From Library Journal 11/24/09, Faced with Too Little Bandwidth, Some Libraries Limit Streaming Media, Porn.

… according to the American Library Association’s (ALA) Public Library Funding & Technology Access Study, and a few, at least, are cutting back on the amount of bandwidth for streaming media to assure that the integrated library system (ILS) and other functions remain robust.

Having worked as a computer center supervisor for some time at an urban, public library, I understand the need for making room for the “ILS and other functions.” The majority of my patrons come in to watch feature-length, streaming films from their native countries on YouTube, play RPGs, watch music videos, and take online exams for higher education. We need every bit of bandwidth we can spare when we’ve got 30+ machines running at full speed.

It seems to me that limiting bandwidth flirts with violating the ALA Code of Ethics. The first point in the eight-point Code mentions providing equitable access to library resources, and I believe that as long as all patrons’ streaming media bandwidth is the same, choices to limit it are fine. However, the Code of Ethics also tells us to, “uphold the principles of intellectual freedom and resist all efforts to censor library resources,” and “We do not advance private interests at the expense of library users, colleagues, or our employing institutions.” Based on the Code, is limiting access to bandwidth a moral gray area? I’m not sure.

Further Reading:

• Increase Your Library’s Bandwidth, The Blah, Blah, Blah Blog
• ALA Study on Library Internet Bandwidth Issues

Some years ago I saw Bob Dylan play with Paul Simon in Northern California. It was a joy to see these sages play a double-bill and perform duets together. But, Bob keeps on playing and touring, constantly writing new music and giving new voice to old songs. Love him or hate him, he has been one of the most prolific song writers of my parents generation, my generation, and probably my children’s generation, too. Yeah… WOW!

Last month, this musical American bard released “Christmas in the Heart” an album that will raise money for charities around the world.

Dylan has been much criticized for his music video of “Must be Santa” (see below). I have to disagree with the critics who think it’s just too bizarre. What is Santa but play and merriment? This polka-infused version of the song is nothing but fun as Dylan oscillates from Sage to bartender to leader of a party of merry-makers! Pat Boone can sing about Mommy kissing Santa Claus and Dylan can’t have a little fun with this Christmas myth?  Bob Dylan has a long history of doing Christmas right with plenty of respect, even on this album. I, for one, finished the video and felt like gettin’ up and dancing to celebrate Christmas. Not bad for a new rendition of an old Christmas Song.

Don’t take my word for it, decide for yourself:

You can see the exact same version on Bob Dylan’s page by clicking: here.

(Please note the YouTube Demo of the FlipMino HD is embedded below.)

As you can imagine, I shoot a lot of video. Usually, I find myself behind Panasonic equipment and have grown to like their P2 system and the incredible color they provide. But, let’s face it, none of the Panasonic P2 cameras tuck nicely into your back pocket. Earlier this year, I was watching something on Tim Street’s Blog and asked him what he was shooting on. Turns out he was using one of the Flip standard definition cameras at that time. Quick perusal of their website and I picked up a FlipMino HD. I’ve now shot some 20-30 interviews on the camera and plenty of other footage. What I have found is that I have some strong likes and dislikes about the camera. Here they are:

What I like:

• This thing is darn small! Truly it’s smaller than my mobile phone (a blackberry), so it tucks away nicely, even into tight pair of jeans.
• Especially in bright daylight, the clarity of the images is pretty spectacular. In the demo below, please note the incredible blue sky and silhouetted mountains behind the subject about half way through.
• The flip-out port/USB charger – on the ultra models you have to buy batteries, but on the Mino, the charge comes directly from the computer. (Please note that I once uploaded video from a hub, which didn’t provide power back to the camera and spent a day wondering what the heck happened to my new camera, which the hub had drained of power!)… This is a personal preference thing, but I like the fact that if I plug it in each night when I’m shooting, the camera is ready to go when I wake up in the morning.
• The software needed to make a quick video is located on the camera, meaning that if you have access to a computer and the internet, you can make a quick video edit and post it to the world from virtually any cafe in the world (save parts of China and Cuba, where they would be screened).
• Surprisingly, the camera is pretty good in lower light situations. In side-by-side comparisons with the Insignia, the footage from the flip was much better.
• This may seem funny, but I really like the handy little pouch the Flip comes in. Not only is a storage bag, but it doubles to keep the lens clean; excellent for yielding high quality images.

What I don’t like (or just bugs me silly):

• A red/orange light comes on the front of the camera when you are shooting. My finding is that this can unhinge a subject. We were shooting a public meeting one time and as soon we hit record, the public officials stopped talking. LAME!
• The codec – What I have been told is the way Flip fits so much video data into its camera is by shooting to square pixels. Whether or not that is true, I don’t know. What I do know is that the Flip video has difficulty when being edited outside of the Flip video software. I captured some excellent interviews earlier this year and wanted to marry them up with a cool intro for Rocket’s Tail. The Flip Video just wasn’t compatible. Additionally, I have tried to upload the movies to Youtube without going through the export process or it’s native (upload to Youtube) option only to have Youtube’s file conversion fail. So, while I like fitting so much footage into the camera, I want video that is more compatible with other systems (PLEASE NOTE: I also shoot on an Insignia, which comes at a similar price, and I find similar issues with it’s footage).
• The editing software – On the one hand, I very much like that there is editing software in the camera. On the other hand, some aspects of the software are limiting: 1). Low word count and/or control of the title screen and credit screen, 2). software only allows 4 pieces of footage to be edited together, 3). it doesn’t natively allow you to incorporate non-flip video in the edit (I know I keep coming back to melding video from different sources… but, it’s important to me!)
• The microphone is located on the operator’s side of the camera… this is completely weird. I have heard that newer versions of the camera have fixed this… but for now, when you watch a Rocket’s Tail interview that was done on the Flip… my questions will be louder than the subject’s answers.

The Demo:

I had the fun happen stance of unknowingly introducing Liora Mendeloff (InstantMediaKit.com) to Matthew Gill (Burn the Boats Produtions), one of her clients. After raving about his experience with InstantMediaKit, Liora did what any good marketer would do; she asked for a testimonial. She pulled out her Flip Ultra and I immediately pulled out my FlipMino HD. What I tried to do was capture various lighting and sound situations available in the moment. There are some close-up and perspective shots. At times the subject is in silhouette. You be the judge.

Summary

The FlipMino HD has some great applications, but it’s not great for every application. If you’re doing Gotcha! journalism, the record alert light is not going to help. However, it’s great for those on-the-fly interviews or footage that will be instantly posted through the system, the images are great. If Flip comes out with a camera that delivers footage fully compatible with alternate editing systems, I want to check it out!  For versatility, ease-of-use (and pocket), the Flip takes the cake!

BREAKING NEWS: In a reversal of policy, Little League Baseball to institute four full days of rest for pitchers.

I just noticed that the last.fm connection to the Xbox36o is being resurrected for the holidays and it reminds me to share some ideas about internet radio.

I have had a subscription to RADIOIO for more than 5 years.  They recently re-crafted their website and options which now include 192k audio.  I have to say I am very pleased with RADIOIO as a non-commercial music stream.  The differentiator for RADIOIO:  they use stream hosts:  real DJ’s who program the streams and also have blogs on the website.  The result feels personal.

last.fm is more like a social net for music — “if you like this, you may like this”  kind of thing.  Plus they are part of CBSi so there is a huge focus on monetizing the content.  There’s something a little off about last.fm in my view but I really like the event listings page.

Iceberg Radio is a hoot.  100s of streams in every imaginable combination from some whacky folks in Canada.  They like their rogue-y approach and I do, as well.

1.fm has some great channels — BOMBAY BEATS is one of my favorites.  Too many CIALIS commercials.

Finally, a quick plug for RADIO NIGEL in San Diego.  Radio Nigel picks up where 91x left off 20 years ago.  If you are looking for a true 80s timewarp, you will love Nigel.  You may also enjoy NEWWAVECITY — monthly 80s dance party with DJs SHINDOG and SKIP.

We had almost forgotten about Orb, the media-sharing software that lets you stream video from your home computer to your iPhone or any other internet-connected device. In fact, the last time we had even looked at the application was November of 2008 when the company announced an update to their iPhone application which allowed you to stream live TV over the 3G network. At that time though, the desktop software portion of the Orb product was PC-only. As in Windows PC-only. Today, that has changed. Orb for Macintosh has finally been released so Mac OS X users can now stream their media over the net, too.

Orb is a desktop software program that facilitates streaming of personal media over the internet. Once installed and configured, you can access your home computer’s content library from any internet-connected device. The software easily achieves what many other technology companies are still figuring out how to do – make your media available anywhere and everywhere on any device you use with minimal effort on your part.

One of Orb’s best features is the OrbLive iPhone application which connects with your home computer over the internet to provide access to your media library of audio, video, and photos. Through the mobile application, you can access any of your media files and play stream them over either a Wi-Fi or 3G connection. In the Windows version of the software, PC’s with TV tuner cards can also connect you to live, streaming TV in addition to the other shared media saved on the PC’s hard drive.

To some extent, Orb competes with Apple’s own offerings since it provides access to music and video from either a desktop computer or an iPhone. That’s why it was somewhat surprising that Apple ever approved the company’s iPhone application to begin with. Even more surprising is that they allowed it to function over 3G when similar products – like Slingbox’s SlingPlayer for iPhone, another live TV streaming app – are restricted to Wi-Fi only.

No Live TV for Mac Users Yet

Unfortunately, the Mac version is debuting without the live TV streaming functionality. According to Joe Costello, CEO of Orb Networks, support for live TV support will be added in subsequent versions. In the meantime, however, Mac users can install the Orb software to stream music, photos, videos, home movies and webcam feeds stored in iTunes to their iPhones or to any other internet-connected device including netbooks, notebooks, media players, game consoles and more. All that’s needed is the new Mac OS X desktop software (works on OS X Intel 10.5 or later).

Those interested in trying out the new Mac version can grab the installer from here: orb.com/en/download_orb. For now, the Mac software is available in English only.

By Sarah Perez

http://www.readwriteweb.com

Earlier this year the NBA became the first league to officially hand over local digital rights to its teams and local media providers, contrary to the tight control that MLBAM has kept over local rights. After no movement last season, and a trial run by the Yankees and Padres during baseball, the Sixers and Blazers both went to market with local streaming offers at the start of this season.

The Blazers plan to charge a la carte or flat rate for the full package of 15 games, but thats where the problem starts – 15 games. Portland plans to stream the 15 games scheduled for over-the-air broadcasts, none of the remaining games to which Comcast Northwest hold the rights. Portland is one of the markets with carriage problems preventing fans from watching the team. CSN Northwest does not have carriage deals with Charter, Dish, or DirecTV.

This is where live streaming is most valuable, the fans who can’t receive the broadcast on television. Those fans likely have a higher willingness to pay for live streaming, a higher likelihood of using advanced online features and becoming the type of engaged user that advertisers covet. Yet, Comcast excludes them, just as the Yankees and Padres did during the season.

We understand offering it to subscribers that also receive the cable network to prevent cannibalization and prevent free riding from undermining the cable business. But its still hard to convince those customers to pay incremental fees to watch on a laptop the same game they can watch in HD on the big screen, though the number of people interested continues to grow.

However, fans that are not cable subscribers – or not subscribers to a provider with carriage of the local rights holder – arguably have more overall value. If CSN has a functional authentication process in place, it could still offer the package for non-subscribers, possibly using price discrimination and charging a higher fee since they don’t technically pay affiliate fees for your cable channel. The team benefits by extending its digital marketing platform and adding value to the advertising inventory, the right holder benefits by luring in valuable new customers. Customers from Comcast competitors, and customers from the same MSO’s that CSN is negotiating carriage deals with. And everyone earns additional revenue.

Why would CSN not want to make money off customers from the same companies that won’t carry its channel. It could help provide leverage in the carriage negotiations. If not, at the very least, it increases revenue and may help add a premium price component to the product if they can charge non-subscribers a higher rate.

The team and rights owner both maintain control and it’s paid content, so I’m not sure why none of the local streaming deals has gone this route yet. It’s possible the authentication schemes are not as advanced as providers would lead us to believe, its possible they want to take baby steps for now, but for streaming to move the needle it needs to be accessible to the entire local market using a well-thought, profitable pricing scheme.

We had almost forgotten about Orb, the media-sharing software that lets you stream video from your home computer to your iPhone or any other internet-connected device. In fact, the last time we had even looked at the application was November of 2008 when the company announced an update to their iPhone application which allowed you to stream live TV over the 3G network. At that time though, the desktop software portion of the Orb product was PC-only. As in Windows PC-only. Today, that has changed. Orb for Macintosh has finally been released so Mac OS X users can now stream their media over the net, too.

Orb is a desktop software program that facilitates streaming of personal media over the internet. Once installed and configured, you can access your home computer’s content library from any internet-connected device. The software easily achieves what many other technology companies are still figuring out how to do – make your media available anywhere and everywhere on any device you use with minimal effort on your part.

One of Orb’s best features is the OrbLive iPhone application which connects with your home computer over the internet to provide access to your media library of audio, video, and photos. Through the mobile application, you can access any of your media files and play stream them over either a Wi-Fi or 3G connection. In the Windows version of the software, PC’s with TV tuner cards can also connect you to live, streaming TV in addition to the other shared media saved on the PC’s hard drive.

To some extent, Orb competes with Apple’s own offerings since it provides access to music and video from either a desktop computer or an iPhone. That’s why it was somewhat surprising that Apple ever approved the company’s iPhone application to begin with. Even more surprising is that they allowed it to function over 3G when similar products – like Slingbox’s SlingPlayer for iPhone, another live TV streaming app – are restricted to Wi-Fi only.

No Live TV for Mac Users Yet

Unfortunately, the Mac version is debuting without the live TV streaming functionality. According to Joe Costello, CEO of Orb Networks, support for live TV support will be added in subsequent versions. In the meantime, however, Mac users can install the Orb software to stream music, photos, videos, home movies and webcam feeds stored in iTunes to their iPhones or to any other internet-connected device including netbooks, notebooks, media players, game consoles and more. All that’s needed is the new Mac OS X desktop software (works on OS X Intel 10.5 or later).

Those interested in trying out the new Mac version can grab the installer from here: orb.com/en/download_orb. For now, the Mac software is available in English only.

By Sarah Perez

http://www.readwriteweb.com

Steve on WFAN to discuss the recent jury verdict in favor of the family of Brandon Patch, an 18-year-old pitcher who was killed by a ball hit off an aluminum bat in 2003.   Joining host Rick Wolff and Steve is Joe White, Jr., the attorney for the Patch family.

While I’m rather fond of technology and gadgets, it is only recently that I tried Netflix streaming video on my Xbox 360. It was fairly easy to do: sign in via your Xbox Gold membership, download the Netflix app to the Xbox 360, get the code it provides, sign in to Netflix, input the code and you are ready to start streaming. While Netflix is accessed via a Gold Account, it does not actually link to that account, so if you switch your Gold account to another Xbox 360, you will need to go through the activation process once again.

On the plus side, the streaming video is part of  Netflix and does not add to the cost (as long as you have the appropriate level of membership, of course). I found that the quality was quite good-comparable to watching a DVD. Of course, my TV is not HD (yes, I bear that shame), so I could not provide a truly proper assessment of the quality. The only problems I had were with Comcast-but that is not the fault of Netflix. One the downside, the selection of movies is still somewhat limited. While there are some top tier movies, there are also many B grade flicks.

Watching movies stream over my Xbox 360 made me think about the future of cable TV. Not surprisingly, I began to wonder why anyone would pay for premium movie channels when they could get movies they want, when they want. Of course, some premium channels do offer content that is not available via services like Netflix and there are “on demand” services.

I am, of course, not going out on a limb to say that the path of the future is along the trail being cut by services like Netflix (and, of course, online TV like Hulu). In the near future, set programming schedules will be rather limited or perhaps even non-existent. True, media providers will still produce content on their own schedule, but perhaps there will be something like a “daily delivery” of content that people can view at their convenience. For example, the Daily Show might be filmed in the morning and be ready for viewing anytime after noon.

It also seems likely that the convergence of computers and TV will continue. While there have been various lame and failed attempts to merge the two in the past, the technology is clearly much better now. In fact, as I type this, I am watching V on my PC.

The web and the rise of ereaders like the Kindle show that even the printed media is blending even more into the realm of computers. Even radio is being streamed over the net, thus it seems that all forms of media are converging.

On the positive side, having the web, TV, radio and all sorts of media blended together into one super media does make it more convenient to get that media fix. Also, it might save consumers some money-rather than having to buy multiple devices and have numerous types of subscriptions, people might just need one main device and one subscription (or perhaps a variety will still be the order of the day).

On the negative side, media convergence can lead to monopolies and provide an even more reduced pool in regards to diversity of opinion. After all, one concern about the media today is that a few major companies own almost all the forms of media. Such convergence would put even more control into the hands of a even more limited number of people.

Of course, it could be argued that such convergence will allow for greater diversity. After all, almost everyone has access to the web and can thus be content creators. This convergence would allow (in theory) anyone to provide content and thus there would be an expansion rather than a contraction. Of course, this assumes that those in control of providing access will allow such diversity of content. On one hand, they have much to gain for allowing such content. After all, YouTube thrives (but seems to have yet make any money) on the basis of such user created content. On the other hand, companies often desire to control content and set limitations. After all, there has been considerable dispute over net neutrality in recent years.

Of course, normal TV will continue for quite some time. There are still many people who are just fine with it and, of course, there is the weight of inertia to overcome. But, the future, as always, brings change.

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How to get Real Player URLs for BBC Listen Again programmes? Go to the webpage iPlayer Real converter and turn the PID into a URL. This might not work forever as the BBC switched to Flash and wants to offer AAC and Windows Media streams instead of Real Audio. But for now the legacy Real Audio streams that can be downloaded and save with mplayer are still available.

My Blog Post:

Back in the days BBC used the RealPlayer for its Listen Again service. It supported inline use within the BBC website and streaming facilitating the standalone player. Then they created their BBC iPlayer which uses Adobe Flash. However, they still had a link to the .ram file which contains the link to the .ra RealAudio Stream.

But as you can read in the iPlayer help: Why am I no longer able to ‘Listen Again’ to BBC radio programmes on BBC iPlayer in RealMedia format? The BBC turned of the RealPlayer suppoert on 22 October 2009 – … officially.

On the BBC Internet blog you can read the article: Improvements to BBC Local Radio online. The blog post is from August 2009. It states that Real Streams for Local Radio have been turned off. They plan to offer AAC and Windows Media streams. But this hasn’t been implemented yet. So one can only listen to Local Radio on the Flash-based iPlayer. (Links and information via this site)

But this is not true for National Radio like BBC Radio 4 or BBC7.

The old RealStreams still exist. At least for now. (And maybe only for Non-UK-users) Old links (looking like this rtsp://rmv8.bbc.net.uk/radio7/sat1700.ra? ) don’t work anymore.

The website offering WebbIE, the free web browser for blind people with little or no sight, complains about this step as the flash-player isn’t that accessivle. Read about it here: WebbIE: Accessible BBC iPlayer (Listen Again)

But it turns out there still is a way to get the Listen Again Real Audio Streams for Real Player. I read a blog post about a ubuntu script that’ll download the BBC Listen Again Stream, save it as wav via mplayer and convert it to a mp3 via LAME. This directed my to the website iPlayer Real Converter. If you give the website a iPlayer PID or search through the schedule, it’ll give you a link to the RealPlayer Stream.

I, for example was interested in the current episode of Doctor Who that was broadcasted on BBC7. I will post some links here, but I guess they won’t work by the time you read this, as the 7 days will be over.

From either the Overview page for Episode ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b009szrh ) or the Details page for the Episode ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00nlyg5 ) you can get to the iPlayer (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b00nlyg5) , which will use Flash to play the episode.  Within the html of the iPlayer I couldn’t find a link the stream. Maybe I overlooked it. Maybe the Flash player is used to create a URL for the stream from the PID. The source code contains somethink like this:

iplayer.semp.setMetaFiles({
flash: {
playlist: "http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/playlist/b00nlyg5",
mp3: true,
aac: true,
aacLow: false
},
real: "",
wmp: ""

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/playlist/b00nlyg5 is a XML file. It contains a lot of information like the image to be used. Or what shows might be similar. But I couldn’t find the stream – URL.

But iPlayer Real Converter will help you. If you go the Schedule of BBC which is retrieved from the BBC via an XML file the old lady is offering, you get a link to http://www.iplayerconverter.co.uk/pid/b00nlyg5/stream.aspx

You can easily exchange the PID b00nlyg5 to whatever PID you have in your case.

The link I got redirected me to a file on the BCC server called: RadioBridge_intl_2300_bbc_7.ram

It contained the following link to a Real Stream “rtsp://rmv8.bbc.net.uk:554/bbc7coyopa/bbc7_-_saturday_2300.ra?timestamp=1257135938&pid=b00nly7h&BBC-UID=3ac234671728faa09320b837d0fb0c3d184337f196774&SSO2-UID=” [I changed the link slightly to obfuscate the UID - you can't use it anyhow because the seven days are over. (and I change the timestamp)]. But from my former experience with the BBC URLs you should be fine using “rtsp://rmv8.bbc.net.uk:554/bbc7coyopa/bbc7_-_saturday_2300.ra?”

You can play this link using Real Player of mPlayer. Maybe you can even use vlc.

Just a quick note:

In case you want to listen the stream on day number 8. You might be tempted to run

mplayer -dumpstream -dumpfile FileNameEpisodeOfDoctorWho.Ra rtsp://rmv8.bbc.net.uk:554/bbc7coyopa/bbc7_-_saturday_2300.ra?

which will put the file FileNameEpisodeOfDoctorWho.Ra into the current working directory. [If you want to use the full URL including the "&"s, you should be aware that Windows will think the command ends at the '&' and a new one starts at the '&'. You'll have to but '"'s around the URL in that case.] You can open this file using RealPlayer or mplayer. You can also use the more advanced command line shown on the blog post about a ubuntu script that’ll download the BBC Listen Again Stream, save it as wav via mplayer and convert it to a mp3 via LAME.

I will let you choose the bitrate for LAME and choose a good cache size and bandwidth. And you’ll get a .wav file from mplayer. The .ra file I created with my mplayer command line isn’t a wav file but a Real Audio file.  The size is about 20MB per hour.

Disclaimer: I surely don’t recommend you to save the stream. They’ll play a repeat someday. You don’t need to circumvent their 7 day constraint.

In addition to Brotha Tech, I also do Residential Electronics Integration (I install TV’s and other stuff). I am currently working a friend/customer on hooking up her place with some nice new toys. One of her concerns is that she isn’t sure if wants to pay for cable. The initial thought that popped in my head was “I am about to hook your place up with some very nice gadgetry and you are not gonna use it?”

But, as I learned from a short stint in sales, you are not supposed to object to any customers concerns. You listen, qualify, and determine the best solution based on their needs/wants. So I am gonna talk to her about dropping cable and using her nice new shiny televisions as giant computer screens to watch TV over the internet.

The Lowdown:

Which made me ponder the question, “Could I drop my own cable/satellite provider?” In order to do that, I would first have to list all of the shows and events I watch regularly.

Sports (duh!)

Kids shows (I my daughter loves SpongeBob SquarePants and I Love Carly)

Comedy (mostly Comedy Central…and I too don’t like bears)

Movies (movie tickets are getting mad crazy expensive these days)

That’s about it. Now the question is can I find alternative ways to enjoy TV without cable? Well let’s run through the list:

Sports – I never REALLY needed cable to watch all the major sporting events in the first place because they have been broadcast free via the major networks (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC). All I would need now is a TV with a built-in digital tuner (or use my current TV and buy a digital set-top box) and maybe a digital antenna if I get a crappy signal.

Kids shows & Comedy – Hulu.com (among others) does a great job at throwing up a huge number of television shows for free (for now)…AND the commercials are short. I just have to make sure I browse for complete episodes (and not the tons of clips and exclusives that may cloud up your selections)

Movies – Netflix, itunes, amazon…take your pick (more are popping up daily) – All are offering ON DEMAND TV shows and movies for very nominal rental/subscriptions fees compared to the monthly charges I could rack up messin’ around with cable/satellite.

[image courtesy of moko.labs]

The downside:

Equipment – I can’t get away from the devices cluttering up my entertainment center. So in order to get rid of the cable/satellite set-to box, I would have to replace it with a box that will enable to get the free network broadcast signals, surf the web, and download on-demand movies. Luckily, I know of one box that do all of that – my computer! I don’t have to, my current computer setup could handle it (I don’t have anything special), but that would give me the chance to upgrade my computer with a TV tuner video card, and upgraded audio card (for surround sound). Or I can just use my computer to browse for the shows on the net and use the built-in tuner in my TV (since the digital switch, just about all TV’s have a built-in tuner).

For my movies from Netflix, Amazon, and other places, I can use my computer as well, or purchase a box that will enable me to connect to these services without the need for a computer (PS3 and XBox have these features built in as well as some nicer DVD players and other boxes specifically designed to utilize these services)

HDTV – The ONLY thing cable/satellite is good for is HDTV. Cable/satellite providers are pushing out a great of HD programming. Add that with the fact that the internet is not big enough to handle ALL of us streaming pure, uncompressed HDTV signals to our computers, and your average computer can’t display that nice image (yet). BUT, if I can get the free network broadcast signals, I am good on getting the major network signals in HD. The rest (internet shows, and on demand movies) aren’t too far off from the quality they currently display. Good enough that I could consider sacrificing quality for the savings I get if I ditch cable/satellite.

Here are some other links/resources on the subject.

TV Over Net
Cancel Cable
Web Browser TV
Boxee TV
Devices To Help You Ditch Cable TV

So to answer my own question of whether or not I can live without cable/satellite, the answer is “sure”. The real question is can you?

[image courtesy of moko.labs...he made the switch!]

This is the latest episode of the syndicated Reggae Vault Classics podcast produced for promotional purposes only by Highlanda Sound for October 14, 2009 featuring classic reggae music in a radio broadcast mix-show format.

This episode of Reggae Vault Classics includes excepts from The Vault Classics Radio show recorded live on Wednesday, October 14, 2009 for Da Flava Radio.

Right Click the file and select “Save As…” to download the entire mp3 file or just click to listen to the audio stream now.  We sincerely hope you enjoy the selections and mixing.  Please send your comments, feedback, and requests to podcast@highlanda.net or feel free to comment here.

Direct mp3 Download Link (right click and “save as”)

Playlist:

1   Sweet Sweet Guyana – Luciano alongside Mikey General
2   Virgin Girl – Eek A Mouse
3   Push Comes To Shove – Freddie McGregor
4   Have You Ever Been In Love – Dennis Brown
5   Love You Too Much – Wayne Wade
6   Going Away – Sanchez and Beenie Man
7   Missing You – Sanchez
8   Sunshine – Junior Kelly
9   Night Nurse – Gregory Issacs
10  Waan Back – Anthony B
11  It’s A Pity – Tanya Stephens
12  The Sweetest Sound – Imani
13  Soundboy – Hopeton James
14  I’m Just A Guy – Alton Ellis
15  Vanity – Sugar Minott
16  Were Gonna Fight – The Heptones
17  Amazing Studio One Medley – Mikey General
18  Father God Almighty – Mikey General
19  The 21st Century – Mikey General
20  Slow Down – Mikey General
21  Babylon Cake – Mikey General
22  No Faith – Cocoa Tea
23  Jah Caught Them – Capleton
24  Dem A Try A Ting – Sizzla
25  Ulterior Motive – Luciano
26  Give Praises – Luciano

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This is the latest episode of the syndicated Dancehall Now podcast produced by Highlanda Sound System for October 13, 2009 featuring the very latest dancehall music in a full stereo radio broadcast format.

This episode includes the Top Rated Eight at 8 Countdown which broadcasts weekly on the Dancehall Now Radio Show (Tuesdays 6pm – 9pm EST) on Da Flava Radio.

Dancehall Now is in keeping with Highlanda Sound’s stated mission to entertain and promote reggae music world wide. This show may contain language that may be considered by some to be offensive. Views expressed by artists and guests on this show are not necessarily shared or endorsed by Highlanda Sound.

Right Click the file and select “Save As…” to download the entire mp3 file or just click to listen to the audio stream now. We sincerely hope you enjoy the selections. Please send your comments, feedback, and requests to podcast@highlanda.net or feel free to comment here. If you like what you hear please subscribe to get automatic updates when new shows are added.

Direct MP3 Download Link

Playlist

1 Trapsetter (Remix) – Tarrus Riley
2 Pretty Devil (Remix) – Konshens
3 D.O.A (Death Of Alliance) – Vybz Kartel
4 Ungrateful Hellbwoy – Bounty Killer
5 Gaza Mi Seh – Beenie Man
6 Start War – Flippa Mafia
7 Informa – Elephant Man
8 People – Elephant Man
9 Purify – Elephant Man
10 Something Ago Happen – Vybz Kartel
11 Street Team – Ding Dong
12 Unfinished House – Flippa Mafia
13 D Street Mi Seh – Mad Cobra
14 Dollar Sign – Vybz Kartel
15 I Am Blessed – Mr. Vegas
16 Neva Sell Ma Soul – Assassin
17 Love Dem – Vybz Kartel
18 How You Bad Suh – Ding Dong
19 House Cleaning – Mavado

Top Rated 8 Countdown – 10/6/2009

1   So Fine -                          SEAN PAUL                    
2   Holiday Inn -            Terry Linen
3   Mockingbird     -                      Mavado            
4   Couple Up –                     TOK                      
5   Hold On To What You’ve Got    -       Richie Stephens                         
6   You’ll Never Find –         Jah Cure                    
7   Pull It Up -            Mikey Spice    
8   Young Hearts –               Tarrus Riley

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Image via Wikipedia

I must seem like a fanboy, and maybe I am, but Google is at it again, fresh off their Google Voicemail announcement. This time, they’re making your search for music a little more, well, musical. The announcement of their new music search explains how they understand that, when we search for music, we want to hear about it, not read about it.

They also understand that we may want to purchase it, or listen to similar music. That’s why they have pulled all of those options together in one convenient, Google-ized spot. Click through for the sweetly-sounding details.

Google Music OneBox essentially aggregates results from multiple online music streaming and purchasing services. The update causes OneBox results to appear at the top for music queries and allows you to click on one of the services and stream the music you were looking for right away. See the screenshot below, from a Google search for Tenacious D:

As you can see, they list some songs by the artist, presumably the most commonly-search-for songs. Clicking a song title opens a new window with an embedded Lala player that streams that song. You can buy the song or listen to more from that artist. If you click those links at the bottom (see screenshot above), you can stream a radio station based on that artist’s music.

It’s funny how intuitive these ideas seem in retrospect, and it’s a little surprising that none of the big-name players have done anything more robust with music searches until Google came along with this. As usual, though, I’ll ask for more right away: let’s include some tour information, secure a lyrics-results partner, and consider photos of the artist instead of random album covers.

Just some ideas.

This is the latest episode of the syndicated Reggae Vault Classics podcast produced for promotional purposes only by Highlanda Sound for October 7, 2009 featuring classic reggae music in a radio broadcast mix-show format.

This episode of Reggae Vault Classics includes excepts from The Vault Classics Radio show recorded live on Wednesday, October 7, 2009 for Da Flava Radio.

Right Click the file and select “Save As…” to download the entire mp3 file or just click to listen to the audio stream now. We sincerely hope you enjoy the selections and mixing. Please send your comments, feedback, and requests to podcast@highlanda.net or feel free to comment right here.

Direct mp3 Download Link (right click and “save as”)

Playlist:

1 Smile – Dennis Brown
2 Declaration Of Rights – Freddie McGregor
3 Everyday Is Just A Holiday – Freddie McGregor
4 Nanny Goat – Freddie McGregor
5 Watch This Sound – Freddie McGregor
6 Hold On To What You’ve Got – Dennis Brown
7 Fill Us Up With Your Mercy – Garnett Silk
8 Show Us The Way – Dennis Brown
9 Donkey Want Water – Yellowman
10 Green Line – Garnett Silk
11 Jammin – Bob Marley
12 Kinky Reggae – Bob Marley
13 Natural Mystic – Bob Marley
14 Murderer (Remix) – Beenie Man and Barrington Levy
15 Under Me Sensi (Remix) – Beenie Man and Barrington Levy
16 Jah Power – Beenie Man and Tristan Palmer
17 Healing – Beenie Man and Lady Saw
18 Going Away – Beenie Man and Sanchez
19 Slam – Beenie Man
20 The Wickedest Ride – Beenie Man
21 Certain Gal – Beenie Man
22 Number One – Beenie Man
23 Memories – Beenie Man
24 Christmas – Beenie Man
25 World Dance – Beenie Man
26 Blessed – Beenie Man
27 New Suzuki – Beenie Man
28 Crazy Baldheads – Beenie Man and Luciano

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Death by aluminum bat: the Brandon Patch case against Louisville Slugger

After testing out its latest online offering with about 5,000 customers earlier this summer, Comcast is set to launch On Demand Online with all customers by the end of the year, the company is saying. As we reported earlier, the feature would work much like Hulu does although it would be available only to Comcast subscribers.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Comcast has struck deals with about two dozen cable and movie channels to provide content. There is some bad news here though. You won’t gain access to the entire lineup of online content — only what is included in your package.

Either way, the move signals an effort by the entertainment industry to get a leg up on illicit distribution of programming. By offering the programming itself, and on-demand, the urge to run for BitTorrent and the like may be lessened for some.

Take the music industry for example. It decided to resist the digital movement, and ended up getting burnt badly. Only now is the industry beginning to gain some foothold in the digital world.

Spotify are going to be streaming free TV, you say? Well the good news for you is, I have no idea. Not to say I won’t be talking about it, just don’t expect it any time soon.

I was just snooping around t3.com and they mentioned it here:

Not content with jockeying iTunes from its music-providing pedestal, the innovative minds behind streaming music service Spotify have now set their sights on producing their own branded mobile phones and a Spotify television channel.

Speaking to tech website Crave, Spotify representatives said while ‘SpoTV’ is “some way off”, there are plans to look into the possibility, “to install Spotify on digital boxes at some point in the future”.

While there is no confirmation whether either the Spotify mobile phone or ‘SpoTV’ will be reaching UK shores anytime soon, the fact they chose to share their streaming wonder with us first, gives us hope they will do the same this time around.

Sounds pretty interesting, but what can it bring to the table that other services don’t provide?

Unlike the music market (which Spotify has taken the crown of) there are already a few services that offer free streaming television, for example: BBCi Player, 4od and TVCatchup.

There are probably a lot more than that, and a few that are exclusive to the USA also. I’m not going to mention illegal sites which stream movies and stuff, I’m talking about a legal way.

It mentions being used on digital boxes though… Does this mean we’ll be able to sit on our sofas and navigate through free streaming TV from our existing digi boxes? Quality of the stream and bandwidth comes to mind here. But I look forward to hear more about it.

Anyway, onto downloads. You might have noticed a new ‘Buy’ button displayed next to some of your Spotify tracks. Spotify have partnered up with 7digital to offer premium and free members alike the option for on the fly downloading, you can simply click ‘Buy’ and a submit form will pop up in Spotify asking you to enter your payment method. Simples!

Sadly it isn’t on the mobile broadband version of Spotify yet, but who knows?

While this isn’t particularly good news to Premium members,  (they can listen on iPhone/android and also sync playlists for offline use, which makes buying a track a bit redundant) free users now have an option other than subscribing to get access to songs on the go, which is good news.

A lot of premium members have been asking if the buy button could be optional, as it now takes up a whole column in Spotify, so we maybe seeing that soon. I would imagine it heavily depends on the agreement Spotify has with labels and 7digital – it might be in the agreement that every user has to be able to see the button, but that’s just speculation.

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An American General, Eric Shinseki, once said “If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less”.

 About a week ago there was an interesting event in Cambridge, called “Diving with Dolphins”, which is essentially a technology innovations event.

 Here are some of the interesting things that I thought I would share with you:

Broadersheet – a personalised newspaper for your iPhone, all the news from around the world that you care about, from trusted sources.

Click ‘n’ fit – an image recognition and processing application that overcomes the limits of 2D photography so that you can order shoes online.

Cronto – An image processing mobile phone application that decodes a visual cryptogram, combining user ID and transaction verification to ensure authentic bank transactions. Protection from Trojans and online scammers.

Heatlight – uses household boilers to create light from waste heat.

Magnifye – The world’s strongest permanent magnet with the potential to create a new generation of tiny, mobile MRI units.

Ratplug – a universal charger that will upload and download media to any mobile phone or USB device while you charge the battery.

Ecoolsolutions – Datacentre managers are wasting money by overcooling their datacentres, this is a solution that uses improved air management cutting energy consumption by over 15%.

Ninetiles – a “future network” that creates a virtual circuit before data is transmitted, it will overcome delays by effectively managing streaming media.

Shearline – Using tiled arrays of optical fibres to create high-brightness, high-resolution displays. The screens are constructed in modules so that unusual sized screens can be created to fit into the space available.

It’s all good stuff and cutting edge innovation.

Mark Cadbury, Marketing Director

Hardware.com

This is the latest episode of the syndicated Dancehall Now podcast produced by Highlanda Sound System for September 29, 2009 featuring the very latest dancehall music in a full stereo radio broadcast format.

This episode includes the Top Rated Eight at 8 Countdown which broadcasts weekly on the Dancehall Now Radio Show (Tuesdays 6pm – 9pm EST) on Da Flava Radio.

Dancehall Now is in keeping with Highlanda Sound’s stated mission to entertain and promote reggae music world wide. This show may contain language that may be considered by some to be offensive. Views expressed by artists and guests on this show are not necessarily shared or endorsed by Highlanda Sound.

Right Click the file and select “Save As…” to download the entire mp3 file or just click to listen to the audio stream now. We sincerely hope you enjoy the selections. Please send your comments, feedback, and requests to podcast@highlanda.net or feel free to comment here. If you like what you hear please subscribe to get automatic updates when new shows are added.

Direct MP3 Download Link

Playlist

1 I’m Yours (Remix) – Jason Mraz, Jah Cure, Lil Wayne
2 If He Wanna – Queen Latifah featuring Serani
3 Therapy – Gramps Morgan featuring India Arie
4 I’m In Love With You – Charly Blacks
5 Turn Mi On – Charly Blacks featuring Pretty Kitty
6 Fly High – Shaggy featuring Gary Nesta Pine
7 I Need You – Jah Vinci
8 Informa – Elephant Man
9 People – Elephant Man
10 Keep Your Friendship – Mr. Vegas
11 Gyal Til Me Dead – Assassin
12 Mi Closet – Spice
13 Glue – Elephant Man
14 She Loves Me – Turbulence

Top Rated 8 Countdown – 9/29/2009

1   SO FINE                            SEAN PAUL
2   You’ll Never Find            Jah Cure
3   Mockingbird                            Mavado
4   Holiday Inn                        Terry Linen
5   Come Breed Me                    Vybz Kartel/Gaza Indu
6   A Thousand Miles Away        Ras Penco
7   Couple Up                T.O.K
8   Hold On To What You’ve Got      Richie Stephens

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