TECH ROUND-UP: WFNX DJS ONLINE, FACEBOOK ADS, MIT PROJECTS EVERYWHERE

The hills of the Internet are alive… with the sound of music?

WFNX TO RETURN… SORT OF
The entire city blew up a few weeks ago when it was announced that WFNX was bought by Clear Channel, effectively ending the alternative radio station’s run. Whether you are on Team Dig or the other team (?), it can be admitted that there will probably be nothing to listen to on the radio anymore [Except UNregular Radio, which embraced Internet Radio from the get-go. -Ed.].

Were you hoping for a return to form? The Internet is a big place (really), maybe it can continue there?

Well, it was announced this morning that Boston.com will help in the partial resurrection of WFNX by launching an online radio station that will employ many of the former radio station’s personalities, including Henry Santoro, Julie Kramer, and Adam 12.

The new station will be featured on Boston.com’s homepage, but a launch date has yet to be announced.

FACEBOOK PUTS ADS ON ZYNGA
That headline may seem a bit redundant considering most of us have been playing Zynga games on Facebook much longer than we care to admit. I’m sorry, but I really need to tend to those crops. I can’t just leave them there.

However, while you’ve been seeing Zynga on Facebook, have you been seeing Facebook… on Zynga? I feel a bit dirty for even typing that.

Zynga.com is now running Facebook ads and sponsored stories, in a move that shows us what a Internet-wide Facebook advertising network would theoretically look like, since at the moment it only runs on Facebook.com. This could potentially bring even more revenue into Facebook, since most of their current revenue comes from advertising.

Facebook also announced “Find Friends Nearby,” a new feature that lets you friend request people nearby (bet you didn’t see that one coming).

So you now can friend request that girl you’ve been staring at across the room for the past 20 minutes. Don’t worry, she won’t bite.

MIT’S PROJECTOR IS ALL OVER THE PLACE
For years, people have been trying to enhance a viewing experience with technologies that work to immerse the audience. Nowadays we use surround sound, and, to a somewhat failed extent, 3-D to make what we’re watching seem more realistic. Although how a spear coming out of the screen makes me feel more into the film is anybody’s guess.

However, MIT Media Lab has come up with an interesting projector to add to this category. Dubbed the Infinity-by-Nine, this projector analyzes frames of video and then projects rough estimates of the video’s edges onto the walls and ceiling, creating an effect that gets into your peripheral vision and enhances the video experience. The MIT Media Lab website states that it gives the sensation of an image that wraps completely around the viewer. You can watch the video to see what I mean, but after, don’t even dare trying to convince me that I shouldn’t have a room specifically for watching television.

CRAIGSLIST RUINS APARTMENT HUNTING FOR EVERYBODY
Back in the beginning of 2012 when I was looking for an apartment for September (that’s how we do it in Boston), I primarily used Padmapper, a website that allows you to search for hyper-specific listings on a number of sites simultaneously.

Arguably the site’s biggest source for listings was Craigslist, but that will be no longer, as the classified site has issued a Cease and Desist order to Padmapper, and ordered them to remove all future listings from searches. Originally, Padmapper brought users to the Craigslist listing directly, but apparently, a website bringing in more clicks is not beneficial.

The creator of Padmapper is currently working with Craigslist lawyers to try and bring the searches back, but for now we’ll just have to search through Craigslist on our own if we want an apartment.

Although now that I think about it, I think I’ll stick to other websites before I go searching through shifty listings on Craigslist.