The view out of my window might be a railway line in central Swindon on a damp weekday afternoon, but the sounds coming out of my speakers are from a different world.
I'm listening to the early morning sounds of KBSU AM, a radio station based in the American mid-west. A smooth voice reminds listeners between records that this is the only station to bring jazz 24-hours a day to northern Nevada and surrounding areas.
She doesn't mention it serves the world too, via the Internet, but then the locals would only be jealous if they knew. Thanks to a new cable modem connection, I'm hearing KBSU - an AM station - with near FM clarity, more clearly than the locals.
How is all this possible? Thanks to the wonders of streaming audio, an Internet technology that has been around for a few years but which is now reaching a level of maturity that makes it much more interesting to the mainstream Internet-user.
With streaming audio, a radio station's output is broken up into bits and compressed for transmission across the Internet. At the user's end, software reassembles the bits and plays it back to you in "real time", as if it were a normal radio. There is only a few seconds' time lag.
The company that has led the way for streaming - both in terms of technology and user numbers - has been Real Networks, which has 170 million registered users around the world. Its RealPlayer software, which has now reached its eighth generation, runs equally well on PCs and Apple Macs.
Real Networks has always supplied a free player to Netusers but makes its money from selling enhanced players and the software that allows broadcasts to be made over the Net.
Because of its need to make some money, getting a free RealPlayer has been a tricky exercise for a few years. Real Networks is keen - make that very keen - for you to buy its top-end player, which is currently its RealPlayer 8 Plus. Lest I be accused of being a cheapskate, it is a perfectly fine piece of software. It is just that if you are new to the world of Internet audio and video, and you have a 56k modem or perhaps even slower, the paid-for software is unnecessary. The paid-for version adds enhancements, including a graphic equaliser and some cosmetic improvements, but Real Networks' more basic, free player is perfectly adequate. It is just a question of finding it.
1. Go to www.real.com and you will be confronted with countless advertisements for the Plus version. You need to scroll to the bottom of the page where you will see links to "top free downloads". Choose the top one, for RealPlayer 8 Basic.
2. You would think that would put you on the way. Not so. This link takes you to another page dominated by a plug for the Plus version. You will spot a tiny link (depending on the size of your screen, you might have to scroll down a little to find it) saying, begrudgingly, "RealPlayer 8 is our basic player". Click on this and a screen will appear asking you a few details about who you are, what speed your connection to the Internet is (this is the speed of your modem) and where you live.
3. After you have entered this, you will be asked to pick a download site - pick the one nearest you and the software will download on to your hard disk.
4. Further straightforward instructions on what to do next, to complete installation on your PC or Mac, are also on this page. It's a good idea to print this page out, as the installer software you have just downloaded will want to close your Internet browser during the installation process. That way, you will still have the instructions to hand.
5. After you choose a download site, the software will, finally, appear on your machine - a 56k modem will take around 20 minutes to download it. Follow the instructions you have printed out to complete the (straightforward) installation process.
After you have successfully downloaded your software (and filled in a questionnaire that, annoyingly, repeats a lot of the questions asked online earlier), what next? It is time to go and explore the content available to you.
There are thousands of online radio stations from which to choose - and a few methods to start listening to them. You could click on the radio tuner button on the RealPlayer, which will load a web page in your browser with links to listings of thousands of stations. You could also call the page up directly in your browser by going to http://realguide.real.com/ tuner.
Either way, you will be confronted with three highlighted stations of the day. Then it is a simple task to choose the genre of music or programming you want. When you see a station you want to listen to, click on the station heading and RealPlayer will load, taking a few seconds to tune in and "buffer" the content (to smooth out any interference over the Internet), and then start playing.
You can also go directly to the station you are interested in. For instance, if you go to www.bbc.co.uk/radio1 (replace the number for radios one to five) you will find a link to let you listen to the station "live".
