Nikhil Dev

I have already posted about how to record streaming audio for Windows users. But it would be really mean if I do not help my Linux brothers. To accomplish the same on Linux we will use something called Streamripper and Streamtuner. Streamripper and streamtuner are Linux applications that work in tandem, allowing you to listen and record streaming radio.

Streamtuner is a basic application used primarily for playing internet radio from any number of sources including Xiph, basic.ch, punkcast.com, Google Stations, Live365, and SHOUTcast. Streamripper, on the other hand, sits stealthily in the terminal recording and parsing all of the music pipped through your system into MP3s. Leaving Streamripper running all day will rack you up a healthy dose of your favorite tunes. What’s particularly nice about the combination of Streamripper and streamtuner is that once you choose a station to record, you can exit streamtuner leaving only a tiny, non-obtrusive terminal window for Streamripper.

Note that Streamripper doesn’t do a perfect job parsing your songs into individual MP3s. Unfortunately, there tends to be a few seconds of overlap at the beginning and/or end of the songs. If this bothers you, you can always edit your newly recorded songs with Audacity. Ubuntu users can grab Streamripper and streamtuner out of the repositories with this command:

sudo apt-get install streamripper streamtuner

Other Linux users should grab the appropriate package for your distro at the streamtuner and Streamripper homepages.

When was the last you were listening to a station on Pandora and came across a song that you badly wanted to have. There are so many resources on the internet that allow you to do, but most of them are either paid or just mere sloppy. So I searched for one and this is what I found. This one is called MP3myMP3 Recorder.

Record internet radio and save to mp3 or wav. Record streaming audio from the Internet, microphone, or any other source for that matter. MP3myMP3 Recorder works directly with your system sound card - if you can hear it, you can record it! Use the scan tool to list all mp3, wav, aif, swa, or sun au audio files on your computer - then play and record portions of any of these files. MP3myMP3 Recorder offers customizable colors, timer, on top mode, and skinning.
This program is meant to be extremely intuitive to use, with enough features to get the job done quickly and easily…

1. Select the audio source you wish to record from.(Choose Stereo Mix or Wave mix or similar this will record all audio through your sound card.)

2. Open your favorite audio player. ie (WinAmp) and start playing something.

3. The combination of the settings below ultimately determines the overall recording input level. Fine tune your recording levels so that the meter on the right just hits the bottom of the red zone at the loudest point of the audio you are recording.
a)Player audio level
b)Master Volume Level
c)Recording Level

4. Click the Record button.

5. Click Stop when you’re ready to end the recording.

6. Click the Play button to listen to your recording.

7. Check your Mp3 Export settings.

8. Save your recording to a Wave file or an Mp3 file or both.

Use the scan tool to list all Mp3’s and Wav, Aif, Swa or Sun Au audio files on your entire computer. You can play and record portions of any of these files.

You can dowload the software from here.

At last I am convinced that I have made a really good purchase by buying the HP Compaq 3228AU notebook computer. From the

point I bought this, people have been asking me the specifications of the laptop and the performance details. So I thought

that its not a bad idea to write a post on that. Let me start by mentioning what the laptop comes with.

Technical Specifications:-

1. It comes with an AMD Turion clocking at 2.0 GHz and with a too FSB speed of 1066MHz and 512kb + 512kb of L2 cache. I think

its a pretty good one for a LAPTOP. The one drawback that I found with the Compaq 3228AU is that it does not have a processor

upgrade. So you have to pretty much stick with what its got.

2. It comes with an nVidia geForce 6150 which uses shared video memory upto 128 MB from the system memory. I would say that

little piece of baby even with the shared video memory is good enough to handle all my graphics of Windows Vista Ultimate

version.

3. The notebook by default comes with a 512MB of DDR2 single stick. I was wise enough to upgrade that another stick of 512MB

so that some of my graphics needs are taken care of. This is where I’ve seen that Compaq 3228AU has taken lead over other

laptops. It comes with a defualt clock speed of 667MHz which is quite decent when compared to the other laptops.

4. A hard drive of 80GB spinning at 5400 rpm is good enough for a decent performance.

5. A very handy feature is the 5 in 1 memory card reader.

6. I forgot to mention the one feature that I really like in the 3228AU. It by default comes witha 14.1 glossy look LCD at

1280 x 800. I found the performance of the display next to any other much more expensive ones.

7. And some of the other things that are included with the laptop are the builtin wireless card, ethernet, modem, 3 USB ports, Altec Lansing speakers, an express card slot and another port which I dunno what it is for.

On the whole I would rate this laptop 8 out of 10 for price vs. performace. It costed me rs. 33,000 for the minimum and with the mem upgrade it came to 36,000 with a free HP carry bag. Now beat that price for all the bling out have in the laptop.

Comment on the post if you have any other notebook that you think is worth more for a lesser price.

This is something that I have been trying to do for a long time now with no luck until yesterday. I had deleted this blog address a long time back not realizing that I will not get it back. But when I wanted it back I got a response from wordpress that I can never get it back. But I just kept trying and managed to have it back yesterday. And then importing all my old posts was just a piece of cake. So now I have everything that I wanted off this service.

From the time I have subscribed to the feeds on the Google reader, there are so many new things that I got to know of. Its incredible that there are some media formats in the world of music, but almost all except a few are patented. There is this one OGG that I was reading about and though would want to promote. Check this out