<html><head><meta name="color-scheme" content="light dark"></head><body><pre style="word-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">From: info@radio.com (Automatic Response)
Subject: FAQ on the Internet Multicasting Service


            FAQ for the Internet Multicasting Service
            =========================================

Tired of that last subtle twist in "alt.ascii.the-letter-a"?

Do you find that com-priv has the information content of a free
real estate seminar at your local Holiday Inn?

Looking for an alternative?

     You've found it in this FAQ about the Internet
     Multicasting Service!

What's an FAQ?

     An exchange of information cleverly patterned as a Socratic
     dialogue.

Huh?  What's a Socratic dialogue?

     A set of Frequently Asked Questions and their answers. 
     Socrates was a famous philosopher in ancient Greece.
 
So what's with the dead Greek and what does that have to do with
cyberspace?

     Just in case you are intimidated by modern computer
     technology, we want to put you at ease.  Compared to a dead
     Greek, we're *all* Unix experts.

Enough! What *is* the Internet Multicasting Service?

     We're the first station in cyberspace, a source of news and
     information for the Internet community.  We run two
     channels: Internet Talk Radio is a science and technology
     channel and the Internet Town Hall is devoted to public
     affairs.

     The Internet Multicasting Service is a non-profit
     corporation located in the National Press Building.  We're
     right next to all the other members of the press, like the
     Kansas City Star and the Arkansas Gazette.  They're not too
     sure exactly what we do, but as long as the rent gets paid
     they leave us alone.

"Station in cyberspace"?  Get real!

     No, really.  We run a "radio" station, publishing sound
     files which you listen to on your personal computer.  You
     know that funny sound your Mac makes when you start it up,
     quacking like a duck or talking like Bart Simpson?  Think of
     our programs as a very long version of that duck.

Gee, aren't the files big?

     Well, our programming is published in a sound format called
     Pulse Code Modulation, which is 8000 samples per second with
     each sample being 8 bits.  Those 8 bits are encoded with mu-
     law encoding (which is a logarithmic encoding that fits 14
     bits of information into 8 bits but you didn't want to know
     that).  

     What this all means is that an hour of programming is 30
     Megabytes.  We'll typically publish anywhere from 30 minutes
     to 90 minutes of programming per day.

Oh my!  Do you mean to tell me that you expect me to download 45
megabytes of data?  Are you nuts?

     Yes.

Seriously, how do I get the files to my computer?

     The easiest way is to use your computer on the Internet.  We
     put the files onto UUNET which acts as a main distribution
     point for large regional networks around the world, such as
     IIJ in Japan, NASA, EUnet in Europe, and many others.

     If you are a UUNET customer, you simply use anonymous ftp to
     ftp.uu.net.  If you belong to some other network, you'll
     look for the files on your local file server.

My regional server doesn't have the files.  Is there some other
way to find them?

     We maintain a list of known anonymous FTP sites around the
     world.  There may be many others (do an Archie search on one
     of our file names and see if you recognize any of the
     servers).  To get the known anonymous FTP sites list, send
     mail to:

     	sites@radio.com

What if I just found a new site which isn't on the list?

     Tell us about it!  Send us mail at:

     	sites-request@radio.com

What if I'm not on the Internet.  Can I get the files from
CompuServe?

     Whew.  That would be a bit tough!  You're welcome to try and
     use an FTP to mail gateway, but this isn't something we'd
     want to do on our weekend.  

I'm on the Internet, but I dial into my interactive account on a
300 baud modem.  Can I get the files?

     Sure.  Just use Kermit, Xmodem, or something else.  Of
     course, it will take approximately 222 hours to download a
     1-hour program.

What are you, a wise guy?  I've got one of those whizbang fancy
modems with 32bis and lots of features.  How about that?

     That makes more sense.

Is there a better way?

     Well, in the ideal world, your network manager on your
     neighborhood or corporate LAN sucks the files in every night
     and puts them on a file server on your local Ethernet.  If
     you're connected at 10 million bits per second, a 30
     megabyte file doesn't seem quite as bad.

     We realize this makes it tough on the home user, but
     eventually we'll all have ISDN, cable TV, or some other
     miracle giving us decent bandwidth into the home.  Until
     then, the Internet Multicasting Service is trying to figure
     out what it means to be a cyberstation.  You can't please
     all the people all of the time, but we hope to address the
     information needs of at least part of the Internet.

OK, we've got the files.  Now, how do I display them on my
screen?

     This is radio.  You don't.

No, I mean how do you see them?

     Ah, you mean "do you publish transcripts?"  The answer is no
     and the reason is that would increase our production costs
     dramatically.  However, that doesn't mean that we think that
     ASCII is unimportant.  A real cyberstation needs to employ
     all data types and multiple distribution techniques.  For
     our "radio" metaphor, however, we just do audio files.

How do I play the files on my Sun?

     If you are running SunOS 4.1.3 or later, simply pick
     the AudioTool from your OpenWindows menu.

     Or, use the "play" command.  You can usually find that
     in /usr/demo/SOUND (or any other place your demo
     directory has been placed).

     You can play the files directly, or use a tool like Xmosaic
     or Gopher.

How do I play the files on my NeXT?

     The Sun .au format is almost identical to the NeXT .snd
     format.  Use your standard sound playing utilities.

Can I convert the files to other formats?

     Sure.  Use the famous SoX program, available for Unix and
     DOS platforms from ftp.cwi.nl.

How do I play the files on Ultrix?

     AudioFile was developed by DEC's Cambridge Research 
     Laboratory.  Supports a variety of audio devices, a
     programming API and library, and some core and
     contributed applications.

     AudioFile is available for anonymous FTP from:
 
          crl.dec.com:/pub/DEC/AF/AF2R@.tar.Z
 
How do I play the files on my PC?

     The source files are in the Sun .au format, which is
     almost identical to the PC .wav format.  If you use
     SOX, you can easily convert the files to a .wav file
     and play them using any of your standard sound
     utilities.

     Another approach is to bring the native files straight
     down (no conversion) and use PLANY.  This clever little
     program will handle pretty much any sound format on a
     Soundblaster card. The software is widely mirrored, but
     one source is:

          ftp.uga.edu:/msdos/mirror/sound/plany12.zip

How do I play your files on the Macintosh?

     The native sound format for the Mac is the .aiff
     format. You can convert the files to .aiff format using
     a variety of tools.  You can convert the file on a Unix
     machine using the SoX program.  Or, you can do the same
     thing on your Mac using UUTool.

     UUTool is available in the /util/compression directory
     on the host mac.archive.umich.edu.  The files are also
     mirrored in the following places:

     	wuarchive.wustl.edu:mirrors/archive.umich.edu/mac,
     	src.doc.ic.ac.uk:packages/mac/umich,
     	archie.au:micros/mac/umich.

     To play the files, you can use AudioShop.  AudioShop
     distributes a demo version of their program that can
     play .aiff files.  Simply load the file and play it. 
     AudioShop does not require System 7 so should work on
     most Macintosh systems.  (Provided that you have enough
     disk space.  ;-)

     The AudioShop Demo is available in the
     mac/sound/soundutil directory on mac.archive.umich.edu
     and is also mirrored.

But I wanna play the file on my Mac in the native format with
my existing Internet tools.  How do I do that?

     You really want lots of things!  OK ... you want a
     u-law playing program.  Mac Mosaic and the latest
     Turbogopher all have the ability to call the u-law
     playing program.  You can find the package in the usual
     places, such as:

      	mac.archive.umich.edu:
     	/mac/sound/soundutil/ulaw1.4.cpt.hqx

Are there other ways to play the files?

     Sure!  Do whatever you want!  Lots of neat things you can
     do.  For example, its simple to download the program to your
     MAC Powerbook or Sparcbook and put the computer on the seat
     next to you on the ride home.  Expensive radio, but where
     else would you hear such great programming?

     Lots of other things have been done.  One guy spools the
     data into the company voicemail system.  Several
     corporations run little automatic radio stations, either
     using IP multicasting (check out isi.edu:/mbone/faq.txt) or
     at the Ethernet level (look for the radio and tuner programs
     on ftp.cwi.nl).

I want to be a scholar.  How do I learn more about sound?

     The ultimate source for Sound is the AudioFormats FAQ
     maintained by the good people at CWI in the
     Netherlands.  You can find lots of good stuff in:

     	ftp.cwi.nl:/pub/audio/

Why don't you publish the files in MAC format?  How come you
don't compress the files?

     Well, we could.  But, think about this.  In our first
     season, we published about 1.5 Gigabytes of files in four
     months.  We think our steady-state rate is going to be about
     300 Mbytes per week.

     If we publish in both the PCM and MAC formats, we would
     double (at least) the amount of data on the network.  There
     is an old rule in networks which basically says that if you
     have to play with your data (e.g., fragment it), you should
     do so at the last possible hop.

     We want network managers to bring the files in and *then* do
     the conversions locally, publishing in whatever formats are
     appropriate for the next hop.  If you have lots of MAC
     users, maybe you produce .aiff files.  If you have lots of
     users using UUCP with 9600 bps modems, maybe you convert to
     GSM or some other low-volume format.

Enough of this technical mumbo-jumbo.  What can I hear?

     Our flagship show on Internet Talk Radio is "Geek of the
     Week" featuring in-depth interviews with members of the
     technical community.  We've talked to all sorts of famous
     engineers about topics such as the next generation of
     TCP/IP, resource discovery protocols, network security, and
     how to put toasters on the Internet.

Can I order audiocassettes of "Geek of the Week"?

     Of course.  O'Reilly &amp; Associates has issued their new
     ORAudio line of audiocassettes.  Send mail to audio@ora.com
     and they'll tell you all about it.  You can also get
     information from them through gopher space or through their
     whiz-bang, hypertext, multimedia magazine, the Global
     Network Navigator (info@gnn.com).

Is "Geek of the Week" your only show?

     Au contraire.  We also syndicate two radio shows from the
     public radio world.  TechNation: Americans and Technology
     features great interviews by Dr. Moira Gunn, a former rocket
     scientist at NASA.  SOUNDPRINT is an NPR show that features
     thoughtful looks at important topics.

     We also carry occasional specials.  In October and November
     of 1993, for example, we're really pleased to carry "Hell's
     Bells: A Radio History of the Telephone."  This series
     consists of 8 half-hour programs and is one of the best
     radio programs we've ever heard.

What about the Internet Town Hall channel?

     We have our own broadcast booth in the National Press Club,
     joining C-SPAN and National Public Radio as the official
     licensees for the National Press Club Luncheon series. 
     Speakers ranging from Miss Manners to Yassar Arafat to the
     Dalai Lama appear on this series.

How do you pay for all this?

     We use a public radio-like model of short, tasteful
     acknowledgements for our underwriters.

Underwriters?  Don't you mean ads?

     Call them what you will.

Are ads legal?

     You must be referring to the Appropriate Use Policy (AUP) on
     NSFNET or other networks.  No problem!  Turns out that the
     AUP is a rational thing and, since our radio shows feature
     informative, educational material, we fit right into the
     policies of government and research networks.  Of course,
     Bart Simpson might not, but we're not a Fox affiliate.  Yet.

People actually pay to advertise on this?

     Don't be snide.  We reach 100,000 people in 30 countries. 
     If you're looking for a tasteful alternative to FooWorld, we
     actually have better demographics than most of the trade
     press!

     We've had quite good support so far.  Sun Microsystems and
     O'Reilly &amp; Associates started it off.  (Thanks, guys!) 
     UUNET Technologies and MFS Datanet are providing us with a
     10 Mbps Internet feed.  Beame &amp; Whiteside provides us with
     TCP/IP software for our PC systems.  Lots of other
     organizations are eager to support the first station in
     cyberspace.  If you have excess money you want to dispose
     of, send mail to carl@radio.com.

Are there any restrictions on what I can do with the files?

     Well, you can't take our ads out and put your own in and
     resell the files.  We would not be pleased.

     Basically, we'll allow you to copy the files as many times
     as you want to as many people so long as:

     	1) money doesn't change hands; and 
     	2) you don't alter the data.

How do I get more information?

     To get this faq, send mail to:

     	info@radio.com

     To subscribe to the announcements list, send mail to:

     	announce-request@radio.com

     For a list of known FTP sites, send mail to:

     	sites@radio.com

     To talk to a human, send mail to:

     	questions@radio.com

What else does the Internet Multicasting Service do?

     The radio station seems to be working out well, so we
     decided to work with Dr. Marshall T. Rose of Dover Beach
     Consulting to help start a new kind of telephone company. 
     For more information, send mail to:
     
     	tpc-faq@town.hall.org

     We also occasionally pull cheap stunts, like the time we
     linked up National Public Radio's Talk of the Nation:
     Science Friday to the Internet for an hour of live national
     radio.  If you're on the announcements list, you'll hear
     about these special events as they occur.

Can I start my own radio station?

     You bet!  Next time you're in the National Press Building
     stop by for a tour.  We'd be happy to show you our digital
     production facilities and studio and how we set up our 10
     Mbps link into the Internet.  Since we're a non-profit,
     we're encouraging anybody else to get into the brand new
     field of desktop broadcasting.

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