Podcast Maker is an incredibly friendly application for Mac which will allow you to make your very own podcasts in the space of minutes. The pull down menu makes it easy to manage your podcasts, which you can publish to any FTP server or to your .Mac account. Podcast Maker can also import existing podcasts and generate a custom RSS feed.

If you think that recording and publishing a podcast is difficult, you're wrong. You can now find a wide variety of software tools that make podcasting easy and fun, no matter how much knowledge you have about sound management and content creation.

One of them is Wildvoice Podcast Studio, an excellent application we recently tested for Softonic. This program enables you to go through all the steps of the podcast creating process, from voice recording to web publishing. So what are you waiting for? Download your copy, grab a mic and get ready to start your own podcast!

When launching the program, you'll be presented with a clearly designed interface, divided into four main areas: the Show builder, the Mixer, the Background tracks and the Sound effects. The first one is where your podcast will actually be recorded, while the second one enables you to adjust volume levels and the other two will add the final touch with some music and special effects. After plugging and configuring your mic, start recording the podcast by pressing on the red ball button.

Don't talk about just anything that comes into your head; I recommend you to prepare a basic script prior to recording, with some bullet points to keep you on track. Don't forget to make use of all the sound effects included in the program. Simply click on them and they'll be automatically added to the recording. You can also include music in the Background tracks section, but please be aware of copyright laws possible infringements when doing this.

You can record your podcast in small sound clips, which makes it easier to organize ideas, topics and music. Once it's finished, Wildvoice Podcast Studio will save all clips into a single MP3 file that you can store in your hard drive or publish on your website. If you don't have any web space available, create a free account at the Wildvoice site and you'll be able to publish your podcast there.

You might want to split an MP3 file for lots of reasons. Maybe you want to break up a podcast into bite-sized pieces, or make separate tracks from a digitized vinyl record or DJ mix. I did this on a Mac, but it works just the same in Windows.

Using the free open source app Audacity, this is really easy. Here's how to cut your MP3 files:

1: Install Audacity, open it then drag your MP3 file onto the interface. Loading will take a few seconds.

2: I have a podcast loaded up, and want to split it into two parts. Click on the file around where you think your first break will be. Listen, and when you've found the right point click the Stop button. Now click on the point where the marker has stopped, and drag back to the start of the track.

I'm a wannabe radio star and I've already got a few podcasts under my belt. But for a long time I've been looking for a way to broadcast a live show over the internet. I lost patience trying to learn how to use Shoutcast and found uBroadcast to be too unstable. Last week I discovered Spreaker, an online application that lets you broadcast live radio for free. Within 10 minutes of signing up to the service I was on air, pumping out my favorite tunes and talking to the listeners. By sharing I managed to get about 50 live listeners too, who were impressed by the quality of the broadcast (if not, my presentation skills).

So, here's a quick guide to how to start your own internet radio station using Spreaker:

1. Visit Spreaker.com and click on the Go on air now link then complete the sign-up process. You'll receive an account verification email, with a link which you need to click to activate the account.

 2. This is the page where all your past and current shows will be displayed. Click Create a new show to do just that.

3. Now you should enter the details of your radio show. Give it a title and enter a description for the show. Then select the language you're broadcasting in and choose a category from the drop-down menus.

Windows: Computers are gradually becoming a multimedia center where you can share and enjoy photos, music and video, and one of the best apps to manage this content is Boxee. This awesome media center has just launched its first public beta, including nice new features: revamped interface, new global menu, a bookmarklet to add videos and performance improvements.

iPhone: Echofon is a popular Firefox extension and OSX application, and this iPhone version will sync with both of them, while offering the same functionality and good design. The free version is still packed with features. You can have multiple accounts, tweet photos or videos, link to a bit.ly account so you can follow your stats, choose your image service and more.

Mac: One problem with creating podcasts is getting the sound levels right. Professional DJs have sound engineers to make sure everything runs smoothly for them but for those operating on their own, it can be a real pain. The Levelator is a simple way of adjusting sound levels across all of your broadcasts so that they are the same. It adjusts audio levels within your podcast or just about any other audio file you like.

This trick is a little advanced and requires a bit of patience from you, however if you want to have all your podcasts saved as normal music files in your iTunes, it's well worth doing. Although the majority of podcast episodes I download are removed after one playback, I can think of quite a few excellent ones that I've wanted to keep for good and listen to again. That's where this little iTunes hacking trick comes in handy. Those of you familiar with AppleScripts should find this pretty straightforward.

Make sure you have Developer Tools installed. Then download fixid3tag. Open up your Terminal and type gcc fixid3tag.c -o fixid3tag then save the fixid3tag binary somewhere where you won't erase or lose it. Next copy the following script into ~/Library » iTunes » Scripts:

So you've decided to start your own blog. Congratulations! Whether you intend to create a professional blog or simply write a personal diary, blogging is an excellent hobby that keeps you in touch with the rest of the world. It lets you meet new people, learn different perspectives and share anything you like, from news headlines to your newborn son's first photos. Once you've made up your mind, it's time to get down to business. Here's a list of all the software applications and online services that may be helpful in your blogging adventure. Remember that perseverance is the key to success! Try to update your blog on a regular basis and you'll soon see the results.

• First of all, you need to choose the blogging platform you're going to use. The most popular ones are Wordpress, Blogger and to a lesser extent, LiveJournal.

• If you don't fancy writing your posts on an online editor, you can use a desktop blogging tool like W.bloggar, Post2Blog or the Blogger extension for Word.

• When it comes to capturing images for your articles you have a wide array of options, where Screenshot Captor, SnagIt and EasyCapture are probably the best choices.

• After taking a snapshot you'll probably need to improve or retouch it in some way. Download a graphic editor such as PhotoFiltre, PhotoScape or Active Pixels for these easy editing tasks.

• You may also need to make video captures to record screen activity. These videos are great to explain software tips or show off your skill in a particular videogame. You can capture them easily with HyperSnap-DX, WeGame or AviScreen Classic.

• Podcasts are another element of added value for your blog. Create them with Wildvoice Podcast Studio, ePodcast Creator or PodProducer and use them to develop more extended content and reach your readers in other formats.

• Blogging platforms usually provide a bunch of ready-to-use templates but in case you want to use your own design, download a coding editor such as Dreamweaver, UltraEdit-32 or EclipseStyle and let your inner artist loose.

• Besides an attractive design, web promotion is also a key element in your blog's success. Use Good Keywords to find the right keywords, Link Popularity Check to track your search results and AdSenseDesktop to manage your ad revenue.

My friend and colleague Nick just published a post comparing the merits of internet TV programs Miro (formerly known as 'Democracy Player') and Joost. While he has laid out a convincing argument for why he believes Miro to be the better option, I must say that I completely disagree with him.

Here's why:

(1) The open-source question. It is well known that Joost is proprietary software, whose source code is not available to the public. Miro, meanwhile, has its source code available under the GPL license, meaning that anyone can tinker with it and create new builds. Being open-source appeals to supporters of the open-source community (including myself), developers and the more astute user. It does not, however imply superiority of quality 100% of the time. The code is important but it's not the most important thing. No, that's the content.

(2) The numbers question. Miro has '2,600' channels included in its guide. Joost has about 400. OK, so Miro has more channels. But actually, Joost and Miro consider channels to be very different things. Joost uses the term 'channel' like a cable provider would: each channel has various episodes of various programs which will appeal to the same viewer. Miro uses the term 'channel' to refer to specific programs. So in reality, the amount of content offered by Joost is not so far from that offered by Miro.

(3) The content question. Joost offers a wide range of content from commercial and non-commercial sources. So you can watch Ministry of Sound TV or the Nelly Furtado Channel, National Geographic or Comedy Central. Miro pretty much exclusively offers free, non-commercial content. Some of it is really fun to watch and will appeal to fans of technology news, podcasts and the like. But some of it (like HD screencasts of The GIMP or Ubuntu) have really very limited appeal. What Joost has recognised is that TV is a mass medium. Lofty ideals like being open-source don't matter to the majority of viewers. They should, of course, but they don't. Many viewers are happy to use proprietary software if they get to watch 'Yoga 4 Dudes'.

With Windows Media Player (WMP) 11 Microsoft aims to counter iTunes’ dominance. The interface has been beefed-up, usability has been enhanced and Microsoft has worked at turning its flagship media application into a full multimedia center, linked to online stores and compatible with mobile devices. We take a look at its new features.

The first thing that will strike you when you start up WMP 11, is the complete revamp of the interface. No more deep blue, the whole application is now dark and shiny and you can customize it by selecting a hue of your choice. The left side is a drop down pane for your library, the centre displays your lists and the right side is used to create playlists which you can rip, burn or sync with a mobile device.

Compared to version 10, we feel that Microsoft actually made an effort to simplify the whole interface and give you more ways to browse through your media list, whether by using the drop down menu or the quick rollout line on the top left. The “play” and “previous” and next” buttons are now nested at the bottom of the interface and have a jazzy glow whenever you roll over them. Microsoft has finally succeeded in integrating a good search function into its WMP interface. As you type the name of an artist or title the application will bring up the results in the main window.

A few years ago, if you wanted to broadcast your own radio show you would have needed all manner of antennas and radio equipment, along with a licence (or the guts to transmit without one). Nowadays anyone can become a radio star thanks to the rise of podcasting technology. With the major media players now joining cutting-edge tech sites in the podcasting revolution, there’s plenty of competition around, so producing a broadcast that sounds slick and professional is essential.

As its name suggests, ePodCast Creator has been specifically designed for users who want to make their own online audiocasts. The application allows you to create, edit and manage podcasts on the fly, with a set of tools that let you record and mix audio from a variety of sources.

We like the way the program embraces the spirit of podcasting by keeping things pretty straightforward. Unlike many audio-editing applications, the interface is clean of clutter and consists of clearly -labelled playback and record panels, along with two timelines displaying the waveforms for the cast’s voice and music. Thanks to the ‘Music Segments’ menu, you get instant access to the music clips you’ve imported, which can either be dragged and dropped onto the timeline, or accessed via hotkeys.

Morpheus is one of those age old P2P applications and, with support for Gnutella, eDonkey, Bittorrent and many others, probably the most versatile you can find on the market. The new version aims to turn the P2P client into the ultimate multimedia application. Does it succeed?

Morpheus has gone through a complete face lift and the new version brings a similarly new interface. The window is divided into 4 tabs: search results, my files, podcasts and Morpheus online, giving you a clear idea of which aspects of the program are considered to be most important. A pane on the left side allows you to create playlists or keep track of searches and videos – although strangely not music. Morpheus lets you also sync all your downloaded files to import them automatically to iTunes. Oddly enough, the chat tool is now hidden at the top of the interface, next to help and preferences.

If one of your New Year’s Resolutions is learning a new language, you can count on iTunes to lend you a hand.

The iTunes Store Podcast section includes a whole category dedicated to languages with quite an interesting selection of available options, such as Spanish, French, Italian or even Japanese. Just visit the Store, then head to Podcast - Education - Language Courses and make your choice.

Besides, most of them are free, so you have no excuse to begin babbling your first words in whichever language you choose. Amuse-toi bien!