@Podder 1.5 Experimental (Beta)

Summary of System Requirements

• recent Java Virtual Machine (probably installed with your browser).
• User Requirements: sufficient vision and manual dexterity to handle large font buttons.
• Limitations: Does not (yet) support screen readers
• Recommended: trial or purchased versions) desktop text-to-speech engines and voices
• Recommended more than 2 GB of disk space for growing a podcast collection integrated currently with Windows XP and VISTA platforms

Design Goals for @Podder

Install or Update

• Synthetic voice spoken for help, save in Help directory
• mp3 demo of @Podder save in Help directory
• Overview of @Podder and aPodder.org Project collecting podcasts on eyesight-related topics, describing a Vision Loser experience now in the blog, and experimentation with Easy Viewing software model

Update ONLY

Details, Tips, Tricks, Trouble-shooting

1. Launch @Podder from a desktop icon created by a shortcut @Podder1c.jar
2. Uh, oh, what if nothing happens (after 1 minute)? Trouble shoot: Missing Java Runtime
3. Great! It's on my screen, what now? @Podder comes pre-loaded with a welcome message and interesting podcast feeds. Click "Process" (or, use keyboard PERIOD then letter R) and @Podder will begin processing feeds and downloading podcasts. In your first processing session, @Podder will download at most two podcasts for each feed so you won't be inundated with mp3 files from the past year. You're free to remove feeds or mark one at a time for processing. Your first session might take 15 minutes or so - use Cancel All after 1 or 2 podcasts are downloaded to continue on to the next step. It's pretty slow downloading, how long do I wait? Yes, you're retrieving files typically 20MB from busy servers and your local connection may be slow at times. We've timed the download on a cable connection taking about 15 minutes. Your choices are: (1) take a walk, get coffee, break, ..., (2) read the @Podder HELP, (3) browse href="PodcastLibrary">our VISION podcast collection, (4) after the 1st file download, click Cancel All to go into the Play Podcasts mode, (5) check out some of the text-to-speech tools (you'll love them!).
4. Ok, podcasts are downloaded, but how do I play them? The "Play Podcasts" tab opens and you'll see a list of downloaded files with new podcasts check-marked. Click "Play Marked" and your Windows Media Player should appear with these podcasts starting to play. Also, check your browser for the compiled show notes with links and podcast descriptions. You can also play mp3 files directly from the compiled show notes. Nothing happens? Trouble shoot Missing Media Player
5. How do I set up my own feed list? Go to Podcast Alley or other directories to locate interesting new podcasts. Look for an i(con that says "RSS" or "Podcast" feed (ignore iTunes) and copy that link using right click and "copy shortcut" or "copy link location". Then click the "XML>>>" button to copy the feed URL into the box. One more step, "Add Feed" and @Podder will tell you whether the feed looks like it's working.
   • Do you have subscriptions from other podcatchers like Doppler or iPodder? or maybe you've snagged somebody's "podcast favorites" list. These are exchanged as OPML files (you don't need, or want to know, about OPML). Save the file into the directory where you installed @Podder and name the file exactly imports.opml . Closing and restarting @Podder you'll be asked about whether to import all the subscriptions or choose each one and have it validated. You can later delete feeds you don't want. To add more imports, simply delete or rename the previous imports.opml file and replace it with the new one. @Podder's feed list is exported as @Podder-feeds.opml.
   • Here are more feeds about eyesight and podcasting to import
6. Want @Podder to speak descriptions of podcasts and feeds? Any tool that does text-to-speech reading from the clipboard will (mostly) work. We recommend (14-day trial, $30 shareware) CoolSpeech from ByteCool Software. First turn on the @Podder option "Clipboard Speech" and then configure CoolSpeech voices to read from the clipboard. Then, whenever you click an @Podder table item, you may ask to hear its description. Download progress will also be announced. Turn on the verbose option and parts of the screen will be described. You may want to change the voice if you're stuck with "Microsoft Sam" using other voices available (we prefer ATT Natural Voices, $30 each). Good alternatives (which include the improved ATT Voices and writing speech to files) are Ace-High Text Reader and TextAloud. However, these latter readers require more configuration and synchronize less well with @Podder. These tools are great for everyday use to read web pages and other text files.
7. The HELP tab will give you more information and definitions for podcasting. Click the Listen link to hear the page spoken using the media player.
8. Need to delete podcasts to save space or because you've lost interest? Use Mark-Delete in @Podder's Play tab, or Open Folder and delete the usual Windows way. @Podder will remember you've downloaded the file and never retrieve it again. Deleting feeds also offers the option to remove all associated feeds and records of them. You can also delete mp3 files from Media Windows Player.
9. Want a routine to accumulate podcasts to listen to every few days? Use Windows Media Player auto playlist. Create a new auto playlist and set two options: Date added after (yesterday/week,whatever) and filename contains "@Podder". Also set the Library to monitor the @Podder/mp3 directory for new files to add. This playlist will track the mp3 files downloaded by @Podder. You might also set up another playlist for mp3 files you rate within Media Player. Ratings can also be used to artificially mark podcasts you want to come back to, e.g. long or important ones.
10. One more extension is to define your own tags. It's easy, just use the OPEN DATA button and edit the text file named communityTags.txt. Here are lots of tags about eyesight.

TROUBLE SHOOTING

• If @Podder does not start , your Windows installation is not properly configured for Java. Set up the latest Java Runtime by downloading from Sun Microsystem (home of Java). or using the Java Runtime (15MB) copy on our website. The Java Runtime probably came bundled with your browser but may not be up to date or be limited by security administrative policies, although Java is a safe, modern, and flexible software platform.
• When using @Podder, if you cannot play podcasts or you're behind in versions, download Windows Media Player from (15MB) our website copyor from Microsoft. Windows Media Player site. Here's more tips and articles on using WMP.

Feedback

Other Materials and Source Code

• Default @Podder files: communityTags.txt and help.txt and profile.xml in case of loss, also opml files for eyesight-related podcasts and a variety of, not all family friendly, podcasts. Download zipped auxillary @Podder data
• "Why podcasting?" presentation or outlines
• use case map
• Requests for source code distributed under GNU Public License