Four
years ago, I reported in this column what I considered to be a real
Internet breakthrough -- the broadcast of President Clinton's State
of the Union address over the Internet.
The technology
was called RealAudio, and the sound, well, left a lot to be desired.
As a friend of mine said, the quality was almost as good as what you
might find on AM radio. Almost.
Of course,
that was 1996. Fast forward to 2000.
Both the
connection speeds and the technology have improved immeasurably; with
a standard 56k modem connection, the sound quality of Net-broadcasted
music is light years ahead of what it used to be.
No, it isn't
CD quality, but it's not bad for casual listening.
Today, my
favorite source of music on the Web is NetRadio.com.
NetRadio.com
supports both the RealNetworks RealPlayer and the Windows Media
Player audio formats, so if you've got a PC running Windows, chances
are good you'll hear something during your first visit to the site.
NetRadio's
home page, at www.netradio.com, offers links to 120 ``channels'' that
provide a wide selection of musical genres for your listening enjoyment.
And simplicity
is this site's strong point. Near the top you have three big buttons
for your three choices of what you want to do during your visit --
listen, learn, or buy.
Under
``Learn,'' NetRadio offers background info about the artists and
influences that helped define the genre of your choice.
And as you
might expect, the ``Buy'' link takes you to CD Point, the online
store for NetRadio. Every song you hear played on NetRadio is
available for purchase.
But its the
third button, ``Listen,'' is what brings me back time and time again
to NetRadio.
While you
listen to music at NetRadio.com, a small window opens up and gives
you the artist and name of the song currently playing, as well as
navigation links to other music "channels."
A handy ``Buy
Now'' button in this window links you immediately to the CD Point
store and to the exact CD playing. E-commerce just doesn't get much
easier than this.
My favorite
NetRadio ``channel'' is ``Groovin' 70s'' (when's the last time you
heard 1978's ``Jack and Jill'' by Raydio, featuring Ray Parker Jr.,
or Bill Withers' ``Lean On Me'').
If oldies
aren't your bag, there are 119 other channels for you to enjoy, so
don't think you'll be stuck in nostalgia-land with the rest of us
Baby Boomers.
If you've been
curious about other styles of music you've never heard before, you
might check NetRadio's selections. I've enjoyed classical tunes,
Celtic, bluegrass and other genres.
Just like your
home stereo system, your experience with listening to music over
NetRadio will depend on two factors: the quality of your Internet
connection, and the quality of your speakers.
My friend and
coworker Jeff's computer has quality speakers on his computer system;
and as you might expect, the sound from his speakers on a 56k
connection are much richer than my $9 flea market speakers on my PC
using a cable modem.
There's no
obligation to buy or sell, no commercials (beyond an occasion promo
announcement for NetRadio itself), and no cost to you to enjoy your
favorite tunes.
Visit NetRadio
on the Web at www.netradio.com.
'PUSH'
COMES TO SHOVE. Today's new technology is tomorrow's obsolete
software, and nowhere is that more evident than with anything related
to the Internet.
Four years
ago, the PointCast Network was all the rage with its screensaver/news
and information service that automatically retrieved data while you
performed other tasks on your PC.
This method of
updating content was dubbed ``push'' technology, and it quickly
became the buzzword of 1996 and 1997.
``Push'' meant
a user didn't have to go and ``get'' the news regularly. Once set up,
all a user had to do was enjoy the regularly updated news and
information from his or her Web browser.
The feature
caused quite a stir, and both Internet Explorer and Netscape
integrated "push" into their next Web browsers.
But for the
PointCast Network, push has turned to shove.
The company
sent an e-mail recently to its remaining users stating the service
was ending.
PointCast's
fortune's fell after a canceled IPO, a couple of failed merger
attempts, and criticism from network administrators who found
PointCast's ``push'' delivery model was clogging up their company
computer networks.
PointCast was
acquired by venture capital firm Idealab and merged with Launchpad Technologies.
The new
company is known as EntryPoint, which distributes a user customizable
menu bar, complete with scrolling headlines and content links.
Look for a
review of EntryPoint's latest software offering in an upcoming column soon.
CANDIDATE
QUESTIONS? Trying to pin down exactly where a political candidate
stands on some issues can sometimes be a pretty slippery proposition.
And with the
primaries underway for the selection of each party's presidential
candidate, it's never too early to try and determine where
presidential hopefuls stand on the issues.
Political Web
sites have become the norm these days, and one way to survey
candidates would be a visit to their Web sites.
Researching
the issues and finding that information on each site is a pretty
daunting task, but there's a Web site that will ease your search for
political viewpoints.
ElectionSearch2000.org
is one of the quickest ways to find information on any candidate or
candidates you'll run across on the Web.
You can
perform a keyword search by party, individual candidate site or all
candidate sites. It's an amazingly simple and straightforward Web
site that delivers the goods -- pronto.
The site has a
``search activity report'' that shows what the most popular search
terms, and an informal poll where you can make your mark among the
other information seekers who use the site.
Visit the site
at www.electionsearch2000.org.
WIN2K LAUNCHED.
Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates called on the talents of former
Star Trek actor Patrick Stewart and musician Carlos Santana to help
with last week's launch of the long-awaited Windows 2000 operating system.
Windows 2000
is the next-generation computer operating system aimed at corporate
computer systems, most of which already use some version of Windows NT.
The new
operating system is available in three ``flavors:'' Windows 2000
Professional, Windows 2000 Server, and Windows 2000 Advanced Server.
An additional version, Windows 2000 Datacenter Server will ship later
this year.
According to
reports on the ZDNet.com Web site, the new operating systems will fix
some of the problems long-associated with the crash-prone Windows NT
operating system.
Non-corporate
users of Windows 95/98 looking for a new operating system will have
to wait a few more months for the official release of Windows
Millennium Edition (Windows ME for short).
Comments
and questions about this column may be sent to jbrooks@myoldkentuckyhome.com,
or visit www.myoldkentuckyhome.com
on the World Wide Web.
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