NPR in my ear

[susandennis]

There is so much I don't understand in the world of audio. Really. I had 45's down and I 'got' LP's. But, I've been kind of left in the dust since then. I don't understand why my FM radio needs an antenna and my AM radio doesn't. I don't get why you can now get teensy little FM radios but small AM radios are hard to find and why they can pair the two sometimes but not always.

All I really really care about are my weeny collection of MP3's (which is small in size and quirky in selection), NPR and the Mariners baseball games. So, I need MP3 playing, AM and FM.

My Treo600 does a good job of the MP3 playing part. And yesterday, through some magic that just floats right over my head, I got NPR on it.

I use Pocket-tunes. Yesterday, I upgraded ($15) to Pocket Tunes Deluxe which lets me get stuff from Shoutcast which has about 5 NPR stations in its list.

This morning on the way to work, I listened to NPR from a station in Georgia and then switched to BBC from an NPR station in Anchorage.

I have no clue how all this works. It could be by druid magic for all I know. But it is very excellent.

Now, I just need to figure out how to get Mariners games. I think I can get them using the RealAudio player for Palm that works with Treo but I have a real bee in my butt about those people and will do just about anything to avoid using any of their products.

This includes carrying a separate AM radio around for the games - I can handle that, I think. It looks like the first broadcast will be March 3. I am very ready for baseball to start.

Comments

[vetch.livejournal.com]

I think I can get them using the RealAudio player for Palm that works with Treo but I have a real bee in my butt about those people

You can download a codec from here: http://www.free-codecs.com/Real_Alternative_download.htm that will supposedly allow you to play real media files in any media player.

I'm not entirely sure if it helps in your case (being a palm and all, it mightn't work), but I remembered someone else on my friends list having a similar gripe recently, and their posting this as a solution- you can but try, I guess.

[susandennis]

ohhh cool! Thanks. And, yes, it won't work on a palm BUT it sure will work on a PC so I can avoid having to use that stupid Real Player.

[geordie.livejournal.com]

I worked with Real once, I hope for their demise.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I am similarly challenged. It drives me crazy that a car radio can tune into the two Classical stations in Toronto I like, but in my apartment they're too staticy to listen to. And they both offer streaming audio online, but the servers are always too busy.