TechLifeBlogged

As you travel around the web you find mp3 files (or podcasts) that you might want to listen to later. If it is a podcast you could subscribe to the feed and get all of them as they come but perhaps you just want one and aren't sure yet if you want to subscribe to the whole feed. Sure, you could download them and copy them to your player but that is kind of tedious. With a little but of work up front you can set it up so all you have to do is save the link to the mp3 file in your del.icio.us account and it will transfer to your mp3 player the next time you sync it to your computer.
This how-to makes a couple assumptions. First, that you have a free del.icio.us account. And second that you have some type of program that can sync to your device. iTunes is popular. I don't have an iPod so I use Juice for receiving podcasts. Juice is available for Windows, Mac and Linux.
Ok so first we have to find an mp3 file on the web. Below is one you can use as a test.
We want to save the link to the mp3 not the page it is on into del.icio.us. This gets a little tricky to explain because it depends on many different things. You can right click the link and click 'copy link' or 'copy shortcut'. If you use Firefox, you might want to first install the del.icio.us extension for Firefox (which you should do even if you don't us this tip. I makes del.icio.us and Firefox work seamlessly.
Here is a screenshot of a similar action showing the 'Tag this link' feature of the Firefox extension.

Here is the test mp3 file: hiptest.mp3
If you've copied the link you can go to your del.icio.us account and add it. I like to tag mine 'mp3cast' but you can use what ever tag you like as long as you are consistent.
Note: URL is a direct link to the mp3 file.
Still with me? We're almost home....
Now we want to go to your del.icio.us account and open a special page. Your url is:
http://del.icio.us/yourdelicioususername/system:filetype:mp3+mp3cast
Of course, put your actual user name where I've put yourdelicioususername
The page will look something like:

At the bottom of the page you'll see an oragne RSS button. Click it and then copy the URL into your Juice or other podcatching sync program. Hopefully you can get that figured out on your own.
The beauty here is the when you use the system:filetype:mp3 feature of del.icio.us, the rss feed is magically converted to include the mp3 files as enclosures. This is what your podcatcher needs to be able to go out and grab those mp3 files for you.
You've done all the hard work. Next time you find an mp3 file, all you have to do is save the link to del.icio.us and tag it mp3cast. When your client searches for new podcasts it will look to your del.icio.us account as well and grab any new links you've tagged. Sync and enjoy!
Tags: how to, mp3, del.icio.us, podcast, rss, enclosure