Wednesday, December 22, 2004
HAH! and WOOHOO!!! Albeit via a very circuitous route.Having recieved no helpful response from yahoo/launch, I joined a launchcast usergroup and left a message asking if anyone else was having a similar problem, as quite a few seemed to be having issues resulting from the unannounced launch updates.
So the forum moderator didn't approve my message, but did email me back saying my station did exist, as he could see and listen to it... and suggested that maybe I was not logged in properly.
I thought "what a load of hogwash", as I'm always logged in... never log out, but went back for another look. Still logged in... still no channel... bollox.
However, just on the offchance, I logged out and logged back in again.... success!!! There it was.
It would seem that the yahoo and launch servers are not quite as tightly linked together as they might be. I must've been logged in on the yahoo servers, but not the launch ones. It shouldn't happen, but clearly it did.
Anyway... I'm now a happy chappy again.
It's quite hard to explain just how upsetting it was to think I'd lost my station. Thing is... my taste in music is quite unusual, and there is absolutely no other place I can go, tv or radio station I can tune into, and be able to hear the music I love, or new music that I've never heard before, but very likely will like.
Without my station, my music collecting, be it on CD or mp3 would simply stop, as I wouldn't know what was good and what wasn't.
For someone who's life pretty much revolves around music... that would be a disaster.
So anyway... that's me sorted and happy again. Better get myself into gear and go get the last of the stuff I need for christmas.
Labels: launchcast, music
Steve 11:13 AM [+] (0) comments
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
ARGH!!!!Fucking assholes.
I got a reply from yahoo/launchcast after I emialed them querying what was happening to my station, and they gave a canned reply telling me to alter my browser settings. Needless to say, this had no effect whatsoever... and now I can't even access the station on yahoo messenger either.
Looks like the bloody halfwits have completely deleted it.
To say I'm furious is something of an understatement.
Labels: annoyed, launchcast, music
Steve 9:11 PM [+] (0) comments
Grrr.
There I was saying Lanchcast had sorted itself out, and now it says my station doesn't exist.
I can still access it from yahoo messenger, but when I go to the website, it gives me the 'create a new station' page... even though I'm logged in.
They better sort that out pronto, or I shall be sending a very stroppy email. After a couple of years fine tuning it, I'm not impressed.
They can't have lost all the settings, or I wouldn't be able to access it from messenger... but damnit. What a fuckup!
Labels: annoyed, launchcast, music
Steve 9:44 AM [+] (0) comments
That was a better day.
I started off seriously grouchy, but by the evening had gotten stuck into a new project which I'm finding highly amusing, and has the potential to raise a few luaghs.
Oh yeah... I was right about Launchcast. It's started accepting my new song ratings again, and has a whole load of new music that wasn't on there before, so I've had it playing pretty much non-stop while I've been awake.
Labels: launchcast, music
Steve 7:37 AM [+] (0) comments
Monday, December 20, 2004
Launchcast seems to be having an odd couple of days.It's refusing to register or record the ratings that I apply to songs, the search facility is down, and about 1000 of my previous song ratings appear to have gone awol.
On the plus side, they appear to have some new material. It just played a song by Siouxsie And The Banshees. I rated them around 2 years ago, but they never got played... as if Launch had the rights, but didn't have the material.
I can only guess that Launch are updating their system, adding new songs, and deleting old stuff. That might account for my missing ratings, if those are tunes that have been removed.
If that's what's happening, it can only be a good thing, as I'm always looking for new tunes to add to my collection, and it's been quite a while since I heard anything where I though "Wow... I gotta get that!"
Labels: launchcast, music
Steve 7:45 AM [+] (0) comments
Sunday, July 25, 2004
Aha!!!So, LaunchCast shut me out of my station part way into the month for exceeding my monthly allotment of tunes, something I've mentioned once or twice before. However...
I've found a way around it (and no, paying for launchcast plus isnt an option, coz you have to be in the US or Canada for that).
I clicked the link to LaunchCast on YahooUK, something I'd never noticed before, where I found my station, with all my usual settings and selections, but with a nice fresh monthly quota just waiting to be used up. Wahay! When that runs out, I'll move on to one of the other national Yahoo sites and try the same thing there.
Labels: launchcast
Steve 5:41 AM [+] (0) comments
Thursday, April 01, 2004
There was something I wanted to blog about, but I've forgotted what it was.Damn.
Anyways, Yahoo are letting me back into my LanchCast station (linked down there on the left as Radio Benway), and after a week or so spent listening to random Winamp stations, noting down bands I like the sound of, I've just added around 500 new songs to my station.
That's pushed my overall ratings level on Launch to over 15,000.
What does that mean? The higher the rating, the more extensive the selection of tunes. This could mean either a wider variety or a tighter focus, depending on the person who made the selection, but what it definitely means is all the tunes played on that station were selected by the owner, and aren't some random pile of crap selected by LaunchCast to fill in the gaps.
Considering I've only ever seen 2 stations with a higher rating, and most stations struggle to get over 2000 - 3000, I'm pretty pleased with it.
Labels: launchcast
Steve 8:42 PM [+] (0) comments
Tuesday, March 23, 2004
I was a bit gutted recently when Yahoo LaunchCast locked me out of my own radio station till the end of the month for exceeding some arbitrary bandwidth allowance. Everyone else can still listen to it... just not me. Bastards.Anyway, having played all my CDs and mp3s to death I went hunting for something new to listen to on winamp. After a night of trawling through assorted industrial techno, trance, goth, 80s retro and whatever other stations, I finally found one that kicks arse.
Super Slut Radio (dodgy name if you ask me) is very similar to my own Launch station in the music it plays. I haven't decided of it's more varied or not yet... but it does play quite a lot of stuff that my own station doesn't, but that I still like. This has to be a good thing, as I can take notes and expand my own playlist.
Anyways... if you wanna check it out, it's probably 3/4 of the way down the radio stations media list, somewhere in the mid 20s listener count. I'd post a link to the homepage, but I can't find one, so you'll just have to go look for it on winamp
Labels: launchcast
Steve 10:35 PM [+] (0) comments
Friday, February 13, 2004
Why you should listen to Benway Radio on Yahoo LaunchCastThe easiest way to explain it is simply to list the bands that are featured on the playlist. Take a look at this little lot and figure it out for yourself.
Belly, David Bowie, Cranes, The Crystal Method, The Cure, The Damned, The Fall, Front Line Assembly, Jane's Addiction, Japan, Joy Division, Leftfield, Love and Rockets, Massive Attack, Nine Inch Nails, Gary Numan, Mary Margaret O'Hara, Portishead, Radiohead, Recoil, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Sisters of Mercy, Talk Talk, This Mortal Coil, Throwing Muses, Lo Fidelity Allstars, Tubeway Army, Tori Amos, The B-52s, Big Country, Kate Bush, Cat Power, The Chemical Brothers, The Creatures, Dead Can Dance, Depeche Mode, Fuzzbox, Peter Gabriel, Kristin Hersh, Mick Karn, Led Zeppelin, Loop, Love Spirals Downwards, Madonna, Alanis Morissette, Orbital, The Sugarcubes, The Sundays, David Sylvian, U2, Underworld, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, A Flock Of Seagulls, Bauhaus, The Cranberries, Everything But The Girl, Front 242, Cyndi Lauper, Nitzer Ebb, The Pixies, The Police, Simple Minds, Skinny Puppy, Spiritualized, The Stone Roses, Fatboy Slim, Grooverider, Nelly Furtado, Autechre, Black Tape For A Blue Girl, Nick Cave and the Badseeds, Sheryl Crow, Curve, The Cult, Ani DiFranco, Gallon Drunk, The KLF, The Mamas and The Papas, Marilyn Manson, Moby, Motorhead, Nirvana, Sinead O'Connor, The Prodigy, Michelle Shocked, Swans, The Thompson Twins, Tones On Tail, The Velvet Underground, John Foxx, The White Stripes, Adam and the Ants, Cocteau Twins, Dirty Three, The Doors, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Lynyrd Skynyrd, R.E.M., Spacemen 3, Tears For Fears, VAST, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, Evanescence, Air, Heidi Berry, Butthole Surfers, Can, The Cramps, Devo, Brian Eno, Faith No More, Finitribe, Future Sound Of London, Gang Of Four, Genesis, Lisa Gerrard, Grandaddy, Hooverphonic, Husker Du, Howard Jones, Juno Reactor, Praga Khan, Killing Joke, KMFDM, Low, Lycia, Mazzy Star, Men At Work, Ministry, Peter Murphy, My Bloody Valentine, Oasis, Pink Floyd, Iggy Pop, Porno For Pyros, Queen, Lou Reed, Ride, Slowdive, Sonic Youth, Spandau Ballet, Strange Cargo, Tangerine Dream, Timelords, Ultravox, Vanessa Williams, Niel Young, Boards Of Canada, Godspeed Your Black Emporor, Death Cab For Cutie, Peace Orchestra, Anthony Pappa, Ladytron, Coldplay, Zero 7, Sigur Ros, Aerogramme, Fischerspooner, Damien Rice, AC/DC, Bjork, The Breaders, Dead Or Alive, Duran Duran, Eels, Human League, Natalie Merchant, New Order, Stina Nordenstam, Prince, Public Image Ltd, Sugar, Talking Heads, Tanya Donelly, Lunatic Calm, Rob Zombie, Paul Oakenfold, Eminem, Susumu Yokota, Trance All Stars, ABC, The American Analog Set, Laurie Anderson, Aphex Twin, Big Black, The Birthday Party, Black Sabbath, Blondie, Bomb The Bass, Boss Hog, Bowery Electric, R.L.Burnside, John Cale, Captain Beefheart, Clannad, Coal Chamber, Phil Collins, Concrete Blonde, Daft Punk, Death In Vegas, Delerium, DJ Krush, Elastica, Eurythmics, Faithless, Fields Of The Nephilim, Filter, Fugazi, Hole, Human Mesh Dance, Billy Idol, James, Janis Joplin, Keoki, Kruder and Dorfmeister, Laika, Leather Strip, Annie Lennox, Suede, Lords Of Acid, MC 5, Meat Loaf, Kylie Minogue, Morcheeba, Bob Mould, Mudhoney, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, Opal, Orchestral Manoeuvers In The Dark, Outkast, Auqustus Pablo, Placebo, Robert Plant, Primal Scream, Project Pitchfork, Rage Against The Machine, Rapeman, Razed In Black, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Roots, Shellac, Shonen Knife, Soundgarden, John Spencer Blues Explosion, Stabbing Westward, Sublime, Suddenly Tammy!, Switchblade Symphony, Tarnation, The Telescopes, Temple Of The Dog, The Orb, Tool, Tortoise, Type O Negative, Weezer, White Zombie, Dar Williams, 13th Floor Elevators, Adam Ant, Olive, Wumpscut, Cirrus, Thievery Corporation, Cold, Buena Vista Social Club, Cursive, DJ Icey, Jude, Funker Vogt, Elf Power, Pammstein, Limp Bizkit, The Cruxshadows, Mono, Apoptygma Berzerk, Covenant, London After Midnight, U.N.K.L.E., At The Drive-In, Deep Dish, Paul Van Dyke, Pedro The Lion, The Beta Band, Sasha, Dido, VNV Nation, Lacuna Coil, Waldeck, Sasha and Digiweed, Groove Armada, Pink, Zenith, MDFMK, A Perfect Circle, The Gunga Din, Le Tigre, The Faint, Thursday, Goldfrapp, Doves, Dzihan and Kamien, Felix Da Housecat, Further Seems Forever, And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Gorillaz, The Shins, Lovage, Kosheen, Clinic, Miss Kittin, Norah Jones, Racermason, David Visan, Dirty Vegas, The Vines, Division Of Laura Lee, T.A.T.U., The Sountrack Of Our Lives, Audioslave, Alexandra Slate, The Raveonettes, The Sonics, Flunk, The Postal Service, The Mars Volta, Abba, Cake, PJ Harvey, Prototype 909, Roxy Music, The Shamen, Tin Machine, Vangelis, World Domination Enterprises, Amon Tobin, Reflection Theory, Marc Bolan, Dire Straits, Gravity Kills, Isaac Hayes, Jimi Hendrix, Lush, Modest Mouse, The Monkees, Henry Rollons, Veruca Salt, Superstar DJ Keoki, Orgy, Loreena McKennitt.....
with more being added all the time.
Check it out HERE. If you have a popup killer, you'll need to disable it for this to work, as the station tuner appears in a popup.
Labels: launchcast, music
Steve 7:51 PM [+] (0) comments
Sunday, October 26, 2003
Oh lookie.Some bright spark has been trying to gain access to my yahoo launchcast account again, and caused it to be locked down.
Sad, sad, sad.
Well, it's not the first time, and probably won't be the last. I've seen it all before.
Chances are it's some silly little kid with attention defecit disorder... so lemme tell you... you'll get bore and go away long before I will.
On an entirely different subject, that advertising banner down at the bottom of this page is rather clever. I'd heard about these new targetted advertising schemes, and it seems the technology really does work. I only mentioned quitting smoking a couple of days ago, and all of a sudden the banner's full of 'quit smoking' remedies and schemes.
Labels: annoyed, launchcast
Steve 9:54 AM [+] (0) comments
Sunday, August 31, 2003
Grrrr!!!I just tried logging into my launchcast station and was refused access due to the number of login attempts having exceeded the set limit. Now since I haven't logged in for days, this says to me someone has been trying to hack into my account.
No doubt some little asshole wants to mess up my playlist. Obviously they didn't manage to get in, but it means though I can listen to my station, I'm unable to edit the playlist till it's unlocked.
Labels: annoyed, launchcast
Steve 10:44 AM [+] (0) comments
Wednesday, April 16, 2003
Finally, the bathroom's finished. A guy came round yesterday and replaced the panels trashed by the last guy, and came back this morning to fit new skirting boards.Time to plug Radio Benway again.
I've been doing a lot of fine tuning over the past month or so, and it's become a very tightly focussed station, and something you really should listen to if your taste in music is remotely on the alternative side.
Yahoo Launchcast have this rating/ranking system that I'm making use of to the absolute max. The more songs/albums/artists that you rate, the higher your Lanchcast ranking... the higher your ranking, the better chance you have of becoming a featured station. So far, I've rated about 4500 items, and need only 500 more to reach the second from top rank of 'Addict', then I'll need to rate another 5000 to reach the top rank of 'Master'.
Being the kinda guy I am, I won't rest untill I've done that. The idea of not having a ranking of Master is quite horrifying to me.
Labels: launchcast, music
Steve 12:49 PM [+] (0) comments
Sunday, March 16, 2003
After a couple of days tweaking, Radio Benway is going from strength to strength. It's now a fairly eclectic mix of alternative, goth, rock, trance, retro and some stuff that defies classification. Call it whatever you like, but it certainly isn't mainstream.I have to say, Launch by yahoo is one of, if not THE best internet service I've come across, and certainly the best music service. Setting up your own free radio station there is so easy, and the selection of available music is enormous.
Brigitte took one look while I was tinkering with my station, and promptly went and set up one of her own.
If you use a popup killer, you'll need to turn it off to listen to these stations, as the console appears in a popup window.
Labels: launchcast
Steve 2:36 PM [+] (0) comments
Saturday, March 15, 2003
Testing Benway RadioSome time back I had a radio station on one of my websites. This was used a great service that allowed me to pick the play list and how often various tracks got played, but sadly the service closed down.
Well, I've just found something similar provided by yahoo. I'm not sure how well, if at all, this will work, but here's a link so you can give it a try.
Click Here
Testing it, things seem to be working quite well, so I'm going to spend quite a bit of time fine tuning it, so the station conforms to my taste in music. Have a listen if you're curious :-)
Labels: launchcast
Steve 12:14 AM [+] (0) comments
The Benway Empire |
 |