New Media Player Format??

[redlover73]

Hey guys I just logged on to the stream and noticed that you guys installed a new Media Player (or new look anyway) for Beethoven.com. I must say it look real snazzy! Are there and bells or whistle features that we should be aware of? Does it play better then the last version? Let us know because inquiring minds want to know Thanks for the great music!

[bignaf]

real snazzy.<BR>I'd like to have the "now playing" info on the player though.

[barfle]

Hey, as long as bignaf is making this a "wish list," how about putting the CD art up while the music is playing?<P>The player was pretty stable today, but I did notice a couple of times when it stopped and showed "buffering."

[OperaTenor]

So far the new player seems to be a definite improvement. I actually get to listen long enough for the "Are you still listening?" message to come up, and now it doesn't shut off immediately, it just passively gives a message without interrupting the stream (always seemed to do it right at the wrong time before).<P>It only derailed once today in almost nine hours of play.<P>Thank you b.com for striving to make it better for us listeners! <P>I second the idea of be posting the CD jacket on the player!

[OperaTenor]

The one thing that seems to be an annoyance is when it does derail, upon restarting it goes through the whole obnoxious ad spiel.

[TJRDN]

I understand that you guys have to pay the bills to keep things running. But I find it takes way too long for the broadcast to load up versus the old way when I was able to access the audio fairly quickly. I should add also that I have a high speed internet connection.<P>To add to the above I just tried accessing Beethoven from another website and was able to get a fast connection minus the advertising. I'll refer to this in the future.

[OperaTenor]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by TJRDN:<BR><STRONG> <BR>To add to the above I just tried accessing Beethoven from another website and was able to get a fast connection minus the advertising. I'll refer to this in the future.</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Sorry, I'm dense. What do you mean by that?

[TJRDN]

OT,I'm able to access Beethoven's audio from another website. <A HREF="http://www.comfm.com" TARGET=_blank>www.comfm.com</A> Click on the live radios link. Next click on music link and then hit classical which will then bring you to a listing of classical stations that stream over the net. Scroll down and you will see Beethoven and click on one of the 2 audio links and you can listen without ad interruption. <P>PS I know one of the links will bring you back to Beethoven's website. That is the link you don't want. I found this out through trial and error.

[OperaTenor]

Thanks. It seems to be kind of like using a media player to listen (I found b.com using winamp).<P>Is it me or does the new player seem to be hiccupping more? I haven't noticed any helicoptering though.<p>[ 01-28-2003: Message edited by: operatenor ]

[monkeymd2b]

hmmm...you all must be using windoze computers. I listen to b.com using itunes on my aesthetically pleasing and highly functional powerbook G4. In fact, it was via the itunes radio tuner that I first realized the musical emptiness in my life that was filled by b.com. I only lose the stream every once in a great while and I get the info on what song I'm listening to. It also keeps track of how long I've managed to study though I guess I need to deduct this little break...<p>[ 01-29-2003: Message edited by: monkeymd2b ]

[dkm32]

I kinda like the new Media Player stuff. However...<P>With the old one, I could "pause" the feed and restart it without getting those commercials. I did this by clicking the "stop" icon, then later the "play" icon. It would buffer for a bit, then take off.<P>With the new one, the "stop" takes you out of the Media Player to a window that forces you to watch it re-check your system & re-load the stream and, of cource, listen to the commercials again.<p>[ 01-29-2003: Message edited by: dkm32 ]

[OperaTenor]

Hi mmd2b, I listen through my computer at work, and yes, here we are thralls of the evil empire.<P>To me the relative popularities of Microsoft vs. Apple is a sad commentary on the state of our society, and I'll just leave it at that.

[barfle]

Donna, I guess you're stuck with the volume control, unless you want to use the speakers to hear something else.

[monkeymd2b]

OT, escape now while you still can!!! <P>nah, I really could care less what type of system a computer uses as long as the processor is FAST! yeah, I'm guilty of (moderate) speeding too...I want to through a fit waiting for the school computers to load websites. It's almost like the library is punishing me for using the computers for email instead of journal and book searches (email isn't allowed but we still check it).

[dkm32]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by barfle:<BR><STRONG>Donna, I guess you're stuck with the volume control, unless you want to use the speakers to hear something else. </STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>The reason I want to pause the stream is because I need to download/upload something. I'm using a dial-up modem and the Beethoven Stream and a download/upload just don't work together.

[barfle]

Donna, listening on a dial-up is real dedication! Yes, if you want to do much of anything else with the line, it's a good idea to close down the streaming media.<P>MMD, the processor speed shouldn't have much of an effect on web browsing, unless it's REALLY slow! If you have 100MHz or so, even a T1 line feed won't be slowed down by the processor speed. My experience has been that a lot of people sharing a comm link (maybe a proxy server, router, and/or hub) means you could get a reduction in bandwidth, but almost never does processor speed have a noticeable effect on how fast web pages load. If you have several other things happening (playing a 3D game, for example) that can use up a lot of the processing power and slow things down (I get a glitch in the beethoven stream when I open some programs and the processor usage is 100%) but that should be a pretty rare occurrence.

[dkm32]

My computer power is quite sufficient: 1.8GHz. It's the two tin cans and string that they call a phone company! Out here in the sticks SBC doesn't think there's any need for DSL. And, of course, we also don't have a cable company.<p>[ 01-30-2003: Message edited by: dkm32 ]

[barfle]

Donna, I understand about living in the sticks. No DSL in my neighborhood, either, and I had to get a mini-dish for decent TV. I have a good connection at work, but tieing up our only phone line at home is usually a nono.<P>The remark about processor speed was actually for monkeymd2b (MMD for short 'cause I was lazy).

[dkm32]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by barfle:<BR><STRONG>tieing up our only phone line at home is usually a nono.</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>I agree. That's why I have two sets of tin cans and string. The phone lines are so bad out here that, just for safety reasons, I got the second line. One or the other tends to go bad periodically. So, I have the other to fall back on AND it gives me a line to otherwise dedicate to listening to Beethoven Radio <P>(Cell phones don't work very reliably here so their not a good back up.)

[OperaTenor]

Now Donna, VC isn't exactly on the edge of nowhere! Although, the lack of services out there is amazing, given we're here in the heart of sunny SoCal. <p>[ 01-30-2003: Message edited by: operatenor ]