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Introduction
Hello. Not being much of a Microsoft Windows fan (i only use windows for gaming, Itunes, and BB syncs at times) im always on the lookout for ways to sync my Blackberry Curve with my Ubuntu Linux machine, whether it be syncing podcasts (crackberry podcast at the top of the list), music, videos, or business related fun such as calendars and email.
What im going to (try) to review today is a package (think of a package as a program) called Gpodder version 0.13.1 . This package will let you download podcasts (using RSS feeds), update those podcasts, and then sync those podcasts to the Blackberry of your choice.
Im using Ubuntu 8.04 LTS (long term support) as the distribution for this review. The gpodder project is a free download under the GPL license and is funded by Novell. It is available for most distributions. In the following paragraphs i will explain where to get gpodder, the pros and cons of Gpodder and how to grab the package and install it, and getting it synced up to your Blackberry device. Ill also provide screenshots of my machine so everyone reading my drivel can get a good idea of what gpodder looks like
Where to get gpodder and installation
If your using Ubuntu 8.04 or the recently released 8.10, gpodder should be in the Ubuntu repositories, although i dont believe it is the latest version. If you still want to get the version thats in the repositories you can use Synaptic (this is whats called a package manager. Its a way to add software to your Ubuntu operating system) Just put "gpodder" in your search field in Synaptic and you should now be shown gpodder and any dependencies it may require. Check mark it as well as the dependencies, click apply and your good to go. Gpodder will now be downloaded and installed. Keep in mind that you will be asked for your root password when logging into synaptic. You might be able to update your souce list to get the latest version using Synaptic but i didnt try it.
You can also go right to the Gpodder website and download the .deb file and install it that way. With this method your getting the latest version, and its super easy to install as its just opening up the .deb file and installing (just like a windows .EXE file
)
You can get gpodder here. gPodder, a free podcast aggregator for Linux, FreeBSD and Maemo
Once Gpodder is installed just go to applications/sound and video/gpodder, and away you go.
Using Gpodder
With Gpodder now installed, we now get the fun task of adding our favorite podcasts via RSS feeds. For this review i will add the Crackberry weekly..errr biweekly...err triweekly (sorry Kevin and Craig) podcast to gpodder so we can listen to Kevins fanboyism and Craigs distain pumping happily through our Blackberries
First things first. Go grab the RSS feed url from the Crackberry site. Now that you got that we will now add it to gpodder. With your RSS feed in hand and Gpodder open take a gander at the top left side of the screen. See where it says Enter podcast url? Suprise Suprise thats where we are going to paste our Crackberry Podcast feed. Paste the feed and click "ADD" Once you do that you should now have a message that looks like this...
You are now prompted to download the podcast. As you see it gives a short description of the episode, the podcast (CB in this case) the size (43 megs in this case) and the date (november 2nd is the latest episode...lets step it up boys ) With that checked we now click "download", and our podcast is downloaded. A tab will appear in the top left that when clicked will give you the status of your download as the podcast is downloading.
Once the podcast is downloaded it will show up on your podcast list on the left. Any cover art is included, and as you can see Crackberry is now at the top of the list. The main viewing window includes a list of every podcast that was put out by the provider and if still available you can download any back episodes that you want. Looks like our friends Kevin and Craig's first episode was February 11th of this year.
You will also notice a icon next to the podcasts on the main window. This is the status of that episode. Music notes with a checkmark are podcasts that are downloaded and ready for listening. There is another icon that appears when a new episode is available but not downloaded yet. A garbage can appears when the podcast is deleated. If you have a large amount of podcasts on your list you can go up to the menu on the very top left of the screen click "podcasts" and then click "check for updates" This will give you a list of all the podcasts that have new episodes that you have not downloaded yet. Keep in mind that when you do this you are not actually downloading the podcasts YET. Your only getting a list of new ones available. You will see a popup that will have all the new ones listed (as shown in the pic above). Check the ones you want and click download and your new podcasts will be downloaded.
Playing what you have downloaded
Dead simple. Click the podcast provider on the left panel (in my case "Crackberry" "ESPN" "The Force Cast" etc..). On the main panel click the episode you want to listen to and click the "play" button up top. Whaaalaaa. You now have Kevin and Craig happily filling your room and pissing off whoever is in earshot Its also worth a note that if the podcast is not downloaded you can still play it. Any podcasts that are not downloaded are streamed and not saved. Now that we got podcasts downloaded we can now load them up on our Blackberries
Syncing our Blackberries with Gpodder
Now the fun begins. Loading up our Blackberries with our recently downloaded podcasts! First we must tell gpodder what kind of device we have. Thats easy. Select the preferences box up on the top. A window appears. Now on the left side click "device"
Choose "file based mp3 player. Choose media/disk in the sync to folder tab. Close that window and your device is now ready to sync.
Now get that frequently lost sync cable that comes with your blackberry and plug that fracking thing into your blackberry and USB port. Linux will recognize the device with a icon on your desktop. Gpodder will not recognize it but fear not. A music player may open. If it does just close it. Its just Rhythm box. The default player for Ubuntu. No need for it in this situation. Now go back into Gpodder and click "MP3 player" on the top of your screen and then "sync this device". The syncing process has begun. Soon your podcasts will be synced on your Blackberry.
As a side note you may get a message on your Blackberry when you sync it up stating that "usb charging current is not sufficiant..yada yada yada". Disreguard this message. I believe (someone correct me if im wrong) this is because BB software is not installed in Linux. Im pretty sure that the Blackberry software package has to be installed to get a rapid charge. Again i could be wrong. Either way...we are syncing, not charging so that message can be ignored.
On a rather important note, before you unplug your sync cable from your device go to the icon thats on the desktop that appeared when you plugged your blackberry in. Right click the icon and then choose "unmount". You can now safely unplug your device. Not a big deal if you forget, but in the very slim case that you get data loss from not unmounting you may wish you remembered. Ive forgotten to unmound many times and experienced no data loss so take it as you will. Lets go over some of the pro's and cons of using Gpodder and your Blackberry.
Pros
Easy installation: If your using Ubuntu installation is a breeze. Either use your
package manager to install it for you or just get the .Deb file and
away you go.
User interface is fantastic Finding and selecting the podcast you want to listen to is easy. Just choose the podcast provider from the list, choose the episode you want in the main panel click play and listen away
Easy syncing with your Blackberry Plug in your BB. Click "copy episodes to your device" and your syncing with the best of them.
Its Free Its Free!!!
Its not windows Hooooray!!!!!!
The Cons
Podcast management could be alot better You can go into the preferences and have gpodder automatically delete podcasts that you have listened to. Problem is that this cant be done automatically on your synced device. So if the podcast is deleated in gpodder it wont automatically delete it on your device on your next sync. Which means you have to manually delete podcasts off your device while its untethered to your comp. This can lead to a whole lot of podcasts on your device and wasted space if you forget to delete them.
No video conversion If anybody got videos to show on there BB while using gpodder please tell me. Any solutions to this would be great. Could berry be a solution?
Its been almost 2 weeks since the last CB podcast Enough said
Conclusion
If your a Linux user, gpodder is a excellent way to get podcasts on your Blackberry. Aside from having to manually manage your podcasts on your Blackberry, and the non-existent video support on Linux, the slick interface is easy to use and navigate. The easy installation makes it that much better. You may want to take a pass however if your used to Itunes and the way it handles the management of podcasts. Just dont forget to delete your old ones on the BB!!
Feel free to crit and bash. I dish it out but i can take it too !!!11-18-08 05:03 AM
