This site is constantly being updated please come back to see any changes
Last updates : 02 December, 2010 13:08:09

Ian-C Radio

Ian-C Radio is a Private Radio station set-up for testing and development purposes, it also allows me to listen to my music collection wherever I am working. It is a fully automated radio broadcaster with a fully interactive web site allowing users to make requests from the active play list currently standing at over 9000 tracks. Users can view what is currently playing and view the available tracks via artist, album or tracks, once a user finds a track they can request it with one simple click and once the request is accepted they can then add a dedication. The web site is fully ASP driven and backed by an MSSQL server 2005 Database.

The Broadcasting system used is SAM Broadcaster a powerful fully automated broadcasting and DJ system allowing the station to run fully automated or it can be controlled by a DJ for live broadcasting. The system can run just as a random track picker via a clock wheel system which can be set up to choose tracks from different categories, or it can be fully programmed using PAL (Play list Automation Language) to run shows predefined in the language.

I currently have several show running from PAL including a Request Chart Show, where the PAL script queries the request table and generates a play list to match the Charts displayed on the website. I also use PAL Scripts that generate shows based on tracks that have never been played from the play list by adding a number of tracks to a category then choosing those tracks based on play list rules. Also I have a Featured Album show where the PAL script populates a category from a randomly chosen album then alternates tracks from that album with requests and normal play list tracks.

The station also plays out pre-recorded liners (station promos) automatically inserted into the playing sequence at specified intervals. Along with a PAL script I wrote to handle request the station runs fully automated most of the time with little intervention.

If there is any part of the radio site you are interested in please contact me at radio@ian-c.co.uk.

This part of the site requires registration as it is mainly for demonstration purposes.

RuneScape Trading Post

I have developed a new sub site RuneScape Trading Post. This is a fan site based on RuneScape the online game by Jagex which is a massive 3d multiplayer adventure, with monsters to kill, quests to complete, and treasure to win. The basic idea behind the site is an online auction site for arranging the trading of items within the online game. You can bid on items and when an auction ends the user with the highest bid is contacted by the seller and they arrange to meet in the RuneScape game and complete the trade. The idea came to me when I was searching for an item and all I found was old offers in forums where people had posted items but they had all long gone, using the trading post you know the items you are looking at are current as the auctions are set up to a maximum of 7 days. If an item is not sold the seller has the option to re-sell the item.

The rules of trading from the game still apply you can not complete a transaction on the trading post site, you have to meet in a RuneScape world with the correct money/items and trade using the games trading system. The Trading Post just gives you the opportunity to find items you need and make an offer to the seller, or post items you want to sell and wait for buyers to make offers.

Although the site is available its is still in beta testing, awaiting feedback from users. it is all working but it needs testing before it goes live, so if you want to sign-up and post items for sale and bid on current auctions then feel free, the only thing I ask is for your feedback on how the site works, or any improvements you feel would improve the site. All auctions held while Beta Testing are non-valid and you wont be held to the outcome, so you don't need the actual items you are selling and you wont be expected to buy any items you win in auction.

If you have any questions/comments on the trading post please contact me on rstp-webmaster@ian-c.co.uk and I will get back to you.

My YouTube Page

This section is just some experimenting with the YouTube website. Initially started because the YouTube interface is very unfriendly especially when it comes to organising videos. I started working on this with a database driven system where you could categorise the videos into collections, this is still an idea that I am working on but the page you can see now is directly accessed through YouTube API's, This means you can view any users videos through this page. http://www.ian-c.co.uk/youtube.asp?user=(YouTubeID) will display the videos for the specified YouTube user ID.

One of the things that inspired me to start playing with the YouTube pages, was lots of people run competitions like the YouTube Idol that is currently running. I found it very difficult to find all the relevant videos for each round of the competition. I also noticed people had setup their own websites to run the voting for the competition, so I thought it would be good if they could have all the videos for each round of the competition displayed together with whatever voting system they had alongside each of the videos. This would make it easier for people to view the videos and vote on the ones they wanted to win all in the one place.

If anyone is currently thinking of running a competition on YouTube and would like some help with setting up a website for the competition please contact me on ian@ian-c.co.uk and I can help or advise with the setting up of the YouTube pages and if needed a voting system based on direct voting.

Farm Manager