Synthetic Radio Programming: I don't normally link the NYTimes because access to the material is lost after two weeks. But this is really cool: Turning a Digital Database Into Local Radio. The host, Carson Daly, is real. He records snippets: names of songs, intros to artists, jokes, etc. This material is then digitally composed to make different top-ten shows for 11 different cities.

That has not always gone smoothly. Mr. Dunston, the sound designer, said that at one point a new Michael Jackson song, "You Rock My World," unexpectedly showed up on the charts. Mr. Daly was unavailable that day, and because he had never introduced a song by Mr. Jackson, the engineers had to dig through old recordings to find a segment in which he made an offhand reference to the singer. Then they hunted down bits of the song title and assembled all the pieces.

"We had to cobble things together," Mr. Dunston said.

How long until they dispense with the human?

I don't really get why people worry about Clear Channel owning lots of stations. But this is a good example of the market adapting to stupid regulation. Radio stations are mandated to serve local audiences. Well, CC does: digitally. It's a national, localized show.