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GIS Thoughts

Podcasting geodata…

I have just download the latest update of my favourite podcast client ipodderX, which amongst other new features offers the ability to embed any digital media within a podcast.

The ability to add any enclosure to a podcast has been there from the beginning of podcasting many months ago !!!
A podcast is just a xml document in RSS format enclosing an mp3 file e.g.

<enclosure url=”http:///www.edparsons.com/test/podcasts/demo_podcast01.mp3” length=”563460” type=”audio/mpeg”/>

A podcast aggregator like ipodderX subscribes to the podcast file hosted on a server and downloads the podcast whenever it changes. The podcast can contain any digital media, videos are becoming more popular and this got me wondering – Is this a potential means of distributing geodata and in particular change only update data?

The technologies are well understood and quite robust, the sofeware already exists – I must experiment…

Written and submitted from home, using my home 802.11 network.

4 replies on “Podcasting geodata…”

Ed,

The same thought went through my mind over the past few weeks. I thought that podcasting would be a great way to update maps from a network of providers. This technology has some potential in the geospatial world. The iPod Photo can store images (JPEGs) and play them on a television screen. Why not use podcasting and RSS maps for certain applications where updating information is the goal? The “parts” are there and ready to be assembled into a product.

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