Technical Questions 

So what is podcasting anyway?

The word “podcasting”? is a combination of “iPod”? and “broadcasting”?, and a podcast is just that - on demand audio/video broadcasting for a personal media device or computer. Imagine if you could subscribe to your favorite radio or television show, have the episodes delivered to you automatically, and choose the best time for you to listen to or view them! This revolutionary functionality combined with the relative ease of creating your own personal podcast is the reason that podcasting has taken the internet by storm.

Do I have to pay to listen to your podcast?

The RussianPod101.com podcast is completely free of charge to download and listen to. We also offer many other features to enhance your learning experience which are only available to our Basic and Premium subscribers. See our Subscription Information for more details.

What equipment do I need to get started?

All you really need is an internet connection, and a computer capable of playing MP3 files (which is just about every modern computer). However, to take full advantage of the on demand functionality of podcasts, a personal media device capable of playing MP3s will allow you to listen to our lessons anywhere, anytime. The most well-known device is probably the iPod, although there are many other similar devices. Some of our listeners even use their Playstation Portable!

What about software?

Again, all you really need is an MP3 player, such as Windows Media Player, Winamp, or QuickTime. However, to truly take advantage of podcasting, you will want to software specifically designed to take advantage of the features of podcasting. Here are some of the best options, both free and available for both Mac OSX and Windows:

iTunes - This is the obvious solution for iPod owners. iTunes will handle your podcast subscriptions and allow you to update your iPod automatically upon docking. The iTunes Music Store will also allow you to easily find a large selection of other podcasts.

Juice - Juice is a premium open-source podcast receiver available for Linux/BSD as well as Mac OSX and Windows. Juice has tons of features including a built-in podcast directory.

How do I subscribe to your podcast on iTunes and Juice?

For iTunes, simply click one of the subscription links located on the right sidebar of our front page.

For Juice, you will need to manually add the RussianPod101.com feed URL: www.russianpod101.com/feed.xml.

I would like to start from the beginning. How do I access your first lesson?

Please use one of the following simple techniques to access an older podcast on our site:

1. Use the Calendar located on the right side menu of our homepage (www.russianpod101.com)
2. Use the “Monthly Archive” link section located on the right side menu of our homepage (www.russianpod101.com).
3. Use the page navigation at the bottom of our homepage.

iTunes only displays the 10 most recent lessons. How do I access the earlier shows?

You can access all the audio lessons for free using one of the methods presented in our Download Center.

Why can’t I hear the audio in the Line-by-Line Transcripts

In order to hear the audio clips used in the above Premium features, you must have the appropriate Macromedia Flash Player installed for your operating system and browser. To download the free Flash Player from the Macromedia website, please use the link below:

Download Flash Macromedia Player

If you are on Max OS X and have a Flash Player installed, but still cannot hear any of the audio clips on Safari or Firefox, please follow this workaround:

1. Go to Applications\Utilities\Audio MIDI setup
2. Choose the Audio Devices tab at the top if it’s not already there
3. In the drop down box next to “Properties For”, choose “Built-In Output.” If you have some other output, choose that.
4. Next to format, make sure it’s set to “44100.0 Hz.”
5. If you don’t have surround sound speakers, make sure the box next to that is set to “2ch-16bit.”
6. Close that window and everything should work now.

You may read more about this workaround here:

http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20060310164835119