Somewhere in suburbia, a 17-year-old rants on about his twisted Britney Spears obsession, and his mom asks him to keep his voice down. An ordinary occurrence? Yeah, but BigLex is no ordinary teen, and his mother isn't the only one getting an earful: He's a major on-air personality at Hyphenated Internet Radio, one of the more popular bedroom-based Shoutcast stations on the Net.
Shoutcast, a plug-in for the popular Winamp MP3 player, lets anyone with a PC and Net connection host an Internet radio channel. A wannabe disc jockey can be up and running in minutes (try that with RealAudio), and to listen all you need is the Shoutcast browser plug-in. The technology breeds diversity. One station plays all Frank Zappa, all the time; another, live dance mixes. There's Matt's Operacast and, of course, Hyphenated Internet Radio, with BigLex.
Tune in to www.hyphenated.net on any given night from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. Pacific time and you can hear Big Lex rant about what got on his nerves that day (oft-cited: Jennifer Love Hewitt's singing career, overly obsessive Star Wars fans, most Hagar-era Van Halen), how pro wrestling and HBO are the most right things on TV (think Pimps Up, Ho's Down and Taxicab Confessions), and how he simply doesn't get enough time alone with his girlfriend (apparently her gun-owning father is overprotective). Of course, between his monologues you can hear some great music - indie faves like 22 Jacks, Old 97's, and Pep Squad, eclectic picks like Fatboy Slim and Limp Bizkit, and select offerings from Cheap Trick's Live at Budokan. And where else can you hear "One Night in Bangkok" from Chess on a regular basis?
If you want to do your own Shoutcast station, you'll need to consider bandwidth. Yes, technically the server app will work with a typical dialup modem, but realistically you'll need a faster connection to support many listeners simultaneously. You'll also have to think about your ISP: Attract too many listeners and you'll be hogging your provider's pipes.
Never mind all that. Shoutcast is fast becoming the premier underground-radio technology, and it's time to let your voice be heard.
Shoutcast: free. Nullsoft: www.shoutcast.com.
STREET CRED
Brother's Keeper
Cryptic Adventures
Have It Your Way
Shout It Out
Killer Op
Batman's Second Life
Reality Check
Robo Scope
Music
Just Outta Beta
ReadMe
Personalized Checking
Deep Knowledge
'Phone of Silence
Watts for Dinner
The Public Face of Linux
Contributors
