What can you do with them?

Playing your podcasts is easy!

A podcast consists of an MP3 or other media file wrapped in an RSS feed, which is similar XML code to the one used by, for example, the BBC for providing automatic news updates to your computer.

How to play your podcast

Podcasts are media files that may be played on any computer, MP3, MP4, mobile phone or iPod. You do not need an iPod to listen to a podcast. They were given their name because with the proper software you can have them downloaded and placed onto an iPod automatically. On this site, we offer two ways to listen to podcasts: downloading or subscribing.

Downloading

If you want to save a podcast onto your computer and listen to it later, you can right-click a download link and select Save Target As… Once it has been completely downloaded, you can open it in any program that plays MP3, MP4 or M4A files. In the case of M4A files, an iPod or iTunes are necessary. Once downloaded, transfer these files to your player using your standard synchronization software.

Subscribing

If you want to automatically download each enhanced podcast (podscrolls) as soon as it is posted on this site, you can subscribe to the RSS feed for the podcast. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication, and it is a way of notifying users when new information is available. To subscribe to an RSS feed you must download and install an RSS aggregator, such as Juice. Once this is installed, you can add the URL of this site’s RSS feed, which is http://www.edgecast.co.uk/Downloads/Podscrolls/edgecast.xml

The aggregator will check the site on a regular schedule, which you can set, and will download each new episode’s m4a as it becomes available. This service is only available for enhanced podcasts for iTunes at present.

RSS

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. This is a bit of computer code that tells the software on your computer that an update or new file is available. Your computer will then automatically download the new file, and transfer it to your mobile media player.