Tris Hussey's Lifestream

If you're looking to promote your hobby, trying to educate customers, or simply want to entertain the masses, the Web is quickly becoming the medium of choice. These days, that means setting up a blog--preferably one that features video and podcasts as well as text. Starting a multimedia blog isn't hard. Mainly you need tools for creating and capturing content and the means for staying up-to-date in your area of expertise--technology, in my case.

When I accepted Macworld's challenge to build a complete blogger setup for less than $300 (you can check out the rules here ), I knew I'd have to make some tough decisions and a few compromises. Here's what I ended up with.

Maybe I'm out of line here, but I'm pretty darn sure you can put together a fine, fine blogging and podcasting set up for, well, nothing.

Maybe a challenge I need.