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free103point9 Newsroom has moved to http://free103point9.wordpress.com/as of March 18, 2010 A blog for radio artists with transmission art news, open calls, microradio news, and discussion of issues about radio art, creative use of radio, and radio technologies. free103point9 announcements are also included here.

Thursday, July 20, 2006

OPEN CALL: Deep Wireless 2007, Trans-X

Deep Wireless - Radio Without Boundaries
Call for works on the theme: Trans-x

Deadline for submissions - September 30th, 2006

Trans = from, across, beyond, through; X = unknown quantity.

transmission, transport, transversal, transgender, transaction, transitive, translation, transportation, transverse, transnational, translocal…

Make your own theme by adding a word to replace the X and create a piece for radio that reflects it.

New Adventures in Sound Art invites submissions of any duration less than 60 minutes in length that reflects the theme TRANS-X, makes use of original sound sources in interesting and innovative ways and are suitable for radio broadcast. Note there will be a special category called “Radio Art Interventions” on the same theme for pieces one minute in length.

Pieces will be selected for broadcast within Canada and on several international radio stations in May 2006 as part of the Deep Wireless festival of radio and transmission art. Deep Wireless celebrates radio as a creative and artistic medium for cultural expression.

The International submissions will be considered for inclusion in the following:

-The Deep Wireless 4 radio art compilation CD
-The radio art interventions (1 minute pieces played guerilla-style on radio stations during the Deep Wireless festival)
-The Radio Art Salon – a listening gallery of radio art works exhibited for the month of May

A small number of Canadian artists will be chosen from the submissions to be part of the Deep Wireless Commissioning Programme in 2007 co-produced with CBC radio's outfront with residencies at Charles Street Video in Toronto.

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Prominent spectrum engineers refute broadcast industry claims

On June 28, the Senate Commerce Committee completed its mark-up of comprehensive telecom reform legislation. The Committee included, without amendment, Title VI, the "Wireless Innovation Act of 2006," which directs the FCC to open the vacant, unused TV channel frequencies in each local TV market (also known as TV band “white space”) for unlicensed wireless broadband use (FCC Docket 04-186). Originally sponsored by Senators Stevens (R-AK), Allen (R-VA), Sununu (R-NH), Boxer (D-CA), Kerry (D-MA) and Dorgan (D-ND), the provision is supported by a majority of both parties due to the enormous potential it holds to spread affordable wireless broadband access, particularly to rural areas.

Unfortunately, the broadcast TV and wireless microphone industries oppose the proposal and continue to spread misinformation about it, arguing that allowing unlicensed use of this white space would cause harmful interference to the 13% of American households that continue to rely on over-the-air TV reception (the rest subscribe to cable or satellite TV). New America's Issue Brief—authored by three of the nation's most respected spectrum engineers—demonstrates why the broadcasters' technical claims are unfounded.

“Why Unlicensed Use of Vacant TV Spectrum Will Not Cause Interference to DTV Viewers,” explains why the use of “smart radios,” in combination with the conventional FCC rulemaking process, will be enough to ensure that DTV receivers and other licensed uses of the TV band are not harmed by unlicensed devices. This Issue Brief expands on and updates an earlier one released by New America in October 2005, and incorporates responses to the incumbents’ latest arguments on Capitol Hill. The co-authors are:

Michael Marcus, former FCC Associate Chief for Technology, Office of Engineering and Technology
Paul Kolodzy, former Chair, FCC Spectrum Policy Task Force
Andrew Lippman, founding Associate Director, MIT Media Lab

http://www.newamerica.net/Download_Docs/pdfs/Doc_File_3166_1.pdf

Other useful documents on the TV White Space debate are available free from New America, including:

Consumer/High-Tech White Space Coalition Fact Sheet: Benefits of White Space
New America Foundation/Free Press Analysis on TV White Space Availability in Sample of U.S. Markets
Wireless Public Safety Data Networks Operating on Unlicensed Spectrum
The Economic Case for Unlicensed Use of the TV White Space

Thanks for your interest.

Michael Calabrese
Director, Wireless Future Program
New America Foundation
www.spectrumpolicy.org

Still over 100 illegal FM stations in Pakistan’s NWFP

From Media Network weblog:

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PERMA) admitted yesterday that more than 100 seminaries were still operating illegal FM radio stations across the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). At least 115 illegal FM radio stations are in operation all over the NWFP, sources revealed, while requesting anonymity. They said that while most seminaries used FM radio broadcasts to impart Islamic teachings, many used them to spread sectarian hatred.

When PERMA first launched its crackdown on illegal stations, the police claimed to have put 90 such stations out of operation. However, PERMA sources described these claims as being far from reality, pointing out that all these radio stations were still broadcasting on air. They pointed out that if there had been an adequate counter-verification system to check police claims, PERMA officials would have at least have seen the seized equipment following the reported closure of illegal stations.

In addition to being used to stoke sectarian unrest, PERMA officials stressed that the illegal broadcasts posed a serious threat to the police’s wireless systems as well as to passenger and fighter plane navigation systems. The illegal FM stations are hijacking others frequencies since they have not obtained their own frequency waves from the army-run Frequency Allocation Board.

However, PERMA sources admitted that the authority lacked the sufficient staff strength to adequately crack down on illegal FM radio stations. “We have 167 staff members countrywide. We cannot control the whole country with such a small staff body,” they admitted.

(Source: Islamic Republic News Agency)

Monday, July 10, 2006

OPEN CALL: Eyebeam's Fellows

Eyebeam supports artists through residencies, teaching positions and commissioned projects. As these opportunies arise, information and applications will be made available here. Applications for Eyebeam's Fellows are online now. To apply please visit:
http://eyebeam.org/production/onlineapp/

Applications for Eyebeam's Artists' Residencies are currently on hold until Summer 2006. The AIR Prorgam, now in its fifth year, is being evaluated and adjusted to better meet the needs of our artists. During this time artists from the Fall 2005 Residency cycle continue to work in our recently renovated studios.

Sunday, July 09, 2006

Cell phone cooking

From Infowars.com via RawFamily.com:


Vladimir Lagovski and Andrei Moiseynko from Komsomolskaya Pravda Newspaper in Moscow decided to learn first-hand how harmful cell phones are. There is no magic in cooking with your cell phone. The secret is in the radio waves that the cell phone radiates.

The journalists created a simple microwave structure as shown in the picture. They called from one cell phone to the other and left both phones on talking mode. They placed a tape recorder next to phones to imitate sounds of speaking so the phones would stay on.

After 15 minutes: The egg became slightly warm.

25 minutes: The egg became very warm.

40 minutes: The egg became very hot.

65 minutes: The egg was cooked. (As you can see.)