Yahoo Podcasts

Yahoo Podcasts is up and running, allowing users to search for podcasts, download programs, and tag them for other users.

What is a Podcast? A podcast is nothing more than an audio recording, a radio show, but online instead of on your radio. Anybody can record a podcast. Yahoo's podcast search gives you the tools to find these podcasts; and while the service is still in beta, I was able to find some pretty cool stuff: Beethoven , search engine programs, and Web 2.0, a recent conference in California.

How do I find podcasts? When using Yahoo Podcasts, I found that I needed to be pretty specific. For instance, my search for Bach turned up very different results than what I was hoping for. When I changed it to johann sebastian bach, I hit paydirt. Be specific, and don't be afraid of changing your queries around.

How do I listen to podcasts? You should see a "Listen", "Download" and a "Subscribe" button below any search result. Click on the "Listen" button, and you'll get a popup window (make sure that you don't have popup blocker enabled for Yahoo Podcasts).

How do I download podcasts? Easy. Just click on the file and save it to your hard drive.

How do I subscribe to podcasts? This is where you'll need to actually download something. From the site:

"When you do this, you’ll actually be downloading a small text file called a “.pcast” file. This tells your music software (like the Yahoo! Music Engine or Apple iTunes) what podcast to download. Then you can get notifications of new episodes whenever they're available. Get the Yahoo! Music Engine with Podcast Plug-in."

Related:

• SingingFish: Whether you're looking for Maria Callas arias, Sponge Bob cartoons, or the latest from NPR's Brian Naylor, SingingFish will help you with its dedicated multimedia search service.
• Audio Search Engines and Directories on the Web: Find out how to find audio content on the Web, and what technical requirements you'll need to listen to these files.
• Podscope: If you are finding it difficult to search for podcasts with conventional search engines, your wait is over. Podscope is a specialized podcast search engine that will make it easy for you to find what you're looking for.
• Technical Requirements for Multimedia: Use these resources to figure out what technical requirements you'll need to utilize multimedia content on the Web, as well as choose a media player.