Podcasting Live Readings...

[Vivacious]

I was chatting with a friend of mine tonight and he said that he was disappointed in the content of most of the podcasts he'd downloaded.
Wikipedia describes podcasting as:

Podcasting is a way of publishing sound files to Internet, allowing users to subscribe to a feed and receive new audio files automatically. Podcasting is distinctive from other types of audio content delivery by its use of the RSS protocol. This technique has enabled a number of individuals to create self-published, syndicated radio shows.

Users subscribe to podcasts using "podcatching" software (also called "aggregator" software) which periodically checks for and downloads new content. It can then sync the content to the user's portable music player, hence the portmanteau of Apple's "iPod" and "broadcasting." Podcasting does not require an iPod, however; any digital audio player or computer with the appropriate software can play podcasts.

It occured to me that readings of original stories might be of interest to people. A subscription to CafeDoom appeared in my minds eye, and faeries danced round my head. Then I came to my senses and thought about offering bit torrent downloads of selected stories, featured artists....

But of course, there is the copyright issue... so here I am posting this here for comments - what do you guys think of Podcasting, of bit torrent as a means of distribution? Am I out there somewhere in la la land with this idea? Or is this something that would appeal to you guys?

[JoyceCarter]

And bit torrent is...?

Sorry - I just use the technology.  I've never got as far as understanding much of it, or keeping up with the descriptions.

[GrinReaper]

It sounds like a great idea to me.

With bit torrent, could people download the files to mp3 player/ipod?

Because I think there could definitely be a market for audio short stories for people to listen to on their way to work -- it would also open up the audience for our stories, because people would be able to take them away from their PCs.

Are any other short story sites doing anything similar?

[SharonBell]

Horrormasters http://www.horrormasters.com/index.html does this and charges for downloads to PDAs. Geoff has some stories there. Ask him about his experience with it. 

[Vivacious]

And bit torrent is...?

Sorry - I just use the technology.  I've never got as far as understanding much of it, or keeping up with the descriptions.

Sorry, with all the media attention to BT lately I just thought everyone knew what it was!

Bit torrent is a file delivery application:

BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer (P2P) file distribution tool written by programmer Bram Cohen and debuted at CodeCon 2002. ...

With BitTorrent, files are broken into smaller fragments, typically a quarter of a megabyte each. As the fragments get distributed to the peers, they can be reassembled on a requesting machine in a random order. Each peer takes advantage of the best connections to the missing pieces while providing an upload connection to the pieces it already has. This scheme has proven particularly adept in trading large files such as videos and software source code. In conventional downloading, high demand leads to bottlenecks as demand surges for bandwidth from the host server. With BitTorrent, high demand can actually speed throughput as more bandwidth and additional "seeds" of the completed file become available to the group. Cohen claims that for very popular files, BitTorrent can support about a thousand times as many downloads as HTTP.

Typically what happens is
1.) One makes an audio file, or movie, or a text file, or whatever you want to distribute.
2.) One makes  a .tor file; typically with a torrent maker like Torrent Maker 2.1. << Click!
3.) One uploads the torrent file to a tracker ( a host server that's typically always available).
4.) To 'seed' you open the torrent file (using the Bit torrent software) and it automatically checks to see if you have the completed file - when it completes that check it will say Completed! Now you are seeding - or waiting for others to download and open the torrent file.

Your torrent file remains open until you no longer want to distribute the file or until there are enough others connected with completed files to continue seeding the file without you.

A website is usually used to provide a tracker and host the .torrent files. Usually it is up to the original uploader/seeder to provide the actual file by leaving their bit torrent running.

I hope some of that helps! I know it sounds complicated, but it's almost as easy as hosting the mp3's or audio files on a web server - it just puts the power of distribution into the hands of the file originator. I have written a short tutorial for Make Torrent 2.1 on another site, so I can help people get this up and going.. But I will need a tracker - Blunt - to host the .tor files - *cough*- Blunt.

[Ed]

I like the idea, Viv   Nice one.  The great thing about Bittorrent is that it's a means of free MASS distribution - when you host mp3 (audio) files on an ordinary server, like the one CafeDoom is hosted on, if you suddenly get a lot of people downloading, it costs a fortune in bandwidth usage, plus there's a storage space issue too.  With Bittorrent, you seed a few copies of the recording to different people, and then when downloading starts, people get a copy and share it with everybody else looking for that file - hence the cost is tiny, insignificant and you potentially reach a massive audience for no outlay.

PDA is just a text format, isn't it?  MP3s would be better - like mini audiobooks   All we need to do is get the author's permission, and get somebody to record a reading of the tale.

Grin - Bittorrent is a P2P application.  You have to download the prog (free) but then you can use it to share and download pretty much anything, worldwide, 24/7/364 - indefinitely.

Any other thoughts, folks?

[JoyceCarter]

get somebody to record a reading

Ahem... drama master's, daily experience of reading aloud during teaching years, voiceover training.  Think I could do a pretty good job and would be willing to audition, Blunt.

[Ed]

get somebody to record a reading

Ahem... drama master's, daily experience of reading aloud during teaching years, voiceover training.  Think I could do a pretty good job and would be willing to audition, Blunt.

Thanks for volunteering, Joyce   Have you got a microphone attached to your PC?  If not, they're only about £2 or £3 to buy, and I can probably send you some software to record with, if you haven't got any.

I think it will take a bit of thought to get this working and sounding professional, but it might well be worth the effort, for the novelty value alone.  Nobody should get too excited about this, BTW, because somebody needs to be actually looking for the recording to get it and listen to it - it's not like a mail shot, where everybody gets a copy dumped in their lap.  It would need promotion to become popular, in just the same way as any other publication. 

We could put a section on the site with a few downloads, which would help.  We might even be able to get a continuous loop on one of the channels on the BSMUV radio

[Neuromancer]

get somebody to record a reading

Ahem... drama master's, daily experience of reading aloud during teaching years, voiceover training.  Think I could do a pretty good job and would be willing to audition, Blunt.

Thanks for volunteering, Joyce   Have you got a microphone attached to your PC?  If not, they're only about £2 or £3 to buy, and I can probably send you some software to record with, if you haven't got any.

I think it will take a bit of thought to get this working and sounding professional, but it might well be worth the effort, for the novelty value alone.  Nobody should get too excited about this, BTW, because somebody needs to be actually looking for the recording to get it and listen to it - it's not like a mail shot, where everybody gets a copy dumped in their lap.  It would need promotion to become popular, in just the same way as any other publication. 

We could put a section on the site with a few downloads, which would help.  We might even be able to get a continuous loop on one of the channels on the BSMUV radio

I really like that last idea..

By the way PDA stands for Personall Data assistant, the little computers that people alk around with, being all annoying?

Everyone I know that had one completely lost their brains.  Anytime you asked them a question they would stare blaky pull out there PDA and click a few times before answering..  (even when the question was NOT what time is such and such meetin, or whose email :lol:)

I would also be willing to throw in a sample for the reading if you like... I have often been told I have a decent voice (or was ita loud voice... :lol:)

Willing to lend a hand if you need diversity

[Vivacious]

Found this 'how to' and thought it was relevant.

Sunday, April 3, 2005;
Louis Ramirez
Washington Post

Commercial-free broadcasts, a smorgasbord of topics and music you've never heard before. Nope, we're not talking about satellite radio -- we're talking podcasting. If you haven't heard of it by now, it's high time you come out of your cave: Pioneered by former MTV VJ Adam Curry, a podcast is basically an audio blog, a program recorded into an MP3 file that you can post or pick up at sites online. You don't need an iPod -- or a Mac -- to create or listen to one, and unlike commercial radio, podcasts don't have to conform to FCC regulations, so there's no limit to what you can say. Want to showcase your best friend's band or embark on an expletive-filled rant about the state of the union? Here's how.

TUNE IN.
Before getting creative, see what's already out there. Browse through Web sites such as Podcast.net, and you'll find entries dealing with movies, technology, personal fetishes and the like. If you find one so captivating that you must hear every episode, subscribing for updates is easy: Go to iPodder.org (another podcast directory) and download the software application that fetches podcasts -- you can program it to automatically pull in your favorites as often as you like. Then listen at your convenience using an audio player, such as iTunes or Windows Media Player, or transfer it to your portable MP3 player.

BUILD YOUR OWN (CYBER) RADIO STATION.
What's a pundit without a mouthpiece? You'll need one to get heard -- try Logitech's USB Headset 250 ($39; www.logitech.com), which is both PC and Mac friendly. (Alternatively, you can connect a microphone -- sans earpiece -- into your computer's line-in jack and use speakers or headphones to track the sound.) To record your broadcast, we recommend Audacity (audacity.sourceforge.net), a free open-source program that lets you record live audio on PCs and Macs. You'll also need to download Audacity's MP3 encoder separately to translate your files into MP3s -- the podcast format of choice.

TECH SPECS.
Listeners will download your podcast from the Web, so you don't want your file to be too large. You can minimize a file's size by lowering both the sampling rate (which determines the sound frequency range) and bit rate (the file space taken up per second of audio) of your recording. First, set the default sampling rate to 16-bit (Audacity lets you do this under the preferences menu). Then try tweaking until you find one that works for you. A high bit rate (around 160 kbps, or kilobits per second) is great for music but overkill for the sound of your voice, in which case 48 kbps would be fine. After a sound check, plug in your mic or headset and let 'er rip. Once you've finished, you'll want to export the recording as an MP3. Your next step is to edit the ID3 tag for your MP3, which names the file so listeners will know what it is.

WORLD WIDE WEB CELEB.
Your final step is to upload the podcast to your blog or Web site. (If you don't have your own, Ourmedia, a grassroots project, plans on permanently hosting podcasts later this year for a nominal fee.) Most blogs and Web-hosting programs make it easy -- just attach your MP3 file to a new blog entry.  ...

Read the entire article here.

[Ed]

Thanks for that, Viv

I wonder if we can get something moving on this   It's a good idea, and it'd be a shame to let it go to waste.

[SharonBell]

Sounds very cool. Will you sell the audio stories, like they do at Horrormasters for the PDA files?

[JoyceCarter]

I'm interested, as I said above.  We don't have any software to record sound.  I'll PM you (Blunt) the details to send it, as you said.

[Ed]

Sounds very cool. Will you sell the audio stories, like they do at Horrormasters for the PDA files?

No, I wasn't thinking of selling anything, Sharon.  I don't like the thought of bringing money into the equation - it leads to all sorts of complications, and I think the exposure/accomplishment/enjoyment is more worthwhile than a few pennies rolling in.  Maybe in the far off distant future, it might be an option, but not in the short or medium term.

Joyce - I'll get back to you tomorrow.  Right now, I've got to hit the sack

[SharonBell]

Sounds good to me.