bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

SCMP Reporter

I have a problem and wanted to ask your advice. In Canada I have a 90-year-old grandmother who has never been on the internet. With failing eyesight, I think she would very much enjoy the radio programmes available over the Net. What kind of device could do the job? Is there a simple internet radio available.

Name supplied

Hunghom

Radio has come a long way on the internet and there was a flurry of activity a few years ago to create an internet radio appliance. If you do a search for such a device, you will get quite a few hits.

What is worrying about those hits, however, is that they all seem to be at least two years old. One of the most promising of these was something called Kerbonga but that seems to have disappeared a few years ago.

There are others such as Penguinradio that look as if they may be what you want but again the links are a little too old.

Obviously, it would be far better for your grandmother to use something like that than it would be to have her fiddling with a computer.

Sadly, however, it may be that the only thing you can do is set something up on a computer and arrange it so she can listen to what she wants with the minimum of fuss. If you decide to set something up yourself, I think there are a few things to consider. It must be a system that comes up automatically.

It would be possible to configure a Mac or a PC to boot, connect to the internet and then launch a browser fairly easily provided she had a broadband connection. You could set the home page to a site that had what she wanted.

Radio Tower, for example, gives you a great deal of choice and once set up, you only need to click on one button to listen.

Remember also that Apple's iTunes points to some radio stations as well. Whatever you do, if you decide to set up a PC or Mac you may want to make certain you have all three of the major vendors on the machine: Apple, Microsoft and Real.

All three have free downloads and they should run automatically when you go to a radio site. The last thing you want is for granny to be told she must download and install something.

It seems to me that you will have your work cut out for you. These things are rarely as simple as they should be. Still, if you can set something up that requires only a single click to start listening to the radio, that would be a great accomplishment.

RadioTower - one-click listen: www.radiotower.com/

iAPlayer: http://radio.about.com/b/a/055848.htm

An internet radio: www.macsense.com/krankit/

PenguinRadio (with an appliance as well): www.penguinradio.com/index.php

Apple's iTunes: www.apple.com/itunes/

RealPlayer: www.real.com/player/?src=realplayer



Setting up an online radio is not so easy