Where and how do you listen to the podcasts?

[Ben]

We'd love to know where you listen to the podcasts. In the car? On an iPod (or a different kind of mp3 player)? Out on a walk? Sitting at the PC? Or Mac?

Most of my podcast listening is done at home while I'm working, or out walking in the Retiro Park, usually on Marina's iPod mini, when I can get my hands on it ;)

[timg]

I have a podcatcher (perlpodder) that downloads all the latest ones overnight, and I listen while I'm working.
It winds me up that some sites (not these ones!) assume that you're listening or watching (in the case of vidcasts - or whatever they're called) on an iPod and produce files in a format that only the ipod can reproduce.
I've also encountered one that produced a .m4a (iPod) vidcast with just a single photo throughout. In other words it should have been a podcast but they wanted iPod users to have the pretty photo. really annoying. Luckily linux has mplayer, which can play these, but it means I can't listen on my Windows pc. technology!

[Alan]

Thanks to it being open source, MPlayer works on windows. You can get it from http://www.mplayerhq.hu/MPlayer/releases/win32/ .

Note that there is no GUI for it, but that's because the GUI has been developed for Gnome and KDE. It still works very well from a DOS prompt - but dragging the podcast you want to play onto the program works too. You don't install it, just have it in a folder somewhere. Although it's not the most user-friendly video player on Windows, it's great at playing these kind of codecs.

Here's a shot of Mplayer playing "Todo Sobre Mi Madre" with the DOS command prompt:

http://notesfromspain.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=48&d=1145185011

To answer your question Ben, I listen on a 40GB Creative Zen Xtra when out and about, but to be honest it's not great at managing podcasts. I need to do a lot of organisation myself to get it to play in the correct order etc. It really helps if you have the filenames in numerical or alphabetical order (they're not at the moment) or date them in YYYYMMDD format, like "20060416 - Notes in Spanish - 33 - Inmigración". To be fair, I got this before the word podcast was coined, so it's not their fault. I wish they'd update the firmware to allow it to handle podcasts well. It's done me well, and I've never managed to fill the thing. When I'm in the house, I just let the computer play them.

[Brian]

Very cool about the Linux developments, Alan. Thanks for letting us know about it.

I mostly listen in the car on my iPod Nano (2 gb) with radio transmitter, or while out walking.

It's not often that I'll listen while working. I try to devote my attention to the podcast, and can't let it sink in if I'm trying to get work done.

[ValenciaSon]

I listen to the pod casts on my home PC. I don't have an iPod or any other mp3 reader.

I'm not sure how it happened but one day I noticed that the pod cast section of my PC's i-Tunes downloaded the podcasts even though I listened to the pod casts from the Quicktime files in the NSF/NIS websites. I guess that's a standard i-Tunes functionality?

[ValenciaSon]

Hi Ben,

Can you make the Cadena Ser interview accessible somewhere in NFS? I couildn't get to it from your press link.

Thanks.

[Ben]

ValenciaSon - I fixed the press link, thanks for that. Direct link: http://www.notesfromspain.com/media/ser_interview.MP3

[cubix]

On my iPod, I have a set of speakers in my room, or occasionly on my mac.

One thing, in iTunes, with the notes from spain podcast you can download all the way from episode 1, with the notes in spanish it only goes back to episode 24, I used to have all the way back to episode 1(i think) and then I set iTunes to auto-delete podcasts I had "listened" to and now there gone. Where can I download them?

Greg

[Ben]

Where can I download them?
Previous episodes can be downloaded direct via the original posts listed here:
http://www.notesfromspain.com/notes-in-spanish/ (http://www.notesfromspain.com/forums/../notes-in-spanish/)

[Chiny]

I listen mostly when driving to work (ipod nano + fm transmitter), occasionally at home at weekends on PC + iTunes through 1970s student "hi-fi" or... on the plane to/from Spain :)

--
Chiny

[amp]

I listen to you on an ipod at the gym. I'm not much into exercise, but your podcasts help the time pass quickly.

[richardksa]

I download through Ipodder, which I think has changed its name to "Juice" for some reason.

I listen either directly from the computer or though a Creative 30Gb Zen Nomad. Usually on long, boring drives through endless boring stretches of Saudi Arabia desert. I'm trying to get hold of one of those transmitting devices so I can listen via the car radio. They make one for the Ipod. Anyone know of a generic one that will fit other players.

(PS. Yes I know in some countries they are illegal, but here they are not.)

[Chiny]

I'm trying to get hold of one of those transmitting devices so I can listen via the car radio. They make one for the Ipod. Anyone know of a generic one that will fit other players.
http://shop.ipodworld.co.uk/iPodWorldSite/product/all_iPods_FM%20Transmitters/AU02/FM_Transmitter_for_iPod_Nano_iPod_Shuffle_and_vide o_iPod.htm
It connects with a standard 3.5 mm stereo jack to any audio gadget, despite the blurb.

--
Chiny

[cubix]

I use one made by Griffin, it's a few years old. Cost around $20, got it at walmart, it has 4 choices for stations. Works decently, though I would rather have my old tape thing back, where it goes through the tape...

[richardksa]

Thanks guys. this is why I love forums (fori). Ask a question and it shall be answered.

[gary]

Last yeat I was given an iPod shuffle for my birthday but listening to music is not particularly my thing - its a bit like reading fiction, it passes time but no result. Podcasts are a godsend - I can catch up with the news, listen to tech chat (Maccast, TWIT, etc) and now that I have found NFS I can indulge in my passion - improving my spanish.

I listen either in the car using my completely illegal FM radio transmitter attachment or whilst I am walking the dog - its great being able to make double use of the time - learning and exercising

I think the plural of forums is fora not fori (which in any case would have been forii wouldnt it?)

For me NFS is the ultimate resource now that the transcripts are available - fantastic - keep up the good work - cant wait for the next episode.

[pablo]

I drive a lot for work, so I listen often in the car on an iPod, but I also listen to them while jogging, in restaurants, walking around SF, in coffee shops, and even snowboarding. If I'm at home I'll normally listen on a Mac. Since I have a couple Airport Expresses, I can play it in multiple rooms so I can keep listening while I go from room to room. My Spanish listening comprehension isn't great, so these podcasts are perfect for me. Each time I listen (and I listen to them A LOT), I can understand a bit more... Gracias Ben y Marina.

[Alan]

richardksa said that he uses IPodder, which has now changed its name to Juice. I just wanted to coninue on the Linux thread with this. Juice is not available for Linux (yet) but it can be run, using wine ( www.winehq.com ).

49

[pablo]

...but it means I can't listen on my Windows pc. technology!
Hey timg. Why not just use iTunes to play them on your Windows PC? It's free and easy to use.

[timg]

Hi Pablo, I think I'm just too lazy to install new software :)

[DUH CAR]

I listen to both Ben's and Marina's 'casts when I work out in the morning on the Stairmaster.

[JanesDaddy]

...I would rather have my old tape thing back...
The tape thing (cassette adapter) gives much better sound quality in a car.

The short range FM transmitter has the advantage that it can usefully be used in the house too, but I find that you have to use really fresh batteries all the time. After a couple of hours, you begin to get crackling already (which is why, IMHO, the cassette adapter is so much better in a car).

[alex]

I listen to pretty much all the podcasts inbetween lectures / visits to the library! Venue is either my room with PC or out and about with iPod nano.

I am a self-starter when it comes to languages and I like to get really involved with them: with grammar books, news website etc but in the middle of my final year at uni there is no time anymore. So NIS is great to keep my listening ticking over and those most entertaining phrases the Spanish come up with.

Alex

[richardksa]

I am now the very pleased owner of a "Soundfeeder" SF 150, made by ARKON resources inc, Arcadia, CA 91006. It cost £14.95 on-line from a site in the UK. It is continuously tunable through 88 - 95 Mhz and amazingly, considering it runs on a couple of triple As, seems to have range of about 30 metres and the sound quality was excellent. I used it this morning driving in convoy and the guy in the pick-up in front was able to tune in and listen. Don't know if he liked my choice of music though!!!

[pablo]

I have the Griffin RoadTrip FM Transmitter and I love it. Works in LA as well as the boonies. And it uses a cigarette lighter, not batteries, and charges the ipod at the same time.

[celia s]

I have a video i pod.I listen to podcasts all the time.Infact, I have to have at least 10 new podcasts on my i pod at any one time(it has become something of an obsession!)I listen in the car,out walking,cafes,supermarkets,at home(esp when cooking)in bed...Do you think I have a problem?(only joking)

[Simon]

I listen on an iPod, mostly in the car, on a 40 min drive to/from work but sometimes when I'm on aeroplanes, sometimes in the gym.
Simon

[Netsirksmada]

Usually on my iPod in math class haha, but mostly on airplanes, long car trips, and at work.

[richardksa]

Jane's Daddy,

so far I have had in excess of 14 hours use on my Soundfeeder" SF 150 from one set of batteries and it shows no sign of crackling. Not bad for just a pair of triple As.

[jessica]

i listen to notes in spanish either from itunes on my computer or from my ipod. usually i'm walking around the house cleaning or i'm working out. (i find the length of the podcasts helps the workout time pass more quickly)

sometimes i even listen to them while i fall asleep. :)
(i read somewhere that if you listen to stuff while you fall asleep/ kind of when you're asleep that you retain information better. seems to be working!)

[Polly]

I've taken to listening to NIS while I'm at the office -- I always have some podcast or another running on iTunes... and I often get inquiries from my office mates as to what I'm listening to!

Also, I listen on the iPod, while at the gym, or on plane trips (the 10 hour flight from Chicago to Madrid in March was a fabulous opportunity to reveiw several back-casts of NIS I previoulsy hadn't listened to). Though - and I think I've mentioned this before - I actually prefer listening to my Spanish language lessons on the iPod while at the gym. The nature of the lessons (Escuche y repita) is re-inforced by the repetitive nature of a treadmill run or stair stepper!

[que]

I listen to the podcast on my 30GB iPod. Man i love my iPod!:thumbs-up:

The podcasts are good for my walks to work and back, and i also listen to them from time to time at work, although its hard to pay full attention to it, but it all helps.

[Morenahabladora]

I listen to the podcast on my Sony Network Walkman.I connect it to the FM Transister in my car and listen to all 47 podcasts while driving.Also I listen to the podcast on the pc as well.I listen to them over and over and over.

[Flexichick]

On the NYC subways. Then again, I can hear just as much Spanish there without my iPod (a new blue Nano)

[landlady]

Through itunes on my laptop or on my ipod, whilst sitting on my patio with distant views of mountains and the rustle of pepper trees and gentle sway of palm trees as a backdrop :smug:

[Edith]

On the computer, mostly in the evenings and with my headset on. I haven't got an ¡Pod.

[Cynthia]

I listen to the podcasts on my iPod while walking the 2 miles from my apartment to my University. I use it as a treat for not getting in my car and driving those 2 miles, like I'm tempted to do--especially before very early classes. :)

The only problem is that I walk over a bridge with a lot of noisy traffic on it, so I have to shut the iPod off for about 5 minutes in the middle of my walk.

[Nic]

I either listen on my iPod or whilst I'm on my computer.

When I'm at home I tend to listen to the podcasts on the computer, normally whilst I'm doing my Spanish homework.

However, when I'm at college and I'm sat doing nothing (during my free periods of course ;) ) I'll put on my iPod and listen to the newest podcast. :)

I think its a great especially in college when you want to get some listening practice in or something like that and there aren't many people in my college that speak Spanish (there are only 8 of us... including the teacher!) so being able to listen to the podcasts on my iPod is great. :)

[Diana]

I listen to the podcasts on my ipod while walking to town, jogging, riding in the car, working in the house and garden (even while shredding brush with a noisy machine), while cooking and eating (when alone), waiting at airports - or for that matter while waiting almost anywhere (at the dentist,etc.)