National Call-In Radio Day

The Prometheus Radio Project is among the organizers of the day to help bring low-power FM to communities throughout the United States. Join people from across the country to tell Congress to open up the airwaves for more community media!

TAKE ACTION - Tell your Congressional Representative to support HR 1147.

1. Look up your Congressional Representative at Congress.org

2. Find out if they have already supported the Local Community Radio Act.
See a list of cosponsors at govtrack.us and search for Bill number HR 1147.

3. Call the Congressional Switchboard at: (202) 224-3121 and ask to be connected to your Representative's office.

If your representative is not a cosponsor tell he/she to support expanding Low Power FM all across the country and cosponsor the bill.

If your representative is a cosponsor ask him/her to reach out to Congressional Leadership to let them know that this is an important priority around the country.

Background:
In 2000, the FCC established Low Power FM radio service and the same year Congress acted to limit LPFM, pending the results of an interference study. This study was released in 2003, after an expenditure of $2.2 million in taxpayer dollars, and proved that LPFM would not provide interference to existing stations. There are currently over 800 LPFM stations operated by schools, churches, civic groups, and other nonprofit organizations across the country. However, it's time, as the authors of this study and the FCC recommended, to expand LPFM to its intended service parameters. The Local Community Radio Act (HR 1147/S592) would expand Low Power FM radio stations and open the airwaves up to potentially tens of thousands of new community radio stations across the country.

Radio talk-show host Neil Rogers retires

The Miami Herald reported that Neil Rogers, one of the United States' best talk show hosts, took a buyout check and retired today. Rogers, 66, and Miami's WQAM-AM 560 jointly announced that he is leaving his 10 a.m.-to-2 p.m. slot. In 1976 Rogers announced he was gay on the air. His acerbic talk show was biting and hilarious in South Florida, and for a few years in the late '80s he was simulcast on a Tampa radio station that also featured Bob Lassiter. Rogers will be missed.

OPEN CALL: FuturePlaces

"Radio Futura," the official FuturePlaces radio station broadcasting live during the FuturePlaces 2009 digital media festival (October 14-17, 2009 in Porto, Portugal), is looking for submissions. "Radio Futura"" is a joint venture between Future Places and Rádio Zero. We are now accepting submissions for Radio Futura, a special one-week radio broadcast during FuturePlaces 2009. FuturePlaces 2009 is an international digital media festival focusing on the potential of digital media to change local cultures and societies. It does so by exploring digital culture in its many forms: from concerts to exhibitions and competitions, from workshops to parties, from conferences to film screenings. During the festival, Radio Futura will be broadcasting a mix of live event coverage and studio programs. We want your participation by submitting proposals for programs to be broadcast during the festival.
You can submit any kind of program, as long as it is connected to radio digital culture and/or local cultures in any way. Preference is given to proposals of live programs, using webstream or at (if you're around at the time) Radio Futura studio, but pre-recorder programs are also welcomed.

SUBMIT YOUR PROPOSALS TO: radiofutura2009 @ gmail.com
Deadline for submitting your proposals is : August 15, 2009
Proposals should be either a short statement of the idea to be developed in the radio program, or an audio file of a draft program. (MP3 or OGG is preferred at this stage, because it is light!). You can find out more on the Future Places digital media festival at http://futureplaces.org.

FMjam

Last night at free103point9's Noise! festival at the Ontological Theater in Manhattan, Jeremy Slater and Tamara Yadao used the FMjam transmitter in his performance. It is a small transmitter with numerous effects on it, marketed to guitar players and such who want to jam together. Slater and Yadao both played with one, and the FMjam allowed them to both perform on the same radio frequency. Apparently, up to five people can "jam" together on the same frequency with this transmitter.

Senate expected to confirm Genachowski as new FCC chairman

By Jack Kontney in Broadcast Engineering:

President Obama's nominee for Federal Communications Commission chairman, Julius Genachowski, has emerged from a June 16 Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee vetting with high marks. His nomination now moves to the full Senate for confirmation, which is expected with little controversy. Republican Commissioner Robert McDowell, nominated for a second term on the FCC, was also approved by the committee.

While the audio industry still awaits final FCC rulings and clarifications on white space spectrum allocations and usage by TV band devices, the hearings addressed this issue by implication only. Rather, the nominees were asked for their views on issues like indecency, exclusive mobile carrier arrangements, media ownership rules and broadband integration and infrastructure.

Genachowski, whose technology background includes time as a legal adviser to FCC Chairman Reed Hundt during the Clinton administration and as technology advisor to the Obama presidential campaign, has promised to run a more transparent commission with a strong technology orientation.

In his hearing, Genachowski stated that he plans to use federal economic stimulus money to bring broadband Internet services to underserved, generally rural areas. The Obama administration included $7.2 billion in funds for this purpose.

In addition, a number of other responses may prove enlightening on the future direction of the FCC. Genachowski expressed interest in a proposed Senate bill calling for the FCC to conduct a comprehensive inventory of all available frequency spectrum between 200MHz and 3.5GHz and how it is used for both licensed and unlicensed activities.

Another major hot button is the examination of exclusive wireless carrier deals routinely done by the makers of mobile phones. Noting that traditional phone services are legally required to allow consumers to connect any legal device to their networks, Genachowski has stated that, under his chairmanship, the FCC would review whether mobile handset deals requiring a specific wireless carrier (such as AT&T for the Apple iPhone) are anticompetitive.

The long-standing request for action on this issue originated with the Rural Cellular Association (RCA), which charges that such deals shortchange rural areas. Similar calls to action have come from other grassroots groups. The mobile phone industry feels strongly that exclusivity deals have been a boon to consumers, spurring the development and availability of new technologies. In a written response to a question from Sen. John Kerry, Genachowski said, “If confirmed, I will ensure that the full record on the RCA petition is reviewed and act accordingly to promote competition and consumer choice." Interim FCC Chairman Michael Copps has already instructed the commission to begin planning for such a review.

Genachowski also supports greater diversity in media ownership, expressing his hope to develop strategies to bring more women- and minority-owned representation into the media. It should be noted that both the Senate and the House of Representatives are currently considering laws that would expand the availability of low-power FM radio licenses.

Reading between the lines, it would appear that the combination of a frequency allocation review, white spaces technology development and possible expansion of LPFM license availability may create a “perfect storm” of issues that allows the soon-to-be confirmed FCC chairman to consider a wide variety of rules and policies. With the Obama administration on record as favoring technology development in the white spaces, expansion of broadband availability and Internet neutrality, it seems clear that the FCC will be used as an instrument of the administration’s technology, communication and, to a lesser extent, social agenda.

Considering the extended timeline and limited success of the recent DTV transition, one can only hope that the infusion of fresh blood and a visionary agenda will help the FCC move with more self-assurance than seen in recent years. With the United States lacking a cohesive policy on broadband and wireless communications, the coming years will be critical in defining whether this country will be a leader or follower in broadband availability and mobile communications. The FCC under Julius Genachowski will play a critical role in determining both the direction and success of our nation’s progress in these areas, and whether it can be achieved without crippling existing technologies such as broadcast television and wireless microphone systems.

With never-ending advances in technology constantly challenging the status quo, the FCC must make the transition from “protector of broadcasting in the public interest” to “communications technology consultant for the U.S.” The importance of this critical role cannot be overestimated, and it is hoped that the commission will see the big picture and take decisive action before its too-brief window of political opportunity passes.

New radio chip mimics human ear

From Science Daily:

MIT engineers have built a fast, ultra-broadband, low-power radio chip, modeled on the human inner ear, that could enable wireless devices capable of receiving cell phone, Internet, radio and television signals.

Rahul Sarpeshkar, associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science, and his graduate student, Soumyajit Mandal, designed the chip to mimic the inner ear, or cochlea. The chip is faster than any human-designed radio-frequency spectrum analyzer and also operates at much lower power.

"The cochlea quickly gets the big picture of what's going on in the sound spectrum," said Sarpeshkar. "The more I started to look at the ear, the more I realized it's like a super radio with 3,500 parallel channels."

Sarpeshkar and his students describe their new chip, which they have dubbed the "radio frequency (RF) cochlea," in a paper to be published in the June issue of the IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits. They have also filed for a patent to incorporate the RF cochlea in a universal or software radio architecture that is designed to efficiently process a broad spectrum of signals including cellular phone, wireless Internet, FM, and other signals.

The RF cochlea mimics the structure and function of the biological cochlea, which uses fluid mechanics, piezoelectrics and neural signal processing to convert sound waves into electrical signals that are sent to the brain.

As sound waves enter the cochlea, they create mechanical waves in the cochlear membrane and the fluid of the inner ear, activating hair cells (cells that cause electrical signals to be sent to the brain). The cochlea can perceive a 100-fold range of frequencies -- in humans, from 100 to 10,000 Hz. Sarpeshkar used the same design principles in the RF cochlea to create a device that can perceive signals at million-fold higher frequencies, which includes radio signals for most commercial wireless applications.

The device demonstrates what can happen when researchers take inspiration from fields outside their own, says Sarpeshkar.

"Somebody who works in radio would never think of this, and somebody who works in hearing would never think of it, but when you put the two together, each one provides insight into the other," he says. For example, in addition to its use for radio applications, the work provides an analysis of why cochlear spectrum analysis is faster than any known spectrum-analysis algorithm. Thus, it sheds light on the mechanism of hearing as well.

Read more here.

OPEN CALL: International Symposium on Electronic Art

ISEA2010 RUHR is the 16th International Symposium on Electronic Art, a major conference and exhibition event for art, media and technology, scheduled for 20-29 August 2010 in the German Ruhr region (Dortmund, Essen, Duisburg, a. o.). We invite proposals for conference papers, artist presentations, exhibition projects, live performances, and art projects in public space. Visual artists, musicians, dancers, designers, engineers, software artists, researchers, theorists, media activists, and hybrids of these, working with recent technologies and exploring the artistic, creative and critical potentials of digital and electronic media, should submit their projects or papers online by 15 September 2009. All submissions will be evaluated by an international jury. The results of the jury process and invitations for ISEA2010 RUHR are expected by the end of 2009. Please note that all submitted information can be edited and completed until the submission deadline. Detailed information about the submission process can be found at: http://www.isea2010ruhr.org/submissions. Contact: call@isea2010ruhr.org

Radio chip inspired by human ear

By David Pescovitz on Boing Boing:

MIT researchers built a radio chip inspired by the inner ear. The "RF cochlea chip" could be a key component in a "cognitive radio," a device that can determine the appropriate frequency and power consumption required and adjust itself accordingly. Such a universal radio architecture could efficiently handle a wide range of signals, from cellular to WiFi to television. From MIT News:

The RF cochlea mimics the structure and function of the biological cochlea, which uses fluid mechanics, piezoelectrics and neural signal processing to convert sound waves into electrical signals that are sent to the brain.

As sound waves enter the cochlea, they create mechanical waves in the cochlear membrane and the fluid of the inner ear, activating hair cells (cells that cause electrical signals to be sent to the brain). The cochlea can perceive a 100-fold range of frequencies -- in humans, from 100 to 10,000 Hz. Sarpeshkar used the same design principles in the RF cochlea to create a device that can perceive signals at million-fold higher frequencies, which includes radio signals for most commercial wireless applications...

The RF cochlea, embedded on a silicon chip measuring 1.5 mm by 3 mm, works as an analog spectrum analyzer, detecting the composition of any electromagnetic waves within its perception range. Electromagnetic waves travel through electronic inductors and capacitors (analogous to the biological cochlea's fluid and membrane). Electronic transistors play the role of the cochlea's hair cells.

Fitzrovia Radio Hour: radio-drama revival troupe

By Cory Doctorow on Boing Boing:

Fitzrovia Radio Hour is a radio-drama performance troupe in the UK who do over-the-top, steampunky stories that pay homage to the golden age of British radio plays. I saw them perform live at one of the White Mischief steampunk nights at the Scala near King's Cross, and they were superb -- full costume, great period-appropriate foley gadgets, and wonderful performances. They've got a podcast, too!

Snelson and Milutis performance

Performance by Danny Snelson and Joe Milutis for Writing for their Lives @ UW-Bothell. Milton's Paradise Lost, Book I is sampled (Milutis) and translated using Ronald Johnson's Radi Os as lexicon.

R23 Information Services #96

Building a Wifi Radio
mightyohm.com

Net gives pirate radio the last laugh
new scientist

Smartphone Rises Fast From Gadget to Necessity
nytimes

Social Networks Eclipse E-Mail
nytimes

Trent Reznor Says No More Social Networking
hypebot

Vinyl sales to hit another high point in 2009
la times

Some in Congress hot to expand LPFM service

Above: On June 11, 2009, at a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet on H.R. 1147, the Local Community Radio Act, Congressman Doyle questioned witnesses from the Federal Communications Commission and the National Association of Broadcasters about whether existing stations would experience significant interference if Congress enacted the Local Community Radio Act, which would allow the FCC to license thousands of new community-oriented low-power FM radio stations across the country. There appeared to be very little justification for concern.

From Radio World:

The push by low-power FM proponents to drop third-adjcacent channel protections for full-power stations, thus allowing more LPFMs on the dial, is gaining more attention from Congress.

The Federal Communications Commission maintains that doing so would result in only a small amount of interference to full-power stations and it supports the expansion of the LPFM service by dropping those protections.

LPFM proponents said at a House subcommittee hearing this week that thousands more of the low-wattage outlets could be on the air if H.R. 1147, the Local Community Radio Act, passes. Opponents said if that happens, the FCC seems to be okay with some interference affecting some full-power stations or their translators, interference that could creep beyond the third adjacents and affect second adjacents as well.

Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., who owned radio stations for 21 years, said he’s received letters from public radio stations concerned about displacement of their translators given the current way the bill is written — language he says would give the FCC authority to affect beyond third-adjacent full-power protections. He’s heard that some LPFMs are airing ads and acting as commercial stations and pressed the commission to make sure LPFMs are serving their communities, as full-power stations do.

But bill co-sponsor Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb., said of LPFM: “It gives people a voice that they may not have now. Studies have shown we can do LPFM without stepping on the signals of higher-power stations.”

The FCC wants to drop the third-adjacent channel protections. Chief of the FCC’s Audio Division Peter Doyle said 859 LPFMs are licensed and on the air. At the same time, the agency has licensed more than 4,000 new translators with no impact from LPFMs and said, “There’s been no discernible increase of interference during this licensing process.” The FCC remains convinced the impact from dropping third-adjacent channel protections to translators or full-power stations “would be extremely modest,” he said. The FCC expects “enormous interest” in the next LPFM application window.

Cheryl Leanza, representing the United Church of Christ and speaking for LPFM proponents, said, “We know low-power is safe because there are thousands on the air now. They don’t cause interference. The only difference is who owns them, whether they’re a member of NAB or not.”

Testifying for the National Association of Broadcasters was Beasley Broadcasting EVP/CFO Caroline Beasley, who said full-power stations and LPFMs can co-exist but that it’s important to maintain interference guidelines. Broadcasters are concerned about interference, because if a listener hears it in some form, like static, she said, “They will simply change the channel.” The study on potential for LPFM interference done by Mitre years ago recommended a way to mitigate interference to full-power FMs from LPFMs, she said. “There’s still room for tens of thousands of additional LPFMs — even with keeping the third-adjacent channel protections.”

Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., chairman of the Communications, Technology and the Internet Subcommittee, said while expanding options for more LPFMs is desirable, Congress must be certain it would be implemented in a way that would not jeopardize full-power stations, emerging HD Radio and radio reading services.

Before the hearing’s conclusion, lawmakers asked the FCC to provide more details later on interference studies that have been done and details of an FCC rule that protects translators. Boucher did not say what the next steps by the subcommittee would be.

Public wins in court over low-power FM

From Matthew Lasar in Ars Technica:

Supporters of low-power FM (LPFM) radio won a victory on Friday when a federal appeals court rejected a lawsuit to stop the Federal Communications Commissions from protecting LPFM stations from full power station signal interference.

"This is terrific news for the low power radio community," declared Sakura Saunders of the Prometheus Radio Project, which helps LPFMs. "Now, these stations can focus on serving their local communities, rather than live in fear of displacement due to the whims of their full-powered neighbors."

On the other hand, the advocacy group that defended the LPFM service was circumspect about the win. "The decision in the courts merely protects the status quo," noted the Media Access Project in a statement sent to Ars. "Congress still must pass legislation to allow more low-power FM stations to operate nationwide."

There's also the question of how to ensure the funding these stations need to more effectively serve their signal areas. More about that later, though. First let's look at the nuts and bolts of this case.....

All this is music to the ears of Congressmember Mike Doyle (D-PA), who, along with Lee Terry (R-NE), has a bill pending that would dump that third-adjacent rule once and for all. There's a parallel proposal in the Senate backed by Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and John McCain (R-AZ). No big surprise what Doyle thinks should happen now: "Congress should enact the Doyle-Terry-McCain-Cantwell legislation," he told Ars, "to dramatically expand the number of low-power FM stations the FCC is allowed to license."

It's the Internet, Stupid

From Xeni Jardin via Boing Boing:

A collaborative commentary on The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which proposes a new economic foundation for the USA through "job preservation and creation, infrastructure investment, energy efficiency and science, assistance to the unemployed," and the FCC's creation of a a "National Broadband Plan" for Congress by February 17, 2010.

There's risk in confusing broadband and Internet. If the National Broadband Plan starts from the premise that the U.S. needs the innovation, increased productivity, new ideas and freedoms of expression that the Internet affords, then the Plan will be shaped around the Internet. If, instead, the Plan is premised on a need for broadband, it fails to address the ARRA's mandated objectives directly. More importantly, the premise that broadband is the primary goal entertains the remaking of the Internet in ways that could put its benefits at risk. The primary goal of the Plan should be broadband connections to the Internet. The FCC's Internet Policy Statement of 2005 is a first attempt to codify important aspects of the Internet independent of access technology. It advocates end-user access to content, and end-user choice of applications, services and devices. It says that Internet users are, "entitled to competition," but it does not spell out the entitlement to the benefits of competition, such as increased choice, lower price and diversity of offers. It fails to provide for information about whether advertised services perform as specified. It doesn't address packet inspection, packet discrimination, data collection or end-user privacy. It is not clear that all of these are within the FCC's purview, but it is abundantly clear that all of these factors should be critical to a National Broadband Plan that addresses broadband connections to the Internet. Therefore, we urge that the FCC's National Broadband Plan emphasize that broadband connection to the Internet is the primary goal.

OPEN CALL: Sound poetry

a s l o n g a s i t t a k e s, a sound poetry magazine published by the Atlanta Poets Group, is seeking submissions. We are looking for sound poetry, scores for sound poetry and essays on sound poetry. What is sound poetry? you ask. Good question. It's one of those know it when you see (hear) it kind of things. It's probably not music (thanks Dick Higgins). It might be noise. If you think about a spectrum of possible noise made by the human body (or simulations thereof or substitutions therefor), and at one end of the spectrum is a person reading her poem and at the other end is abstract noise, we're looking for works that fall towards the latter end. We are looking for works in/of/against the tradition(s) of Ball, Schwitters, Henri Chopin, Jandl, Cobbing, The Four Horsemen, Fylkingen Group... hopefully by now you get the idea. We're looking for stuff that will push/redefine the limits. The magazine is web-based. Please send submissions to aslongasittakes@comcast.net in one of the following formats: .mp3, .wav, .wma, or flac. Please query before sending in other formats. If you can't get us the work via email, just send an email and let us know, and we can find another way. We don't know how long it will take to get back to you on your submissions, just be cool. We can't pay you anything for your work. All work that appears in the magazine will be available for download from the magazine's site under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/); if you are not comfortable with making your work available in that way, let us know and we can probably work something out.

OPEN CALL: Upstate New York ((audience))

((audience)) is seeking statements of interest and submissions of completed works for inclusion in the ((audience)) festival in Syracuse, NY this September. Sound artists, electronic musicians and new media artists are invited to submit works and proposals in the following categories: Live Performance for 5.1 diffusion; Cinema-in-the-Dark; Film/Video works.

((audience)) is a nomadic biennial festival of sound art, organized by Alexis Bhagat and Lauren Rosati. The centerpiece of ((audience09)) is a 2.5 hour program of 5.1 surround sound works (with no visual accompaniment) by seven international artists, to be presented in pitch black cinema halls. ((audience)) promotes the exploration of the cinema as a concert hall for the 21st century. Performances, lectures, radio broadcasts and other events are organized on a city-by-city basis. Our upstate New York ((audience09)) festival is being organized in association with the Red House Gallery in Syracuse, NY and will take place from September 17-September 27, 2009.

*Live Performance for 5.1 Diffusion*

We primarily seek statements of interest and performance proposals from artists who have experimented with 5.1 diffusion. Performers working with multichannel diffusion other than 5.1 are also invited to submit. Genres could include: extended vocal work, computer music, electroacoustic music, noise, phonographic collage or manipulation. Performance proposals and statements of interest must include video documentation of relevant past performances on DVD. Please also include a CV or resume, artist statement and full contact information. Students and emerging artists are especially encouraged to apply for the performance category.

*Cinema-in-the-Dark*

We seek 5.1 surround and stereo works which are “cinematic,” in any way that artists interpret that term. We are especially interested in narrative, poetic or dramatic works that experiment with audio spatialization or in musical works that play with familiar conventions of cinema sound. 5.1 submissions are preferred. 5.1 submissions will also be considered for inclusion in the ((audience11)) main program. Stereo works may be also submitted, and will be considered for broadcast on Red House Art Radio during the ((audience09)) festival. Please send both a playable and raw data CD/DVD. Please also include a CV or resume, artist statement, full contact information. Ordinary audio cd, DVD-V with black screen, or DVD-A. You must also send uncompressed, 24-bit audio. Distinct mono tracks, with channel info in the filename, are preferred. OMF files or Protools 7 session files are also acceptable.

*Film/Video*

We seek completed film and video works with compelling 5.1 surround soundtracks. Film and video works under 30min are preferred will be considered for screening at the Red House Gallery Theater on September 26 during ((audience09)). Longer works may be considered for later screening. DVD, production credits, distributor information (if relevant), CV or biographies of sound editor/designer, full contact information.

Send to:
((audience))
c/o Nadalex
39 Avenue A - #103
New York, NY 10009

Your submission or statement should be received by July 10, 2009. Submission materials will not be returned. Late submissions will be accepted. Please send a statement via email by July 10, if you are mailing a late submission. E-mail inquiries may be sent to curators@au.dience.org.