According to the US Census, Americans spend more than 100 hours per year commuting ( 1). You might be able to leverage some of that time listening and learning from audio content. Between audio books and the advent of podcasting, specialized recordings have mushroomed. I thought I'd highlight some of my favorite audio sites.

I've always enjoyed listening to audio books, radio programming while I commute or exercise. It seems like such an easy way to digest books or content I wouldn't get to read. In the past year, I listened to 26 books. Although I could listen to music, I'm more apt to download audio content to my Palm OS or Pocket PC device.

Some of the audio content I listen to are podcasts. Some people mistakenly think these files are only for Apple's iPod. While these files can be played on an iPod, they can also be played on MP3 players and many PDAs. The distinction is podcast files are usually distributed in an enclosure tag of a RSS feed.

While you can download audio files directly from many sites, you may find it easier to subscribe to a podcast using a RSS reader that handles enclosures or a podcatcher. The advantage to subscribing is the content automatically comes to you as opposed to you retrieving the file. If there is a program you regularly listen to, I'd suggest subscribing to the podcast using one of these methods:

1. Subscribe to the podcast's feed with a RSS reader that handles enclosure tags such as FeedDemon.

2. Use a program designed to download podcasts such as iTunes, iPodder, or Doppler.

Content Providers

Audible I've been a subscriber to Audible for years. I think they offer the best selection of books, magazines, radio shows and executive book summaries for reasonable prices. They use a proprietary codec, which does an excellent job of compressing speech so the files are considerably smaller than a MP3 without compromising sound quality. As example, I have a 5-hour book excerpt on my Palm's SD card and the file is 35Mbs.

The company provides software that manages the file transfer between your PC and audio devices. The software supports many MP3 players, PDAs and iPods. You can also burn content to CDs although this method doesn't use their codec.

Audible's inventory exceeds 23,000 programs. They cover everything from current best sellers such as Malcolm Gladwell's blink to the audio version of the Wall Street Journal. The content is nicely categorized and supplemented by a search engine. Each program page includes a publisher description, customer reviews and a link to hear a sample. You can buy individual items, but it's more economical to subscribe to one of their plans.

(Disclosure: 04/07) I became an Audible affiliate and you may see their ads appearing on this site.

IT Conversations This user-supported site is a gem if you follow information technology. This site offers popular series such as public radio's weekly Tech Nation show with Dr. Moira Gunn to tech conference highlights such as Supernova 2005. The conference excerpts are usually subject to a time embargo, but well worth the wait.

Each conversation includes an abstract and detailed description. You can download the conversation as either a MP3 or AAC file. You also have the option of listening to the conversation from your web browser.

The Podcast Network The Podcast Network is a new venture from Australia. It contains a growing list of specialized broadcasts covering animals to wine with plenty in between. The channels or categories include Tech and Science, Business, Entertainment, Sport, Lifestyle and Radio Drama. The shows I've listened to have been informative and entertaining. The hosts are well informed, passionate and sometimes opinionated.

Each show has its own page with a summary of episodes and show notes. The show notes are a nice feature as they provide a time marker as to when each topic starts. This outline helps if you want to listen to a part of the show.

One point to remember about podcasts is the show hosts and guests aren't subject to the same regulations as radio personnel. This is an unregulated medium and people may use colorful language. In a few cases, the language is very much part of the presentation. In these circumstances, the producers have placed advisory notices on the show page.

Searching for Content

Searching for audio content is not a straightforward task. There are certain sites such as Podcast.Net, which offer a directory of podcasts. These sites are designed to help you find a podcast and subscribe to its RSS feed. Usually, this is based on using the category structure or searching for terms that match the author provided description.

Other search tools try to find the spoken word within a broadcast. For example, if I were to search for the terms "computer security" in Podcast.Net, their site would return podcasts that had that term in the title or description. Using the same terms in Podscope or Blinx.TV would produce a list of specific broadcasts where these terms were mentioned. This is a more complicated task since the way a term is spelled may vary considerably from its spoken counterpart.

Podcast.Net This site is a huge directory of podcasts with a nice search feature and alphabetical keyword sort. Podcasters can upload their RSS feed information and provide a description, keyword tags and categories.

Each podcast has its own page that provides more information about the content and author. You can see individual show listings and play the show from your browser. You can also directly subscribe to the RSS feed or go to the author's website.

Another advantage to this site is you can subscribe to a keyword tag feed. This is a nice feature, but you are confined to the author's suggested tags. Also, the tags are single words such as"VoIP" or "bookreviews".

Blinkx.TV this is a beta search engine for broadband users that allows keyword, Boolean and concept searching. I was very pleased with the results, but it took me a bit to get acquainted with the interface. When I first went to the site, I focused on the prominent caption "Looking for podcasts?" and I clicked. This brought me to a page that looked like it only searched videos, as I didn't see a reference to podcasts. Instead, I should've entered the query in the large search box above the previous caption and selected the podcasts radio button.

From the results page, you can subscribe to the podcast or create a SmartFeed folder. This is special folder that automatically updates when new content becomes available, but also allows you to listen or view content while offline.

I noticed that on one of my machines, I could see a filmstrip along the left side of the results. As I moved my mouse over the strip, I could click and play the podcast. I did not get the filmstrip on my notebook.

Podscope Podscope is a search engine that searches in an audio or video file for the spoken words. Like most search engines, you enter in the term or terms. Your results are displayed in a list and you can click the + sign to see more details and options. If you have the flash player installed, you can also hear an audio sample or play the file.

The site is still in beta, but looks promising. When using this site, you may need to be creative in how you search. For example, if I entered the abbreviation RFID, I didn't get any results. However, if I entered "radio frequency identification", I did get results.

Referenced Resources:

• URL: www.feeddemon.com/
• URL: www.apple.com/itunes/download/
• URL: http://ipodder.sourceforge.net/index.php
• URL: www.dopplerradio.net/?page_id=74
• URL: http://www.audible.com/
• URL: http://www.itconversations.com/
• URL: http://www.thepodcastnetwork.com/
• URL: http://www.podcast.net/
• URL: www.blinkx.com/overview.php
• URL: http://www.podscope.com/