Thing # 12: Subscribe to a Podcast

Description:

A podcast is just an RSS feed with digital sound for content instead of text. The procedure for subscribing to a podcast is the same as for subscribing to any RSS feed.

Hints:

• Try thing #9 first (subscribe to the hpllearning blog's feed), then duplicate the procedure for the podcast.
• Here are some that I like:
  
• Any of the cbc podcasts, particularly The Best of Ideas.
• Uncontrolled Vocabulary, which is a library discussion call-in show. They also have a blog.
• LibVibe is another podcast related to libraries (and it uses blogger to do it).
• Since knitting seems to be my theme today, here's a knitting podcast.
  
• You may have trouble listening to the podcast, depending on what computer you use and whether you have speakers. That's why listening to the podcast is not required for this "thing" (although it would be a shame if you didn't at least try to listen).

Resources:

• Lansing Public Library podcast FAQ.
  

Why I Think RSS is the Most Important "Thing"

So I keep saying that RSS is the most important "thing". Of course, that's just an opinion -- but at least I'd like to justify it. Here are the reasons I think RSS is the most important "thing" to learn:

• RSS gives you up-to-the minute content. When I first discovered RSS, it was like my learning curve went into warp speed. I learned a lot of stuff very quickly, because I was getting content very quickly.
• RSS is like having your very own customized daily newspaper. You get to choose what goes in and what does not.
• RSS connects well with blogs. That means I can get up-to-date news from family members alongside my news about the war in Afghanistan.
• RSS works well with wikis. You could have used RSS to check to the history page of the top ten books wiki and be updated as it got editing (oh yeah, NOW I tell you! :) )
  
• RSS is what makes other social sites like del.icio.us, facebook, myspace, etc. work. You were probably using RSS without ever knowing what it meant.
  
• RSS means, potentially, that people have to "visit" websites less. If customers can get your news where they want it, why would they bother going to your website?
  
• Our new website will be using RSS.
• RSS is used in widgets to enhance the content of websites. If you had a blog about cats, why wouldn't you want to put an RSS feed from something else fun, like LOLCats (mature content warning, but probably safe for work).
• For the cataloguers out there, RSS uses a way of organizing information called XML, some have suggested that XML will/may/ought to replace MARC as a standard for organizing content.
• RSS also works for soundfiles and videos, as we will see when things 11, 12 & 13 come out.
• RSS can work on a web service, like Google Reader, or directly in your favorite browser like Firefox or Internet Explorer as a "live bookmark."
• Yahoo widgets lets you grab RSS feeds directly to your desktop, without ever using a browser!
  
• The more I talk about RSS, the more uses I find for it, so I'll stop now.

In short, RSS pretty much drives most of Web 2.0. When a new Web 2.0 tool comes out, it probably utilizes RSS in some way or another.

Death, Taxes and . . . SPAM!

Just a few words on blogs and spam.

Just like email, blogs can get spammed.

There are two general ways that spam on blogs works.

1. they put ads directly on your blog (to sell viagra for instance) or
   
2. they create a "splog" or spamblog with ads for un-tech-savy visitors to click on.

The first one is fairly easy to recognize. The comments usually have lots of links, are off-topic or pointless ("great post!"), or downright shameless in what they are trying to promote.

Splogs are more tricky. The way they work is by linking to your blog. This creates a "pingback" (a comment on the blog that tells people another blog linked here), which in turn links to their blog where they hope people will click on ads and make the owner money.

Having people link to your blog is often flattering (particularly when someone has something interesting to add to your discussion) and it's the way you can increase your "authority" ranking in a service like Technorati. Splogs play to this need, so you will want to use some of those website evaluation skills to figure out if your pingback is legit or if it's a splog. Here are some ways to tell if a blog is a splog:

• There are lots of advertisements, and nothing much else of value.
• All of the posts appear to do nothing but link to other blogs.
• The posts contain lots of gibberish.
• There is no "about this blog" page, or the page does not have a whole lot of information about the author of the blog.
  

AVOIDING SPAM

In the end, -- avoiding spam on your blog is pretty easy. Here are some Dos and Don'ts.

• DO set up your blog so that you get to moderate your comments before they go up.
  
• In Wordpress, you do this by clicking "Options," then "Discussion" from your dashboard.
  
• In Blogger, it's "Settings" then "Comments."

• DO mark any spam you moderate as "spam." This will help your service eliminate the spam from the system.
  
• DONT allow anonymous comments. Spammers tend to be anonymous.
  
• DONT leave a blog unattended for long periods of time. If you are done with a blog, delete it. "Ghosttown" blogs are prime for spam.
• DO use the built in spam filters from your blog company. Wordpress uses Akismet spam blocking, which I really like.
  
• DONT click any ads or links on a spam blog.
• DO report any splogs to your service. Most bloggings services do not allow spam blogs to exist on their servers.
• DO let a blogger know when you have encountered a spam comment or pingback on their blog. They will thank you for it.
  

Set Up My Own Blog and Add My First Post

Description:

Go to Wordpress.com or Blogger.com (or another blogging website if you like) and create a blog. Both Wordpress and Blogger offer fairly easy-to-understand instructions to get started.

Hints:

• A blog is just a personal webpage organized in a special way.
  
• You will need to create an account with the blogging site to create your blog. For that, you will need an email address.
• If you already have a blog, just create a post that says you have completed thing #3
  

Some Websites to Learn More:

Ask Bob Rankin on Blogs
Siteground Blog Tutorial

FAQ (will be updated as questions come):

Do I have to use my real name on my blog?

No. You can blog anonymously. However, the blog is the main way that I will be able to tell you have completed the 23 things, so you will need to let me see it somewhere along the line.

You said that I will have to use the blog to describe some of the other "things." How much do I have to write?

You can write as much as you like. :) A good minimal approach to this exercise is to answer four questions: 1) What is the technology? 2) What did you think of it? 3) How might this be useful [or not] to you personally? 4) How might the library use this [or not] to serve patrons better? If you want a minimum word count, let's say 50 words. But if you think I'm going to count the words on a potential 890 blog posts. . .