Recently, I’ve been playing with different ways of listening to media over the web (see a recent post on the Flash Radio for more). MP3s are out of the question, as they tend to chew through bandwidth, and I can’t necessarily store them wherever I am.

I can see two reasonable options: Real player and Flash.

First up, Real player pros:

• Established for a long time. This means that there are thousands of files to pick from on the web, covering every genre. This is obviously a big plus.
• The player is a proper application, which gives the UI consistency you would expect between listening to different files, i.e. it doesn’t matter which stream you listen to today, the UI is always the same.
• Live streams are possible, rather than being restricted to prerecorded audio.

Cons:

• The player itself is garbage. The Windows version has long been associated with adware, spyware, bloatedness and other assorted nasties. I’ve heard nothing but disparaging remarks from Mac users, and the Linux version is dreadful (more on that within the next few days).
• Quality varies dramatically. Most modern streams are fine, but some older streams are unlistenably bad (optimised for dialup).
• Trust. Because of aforementioned problems with the player, a lot of users simply do not trust Real and would rather stay away from the software all together.
• Application launching. Although this allows for consistency in the UI, it doesn’t allow for consistency with a website. Whether this is a major hassle or not is up to the web designers (should they choose to take embedding streams seriously at some point). Components to do this are already available, but most sites don’t bother.

This is not an exhaustive list, what other pros and cons exist?

The final pub crawl is one devised by myself and Derek in an entirely immature moment, and the route will be given below. If you want to see the childish humour at work, get a map of glasgow out and figure out the shape. It’s a comparatively mild route for drinking but takes in a fairly wide range of pub. Drink in each one. Pubs (and some of the intermediary route) are listed, but not complete. Visit as many as you can that you pass:

• Solid Rock Cafe on Hope Street (easily accessed by either bus or train, being next to Central).
• Sir John Moore.
• A trip down Roberston St.
• Casino on the Clyde (if you fancy a quick hand).
• Along Clyde Street to Barfly.
• Fat Boab’s.
• Times Square.
• Goose on Union Street (passing the Cathouse, if you wish to start elsewhere and end here).
• Foquets.
• Drum And Monkey
• Edwards.
• Revolution (“for the vodka connoisseur”).
• Flares (the highest point, but it is a nightclub).
• Rufus T. Firefly’s.
• Otis B. Driftwood (no, it’s not cheating).
• Candy Bar.
• Cosmopol.
• Solid Rock Cafe (closing the circuit).

Since the route is closed, you can start and end wherever you like. Depending on your clubbing whims, you may wish to end near Union street (handy for Sub Club and the Cathouse) or Sauchiehall Street (Garage, etc). Although, if you end at Solid Rock Cafe, you can dart along Union Street (taking in 2 more pubs) and get to Union Street in minutes.

I can’t personally verify the quality of all those bars but by the time you’re halfway round I’m sure it won’t matter.

One time bastion of students and indie kids (Belle And Sebastian have been known to busk there), Ashton Lane is now full of slighty more expensive bars and pubs. While the cost of drinking has risen, there is still fun to be had in the tiny West End street.

The challenge: you have 30 minutes to visit (and drink in) as many pubs, bars or restaurants in Ashton Lane as you possibly can. Start and end where you like, but half an hour is the time limit. Because the area is quite small, getting between the pubs is not difficult but hitting them all in time is much harder.

A good one, but be warned that it is also the most expensive crawl so far.

Another pub crawl, this time entirely in the city centre of Glasgow, is the Sauchiehall Crawl. It takes a very different approach to the Subcrawl, and is more of a challenge.

The concept is this: start at the Buchannan Galleries end of Sauchiehall Street (you will have no trouble finding it) and get to Driftwood within an hour. As a walk, it’d be easily achievable (10 minutes or so?). You must, however, have a drink in as many pubs as you possibly can along the way (there are plenty to choose from). You judge the crawl based on the number you manage to get to inside an hour. If you make it to Driftwood late, you lose.

An interesting speed crawl, leaving you poised perfectly for getting to several clubs and bars, or heading into the West End. The West End, of course, will be the venue for pub crawl 3.

A series of posts on pub crawls in the fine city of Glasgow could not be started with anything other than the mighty Subcrawl. Otherwise known as the Clockwork Orange, it’s a bit of a big one.

For those who have never heard of it (or been to Glasgow), the premise is simple: Glasgow has a 15 stop, circular underground. The idea is to get off at every stop, go to the nearest pub and have a drink. A great way of getting the full flavour of Glasgow (seeing pubs all over the place), but with some problems.

First, you should aim to clear Govan, Ibrox and Kinning Park as quickly as possible. Not the best of areas, especially for non-regulars or tourists. Secondly, you miss the East End, Merchant City, and some other nice areas of the city. Not that the Subcrawl will give you a chance for sightseeing, since you’ll be rushing around the underground.

The whole thing takes up to 10 hours (for large groups, with a food stop) so will wipe out an entire day from pub opening, but well worth the effort.