In my search for additional RSS feeds, I ran across the Associated Press and made contact with them by phone at their Washington DC, office.
I explained Outernet’s potential usage, and they said they had never considered a global transmission capability. They will staff an answer for me.
What they did tell me is they charge a fee to public radio stations for rebroadcast usage of news feeds (printed not RSS), and it is based on listen audience numbers. E.G. Baltimore stations with less listernship are charged less than outlets in New York City with larger listening audiences. But the whole world was mind boggling to them.
Private readership (as you or I would do with an internet connection) is only usable by the individual. I will report more when they get back to me. Ken
Ken this is fantastic networking / opportunity building.
Syed could you please make Sam and Ken honorary Volunteer “News” aggregators etc and give them permission to write to all NEWS outlets big and small, Commercial and FREE and even controversial and talk about spreading news via Outernet L-Band Library service.
While then Associated Press http://ap.org is a not-for-profit company they are not a non-profit organization as public radio stations are. They don’t qualify for tax donations off our income taxes in the US.
They have a different philosophy than say Bloomberg News or CNN. That is why they interested me. That said, I began to think about how much news Outernet should be broadcasting, or how many news sources do we want. Surely many languages, but I’m thinking only a few highly regarded sources - - especially if there are fees involved.
Yep already working one one-file-per article It’s a pain from a UX point of view though, so I’m trying to get a list of headlines too that link to the local files. It’s proving tricky for my non existent coding skills, but I am enjoying it as a challenge…
I know @Syed wants to reduce Filecaste data rates below 10 kB, but some of us have got news feeds down below 100kB - - but not quite below the new 10 kB objective.
Until you figure out the solution, why don’t you let us feed Filecast News files between 10 and 100 kB? Ken
Yes - - these are GREAT and really look good , and I’m looking forward to reading them every morning when I fire up my computer over my morning coffee.
@sam_uk - - Let’s wait to see what happens next week with Outernet, and what rxOS 3.2 has to offer. I know @Syed would probably agree with me.
Given that VOA, UN or RFA may not be the final answer, it’s a good test bed. So if we can’t find the right NEWS SOURCE there, maybe the Associated Press will fill the bill (and I am working with them to see if we can make something happen). In any case, I think once a viable NEWS SOURCE - - downloaded thru the Outernet Constellation - - is found, it will provide what the news starved world needs.
That said, what other single non-public domain NEWS SOURCE makes sense to nurture? Ken
Looked again - if I use the recent tab I get a bunch of lines that all just say “NEWS in News”. I do see the file names if I use the browse tab in the News directory. As long as the browse tab keeps the recent ones on top then it will be OK, but I think it is alphabetical, so old Africa news will appear before new Americas news. My suggestion would be to have the recent tab show the filename (probably not in your power). Otherwise the answer is going to be awkward - use a descending number at the front of the file name so newest stays on top, to have the user delete old news once read (not good for multi-user systems), or some other kludge.
It’s a pain from a UX point of view though, so I’m trying to get a 
, and I’m looking forward to reading them every morning when I fire up my computer over my morning coffee.
