Introducing ScriptureCast.net
by Jacob on Jun.10, 2007, under Religion
Sometimes, some of us need a little help remembering to keep on top of our daily scripture study. To assist in this, I’ve built a new website at ScriptureCast.net . This site helps you to create custom podcast feeds of the scriptures to help you stay on top of your scripture reading.
What is a podcast feed? A podcast feed is a frequently updated file on the Internet which contains information about recently posted items. In the case of ScriptureCast.net, each item is a chapter or section of scripture. Each feed item contains both a summary, and a link to the full text of the chapter or section. A podcast feed item also contains a link to the sound file for the chapter or section. See the Wikipedia Podcast entry for more information.
How do I use a podcast? You need a podcast program, feed reader, or news aggregator. Not all feed readers are the same, and not all will let you download or listen to the audio. iTunes is a good program for subscribing to podcasts, especially since it allows you to listed to podcast items on your iPod music player. MyYahoo! is a web based service which can also help you access the full text or audio. If you don’t care about listening to the audio and you just want links to the full text, you can also subscribe to the feed using any number of regular news aggregators, including Google Reader.
Why would I want to podcast the scriptures when I can put them on my computer or iPod manually? Most podcast software keeps track of which items you’ve listened to. This makes it easy to keep track of what chapters you’ve read and which chapters you have yet to read. In addition, if you have a small portable music player, such as a 1GB iPod Nano, you may find it difficult to keep the scriptures and all your music on the player. In this case, the podcast software adds items to your player as they become available, and removes them from your player when you are done with them.
I have a question about ScriptureCast.net that I would like to ask. Leave a comment below and I’ll try and answer it. If it is a good question, it might become part of the documentation.
I have a suggestion or feedback about how to improve the web site. You can leave your feedback on the official ScriptureCast.net development blog.
Is the site in beta? What does beta mean? The site currently is in beta, which means that there are still a few things to be worked out and still some features that need to be added. While the site is in beta, you might find things rearranged or changed, but I’ll make every effort not to disrupt service.
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November 18th, 2007 on 11:25 pm
[...] highlights A few months ago I announced the release of a new website, ScriptureCast.net. Since then, things have taken off. The site has been featured in the ldsWebguy blog as well in the [...]