After spending a few months in private beta, Odeo has launched a new version of its podcast aggregation service. OK, actually it looks like the new version of the site launched a few weeks ago, but we just noticed it, thanks to a short writeup over at TechCrunch. The updated site features a sleek new design and video. Lots and lots of video.
Odeo now has videos from about half a million different partners, including major content partners like Blip.tv and Revision3. There's also an improved Flash player for watching videos or listening to audio on the site. At its heart, Odeo is still a podcast aggregation site, which means that there are download links for most audio and videos. Because while you can spend all day watching videos online, sometimes you want to download them and take them with you on your portable media player.
Users can also create profile pages, create playlists, rate podcasts, and share content using email links or embed code. The developers are also working on an improved version of Odeo Studio, a utility that lets users record or upload podcasts using a web browser.
The nearly unpronounceable but endlessly creative Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich turn their microscope towards the podcast with this excellent series from New York's WYNC. Tackling issues as diverse as Laughter, Sleep, Time and 'Who Am I?' these uber-geeks play on the fringes of radio documentary, journalism and sound art. Abumrad comes to the series with a pedigree that includes composing music for films and television and extensive radio documentary work while Krulwich comes to Radiolab as the much lauded Science Correspondent for the US National Public Radio network.
Radiolab takes on themes relating to science, nature or culture and examines them through a prism filtered by scientific method, social history, personal experience and sound production methods. Produced in series of 5 parts at a time, with its innovative subject matter, high quality production, creative writing and detailed research Radiolab is one of the most innovative podcasts available for download online.
Click here to subscribe to the Radio Lab RSS Feed.
Been so busy trying to buy Pope bobble-head dolls on eBay that you've fallen behind on the week's software news? We've got your back. Here are some of our favorite stories from the past week. Comcast shuts down Dave Winer
Ever wonder if those unlimited bandwidth internet service plans are really unlimited? Tech analyst Dave Winer found out the hard way that there's unlimited, and then there's Comcast. The cable and internet provider cut him off for excessive use. Download Squad's Christina Warren interviewed Winer about his Comcast woes, Amazon MP3 has little or no effect on iTunes
Amazon's MP3 download store might look like a great alternative to the iTunes store. It has a ton of music, it's well priced, and all the tracks are DRM-free. But it turns out that iTunes is still king. By a long shot. Less than 10% of Amazon MP3 customers are iTunes converts.
If you named your dog Spike, dream of vacationing in Sunnydale, and never quite got over what happened to Jenny Calendar, then you'll love the gem of a podcast we've uncovered for you. Buffy Between the Lines is original fan fic written and produced by a group of volunteers who probably know more about Xander, Willow, and Buffy than Joss Whedon himself.
Season One is, as they say, already in the can and all the episodes are available for download right from the site. All the usual suspects are featured, including some special appearances by Angel and his crew. The dialogue is snappy and spot-on, right down to the barbs Spike trades with, well, everyone.
Hurry up and get caught up with Season One. The cast is getting ready to start taping the second season and it should be available soon.
We spend a lot of time in front of our computers. But when we finally step away, you know what we like to do? Relax with a good book. No, just kidding! We download digital media from our computers and enjoy it on the go. With that in mind, today we're starting an occasional series bringing you reviews of some of our favorite audio and video podcasts.
We're going to try to avoid the big names at the top of the iTunes charts and bring you some of the more obscure podcasts we think are worth listening to. But that doesn't mean we won't don't love us some Science Friday from NPR or Diggnation. It just means that you're probably already well aware of them. We'd rather tell you about the Naked Scientists, Digital Planet, and Love & Radio.
If you have suggestions for podcasts you think we should check out, let us know in the comments. And stay tuned for our first irregularly scheduled review.
Podcast aggregator and search engine Odeo is beta testing a new web site, and from what we've seen so far, it's a vast improvement over Odeo's existing page. The first thing you'll notice (if you're invited to join the beta after signing up for an invite), is a new, cleaner look that makes it easier to find featured podcasts and browse by categories. But much more impressive is the new search feature. We didn't realize how poor the old search feature was until we tried searching for podcasts using the new search box and actually got accurate results immediately.
Here are a few other features of the new site:
Users can rate and comment on shows
Users can now submit feeds for podcasts that aren't included in the Odeo library
There's a pretty new Flash player
The beta page is still a work in progress and not every feature is available. For example, in order to get embed code for placing podcasts on your web site you have to click through to Odeo classic. But we're pretty excited at the direction Odeo is taking.
Too busy campaigning in South Carolina to read Download Squad this week? We understand. Running for President is tough. Don't worry though, we've got you covered. Tell one of your aides to hold all your calls and take a few to catch up on what's happening around your favorite Squad.
Ten years ago this week, Netscape announced that they'd open source the code to the in-development version of the next Netscape browser. That announcement eventually led to the founding of the Mozilla foundation, and the birth of our favorite browser, Firefox. We got so excited we enlisted the help of Slashfood blogger and pro-pastry chef Shayna Glick to bake a cake fitting of the occasion. What we ended up with was almost to beautiful to eat.
Our lovable Linux Librarian, Kristin Shoemaker, checks in with another installment of her Linux Switcher series. This time, Kristin gives us the 411 on how to quickly locate those pesky files we just knew we saved, somewhere.
Amber Rhea checked in to drop some science on us about a few pro-sex podcasts which manage to assume you have a brain in addition to a few other organs. This is part of her newly launched, ongoing series dealing with sex and the internet. Warning, these columns acknowledge the existence of sex, and even go so far as to suggest it might be a good idea.. if that offends you, skip ahead.
Like podcasting? Like sex? Like not being spoken to as if you're slightly more intelligent than a paramecium? If you answered "yes" to all three of those questions, here are some podcasts you might enjoy.
(Warning to readers. This column both acknowledges the existence of sex, and explores the ways sex and sexuality relate to and are enhanced by the internet. If you're offended by such content, don't take the jump.)
Looking for a good, free podcast aggregator/player for Windows? For a long time, Juice (formerly known as iPodder) was the reigning champ. But it's kind of a pain in the behind to get Juice working with Vista. So we're always looking for a better solution.
You can use Miro to download audio podcasts as well as video, but that's sort of like using a tank to drive to the supermarket.
Ziepod, on the other hand, is a bit more like a corvette. It's pretty, easy to use, and fast. The built-in podcast directory is also excellent if you're browsing for new podcasts. Notice we said browsing? There's no search button, which is a bit baffling.
Another odd choice is that while you an set Ziepod to automatically delete podcasts that have been sitting on your PC for a certain period of time, there's no way to customize that setting for different feeds. So if you download some podcasts on a weekly basis and others on a daily basis, there doesn't appear to be an easy way to keep the last 2 days worth of one and 3 weeks worth of the other.
That said, Ziepod does a great job of pulling in your podcasts, storing them, letting you listen on your computer or synchronize with an iPod. There's also a commercial version for $20 with a few additional features like download bandwitdh speed control, and a dockable video bar.
Yahoo! is closing down Yahoo! Podcasts on October 31. And the 2-year old site never even got to shed its beta tag. So tragic.
The site is actually one of the better podcast directories on the web. Yahoo! has indexed a large number of podcasts, and the site is easy to navigate. There's even a handy player for streaming podcasts without downloading them.
But while podcasting was all the rage a few years ago, it seems like internet video gets all the attention these days. And we're guessing it's not just because people like to watch video more than they like to listen to people talk. Video is also easier to monetize with pre-roll or embedded advertising. It's incredibly easy to skip past an audio advertisement on your MP3 player, and while you could try to include video ads with every download, they won't be too effective if you keep your iPod in your pocket.
Remember FireAnt? Back in the day, it was known as a hot internet video aggregator. While the trend has shifted toward web video sites like YouTube, or aggregators like Truveo, FireAnt offers a standalone video player/aggregator that lest you download and watch videos without a web browser. You know, kind of like Miro. Actually, come to think of it, FireAnt and Miro's interfaces are remarkably similar.
But that's beside the point. The point is, FireAnt may be prepared to make a comeback. SonicMountain, the company that made headlines by purchasing podcast aggregator Odeo earlier this year has reportedly purchased FireAnt.
NewTeeVee reports that Odeo (SonicMountain changed their name after the acquisition) plains to integrate FireAnt and relaunch sometime around December. Imagine accessing Odeo's huge index of existing podcasts and podcast creation tools through a downloadable player. Or something like that.
We found intriguing media mashup and mixer startup SplashCast back in February, and today the have announced a major step forward via a partnership with NPR (National Public Radio). As an arguable victory in the name of online productivity, SplashCast has just unleashed the official NPR Podcast Player for Facebook, bringing educational and current event programming to the popular social networking site in a slick embedable Flash widget. This is a great addition to all the other somewhat less productive apps and widgets Facebook is gaining as of late, and a great venue for NPR's venerable programming.
So you're flipping through your RSS feeds using Google Reader, consuming news faster than any human being should really be able to. And you happen across an embedded YouTube video or audio podcast. For some time now, Google's been allowing you to view or listen to that file without leaving the Reader. But your media file will stop playing the moment you switch to another feed or folder.
But wait, what's that we see at the bottom of the screenshot? Google's added a "Popout" button to Google Reader. Click it when you see an embedded podcast or video, and the media file will open in a new browser window, letting you listen to Chris Pirillo go on and on and on and on and on... while you continue to peruse your feeds.
The Small Business Administration (SBA) has been around for a while mostly trying to make the life of a small business owner easier, and boy we need it. Running a small business is hard, and for many business owners, getting started, or better yet, keeping the thing going is especially tough. The SBA wants to help by offering a bunch of free podcasts to help you get or keep going with your fledgling enterprise. Here is the list of currently available podcasts:
Check List for Starting a Business
SBA Programs Support Entrepreneurial Veterans
Is Entrepreneurship for You?
The SBA Small Business Training Network-Log On!
Selecting a Business That Fits
Disaster Preparedness for Business Owners
Financing a Small Business
Creating a Business Plan
Making Your Business Plan Work for You
I haven't listened to all of them yet, but they seem to contain some useful information for business owners.
Digg just unleashed a major update, cranking out a number of new features geared towards more powerful management and customization of the user experience, as well as incorporating multimedia in a big way. Kevin Rose posted an overview of the new features at Digg the Blog, complete with a short video and narration of all the cool new stuff.
The first big new feature is an upgraded UI with a focus on customizing how you use the site, what topics you see headlines for and a flexible width for the 30-inch display owners in the audience. Users can now toggle entire topics in their user profile, so if sports and politics are the last thing on your digg agenda, they can now be entirely removed from it.
Next up is a new Top 10 Stories/Videos section (pictured above to the right of headlines) for each top-level category (Technology, Science, etc.), which aggregates the top stories of those categories in real time.
Been so busy trying to buy 
