| Learning the High Tech Way |
| By Secretary |
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Okay. I admit it. I'm a techno-geek. The minute my first computer was placed in front of me, I was hooked, and it's a passion that continues to this day.
As many of you are aware, I am also a road warrior -- making the trek to Midtown every day in my car to get to work (ugh) in order to pay for some of my techno-geek toys (and oh yeah, some bills, too!).
I remember a time when I read books voraciously. If I wasn't working or taking care of my family, there was a book in my hand. I couldn't close my eyes and settle in for a good night's sleep until I read at least a few pages of a book. Magazines were devoured on a regular basis.
Alas, the craziness of my life doesn't leave much time for reading these days, and if I did have the time (and energy) to read before retiring for the night, I probably wouldn't get more than two sentences read before falling asleep! Indeed, most of my reading these days is either on health or photography topics and is done on my computer!
I am also an optimist -- having learned early in life from my parents that the glass is always half full. I'm always trying to find the good in even the worst situations. Being a good techno-geek, road warrior who is always on the look-out for ways to make the best of a bad situation (for the purpose of this website entry, the Atlanta traffic), I stumbled upon digital books that can be downloaded onto my iPod and listened to on the commute. Doing this has served two purposes: It has allowed me to "read" again, and it has helped keep my stress levels down to a tolerable level. Oh yeah, I also pick up a bit of knowledge here and there and even a laugh or two along the way.
I pay for a monthly membership which allows me to download two books per month. However, traffic in Atlanta being what it is (awful ... did I say traffic in Atlanta is awful??), I was going through books as though they were water, and purchasing additional downloads when I finished listening to my two a month was rapidly costing me a little more money than I was willing to spend.
I realized that I had to find a less expensive way to partake in my multi-purposed, techno-geek habit, and then I stumbled on ... FREE PODCASTS. Oh my! I have hit the jackpot with free podcasts! Not all podcasts are free, but there are many that are indeed free.
A person can listen to all kinds of podcasts produced by all sorts of people on literally every topic under the sun FOR FREE! Now, the internet being what the internet is ... there is no telling how long it will be before many of the free podcasts are no longer free, so I figure I'm going to get it while the gettin's good! There's a wealth of information out there to tap into.
There are also many podcasts out there that somebody may download and decide that they just don't like for whatever reason. That's pretty easy to deal with -- all one has to do is delete the podcast and not listen to any more of them.
For those of you who may not know exactly what a podcast is, think of it as being similar to a radio show which is produced and stored on the internet that can be (a) listened to on a website; (b) downloaded and listened to on your computer (when not connected to the internet, or (c) downloaded and put onto an iPod or other MP3 player to listen to on the go. Podcasts are oftentimes produced on a regular schedule, as in weekly, monthly, or some other frequency. My explanation of a podcast probably leaves a lot to be desired for the true techno-geeks who are higher on the ladder rung than I, but I'm only a techno-geek by hobby -- not by trade -- and I was hoping to present the idea in very basic terms to those who don't really understand podcasts.
Of all the many different topics for which podcasts can be found online, I would like to mention just a few of the photography podcasts that I have found (since this IS a camera club website, after all): Radiant Vista has a podcast that is always good, as does Light Source. A few of the others that I downloaded tonight are Lenswork, Digital Photography and Photography 101. I haven't listened to any of these yet, but will download a few episodes from each to try tomorrow.
There are many places on the internet from which to download podcasts, and I couldn't even begin to cover all of the possibilities in this entry. I can say that I use iTunes to get my podcasts. Once I get into the Podcast section of iTunes, I simply type in "photography" in the search box, and a listing of all the different photography podcasts comes up from which to choose. I then choose "subscribe," which allows each new episode of a particular podcast to be downloaded when it becomes available. Then, it's just a matter of transferring the episodes to my iPod and listening.
I realize that this is a very basic explanation of podcasts, but I hope it gives those who are interested in podcasts something to at least research a bit on their own. We are all very busy these days, and I think downloading podcasts are a great way to get in some more learning time while making use of some down time.
Enjoy!
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