PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE:
The following comes from the web address located at,
http://www.acb.org/Magazine/2000/bf022000.html#bf03
Text begins here.
by Paul Edwards

On December 1, 1999 ACB Radio went on the net and, ever since then, it has
been beaming information of special interest to people who are blind all
over
the world via the Internet. While it would be nice to think of our members
spending all of their time listening to ACB Radio, ours is one of literally
thousands of "radio stations" on the Internet. And, in addition to live
streaming, as "broadcasting" is called, there are areas where you can find
files
of audio that you can listen to as well. I have been listening to such files
and radio stations for the past two years or so and, in that time, the
fidelity
and stability of audio signals over the Internet have both improved
immensely. I want to use my message this month to talk with you about this
mind-boggling
new technology, ACB Radio and what all of us in ACB hope to accomplish with
it. Since I want more of you to use this new system, I want to spend a few
minutes talking about the kinds of hardware and software you need to listen
to the Internet. Obviously you need a modem. This is the device that lets
your
computer talk to other computers using the phone lines. If you are really
fortunate you may have a faster form of connection such as cable or ASDL
but,
for most of us, in the year 2000, modems are what we use. Next you will need
a browser such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator. These
programs use your modem and enable you to issue commands to get around on
the Internet. Of course, you need a service provider, a company which you
call
up with your modem to get access to the Internet. You must also have a sound
card and speakers attached to your computer. Finally -- and most crucially
-- you need one or more audio file readers. There are several of these
around and, unfortunately, there is not a single audio program that will
allow you
to access all of the programming on the Internet. Most of us who are
audiophiles have settled upon at least three programs that we use. Two of
the three
programs are free and many of you with new computers and new web browsers
probably have at least one loaded onto your computer already. Microsoft has
produced
what is called Windows Media Player which comes packaged with recent
versions of Windows. Many radio stations use this platform to broadcast on
the Internet.
The second, and perhaps the most widely used program, is called Real Audio.
Versions of it are available free but there are real advantages to spending
the $30 to acquire a full-featured version of what is now Real Audio 7. The
third program is called winamp and is free. Each of these programs has
advantages.
I will not presume to try to list them here. The good thing is that each of
them recognizes the kind of file they are looking for and loads
automatically
once you choose a stream. They do not conflict with each other either, for
the most part, so it is perfectly OK to have all three sitting on your
computer
at the same time. One quick word of warning. Each of these programs will try
to persuade you to make it the default audio program. You should answer no
to this question or you will find it harder to get to winamp. As with most
areas of Windows, there are several ways of getting to audio content on the
Internet. Each radio station has an address on the web, and you can get to
that station by typing the address. There are also huge collections of radio
stations that operate under the auspices of large companies such as
broadcast.com or broadcastmusic.com. You can go to these sites and find a
whole host
of radio stations. It is beyond the scope of this article to spend much time
on how to find most stations but I do want you to know how to get to ACB
Radio
and how to get connected to it. Again there are two ways. You can go
directly to the ACB Radio web site by opening the site at
http://www.acbradio.org,
or you can get to the same place by opening ACB's web page at
http://www.acb.org and then clicking on ACB on the radio. Once you get to
the ACB Radio site
you have some options. You can download the free winamp player, which is one
way of listening to ACB Radio, or you can go directly to the link which
says,
"Listen to ACB Radio"; this will take you to another page where you can
choose to listen either with winamp or with Real Audio 7 or higher. When you
go
to the ACB Radio page you will actually hear an ACB radio jingle and once
you get to ACB Radio you will hear a broad range of programming that we hope
will be even broader as time goes on. Before telling you about the content
of ACB Radio and what our expectations are for its future, I want to tell
you
a little about how ACB Radio came to be. Several of us had read messages on
the ACB list about an Internet radio station operated by a guy in New
Zealand
named Jonathan Mosen. When we listened to the station we were struck by
several things. First, the whole operation seemed immensely professional.
There
were jingles, station breaks, live programs, old-time radio, music and a
general air of competence that led Chris Gray, Brian Charlson and me to
approach
the board last September for authority to look into what it would take to
start a station of our own. We agreed that, since there was no money in the
budget,
ACB Radio would start only if we could raise some money ourselves. Luckily
for ACB, Florida met right after our board meeting and I was able to
persuade
that state to allocate $3,000 to the venture. Chris and Brian also raised
funds but I do not know how much or from where. Our next task was to find
somebody
with the expertise to run such an operation, and that looked to be a very
difficult task. Then, during my trip to New Zealand, I got to know this
Jonathan
Mosen person better -- partly because I stayed with him and his charming
wife and two and a third children. For reasons well beyond the scope of this
article,
Jonathan felt he needed to resign from the position he had held and presto,
I was able to persuade him to run ACB Radio for us. He was an obvious choice
since he had already done it with MBS-FM and, once I had cleared things with
all the appropriate folks back in the states, we were ready to run. My
account
makes it sound as though everything simply fell into place -- and to some
extent that is true. Nevertheless, it is a tribute to Jonathan's stamina and
ability that he was prepared to accept an on-air date of December first
which -- by the time the final arrangements had been made -- was only three
weeks
away. The date was met and ACB Radio has grown from strength to strength
ever since. As we envision ACB Radio it ought to be a place where blind
people
all over the world can go to get information about things they are
interested in knowing more about. It also ought to be a place where blind
people can
demonstrate their creativity by preparing programs that we will then stream
to the world. ACB is already broadcasting three absolutely new programs
produced
by people who are blind, and we are making arrangements to broadcast many
more. We hope to persuade people from all over the world to provide us with
programming.
In addition, we hope that we can formalize arrangements with national
organizations of blind people in various countries to make materials
available for
broadcast on ACB Radio. We broadcast a live, Internet call-in program on
Saturdays at 5 p.m. Eastern time which usually features an interview with
one
or more people, on a topic or issue of importance to people who are blind.
Listeners can either use a regular phone to call into the show, or they can
call using a special program with their computer called Buddy Phone. That
program is also available for free download from our ACB Radio site. Perhaps
the coolest thing about broadcasting on the Internet is that you can use
your computer to create programming. For well under $100 you can purchase
the
equipment and software you need to become a program creator. ACB is hoping
that several of our members who want to become producers will want to become
involved in this activity. We are, in fact, planning to have an all-day
training program for would-be broadcasters the day before our convention
starts
in Louisville this summer. It is our hope that we will not only be able to
increase program content this way but that we will also be able to tap into
the production capabilities of our members! We are also hoping that radio
reading services will like what we do well enough to think about carrying
ACB
Radio part of the week on their stations. I hope that this article has
excited you about the potential of ACB Radio to revolutionize the way we
disseminate
information. One of the really neat things about ACB Radio is that you can
listen to it while doing other things with your computer as long as you have
a separate synthesizer and sound card. We hope that many of you will make a
habit of having ACB Radio on whenever your computer is running. We hope that
within the next year, when a blind person wants to get the latest
information on issues pertaining to blindness, he or she will automatically
tune into
ACB Radio on the Internet. Most blind people learn best by listening and ACB
Radio will not only be the place to find information but also the place
where
the talents of blind musicians can be showcased. We are already encouraging
blind people who have made CD's to send them to ACB Radio. We will play your
music and will announce who you are and how people can get in touch with
you. If you are having problems getting yourself up and running, send an
e-mail
to Jonathan through our ACB Radio site. I know he will try to help. Maybe
chapters could meet somewhere where a computer can be tuned in to ACB Radio
so
that more members will have a chance to see what we are doing. By the way,
when we are not broadcasting blindness stuff, we are broadcasting old-time
radio.
As our station break says, ACB Radio is truly "out of sight!"
End of article.


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