Check out this post from MacSlash:
Apple has set a date for those who are willing to risk updating to a .0 version of a new OS. Leopard will be available on October 26 according to Apple’s website, which is also taking pre-orders for the OS. It’s safe to assume that MacOS X 10.5 Leopard Server will be available at that point or shortly afterwards, as well(from: Leopard Available October 26)
NYTimes has a great review of three new flash recording devices, The Edirol by Roland R-09 ($399), the M-Audio MicroTrack 24/96 ($350) and the Marantz PMD 660 ($499). While they are a bit pricey (you'd still need a computer to do editing and posting to your podcast feed or site), their portability is a huge selling point for on-the-go podcasters. Also, while these flash recorders have a built-in stereo mic, I'd still recommend using a decent external mic to reduce ambient noise.
Link to the
article on mediate.com
by Dr. Josh Weiss
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As most know, the Internet and related technologies have made many
things possible that were almost inconceivable only a few decades ago.
There can be little doubt that blogs, streaming audio, webinars,
asynchronous and synchronous web tools, and virtual teamwork software
have given negotiation and mediation practitioners and scholars a new
platform to disseminate ideas to a wide array of people who ordinarily
would not have taken the time to understand the benefits of these
processes. In addition to everything that is out there, we can now add
the increasingly invaluable tool of Podcasting to the list.
What is Podcasting?
For those readers that are unaware of Podcasting, it is crucial that
you understand what this instrument is, how easy it is too use, and how
it might aid you in your work. Specifically, Podcasting can enable you
to reach audiences you might never engage with, as well as to help keep
those already interested in negotiation and mediation intrigued and
thirsting for more.
The term Podcasting is a hybrid word derived from the word broadcasting
and the device that is used to listen to the broadcast – iPod, which is
made by Apple Computer. According to another useful Internet service –
Wikipedia (the free encyclopedia) – “Podcasting is a method of
publishing audio broadcasts via the Internet, allowing users to
subscribe to a feed of new files. It became popular largely due to
automatic downloading of audio onto portable players or personal
computers.” [1]
Podcasting can be differentiated from other types of online media
delivery because of its subscription model, which uses a feed sytem
known as Really Simple Syndication (RSS) [2]
to deliver files. The best way to explain Podcasting to the “non
techie” is that it enables independent producers – like you, me, and
the guy next door — to create self-published syndicated radio
broadcasts. From the users’ end, Podcasting couldn’t be easier.
Listeners simply subscribe to the feeds using “podcatching” software,
which periodically checks for and downloads new content automatically
to an iPod. And voilá, a new Podcast appears in your iPod each week
without you doing anything else. Imagine the possibilities!
[3]
And imagine is exactly what I did when a consulting group that I work
with – The Otter Group – proposed that I start doing a simple 3-5
minute Podcast around the topic of negotiation. We entitled the Podcast
the “Negotiating Tip of the Week”. At first I had a healthy amount of
skepticism – something that has never stopped me before. However, as I
learned about Podcasting I realized the technology was incredibly easy
to use and the results were, well, rather amazing. In one year of doing
one Podcast per week I had approximately 3,500 to 4,000 people
regularly downloading my short and pithy recordings to listen to on the
subway, in the workout room, at the office, or when walking in the
woods. The listeners ranged from diplomats to financial advisors to
homemakers.
Examples: Broad, Narrow, and Interactive
If you go to www.negotiationtip.com (see image below) you will be able
to see and listen to the Podcasts that I have recorded to date. As you
can see from the list of topics on the website, I have covered both
broad conceptions, such as general approaches to negotiation, and
focused very narrowly on specific concepts, like the role of silence in
negotiation. One last idea I have been experimenting with lately is to
conduct more interactive Podcasts – posing actual negotiation scenarios
to the listeners and asking them to think about what they would do. In
the subsequent Podcast, I include some of the listeners thoughts and
provide them with a few of my own ideas to address the negotiation
problem in question.
Practically Speaking:
How do you Podcast? [4]
So, how exactly do you get starting making a Podcast? Here are some of
the basics. First, you will need to create a topic and a title that
best captures what you will do in your Podcast. Note that if you are
going to do a weekly podcast you should have a lot of material in
“mental storage.” When you get people to tune in regularly, you create
an expectation that something new will be coming each and every week.
Second, get some simple devices to record your Podcasts. For example,
the Otter Group purchased a microphone for me that plugs into my
laptop. For those of you that have a desktop computer or laptop with a
microphone already built into it that will also work fine.
Third, you need a place to record and save your Podcasts. We use a
website called Audioblog.com, which lets you record and save files on
the web for less than $5 per month. After you have recorded your
Podcast you can download it to your computer and save it just like you
would any other file. It is also helpful to have a freeware (i.e., one
you can download for free from the web) editing program to delete out
pauses and other mistakes or glitches. The editing program that I use
is called Audacity. Without such editing software you need to make a
perfect recording. That can take extra time and get a bit frustrating.
For ease of use by your “podcatchers,” save the recording as an mp3
file and make sure that your settings in Audacity are on “wav out
mixture” and the volume is on high.
Finally, register your Podcast with a number of Podcast Aggregator
sites, such as podcastalley.com or ipodder.com. These are places where
Podcatchers can go looking for Podcasts on topics of interest. Of
course, it is also helpful to register your Podcast with iTunes from
Apple. It can be helpful to set up a webpage or blog that links to your
Podcasts so your listeners can also tune in online.
That is it – pretty simple. And remember that it is the power of the
Aggregator sites (using RSS feeds) that spreads your message and ideas
widely!
One Opinion on the Best Uses for Podcasts Today
Before concluding this brief article, it seems useful to discuss what
Podcasting is best used for in our world as it is presently
constituted. One caveat, Podcasting is very much in its infancy and so
its uses will undoubtedly multiply in the future. That stated, from my
perspective the following seem to currently be the best uses for
Podcasting as it relates to negotiation and mediation:
Conclusion
We live in a world of instant information. We live in a world of
simplicity. We live in a world that desparately needs negotiation and
mediation skills and processes. Podcasting enables practitioners and
scholars of negotiation and mediation to extend our reach and explain
concepts simply, in an unfiltered manner, to a large number of people
around the globe. If 3,800 people have downloaded my Podcasts over the
past four months alone, imagine what would happen if we had legions of
Podcasters spreading the message that negotiation and mediation are
invaluable tools to have in your toolbox. I am hard pressed to think of
something that would help our field more. . .aren’t you?
Note of thanks: I would like to thank my friends and
colleagues
at the Otter Group – Kathleen Gilroy, Glen Mohr, and Aixa Almonte –
for their comments, suggestions and input into this article.
End Notes
1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcasting
2 RSS is a tool for condensing information
into a
feed, which can then be downloaded automatically as new information
becomes available. At a technical level, RSS is a file format as well
as the process for converting things to that format and distributing
them. This technology allows you to “subscribe” to any source (website,
weblog, database, news site) that provides an RSS feed. These are
typically sites that change or add content regularly. To subscribe to a
feed you use a piece of software called an “aggregator.” Aggregators
will soon be built into all browsers, but they can also be integrated
with email programs like Outlook or Google Desktop. The aggregator acts
as a personal mailbox. You then subscribe to the sites that you want to
get updates on and they start appearing in your mailbox. RSS
subscriptions are free, but they typically only give you a line or two
of each article or post along with a link to the full article or post.
3 Unlike streaming audio, which requires
you to listen
in real-time, podcasting lets you control how and when you listen.
Podcasts are portable and re-useable. But with subscriptions,
podcasting goes to a new level of ease and simplicity. You publish and
then find your podcast in, for example, iTunes. Users subscribe to your
podcast feed in iTunes and then iTunes automatically downloads each new
episode as it becomes available. With the click of a button, you get
the most recent episode — and all future episodes — automatically
delivered directly to the iTunes Podcast Library.
4 By the way, if this explanation is not
enough there is a “Podcasting for Dummies” book on the market by
Matthew Bishcoff.
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Biography |
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Joshua N. Weiss is the Associate Director of the
Global Negotiation Project at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard
University.
I am pleased to welcome Shwen Gwee's Etech@Work Tip-of-the-Week podcast to our growing series.
Etech@work will address emerging technologies and trends in business.
Shwen recently transitioned from the continuing medical education (CME) industry to the pharmaceutical industry, where he is part of the medical communications group and focuses on the use of emerging (digital) technologies and learning trends to deliver medical/scientific information. Shwen obtained a BS (suma cum laude) in behavioral neuroscience from Northeastern University (Boston, MA) and completed his graduate research in behavioral pharmacology at the University of Cambridge (England, UK), where he also earned a certificate in entrepreneurship.
Shwen also has a variety of experience and interests, including: educational technology and e-learning , web and multimedia development/management, biomedical entrepreneurship, and promoting public understanding of science.
Shwen kicks off his podcast series with an interview with podcasting expert Tim Bourquin. This is an excellent overview of the latest news about podcasting.
With almost 150,000 downloads since it began last June, our Negotiating Tip of the Week Podcast with Josh Weiss is number 24 in the iTunes business podcast list.
This is a very nice series of extremely useful information on managing your day-to-day negotiations. In the most recent podcast, Josh talks about negotiating with extremists––in response to a listener comment about this topic. I look at this podcast as a model for how best to use this medium for learning.
This 8 minute tutorial explains how to use create audio and video podcasts using Mac software.
IBM has been a leading company with its use of blogs and podcasting. Here is an article that sums up the podcasting being done at IBM:
IBM started to encourage employees to read and create the online journals known as blogs last May. Shortly after, IBM started pushing podcasts — subscription-based audio downloads that can be listened to on laptops, iPods or other MP3 players. IBMers like McCarty are recording podcasts on the company intranet. In addition, the investor relations department has created a podcast for the public called “IBM and the Future of…” with installments that explore how technology will affect activities such as driving, shopping, banking and online gaming.
Ben Edwards said the podcast, like the annual report that he and his colleagues create, gives investors a sense of where IBM is headed strategically. “The podcasts offer an opportunity to communicate with our investors on a more frequent basis,” Edwards said. The podcast debuted in August. Through the end of November there have been about 52,000 downloads. In late October, the series even made it into the top 100 podcasts out of 20,000 listed at Apple's iTunes.
George Faulkner, who is part of IBM's strategic communications team, said the “IBM and the Future of…” podcast has been successful because listeners don't feel like they're hearing a marketing pitch. “We show that we're passionate and approachable and just excited about what we do,” Faulkner said. “We have a lot of really smart people here and their voices never get heard in the outside world.”
Inside the company, about 50 podcasts have debuted. There have been 15,000 downloads in the past two months.
All IBMers can record podcasts using the built-in microphone in their company laptops. Simple online tutorials make it easy even for novices. One of the first podcasts was a tutorial on how to start a blog. Other podcasts are on such topics as work force diversity and career development. At least one executive is using a podcast to replace a conference call. Tim Carroll, a vice president in IBM's supply chain, used to lead a weekly call with the 7,000 employees around the world who report to him. The phone bill for the call was hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, Faulkner said. But the time wasn't always convenient for everyone, particularly employees in time zones on the other side of the planet.
Nick Volkringer, a manager on Carroll's team who works at IBM's Somers campus, said he made sure to fit the call into his schedule because the topics were important. Sometimes the call was about how weather was affecting merchandise delivery, or how many critical shipments were coming out of manufacturing plants. “Sometimes it conflicted with meetings,” he said. These days, he downloads a podcast of Carroll's weekly talk to his laptop and listens to it whenever it's convenient. “I can download these podcasts and listen to them at home in the evenings or if I have free time on my calendar in the afternoon. I can listen to it instead of bypassing another important meeting,” Volkringer said.
Carroll's podcast is always No. 1 in IBM's library, Faulkner said, but McCarty's “Rock and Roll Podcast” is also very popular. “He talks about mobile computing, and he records it from his desk at home. His personality comes through as he delivers information about what it's like to be a remote worker,” Faulkner said. “Little stars are being made here through this platform.” In his podcast, McCarty interviews colleagues on tips for working away from a cubicle, such as which applications run on a cell phone. He's produced about a half-dozen podcasts in the past three months from his East Village apartment. “People seem to like it. I get encouraging pings and notes,” McCarty said. As a musician and someone with a background in creative writing, the 31-year-old McCarty said he enjoys his role as a new media person at IBM.
“Five years ago, when I took the job, my friends were like, 'IBM, are you kidding? That's a stodgy job.' But we've launched podcasting, we've launched blogging. From a new media standpoint, it's been a sexy job.”
Apple is now promoting a podcasting server for educational applications:
Apple Podcasting Server
Publish your learning content to your students’ iPods.
From course content and supplemental materials for students to professional development offerings for educators, educational institutions are automatically adding content to iPods. Using podcasts to produce and distribute this content means students, parents and educators can experience learning everywhere. And the cornerstone of this podcasting system is the Apple Podcasting Server.
Dynamic Environment for Collaboration and Podcasting
The emergence of podcasts and blogs provides schools and departments with powerful new tools for classroom management, collaboration, discussions, portfolios, and content distribution. Recording and distributing podcasts, and writing and publishing in blogs, can create dynamic discussion and information flow that can continue outside of the classroom.
Podcasting and Blogs
From a server’s point of view, a podcast can be simply a file attached to a blog. The server makes the blog and podcast freely available for subscription using the RSS 2.0 protocol. Apple’s Podcasting Server makes publishing a podcast as easy as clicking a button and attaching a file.
Simple to Publish and Access from Macs or PC’s
The Apple Podcasting Server included in Mac OS X Server v10.4 makes it simple to publish and syndicate online content. Predefined blog themes and calendar navigation provide an intuitive interface for managing blogs and podcasts. Individuals using Macs, Windows, and Linux can publish and access blogs using only their web browsers—no additional tools or expertise are needed. Podcasts can be automatically opened in Apple’s iTunes software on a Macintosh or Windows machine. This simplicity of publishing and accessing digital content makes the Apple Podcast Server the perfect collaboration and content distribution tool.
Fits Securely in your Existing Environment
The Apple Podcast Server in Mac OS X Server v10.4 is based on the popular Blojsom open-source weblog server project. With Open Directory authentication and access controls, it fits into any environment.
Easy to Manage
Grant publishing access to individual users or groups on your network—in seconds. With Mac OS X Server, non-technical individuals can share information and syndicate text content and podcasts on the web using HTML, RSS, RSS2, RDF and ATOM protocols. The Podcast Server supports both user and group blogs, and calendar-based navigation.
Built-in, not bolted on.
The Apple Podcasting Server is an integrated service of Mac OS X Server v10.4, Apple’s Unix-based server operating system. Mac OS X Server is included with every Apple Xserve G5, and is also available for purchase separately. Click here to view your educational pricing options.
There are two documents attached to this page worth reading: Podcast Backbone Guide and Podcast Creation Guide.
We started blogging on ottergroup.com a year ago and since then our monthly page views have grown from zero to more than 85,000 per month from more than 65,000 distinct visitors.*
One reason for the growth has to be podcasting. In April we started podcasting the Negotiation Tip of the Week and soon after, the number of page requests from podcatching clients started growing.
Browser statistics show the growth of podcasting listeners and also how iTunes so quickly came to dominate the podcatching market.
With three podcasts running we look forward to continued growth. Thanks for listening.
*In September we moved the Negotiation Tip of the Week to its own blog
and in October we started the Innovation Tip of the Week on its own
blog so the chart likely includes some duplication of visitors in the last couple
months.
