Broadcast #8 of T&A's Chicken Lips is in the can.  We are DJs at the local community radio station here in Salida, Colorado: KHEN-LP 106.9 FM (website).  You can catch our show, T&A's Chicken Lips, on Wednesdays at 8 am Mountain Time or streaming on the World Wide Web.  It includes a weekly audio "editorial" on technology called "Tech Kernels from the Chicken Lips." The "column" appears in text form below and is pretty close to what I read on the air.

Attached is a low quality (48kbps) copy of the show.  Where is the audio? Check enclosure or "Attachment(s)" links at the bottom of this entry for the audio!

We have underwriters!  Big thanks to our underwriters, First Street Flooring at 139 W First St, Salida, CO 81201 - (719) 539-6182

Here our play list:

Tech Kernels from the Chicken Lips

May 28, 2008
Syndication and Podcasting

Last week, we talked a little bit about blogs, and how it is changing the face of the web.  Today we'll talk about syndication and how it has the potential to change the web, television, radio and beyond. 

Most online blogging sites allow you to subscribe to its content.  Of course, being computer geeks, they have to use a TLA (or three letter acronym) to describe the most prevalent technology... it's called RSS which stands for really simple syndication.  Most online blogging sites and softwares not only serve up web pages, but also RSS feeds as well.  Without getting too technical, an RSS feed generally contains the content of a blog, organized chronologically, but it is provided in a standard format which is more easily digested by computer software.

In order to take advantage of RSS, first you need to install software that allows you enter and organize your feeds of interest.  This software can automatically or manually go out and scan all your RSS feeds notifying you if any them have been updated.  Microsoft's Internet Explorer has a very basic RSS aggregator built in to it.  I prefer to use the Firefox web browser with a plugin called Sage.  Your browser will usually tell you with an orange universal RSS feed icon if a website is offering up a feed.

RSS isn't just for blogs.  Many news sites have RSS feeds too, including Wired, BBC and Gizmodo.  You can receive dynamic content through you feeds as well, like your NetFlix movie queue, craigslist searches, or travelocity flight deals.  Sites like NPR and ABC offer audio and video content as well, packaged as an enclosure link in the RSS feed data.  Attaching audio or video content to a feed is more commonly known as podcasting.  As the name implies, you can use iTunes to subscribe to your podcasts and load them on your iPod, although the technology is not limited to iTunes or iPods.  While it's a ways away, this technology is already starting to make its way to your TV set.  I own an AppleTV which is capable of bringing podcasts right to your home entertainment system.  I like to think of podcasts being similar to a DVR or Digital Video Recorder that downloads from the internet instead of recording from antenna, satellite, or cable.  Podcasts have the potential to completely change the way you watch television or listen to your radio in the future.

We currently have a podcast that features this show.  You can check it out on our blog and podcast at http://adventure.koransky.com/blogs/general/archive/tags/podcast/khen/default.aspx.  Or you can find some links on the KHEN FaceBook page.  Link to the KHEN Facebook page from the front page on our website, http://www.khen.org/.

We appreciate any feedback you have on our shows thus far.  Thanks to all our listeners.  We sure are having fun with this.