Friday, June 4, 2010

ROBBLOG W E E K E N D Edition #80

I have been in a conundrum of sorts the past month or so.
My knickers have been in a tighty whitey twist!
I have had a decision to make and I have made part of it- at least.
However, it didn’t come without a bit of thinking.

At this point in time, I have decided to keep the Swisssh Website on the Net. The domain name was up for renewal. Then, next month the annual server fees for the website come due. If I were to give up the domain name, someone would buy it and hold it for ransom. Then if I wanted to use it again, I would have to pay the company holding the name an exorbitant amount to get it back. Such is the Net. Since I have a goodly number of hits a month on the Swisssh Website, it wouldn’t be cheap.
I renewed the domain name.

It’s not the first time I have decided to “review the situation”. Swisssh takes up a lot of my time. It has evolved over the past 4 years (Birth date: July 20, 2006). Swisssh is not the fanciest website on the block. I’m still using the same programme to put the site together and upload it to my server that I always have. It does limit doing some of the “fancy” things other websites do- but it uploads fast. I am familiar with what I can do.
I can make changes and additions quickly and still keep it fairly simple and straightforward.
I have changed the look of the site a lot since January.
The biggest change?
Now readers see just one page instead of four- coupled with the fact the page is called the Swisssh Radio Page. The other changes you may have noticed already.
Basically- less stuff.
So, I’ll keep “swissshing” for now.

The other half of the decision- my conundrum, is regarding Swisssh Radio. Swisssh Radio was three back on March 7th. I enjoy Swisssh. I like the music.
I should. I chose every song. I should like listening to it- shouldn’t I?
I have also reviewed the positives and negatives of running an Internet Station before in much the same way I consider the advantages or disadvantages of the website.
Sometimes I get new ideas. Sometimes I leave it the same. I think it’s rather healthy to re-assess from time to time.

I haven’t entirely considered Swisssh Radio’s future at this point. There’s a good chance it will stay on the Internet Airwaves but that is my decision alone. Two things have made the decision more difficult this time around.

First of all money is a consideration. I pay for two servers every month. That allows people like you to listen. If I don’t get advertising or donations, I end up paying it myself each month. That’s not too bad but if I need to update equipment it becomes costlier.

Secondly, a few weeks ago, I received an e-mail that made me feel incredibly bad.
A portion of the e-mail I received said this:

“ Swisssh Radio sounds awful.
You have a problem. It's over-modulated and well... swissshy.
I'm not making this up.
Two tin cans strung together with string and a cat in heat singing
from one end would sound better, though granted, not as entertaining.
Did I say "swissshy"?
Add "muggy" to that list also.”

Needless to say, I was taken aback. This was from someone I repected. I have Swisssh tuned in all day long on an Internet Radio. It always sounds good to me.
Maybe I have a tin ear.
Maybe the sound of cats in heat is like a Beethoven Symphony to me.
Perhaps I like muggy, over-modulated, swissshy sounding radio.
I asked a friend- who has helped me with technical problems since the birth of Swisssh Radio, to listen. I just asked him to listen to see if Swisssh “sounded” Good to him.
I didn’t tell him I received the e-mail.
He did listen one day- all day.
He couldn’t hear anything wrong.
I e-mailed a few friends.
They all said the same thing.
“Sounds good to me”.
One friend listens through a surround sound and wondered what she should be listening for.
I said- “I don’t know.”

Now this person who sent the e-mail may read this blog.
I want the sender to know that I am not adverse to hearing comments good or bad but this series of negative remarks was just a huge “kick in the balls!”
It really brought me down. I agonized about the sound for days.
Just ask Tom. I drove him nuts!

I don’t have unlimited funds to add a bunch of fancy-dancy equipment. I know the author is in the same “dinghy” in this ocean of sound called Radio.

I have a 64k player and a 128k player on the Swisssh Website. It was suggested I try a 192k player. I honestly don’t think many of my listeners would detect the difference. After all Swisssh Radio is not on the Net for “audiophiles.” I appreciate that there are stations out there at 192k- but there’s a heavy duty price to pay per month to broadcast T 192k.

So, I am still thinking about Swisssh Radio’s future.
 Maybe eventually the Copyright Board will bring all net stations to their knees.
Maybe when SOCAN actually forces Tariff 22 to include Internet Radio- which is not mentioned in the tariff currently, that will be the death knell.

In the meantime, I can pull the plug on Swisssh Radio myself. It just takes a second in the studio to push one button. Maybe I will one day when I feel right about it.
You’ll hear the dead air.
I certainly would have a lot of free time to do other things, however, a guy has to have a hobby- doesn’t he?

Stay tuned!