Tech Q's? 09/09/08

Dr. Peter is in the house again, with our new weekly feature, Tech Q's?, posted Tuesdays. We ask our tech questions relating to Radio 2, Peter answers. After answering any number of questions in last week's post, this week he starts with some reflections on the Tech Q's? column itself. Over to you, Peter:

"Writing a series of 'technical' posts for an audience as broad as Radio 2's is tricky business. Some people will roll their eyes at the simplicity of the things we'll cover. Others will shake their heads at what might as well be written in a rare dialect of some foreign-language.

'Where's the strike zone?' Or more like, 'what league are we playing in?!' (I know Li likes baseball metaphors.) What I hope we can do with the 'Tech Q's?' series is help people to make the most of what CBC Radio 2 offers online.

This is not about being geeky for the sake of being geeky. It's about being able to discover and listen to music in ways that simply didn't exist before. 'Better living through technology!' I say it somewhat tongue-in-cheek but I believe it.

Is this stuff as easy as turning on the radio? No (unless you have your internet radio receiver set up already). Might it provide something which traditional radio cannot? Of course. Is it worth the effort? I certainly think so.

In the coming weeks we'll take a closer look at CBC Radio 2's Music Channels, Podcasts, Concerts On Demand, Playlists, Concert Calendar, and oh yes, the Listen Live streams. Thanks for tuning in."

And thank you. (Aside -- Peter, you do know that baseball is life, right?)

I'd also like to thank Peter for the link to the following video he sent me first thing this morning -- it made me laugh out loud, no small feat before caffeine. This is for anyone who has ever felt the frustration of learning new technology. Ladies and gentlemen, introducing, The Book: