r23.cc is the radio of Riereta.net, a technologic workshop located in the heart of Barcelona. It was born about a year, maybe a year and a half ago, with the idea to build open and alternative means of communication. r23.cc is an open communication platform from the core, from the very bone. The software that makes it possible is Pure Data, an object oriented programming environment for realtime audio and video processing... and it is free software/open source.

As r23.cc is free from the very engine, the contents must also be free. All the music that sounds at r23.cc come from different net labels, or record companies that distribute music in MP3 format or the alternative open source audio format: OGG/Vorbis; The main part of the net labels reserve just some rights for their releases under the Creative Commons license. With this license the artist chooses which rights wants to have or not about his/her music. The will of 23.cc is to promote that music as a way to support to the Creative Commons musical community and any other artists around the world who desire to distribute their creations in a free way.

Promotion and support of activist events is another aim at r23.cc. Most of events, or certain occurrences in the activist/social field, that are uncomfortable for the main part of the conventional means of communication, find their place at r23.cc. That can happen in various ways: users that have experienced a certain occurrence in first person can upload audio files to the server, to be streamed later. Live realtime streamings are also possible, or interviews with individuals and collectives that work in the field of social movements or in activisim of every kind.

The concept of radio has always been related to the studio. The neuralgic center where everything happens. That neuralgic center produces, records, edits, processes and receives audio from mobile units. Then that audio is sent from the studio to the emmissor, and from there to the receptors or listeners: the audience. At r23.cc that neuralgic center is moved to the server: within the server, audio files are received, stored and transmitted through the internet. NetRadio can happen anywhere. The studio can be the street, a concert hall, a club, someone´s home... Few things are needed: a computer, the convenient software, a microphone maybe, and internet access. And the clients (listeners) receive that audio through their computer, and are able to choose from different channels of the same 'radio station'. Or they can, via web, and thanks to a GPL application called netjuke, make and manage their own playlists with the music stored on the server, and share them with other users or listeners. Or upload their own audios and thus, the user/listener can contribute actively to the content of r23.cc.

But... we love ancient radio too. In the thirties and the fourties, music was played live from the radio studios, nowadays is a rare thing. So our hommage to ancient radio is to bring live musical performances to our little workshop, that five times a week is a sort of a radio studio and soon, a netTV studio too. >from *r23.cc: an article* by Antònia Folguera, r23.cc

related context
> riereta.net. 'a small dark techworkshop in the raval, barcelona's old town -- or: ...a human trusted network that owes very much to the model of free software communities, both for the software used, and for the internal organisation, based on spontaneity, curiosity and cooperation.' article by jaume nualart published in e.u. dash best practice
> think tools for revolution!. d-form + pd~convention04 + trans cultural mapping > reclaim the streams! pd as the lenguage for media hacking. september 17, 2004
> manifesto of urban televisions: open access television. 'the culture of independent communication in any form, from video activism to free radios to free software, has opened a new space among common media and technologies, a space whose political and cultural citizenship must now be recognized. the cultural, political and legal frame of this movement is a space that we call public domain of communication... a sphere which does not belong neither to the state nor to the market, but to the whole society.' april 23, 2003
> wireless commons, a turning point, 'we will work to define and achieve a wireless commons built using open spectrum, and able to connect people everywhere. we believe there is value to an independent and global network which is open to the public.' january 22, 2003
> open spectrum: spectrum as a commons, 'digital technologies are smart enough to distinguish between signals, allowing users to share the airwaves without exclusive licensing. instead of treating spectrum as a scarce physical resource, we could make it available to all as a commons, an approach known as open spectrum.' december 18, 2002
> streamer: pirate radio for the digital age. 'a response to the closing of audiogalaxy and the imminent closure of many net radio stations. streamer is an internet radio program that allows anyone to broadcast streaming mp3 music, to an unlimited number of listeners, from an internet connection as humble as a 56k modem, and with the broadcasting pc being fairly untraceable.' july 4, 2002
> save internet radio: dmca threatens internet radio. april 29, 2002
> gnu radio: software defined radio. 'gnu radio is a free software defined radio, which will let use inexpensive hardware to turn any pc into a receiver or recorder for any type of radio signal you prefer; the signal is interpreted entirely in software. software radio will be designed to get your computer to do all sorts of signal processing, eventually all radio bands, paging, cellular phone, gps receiver, color tv or event hdtv.' june 27, 2002

imago
> riereta street vibrating