h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I just had this really wacky 'blue sky' idea - that for a couple of weeks during summer holiday time, we could run a Shoutcast (or similar) web radio station broadcasting DNA-related content, with half-hour slots given to Researchers to broadcast about their favourite bits of DNA, interspersed with a few plugs and trails for DNA sites and projects, other BBC things, etc. The reason I say 'Shoutcast' is simple:

1) The software is free and I understand no broadcast licence would be required provided we weren't playing copyright music.
2) Shoutcast includes the ability to webcast to a central server from any location if required - and is suitably stable.
3) No special software is required beyond the free and ad-free Winamp.

I know it's complicated, and a little wacky, but I thought I ought to mention it to see what people thought.

Whoami?

Hi Whoami?

We had some quite lengthy discussions with Researchers about the idea of an h2g2 Ethernet Radio broadcast in the spring of last year; check out the conversation at
F647?thread=106102&post=909667#p889794.

I'm involved in the project, because it's something we want to offer to all DNA sites rather than just h2g2. To this end I've managed to get a DNA server that has streaming capability, and we're looking at various editing tools. Ideally we'd like the community to be fully involved in producing the broadcast, both in terms of content and production.

We've also managed to get a file server and FTP system set up, because it would be impractical to use email to send in sound files, because of the speed and size issues.

The next step is to organise the on site scheme; as you say Whoami? this will take a lot of planning and organisation, it's a totally new volunteer scheme, with the added tangents of file transfer and sound quality thrown in!

At the moment the Community Team are working on developing a number of community art schemes. When we've done these, and they're up and running on site, we'll be able to move on to implementing the radio project. It won't be up and running by this summer, it will take us time to set it up and organise it, although I'd hope to see something up on site by the end of this year.

It *is* a darn good idea, and I do think it would be great fun, so thanks for bringing it up. We'll get there eventually!

Sorry I took so long to reply - the convo dropped off my PS list.

Excellent! Maybe you could speak nicely to some radio people and get some jingly things to fill time, in return for a little help?

I'll go read that conversation. Have all the bits and pieces from it been written up as an Entry yet? If not, I'll write them up once my exams are over, if you like!

Whoami?

That was a good, good backlog!
Interesting stuff, although I'd envisaged that we'd do it mostly on a pre-recorded stream, but for special occasions we could do some more exciting stuff - prerecord and stream a whole day's material (24 hours) as a kind of marathon event once we've got enough material.

If I was going to real extremes, I might even suggest that we did a live broadcast sponsored for Children in Need/Comic Relief - we could fill plenty of time with 'DONATE NOW! details and so on', and if we did it for 24 hours, we could also have so much fun with photos of the broadcast (we'd have to do it in one place, I suppose). OK, so that idea's completely blue-sky and would take an age to implement, but it would be great fun.

Now back to more serious and potentially nearby things. Organising the volunteer group, as far as the fact that we'd need to share files is concerned, would unfortunately have to be a private DNA site - because they're easy to use.

This is amazing stuff - I'm pleased I stumbled in on a maturing idea!

Keep up the good work, Peta, and enjoy your long weekend off. Sorry if this post is a bit over-ambitious - I just like to post all the remotest possibilities!

Oh, and I don't want to hear that you end up in hospital too - there'll soon be no-one left if that happens!

Oh, and I don't want to hear that you end up in hospital too - there'll soon be no-one left if that happens!

Hi Whoami?

Um, long weekend? I'm going off on holiday too, towards the end of next week. I'll be online a bit next week from home though.

I'll talk more about this when I get back, in the meantime have a good bank holiday break. Thanks for all your comments!

So, let me get this straight:

No Mark
No Peta
No Jim
No Mina

So that would leave Abi, Natalie, Anna, Sam, Ashley and Jimster. OK then.

I might write all this up, if only so I understand it all!

Whoami?

Peta

Sorry I have been out of the loop for a bit - I am currently very short of work and on the scramble for projects.

Back to Ethernet Radio (and/or deriratives) I am still interested. If you would like to start making this move, contact me through my personal space - Go to the Dancing Bear link and you will find my details within the site.

It seems a heck of a long time since I first started this idea, it would be nice to see it come to something.


All the best, and talk soon


Joss

I think this one is 'in the pipeline'. We shall see.

I haven't read the back log on the other thread yet, so please don't shout if repeat things already said, having said that though...

There's been a bit of software developed recently which works along the same, or rather similar means as Napster, Grokster and all that lot.

In essence it sets up an internet peer to peer broadcasting system, with each computer listening becoming a broadcaster itself. The net effect of this is that the more people listiening, the larger bandwidth available, and not the other way round as is normally the case.

The software is completley free, but, and here's a huge but, it's still in the alpha programming stage. Although there are a fair few notes kicking around on how to run it, tweak it to your needs and all that malarchy.

If more information is needed, give's a shout and I'll look into the details of it for you.

Real blue sky idea... How about a live outside broadcast from the meet up?

Now that's blue-sky with a capital 'B'.

Whoami?

Hi,
just found this thread. Seems a good idea to me if it's free. I don't anything about web-broadcasting but if you need any help I'll be happy to.

Thanks for offering - let's see. I think this one could be a while off, but I'll be all boring and interrogate Peta about this one tomorrow. Oooh - I'm so excited about tomorrow!

Did you interegate her? I forgot to myself.

- this dropped out of sight again.

"The next step is to organise the on site scheme; as you say Whoami? this will take a lot of planning and organisation, it's a totally new volunteer scheme, with the added tangents of file transfer and sound quality thrown in!" - Peta

It'll be a while, but unless Peta comments again I presume it's still going ahead. The main problem is that it would be extremely difficult to provide moderated, quality-controlled content without considerable expansion of the DNA engine or other downloads.

On top of that, producing the content would be enough of a challenge to begin with; a live stream project would need a team of dedicated staff (at least one) and might be plausible if it was cross-DNA - used to back up h2g2 and other sites - and I would see it being run for a day or so here and there - maybe a 24hr broadcastathon for CIN or Comic Relief - where we'd meet up in one physical location and do a marathon thing - it'd be tolerable due to the large amount of prerecorded 'DONATE!' trails we could include.

It would take a hell of a lot of planning, but has more benefits than I initially reckoned - we could read Edited Entries and works of fiction by h2g2 Researchers, which could be entertaining, and would at the very least enable visually impaired users to take a break from their screen readers.

It is a very exciting, but ultimately very difficult idea. However, I'm sure it's possible (nothing is impossible ).

While I'm at it, I want to answer part of your quote from above, Peta.

"The next step is to organise the on site scheme; as you say Whoami? this will take a lot of planning and organisation, it's a totally new volunteer scheme, with the added tangents of file transfer and sound quality thrown in!" - Peta

Sound quality could be somewhat determined by requiring recordings to be made in a standard quality - the independent factor is quality of equipment.

There's also the problems of funding that would be required for any broadcast involving copyright music. Whilst the systems must exist in the BBC as far as royalties are concerned, it might take some doing.

Finally, I'd like to suggest that Shoutcast has its advantages for some things - it's free (I think), and has a large open community of broadcasters to ask advice to.

All of this is just ideas. I might make a summary page for all this once I'm back at school - (unmetered broadband connection ) - that's on September 3rd.

Whoami?

Hi Whoami?

The use of sound files and the development of DNA radio could/will work brilliantly well on DNA/h2g2. But new projects involve new resources.

The h2g2 staff are working on h2g2 community art at the moment - see the wonderful new h2g2 smileys! - That's of the new h2g2 Art scheme which is starting off really well.

At the moment I believe that the h2g2 team are focussing on the h2g2 art project. Sound may well may be the next development, it'd be fab, but the h2g2 have to work this into their work schedule, and obviously it's best to do one thing at a time, otherwise it could all go horribly wrong!

There are new communities building on DNA to which sound may be *even more* appropriate, and the DNA/Hub people are looking at ways to make this happen.

So yes, this would be brilliant if we can do this - all teams need staff to run this - but *it is* top of mind for me!

So, dead cool idea, bring it up on the hub, and maybe we can devise a pan DNA solution to a fab idea?

"But new projects involve new resources"

I said something like that - I think. I understand this - I wouldn't want staff to be spreading their talent and skill too thinly for it to be effective.

I'll bring it up on the Hub when I'm back at school on Sept. 3rd. It rained today and the phone line is crackly. I keep getting thrown off the Net.

I agree it would be a wonderful project - I'd see it as both a way to provide exciting content all the time, and a way to club together across DNA to do something to raise cash for telethon charities...

Whoami?

Hi Whoami?

I'll keep you posted when we have new developments, and by all means do bring it up on the Hub...

"I agree it would be a wonderful project - I'd see it as both a way to provide exciting content all the time, and a way to club together across DNA to do something to raise cash for telethon charities..."

Telethon charities? That adds a new tangent to the whole thing Whoami? we don't have the resources to run an telethon charity! It's a lovely idea, but one step at a time!

No - you slightly misread - I was suggesting that when Children In Need / Comic Relief were on we could plug them a bit and be all nice and helpful - not that we ran one! I thought it was a neat idea that we could put a bit of DNA oomph into fundraising for stuff that the BBC is helping with - you know, like when I wrote about CIN 48 hours before the big night and put it in PR a little too late!

Whoami?