Getting Started


As mentioned in Chapter 1, podcasts can be found all over the World Wide Web in multiple forms, from audio blogs to daily newspapers (in audio form) to celebrity interviews and video "shows." The majority of podcasts, however, are home-brewed gems put together by everyday people in an effort to educate, entertain, or even offend. This section examines how to get your hands on just the right podcasts for you and helps you decide which software best suits your needs. Although the early days of podcasting featured a slew of programs that more or less did one or two things each, now the main pieces of software are refined multifunctional tools that allow you to manage most every aspect of podcasting in one convenient place.

Podcast Aggregators (Podcatching Software)

The software that goes out and grabs podcasts for you is known as an aggregator. An aggregator scours the Web for the exact kind of content (podcasts) you have told it to look for. Many of these programs will go out and get the material at night (or whenever you tell it to), delivering the content to your desktop, iPod, or other MP3 player while you sleep. Because many broadband Internet connections are in an always-on state, aggregator software takes advantage of this situation, grabbing content around the clock.

Aggregators are available for Macintosh computers, Windows PCs, Unix/Linux systems, and handheld devices such as PDAs and SmartPhones.

Aggregator is the technical term for a piece of software that collects and downloads podcasts, but the more friendly way to refer to it is to use the term podcatcher. In this book, aggregator and podcatcher are used interchangeably.


to ensure cross-brand functionality. It uses the IEEE's 802.11a/b/g/n standards. The PSP is compatible with networks built upon Wi-Ficompliant products. It will work with a network of any flavor of 802.11, so even if you have an 802.11g router, you can achieve Internet access with your PSP 802.11b WLAN hardware through it.

Configuring the Confounding WLAN

If you turn on your PSP, navigate through the home menu to the Settings menu (all the way on the left), scroll down to Network Settings, and then press the X button, you'll invoke the Network Settings menu. The first thing the PSP will wonder is whether you want to use it in ad-hoc mode or infrastructure mode.

Ad-hoc Networking

Use ad-hoc mode to communicate with other PSPs for gaming. Setting up an ad-hoc network is simplicity itself. Just pick a channel (Figure 2.1)the PSP supports 802.11 channels 1, 6, and 11or allow it to choose a channel automatically when you try to connect to something. The latter is the better option, but if for some reason, you can't achieve connectivity with another PSP on automatic, you and your friend should configure the two devices to the same channel.

Figure 2.1. With ad-hoc networking, you simply choose a channel, and you're off!


Infrastructure Networking

If your home is equipped with a wireless network that has a broadband router, and you want to use it to swing your way onto the Internet through your PSP, you'll need to configure infrastructure mode.

Head to the Network Settings menu, as described in the preceding section, and follow these steps:

1.

Choose infrastructure mode by navigating to it and pressing the X button.

2.

Choose a connection name or accept the default, which should be Connection 1 (Figure 2.2).

Figure 2.2. Name your network connection here.


3.

Press the right-arrow button to continue.

In the next screen, the PSP will ask for WLAN settings.

4.

Allow the PSP to scan for a network or enter the SSID of your router (Figure 2.3).

Figure 2.3. Enter the SSID of your network or allow the PSP to scan for one.


For help with this step, see the sidebar "Gathering Information from Your Router" later in this section.


5.

Press the right-arrow button after you've entered the SSID on the keypad screen.

6.

If your router has network security enabled, you'll have to enter the proper WEP or WPA key; do so in the next screen (Figure 2.4).

Figure 2.4. If your network uses WEP for security, enter the WEP key here.


For help with this step, see the sidebar "Gathering Information from Your Router" later in this section.


7.

Press the right-arrow button to continue.

8.

For address setting, unless you've altered the router's defaults so you can assign IP address and proxy servers manually, choose Easy.

or

If you assign IP addresses manually, choose Custom, and enter the necessary information.

9.

Press the right-arrow button to continue.

10.

The settings list (Figure 2.5) lets you go over your settings before you continue; check them and then press the right-arrow button.

Figure 2.5. Check the settings before you proceed.


11.

Press the X button to save your settings.

12.

Finally, test the connection.

If the connection works and offers up a status screen, be happy and rejoice.

If the connection doesn't work, check to be sure the WLAN switch is in the on position. If it is, go through the steps again, and be very careful when you enter the security key; that's probably the sticky point.


Gathering Information from Your Router

Sometimes, you need to log in to your wireless router to scour it for data like its SSID (which stands for service set identifier) and security keys.

To log in to the router, follow the manufacturer's instructions. It's very likely that the instructions will tell you to open a browser, navigate to the IP address http://192.168.1.1, and enter a password to access the router's setup interface.

If you're looking for the SSID, check the main page. If it's not there, check for a wireless settings page, which should be fairly easy to find. Routers let you broadcast the SSID (so other wireless devices can find it) or disable the broadcast (so hackers can't find it). The PSP will work with either configuration as long as you enter the SSID properly in step 4.

To tackle the security, hunt through your browser's interface for a wireless security page. The PSP works with WEP (wired equivalent privacy) and two flavors of WPA (Wi-Fi protected access). WEP and WPA are wireless encryption schemes, and the latter is much more secure than the former. Some older routers use only WEP, as WPA is newer.

WEP generates a key from a passphrase, and you'll have to enter that key into the PSP's security field if your router uses WEP (see step 6). If it uses WPA, you'll have to enter the key you used when you set up the router. The WEP key will be a long string of alphanumeric characters, possibly as long as 26 digits. Enter them carefully, as a single mistake will prevent the PSP from joining the network. The WPA key should be easier to set up, as it's a word or phrase you determine. If you entered bwap for your WPA key, for example, enter bwap in the PSP, and you'll be all set.

Finally, if you're really into security, and you've enabled MAC address filtering in your router, you'll need to enter the PSP's MAC address in your router's allowed list. You can find it in the summary displayed after you test the settings (step 12).


Talking to a Computer

To interface with a PC for the purpose of backing up game saves, transferring pictures and other media to your PSP, and carrying out other activities, you'll need the proper cable (Figure 2.6). If you bought Sony's PSP Giga Pack, the device came with one; if you didn't, you're on your own.

Figure 2.6. If one didn't come with your PSP, you'll need a cable with ends like these for computer communication.


The instruction manual indicates that you need a USB 2.0 cable with a USB A connector on one side and a mini-B connector on the other. It's easy to get the small connectors mixed up, though; there are several types. So instead of running down specs and getting all jargon-y and confusing, I'll tell you the easiest thing to do: Make sure the cable is advertised as PSP compatible. It also may work with lots of other things (cameras, MP3 players, and so on), but when you go to the store or hit the Web looking for a cable, look for PlayStation Portable in the description.


Connecting to a PC is simplicity. Just hook up your cable (with the big plug in the PC's USB port and the little plug in the port on the top of your PSP), and turn on the PSP. Heck, you can even do it with the PSP already on, because USB is cool like that.

In the PSP's home menu, navigate to Settings and then to USB Connection (Figure 2.7). Click the X button, and that's it; your PSP will show up on your computer's file system as a removable mass storage device. You can drag files between its file system and your computer's hard drive(s).

Figure 2.7. Hook up your USB cable and then navigate to this area in the home menu to connect to a computer.





Secrets of the PlayStation Portable
Secrets of the PlayStation Portable
ISBN: 0321464362
EAN: 2147483647
Year: N/A
Pages: 95
Authors: Joel Durham

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