From the RFC press wires...

-Local independent art zine Love, Chicago has expanded from the shelves of Quimby's and Reckless to the expansive regions of the world wide web. Found at www.lovechicago.org, the debut web version of Love,.. features articles from Issue#2 of the print rag, including profiles of local musicians Paul Caporino and Devin Davis, the new Foundation Gallery art space and legendary Lakeview watering hole Jake's Pub. Launched last August, Love, Chicago is led by editorial director Erica Burke and creative director Chris Beck, who is leading the new web efforts.

-Looking to start your own Internet radio station and have about $3k lying around the house?? Go to worldvibrations.com and check out the cool little gadget they call a "Radio Station in a Box." All you have to do is plug in a microphone, upload some songs and...voila! You've got the tools to create your own professional-quality radio station.

OK, granted you can make your own basic radio stream via just about any PC and some Winamp software. However, this box gives you the tools that the professionals use like voice tracking, extensive music scheduling software, programming logs, live feed capabilities and even network feed capabilities. The box also operates on 12 volts, so it can run off of a car battery, which their website says makes it "ideal for creating a radio station in a small village." Sounds to me more like that feature would be perfect for running a pirate radio station in a large metropolitan area (where it's essential to keep moving transmitter locations to avoid the FCC), but of course that would be "illegal" and RFC would never condone such behavior.

Oh, and speaking of which, the box also includes software and a reporting service that can take care of all those pesky royalty issues if you are serious about starting a legit station that plays commercially-licensed music. Overall, the cost for this is too much for your garden-variety basement pirate, but if you're part of a well-organized group with broadcasting aspirations, you may want to seriously check this magic box out and start pooling some money.