Podcasting Now Available For VFR Programmers
Following up on my previous post introducing the VFR podcast, I would like to describe how VFR programmers can join our feed (podcast). The first group of people than can join the VFR feed (which has increased by six subscribers in less than a week), are programmers that are already posting mp3 files of their programs somewhere. If you are subscribed to the podcast feed you will notice that some programs are already being podcast; those folks had podcasts or were posting mp3 files and we just folded them into the VFR podcast. That wasn’t a problem at all. With those folks, they were all set in 15 minutes.
On the other hand, if you are starting from scratch, things get more difficult. There are some technical issues that have to be resolved before we can start accepting files; namely, how are these files going to be posted to the Web in an efficient manner without me doing all the work and going out of my mind? This is a question that great minds are now pondering. I’ll keep you posted.
If you are starting from scratch and want to learn more about making it happen, let me suggest this article. There are going to be some situational differences because you are changing your broadcast program into an mp3, but the article might be useful in getting your feet wet.
There are some legal considerations when podcasting. VFR does not hold a license for you to podcast copyrighted material, only to broadcast and stream the VFR signal. So, unless you are comfortable with doing so, and know the legal issues, then you may not be able to podcast your program. For more information about the copyright considerations of podcasting, Bill Childs directed me to this Web page. With that said, if the only copyrighted material on your program is the intro music, for example, you should be okay with doing a podcast.
In closing, unless someone can pay me a salary, podcasting on the VFR Website is going to be an unsupported feature. I am going to develop the tool as best I can, but I can’t volunteer the amount of time it would take to work with every programmer. That is why I am trying to point you towards some other resources to learn about podcasting. With that said, I know some current VFR podcasters (and myself) are working on developing a podcasting seminar for VFR programmers. When plans are finalized an announcement will be made. Also (one last thing), let me point you to a conference called PodCamp being held in Boston on September 9-10. It looks like an informative conference, with many of the big names in podcasting attending. I plan on attending myself (a no-name in podcasting), and would be interested in getting together with some VFR programmers for the ride. Let me know if this interests you.
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