Category: Streaming and Multi-Media

Transmission arts organization

free103point9: transmission arts
From the site:
free103point9 is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit media arts organization focused on establishing and cultivating the genre Transmission Arts by promoting artists who explore ideas around transmission as a medium for creative expression including investigations in AM and FM radio, Citizen’s Band, walkie-talkie, generative sound, and other broad and microcasting technologies. free103point9 serves diverse public audiences through programs including an online radio station, a distribution label, a performance/exhibition/transmission series, an education initiative, and a preservation program.

Early Bicycle Transmitter

Here is what might have been the first bicycle transmitter
From the site:
Here is what might have been the first bicycle transmitter, a “breadboard” model I built in 1938.† I am shown “tuning up”†the rig, with two†grade school friends looking on.¬† I used a type 30 oscillator, another 30 for the modulator, and two 45 volt “B” batteries in series. The antenna was my fishing rod.

FM Broadcasting from your computer

All about FM radio – Schematics, KITs, FM transmitters, digital transmitters and RDS encoders from PCS Electronics
From the site:
PCI MAX 2004 is a computer card that will change the way you listen to your MP3’s or other audio via PC. It will effectively change your PC into a FM radio station. You will be able to play your audio files (CD, wav, MP3, real audio etc.) from your PC through radio waves directly to your household radio receiver in the next room, in the living room, across your yard, in whole block of flats….or for the entire village/small city. I repeat, you need just an ordinary radio receiver to receive your signal. The included software (also available at the link below for a quick DL) lets you set the frequency and the output power. You can either service your living room, garden or an entire community. Get rid of these pesky cables!

DIY Steadycam

$14 Steadycam
From the site:
Why build a cheap steadycam?
Steadycams (or camera stabilizers) are attachtments used to capture smooth looking video even when the camera and camera operator are in motion. The camera operator may walk (or even jog), move through tight hallways and doorways, and even climb up and down stairs without shaking the camera. Unfortunately, professional steadycams cost around $1500. Even the cheap 3rd party ones cost $600 . Not exactly a bargain considering many of us use cameras in that price range. So, I decided to make my own version. It turns out, it only costs $14. Not too bad. And I’ll show you how to build your own right here (or you may simply buy one from me). Whether you are an aspiring filmmaker, a videographer, the family documentarian, or just want more utility out of your video camera, you’ll appreciate a steadycam.

The Experimental Gameplay Workshop

The Experimental Gameplay Workshop
From the site:
The Experimental Gameplay Workshop is a forum for the demonstration and discussion of innovative game designs. It provides a place for designers to showcase challenging, unproven work, and discuss it with peers.
By explicitly acknowledging the existence of a community of experimental game designers, the workshop helps legitimize gameplay-oriented research and development.

A related festival is The Independent Games Festival at http://www.igf.com/

Thanks Josh

Downtown network for the Arts

downtown network for the arts | about
From the site:
Location One has developed a package of hardware, software and support services that enables artists and cultural organizations to take full advantage of Internet-based technologies for creative interchange, program creation, delivery and promotion, both individually and as an arts-based community.

A P2P media distribution platform for news for and by students and others

DV Guide
The goal of this project is to create a content sharing platform consisting of contributors and corerspondents recruited from young audiences and students distributed throughout the global mediascape who are engaged in direct reporting via collective production of Internet and broadcast news clips. Ideally, the material of DV Guide should reflect on the social and cultural issues of a given participants respective community that has significance for broader audences while at the same time maintains the highest standards of journalistic integrity.

P2P, 802.11b, handhelds and radio, a combination made in my heaven

tunA
From MIT via Gizmodo:
tunA is a mobile wireless application that allows users to share their music locally through handheld devices. Users can “tune in” to other nearby tunA music players and listen to what someone else is listening to. Developed on iPaqs and connected via 802.11b in ad-hoc mode, the application displays a list of people using tunA that are in range, gives access to their profile and playlist information, and enables synchronized peer-to-peer audio streaming.

Thanks to Dan for the link.

Wrapping it all up…

ffmpegX a VCD, SVCD, CVD, VOB, DivX, XviD encoder for Mac OSX
Wraps all those nice Open Source audio and video encoders and players for MacOS X.
From the site:
ffmpegX is a Mac OS X graphic user interface designed to easily operate more than 20 powerful Unix open-source video and audio processing tools including ffmpeg the “hyper fast video and audio encoder” (http://ffmpeg.sf.net/), mpeg2enc the open-source mpeg-2 encoder and multiplexer (http://mjpeg.sf.net/MacOS/) and mencoder the mpeg-4 encoder with subtitles support (http://sf.net/projects/mplayerosx).