mediageek

Month: June 2001

  • Tampa’s Party Pirate Loses His Amateur Radio License

    Just a quicky, thanks to a post on the Free Radio Network’s Grapevine — Doug Brewer, who operated the Tampa, FL based “Party Pirate” unlicensed low-power FM station, until being shut down a year and a half ago, has been hit by the FCC again, according to this “ORDER OF REVOCATION AND OF FORFEITURE” from…

  • The Results of Consolidation in Action: The Case of WXRT, Chicago

    The Results of Consolidation in Action: The Case of WXRT, Chicago WXRT is one of the last pioneering commercial FM rock radio stations left, still known for playing new artists and keeping a relatively eclectic playlist. However, the Chicago Tribune reports that is changing, seen most clearly in the dismissal of DJ Johnny Mars, who…

  • Reporting on “The Media Borg” Requires Independence

    Reporting on “The Media Borg” Requires Independence Taking advantage of their independence, Salon just kicked off a series of articles on corporate consolidation of the media with their first article, “Assimilating the Web.” It’s quite true what the editors point out in the series introduction: “Fox News is not likely to alert the public to…

  • The Death of Free Radio Austin and Survival of Micro-Kind Radio

    The Death of Free Radio Austin and Survival of Micro-Kind Radio The Austin Chronicle has a nice feature article on the history and shut down of unlicensed microbroadcaster Free Radio Austin, which is compared to Micro-Kind Radio in neighboring San Marcos, TX, which has managed to stay on the air through shrewd administrative and legal…

  • Site Redesign?

    Site Redesign? I’ve been thinking about redesigning the site for a while. Trouble is, I’m no designer. But what you see is my attempt. I’m curious to know what anyone might think–so e-mail me with any comments at paul@mediageek.org. To compare with the previous design, just look at any other page, which I haven’t yet…

  • So, I don’t have any

    So, I don’t have any major thoughts today, but I am enjoying the hell out of Rice University’s college radio station KTRU. Very nice and eclectic mix of indie rock, avant garde experimental, and everything else, along with a very good fidelty at 64kbps Real Audio. Definitely the way college radio is supposed to be–specifically,…

  • Matt Welch at the Online

    Matt Welch at the Online Journalism Review pays a lengthy homage to Suck.com, which also functions well as a sort of best-of compilation.

  • For the Video Geeks:

    For the Video Geeks: Extremetech has an exhaustive “overview and analysis” of the MPEG-4 video codec, along with comparison to other major video codecs including Real Video and Windows Media Video. I recommend it for anyone moderately familiar with the ins an outs of digital video and streaming. I also reviewed their sample clips encoded…

  • Shameless, self-promotion.

    Shameless, self-promotion. Proving that Champaign-Urbana are two small towns, I’m quoted in yesterday’s edition of our local paper, the News-Gazette. The article is “Two new newspapers plan to start publishing,” which focuses on the Urbana Indymedia Center’s plan to publish a newspaper–a project I’ve been involved in and so am quoted on. The other newspaper…

  • Cheap(er) DIY Video: Dazzle Hollywood DV Bridge

    Cheap(er) DIY Video: Dazzle Hollywood DV Bridge Digital Post Production has a review of this little box that digitizes analog video (from your VHS, 8mm or Hi-8 VCR or camcorder) and outputs it to DV (firewire, iLink). It’s intended to be used with computers that have a DV interface, like most Macs, so you don’t…