Podcasts, Feeds and All That

Note: The files contained in the UCCH podcasts and news feeds are intended for the non-commercial use of the members and friends of the United Church of Chapel Hill. The content of the files is protected by U.S. Copyright.

Podcasts

The word "podcast" has entered the language, meaning audio or video content that is "published" (that is, made available on the internet) periodically, and that can be "subscribed" to with a "feed reader".

The most popular feed reader for podcasts is iTunes, from Apple. iTunes for Windows XP/2000 and Mac OS X is a free download. With iTunes, you go to the podcast's home page and press the "Subscribe" button. If you subscribe to a podcast, new audio and video content is automatically copied to your computer, when it is published. Content can also be played directly from the podcast home page, without subscribing. Although Apple iPods are often used with podcasts, an iPod is not required to listen to a podcast.

Other, browser-based feed readers can also be used to listen to podcast content. Google Reader is a popular feed reader.

UCCH Sermon Audio Podcast

United Church has begun a podcast of the sermon audio from the Sunday morning service. If you have iTunes installed, there is a direct link to the UCCH podcast home page in iTunes. You can also find the UCCH home page in iTunes by searching for "United Church of Chapel Hill" in the iTunes store search box. If you are using a non-iTunes feed reader, you will "subscribe" to the podcast feed by entering the feed URL. The feed URL for the UCCH podcast is http://www.unitedchurch.org/podcasts/feed.xml

If you don't feel like dealing with podcast clients, you can access the sermon audio mp3s directly from the sermon audio page. Usually, just clicking on an audio link will cause the mp3 to play.

Feeds

While "podcast" usually refers to audio or video content, the same publish-subscribe idea also applies to other media types like text or pictures. So, for example, the United Church Gazette has a feed file of its own. If you are subscribed to the Gazette feed, every time something new is published you can see the content in your feed reader. iTunes cannot be used for text content, so you will have to use a different feed reader, such as Google Reader.

UCCH Feeds