self.e x t r a c t i n g.radio

The Concept

Self extracting radio is developed by radioqualia

.ser involves casting the audio net for net casting audio. Combining collaborative audiometric performances with networked audio streams and pre-encoded audio files, .ser creates an automated ram.radio conduit, interlocking Real Audio server users from around the net.radio orb.

What is .ser?

1.) .ser is primarily an ongoing automated ram performance-netcast project, incorporating a self-generating playlist, which compiles Real Audio tracks and live audio streams implemented by sound artists and netcasters from around the world. The sound files, both live and pre-encoded are presented on .ser, and are accessible to anyone who has a Real Player. Hence, listeners will experience an automated net.radio program compiled by the manifold participants of the international netcasting community.

A key aspect of .ser is its emphasis on public access within the netcasting environment. To capitalise on .ser's potential to empower new users of internet based broadcast media, .ser allows for any web user to add audio files to the .ser ram file, through an automated web interface.

.ser is developed in recognition of the increasing ubiquity of audio netcasting. It places the means to establish a radio entity in the hands of anyone with a computer and access to the internet. Each prospective participant of .ser will place an HTML file within their own website, thus activating their annex of the .ser community.

.ser has no one central website. It exists within other web users own web pages, commenting on the rapid diffusion of online broadcast media. It has become a fundamental part of its hosts' web based activities. The way .ser interacts with its patrons perpetuates a symbiotic relationship between actual and potential hosts (web users), and the agent (.ser), in a manner which could be interpreted as viral. The hegemony of one-many sound culminations, so central to the term 'radio', is destructed. .ser precludes proprietorship by enabling anyone to own and operate a net.radio station.

2) .ser continues r a d i o q u a l i a's exploration of a historical strain of net media edified by the "communications art" of the 60s - 70s, Fluxus, the radio.art movement of the early 90s and other networked threads. While exploring intersections between the contemporary and the historic is intrinsic to r a d i o q u a l i a's politic, the eye of the loop is in an attempted convergence of format and aesthetic. .ser locates low-fi aesthetics within a high-tech media context, traversing the conceptual space of ethereal media.

self.e x t r a c t i n g.radio continues the dialogue between the net.radio entities further into cyberspace to encompass more casual internet users. .ser not only allows for the further solidification of this grassroots subculture through the creation of a shared evolving program, but allows for the expansion of net.radio into the webpages of any web user interested in establishing a net.radio station.

.ser raises the interesting prospect of being the world's first decentralised self-organising global radio station, asking the inevitable question: is this empowering individual (local indigenous) users, or contributing to the homogenisation of net.radio culture through the establishment of another globalised forum.

The Physics Of The Affair

Installing .ser - a users guide to self.e x t r a c t i n g.radio

To start a no-cost net.radio station, .ser users need only follow these simple steps:

1) copy the ser homepage (index file) and logo from the previous page

2) ftp a folder (with the index.html and logo.jpg files within) into your website, call the folder "ser"

3) link your .ser index file to your own homepage index file, via the .jpg logo image

Voila! A radio station.

Each .ser webpage is linked to the .ser playlist (ram file) located on a server with a non-specific geographic domain name. The .ser ram file contains a list of real audio file locations from around the world. The order of the specified files are randomised twice daily through automated Perl script coding. Hence everytime the ram file is opened the user will experience a new audio mix. These mixes can include either live streams or pre-encoded real audio files.

The .ser homepage also includes a text field, submit button, and accompanying instructions. Any user can enter the URL of a pre-encoded Real Audio file, or live stream, into this text field and press submit. The URL will then be submitted to the .ser Perl script automation engine. The .ser engine will automatically check the validity of the URL and if it is valid, add the URL to the .ser ram file. Hence any amount of material can be added to the program.

The Applications of .ser For Web Users

1) Incorporate a net.radio station into an existing website

.ser net.radio stations allow any user to play a constantly updated selection of both pre-encoded and live audio. All users need to do, is hit the 'play' button on their .ser web page, and listen to a plethora of global net.audio sounds.

2) Add new audio files to the .ser program

Each .ser webpage permits any user to add audio files automatically to the .ser program. .ser participants need only encode audio files using the Real Encoder supplied for free by Real Networks, and put these files on their web server. The URL of the audio file is then entered into a CGI scripted text field within the .ser webpage. Once the URL is submitted the file is instantly added to the .ser program (ram file).

It is also possible to add live streams to the .ser program, if users are lucky enough to have access to a Real Server. Live streams can be added by entering the appropriate pnm:// location.