Funk Babblings

One thing that has kept me sane in my recent bout of working long hours is that I finally took a few minutes to set up SlimServer (which powers my Squeezebox) and my home router so that I can get access to my entire music collection (9747 songs and counting) from the office. So at work (and wherever else I decide to open it to) I'm no longer limited to just the few CDs worth of favorites that I've copied to the machine there.

(In the process I discovered that trying to stream MP3 via HTTP through an ssh tunnel just doesn't work so well. Every minute or so bits of audio would repeat a few seconds later. It's probably related to redundant congestion control happening in the TCP-over-TCP arrangement. Bypassing the ssh tunnel helped immensely.)

In addition, I now have both Amarok and SlimServer scrobbling my plays to Last.fm, so my profile there is becoming more complete. I'm up to over 7400 songs scrobbled there since I started last summer, and now rapidly increasing. If you like, you can check out the long list of songs I've listened to recently.

Because of the scrobbling, I've learned that (based on the top 15 artists I listen to) my musical taste is 9.24% mainstream. (It may be interesting to look into some things other people have done with the data there). Last.fm's Events section is also becoming useful for finding out about when bands I listen to are playing nearby -- especially since there are RSS and iCal feeds for recommended events.

A few months ago I mentioned Pandora, the really cool streaming music service that plays music that it decides is similar to what you've told it you like.

I'm not sure whether I've mentioned my SliMP3, the device I bought a few years ago from the then-embryonic Slim Devices. The SliMP3 connects to my stereo in the living room, as well as to my home computer network, and allows me to easily play my 8000+ song music library (stored on my computer running the Perl-based "slimserver" software) in the living room. nontacitare prefers to use it to play various streaming MP3 internet radio stations. For Slim Devices, the SliMP3 was basically a prototype and proof-of-concept for their line of "Squeezebox" devices, currently at hardware version 3.

Anyway, I recently got an email from Slim Devices announcing that they've teamed up with Pandora to make Pandora accessible through recent Squeezeboxes. (Unfortunately not the SliMP3 or first-generation Squeezebox.) I really like this idea, since Pandora's coolness is somewhat offset by the requirement to play it through a Flash player on the computer, and the Squeezebox would allow that music to go anywhere that the (wired or wireless) network goes.

Of course, taking advantage of this would require buying a new Squeezebox for $300 (or $250 for the non-wireless version). About what most stereo components might cost. A bonus would be that the Squeezeboxes correct the SliMP3's problem of radio interference spread across the FM band (but centered at 100MHz), so we wouldn't need to unplug it to listen to the radio anymore.