From Electronic Frontier Foundation:

Over the past year, a self-described "fifth-tier blogger" who publishes under the pseudonym Spocko (www.spockosbrain.com) posted audio clips of what he deemed to be offensive and violent talk radio rhetoric from ABC-owned and San Francisco-based KSFO-AM and apparently succeeded in encouraging several advertisers to pull their ads from the station. ABC-corporate struck back, sending a vague, threatening letter to his hosting company, 1&1 Internet, who promptly shut him down instead of standing up for his rights. (Spocko, now back online, subsequently moved his business to Computer Tyme, a host with more backbone.)

EFF has agreed to defend Spocko if he is sued by ABC and/or KSFO over their allegations of copyright infringement, but it more than likely won't come to that. As ABC's lawyers know, the brief audio clips posted on Spocko’s blog are classic examples of protected fair use, the right to use copyrighted materials for purposes of commentary, parody, education, or artistic expression. That important detail -- and the fact that KSFO's corporate counsel misrepresented Spocko's legal position in a briefly successful attempt to snuff out his blog -- are conspicuously absent from KSFO's discourse these days, at least so far.

A far better response than the embarrassing legal posturing we've see thus far is what KSFO apparently has on tap for later today (Friday, January 12th). Melanie Morgan, co-host of KSFO's Morning Show, one of the targets of Spocko's criticism, yesterday announced that at least three hours of special programming will be dedicated to addressing the Spocko controversy, beginning at 12:00 pm PT today. Responding to critical speech with more speech is almost always the right response. Better late than never in this case.

Unfortunately, the station has begun arguing (ironically enough) that criticism of their content amounts to censorship. Morgan yesterday blasted Spocko and his "stalker friends on the Internet" who, according to Morgan, are trying to "take away our free speech rights."

Sorry, KSFO. Not quite.

While such radio personalities certainly have a right to air their views, the First Amendment says nothing about a right to advertiser-subsidized speech. Even if advertisers choose to pull their ads because Spocko has a more convincing argument -- even if advertiser revenue dries up completely and shows are cancelled -- it doesn't necessarily follow that anyone's free speech rights have being violated. Rough and tumble speech is often protected speech nonetheless, as KSFO well knows, and the "marketplace of ideas" promoted and protected by the First Amendment frequently results in definite winners and losers. KSFO, quick to call out the attack lawyers yet slow to respond to the concerns of advertisers, is rapidly embracing that loser mantle.

From Erica Ogg on c|net:

A Pennsylvania start-up says it has the answer to one of the biggest problems in mobile phones: battery life. After three years of keeping its technology under close guard, Powercast has come to CES 2007 to get consumer and manufacturer attention. Powercast is a radio frequency that is transmitted over a small area, and its energy is "harvested"--wirelessly--to give power to small devices like cell phones.

While it's presented as wireless power, Powercast isn't just a replacement for a universal charger. Instead, it's meant to either continuously charge a battery or replace the need for them altogether. It works like this: a transmitter can be placed anywhere--in a lamp, for example, that is plugged into the wall and sits on a table. The transmitter in the lamp sends out a continuous, low RF signal. Anything with either AA or AAA batteries set within its range--and equipped with a Powercast receiver, which is the size of your fingernail--will be continuously charged.

"Our solution is, if talk time (on a cell phone) is 5 1/2 hours, by trickle-charging (it) at work, now talk time is 10 hours because the battery never gets to dead," John Shearer, CEO of Powercast, said in an interview. There are many applications for Powercast, said Shearer, but the company is making the PC peripherals market a priority. Think a wireless keyboard or mouse with no battery, or a hermetically sealed battery that the customer never need access again. Major CE and IT manufacturers will have to agree to build Powercast capability into their products, and thus far Powercast is revealing only Philips as a future partner. The first Powercast product will come to market by the end of 2007, the company says.

New York State composers, musicians, sound and multimedia artists are invited to submit project proposals to produce innovative new sound work at iEAR Studios located at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. New sound work may include, but is not limited to, the creation of:
* live interactive music performance system
* sound sculpture
* web art
* production of a CD-ROM or DVD
* audio and video post production
* music for film or video

When: Residencies will be scheduled between July 1, 2007 and June 30, 2008. Deadline: Postmarked no later than March 1, 2007. Details & Application: http://www.arts. rpi.edu/files/ 441

The residency will take place at iEAR Studios located at Rensselear Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. Resident artists will receive up to 80 hours of iEAR Studio time, a technical assistant, a public presentation of the work (as part of the iEAR Presents! 2007-2008 public performance series) and a stipend. Travel and lodging are the responsibility of the artist. For more information about residency and visiting artist programs, contact Laura W. Andruski via email at andrul@rpi.edu pr call 518-276-4829.

The New York Society for Acoustic Ecology's weekly, two-hour radio show "Giant Ear)))" airs every Sunday at 7-9 p.m. on free103point9 Online Radio. Next month's show's theme is "hybrid sounds." You can send yours to lemurz66@yahoo.com (.aif, .wav, or MP3 files
only-sorries, not accepting snail mail art at this time) via dropload.com or yousendit.com or any other free file-holding program. Deadline February 9, 2007.

In July 2006, AAIR, the independent radio station of the Architectural Association School of Architecture, listened to Capri. Invited by Diego Cortez (lostobject.org), nine AA students recorded natural and man-made sounds to create an extensive sonic map of the island. Capri holds our curiousity. An enormous, jagged slab of limestone in the sea, the intangible setting for iconic gestures of artists and lovers, and a home to people living their local lives, Capri is a fantastical island.

International Remix Competition A

We would like to invite you to create your own sonic story of Capri. Participation is open to everyone, and submission is free and desired. All original recordings are available for listening and free download at radioanacapri.com. Remixes must not exceed six minutes. Multiple submissions are welcome. There are no other rules, but it is important to remember that we cannot publish copyrighted material for which you don't own the rights or have permission from the owner.

Awards
For 3 best remixes we promise fame, fortune and a place on the upcoming Radio Anacapri record produced by the AAIR along with respectable sound artists and musicians.

Jury
Brian Eno, Arto Lindsay and Ryuichi Sakamoto.

Deadline
31 January, 2007 postmarked if posted

Send your remix to:
International Remix Competition A
c/o AA Independent Radio
Student Forum Pigeonhole
Architectural Association School of Architecture
36 Bedford Square, London, WC1B 3ES, United Kingdom

Now in its twelfth year, "In the Public Realm" is an opportunity for emerging artists living or working in New York state to create a temporary work in a public space. Up to ten emerging artists will be selected by a distinguished panel of artists, curators and critics, and will be commissioned by the Public Art Fund to develop formal proposals for public art projects. From these proposals, the Public Art Fund will select three artists to realize a work in the coming year. In the Public Realm is a program of the Public Art Fund designed to encourage innovative public art projects by emerging artists living and/or working in New York State. Artists selected through the program will make proposals, develop their work in relation to urban conditions, and ultimately present an artwork in the complex arena of public life in New York City. Artists are encouraged to investigate the physical, social, and psychological nature of the urban environment throughout the diverse neighborhoods of New York City. Previous experience of working in public spaces is not necessary for selection in this program.

Submit your materials in a 10" x 13" envelope. Do not use staples on any application materials. All submissions must include the following:
1) Brief cover sheet, including your name and contact information, stating the format of your submission. Use one of the following descriptions: 35mm slides, CD, DVD, or VHS. We will only review one format per artist. Submit one of the following formats:
a) Six 35mm slides of recent and/or current work in a clear plastic slide sheet. Each slide must be clearly numbered and labeled with your name, title, date, media, dimensions, and the TOP indicated. Please include a slide description sheet with corresponding numbers. Larger format transparencies, photographs, and drawings will not be considered.
OR
b) Six digital images saved to one CD. We will only accept JPG file formats. All JPGs must be sized at 250 dpi, 5" x 7". Number and title each JPG, and include a description sheet with corresponding numbers. The sheet should list your name and the titles, dates, media, and dimensions of your work. Please include a labeled print-out of each JPG, printed on regular paper.
OR
c) One 3/4" VHS videotape, or one DVD that will play on a stand-alone DVD player. We will not view QuickTime files. Clearly mark the outside of the tape or DVD with your name and title(s) of the work(s). Do not submit original work.

2) Current resume, including name, address, telephone number, and email address.

3) A brief statement of interest (no more than 300 typewritten words). This should generally describe your work and will be used by the panel when viewing slides or digital images. This statement will be considered by the Advisory Committee as an indication of the direction your work might take should you be selected.

4) A self-addressed stamped envelope large enough to return submitted materials containing the correct amount of postage (stamps only, no postage meter strips). Submissions without S.A.S.E. will not be returned and pick-ups are not permitted.

Materials must be received at the Public Art Fund's office by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, February 9, 2007 (postmarks are not acceptable). Hand deliveries will be accepted. Artists will be notified by letter in May 2007. Please do not call before this date.
Please mail application materials to:
Public Art Fund
In the Public Realm
One East 53rd Street, 11th Floor
New York, New York 10022

From Defensetech.org:

Every once in a while around Baghdad, American bomb squads stop what they're doing, and retire to their bunks. The reason why: "Compass Call," a modified C-130 turboprop plane which serves as the "only US wide-area offensive information warfare platform," according to GlobalSecurity.org. The Compass Call and the Navy's EA-6B Prowler can jam radio and cell phone traffic for miles around, disrupting insurgent communications. But the aircraft also can disrupt the jammers that bomb squads use to stop improvised explosives, Aviation Week notes. There's even a fear that all those crossed signals could accidentally detonate guerilla bombs.

"We have a smart system that jams IEDs [improvised explosive devices] in Iraq, that found itself fighting with another smart electronic system," Lt. Gen. Walter Buchanan, chief of the 9th Air Force and Central Command Air Forces, says. "They got locked on [to each other] because of the lack of coordination..."

Another concern is accidentally triggering IEDs with jamming signals. "We deconflict our jamming activities when we know we have people near IEDs... so that we don't unintentionally set them off," he says.

The problems also extend to surveillance and communications systems. "When you take a look at data links and the number of jammers in place and all the radios we have out there, [deconflicting] becomes a very difficult problem," Buchanan says.

Because all of the communication systems are in similar bands and create interference, a Predator UAV at Balad, the main U.S. air base in Iraq, is in danger of losing its ground control link once it is 35 mi. from base, he says. In the less congested airways of Afghanistan, that range is 120 mi.

"The problem is bad enough that Central Command is putting more urgency into developing an EW [Electronic Warfare] Coordination Cell," the magazine observes. "The task is critical because new users of the electromagnetic spectrum come into theater almost daily."

Like the next wave of Prowler planes, for example. They'll come equipped with an ALQ-218 electronic attack system designed to "turn those enemy wireless communications into a weapon against the insurgents who use them," Aviation Week says.

Before the end of the decade, information warfare specialists are expected to use these and other electronic warfare aircraft, both manned and unmanned, to find enemy communications networks and plot with precision their location on the ground. Those networks would then be seeded with false information as well as viruses, worms, zombies, Trojan Horses and other computer attack tools that would leave them communicating with U.S. analysts as often as they do with other insurgents.

On behalf of the NIME07 Committee, we would like to invite you to be
part of the 7th International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical
Expression (NIME), organized by Harvestworks and New York University's
(NYU) Music Technology Program in partnership with LEMUR and the NYU
Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP).

We encourage contributions of the following kinds:
* Papers (full-length, short-length, posters)
* Demos
* Live Performances
* Installations

Complete submission guidelines are now available at
http://www.nime.org/2007.

IMPORTANT DATES

Submission deadlines
Installations and Performances
- January 31st 2007: Papers/posters, Demos, Live Performances,
Installations

Notification of acceptance
- March 9th 2007: Papers/posters, Demos, Live Performances,
Installations

Registration deadlines
- April 16th 2007: Early Registration (reduced fee)

Final text submission deadline
- April 16th 2007: Complete Camera-ready Papers and Abstracts

PAPERS/POSTERS

We invite the submission of papers on topics related to new interfaces
for music performance including, but not restricted to
* Novel controllers and interfaces for musical expression
* Novel controllers for collaborative performance
* Novel musical instruments
* Augmented/hyper instruments
* Interfaces for dance and physical expression
* Interactive sound and multimedia installations
* Interactive sonification
* Sensor and actuator technologies
* Haptic and force feedback devices
* Interface protocols and data formats
* Gesture and music
* Robotics and music
* Perceptual & cognitive issues
* Interactivity design and software tools
* Musical mapping strategies
* Performance analysis and machine learning
* Performance rendering and generative algorithms
* Experiences with novel interfaces in education and entertainment
* Experiences with novel interfaces in live performance and composition
* Surveys of past work and stimulating ideas for future research
* Historical studies in twentieth-century instrument design
* Reports on students projects in the framework of NIME related courses
* Artistic, cultural, and social impact of NIME technology

Accepted presentation types are:
- Full Paper (6 pages in proceedings, longer oral presentation)
- Short Paper (4 pages in proceedings, shorter oral presentation)
- Poster (2 or 4 pages in proceedings, poster presentation)

DEMOS
Demo Sessions are an opportunity to support and discuss realized or
partially realized work with conference attendees, in an informal,
discursive way. Demos of technologies and applications that address
the topics listed above will be considered for selection.
Demonstrations are designed to give exhibitors an opportunity to show
material that benefits from having a physical presence at the
conference. It is important that there be a realized, demonstrable,
working component to all submissions to this category. This is not to
say that Demos cannot be sketches or further ideas or future plans for
the project - but an activity, process, action or actionable form of
the concept must exist as part of the Demo proposed.

Demos must include a 2 page poster to be displayed at the Demo
Sessions and included in the printed proceedings. The poster should
address the scientific/technical aspects of the project, acquired
experiences and/or the context of the development.

For those submitting papers, we will provide the possibility of
scheduling demo presentations within the dedicated Demo Sessions. The
submission
procedure will allow that a Demo option be chosen for any Paper
submission. An accepted paper will not guarantee an accepted demo.

Accepted presentation types are:
- Demo (Demonstration space plus 2 pages in proceedings)


LIVE PERFORMANCES
A series of three evening concerts as well as 'NIME-at-night' events
at clubs will be organized during the conference to highlight creative
use of interactive instrument technology and performance systems. One
of the evening concerts will feature commissioned performers playing
work from their repertoire as well as pieces submitted through the
Live Performances call.

We welcome proposals for performances to be featured in the NIME 07
concerts.

Accepted presentation types are:
- Concert Performance (Performance slot plus program note in
proceedings)
- Club Performance (Performance slot plus program note in proceedings)
- New Work for Commissioned Performer (Performance by commissioned
performer plus program note in proceedings)

INSTALLATIONS
The NIME Installations category is intended to address submissions
that deal with the subjects listed above, but are intended for
public-space or art gallery contexts. Accepted Installations will be
shown for the full 3 days of the conference, beginning on the morning
on Thursday, June 7th and ending in the evening on Saturday June 9th.
The Installations venue for NIME 2007 will also be open to the general
public. Installation submissions will be judge by artistic merit,
interactivity, relevance to NIME, innovation, exhibition history
experience and practicality criteria. A one-paragraph description of
the Installation project must be submitted with other required
materials, and will be included in the conference proceedings.

Accepted submissions to the Installation category will be exhibited in
an environment appropriate to a public-space and gallery context. NIME
2007 is obtaining special facilities in New York City, near other
conference events for exhibition of accepted Installation projects.
Please check the NIME site in November for floor plan details and
photos of the space. The number of accepted submission will be
partially subject to available space.

Accepted presentation types are:
- Installations (Installation space plus brief description in
proceedings)


SPECIAL FOCUS ON ROBOTICS AND MUSIC
NIME07 will include a number of events specially focused on robotics
and music. These will include a keynote speaker from the field of
robotics and music, a special workshop on the subject and a concert
series the weekend before NIME07.

Therefore, we are especially inviting submissions in all categories in
the area of Robotics and Music. Special consideration will be given to
competent submissions in this area.

VENDOR BOOTHS
For presentations of commercial products and companies not associated
with a conference submission, there will be exhibit booths. Please
contact Jennifer Stock at vendors@nime2007.org.

WORKSHOPS, SPECIAL SESSION AND ASSOCIATED EVENTS

June 6, morning:
* Workshop on Music and Robotics
Details on how to participate in the Music and Robotics workshop to
come.

June 7-9:
* NIME 2007

May 31st to June 10th:
* New York Electronic Arts Festival

NIME 07 organized site visits, additional workshops and off-concerts
including jam sessions are planned.

1. Phantom Limb & Tetuzi Akiyama, Hot Ginger (Archive)
Recorded June, 2006 at free103point9 Project Space in Brooklyn.
2. The Dust Dive Flash, Tens of Thousands (free103point9 Audio Dispatch 029)
3. Mouthus, For the Great Slave Lakes (Threelobed)
4. Eugene Chadbourne + Dave Fox, The Foxbourne Chronicle (Umbrella/Assembled)
5. Various artists, The Art of the Virtual Rhythmicon (Innova)
With Jeff Feddersen, Matthew Burtner, Janek Schaefer, Annie Gosfield, and others.
6. chefkirk, Giant Squid (804noise 006)
7. Pauline Oliveros, Lion's Eye/Lion's Tale (Deep Listening)
8. mirror/dash, "i can't be bought" (Threelobed)
9. Eloe Omoe, marauders (Animal Disguise)
10. Caustic Castle, Caustic Castle mini-CD (804noise)
11. North Guinea Hills, North Guinea Hills et. al. (self)
With Patrick McCarthy, Michael Garafalo, Laura Harrison, Sean Smith, and others.
12. Viki, compilation (Animal Disguise)
13. Edmund Mooney, Happy Trails (self)
14. Compiled by TJ Norris, triMIX: TribrydInstallation Soundtracks Deconstructed (Innova)
With Scanner, Beequeen, Humectant Interruption, M. Behrens, Asmus Tietchens, Nobukazu Takemura, Illusion of Safety, and others.
15. Jonny Farrow, Suite for Broken Rhodes/Sketches of a Cleaning Building (self)
16. Dave Burrell, Momentum (High Two)
17. Sic Alps, Pleasures and Treasures (Animal Disguise)
18. Sonic Liberation Front, Change Overtime (High Two)
19. Charter Oak, three song CD (self)
With Tianna Kennedy, Brendon Anderegg, Chris Millstein, Lucas Jansen, and Rob Hatch-Miller.
20. Gratkowski + Fox + Menestres + Davis, ORM (Umbrella Recordings)
21. FFFFs, I Can Hear Summer Coming (Sockets)
22. The Caution Curves, a little hungry (Sockets)
23. DJ Slip, She's a Time Traveller (Broklyn Beats)
24. Fortner Anderson + tape/head, he sings (Wired on Words)
25. Tor Lundvall, Empty City (Strange Fortune)
26. Vertonen, Stations (CIP)
27. Sybarite, Cut Out Shape (Temporary Residence)
28. Scanner with MCs from the New Horizon Youth Centre, Night Jam (Bette)
29. ben owen, radio in (Winds Measure Recordings)
30. Brian Groder, Torque (Latham Records)
31. Goat/Sixes/Xome, Deluxe Incinerator, a 3" Collection Featuring... (CIP)
32. Juan Matos Capote, the subway aural recordings (self)
33. Todd Merrell, Neptune (Dreamland Recordings)
34. Giancarlo Bracchi, Universal Soul Adaptor (self)
35. Fluorescent Grey, Lying on the floor mingling with god in a tijuana motel room next door to a veterinary supply store (Isolate Records)
36. Mammal, "No Hope/In the Mood" 7" (Chondritic Sound)
37. Prana Trio, After Dark (Circavision)
38. Eric Gafney, uncharted waters (Old Gold Records)
39. Sabir Mateen's Shapes, Textures, and Sound Ensemble, Prophecies Comes to Pass (577)
40. Andrey Kiritchenko, Stuffed With/Out (self)

To submit a CD, LP, CS, etc. for airplay and inclusion on the Wave Farm Study Center archive, send it to:
free103point9 Wave Farm
5662 Route 23
Acra, NY, 12405

r a d i o q u a l i a have just began broadcasting a new FM radio
station in Antarctica. 'Polar Radio' is Antarctica's first ever artist-run radio station. It transmitted its first programme on FM on 29 December 2006. Polar Radio is part of a series of projects run by I-TASC - the Interpolar Transnational Art Science Constellation.

Do you have a song, a message, or a sound that you want broadcast in
Antarctica? We are looking for your music, sound art, radio plays, radio
documentaries, and any phonically interesting artefacts you have to
broadcast on Antarctica first artist-run radio station. There is a
supply plane leaving for Antarctica from Cape Town on 11 January. We
plan to have a shipment of CDs sent on that supply plane. We are now
looking for CDs of:
- music of all different kinds
- radio art
- radio plays
- audio documentaries
- audio books
- archived news reports
- investigative journalism
- podcasts
- any other audio material you would like to have broadcast in Antarctica
If you have sonic material you want broadcast, please make a CD and send it to:
Siphiwe Ngwenya / I-TASC
c/- Pitch Black Productions, 7 Prince Street Gardens, Cape Town 8001, South Africa
Deadline: Jan. 10, 2007
The best formats to send are:
- audio CDs
- MP3 CDs

From Boing Boing via Wired:
Smash the crap out of it with a hammer. No, seriously. Snip from Wired Magazine tutorial:
All passports issued by the U.S. State Department after January 1 will have always-on radio frequency identification chips, making it easy for officials – and hackers – to grab your personal stats. Getting paranoid about strangers slurping up your identity? Here’s what you can do about it. But be careful – tampering with a passport is punishable by 25 years in prison. Not to mention the “special” customs search, with rubber gloves. Bon voyage!

From Media Network weblog:

The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has dismissed complaints by local amateur radio operators alleging that the broadband over powerline (BPL) system in Manassas, Virginia, interferes with their signals. In March 2006, the FCC directed Manassas and Communication Technologies Inc. (COMTek), the city’s BPL provider, to investigate the allegations and take steps to eliminate “harmful interference.” The FCC responded to Manassas’ report on its progress in June and directed both the city and COMTek to further address interference issues and the system’s non-compliance with FCC emission regulations.

In April, COMTek began updating its equipment to the latest technology. COMTek spokesman Scott Stapf said the company has begun upgrading about 600 overhead lines and plans to have the upgrade complete in early 2007. In October, the FCC sent engineers to Manassas to coordinate with COMTek to test for interference in six areas of the city that were chosen based on their proximity to locations identified in the interference complaints, city attorney Bob Bendall said. The FCC then made measurements and stated on 14 December that the system is “in compliance with the radiated emission limits” and dismissed the complaints.

But George Tarnovsky, vice president for Ole Virginia Hams, a local ham radio group, said he thinks the “whole thing was mishandled,” and still doesn’t believe the results the FCC obtained. Tarnovsky said the FCC was supposed to contact him and other ham radio operators to be present for the FCC’s tests in October, but neither he nor any other hams ever heard from the commission, he said. “I think we were dealt the wrong deal by the FCC,” Tarnovsky said. He insists the fight is not over and that he and fellow hams plan to continue registering complaints. Manassas became the first American municipality to implement the technology citywide in 2003. By plugging a modem into any city electrical outlet, subscribers can get high-speed Internet access for about $29 per month, approximately half of what cable providers charge. COMTek’s BPL service runs through the city’s power grid and has about 850 subscribers. (Source: Potomac News Online)

Twas the night before Christmas, and Radio World is debunking the Dec. 24, 1906 "Brant Rock Broadcast." "You may have read that 2006 marks the 100th anniversary of the first broadcast of speech and music," James O'Neal writes about the claim that Professor Reginald Aubrey Fessenden, "assembled a primitive AM radiotelephone transmitter and placed it on the air in the evening hours of Dec. 24 at his experimental communications station at Brant Rock, Mass. He transmitted music and speech on that occasion. Thus - the story went - he was the first ever to 'broadcast.'" O'Neal's lengthy story slowly erodes the contention one small fact at a time.

National Public Radio has an audio report by Saad Qasim, and Alex Chadwick about Sunni insurgents in Iraq running a 24-hour pirate television channel, called Al Zawraa. "The channel shows attacks on Americans and Shiites, as well as violence committed by Shiite militias," NPR says.

From Media Network weblog via Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union:

Afghanistan’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (ATRA) has acquired a new radio spectrum monitor to curb illegal radio usage in the country. Funded by the World Bank at a cost of U.S. $1 million, the country’s Minister of Communications Amirzai Sangin said the launching of the mobile spectrum station will allow Afghanistan to monitor illegal frequency users and operators, who are operating without permission from the ministry. The minister also said that the quality of broadcasting of local TV, radio stations and GSM frequencies in Afghanistan can also be monitored from the mobile spectrum station. “Thus, we will be able to enhance the quality of the broadcasting of these stations and help their broadcasting problems,” the minister added. According to ATRA officials, the station can monitor and control radio frequencies from 20 MHz [sic, presumably 20 kHz] to 3000 MHz. The station can also simultaneously monitor and evaluate the frequency and provide a real check or monitoring report of evaluation. (Source: Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union)

free103point9 AIRtime residency applications due April 1, 2007.

Do you, or would you like to, use the airwaves in your work?

Coined by free103point9, "Transmission Arts" is defined as a conceptual umbrella that unites a community of artists and audiences interested in transmission ideas and tools utilizing the electromagnetic spectrum for creative expression. Transmission practices harness, occupy and/or respond to the airwaves that surround us. There is an inherent "liveness" to this work. In a performance- based setting, audience members are newly engaged, becoming participants rather than passive viewers and listeners. Installation or sculptural transmission works are often dependant on the present, reacting to whatever occupies the surrounding frequencies in a single instance, or changing that information by adding new signals to the spectral environment.

The AIRtime workspace residency program at Wave Farm provides media artists with valuable space, physical and intellectual, to concentrate on new transmission works and conduct important research about the genre using free103point9's resource library and equipment holdings. free103point9's Study Center (see sketch, above) is under construction and will be partially functional during the 2007 residency season.

The AIRtime program serves artists by providing space for research and creation with technical support, and audiences through the presentation of works developed during AIRtime in conjunction with free103point9' s exhibition program PETS. Selected artists and projects are invited to install long-term outdoor installations as part of free103point9' s Transmission Sculpture Garden. The free103point9 Dispatch Series provides distribution for selected projects completed during AIRtime residencies. Artists-in-residence also interact with free103point9 Online Radio, presenting live on-air programming during their stay. free103point9 shares resources regarding preservation and archiving models with our residents. Artists are encouraged to archive recordings and other reproducible media with the free103point9 study collection.

Ten artists (or collectives) are selected from an open application each AIRtime season. Residency durations are flexible based on the schedules of participating artists, but typically last one week. The program is active July - October. Residents are provided with a stipend of $150. Meals are provided by free103point9 as well as local transportation for supplies. One resident is on-site at a time. Both program directors are available on site during the residencies for technical assistance and critical feedback.

Artists are required to archive completed works related to their residency with the study center research collections. A performance and exhibition program from works made during this residency period will be held at Wave Farm in Oct., 2007.

For a complete list of equipment, resources, and technical
support associated with the AIRtime residency program, see:
http://www.free103point9.org/airtime.php

To learn more about free103point9, go here:
http://www.free103point9.org/

To learn more about Wave Farm, go here:
http://www.free103point9.org/wavefarm. php

April 1, 2007 application deadline

free103point9 Online Radio
Tune in around the clock. www.free103point9.org
Transmission arts, creative radio, and more.

Packages: 5662 Route 23, Acra, NY 12405

By Tom Roe

Alas, another great radio station may be shutting down. Or turning off? Or you may be turning it off? Whatever, conservative students interested in playing the same 40 songs as all the other rock stations in town, want to excise all that is interesting and local about WRPI (91-5-FM, Troy, NY), the station on the campus of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. We are all for student control of student airwaves, but WRPI's large signal means the station owes the larger community something, and for a long time that meant letting students and faculty take the first show time slots, and letting members of the community fill in the rest, especially holidays when the school's campus is largely shut down. That's a smart system. RPI is a part of the Hudson Valley, and the community of the Hudson Valley should also be part of WRPI. Now, though, students are cutting news shows -- the rumour on the internets is that the 9 a.m. daily "Democracy Now!" will be shed soon -- in favor of an automation machine (!) playing the same 40 songs as all the other rock stations in town. New executive committee elections on Dec. 8 have some regular listeners and on-air talent nervous. How about let's keep a great diverse station the way it is? Write to WRPI Station Manager Gino D'Addario to let him know how important WRPI is to the entire community at wrpi-sm@rpi.edu. Or you can donate to Friends of WRPI, an advocacy group for "communiversity radio" to Friends of WRPI, PO Box 1656, Troy NY 12181.

Steve Pierce, president of the Friends of WRPI, wrote in a newsletter, “The community service/alternative programming philosophy that marked much of the last decade at WRPI (and perhaps much of its nearly 50 year history as a full power FM station) is now being challenged. Over the past two years, the on-campus awareness of the radio station’s importance to the community outside of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has eroded. While some students understand that WRPI is a 10,000-watt radio station reaching hundreds of thousands of people in three states and has an educational and non-commercial mission that extends far beyond the campus community, others don’t. . . . For years student leaders cultivated and supported a student/community partnership that produced a truly unique radio station. It is with deep regret that I note that partnership is in jeopardy now.”

From we make money not art:

The Ravezooka is a musical weapon that shoots powerful "hardcore" sounds based on your target's distance from the instrument. Squeezing the trigger handle initiates sound and a beam of light. As the user moves the Ravezooka around, the frequency range being played changes based on the distance of the person or object in front of the instrument. The closer the target, the lower the frequency range. The light emitted from the LED gives a visual clue as to what person or object is being targeted. Sliding the trigger handle back and forth modifies the distortion effect of the sound. The closer the handle is drawn towards the user, the greater the distortion. Volume is controlled by turning the potentiometer knob on the side of the Ravezooka. The sound of the Ravezooka is generated by MIDI data collected from the sensors and is played through a guitar or bass amplifier from the computer. The sound resembles an analog synthesizer manipulating sine wave frequencies with the aggressiveness of a machine gun. Developed by Lesley Flanigan and Benedetta Piantella Simeonidis. Check out the final version of project at the ITP Winter Show, on December 17 and 18, 721 Broadway at Waverly Place 4th Floor South Elevators, New York. Related works: Troika's Exploded monologues sends your voice on one or more of the four different speakers, each of them located approximately one meter from your mouth; Tomoaki Yanagisawa's Sonic Gun allows you to shoot sounds that you have previously recorded with the gun itself and send them to targets that play these sounds back and The Earworm Assault Devices, by Fur, enable you to distribute your own earworms, a piece of music (preferably irritating) that you hear and you can't forget anymore. Small pieces of sound or music can be recorded onto the devices and fired at single or multiple persons.

From the Federal Communications Commission:

Today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted a
Report and Order and Order on Reconsideration (Order) that modifies the rules for the Amateur Radio Service by revising the examination requirements for obtaining a General Class or Amateur Extra Class amateur radio operator license and revising the operating privileges for Technician Class licensees. In addition, the Order resolves a petition filed by the American Radio Relay League, Inc. (ARRL) for partial reconsideration of an FCC Order on amateur service rules released on October 10, 2006.

The current amateur service operator license structure contains three classes of amateur radio operator licenses: Technician Class, General Class, and Amateur Extra Class. General Class and Amateur Extra Class licensees are permitted to operate in Amateur bands below 30 MHz, while the introductory Technician Class licensees are only permitted to operate in bands above 30 MHz. Prior to today’s action, the FCC, in accordance with international radio regulations, required applicants for General Class and Amateur Extra Class operator licenses to pass a five words-per-minute Morse code examination. Today’s Order eliminates that
requirement for General and Amateur Extra licensees. This change reflects revisions to international radio regulations made at the International Telecommunication Union’s 2003 World Radio Conference (WRC-03), which authorized each country to determine whether to require that individuals demonstrate Morse code proficiency in order to qualify for an amateur
radio license with transmitting privileges on frequencies below 30 MHz. This change eliminates an unnecessary regulatory burden that may discourage current amateur radio operators from advancing their skills and participating more fully in the benefits of amateur radio.

Today’s Order also revises the operating privileges for Technician Class licensees by
eliminating a disparity in the operating privileges for the Technician Class and Technician Plus Class licensees. Technician Class licensees are authorized operating privileges on all amateur frequencies above 30 MHz. The Technician Plus Class license, which is an operator license class that existed prior the FCC’s simplification of the amateur license structure in 1999 and was grandfathered after that time, authorized operating privileges on all amateur frequencies above 30 MHz, as well as frequency segments in four HF bands (below 30 MHz) after the successful completion of a Morse code examination. With today’s elimination of the Morse code exam requirements, the FCC concluded that the disparity between the operating privileges of Technician Class licensees and Technician Plus Class licensees should not be retained. Therefore, the FCC, in today’s action, afforded Technician and Technician Plus licensees identical operating privileges.

Finally, today’s Order resolved a petition filed by the ARRL for partial reconsideration of an FCC Order released on October 10, 2006 (FCC 06-149). In this Order, the FCC authorized amateur stations to transmit voice communications on additional frequencies in certain amateur service bands, including the 75 meter (m) band, which is authorized only for certain wideband voice and image communications. The ARRL argued that the 75 m band should not have been expanded below 3635 kHz, in order to protect automatically controlled digital stations operating in the 3620-3635 kHz portion of the 80 m band. The FCC concluded that these stations can be protected by providing alternate spectrum in the 3585-3600 kHz frequency segment. Action by the Commission on December 15, 2006, by Report and Order and Order on Reconsideration. Chairman Martin and Commissioners Copps, Adelstein, Tate, and McDowell.

From Jonathan Marks in Broadcast & Podcast Gadgets:

I am currently looking at this piece of software as one possibile solution for a radio station in West Africa. One challenge with the Open-Source project like this is that the developers cannot offer a 24 hour service, like other guys do for Linux. But I have met the people behind this project and know them to be passionate about getting it right.

Community radio stations in Sierra Leone and in other emerging democracies will be powered by the latest release of the free and open source Campcaster software, which was released on December 7th 2006. Campcaster is free and open source software that turns a PC running the free Linux operating system into an essential tool for radio broadcasting. In a user-friendly way, it enables both automated broadcast at preset dates and times, as well as allowing “live” playout from the studio. At the same time, it also enables the exchange of radio program material both online and off-line, and provides a stable, secure, extensible archive server for storing, searching and retrieving program content.

Campcaster 1.1, code-named “Freetown,” was built with conditions in difficult environments such as Sierra Leone in mind. It provides very stable playout, and because it runs on Linux, there are fewer problems with viruses, spyware and malware.

Campcaster's relevance is not limited to the developing world: stations in the developed world are starting to adapt the system to their own needs. For example, Vienna, Austria's Radio Orange is adapting Campcaster's playout system to work with its existing digital archive, while in Hungary, a network of independent radio stations is integrating Campcaster's storage server into its IKRA project, a generic public website engine for radio stations.

Because all of the Campcaster software is free and open source, stations are free to adapt it to their individual needs, but are strongly encouraged to share their efforts with others.

“Campcaster provides features that used to be only available in extremely expensive commercial radio systems,” says Sava Tatić, Managing Director of the Media Development Loan Fund's Center for Advanced Media, Prague (CAMP), which coordinates the Campware Initiative. “We believe there is a strong north-south aspect to using and extending Campcaster,” Tatić added. “Every time a station in North America or Europe adapts and extends Campcaster, stations in places like Sierra Leone benefit.”

An international team of software developers, user interface designers, media activists and radio professionals have worked for more than 12 months on the 1.1 “Freetown” release. Campware representatives have coordinated their work with the Cornet community radio network on the software, and members of the development team will travel to Freetown, Sierra Leone later this month to provide training to partners implementing and servicing Campcaster locally.

Campcaster 1.1 “Freetown” is the latest release from the Media Development Loan Fund's Campware Initiative, which creates free and open source tools for independent media in emerging democracies. Initial funding for Campcaster has been provided by a grant from the Open Society Institute. The tools are all free and available for download at the Campware website at www.campware.org. Developers and technically-minded users can visit the developers' page at http://code.campware.org/projects/campcaster.

Douglas Arellanes Head of Research and Development on the project tells me that he and programmer Ferenc Gerlits are now in Freetown, Sierra Leone to install Campcaster at the Cornet network of community radio stations. They already have confirmation that a number of other stations have already begun installing and extending Campcaster, and they will regularly update the Campware site as we hear about new implementations.

Next on their release program (in addition to bugfix releases) is Campcaster 1.2, which is code-named "Kotor" because they are planning to implement it at Skala Radio in Kotor, Montenegro. The main feature will be integration with Campsite, which will allow stations to create and manage news broadcasts in an effective and user-friendly manner.