80k Ogg Vorbis Stream Added To TheBlast.FM home page: For Blasting On Linux And Elsewhere

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The 80k Ogg Vorbis stream is back on the home page. This is a favorite of some of our Linux Blasters. It pops up in the built-in HTML5 player in Chrome, Firefox, and some other cutting-edge browsers. Launched from Internet Explorer, it will open in Winamp or VLC Player, with full metadata support in the media player. There is no metadata in the HTML5 players in the Chrome and Firefox browsers. Instead, you can get the metadata from our homepage, www.TheBlast.FM. In our re-testing of the player this week, it works much better in Firefox than in Chrome.; Since Winamp support ends December 20th due to AOL giving it the axe, download it while you can at www.winamp.com. It is free. VLC player can be found at www.videolan.org ;It is also free.

Multi-Stream Flash Player Is Now Packed With Streams Again

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The multi-stream flash player is now packed with streams at various bit rates again: 64, 56, 48, 32, 24, 20kbps streams and the post-rapture backup stream are all in there. So you can find just about all of our streams in some fashion on the home page of TheBlast.FM.  This weekend, our main web dev guru is tasked with helping to update the All Streams, All Media Players page and add another one of our streams to the home page.  So, look for those updates soon, and keep it Blasty!

Winamp Is About To Die…But There Are Plenty Of Other Ways To Get Blasted

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AOL, which bought Winamp from its developers Nullsoft…is ending support for the Winamp media player on December 20th.   While Winamp is the media player of choice for some of our desktop and laptop Blasters, there are still plenty of other options:  iTunes, VLC Player, and the flash and flash/HTML5 players on our site.  We'll also be bringing the 80k Ogg Vorbis stream back to the home page shortly, as that is a favorite of Linux users and pops up in the built-in HTML5 player in Chrome and Firefox (with no in-player metadata support…use the display on our website for that). In other browsers, that stream will open up (with in-player metadata) in VLC if you have it on your computer.  iTunes does not support the Ogg Vorbis codec.  

The Ghosts Of Rock And Metal Blast: New Show Airs 7 Days A Week

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This has been a long time coming. We've been bursting at the seams with seldom played, old Blast music and pre-Blast-aged music we used to Blast out regularly.  The older these songs get, the less they play: from Skillet, Project 86, and Pillar songs from earlier in this century… back to the previous century… to even older modern rock and alternative stuff from the mid 1990's…to older hard rock/metal songs from Demon Hunter that used to get regular Blast full format airplay.  "The Ghosts Of Rock And Metal Blast" airs weekdays, for an hour, at 6 pm (USA/Canadian Eastern Time) and weekends, for 2 hours, at 5 pm Eastern.  This replaces "The Classic Alt Blast" which previously aired for 2 hours early Saturday mornings.  We hope you enjoy the show as a nice change of pace on your drive home from work or school in the western hemisphere…or as a change of pace at whatever time it airs in your time zone. 

The Blast IPhone App Update Is Finally Completed

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Look at all those Blast stream choices!  The Blast's iPhone app has finally been updated, joining The Blast's Android app in having 8 live streams and the post-rapture backup stream (too many streams to fit on the screen).  There were all sorts of delays: the hacking of Apple's developer website; The Blast being approved as a developer; transferring our old app to the new developer; our developer aligning its app development with the latest iOS specs; and finally, having our new app approved.  Go to the App Store and get your updated Blast app today!

The Blast Wins National Radio Award

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The Blast has won a national/international radio award on Tuesday night in Orlando, Florida, at the RAIN Internet Radio Awards.  The Blast won in the category of "Best Single Stream Webcaster."

The Blast founder Colin "Cruz" Strombeck is in Orlando to receive the award and says "When we were announced as the winner, I was elated. One person who heard my brief acceptance speech said my smile lit up the room." 

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New Blast iPhone App Is Inching Closer To Reality: It Will Also Have 9 Streams In It

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iPhone Blasters have been waiting patiently the last several weeks while hearing that Android Blasters now have 9 streams to choose from in the new Android app.  Meanwhile, the current iPhone Blast app "only" has 5 streams in it.  What's taking so long to release the new iPhone app?  The causes are: mainly, Apple's developer site was hacked about 6 weeks ago or so and that has delayed the release of a lot of apps, and it's delayed new developers from getting in the game.  The Blast has just been approved for a developer license, so once that is finalized, we will be ready to submit the new app for approval…which can be another relatively long delay.  But!   It's coming.  Soon.   Users of other smart phone types have been crying out for an app, but funds for new projects are currently dried up, so if you want to help towards that cause, you can give here:  http://www.theblast.fm/wp/donations/

The Blast Is A Finalist In The Single Stream Webcaster Category in RAIN Internet Radio Awards

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What do ESPN Radio, Pandora, iHeart, Slacker, TuneIn Radio and The Blast have in common?  All of these entities are finalists in at least one of the categories of the RAIN (Radio And Internet Newsletter) Internet Radio Awards 2013, which will be held at the RAIN Summit in Orlando, Tuesday September 17th. 

This is the second time The Blast has been a finalist.  It was a top 5 finalist in 2011, the only other year The Blast entered the contest, and this year it is a Top 3 finalist in the category of "Best Single Stream Webcaster".  

While The Blast simulcasts a bunch of streams at various bit rates (to suit various intenet connection speeds, data plans, and bandwidth usage limits), it only has 1 stream of original content.  

Here is the link to the story on RAIN's website:  http://kurthanson.com/category/issue-title/9913-here-are-finalists-2013-rain-internet-radio-awards

A quick trip to Orlando was not in the budget.  We skipped the first awards ceremony we were nominated for, for that reason.  Who would like to send our founder to this ceremony and RAIN Summit?  You can make a secure online tax-deductible donation here:  http://www.theblast.fm/wp/donations/

Multi-Stream Flash Player Issues

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We're following an issue regarding the Multi-Stream Flash Player.  Right now it seems to always work in Firefox, however the Flash Plugin in Chrome and Internet Explorer seems to be an issue and it is causing the player not to load.  That's the theory at the moment.  The fix, is to clear your cache, specifically your plugin data.  Once reset, please try the player again.  If it keeps failing, please email webmaster@theblast.fm and tell us as much as you can about the browser you are using and what steps you've taken.  

Intermittent Routing Issues on 64k, 32k Streams Today; Use 56k, 48k, 24k Streams If Needed

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Today, we've had some intermittent internet routing issues between our sending data center and the Virginia data center that hosts the 64k and 32k streams, causing dead air on those streams at times.  If you experience this in one of our apps or in the multi-stream flash player on the website, switch to our 56k, 48k, or 24k AAC+ streams, as those are hosted in different locations than the affected streams.