JukeBox

 Project Title

Collaborative Radio Project "JukeBox"
http://www.cc.gatech.edu/projects/squeakers/11.html

 Explanation of the Project Title

* Collaborative
  Users can upload their audio files and create their own programs on Swikis. A swiki is a
  collaborative website that can be edited by anyone (a project by the Squeak Community
  and Georgia Tech Squeakers in particular). So, the programs are created in collaboration
  of different users. You can listen to these programs using the JukeBox.
* Radio
  Users can create a separate page on Swikis with a list of existing programs. This page
  becomes a schedule of programs that are played in JukeBox one after another. Again,
  this page is editable as almost everything in Swikis, so the schedule page is also created
  collaboratively.
  
 Abstract

* Description:
  JukeBox provides a consistent interface for playing/recording audio media supported by
  Squeak. JukeBox can play sounds/playlists/schedule page from your local drive, an FTP
  server, or a web site. You can record sounds that can be saved in AIFF format. Users can
  upload their audio files to Swikis, and let the rest of the world listen to them.
* What is making it a great project:
  JukeBox itself is a collaborative project. It is written in collaboration with the fellow
  Squeakers at Georgia Tech. Check the Collaborators section for details.
* Why interesting:
  1) it is a great tool to create your own music and let others to listen to it via Internet.
  2) as everything written in Squeak, JukeBox is an Open-Source code! Which means it is
     free. Which means anybody can use it, look at it, or modify it according to their specific
     needs. Go Open-Source!
  3) since JukeBox is written in Squeak, it will run on any platform!
  4) you can create your music, upload it to a Swiki, edit the corresponding page on a Swiki
     and listen to it without leaving Squeak. What it really means? One more step towards
     Squeak-only environment, one more step away from the need for Operating Systems.
* What is accomplished:
  All the core code for JukeBox is already written. JukeBox has not had a severe test of its
  functionality yet, but I believe that it is a stable code as is.
* Future directions:
  (1) Add the support for Internet Radio. The compression mechanism is already in Squeak.
  (2) Add audio chat mechanism, so that listeners can discuss the music.
  (3) Work on the User Interface. I would like to add the ability to change the look and feel
      of JukeBox, like the notion of Skins in WinAmp.

 Collaborators

* Supervisor - Mark Guzdial (guzdial@cc.gatech.edu). Mark started this project, he came up
  with the name of JukeBox and he wrote the first lines of code. Then he posted a message
  to the Squeak mailing list and I picked up the project. Mark also wrote the code for
  generating playlists and a schedule page off the Swikis.
* My contribution: I came up with the idea of the web orientation of JukeBox and wrote all
  the code for JukeBox.
* For the upload of audio files I used a piece of Bolot Kerimbaev's (bolot@cc.gatech.edu) code
  for his UploadSwiki.
* the warm and supportive atmosphere of Georgia Tech Squeakers. Thanks!

 Project Context

I started this project as a new addition to my senior research project. I managed to finish
my senior research project in one quarter (I was working on Multimedia Authoring Tool -
http://www.cc.gatech.edu/projects/squeakers/4.html), so I was free to pick up a new project.
I got a course credit for this project.