So You Say You Want a Revolution?

I've had an idea kicking around my cranial-meat for a while.

SYSYWAR ("Sissy War") will be an irregular introduction to gadgets. The point being as much to discuss new technological innovation you can hold in your hand and throw at bastards; as to discuss the meaning behind the technologies and how it works. (For long time readers, think "Culture for the Masstards" for techies.)

Today's installment, Radio Free Radio!


The idea was first massively advertised by the satellite radio stations. Essentially, it's "take everything you love about radio, subtract everything you hate, and CRANK IT UP TO 11!" The really nice thing? If you're willing to spend some initial time at it, it works (and your time spent tends to decrease the longer you participate).

The sites, and there are others; but these are the type I'd send my mom to- because I wouldn't be worried about her getting spyware and viruses from just going there:
(In no particular order)
Pandora
Jango
Slacker Radio

To give you an easy example, we'll take Jango. At the main page, I put "Nine Inch Nails". The program assumes I want to listen to NIN and similar bands. So, skipping ahead I get "Cherub Rock" from the Smashing Pumpkins, "Intermission" from Tool, "Opus Dei" from Laibach, and "Fell on Black Days" by Soundgarden. Additionally, it recommends other bands I might want to add to my new "station". Marilyn Manson, KMFDM, Tool, Smashing Pumpkins, A Perfect Circle, and Nirvana are its suggestions. Not bad, right? Confused on why? Essentially, the station is only playing tracks similar to NIN, I can add other bands to refine the sound I'm looking for- General 90s: Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins; Industrial: KMFDM, Gothic: Marilyn Manson, A Perfect Circle; Metal(ish): Tool, KMFDM.

Pandora, as it loads, tells you that it's a means of placing the Music Genome Project into users' hands. The idea is the same for all of them. Add Groups you like, rate individual songs/groups and an algorithm sorts all listed tracks on the server sending you ones that are similar. It's radio, if radio didn't suck, and wasn't actually being pumped out of Durham, NC instead of down the block.

The real difference between the services is how customizable they are, and the extra features. Jango focuses on social networking, almost, and allows a general choice of "Popular Tracks, Happy Medium, or Wide Variety" for how obscure the track list should go. Pandora has more information about the bands and songs, will tell you WHY a song/band was selected, and a detailed list of what choices you've made for your station. Slacker allows more general customization- like obscurity, and era, for instance- and Slacker also has the slab of tech we're about to discuss. All have links to lyrics or artist info or to buy tracks. And all have the ability to create a station and share it with friends. Wil Wheaton has shared a station on Slacker Radio he created based on Bauhaus and similar bands, take a look/listen.

SLAB'O'TECH

The gadget to bring this technology out of your computer- should you be so inclined is the new Slacker G2 Personal Radio Player. Basically, it connects with Slacker radio when it finds a WiFi source and gets new music based on your previous tinkerings; but otherwise operates exactly like the website. So, going for a run/walk/jog/ride? Don't want to take along a laptop with an air card? Problem solved. (Wil Wheaton's review, which inspired this post.)

WHY THIS IS GOOD
I love radio because it exposes me to music I wouldn't normally hear if I was stuck with my playlist in [Preferred Mediaplayer] on Shuffle and Repeat All. Yet, I hate listening to radio- except for NPR News- because they play CRAP with a capital "UTTER-FUCKING-BULLSHIT-ASS-DRIPPINGS-RECTAL-PROLAPSE"! I can't stand 99% of what's on the radio stations available in my area. I want punk and metal stations, for instance, which we don't have at all. Now I can create them; and all of these services are free, or have very good free versions.

WHY THIS IS NEW
Technically, it's not; and I'm not concerned with that, too much. SYSYWAR, like CftM, is also about collating information and putting it into a place you can easily reference or send your friends. Now you have a post you can send your friends to, when they ask you what bands they should look into when they only like Echo and the Bunnymen, Leadbelly, and Snoop Dog. (Hint: Send them Here)

The G2, however, is fairly recent, so there's that.