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Be Your Own Shock Jock

You don't need a mellifluous voice or wild hair to become a cybermedia star. All you require are some podcasting tools.

To start, you need audio software, such as Audacity or IPodcast Producer ($150), that records MP3 files. (You can also use Windows Sound Recorder to record .wav files, and then convert them to MP3s using a program like Musicmatch Jukebox.) Once you've recorded your file, you'll have to enclose it in an RSS feed, and upload it to your blog or Web site.

But for my money, the easiest route to podcasting is Audioblog.com ($5 a month or $50 a year). Here you'll find everything you need in one easy bloglike interface. For example, to record a podcast, you just log in and click the Audio tab, and then Record New Audio Post. Click Allow to let the site access your microphone or camera, followed by Begin and then Record. When you're done, click Stop and enter a title and description for your recording; then click Save. On the next page, click Publish Audio, and then select the blog or RSS feed you want to publish it to. It's that simple.

In fact, you don't even need a computer to begin your podcasting career. You can dial a number, record entries via phone, and then automatically post them to your blog. And if you want the world to see as well as hear you, Audioblog can do the same thing for video files captured via Webcam. Stardom is just a click away.