custom made images, and video from educators guide…

Features: of Custom Google Map for Canal System Interective Map:
map overlay with polylines;
ground overlay;
embeded flash video;
embeded pdf document;
step by step directons;
custom info box with multiple tabs;
custom markers;
extra navigatons pop-up with zoom in and zoom out;
custom map control and much more…

canals system map

Technology News PBS Engage Forum

Digital Transition Story. TV History. What is DTV Transition?

Guide to Digital TV and Digital Radio.

Consumer Guide to Digital Transition and DTV FAQ
TV History – History of Televisoin and Analog to Digital Transition


CONSUMER AWARENESS IS UP 80 PERCENT SINCE 2006, SAYS CEA Government and Industry Education Campaign Ensuring a Successful Transition On June, 2009, the nation will switch over to digital broadcasting. Analog TV will be a thing of the past. The promise of an all-digital world is at hand. Consumer awareness of the transition to digital television (DTV) grew 80 percent since 2006, according to new market research released by the consumer electronics association (CEA). CEA also released new survey results that predict the success of the national telecommunication and information administration (NTIA)’s converter box coupon program which launched in January and was prominently featured at the 2008 international CES. Converter boxes are only needed for consumers who watch over-the-air broadcasts on an analog television. CEA’s survey found only 11 percent of television households – approximately 13 million – are solely over-the-air households, indicating that NTIA has sufficient converter box coupons to meet potential demand.

What is DTV Transition?:

Digital TV

Digital Television (DTV) is an advanced broadcasting technology that will transform your television viewing experience. DTV enables broadcasters to offer television with better picture and sound quality. It can also offer multiple programming choices, called multicasting, and interactive capabilities.

What is DTV?

Digital television (DTV) is an innovative type of over-the-air broadcasting technology that enables TV stations to provide dramatically clearer pictures and better sound quality.

DTV is more efficient and more flexible than the traditional way of broadcasting known as analog. For example, DTV makes it possible for stations to broadcast multiple channels of free programming all at once (called multicasting), instead of broadcasting one channel at a time. DTV technology can also be used to deliver future interactive video and data services that analog technology can’t provide.

What is HD Radio™?

HD Radio is an upgrading of the way AM and FM radio signals are transmitted, from analog to digital signals. Sounds neat. But what does that mean for us listeners?

HD Radio technology allows broadcasters to transmit a high-quality digital signal. For listeners who have an HD Radio receiver, the benefits are:

  • FM radio with near CD-quality sound
  • AM radio that sounds as good as traditional FM
  • No more static, pops, crackles or fades
  • Transmission of additional information, such as song titles and artists
  • Increased listening options with multicasting
  • Tagging a song for later purchase