Wasteland Radio: Swim in three years

Today I want to tell the story of one niche Internet radio. About his ups and downs and a little bit about technical realizations. But in fact it is only an advertising, paid post, but if it does not frighten you, then get ready to taste a lot of letters.

Formation

So, it all started back in 2008. The trees were taller then, the grass was greener, and I was naive.

My provider decided to give each user a white ip-address. And if there is a white IP, then sin is not to use it. The choice fell on the creation of an online radio station. I had a little experience at that time, winamp with icecast was on my home computer and broadcasting my music collection to LAN (work and home were on the same network, and this freed me from carrying and keeping my favorite music at work). If there is an IP address, then there must be a server, and with this thought I assembled a small piece of hardware for a radio server from illiquid, it was 433 stubs and 128 RAMs. The axis was chosen by FreeBSD, and the broadcast server is still the same icecast (with its characteristics it satisfied me more than the shoutcast). After assembling this good into a single whole, the question arose: what to broadcast and what to broadcast. There were no big problems with the second one, the first Fallout was once again put on a home computer, it was then that the format began to take shape: jazz, blues, early rock and roll and a slight dilution of dark ambient. And through the method of three P (Finger, Paul, Ceiling) the name was chosen: “Wasteland Radio.” But then the first question arose: what to broadcast. Winamp did not satisfy me anymore, because I wanted both beautiful transitions, rotation rules, and sound beats of every hour, and the home computer could not be online 24 hours. SAM Broadcaster was taken as a broadcasting program (why is it? I just didn’t know anything from the broadcast programs, and a Windows application with a bunch of features was taken). Well, for the iron component in the corridor the second piece of hardware was already installed on the shelf already running Windows 2K, here I was lucky more, there was already a target at 1000 megahertz. I can say that these two “servers” in the winter time increased the temperature in the corridor by a couple of degrees, and it was warmer there than in the kitchen. The peculiarities of SAM configuration were the use of PAL scripts. In fact, SAM played the auto-dj function with a little logic.

This period was marked by a small number of listeners (since advertising was carried out using the “tell friends” method), experiments with the format and knowledge of automation capabilities. Peaks of 10 people were considered a success.
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Youth

Youth began suddenly. I came across a Fallout online project known as FOnline, and then Fallout 3 came out. It was at the end of 2008. From the second came disappointments and the idea that the format was chosen correctly. But FOnline was more productive for radio. The society of fonlaynofilov gave a steady influx of listeners and replenishment of the ranks of the “workers” of the radio. At the same time, the goal is set: to be not only in format, but also to be a role-playing, entourage project. The first broadcasts in the voice begin, the FO game server events are sanctified, the world news, the first series of pseudo-advertising messages are recorded: “Do not forget that every weekend a caravan arrives in Arroyo, which buys the skins of the Coletes.” Then the presenters come to the project. Almost every evening - airing. Outputs were made according to the podcast system: first we write, process, upload to the server, at the appointed time the podcast sounds on the air. This system was based on the fact that no one had the experience of live broadcasting. The number of PAL scripts for SAM has gone. As a result, auto-DJ synchronized its base with FTP, the rotation worked on a more complex system, the music base grew into a hundred gigs, thanks to the rules for repeating the repetition of a track, it was very rare. Home Internet channel no longer withstand the peaks of listeners.

Maturity

The growth in the number of listeners and popularity in certain circles no longer left a chance for home Internet. An unpretentious VDS is purchased, on which icecast and ice0 are put (which performs the function of backing up the stream, in case the Internet channel falls in my home). The home server is undergoing an upgrade and demolition of Windows, as well as its replacement with freeBSD, SAM is still very thick for the functions of a simple auto-DJ. Instead, the same ice0 is used with the perl script. The same functions fall on it as on SAM, at the same time, Perl is challenged to implement everything that SAM could (more precisely, what I used in SAM). This period ranged from mid 2008 to 2010. During the interesting programs, the 100 megabit channel could no longer cope, but on average it was enough. Those who wanted to come came, and there already existed a “competitive” basis for admission to the team (through an interview) in order to weed out inadequate comrades. Unfortunately, besides the influx of people, there was an outflow. Someone has ceased to be interested in this idea, it is difficult for someone to do something for a virtual “thank you”. Experiments were carried out with the software, ices0 is changed to liquidsoap, the module of ordering songs is tested (which died safely in about a year.

Beginning of extinction

The end of 2010. Due to some disagreements with the developers, it was decided to step back from the direct FOnline events. The first attempts to direct advertising in other communities. The growth of listeners ceases to go, apparently, the radio has already completely filled its niche. Also, people leave the team in more numbers than they come. As an experiment, the "alternative" look at the radio of the Wasteland - Last Wave starts. Format: only dark ambient, without the leading and dumb chatter. Listeners have the liking. There is no global transition of people from one wave to another. The software is the same, the expansion of the music base is slow and unhurried.

Sopor

the whole of 2011. Absolutely all people left the project, as at the beginning, the radio becomes the project of one shaman. Last airing occurred a long time ago. The radio switches to “eternal” automatic broadcasting, which pleases those few dozen loyal listeners. One of the reasons for the "canning" of the project was a plan to create a radio project based on another online game with a very strong community. That experiment was a great success, but that's another story ...

Revival?

Present. Behind the project are many difficulties. Not one moving between hosters. The death of the screws with all the content. The death of backup screws, and even once the death of the main screw with the site and backup. Periods of silence and hyperactivity. Momnty, when I was homeless, hauling a server in my bag when moving to friends. Thanks to wasteland radio, I met good people who are still on my list of friends. He grasped the basics of dao Internet broadcasting, improved his skills in perl, php, * nix administration, and the skills of a leader (though I didn’t have much success) and trolling. Even tried once flash and AS (did not like it).

What now is the project? Eternal forgetting among the hearers. Thinned to one third of the musical base. Downed rotation rules. One hundred years not updated information on the site. And the memory, the memory of those fun days when we were younger, the heads were hot and there were no thoughts that you were doing something wrong and wrong.

It is over, you can completely close the project, remove all the content and sleep peacefully, not remembering it as an old dream, but you do not want to upset the few who continue to listen to the radio and throw so much spent opinion into the water. Still, I continue to believe that this project does not deserve death, but is waiting only for the right moment to spread its wings, like the mythical phoenix bird.

I want to thank all those people who worked on this project. I also thank the Russian-speaking community of Internet broadcasting: radiotalk

Well, now the advertising links, the most curious:

Wasteland Raido website
Stream MP3 128 kb
Stream AAC + 48 kb

Last Wave website
Stream MP3 128 kb

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