Do you hate your local radio stations with a blinding passion? If not, you’re probably at least a little bit tired of hearing the same pop princess on the airwaves over and over and over and… well, you get the idea. Don’t despair! You’ve probably heard there are at least a few sites out there that do their best to provide you with alternatives to your local stations, and make it easy to find and lock into what you need. These are sites that will bring you real radio from around the world, as opposed to the often licence-restricted Last.FM or Pandora — and three of the best out there are RadioTuna, RadioTime, and Tun3r. Each have their good points — read on to see which will work best for you.
Category: Media (page 4 of 5)
We don’t often cover news stories here at 40Tech, but this one bears mentioning. A recent FCC decision [PDF file from FCC site] now allows the movie industry to disable analog outputs on your equipment in certain situations. Say what? Yes, you heard that right- in some cases, a content provider can reach in and mess with your gear.
This started back in 2003, and an FCC ruling concerning Selectable Output Control (SoC). SoC is what the MPAA wants to use to close the analog hole, by disabling outputs that don’t support HDCP. Previously, such conduct was prohibited.
Under the FCC ruling, a movie that has never been released on DVD or Blu-ray can be restricted for 90 days, by using SoC to disable the analog outputs on your gear. As some have pointed out, this isn’t all bad, because the content in question would be content that isn’t currently available, so those with analog gear won’t be missing anything that is currently available.
What is the practical effect of this? It really has three ramifications, two of which are bad. First, owners of older equipment without HDMI ports might be unable to get some of this new content. Second, all owners will be unable to make backups of this new type of purchased content, as the analog hole will be closed (some articles solely discuss streaming or on demand content, but it is hard to imagine that the industry won’t try to sell you movies, too, leaving you at their mercy to save it on their system). Third, if you have a newer television, you may get access to new content.
Is this a good thing? Does the ability to get new releases, earlier, offset the control the movie industry will be able to exert over your gear?
Photo by RocketRaccoon
What’s your morning entertainment routine? Do you listen to the radio, or watch television in the a.m? If you’re disappointed by the offerings, have you ever wished for a a morning show that focused on tech and social media? If so, you just might get your wish.
On various shows on the TWiT network, Leo Laporte recently has mentioned that he is in the planning stages of starting a morning show that you could watch on almost any internet-connected device. We’ve previously written about the TWiT network, an internet network that streams live audio and video shows that cover all angles of technology, including the internet, Apple, Microsoft, Google, security, and more. The network, a spiritual successor of sorts to TechTV, makes its shows available live, but also via audio and video podcasts (actually, the podcasts came first, followed by the live streaming). Read more
Have you ever wondered what it would be like if you could use your iPhone to watch the same television stations that you watch on your television at home? Wonder no more, for television on your iPhone is a reality, with the right setup. Today we’re going to look at two methods for getting all of your television stations on your iPhone – Slingplayer and OrbLive. The first method, Slingplayer, works anywhere that you have a data connection (3G or via WiFi), while OrbLive only works via WiFi but also works over 3G and WiFi and can be cheaper. (Updated on 2/24/10 to reflect that an OrbLive update has appeared in the App Store, restoring 3G functionality). Both methods require a piece of hardware. Read on for details. Read more
It never ceases to amaze me what you can learn online. From the interesting psychology reflected by the average user to the most basic of instructions for the tiniest task that may simply have eluded you, the worldwide web is that bit of tech that just keeps on giving. There are several places you can go on the web to get to the heart of it all (for you) and learn useful things (how-to’s, the best software — or cupcake — for your money, how to get things done that need doing and do it on the cheap, etc.), not the least of which are Google and YouTube, but for me, one place stands out as the go-to spot for most things I might need: Lifehacker. The name says it all, really — and yes, I am perfectly aware that I am promoting another blog on this one, but credit goes to where it’s due, my friends — and just look at the cool odds and ends I learned (and often shared) in just the past week: