Welcome to 'Transmitting to Earth'. I'm Charssun and I'll be your host. This blog and podcast is a byproduct of VoyagerRadio.com and is intended to provide the most timely information about this Internet radio station. It is also intended to be a fun and accessible electronic journal with commentary focusing on Internet radio, podcasting and webcasting issues and technologies, music, and some of my other interests. I also offer personal perspective about being an Internet radio broadcaster (and podcaster).
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Music Downloads for PenniesToday Engadget's podcast demonstrates music download store ALLOFMP3, which offers music downloads in a variety of file formats and charges by the megabyte (rather than per song), and at a very low price. The host of Engadget downloads and plays Green Day's song "American Idiot", a song he purchases on ALLOFMP3 for all of four cents.
Four cents? Well, it's still more than free, but how can a music download store legally offer audio downloads for mere pennies? The site is based in Russia, apparently, so it's legitimacy is questionable--not because it's Russian, mind you, but because, well...four cents?!? Sign me up, daddy--unless, of course, the RIAA is gonna to come knockin'... Tempo of the Down, Session 4 Now PlayingTempo of the Down, Session 4 has been recorded and is now broadcasting on VoyagerRadio. The show plays each night at 6pm Pacific and runs just over an hour. More information on the show, including a display of the playlist, is available on VoyagerRadio's Artists page. Watch Out, Audible - Here's Comes iPodder!Today I listened to an interesting conversation on WebTalk Radio regarding a new application everyone seems to be talking about lately, iPodder. iPodder is a software application that allows audio producers to easily make their audio content available for transfer to iPods and other iPod-like audio devices, and for listeners to gather that content with the least amount of hassle. So what makes iPodder different from other ways of distributing audio content? As Audioblog.com founder Eric Rice explained to me this afternoon, You can use this across countless platforms, music software, mp3 players. The ultimate notion is: I subscribe to an internet radio show that has been posted and whammo! It's on my computer when it's ready.It was bound to happen--an application that would make the transfer of audio files easier and more seamless than downloading audio at Audible.com. Perhaps its unfortunate, however, that the name of the application has the potential to confuse many potential listeners who haven't yet realized that iPodder's future isn't exclusively with Apple's iPod; the application will download audio to a variety of audio devices. It is also a cross-platform application, meaning that it will work on Windows, Mac and Linux systems. Then again, perhaps it's best for iPodder to begin its life associated with Apple's player, a hip and slim device considered by many to be revolutionizing the way music is obtained and listened to. Though time will truly tell, it already appears to be inevitable that iPodder will do the same--and that's great news for audiocasters and listeners alike. Inexpensive Mac? Or Pipe Dream?A streaming media company called MXS Inc. has released a Mac OS X emulator called CherryOS. The company claims in its press release that the software allows you "to run Apple's award winning Panther OS on your PC!"
Though a million MacSlashers wonder how well the software works, the real question is, does it work well enough? Or is this simply another way to take money out of the pockets of those of us who get a hard-on at the mere conception of seeing our favorite operating system run on inexpensive hardware? I'd like to see if it really does anything beyond booting Panther on a Windows system. Unfortunately, I can't even get my Windows system to keep from crashing (which it why I switched to Xandros on my eMachine). Tempo of the Down #3 Still Playing on VoyagerRadioThe third session of Tempo of the Down has been playing on VoyagerRadio for the past week, but I thought I'd mention it here for anyone who's not yet on my newsletter's mailing list. (VoyagerRadio Newsletter subscribers always get this information way before its posted online.) Tempo of the Down is my continuously-mixed showcase of the downtempo music played on VoyagerRadio, my Internet radio station. This is the third edition of the show, and is freely available for anyone with broadband Internet access.
More information about the playlist is available on VoyagerRadio's Artists page. Is It Time to Change the Name and/or Image of my Internet Radio Station?Should I change the name and/or image of VoyagerRadio? When I began my Internet radio station, it was an eclectic and somewhat experimental broadcast, and it was simply called Voyager. When I was ready to purchase a domain name (web address), I found the name VOYAGER.COM unavailable so I purchased the name VOYAGERRADIO.COM and began to refer to Voyager as Voyager Radio. (Eventually I merged the two words into the now-familiar VoyagerRadio.)
Along the way, the broadcast became more focused, at first on electronica and subsequently on downtempo. Throughout these changes, I always felt the need to re-evaluate the appropriateness of the station's name, asking myself whether the name VoyagerRadio still fit whatever current direction the station was heading. We've been playing downtempo exclusively now for 2 years or so, and though the name VoyagerRadio has always been affixed to this particular incarnation of the station, the time has come again for me to re-evaluate the station's name and/or image's appropriateness. So I turn the question to you, my lovely listeners and/or visitors. Do you feel the name VoyagerRadio, and its space exploration-themed image, to be appropriate for a downtempo Internet radio station? Do you think I could come up with something better? I would love to hear your suggestions for a new name and/or image for the station. Even if you don't have any suggestions yet, I would still like to hear your thoughts on the matter. Thank you all for you help. VoyagerRadio Considered for Star AwardI believe Griffith Observatory is, or was, considering VoyagerRadio for its weekly Star Awards, "recognizing excellence in web sites that promote public awareness of astronomy". Long-time visitors will recognize that VoyagerRadio is no longer the astronomy-promoting website it once was, though I still blog about astronomical events from time to time (especially when astronomical is read as "of enormous magnitude; immense"). Once I began focusing on bringing the best downtempo music in the universe to my listener's ears, however, the astronomy links were removed and replaced with references to more relevant material for downtempo music afficionados to peruse, such as links to the websites of the downtempo artists, labels, and releases heard in Voyager's playlist.
Still, I appreciate the fact that John Mosley, the Observatory's Program Supervisor, even considered VoyagerRadio for a Star Award, especially after I had shamelessly self-nominated my site. Truth be told, I simply wanted to get in touch with the man, knowing that he was driving the Griffith Observatory's website and would be the most likely person to have knowledge on the progress of the Observatory's ongoing renovation project. The Observatory has always been an endearing place for me, and I like to keep up on the status of that great public hall of science which has always lain within the boundaries of the city of my birth. When she reopens in 18 months or so, remember to visit her and to do so often, and to stay late and find peace within the bosom of her stargazing domes. She beckons--and she's free, for the most part, as donor Col. Griffith J. Griffith had willed her to be. Besides this blog, a narrative blog called something that happened, and various other projects, I also moderate a discussion forum: Please consider subscribing to engage in a dialogue about all things having to do with Internet radio! |
Send Us Your Music
Artists! Want to be heard on this station? Email your MP3 audio, one file at a time, to our Program Director or mail your CD promo(s) to the following address:
Harold J. JohnsonVoyagerRadio
547 Gayley Avenue #1
Los Angeles, CA 90024 Make certain to let use know whether we may use the audio in our podcast, too!
Download the Podcast
We are officially podcasters now that we have revitalized and reintroduced our downtempo show Tempo of the Down, this time around as a podcast. Now showcasing independent downtempo we've been granted permission to offer for download, Tempo of the Down is our entry into the future of Internet radio.
Head over to our new Podcast area to download the latest session!
