Archives for June, 2005
SlimServer: Streaming Music Server
SlimServer is a nicely developed (Perl) piece of software that was designed for use with their own device called the SqueezeBox. I don’t own a SqueezeBox, but you can get some good use out of this server. If you want to get full functionality, it is recommended you download their ‘emulator’ called SoftSqueeze, which I’m guessing is the very source code that is use on their device.
Another option is to only use this as your streaming server and connect to it via WinAMP or iTunes. This application is very similar to ShoutCast. I haven’t configured a ShoutCast server in about 3 years, but I’m sure it is as easy as this server was to configure. For those who never have configured ShoutCast, you basically setup your playlist and hit Play, using your nicely designed Web Interface. After that you server is broadcasting your playlist to the port specified to the entire network for anyone to connect to. This is fundamental Internet Radio, and you have just setup your own radio station. To listen to your music, point your music software of choice (XMMS, WinAMP, iTunes, etc) to http://[computername]:9000/stream.mp3 and shazaam, tunes!
This server does seem to handle most types of music files and converts them to mp3 on the fly using perl libraries.
For More Information: http://www.slimdevices.com/pi_features.html
Chicago Trip
Only 2 and half weeks until my Chicago Road Trip. I’ll be driving from Houston to Chicago to enjoy all that is Chicago. We been planning this trip for a year now and we wanted to be there for the annual Taste of Chicago, a festival of food where 60+ restaurants features items from their menu. We will also be in Chicago for the 4th of July, so that should be kind of neat to see the fireworks on Lake Michigan rather than my cul-de-sac back home.
This trip is one of the major reasons we decided to get the minivan and a portable DVD system. We figured both would make the long drive more comfortable.
OmniFi Wiki: My First Wiki
I setup my first ever Wiki for the Yahoo! group that I’m a member of. I used MediaWiki because it seemed to be the most popular and with popularity comes support and customization. The permanent domain for the wiki is still undecided, but it currently resides at http://omnifi.cwtsecure.com.
For those who don’t know what a wiki is, you haven’t been a part of a community until you’ve been a part of a wiki. It is amazing what people can do for each other when everyone contributes.