So, what do you do when you have tons of homework and a test in the morning? Study? No way…you watch karaoke!

Winamp 5.0 is a surprise, with support for streaming Internet radio and television. But this isn’t your parents’ radio and television. This is content created by amateurs and independents, finding their outlet in cyberspace.

The karaoke is streaming video from bars like the “7 Bamboo Karaoke Lounge” in San Jose, California, USA. The quality is surprisingly good, with the feed coming in at 720 by 480 pixels and 15 frames per second. I’m pretty sure the feed is not live because of the careful editing between tunes, but it may be live at other times.

This underground revolution is taking me away from mainstream entertainment (besides my homework). I’ll have more to say about this later, but my assignment to you is to start thinking about what this revolution might mean. Where is it heading? I’ve got a few ideas…but now it is time for karaoke. I mean my homework.