npr

Looking to get more exercise into your life? New research from Stanford Medical School reports that people who use pedometers walk about 2,000 steps more every day than those who don't. That translates to an extra mile of progress each day.

So that's one little gadget that can help. Walking has been on my mind lately because one strategy that has really worked for me is to listen to public radio shows on my iPhone iPod while I walk the dog. I know that if I walk my way through an entire 40-minute podcast each day, broken up into two or three segments, I have met my exercise goal.

But even better than that, I often walk farther than I had planned because I get caught up in a compelling show--turning public radio "driveway moments" into "walkway moments." … Read more

I heard on NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday that it was 30 years ago that NASA sent Voyager 2 into space with the music of Louis Armstrong, Chuck Berry, Beethoven, Bach, and a wide selection of world music. The disc that also contained images of Earth, and the sounds of whales, a baby crying, and waves breaking on a shore. The NASA scientists must have felt sound was one of the best ways to communicate human experience of the 20th century to intelligent life in the distant future.

The gold-plated, 12-inch copper disc was an all-analog recording, probably because that … Read more

NPR lovers looking to listen to public radio while at work, or while social networking have a new way to get their fix on demand. NPR and SplashCast have come together with a new player that contains 12 of NPR's audio podcasts including Car Talk, Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!, and Fresh Air. The player will continue to be updated with any new additions to NPR's podcasting lineup.

NPR is also launching a Facebook version of the player that users can listen to as standalone app, or embed it on their profiles to share with others.

This is the latest move from Splashcast in providing branded channels. Last week they launched branded players for number of popular entertainment and recording artists, along with a new platform for creating your own branded player on Facebook. The goal is to give content creators a means to distribute their content, while providing a bit more customization than YouTube or Google Video can offer.

I'm still a fan of subscribing to the shows that I like via iTunes and listening to them at my leisure. But for those that can't, this is an easier solution than digging through NPR's directory. I've embedded the new player after the break. To see it, just click the "Read More" link below.… Read more

The latest on the Internet radio saga bears some positive news for people who like to stream music from public radio's online presence.

Recall that starting on Sunday, new federal rules requiring higher royalty payments to the music industry from Webcasters--commercial and non-commercial alike--are scheduled to take effect. In recent days, Internet radio outlets have been stepping up negotiations with SoundExchange, the nonprofit entity charged with collecting the fees, over compromises aimed at blunting the increases' impact.

Now public radio says it has reached at least a temporary agreement with the record industry.

Thanks to a "productive" … Read more