Everyone has interests and eventually you become very knowledgable in some of these things, be it one or more sports, technology, social networking, arts and crafts or even TV trivia. One of the biggest changes brought to us by the Internet in the last decade and a half is the ability to find others who share your interests and passions on any subject or endeavor. One of those area is Ebay, where people who collect a certain kind of lighter made from 1942 to 1955 can get together. Another of these is forums and more recently social networks like Ning. While Ebay is for buying and selling, forums and the other platforms are for communicating. Still, the channel is the written word and it has many disadvantages. Misunderstandings, flames, lack of immediacy are just a few of these. About 18 months ago, I stumbled upon Talkshoe and found a new platform for shared interests.

24/7 talk radio around your own interests

I've mentioned and will mention again often the great resources in podcasts ,recorded audio "broadcasts" available free on the net. (I do many of these on various subjects, one of them about growing older, for example.) The difference with Talkshoe is that the audio is live and anyone can call in and join the discussion. Once the show is over, the recording is usually available for listening by those who couldn't or wouldn't join live.

Here's a quick guide to get your started with Talkshoe, one of the most remarkable tools on the Internet for staying mentally alert, meeting new people and learning about all kinds of things.

First I recommend you join Talkshoe free and use a pseudonym that will become your "brand name". This can be your real name, a nickname or a word or two that descibes what you're into. "FoodLover", "WineCritic", "GameGuy" are a few examples. WHen you fill out the Talkshoe membership form, use your 10 digit US phone number as a PIN or make one up. More on the PIN later.

Once you've joined, take a good look at the thousands of existing shows and listen to a few. There is almost always something on and if there isn't look through the archives of recordings or the categories to find things you might be interested in. Obviously, the quality of shows done by people like you who just spent a minute joining and then rushed on the air isn't always up to prime time standards, but you'll be surprised at how many interesting things you will find.

You can stop there for a few days and become a listener. Then, as you get the feel for how these things are done, you will want to call in and join a discussion live. Eventually you amy want to become a host and produce your own show.

To listen to a live show, go to the Talkshoe Home Page and click on the "Live Now" button. You'll see a list of live shows and buttons like "Join In". You can look at a brief summary of the show by clicking on the name. Talkshoe has a text chat feature so when you join a show you can listen and interact with the people on the show via text without calling in. This is the best way to get started. Type in "hello" or something and see what the feeling is in the show. There are some shows that are very open in that they have no fixed focus, anyone can join in and even change the subject to something totally new. This works because sometimes there are not enough people there to keep a discussion going one one subject. Other shows are very much focused on a single point. Some of my shows, such as New Wine Consumer or VoIP Users Conference are in this category. Both of these are weekly shows at the same time of day. Both appeal to a specific community of people. The tech-geeky VoIP Users Conference usually has 20 to 30 people called in on a phone. Both of these "shows" are widely downloaded.

Now, you've listened and text chatted, you've phoned in to talk on others' shows, it's your turn to start a new show of your own. I can only assemble the mechanics of doing this in a brief resumé, you will have to be motivated enough to actually put the show together and get people to it.

Go to Talkshoe and hit the Create button which will bring you here. You'll see a link to "create a new call series". Click there and follow the instructions carefully, they are not difficult. Make sure you give a title that conveys the purpose of your discussion because people often do not read the description part. Once you have created a series and scheduled an episode, the rest is a question of being on the site when the show is scheduled, clicking on "Start my show" and calling the Talkshoe conference bridge.

The conference bridge is like a switchboard in a business where all calls arrive. When anyone calls the Talkshoe phone number, they will be asked the number of the show (or conference, it's the same thing, only the word is different) and the user's PIN. If you call in and have setyour PIN to your phone number, Talkshoe recognizes the caller ID as your PIN and you will not need to enter it.

So how do you call in?

There are several ways to join the conference calls on Talkshoe. The easiest by far is to simply pick up the phone (cell or regular phone) and dial (724) 444-7444. The switchboard will ask you to enter the show code following by the pound key, as in 11888#. If it does not recognize your PIN as caller ID, you will be asked for your PIN. If you have no PIN, enter 1# and you will join the call anonymously. I do recommend you use a PIN and not remain anonymous, especially if you ever plan to be a show host.

Calling on a normal phone will incur regular phone charges. If you have unlimited calling in the US, this means the call costs nothing extra. If you have excessive extra minutes on your cell plan, the result is the same, no charge. However, if you have neithe, you'll want to explore opne of the methods of calling in free via software. In order to join calls via software you will need to have a headset connected to your computer. These are available anywhere and cost from $20 or so up.

The first method is the free ShoePhone for Mac or Windows that Talkshoe offers on their site. This allows you to join a show, listen and text chat and whenever you like, click the Call Now button to join in.

The most geeky method, of you are comfortable with installing and setting up software, is to download a freeware program such as X-Lite or Gizmo Project. At this point, for brevity, I will refer you to a page with more links and instructions, My New Wine Consumer conference page will guide you if you wish to find and install software.

The rest is up to you!

As a teen, I dreamed of this kind of technology. My firend and I pretended to be doing TV and radio shows in the basement, we built cameras, audio consoles and sets. Today, you can do it all, free and without going in the basement.

If you enjoyed this article, you might want to join me on the Ageless show, an irregular, non-scheduled look at the world. If you want to star in your own TV show, that can be arranged, too and I'll describe the setup in a future installment. Stay tuned!