A little here, a little there

We did some random broadcasting the other day.

Worked up a nice little mobile setup that you can plug in and put together in about 10 minutes in a garage. Nice little case, a laptop with WiFi, a tripod and an antenna. Just throw it up in someone's living room, set the tripod up on the deck and plug it in.

Worked great. A signal check had us covering pretty all of town very nicely (helps to be up high on a hill, if you can swing it).

I think this is how to do it. Totally mobile setup. Fixed for a single session in someone's house, a few hours, an evening maybe. Then, down for, however long, then, back up again when everyone's in the mood.

It's good, I like it.

M

Podcasting and Pirate Radio

It occurred to me today that there's a powerful intersect between this podcasting thing and pirate radio.

In particular, it would insanely easy for one guy to create a great pirate radio station, with awesome content, by just using podcasts. I mean, that's what a podcast IS right? A pirate radio recording for the internet.

It's a sort of citizen journalism and it's uncensored and unedited by a regular person putting his or her thoughts into audio form and putting it out there for anyone to hear.

Sounds one hell of a lot like pirate radio to me.

Now, take a 160GB hard disk and FILL it with podcasts that you've downloaded from the net. Music podcasts, current affairs, politics, what have you. Put that disk on a computer, hook up the computer to a transmitter and antenna and you've got some GREAT radio.

When you feel like doing a show, head over to the transmitter site and do one. When you don't feel like it, let all that great citizen jouranlist generated content just run.

I would bet it would be the best radio station in your town, bar none.

Hmmmmmm

Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio

Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio Pirate Radio

LIVES!

We're going up. We're not gonna do any of that fancy remote transmitter shit. We're going to set up, put the antenna on the roof, and lock the door. When they come, they'll have to have a warrant to get in.

Soon!

And the bug begins anew

Well, it's been awhile since they shut down Boulder Free Radio. Jan. of this year. The FCC went after a couple of people that were relatively unrelated to the station (for reasons we don't fully understand..). Most likely they had these two guys names and they were, several times removed, related to us. One was a part time DJ, the other was a roommate of the original Monk who started KBFR.

The original Monk.

Might as well come out with it. There have been several Monk's since KBFR started. I'm the 4th. The guy who owns this blog is the current 'monk'. TheMonk. Monkterific. Monkifier. Monkonator. Monk.

There's still a large group of people in the Boulder and Denver area that want to do Pirate radio, undergroundradio, microradio, whatever you want to call it. There's also alot of gear floating around in different peoples storage spaces and garages just waitin to be hooked up and turned on.

And it'll happen.

When and where, we don't really know. But we do know that Pirate Radio Lives! And, though dormant at the moment here in Colorado, it'll be back, and soon.

We heard that our old nemesis, John Sprauge, the FCC agent who regularly visited KBFR over it's 5 year run, finally retired.

Gone, kaput, out to pasture. His fat ass is very likely sipping a cold coors in his RV in Arizona right now. We won't miss him.

His last run at KBFR bordered on (and in talking to lawyers we know, actually crossed the line) illegal activity. He harassed private citizens at their work place (accusing them, to their bosses, of 'breaking the law on company time') and the aforementioned roommate of the original Monk from Five Years Ago. We've since learned that this ex-roomie of the original Monk actually had to hire a lawyer to protect himself from having just been the roommate of one of us. And HALF a DECADE ago. It still blows the mind what these FCC agents will do to get you turn off what's equal to 100 watt light bulb in power.

Amazing.

So there you have it.

Monk is many people
The reason we shut down is our fear of innocents getting blamed for things they didn't do
The group was tired of running, time for a break
We will be back, and soon

Stay tuned (pun intended)

Monkstermatic

Google Talk is BAD

Don't install it! Google Talk (or GoogleTalk) the new instant message client from Google will KILL your gmail account.

For some reason, Gmail doesn't like it. A friend of mine had his Gmail account LOCKED OUT when he installed it. Google, of course, doesn't respond (other than auto response emails with no information) to his pleas to turn back on his gmail.

So, again, DO NOT INSTALL GOOGLE TALK and you should think long and hard about depending on Gmail, considering how they promptly shut off his email and won't turn it on for 24 hours (or so they say... he's still offline 14 hours later).

M

Evil Google?

Normally I don't write about things that aren't related to pirate and underground radio, but this one just cry's out.

And it sure as hell has alot to do with media freedom.

Google has 'blacklisted' CNET for writing a story about how Googles reach might be a little long these days. To illustrate the point, they found a bunch of information on the companies CEO, Eric Schmidt, and published it. They found it, of course, ON Google.

Now why the hell would a company that has as it's main principle "Do No Evil" do something so amazingly stupid? I mean, come on. This is one of the few times that the word stupid and Google really belong together in a sentence.

And I've got to give them this: when they decide to be stupid, they get REALLY stupid.

I just switched my startup page to Yahoo.com. I'm boycotting Google until they stop boycotting a reporting for doing what is simply his job: Telling the truth.

Monk

Is Apple the next Microsoft or, is Apple Evil?

As I watch Apple take over the online music world, I can't help but wonder if much of what they're doing isn't akin to what Microsoft does to hold on to it's control over whatever domain it targets. But in many ways, it's worse.

Apple's OS is built on top of BSD Unix, and open and free OS. They take it, 'extend' it to be the Mac OS, wrap it in sophisticated copy protection scheme (called the Macintosh Computer) and sell it at a premium.

We're starting to see the same thing in their iPod business. With the recent release of iTunes 4.9, we see the addition of podcasting, but, in a closed mannor. There's no 'sharing with the community' happening here. It's all about aggregating as much control as possible into the Apple view of the audio world. I can see Steve now:

"What if we go all these podcaster dudes to put their crap into iTunes and we added advertising? Hmmm... lots of people doing that, or trying to. But we could OWN it.. and we could lock out all the little guys AND cut of Billy Gates at the knee's here. Maybe even get Clear Channel to give us a cut of the action".

Apple sues bloggers that are highly supportive of Apple and help create hype that creates value for their company. I friend of mine recently had an exchange with jobs that he sent to me. Here's there (brief) exchange:

-------------------------------------
Message to Jobs:

I know your trying to get at sources to stop leaks about unreleased
products, but, whoever is driving this attack on bloggers is creating
massively negative brand backlash for Apple.

It may be too late for you to stop at this point (it may look as bad
as continuing) but I would implore you to do so.

You are losing your core brand tribe and PO'ing alot of Apple
Supporters. I have had more than a dozen emails, today, about how
people I know are selling off their Macs and going Linux or, gasp,
Windows (because: What's the difference between Apple and MS now?
None.. at least, not as far as corporate philosophy and greed go, or
so goes the general line in the email).

So, I implore you, stop cutting off your nose to spite your face. You
are, and you're going to cost Apple, long term, alot more than any
short term win in this area can give you.

From an Apple Tribe guy who cares,


old Apple guy
ex Apple employee (over 10 years ago, don't bother looking, I know nothing)
witless sage


Steve's reply:


Steve Jobs to me
More options Mar 13

Scott,

Its just not acceptable to let people steal our secrets and publish
them without consequence. Sorry.

Steve

- Show quoted text -

-------------------------------------------

This doesn't sound like the Apple we all think we know (and love). It sounds like a company with it's own self interest as the ONLY driving force. Now, I expect that from Bill Gates, but Apple's success comes from it's 'being different'. Do they really have to emulate the enemy to fight the enemy? Don't they _become_ the enemy when they do that?

I have to ask: Is Apple becoming evil?

Monk.kbfr@gmail.com