I have been podcasting since April of 2007, and I wanted to share my version of how to start a podcast. For purposes of this article, let’s say you’d like to start a pretty basic podcast. To start off, you’ll need access to a few items and services.

1. You own Web site or podcast hosting
2. A headset, or headphones and a microphone
3. Topics of discussion

For beginners, a cheap headset will do, and you can one get for as little as about $10.00 USD (like the Cyber Acoustics Stereo Headset/Microphone). This was my second mic, and my first headset. If you want much better quality (and spend more money), you can buy podcasting kits that include a pro-grade microphone, a mixer, and some type of computer audio interface.

For recording software, you can’t go wrong with free (as in speech) Audacity. Audacity is an open-source audio recording/editing program. I used Audacity for numerous episodes of Apple Universe, and occasionally I’ll find a use for the program. (Editor’s note: For much more advanced recording and mixing than Audacity handles, try Kristal Audio Engine, a free program similar in functionality to Adobe Audition.)

Once you record and edit your podcast’s episodes, you need to get them out to the world. For publishing your podcast, you can use web space you currently have access to, or take advantage of one of the numerous free podcasting services. I started out with, and still use, MypodCast.com, a free podcast host. Their service provides you give you a home page, hosting for unlimited episodes, and an RSS feed for listeners to subscribe to. The only catch (which isn’t even so bad) is that MyPodcast will insert or append a short ad spot (somewhere around 30 seconds) at the beginning or end of each episode you publish.

Perhaps the most critical element of your podcast is the topic you discuss. With my podcast, I started out thinking I would talk about Apple news, which I still am. However, now Apple Universe is covering Apple rumors and events, and many people have been interviewed on my podcast. I stayed with one topic, but expanded the idea. If you have a topic, there is no limit on how wide you can extend it.

Podcasting is quite possibly the hottest media of today, and I hope this article convinces you to join the revolution.Head out and pick up your first microphone, and sign up on MyPodcast.com and start podcasting! There is no limit to where podcasting can take you.

As many of you readers are also Apple Universe subscribers, I would like to give you an update. Apple Universe has recorded episodes up to 93, and should record another 2 today. The reason I am recording a lot of podcasts at once, is because I am recording Apple Universe Episode #100 January 15th, 2007.

Now, Apple Universe Episode #92 has been re-recorded but the audio quality is very bad, and will have to be re-recorded once more. I once again apologize for this, and I hope to get the episode out soon.  Dave Sifry is the guest on this episode, so when Dave and I get a time straight, we will re-record.

Thank you for understanding,

Daniel Brusilovsky 

When it comes to social networking, we all know and love the networks. I mean, come one now….who doesn’t have a Twitter, a Facebook or even a MySpace account? You may just think that it is a place to get connected with friends, which it is, but do you really think, when you are on Facebook, that you are “socially networking”? Being that I am a kind of person who likes to stay connected and meet knew people in the business, I am trying to be more “open”.Everyone knows that I LOVE Twitter. It is my favorite social networking, and Twittterific is the first application to start up on my Mac. For me, Twitter is a way of knowing what my friends are doing. Although I may not know all of these “friends” by face, I “follow” them. To follow a person means to request to see their “tweets”, or updates on their activities..

For a while now, I have kept my updates protected, only letting people that I know, or whom I heard of, follow me. I don’t do this to hide feelings of anything like that; I do it to stay safe on the internet. There are people like Robert Scoble, Jason Calacanis who let anyone who wants to follow them. Then that comes to me. Why don’t I let everyone follow me? I don’t write any bad tweets, or anything like that. What I do write about is new blog posts, new Apple Universe episodes, when I leave and come back, and those types of things.

That is why I wonder why I still keep my updates protected. As much as I want to open my Twitter, there is still a thought about something happening that I don’t know about. What do you think?Do you think that Twitter should be open? Should I open my tweets to anyone who wants to see them? In the end, it just brings more traffic to Apple Universe, my blog, and any other links that I add.

Please let me now your opinons – reply in a comment below, or email me at appleuniversepodcast@gmail.com.

Today, Victor Cajiao was on Apple Universe (click to view or download the episode). Victor is the host and producer of a podcast called Typical Mac User Podcast, which I regularly listen to. We talked about about MacWorld 2008 predictions and Apple’s future!

Also, Apple Universe is having its very first contest! Here are the rules:

Make a video that tells me why you need and/or want iShowU, the best video capturing software for Mac OS. The video must be less than five (5) minutes in length. If you can, upload that video to YouTube, and send me an email with a link to the video. If you can’t upload it to YouTube, email the entire video file to appleuniversepodcast@gmail.com.

The contest will run until Apple Universe episode number 95 is released, giving everyone plenty of time to make their videos. May the most techy man win!

Daniel Greg, my sponsor for Apple Universe, is the maker of BitClamp. We have decided to make  a speicial deal with Apple Universe listeners to get a 20% off discount of the retail price of BitClamp!

Here is the code: APPLEUNIVERSE

Type that in when buying to get your 20% off discount at BitClamp! Thanks Daniel!

~Daniel Brusilovsky 

As my quest continues to find sponsorships, I have reached another deal with Daniel Greg from Crimson Sky Software, makers of BitClamp!

Please check out BitClamp, and you will see more to come on Apple Universe!

~Daniel

As you all know, I said 2 blog posts ago that there is a Apple Universe contest coming up! Well, today during the recording, I talked about the contest. Now I am going to blog about it.

shinywhitebox, the maker of iShowU, is a sponsor of Apple Universe. Neil from shinywhitebox has agreed to give me 2 serial numbers to iShowU. So now it is contest time.

Here is what you have to do:

Make a less then 5 minute video telling me, Daniel, why you need and/or want iShowU, the best video capturing software! If you can, upload that video to YouTube, and if you can’t, either way, email me at appleuniversepodcast@gmail.com with the link to the YouTube video or the video as an attachment. I will watch every video that I get.

I wish everyone the best of luck, and let the best video win!

Daniel Brusilovsky
Host and Producer, Apple Universe

I recently had Alan Levy, CEO of BlogTalkRadio on Apple Universe to talk about the service. I was searching the web, and I found this neat post. Here it is:

Alan Levy on Apple Universe

“Daniel Brusilovsky, host of the Apple Universe podcast, welcomed BlogTalkRadio CEO Alan Levy to his program for a chat about BlogTalkRadio. Apple Universe is a podcast hosted by Mr. Brusilovsky, who also hosts Tech Today, Web Review and is an almost-BlogTalkRadio host. He is an Apple computer enthusiast and a very bright individual.

So you may be surprised to hear that he is also a sophomore in High School, plays in the Jazz and Wind Ensembles, and is the Co-President of the technology club, Mousesquad.

Apple Universe Episode #83 “Blog, Talk and Radio!” features Daniel grilling Alan on the BlogTalkRadio platform. Tune in for details. Daniel is a tech, web and Apple guru and is racking up quite a collection of guests on his podcast. Check out his blog and his Apple Universe podcast for more.”

Thanks Alan for being on Apple Universe!

[BlogTalkRadio Blog]

Hey Apple Universe Listeners,Its been a while since I last did a blog post about Apple Universe, but I have some great news! As you know, one of my sponsors, shinywhitebox, has graciously agreed to give 2 licences to iShowU. Here is some info about iShowU:

For you, the user

• Simple – iShowU is designed specifically to be easy to use. If you don’t want to customize anything, it’ll work straight out of the tin. All you have to do is hit ‘Record’ and you’ll have a nice little video on your desktop in no time. 
• Universal Binary – Native speed, no matter what Mac you own. 
• Records any audio – iShowU can record both from a microphone source (so that you can call the action), and also from the standard system output* of your Mac. One click is all it takes. 
• User specified capture size – The user can easily specify the size of the video to be captured, using an intuitive ‘see through’ video preview. Just drag the corners around to specify the size, and hit enter. 
• Pause / Resume – When recording you’re free to pause and then resume the capture at any time. Great if the phone rings half way through your work. 
• Fixed or follow mouse modes – Sometimes you’ll want the capture rectangle (think of it as a movie camera that tracks your mouse) to follow the mouse, and other times, you’ll want to capture just one area of the screen. iShowU can do both. 
• Mouse Capture – You can choose to capture mouse movement during your video. Unlike other capture systems, the mouse is recorded in a separate high resolution video track (that takes almost zero memory), so even if you’re only capturing half a frame a second, mouse movement is liquid smooth. If you want to record a movie for playback on something other than QuickTime, iShowU can record the mouse per-frame as well. 
• Presets – Create as many different settings as you like, for different types of recording. This allows you to quickly switch between different recording modes with a single click. 
• Leopard – iShowU already works with it 
• As visible as you want – or not – You have full control over whether iShowU has an icon in the dock, automatically hides itself when you begin recording and whether or not it shows up in the status bar. Make it visible so you can see recording status, or hide it completely. Up to you.

Want control over your video capture? – try these

• Capture scaling – When capturing, you can downsize the video to 75 or 50% of it’s original size. 
• Support for key/non-keyframes – iShowU can encode using I/B/P frames – meaning that captured movies are much smaller (note: only some codecs, H264 in particular support this). 
• Self tuning capture performance – iShowU monitors it’s own capture performance. If the effective capture throughput is lower than expected (for example, due to the choice of encoder or system load), it will automatically lower the capture rate so that it doesn’t consume graphics resources if the encoder cannot keep up. It will also increase the capture rate if more system resources are available. 
• User defined audio/video quality – While internet connections are getting faster, it’s still going to take a while to transfer a 5GB movie to your Mum. iShowU compresses audio using AAC, and video using whatever method you think it appropriate (it defaults to H264). In addition, you can specify the quality of the video to your liking. 
• Choose your video format – If it’s supported by quicktime, it’s supported by iShowU. Realtime H.264 compression struggling a bit on the G4? Use Apple Anumation. iShowU lets you choose what works for you. 
• Custom frame rates – When there’s not much going on (i.e: you’re not moving the mouse, just speaking) iShowU will capture at a lesser frame rate. When you start moving the mouse around (and the capture rectangle follows it) then it’ll use a faster frame rate so that the motion looks smooth. Saves on bandwidth too! 
• Multiple screen support – Works with any screen configuration, and automatically reconfigures itself on the fly – even if you change the screen configuration while recording. 

 As you can see, iShowU is jam packed with really cool features! On Apple Universe Episode #82, Ben Higginbotham and I talked about iShowU for about 10 minutes! Check out the episode here: LINK.Thank you Neil from shinywhitebox for this opportunity. I will announce the contest on Apple Universe #85!