Month: August 2001

How hard can you beat digital music until it’s all underground? Slashdot has this post on the “future of digital music,” pointing to a pretty comprehensive article and report on NPR about the turbulent state of on-line radio broadcasting and a study that says consumers are hesitent to buy digital music on-line, noting that current…

More evidence of the media’s infamous liberal bias? Broadcasting and Cable reports that ABC Radio has given right-wing FOX News commentator Sean Hannity a “big-ticket multi-year syndication deal. For those not prone to much TV watching, or not watching FOX News, see this Focus on the Family interview with Hannity to get a better picture…

Nielsen says that there’s half a billion people on-line worldwide. Clearly, that’s an important milestone, though I’m not sure what the larger meaning is. One thing you can extrapolate is that only 1/12 (8.3%) or so of the world’s population is on-line. Suddenly, a big number becomes small. How does this compare to radio listenership?

FCC’s Most Liberal Commissioner to Leave The FCC announced yesterday that Commissioner Gloria Tristani, a Democratic Clinton appointee, will be leaving the Commission on Sept. 7. This gives Bush the rare opportunity to completely rework the FCC, appointing all 5 commissioners, two of whom must be Democrats. Which is also why it is unfortunate, since…

Infoworld says: ‘Parasitic grid’ wireless movement may threaten telecom profits; I say: so be it. By ‘parasitic grids’ they mean free community networks using wireless ethernet to connect any user to the Internet via generous users’ DSL, cable modem, or fatter connections. Of course, as I’ve stated here before, I think that’s a good idea,…

Make the Most of Indpendent Streaming Media An enormous demonstration against the agents of global capital is in preparation for the Sept. meetings of the World Bank and IMF in Washington D.C. As it has for the last two years since Seattle, the Indymedia network will be springing into action to provide unfiltered coverage that…

There are some interesting ideas for making your own DSL line in this here article by Cringely. The plan does require that you have a high-speed connection to the Internet at some point, but it does give good ideas for sharing it in what is likely a more economical way. I like the notion of…

Pacifica’s Democracy Now in Re-Runs Due to Labor Dispute This is something I’ve meant to post for the last week, but only just gotten to it now… sorry. It’s been a tough two weeks for Amy Goodman, the host of the most popular nationwide progressive news program, Pacifica’s Democracy Now. The program has been in…

Something else I just stumbled on: “Hardware Handshake: Listserv forms Backbone of National Free Radio Network,” by Ted Coopman, a free-lance radio scholar/researcher, also responsible for Rogue Communication.

Hot Off the Presses: Micro-Film v2n2 For those interested in the power of independent and personal cinema, I can’t recommend enough that you check out the newest issue of Micro-Film–it’s a truly independent ‘zine about independent film. I have an article in this issue on indy documentarian Kevin Keyser and his video “Free Radio.” There’s…