Category: Geeks r Us
Hi.
I just found the following website with some interesting software you can download for free and it is accessible.
http://www.webbie.org.uk/
Their software include: Webbie, a programme that converts internet explorer pages in to text, but this is their only programme that i didn't like.
They also have an RSS news reader, a podcacher programme, a radio tuner, a BBC listen again programme, a book reader which allow you to read copyright free books from the guteberg library, i think i spelled it wrong by the way.
These are the best programmes i found. There are a couple more like a web directory i think. You can go and try them. They have a very easy interface and they are accessible.
I hope you enjoy them.
Great. thanks. I'll have to check it out.
I think I've used the reader from Gutenberg library and it's pretty good.
Bob
Hi Bob. When you try the software it would be good if you write feedback.
I will write as well when i try them. So far i only tried the BBC listen again programme. So this one will keep me busy for a bit lol. A lot of things to listen there.
I like how somebody can sort the shows. By station, music and genre i think.
I am just wondering if this list of programmes gets updated.
Probaply i will find out next week because programmes are usually available for a week only on the BBC.
Ok i tried some more.
Radio tuner is a bit pointless. The stations there are already preset and you can't add any new once. Only a few countries are listed with a few stations each.
There is also the radio player which plays live BBC radio stations. This would be good for somebody who likes BBC.
But over all i would say that these programmes are good and free.
I am still experamending with the podcacher and the podcast directory software. I think you have to use podcast directory to find podcasts and the podcasts you like go in the podcacher. Also the podcacher plays the podcasts as well.
What i didn't understand is if the podcasts we listen are downloaded on the computer or if they play from the website and if they are downloaded where exactly they are. I didn't find any. I hope they are not actually saved on my computer if i just listen because for example there is a podcast called talking birds and there are about 90 podcasts of this show etc.
So i need to explore a bit more these programmes.
Another thing that i didn't understand is the difference between the news RSS reader and the podcacher. If both programmes use RSS files why we don't have one programme that does both?
I don't understand that.
Anyway i hope more people will download them and i look forward to hear feedback.
Also another usefull thing to know.
All these programmes are included in one puckage. Also there are available separately each but i would recoment downloading the puckage and during installation you can cellect what you want.
The puckage contains the latest versions that's why i suggest you download it instead of downloading just the programmes you want.
After some more exploration i found that there is a save option that saves the podcast on the computer. So i asume that when i listen to them it just plays them on the internet. But so far the deffinition of podcast i found in websites was that podcasts are automatically downloaded as soon as they are available. In this programme only the list of podcasts is downloaded and we manualy save podcasts we want. Maybe this is the real meaning of podcasts after all and i didn't understand it.
But now i remember that i read somewhere that podcachers download podcasts one at a time so high traffick in servers is avoided. If we save them manually it is like saving them from the website.
Sorry i might sound stupid pot but i find it a bit confucing. And also i discovered that podcasts are not only RSS but XML as well.
Anyway i said a lot so i will go for now lol.
Hi Nikos, very interesting,
I'm sure there may be some podcasts i might like, for instance freedom scientific have their podcast, but i think it and some others are pretty hard to find and download manually from the website, but I'd want to download them gradually, like if i were subscribed to one, I'd want to download one at a time, or download one show from each podcast i was subscribed to. I mean, I'd want to have more control over the number of podcasts i downloaded, and wouldn't want to download hundreds of podcasts at a time like a few others seem to do, yikes! one or 2 gb of podcasts at a time would be horrible, it'd be hard todetermine how many mb's to download at one time.
wonderwoman
good programmes, but the pod catcher doesn't like the blind cool tech feed. also any body having problems with BBC 7 in the radio? being told it doesn't exist any more.
Mine works with blind cool tech but i didn't type the address like i would usually do. I downloaded a list of podcasts from their site and used the import feature and blind cool tech was one of them. You can find this list in the F A Q. It is called best of or something.
I just tried BBC7 with the radio programme and it works for me.
Maybe there was a problem with their server or it might be a problem with this programme. I usually use the BBC listen again instead of listening live but when i listen to radio4 with BBC radio it works.
still not working, been like this for 3 days now. no probs with other BBC live feeds. thanks for the import advice, will check it out.
Hi Nikos and all,
I've checked out the useful programs site, but am unsure about downloading web ie, because the programmer said to watch out that there were bugs in it with xp that he hasn't found yet. if not forthat, I might've downloaded the whole package, but not sure i've ever had the need for an rss reader. I'm thinking of just downloading the podcatcher program for now. I'm as scared of computer bugs as i am of insect bugs, lol.
wonderwoman
ok I have been all over the webbie.org site, and I can't find any option that lets you install one program at a time. there is the option to install webbIE 3.1, and webbIE installer,which as i understand it, will install all 6 programs at one time, the rss reader, the gutenberg library, and i forget the other programs, but what if you just want to install only one program? I'm just trying to find where to instal accessible podcatcher alone. Thanks,
wonderwoman
Wonder woman, be brave. Get the package. Don't worry about a programmer that admits there might be bugs in his program, he's being honest. Beware of the programmer who says his program is bug free. He can't possibly know that.
I've downloaded all the products and they are harmless, as far as I can tell. I was worried that web i e would won't to be my browser of choice, and I'm satisfied with internet explorer.
But, all the programs seem to be quite inocuous. I haven't checked out the gutenberg library thing, nor the radio thing. Those aren't my interests (I prefer to go to the web and do that sort of thing on my own). I've had problems with the rss feeder, but that's more my lack of information about rss and this program.
Anyway, I just saying that the easiest way to get what you want is to get the entire package, and the entire package is pretty harmless.
Bob
Thanks bob,
I appreciate the programmers honesty in admitting there are bugs with it in xp, I was just sort of worried about what the bugs would do. Like you, I'd rather use iinternet explorer, since with jaws, we have a lot of flexibility with it and how we read things. I guess I could just use the program that interests me, the accessible podcatcher. I was just a bit scared about what the bugs might do. I really don't want to install webbIe 3.1, but i suppose some of the other programs can just be there, then if i decide to use them there they are.
wonderwoman
I tryed the accessible podcatcher software once, and in my experience not all the podcasts were being streamed properlly. I also was unable to download certain files. That is why I'll be sticking to juice. As for the RSS reader, I can subscribe to the feeds using firefox. I didn't really like accessible internet explorer, it tryed to change some of my settings. I think I'll stick with what works for me.
well, the web browser didn't try to change my settings, but I don't care for it either, i can't see it has any advantages over internet explorer. I don't care muchfor the news reader. when i tried to read the help manual, it put me back in th emain list of news sites, and no manual seemed to be available.accessible podcatcher i think seems easier than juice, though i haven't tried juice, but it sounds tricky. for instance, I don't want to download hundreds of podcasts at once, and you can listen to the podcast with out downloading, but if you choose to download one, youcan press control s to save it. The only thing is, it only has feedburner as a main podcast directory, so you can't listen to podcasts from sites like podcast alley, or podcast pickle, or any other websites, unless there is a way you can add those directories. The list in the treeview is divided in to categories, such as business, agriculture, books, life, etc, so I wouldn't knnow how to find a particular podcast that's not listed in the directory. for instance, I don't know how to find blind podcasts with it, or say if i want the daily source code by adam curry. Thats a podcast that give some of the top popular podcasts. Other than that, it seems fairly simple. I have already subscribed to 1 podcast, and listen to one from the family health podcast which was listed in the podcatcher by default.
wonderwoman