How would you like to set up your own streaming server for Internet radio or TV? A free CD called dynebolic is a GNU/Linux distribution that can be booted directly from the CD without installing or modifying anything on your computer's hard drive. It recognizes most multimedia hardware devices and provides a wide range of software for audio and video production, including streaming. According to the dynebolic Web site, it will work on XBOX game consoles as well as conventional PCs.
The software is currently in Alpha, which means it will have bugs and is likely to have some rough edges on the user interface. You can't, however, argue with the price. The ISO image (about 362MB) can be downloaded for free from three sites in Europe. There is a place on the dynebolic Web site where you can make a donation to the effort. If the CD becomes popular, the developers of dynebolic would probably welcome a North American mirror site for downloads.
From the description of the software included, it looks like the CD could also form the basis for a very low cost production and program playback system for small TV operations such as cable and low power TV.
I'm downloading the ISO image as I write this. I'll let you know how it works when I find some time to test it.
TV engineering database spreadsheets will be updated next week. Spreadsheets using data from the FCC CDBS dated June 21, 2003 are available at www.transmitter.com.
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