The DigitalRV Blog

This post is reproduced in it’s entirety from the Digital RV’s sister site, Gadget’s Airstream Chronicles….

Normally I’d post strictly tech columns over at the Digital RV. Today I’m bending the rules. Why? Well, I want this post in more than one place as it’s really important.

A friend recently made an interesting request. They asked that I put together a full post on making backups. Why did they ask me to do that? Simple. One of their friends had a computer go totally south on them. Photos, music, personal documents, financial data, and everything else that finds its way on to a system was lost. Unfortunately for that poor soul, no backup was ever created.

The person who lost their data is a blogger, like me. And they’re a a little more popular (higher traffic). When they lost their data they posted about it, and here’s where it gets interesting. Many readers commented they too don’t backup, don’t know how, etc.

Alright, when folks who regularly play on the Internet don’t backup, or don’t know how to, I guess it’s worth a sizable tutorial post. And that post can take space here as well as the Digital RV. So, let’s get to it.

A Basic View of Computers

First, let’s over simplify what our computers are. They do a lot, but I’m going to reduce the “computer” to a one trick pony (it has many tricks, but I think you’ll get this one). The most basic function of our computers is data storage. Let’s put that another way.

Your computer is a glorified file cabinet. There, I said it. Engineers across the nation are weeping because that doesn’t sound complex at all. Such a revelation could put them out of work. “Hey, Mr. Tech guy, you’re nothing more than a file cabinet specialist.”

For those who never thought about it that way I bet a light bulb went off just now. Seriously, your computer stores your data. Go back to the 60’s…..what did you store your documents in then? Uh, file cabinets. Today you store documents, music, photos, etc., in your computer. Previously when we weren’t working digital we stored all of those things in file cabinets too. They were physical, and now those documents are digital. Pretty cool.

Now, in the old days if you had a fire in the building where your file cabinet was, you’d loose everything. Unless you made copies (backups) of the contents of the cabinet, and put it somewhere else (a different cabinet). I bet you can see where this is going…….

In order to truly back up your digital data you need a different cabinet. And you need to make copies of your documents in the original cabinet and put those copies in the new cabinet. Fortunately making copies is much easier with digital files (no standing over a copy machine for hours on end).

By the way….it’s an easy leap to conceptualize your computer as a big file cabinet. The manufacturers make it simple really. Ever notice on both Windows and Macintosh that all of your data is stored in cute little FILE FOLDERS? Take a look at the picture to the left…..those little icons look like folders. And what do you put in folders? Files, documents, photos, etc. Yup, it’s a file cabinet alrighty!

I hope this over simplification regarding your computer’s primary function puts things a little more in perspective. If not, feel free to leave comments for clarification. But let’s move on and talk about “file cabinet” options that you can put copies into……

Storage Media for your Backups…in other words, “Your new file cabinets”

Now that we’ve established the need to copy what is in one file cabinet and put those copies in another cabinet (our backup) we need to figure out what type of cabinet to use. There are a few options available, and I think that might be one point of confusion for folks. “What should I use???”

Today we have many ways to store data, and most readers will be familiar with the backup media. Maybe not all of it, but most of it. Currently I personally back my data up in a number of ways. CDs, DVDs, Flash Cards, my IPod, and External Hard Drives. All of these items are in essence new file cabinets, although a few work differently, and we’ll talk about that.

CDs & DVDs

At this point I’m willing to bet everyone knows about CDs and DVDs. Our music and movies come on these little disks. New programs for our computers come on them, fun video games, and more. And all these disks really do is store data (files) for you to use on your computer. When you pop a CD or DVD into a computer the computer can read the files, replay them, or install new programs. They can also be used to store and backup your data if you buy the right types.

Both CDs and DVDs are available as Writable or Re-Writable at this point in time. And if you have a newer computer chances are it has a CD and DVD Burner. That means if you get blank CDs and DVDs you can write files to the disks. And if you make copies from your hard drive (file cabinet), put the copies on the CD or DVD and then burn the disk, you now have a backup of those files.

About CDs…..

CDs have been around for a while. They were great for making backups in the 90’s, but not super now. Why? Not much storage space to be honest. CDs run up to about 700 mega bytes now. Sure, you can store a ton of photos, songs, or documents on them, but not as much as you can on other media. If you have smaller files, few songs, or few files, CDs might be a good backup solution for you.

About DVDs…..

DVDs, specifically writable DVDs, haven’t been around as long as CDs. They can store more data, even though they look just like a CD. How can they do that? Why can’t a CD store as much. Hey, let’s not get bogged down here and pretend we’re engineers…..DVD’s can store more than a CD. Accept it and be happy.

Actually, DVDs can store about 4.5 Giga Bytes. One Giga Byte is the same as 1000 Mega Bytes. Remember, CDs can store about 700 Mega Bytes. So, you can see pretty quickly that a DVD can store about 6 times as much as a CD. If you’re looking to store a sizable amount of data, a DVD will beat a CD.

Burning Questions…..

So, once you’ve selected the documents you want to copy, and decided between a CD or DVD, you simply copy the files to the disk. But you’re not done. See, if you pop the disk out immediately it won’t work. You must BURN the data to the disk. Burning a disk is the process where the data is committed to the disk, written to it, and forever imprinted on the disk (unless you use a re-writable, which does what the name implies).

Mostly, when you use a CD or DVD you’re looking to make a permanent, unalterable copy of your data. Once a disk is burned it cannot be undone. You can’t add to it afterward, edit the file, delete the file, etc. It is there for all time (or until someone tosses the disk into one of those cool new shredders that eats credit cards and disks).

So, if you want a permanent unchangeable copy of your data (files), a CD or DVD might be the way to go.

Other Media Options….Flash Drives, and External Hard Drives

Like CDs and DVDs, I’m willing to bet you’re familiar with flash drives too. Even if you think you’re not. External Hard Drives are another story, and I’ll bet about 50% of the readers have seen them, but probably not everyone knows all about them.

Flash Drives

Do you own a Digital Camera? If so you’re already familiar with Flash Drive technology. The memory cards that go into your camera are “flash memory”. There are many different types of cards, but they all do the same thing. Basically, they’re portable file cabinets that know how to talk to your camera. And when you take a picture your camera creates a document (photo) on the card. It has stored a file in the portable file cabinet!

The fun thing with flash drives is that they’re not relegated to being for photos only. They can be used for any file type. So, when you hook that flash card to your computer you could in theory copy documents to it rather than just downloading your photos. When you copy documents to the card you’ve in essence created a backup once again.

Unfortunately, flash cards, flash drives, etc., can’t store too much data. Right now on the market we’re seeing flash cards and USB flash drives going up to about 8Giga Bytes. So, almost twice the storage space of a DVD. Not bad if you’re backing up personal documents, but lousy if you’re backing up an ITunes Library or giant photo collection. So, let’s say you’ve got huge amounts of files you want to backup…..what’s the option?

External Hard Drives

External Hard Drives are the holy grail of backup in my opinion. Why?

• New external hard drives offer hundreds of Giga Bytes in storage.
• External hard drives are portable.
• They’re dirt cheap at this point in time.
• You can treat them just like your computer’s hard drive.
• You can use them between multiple computers, making it easy to copy large amounts of data between computers.

Only a few years ago I paid $350 for an 80GB external drive. Recently I paid $149 for a 500 GB external drive (more than 6 times the capacity at half the cost). Currently my computer’s hard drive is only 80 GB (older model), and my portable drives are much larger than the computer’s internal file cabinet.

Not only are external hard drives great for making backups, they’re also fantastic for expanding your computer’s storage capacity. As I noted above, my computer’s drive is 80GB. I take about 5 GB of photos per month. As you can see, it wouldn’t take long to fill my computer’s drive…..so I started getting external drives to store my data, as well as make backups.

The latest screen shot shows part of my Macintosh’s desktop. As you can see, there’s a device named “Macintosh HD”. That’s the original hard drive on my computer. There’s also a little folder “webgifs” where I put photos that are going up on to the internet (like all the pictures in this post). Finally there are two more devices, “500GiG” and “LaciePortable”. These are 2 of my many external hard drives. One is used as a regular hard drive (the LaciePortable) and the other is used to back up EVERYTHING else!

See, my computer’s original hard drive is only 80GB, and the external drive “LaciePortable” is 320GB. Totaled, that’s 400GB of storage over all. The 500GiG drive is 500GB. More than enough room to copy everything on my original hard drive and my external that I use for new files!

So, what do I need?

That really depends on what you’re doing. CDs and DVDs will work great if you’re only storing a little at a time, and you don’t want to alter the backed up files (once you burn it, it’s permanent). Flash drives will work well if you’re only storing a little, and if you want to change the files on the drive over and over again. And external drives are great if you want to keep writing to them, and altering the files as you go (just like your current hard drive).

In my case, I do the following backup plan:

1. ITunes Library (music, movies, everything): This library grows and changes. I make incremental backups of the library as it grows to DVDs (ITunes helps me do this). I also backup the entire library to an external drive (500GiG). I’ve got two copies then. One on an easy to access backup drive, the other on a permanent set of DVDs.
2. Photo Libraries: If you’ve followed my site for a while you know I take a lot of pictures. A LOT! My main photo library from August through today has 35.8 GBs of photos in it. Way too much to store on my regular hard drive since it has so many programs on it. My main photo library lives on the external drive “LaciePortable”. It is backed up once a week to the drive “500GiG”. Also, about once a month I copy the latest photo folders to DVDs as well. That way if I have a real disaster (2 drives dying….nearly impossible, but it could happen) I can always restore from my DVDs.
3. The Mac Hard Drive: I have backed up my entire Macintosh hard drive to the external drive “500GiG”. Once a month I back it up again, that way any new files that have been added will also show up on my backup. All of my personal documents, financial stuff, etc., get caught in this backup.

There’s my personal backup plan. In most cases, I copy incrementally to DVD. But mostly I use external hard drives to store backups. Having backups in more than one place is useful. Backing up to DVD is more of a pain, which is why I do it only when I’ve added enough data to make it worth my time. Backing up to the external hard drive is simple and easy. Copy from your main drive and paste to the backup drive. Done.

I thought there were backup programs out there…..more complex, right?

Yes, there are many backup programs out there. And you can get more complex. But let’s tone it down for a moment. All you really want to do is copy your important stuff from one cabinet to another. That’s all….breathe….there you go!

So, what’s up with backup software? Why the big deal? Why do people get paid tens of thousands of dollars to create complex backup plans for big companies??? Oh, I’m going to hyperventilate….

Backup programs can help make life easier. I use one. I know, I just told you copy and paste, that simple. Backup programs do the same thing. You tell them what to copy, and where to paste it. The nice thing about them is they can then do it automatically for you going forward.

My LaCie external drive came with a wonderful program called Silver Keeper. The program asks me what I want to backup (copy), and where I want to back it up to (paste). It then asks me when I want to do it. Once a week. Once a month. Daily? Only when I tell it to…..etc.

Look at the last screen shot. Pretty simple. On the left side I selected what I want to backup. I wanted to backup my music. On the right side I told it where to back up. The drive “500Gig” and into a folder called “Music”. Not so hard, right? The program does a few cool things though. Instead of recopying everything it checks to see what’s already in the backup, and what’s new. It only copies the new stuff, never touching the original stuff. All that does is save me time.

So, I could copy and paste entire folders every week, every day, every hour. Or I could let a simple backup program do it for me. By the way, all the external drives out there come with one form or other of backup software. For me, Silver Keeper meets my needs, and it’s not complex. Without it I’d simply copy and paste files, but that’s just me.

Wrapping up

That’s about it for backing up. Copy from one place, paste to another. Basically, document copies in 2 file cabinets. Not too hard.

If you want to see it in action, let me know. Leave a comment. I’d be happy to do a video podcast or two on backing up. If I do it I’ll post it over at the Digital RV Podcast site. Be specific in your request on podcasts, as I don’t want to go too generic if I do them.

What’s your bottom line? Here’s what you need to do before you run off to make your backups.

1. Determine what things you want to backup.
2. Once you’ve picked the files and folders you want to backup, find out how much space they take (right click in Windows and select properties…the file / folder size will be displayed….similar for Mac, but select Get Info instead of properties). Total up your required backup space.
3. Select the best storage media (file cabinet) for your needs. If you have under 8 GB of stuff to backup, a flash drive, DVD, or CD might work for you. If you need to backup more, check out an external hard drive at your local computer shop. Externals are cheap, run mostly on USB 2.0 connections (almost all new computers have USB connectors), and for under $200 you could backup your entire computer easily.

***Note: If you do an external hard drive, I recommend LaCie’s drives and Western Digital’s “MyBook”. I’m using both products, and I’ve had great success with each.

Recently there’s been more chatter about DRM and the media content we all consume. First off though, what is DRM?

DRM stands for Digital Rights Management. DRM technologies are used to keep consumers from making many copies of their favorite CD, DVD, MP3, or MP4 and sharing them with friends. In other words, it’s copyright protection. Nothing wrong with protecting the rights of artists, I’m in total agreement with it.

The stick in the mud here though is that your rights as a consumer also get put aside often. If you want to make a copy of your favorite movie DVD as a backup, shouldn’t you be able to? How about backing up your ITunes library? How about restoring your ITunes library if your computer fails, but your IPod has everything on it? Well, you can’t easily do these things!

While the controversy around DRM continues, there’s one easy suggestion I have for getting DRM free music. Radio Shark & XM.

With my XM radio I have access to so many different types of music and talk radio. It’s great! XM’s “Fred Radio” is a favorite channel. They play “Classic Alternative.” Can’t believe they’re calling music I listen to Classic.

The XM I own has an FM transmitter built into it. So, while in the Airstream I can listen to the XM over my radio. I can also pick up the XM radio with my Radio Shark. What does the Radio Shark do exactly?

Radio Shark is a USB antenna that you can plug into your Windows or Mac system. It comes with a software package that allows you to listen to AM & FM radio through your computer. Pretty cool. It also allows you to pause, rewind, fast forward, and record whatever you’re listening to over the airwaves.

The key to this article is the word “record”. You can record whatever you’re listening to over the airwaves. In my case, I record what comes across my XM. Digital radio gets recorded to my laptop, and when I’m done recording I can export to my IPod.

What that means to me is I can add to my music library through my XM subscription.

Now, this type of recording is also a big issue. But it’s been a big issue for a long time. People can record shows to their Tivo and copy them to their laptop. During the 80’s we all ran around with cassette tapes, recording our favorite songs off the radio (what a pain that was). VHS recorders captured TV content we missed. The list goes on and on.

However things play out with DRM and copyright issues for today’s latest recordings, there’s one way you can record the music you want. The Griffin Radio Shark.

Just don’t record and redistribute what you’ve saved. That’s where the law is clear, and you’ll have trouble on your doorstep!

Maybe you’re like me. Severely allergic to half the planet! Part of my year long trip in my RV was to find the right spot where I could live with the least allergens around!

If you’re looking to find the right spots to breathe easy, the Internet offers a fantastic way to track allergens.

Take a look at Pollen.com’s web site. Exactly what you need, when you need it. No additional forecasts, hunting through the latest hurricane reports or blizzard watched. Just listings on where allergens are, how bad they are, and places that are a little better today.

The main page at Pollen.com shows you the overall pollen levels across the U.S. Take a look at the graphic below.

As you can see, they list the best and worst 5 cities in the U.S each day. Talk about convinient!

You can go a little further and also check exactly where you are. Type in your zip code and get the following report….

Now, if you’re full-timing and planning your next move you’ll have all the information you need. Finding the best spot for your allergies in the U.S. couldn’t be easier! All thanks to being a Digital RV’er too!

In a surprising move, Apple launched Safari 3’s Beta for both Macintosh and Windows.  Why would Apple do that, given Firefox exists?

Over the past few years I’ve been using both Macintosh & Windows.  The browsers provided by each of the software manufacturers have never been as good as others available on the Internet.  Both Explorer and Safari always fell behind the curve.  And unfortunately, Safari for Windows (and Mac for that matter) still doesn’t measure up.

Apple claims speed increases in the latest inception of Safari over Explorer and Firefox.  Hunting the web you’ll find many groups that have already done benchmark testing to see if it’s true.  So far, the reviews seem to be mixed.

What is clear regarding the latest version of Safari is simple.  It’s no Firefox.

Fortunately, the latest version of Safari displays XHTML and CSS properly.  After a recent change to Gadget’s Airstream Chronicles I received several complaints from Windows users who browse the web with Internet Explorer.  Amazingly enough, Firefox, Netscape, & Safari could read the new version of the site perfectly.  Explorer choked, and it seems it was dying on the updated Style Sheets.  Geeze, Microsoft still can’t get it right, even if industry standards comply with the updated site.   Safari on Windows does in fact display the updated site properly, so there’s a plus in Apple’s favor.
Why the big software vendors think it’s necessary to create their own browser is beyond me.   My simple suggestion to everyone out there.  Get Firefox, enjoy your web browsing experience!  Sorry Apple, sorry Mircrosoft……you’re still not getting it in the browser space, and that’s fine, there are other people who do get it.

Need to read some reviews?  Here you go:

http://blog.wired.com/cultofmac/2007/06/wwdc_safari_3_o.html 

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070612-afirst-look-safari-3-on-windows.html 

Take it from me, both Windows & Mac users:  Stick to Firefox!

I’m asked all the time, “Who should I go with for a cell phone provider?”  And I’m always a little evasive about the question.

The big National Carriers are of course AT&T Wireless, Verizon Wireless, Sprint PCS, T-Mobile, and Alltel.  There are also regional carriers like US Cellular, Cricket, and Metro PCS.  All of these companies seem like they’ll be around for some time to come.  Worst case scenario, some may buy the others (still waiting for that).

What readers can take away from the list above is that these guys should be around a while in one incarnation or another.  I’d recommend picking from the group above, and steering away from the regional or city wide carriers.  You’re reading this site because you’re interested in being highly mobile.  With that in mind, stick to the nationals.

All of this came up this morning after reading an article at Gizmodo. It seems Amp’d mobile is going under.  I’d wondered when this would happen.  I’m sure Boost will be close behind as well.  The business models for these companies seemed a little flakey at best.

So, for your security, communications needs, etc., my best recommendation regarding wireless carriers is to stick with the national guys.  I’ve personally been using Verizon Wireless for years now, and I’ve been very satisfied with my service over the course of my last year of Digital RVing.

As a follow up to the recent blog entry, Copying DVDs…., I’m happy to let readers know that an 11 minute tutorial has been created on The Digital RV Podcast site.  In order to check out the tutorial simply follow this link.  If you’re a Mac user, this tutorial will have you ready to copy your DVD collection to your hard drive in no time.

For Windows users, I am working up a demo on a Windows system.  Don’t loose hope.  Unfortunately the Handbrake program on Windows just doesn’t work as well as the Mac version.  There are several Windows applications that are available at a cost of course.  And what I’ve found with those programs is hit or miss.  Some will copy certain DVDs and not others based on copyright protection built into the DVD.  I haven’t found one program that I can recomend as a package that always works 100% of the time, and that’s why there hasn’t been a tutorial on this blog or the podcast site.  I’m certainly not going to send you out to buy a $50 - $100 software package that only works 50% of the time at best.

If readers are aware of a great ripping package for Windows please pass it along.  I’ll be happy to test it, do a tutorial on its use, and create a video tutorial as well.  Just leave a comment here to let me know if you’ve found such a program.

If you’ve been looking around the site over the past few weeks you’ve probably noted several changes.  The overall look of the site has changed, and the finishing touches were put on today.

So, what’s new around the Digital RV?

• The Main Page, DigitalRV.net has a new look.
• The main site, the tech blog, and the podcast site now all have the same format.
• We’ve launched the Digital RV Podcast site now.  Going forward both video and audio podcasts reviewing new tech, showing tutorials, etc., will be available at the podcast site.  Take a look.

Sorry this blog has been quiet for a few weeks.  Time has been spent on the new podcast site, and the redesign of the main site as well.  Plus there’s been some new work on Gadget’s Airstream Chronicles as well.  Pop by there too.  That site still has it’s original look, and I’m not sure it will change.

In the next few weeks we’ll have some new reviews up here and on the podast site.  What will they be on?

1. The Invisible Shield:  An interesting product that will help protect your IPod.  Also created for other devices as well, but we tested one for the IPod 60GB Video model.
2. Sony’s latest hard drive camcorder:  If you’ve followed Gadget’s Airstream Chronicles you might have noted a change in the video quality…..
3. Wordpress:  Many how to’s on utilizing wordpress beyond blogging will start to be posted on the podcast site soon.
4. Many more fun items coming soon……

That’s all for today.  Check back soon!

Recently a neighbor at the park I’m currently staying in wanted to know more about backing up DVD’s. Or, in tech slang, “How to rip a DVD”.

I found a superior program not long ago called Handbrake. This little program, available for Mac or Windows, is designed to help you copy your DVD into a format that has a smaller file size, and can be replayed on your video IPod if you like. It’s a great program.

The latest version of Handbrake for Macintosh isn’t the most intuitive thing out there for an average user. When I got it, I wasn’t certain how to deal with it. So, I ended up spending a little time searching the web, and learning how to get the most out of Handbrake on my Macintosh. Below I list the “instructions” for using Handbrake, and provide a few screen shots of the program as well. Looking at the interface, you’ll find it probably isn’t the most intuitive thing out there, unless you’re a video person.

So, how do you copy / backup your personal DVDs for use on your computer or IPod. Well, here we go (these instructions are specific to Handbrake for Macintosh, and we’ll assume you’ve downloaded Handbrake):

• Insert your DVD. The DVD player will turn on and offer to play the movie. Exit the DVD Player.
• Open the Handbrake program. It will ask where you’re reading from. Select the CD/DVD drive.
• Once selected, you will get the following screen.  Definitely not the most intuitive program screen you’ve ever seen, right?
• DVD’s are divided up into chapters.  Usually for movies, there will be one big chapter that contains the movie.  Under the field called Title you will find selectable groupings of time.  If you’re backing up a movie, select the longest one.  In the case of my example above, the DVD has several TV episodes, each one running 22 - 25 minutes in length.
• Most of the settings can be left alone.  The Average bitrate is set at 1000.  I reduce it to 600.  Video quality doesn’t degrade too much, and it saves you hard drive space.
• On the right side of the screen, make sure you’re making an MP4 file, and give the file a name under “File:”
• The final important thing in handbrake is the picture settings button.  I learned the hard way.  To make a movie work on the Video IPod, it must be under 480 pixels wide.  Handbrake will copy your movie at full size by default.  You must specify a smaller screen size.  If you don’t, you’ll learn like me after copying a movie that it will not work on your IPod.  The following screen shot is of the picture settings interface: 
• Once you’ve picked your settings, you’re ready to “rip”.  The final product will be saved where you specified under the File section.
• Simply copy the new file to your ITunes program, and you’re ready to get it on to your IPod.  Movies to go!

Now I’ll tell you all the standard stuff.  You should only do this with DVDs you own.  Don’t share the files either.  The entertainment industry is really up in arms about this stuff, let’s not give them more reasons to make it harder on us to use media we purchased.

Handbrake is very useful beyond just moving stuff to your Ipod.  The other month I purchased Batman Begins.  Fun movie.  Well, I didn’t back it up, and in my travels the DVD got scratched.  Had I just taken the time to back it up with handbrake I’d still have the movie available to me.  Now all I’ve got a is a coaster (the scratched DVD).

Windows:

Right now I don’t have Windows screenshots.  I’ve found that Handbrake on Windows is hit or miss.  Some DVDs it works with, some it doesn’t.  I’ll do some more research today, as my neighbor at the park wants to move his DVD collection to hard drive.  He’s literally got one full cabinet, and one under couch bin of DVD’s.  Moving them to hard drive will save him substantial space for certain!

Once I find a good way to deal with Handbrake for Windows, or a better ripper program for windows, I’ll walk you through it as well.

In the past two posts the basics have been covered on podcasts. You now should have an idea of what they are, and how to find podcasts that interest you. But there’s a whole other dimension to Podcasts. That dimension is where you create your own podcast to share with the world.

Why on earth would you want to create a podcast? Well, for many the answers are the same as why you’d create a blog. Sharing information with a larger audience. Here’s a few reasons to consider podcasting:

• Instead of e-mailing everyone you keep in touch with, a podcast is a simple way to get information to everybody with only 1 step for you. Put the podcast up.
• You’ve got an interest in a topic that you want to relay to others. There are tech podcasts, travel podcasts, etc., out there on the net. But are there tech / travel podcasts that talk about horses too (if that’s what interests you for example).
• Just trying it out to exercise your creative side. You can be really simple, or super fancy with a podcast.

For this installment, I’m going to cover Video Podcasting and use Gadget’s Airstream Chronicles (my other blog) as the example. In the next installment here, I’ll cover audio podcasts as well.

What will you need to create a video podcast? Well, here’s the short list:

1. Still or Video Camera. If you’re using a still camera, your video will be more of a slide show. For my podcast I use the Canon SD550. It shoots still, and small video clips as well.
2. A computer, Windows or Macintosh.
3. An internet connection to put your pocast on the net.
4. Software to help you get the podcast out there. I use Wordpress (the blogging program), and Podpress, a plugin to wordpress which properly formats the podcast.

Got everything you need? Ok then, we’ll go through a podcast setup from start to finish. The examples are made with a mac. If you’d like Windows examples as well, let me know and I’ll post one later.

Getting a Video Podcast Together - Steps

1. Go out and shoot some video, or take a ton of still photos. In order to have a video podcast, you’re going to need some visual material.
2. Return with video and photos in hand and off load them to your computer. In the case of Gadget’s Airstream Chronicles podcasts, my photos and video get off loaded to IPhoto. See the image below. It shows both photos and video in IPhoto.
3. Now that you have your material, you’ve got to work with it. Since I’m using a Mac, I get all my clips and photos together and work with them in IMovie. In IMovie you can assemble your video or photos, edit the video, and put titles and transitions in between clips or photos. You can also drop background music in if you like! Below you’ll see a screen shot of a project coming together in IMovie. I won’t get into the full IMovie usage details. If readers want more indepth coverage of use of any program listed in this example, leave me a comment and I’ll put together another post to cover your interests!
4. Once you’ve got your product together, you now need to save it out for use on the web. I will cover the export features in IMovie, as it’s important, and a pain to figure out. See, all the Mac products have defaults for exporting to the web, ITunes, your IPod, etc. However, after using their defaults I decided I didn’t like them. So instead I started using the “expert” settings, and I’ll show you what I’ve been doing for the settings. On the IMovie menu bar, there’s a category for “Share”. This is where you’ll export your movie. You can share to DVD’s, Web, E-mail, etc. The last option, Share is the one where you can select Expert settings. Look at the next image to see. While you can use the generic settings for IPod or the Web, the compression on both defaults is not at its best. Frankly, the files come out too big for web use, and the quality isn’t as great as it could be. Believe me, I’ve experimented tons with this one. So, what are the settings that have worked with Gadget’s Airstream Chronicles. Well, look at the next image….
5. With all the settings in place, you now sit back and wait for you export to complete.  Once completed, you’ve got to upload your new podcast to your web site.  That involves using an FTP Program (File Transfer Protocol).  Need me to get into FTP more?  Let me know.
6. Once the file has been uploaded to your server, you’re ready to list it for use.  I’m going to assume that you’re a Wordpress user, and that you’ve added Podpress to the Wordpress Install.  I’ve found these two programs together make for an easy way to get podcasts up on the web and running.
7. In wordpress, you act as if you’re creating a standard Post.  So, right at the dashboard when you enter, select “Write a post”.  Provided you’ve added Podpress to your Wordpress, you’ll find several new options in your post menu.  See the image below. 
8. The podpress interface is simple to use.  Select the file you’ve uploaded, give it a title, tell it what type of file it is, etc.  It will automatically get file size and duration.  Pretty slick.

That’s it.  Once you’ve gone through this, you have a podcast up on the web.

Now I’m betting I’ll get requests for specific information on using:

• Wordpress
• Podpress
• IMovie

If you’d like more on these, let me know, and I’ll add them.

For the next installment, I’ll work on putting together a sample for audio only podcasts.  Easy enough to do as well.  Oh, and want to see a final product video podcast?  I can help you out there too.  Check out this link to see one of the podcasts from Gadget’s Airstream Chronicles.

In the last article, Podcasts were generically covered. For this installment, we’ll get into more detail on getting podcasts, playing podcasts, and podcasts that might be of interest to Digital RV’ers.

How to get Podcasts

There’s a host of Podcasts out there for listeners today. From replays of your favorite radio show, to new and cutting edge material from unknown podcasters, there’s something for everyone.

The first place I look for podcasts is Apple’s ITunes Store. If you have ITunes on your computer (works with Windows and Macintosh), and you’re connected to the internet, you can sort through many Podcasts that are available.

Keep in mind, with the ITunes music store you can find free podcasts and pay for podcasts. Pay attention when looking through the ITunes music store before signing up. For instance, I enjoy listening to Dave Ramsey (a financial guy). He offers a 1 hour daily podcast update from his 3 hour show. If you want more, you can sign up for the full 3 hours as a pay for podcast.

If you can read the graphic above, you’ll see the Podcast button on the left hand side. In the main window you’ll see several of the podcasts I currently subscribe to (more about those later).

You don’t have to use ITunes to listen to or watch podcasts, there are many other ways. You can download directly from some podcasters web sites. For instance, my personal blog has started carrying Gadget’s Airstream Blog Podcasts. Readers can watch the podcasts right on the website, or download them directly to their hard drives.

There are of course many ways to find and subscribe to podcasts now. Don’t feel restricted to ITunes alone. How else can you find podcasts of interest to you?

Finding Podcasts

As quickly as a new technology pops up, services show up to help you make use of the new technology.

Here are some of the big Podcast Subscription services. You can subscribe to podcasts, find podcasts, or even list your own (we’ll talk more on that in the next installment):

• PodcastAlley.com
• Feedburner.com
• DigitalPodcast.com
• Apple’s Web Site

There are many more sites out there. Do a simple search on finding podcasts. You’ll come up with a ton.

Types of Podcasts Available

Podcasts cover the whole spectrum. Just like TV and radio. If you’re interested in a topic, there’s bound to be a podcast on it. Personally, I’ve got a few favorites. They’re listed below:

• The VAP: The Vintage Airstream Project. This is a fun podcast covering Vintage Airstream Restoration. It’s interesting to more than just Airstreamers.
• Dave Ramsey: A favorite financial radio talk show host. There’s a free daily hour of his show available.
• Inside Mac: This podcast covers all things Macintosh. I enjoy learning the latest from Inside Mac.

Like I said, if you have an interest, you’ll find a podcast on it.