State of the Blog: Disqus are improving, and do I have the Audacity for podcasting?

Firstly, reviews I had lined up for today (Survivors, Mad Men) will either go online later or be pushed back till tomorrow. But anyway, what I wanted to mention was how Disqus are starting to implement changes and improvements based on recent user feedback (fingers crossed my suggestion of making specified text "invisible" for spoiler protection is amongst them), so you may notice changes to the Disqus commenting system I use here...

Already I've noticed that hyperlinks to YouTube videos become "attached" to the bottom of a comment, which open in a self-contained pop-up page when clicked. That's actually a pretty cool new development, and this "embedded media" also stretches to Flickr links.

They've also improved the "likes" feature, so you can actually see who "liked" your comment, but that part of Disqus isn't something I think gets much use here. But hey, maybe you were unaware it even existed? So, if you ever have no time to respond to a comment but liked what you read, hit "like"! If there are any more improvements I think would appeal to people here, I'll let you know.

Beyond all that, I don't have much to add in terms of the blog. I've been tinkering with a few things, design-wise (using images for a few sidebar links, deleting some Amazon DVD/Blu-ray links to increase page-loading speed, etc.) but nothing very exciting.

As I mentioned on Twitter (why not follow me -- hundreds can't be wrong... can they?), I've been playing around with Audacity this week, as the prospect of doing a podcast is something that's been floating around my head in 2010. It's the ideal way to cut down on the often time-consuming writing of a blog, but brings its own headaches -- not least the fact it's an undertaking that costs you actual money (web-hosting fees, a decent mic), and there's not much chance of off-setting costs with advertising. I guess I have a better chance than most upstarts, as any podcast would have DMD as a foundation to work from (i.e a readymade audience, perhaps willing to click some ad links?), but I'd still be shelling out some cash every month on a venture that may still fall flat on its face.

I'm a writer, not a broadcaster -- to paraphrase a certain doctor.

The art of solo podcasting is akin to black magic, really. It's impossible to talk to yourself in a serious yet entertaining tone without stumbling on your words too much, accidentally swearing, or simply turning into Alan Partridge or feeling the need to do a travel report. As a few people have mentioned, I think podcasts work better with 2-4 people in a room together, but nobody I know would be up for co-presenting duties, sadly!

A few of the solo podcasts I've heard seem to embellish themselves with audio clips, but that's a lot of work to compile. And I'm still unsure about the legality of using audio clips in podcasts. I know you can't play songs, so there are websites with "podcast-safe music" to use/buy, but are clips a similar no-no? Aren't they covered by Fair Use, unless you use them to defame something/someone? Do all the podcasts I listen to get official permission to use all the audio they use, which often includes the audio of film trailers, too? I just find that hard to believe. "Oh, hello -- Universal Studios? Hi. Listen, can I use a clip of Christopher Lloyd saying "great Scott!" in my podcast, please? I plan to use it as an amusing sting whenever I mention my friend. His name's Scott. Hello? Are you there? Do you have Robert Zemeckis' number..?"

Out of interest, if there are any podcasters reading (and there should be...) I'd love to hear some of the rules of this medium, any problems you've encountered yourselves, general advice, etc.