Record Your Favorite Online Radio Shows Using NetTransport

So you've discovered some great online radio shows such as Penn Jillette on FreeFM, but if you're anything like myself, you'll occasionally miss your favorite shows. Not such a bad thing if your station offers a full podcast, but more than slightly frustrating if they only offer downloadable highlights or even no podcast at all.

What you need is a way of automatically recording the shows you want onto your computer as they are broadcast.

Xi-Soft's NetTransport (also called NetXfer) is a great download manager that has the ability to download and save audio and video streams onto your computer. It also features highly customizable scheduling which is important for our needs in this case.

What we are looking to do is to configure NetTransport to start recording from an audio stream at a specific time, with each recording to have its own unique filename to allow us to identify the show and date of recording.

Luckily, NetTransport gives us more than enough features to accomplish this task.

First thing we need to do is make sure that NetTransport is open at the times we need to start recording. The simple thing to do is have NetTransport launch with Windows and keep it active in your system tray. You can achieve this by checking the following option in NetTransport:

Tools -> Options... -> System Settings -> Run program at Windows startup

If you don't want to have NetTransport open all the time, a good alternative is to use "Scheduled Tasks" in the Windows Control Panel to launch the program on a specific schedule. This method will only work with a registered copy of NetTransport since the addition of a Nag-Screen in the latest version.


Make sure to also check the following option:

Tools -> Options... -> System Settings -> Start downloading on program startup

Once we have made sure that NetTransport will be open when it's needed, we need to create a new download task for our audio stream.

Click the "New" icon in NetTransport. Enter the URL you have for your stream and select OK to test if you have the actual URL or just a referral address.

If NetTransport creates and starts another download in the queue, this new download contains the correct URL for the stream. You can pause this task and delete the original download from the queue. If no other download is created and the stream starts downloading correctly, you can pause it and leave it as it is.

If I create a download using the Penn Jillette URL:

http://bdcast-infinity-wfny-fm.wm.llnwd.net/bdcast_infinity_wfny-fm

NetTransport will create another download in the queue pointing to the following URL:

mms://69.28.153.133/bdcast_infinity_wfny-fm?MSWMExt=.asf

This is the download I want to keep and use.

Right click the remaining download and select "Properties...". Change the destination directory to where you would like your downloads to be stored (you can create a subdirectory for each station if you like). Click "On Schedule" under the "Start" options and enter "Do Not Delete!" in the Comment box, just as a reminder.


Click the "Other Settings..." button and select the "Schedule" tab. Click the "Add..." button to create a schedule. Enter the name of the show under "Title". Select the days of the week that the show is on, and adjust the "Start at" and "Stop at" times to reflect the start and end times of the show you want to record. It's best to pad these times a little as some stations don't seem to set their clock that accurately.


Check "Customize Filename" and enter the following: (Change the station and host names to reflect your needs)

FreeFM - Penn Jillette - /yyyy-/MM-/dd/ext

The keywords tell NetTransport to automatically append the filename with the Year (/yy), Month (/MM), and day (/dd). It will also add the correct extension (/ext) to the file.

The resulting filename in this case will be:

FreeFM - Penn Jillette - 2006-02-26.asf

Click "OK" on all of the open dialogs and everything will be ready to start downloading when the show is on. Each time the show is recorded, NetTransport will create a new file with the name and date of recording in the filename.

Repeat the whole process for each of the shows you want to record and relax in the knowledge that you won't miss your favorite shows again (as long as you remember to leave your computer on).

Use DxO Optics Pro to Process Your Digital Images

As a hobbyist photographer, I often experiment with different photo processing applications. Until recently, I had been using Nikon Capture and Adobe Photoshop CS2 to process the images I take with my Nikon D70, however after downloading the DxO Optics Pro demo, I am seriously considering making a switch.

DxO Optics Pro has a much different workflow to the applications I mentioned above. It is very much designed to batch process a large number of images automatically. While the combination of Nikon Capture and Adobe Photoshop can be used to fix many of the common problems found in digital photographs, DxO uses profiles to correct them automatically. The guys over at DxO have extensively profiled the supported cameras and lenses, so that each camera/lens combination can be accurately and automatically enhanced and corrected.

Even with the best quality lenses, a certain amount of Barrel Distortion, Vignetting, Chromatic Aberration and Softness can be expected; especially with "walkabout" lenses (Those lenses that cover a common range of focal lengths). Likewise, even the best quality camera will have a certain amount of sensor noise and purple fringing.

Each of these problems aren't that difficult to fix if you know a bit of Photoshop, but if you have a significant number of images, fixing each one individually can be very tedious. This is where DxO Optics Pro comes to the rescue. Since the camera/lens combination can be retrieved from the extra information stored with each image, all of the aforementioned problems can be fixed completely automatically. And even though some of the issues vary depending on the focal length or aperture used, DxO is able to adapt the corrections using that information too.

For those of us who like to remain in control, DxO Optics Pro gives us the ability to enable/disable each correction, as well as giving us manual control over the effects when in "Expert" mode.

Even certain "user error" problems can be fixed with DxO. The "Highlight Recovery" option for slightly over-exposed shots is the best I've found so far. It is able to retrieve detail from blown-out areas of an image, without drastically affecting the exposure. Take a look at Highlight Recovery in action.


One of my favorite features of all is the ability to output in a DNG (Digital Negative) format. This allows the use of Adobe Camera RAW for further processing even after DxO's corrections have been applied.

Download the demo for yourself and see what it can do for your images.

Defragment Your Registry Hives and Pagefile

Not many of us remember to defragment our hard drives regularly, but even fewer of us defragment our Registry hives and pagefile at all. Unsurprisingly, since they are being continuously accessed by Windows, these files are among the most likely to impact system performance due to fragmentation. Even in safe mode, they are unable to be defragmented using standard tools.

The reason these files remain fragmented is because Windows has them open for exclusive read/write access, effectively blocking any other process from interfering with them. Great news for the stability of your system. Bad news if they ever become extensively fragmented.

PageDefrag is a freeware program from the guys at Sysinternals designed to combat this issue in such a simple way that it's difficult to understand why Microsoft didn't include the option in Windows from the start. It simply uses the standard defragmentation API on your system files during boot up, before they are opened by Windows. You can set the program to do this with every boot, or just at the next boot.

Listen to Penn Jillette Live on Free FM

As a hardcore skeptic myself, Penn Jillette, the "...larger, louder half of comedy-magic team Penn & Teller...", has always been one of my favorite people.

Penn's Free FM radio show appeals to those of us who want comedic topical discussions, with a large dose of skepticism thrown in for good measure. You can listen live every weekdays from 2pm - 3pm EST, or you can subscribe to the podcast which contains the highlights (though recently it's been featuring almost all of the show) and is updated at the end of the week.

CBS Radio gives those of us who live outside the target cities a way to listen live online at Penn's Free FM page. This is great if you want to contribute to the show as they take live phonecalls and read emails from listeners.

Having said that, I hate being tied to a webpage while listening to online radio, especially if that webpage doesn't work properly in alternate browsers like Firefox or Opera, so it's important for me to be able to find the location of the stream and use that in other applications such as Media Center.

A little bit of detective works reveals the source of the playlist:

http://tuner1.dc1.sonixtream.com/playlists/923freefm/923freefmWFNYFM.asx

And that playlist references a streaming server:

http://bdcast-infinity-wfny-fm.wm.llnwd.net/bdcast_infinity_wfny-fm

A simple .asx file can now be typed (or pasted) into your text editor of choice:

<asx version="3.0"> 
<param name="allowshuffle" value="yes" />

<title>Online Radio</title>

<entry>
<title>Free FM</title>
<ref href="http://bdcast-infinity-wfny-fm.wm.llnwd.net/bdcast_infinity_wfny-fm" />
</entry>
</asx>

All you have to do at this point is save as an .asx file into your "My Documents\My Music\My Playlists" folder and import it into Windows Media Player's library. It will then show up in the "Playlists" section of "My Music" in Media Center.

Activate the TV Guide in Windows XP Media Center 2005

Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 has a really nice TV Guide built in. One of the coolest features is the ability to browse the movies that are coming on over the next two weeks. It even shows their cover art. The problem is that you can't access the guide unless you have a TV tuner.

If you don't have a TV tuner installed, you can still activate the TV guide with some small modifications to the registry. It is a two step project. You have to first fool Media Center into believing that you have a TV tuner, and then you have to enable the configuration of the guide.

I'm going to assume that you already know how to edit your registry without screwing up your PC, so if you have to ask how, you really shouldn't try it.

Open your registry editor and navigate to:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Settings\TVConfig]

If you have cable television, make the following changes:

fHasDVB = dword:00000000
fHasSTB = dword:00000000
iBroadcastStandard = dword:00000001
iVideoSource = dword:00000002
Version = 65537

If you have a satellite STB, make the following changes:

fHasDVB = dword:00000000
fHasSTB = dword:00000001
iBroadcastStandard = dword:00000002
iVideoSource = dword:00000003
Version = 65537

Start Media Center and confirm you now see "My TV" listed on the start screen. Exit Media Center and move onto step two.

Open your registry editor and navigate to:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Service\EPG]

Make the following change:

TOSAgreed = dword:00000001
(Note: This key may not exist. If you can't find it, create it)

Navigate to:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Settings\ProgramGuide]

Make the following changes:

fAgreeEPGPrivacy = dword:00000001
fAgreeTOS = dword:00000001
fEpgDataAvailable = dword:00000001
fGetEpgData = dword:00000001
fUsageTracking = dword:00000000

Start Media Center, select "My TV" and click on "Movies". Media Center will now prompt you to download the latest listings. Select "Download Now" and wait for a minute until Media Center lets you know that no TV listings provider has been selected. Click "Set Up" and then "Next" at the start of the wizard. It will ask you if you want to use the guide, select "Yes" and the "Next". Agree to the TOS and click "Next".

Now enter in your Zip code and let Media Center discover the TV signal providers in your area. If you followed the Cable instructions above, it will return a list of Cable providers, and if you followed the Satellite instructions, it will return a list of Satellite providers. Click "Next" to see what providers it has found. Select the one that you want and click "Next" to begin downloading the guide.

Once the guide has finished downloading and you have exited the wizard, it will be available by clicking the "Guide" button in "My TV" or by pressing the guide button on your remote control.

There are obviously things you still cannot do without the TV tuner, but for now you can browse up to 2 weeks of TV listings and see what movies are coming up from your PC.