The
Second Post, Hey listen to Radio on your Computer, oh yeah faith
I want to thank all the folks who
visited this blog on its initial week. Thanks. As I said I want to
use this blog to build your faith, comment about radios and
communication, and will freely mix both topics. In my future post I
hope bring you information about internet radio, faith, discipleship
and even people using radio to reach the world for Christ. I
presently am waiting for a response to some interview questions from
a station called “Life Radio” in New Zealand. They sound great.
You can listen to them online at the links I have on the right of the
page. Today I just want to point you to those links and give you some
help on using your computer as a great radio. As well as a great
radio it can be a good tool to build you up and maybe for the guys
keep you out of online trouble.
Stations have been and will all ways
will be anxious about getting people to listen to them. The internet
has provided an awesome forum for this. The great thing that some
folks know and fewer have tried is internet radio. You can listen to
most any station, any place you can get a decent internet connection.
Also, some stations are just on the net. I know about a great
Christian “oldies” station called “247Christian Classics.” If
you have moved from home, you may be able to get your favorite home
town station right on you computer, ipod, pad or even smart phone.
You can also sample other stations in other markets. A news station
from LA or New York is interesting. A Christian station from India is
really quite interesting. A few warning. Standard for all of this are
not in place. Some stations need installed software. Some stations
just play because they use very simple technologies. Some times you
have to go to a web site, but most of the times you can just go to a
listing of stations and push a link. In my short experience of this I
have also learned some stations are there one day and rules or
situations change and poof they are gone. Somebody compared it to
early satellite. They said in the early days every one's signal was
free, then pay schemes came in, but you still watch a few things on
satellites for free. (Free to air – another column) Most radio
organizations are still trying to figure out why the want to be on
the internet. Who really needs news and adds from Waco, Texas,
outside of Waco? People in office buildings that can only get a
station on a computer are quite happy with internet broadcasting of
their favorite station in Waco. The rest of us may be curious, but
really we do not have a lot of reasons to listen very long. What ever
may happen, well over 10,000 stations are out there for your
listening pleasure. For the eternally curious like me, I just love
this stuff. What does radio in the Philippines sound like? Pretty
good really. Side note: Lots of English is spoken outside the US,
take a listen. If it was an British Colony, US protectorate or
English was adopted because they had too many dialects you can hear a
lot of stuff you can understand. Indian radio again, is just a riot
when they play American rock classics.
Ok, where to start? I have put some
good links to the right of this blog. Two of them are really just
perfect for anyone playing with internet radio. Vtuner and Tune In
Radio. These services are actually used for internet Radios (yep
another topic for later) as a huge station index. The station
listings are not a secret, these sites just put them in one place for
you to sample. They also give you a few tools to sort through the
10,000 plus stations around the world. “Vtuner” is pretty simple
and slightly smaller than “Tune In.” Vtuner offers some
television stations that offer their signal around the world for
free. Lots of education, faith and public broadcasting on these
stations. Warning Internet TV can be rough on some older computers.
If a station fails try another. Internet radio usually works pretty
good. Vtuner will usually just get a station and play it in windows
media if it can. Tune In will probably try to go to a stations site
and play the station in a window. All that really maters is that you
get sound. If a stations bombs just try it again on a different
browser or software. (Remember, no real standards of how they get
sound to us, some stations use lots of methods, some just use one.)
There are other radio sites that work quite well. I also included “I
heart Radio” on right side of the blog. This goes to most Clear
Channel stations. It has lots of nifty stuff. If you have a favorite,
email me a link and I will try it out and maybe add it to the ones I
have listed,
A lot of stations have apps for phones
or listening through a site. Most stations just offer you an
opportunity to look up their websites and push a “listen” link
and usually a window pops up and plays the station. Most stations are
that way. You can Google a station you know, and go to the site and
push “listen” and that works pretty good. (Suggestion, bookmark
your favorite stations. Poor man's tuner.) A lot of stations will
offer a free phone app that you can tune in their station or a group
of stations with a touch on your ipad or smart phone. Usually you
will need a droid app, Iphone app or Blackberry app. I have found
that a smart phone browser can usually play stations from the web. I
have listed a few Christian stations that I like. I mentioned Life
Radio earlier, KSBJ is a personal favorite and I listed KLOVE. They
are a national radio network (They normally have stations in markets
where Christian Radio is weak or the listener base is too small for a
local public Christian radio station) that does great contemporary
Christian radio. God has blessed their on line work, they are one of
the most listened too online stations in the world. They are a very
good ministry that is just scary big.
Ok Scott, how does this help my faith.
This really is a not a mystery. You are what you putting in your
mind? Paul in his letters Philippians 4:8 tell us that we should
focus on what is true and perfect. I do not know of anything better
than sermons, Christian talk, and music that focus me on the Lord.
Out there is plenty of Godly stuff that is at your finger tips. Also
as a believer I have found that variety and a little change does a
soul good. As I write this, I am listening to KLOVE. The connection
is on my old XP computer using an air card to a DSP router. The
station sounds great. Worship music, the News Boys latest song and
great on air personalities that sound a lot better than a station on
auto pilot playing songs from a computer. PS I am a huge Christian
music fan. KLOVE has articles and links on some of my favorites. I
can also submit a prayer request or read and uplifting article or
two. Lately I have listened to a Christian station in the United
Kingdom, (Premier. Yep another blog post.) They have some repacked
US preachers and some very good stuff that I have never heard. Some
teaching stations just have a good mix and people on at the right
time. Side Note: If you listen to stations from overseas just be
aware that time zones may effect what you hear. Morning Drive time
anywhere usually equals good talent.
Last point. If you are easily offended
bail now. I find internet radio can also help men who struggle with
inappropriate internet browsing. If you are playing praise music,
preaching or Christian rock you may be less tempted to browse in
place that you know God and you know that you shouldn't. When you
listen to God honoring stuff, God is at work and you really have to
try too hard to look at stuff you shouldn't. Try it, email me if it
helps.
Scott Talbert
scotttalbert1963@gmail.com
