News & Updates Archive
May 23, 2007
I've got the new machine configured correctly and our suspension has been lifted. So, we're finally back up and streaming. Sorry for all the confusion.
May 21, 2007
Apparently, I misconfigured something when setting up the new box. I was streaming at 96k while we've only purchased 56k through our streaming provider. So, our account has been temporarily suspended until I get it fixed, which will happen tonight. Argh.
May 20, 2007
The stream is up again! It's not done, but it's up and you can listen to it. Let us know if you have any troubles with the new setup.
May 14, 2007
The streaming server was dead dead. So, I'm taking this opportunity to get rid of my last windows machine and setting up a new streaming server running on Debian Linux. So far, I've got it setup to stream and play music. I still need to setup the playlist and figure out how to make it update the now playing line above. I'll probably not bother having it post into the chatroom anymore. I'll post again when it's back up completely.
May 8, 2007
I guess I spoke too soon. The server has died again, so apparently there was more wrong with it than just the power supply fan (or the overheating actually damaged something...). That machine is pretty old, so I guess it's time to switch to a new box. I'll post here when it's alive again (again).
May 8, 2007
I've replaced the fan on the streaming server, so the stream is finally back up! Sorry for taking so long.
Apr 30, 2007
The fan in our streaming server's power supply died over the weekend. The inevitable overheating caused the machine to crash. I'm going to be replacing the busted fan tonight, so the stream should be back up then. I'll post an update here when it's going. --Ben
Mar 31, 2007
Yikes! It's been months since we posted anything. I don't have much of anything to say, except that I've been working (off and on...) on a redesign of the site and a new playlist system that should keep the stream more fresh. Stay tuned...
Dec 23, 2006
I finally moved the streaming server to our new 'headquarters.' This means that requests and the 'now playing' line in the site header are now working. Sorry for the long delay.
Nov 30, 2006
The stream is up and running in its temporary location. The move is ongoing...
Nov 28, 2006
The TPE headquarters (currently in the basement of my house) is moving to a new location (the basement of my new house). I'm moving the streaming server to a temporary location (the basement of my parents' house) until the internet is connected at our new place. The stream will be down for the next several hours until I am able to get it hooked up at my parents' house. I'll post here when it's back up and running.
Nov 9, 2006
I'm working on some pretty major changes to the site with some new features as well as the return of some old features that went away. Most of the new stuff is geared towards making the site be a little more dynamic and not appear to be stagnating for months on end. So, there's something to look forward to.
In the interim, go read my review of the Beautiful South concert that Cyndi and I attended last week.
Oct 15, 2006
You may have noticed that the site has been broken for about a week. Sorry about that. We had a new search engine spider hitting all of our request links filling our queue with random songs. When I added it to the request blacklist, I forgot a } in the code and then forgot to check the site. Then, I spent the week in New York and didn't have a chance to visit the site or read the forums (where a couple of helpful listeners posted about the problem), so it sat broken for a week. It's fixed now (obviously...).
Sep 10, 2006
We're in the process of moving thepavedearth.com to a new server. If you're seeing this message, you're viewing the site on the new server. Please let us know if you find any problems.
Sep 10, 2006
The stream is back up. It's actually been back up since Friday, but I forgot to post about it.
Sep 8, 2006
The pAved headquarters' internet connection has gone all wonky, as in disconnected. So, the stream is currently down. This also has negative implications for the show planned for tonight...
Sep 1, 2006
It's on! An all new live episode of Pave the Earth Radio. It's been forever, so tune in tonight at 9 eastern for all the wild hijinks and hootenanny.
Aug 29, 2006
Listener John alerted us to the fact that our new link to the 56k stream was broken. It's fixed now, so if you had problems connecting yesterday, give it another shot. It should work.
Aug 28, 2006
We have dropped the 24k stream. It sounded like crap, no one listened to it, and it cost us money. So, it's gone.
So long, 24k stream; you've served us well. Alright, not all that well...
Also, we've switched stream providers, so please let us know if you encounter any weirdness when connecting or listening to the stream. Thanks.
Jul 9, 2006
It's been a while since we last added some new music into our rotation. Sorry about that. We're totally weak. We actually have added some since we last posted about it, but we just never got around to announcing it. You know how that goes...
But, it's all better now. I've just added a bunch of music. First up is The Capes. You may remember when we added their promotional EP a while ago; it was the first time we added a promotional CD that we received into our rotation. Since then they've come out with their first full-length CD titled Hello. It's a great CD that is even better than the promo EP, so I've added several songs from it.
Second up is Duvall. You may or may not know that Duvall is the band that the lead singer of the Smoking Popes formed before the glorious reuniting of the Popes themselves. The Popes had broken up so that he could devote himself more fully to his religion. I see Duvall as the stepping stone between singing in the choir and the Smoking Popes; it sounds like and rocks out like the Popes, but has a more religious (although mostly not overtly) bent. As far as I know, they only ever put out this one album, Volume & Density.
Speaking of the Smoking Popes...they've got a new live album out. It was recorded at their first concert after reuniting. Since it's a live album I'm not adding too many from it, but there are a couple songs whose live versions are so different from the originals that they really deserve to be in rotation.
Last but certainly not least, is the all-powerful Morrissey. His new album Ringleader of the Tormentors inspired quite the debate on a recent episode of Pave the Earth Radio. Mainly, the debate was whether ROTT was better than his last album You Are the Quarry. We didn't come to agreement on that topic that night, but either way, the album's great. I've added most of it into rotation.
So, there you go. A bunch of new music to listen for here on the pAved earth.
Jun 19, 2006
Our technical difficulties have been remedied. The streams are back up. If you're still encountering problems, please post a note in the Tech Support forum.
Jun 19, 2006
We're having technical difficulties. Apparently, our dynamic DNS provider, dynDNS.com, has removed our account or something. This means that the relay servers are unable to find our main stream. I'm working on it and will post an update here when it's back up.
Jun 12, 2006
As promised, Friday's episode of Pave the Earth Radio is now available through our podcast. See? We can be trusted sometimes!
And, as an extra bonus, we have posted a photo that Rrrob took during the broadcast. You can see it in our neglected photos page.
Jun 9, 2006
I know it's lame posting the contents of The FITS to the home page two weeks in a row, but what can I say? I'm lame. Anyway, here's what was just sent out to the mailing list:
Hi everyone,
Ok, so last week we ended up not doing a show. We are jerks who abused your trust and have been severely reprimanded. We promise to never do it again.
In an effort to re-earn your trust, we propose the following:
You tune in tonight starting around 9 p.m. eastern, and we'll put on an all-new live episode of Pave the Earth Radio, complete with Andy, Ben, and probably Rrrob. There may even be a super-secret surprise guest. It will be a good show; we're having pancakes beforehand, so we'll be all hopped up on Mrs. Butterworth's and bacon. Also, you can join our lame chat and berate us mercilessly, if you're not satisfied that we've suffered enough for what we've done.
We hope that you can forgive us and we can go forward together as friends. We understand that our relationship will be a little strained for awhile, but we know that if you will but give us one more chance, everything will be better. We can change; we promise.
In other news, we're now podcasting! All of our live shows will now be available as a podcast shortly after they're broadcast. This is a good way to keep up with our horribly sporadic live show schedule; just add them to your list of podcasts, and when we do a show, they'll show up automatically through the magic of the internets.
Here's the link to the feed:
Just add that to your podcast client (probably iTunes) to get our shows automatically. If you have any problems with this, please post in our tech support forum on our message board.
Jun 2, 2006
The following dispatch has just been released to our super-secret mailing list of the ultra-powerful:
It's been forever since we did a show. Travel and scheduling conflicts have conspired for months to make it so. But, that all changes tonight! Not only are we doing a show, but we'll be joined in-studio by a new, never-heard-on-TPE guest (who will be making lasagna beforehand). As always, it will be a good show. So, blow off your Friday night plans and tune in! (as if you've got plans anyway...)
The show starts at 9 p.m. eastern.
Mar 17, 2006
Shocking news! There will be another live episode of Pave the Earth Radio tonight! Yep, you read right--two episodes in a row! You've got 6 hours to let that sink in at which point it will be time to tune in, join chat, and listen to the show. So far, Andy and Ben are confirmed for tonight; Andy's giving Rob a call, so there's a pretty good chance he'll be there as well. Also, Andy is bringing a secret guest.
The show starts at 9 p.m. eastern. Click one of the 'tune in' links above to listen.
Mar 10, 2006
Again, Andy has taken a break from his gallavanting around the world in order to bring you (with Rrrob and I (ben), of course) an all-new episode of Pave the Earth Radio! It's been a month and a half since our last show, so there is a ton of stuff to talk about: Andy's head-smashing as he tries to convert the bushmen to Hinduism (no idea why, Andy isn't Hindu and he has an unswerving hatred of the bushmen), Rob's rash, the Smoking Popes concert that I attended, music, technology, politics; the whole bit.
The show starts at 9 pm eastern tonight. Click one of the tune-in links at the top of the page to listen, and be sure to join us in our lame chatroom.
Jan 27, 2006
Andy just got back into town and so there is a possibility we'll do a live episode of Pave the Earth Radio tonight. I say possibility because his exact words, when asking if I wanted to do a show, were something like "If I'm conscious, do you want to do a show tonight?". I've also talked to Rrrob, and he's in. So, I guess that even if Andy is less than conscious, Rrrob and I could do a show. Maybe we could even get Cyndi to finally sit in...
Anyway, even though the plans are somewhat less than concrete, I wanted to post to let everyone know just in case. I'll update this post once the plans solidify one way or the other.
If we do a show, it'll be our first since November, so it should be pretty good. It'd start around 9 P.M. eastern. Your best bet is to just tune in to the station right now, and then never disconnect. That way, there's no possibility of missing the show.
Maybe, I'll even get the webcam up and running...
Hmmm. There sure are a lot of maybes and ellipses in this post. Maybe I should edit it...
Nov 11, 2005
Well, it looks like we'll be doing a live show tonight. So, be sure to tune in starting around 9 eastern tonight, for hijinks, hiliarity, and a rather disturbing tale from me, ben. I'm in a rush, so this update's pretty weak. Sorry.
Oct 30, 2005
I upgraded our content management system today. So, there may be some bugs in the site that I haven't found yet. If you find one, and feel so inclined, please post a note in the tech support forum.
Oct 17, 2005
The contact form on the Contact Us page has been broken for a while. I've just fixed it. I know this isn't a very exciting entry.
Oct 14, 2005
Last week's show was such a hit, that we decided to go crazy and do another one. Andy and Ben will be here, with Rrob a possibility. He's got 'a thing' to do. No word on what 'the thing' is, but I have a hunch it's a hit on this guy who has been stepping on Rrob's toes. That's right...You know what I'm talking about.
So, you better tune in tonight at 9 eastern, or we'll send Rrob to your house. And then he'll take you to his dance class.
Oct 8, 2005
Thanks to everyone who tuned in for last night's episode of Pave the Earth Radio. We discussed a myriad of topics, disected Serenity, and generally did what we always do: crack lame jokes until we either geek out (and drive all the listeners away) or the Mountain Dew-induced high leaves us and we come crashing down to the non-caffeinated rocks below. The show lasted until about 1:30 AM, and some of you stuck with us the whole time. We're planning on another show next Friday night, so hope to see you then.
In other news, I've just re-added the form to sign up for the FITS, our e-mail newsletter. We only use it to announce live shows and new features on the site, so it's not really intrusive or anything. So, sign up and know when to avoid listening. You can sign up to the left on the homepage, or through the FITS link at the bottom of every page. --ben
Oct 7, 2005
The ever traveling Andy has returned, which means that there will be a new episode of Pave the Earth Radio tonight! Andy, Rrrob, and Ben will all be there, with much to talk about, so it should be a good show. So, tune in using the buttons at the top of every page. The show will start around 9 P.M. eastern.
Aug 30, 2005
Here at the pAved earth, we get a fair amount of promo cds, mainly from indie bands and labels. So far, we have yet to add one of them to our playlist. Usually, either they really really suck., or they're a completely different type of music from what we play.
But, that all changed with the arrival of promo cds Taste from The Capes, and Just Wait from The Jane Anchor. Both are great pop albums that fit perfectly in with our collection, so I've added 4 songs from Taste (out of 6 on the EP) and 4 from Just Wait (all 4 on the EP) to our regular rotation. For more info, check out The Jane Anchor's official site, or this review of Taste.
Aug 18, 2005
I just added 3 new bands to the rotation: Noise for Pretend, PlusMinus, and Earlimart. I found them all on Emusic (although I think Andy had found Earlimart previously). I don't know much about any of them, only that after listening to them I liked them enough to not delete them.
Aug 16, 2005
I've added some new Cinerama and Wedding Present to the rotation. OK, the Cinerama's not really 'new' per se, but it's new to us. It's the most recent b-side collection, Cinerama Holiday. The Wedding Present album is actually newish (released this year), titled Take Fountain. I've just finished going through both, and they're both great. Funny note about Take Fountain: when they entered the studio, they were planning to record the new Cinerama album, but after hearing it, they decided it was really a Wedding Present album (they're basically the same band).
Aug 12, 2005
We will be doing a live episode of Pave the Earth Radio tonight. So far, Andy and Ben are confirmed, while we're still waiting to hear from Rrrob (who is apparently too busy to check the message board every 10 minutes; the nerve of some people!). And as a special treat, one of our two longest-time listeners, Melli, is in town and will be joining us in studio for the show tonight (the other longest-time listener is Carrie, who we thought we had lost forever until a recent post on the message board; welcome back Carrie!)
So, the show should be good. So, tune in, request away, and join in the converation in our lame chat. The show starts around 9 p.m. eastern; hope to see you there.
Aug 8, 2005
There was a bug in the request code that would only allow 3 requests per 9 minutes at all, instead of 3 requests per 9 minutes per person. For more info, see the forum thread about this. That bug has been fixed. You should now be able to request normally.
Jun 30, 2005
Rrrob is back from exile and will be taking back the web Friday night on an all-new live episode of Pave the Earth Radio! In addition, Andy is back, too! So, for the first time in about a year, all 3 living members of the pAved earth will be in the studio. We will undoubtedly discuss deep and heady topics such as: politics, technology, music, and hideous space locusts -- all with our patented lack of knowledge and patent-pending miniscule intellects!
So, tune in Friday night at 9 p.m. (eastern time) for the show. Of course, we'd love for you to join us in our lame chat room during the show. For more info (not really info, per se, so much as more text), click on the locusts link above.
Jun 27, 2005
I've just added a self-titled LP from Ambulance LTD to the rotation. They were introduced to me by the same guy who introduced Stellastar, and they're pretty good. Listen for them in the stream.
Jun 16, 2005
I (ben) have launched a blog entitled furiousBlog. Rrrob has had a blog for quite a while now entitled Genetic Synonymic (well, actually, it used to be called Generic Synthetic, but was recently changed -- I typically just refer to it as gensyn). How does this relate to the pAved earth? Not very closely!
But, we do have our ideology section of the site, where the motto used to be 'steal our ideas and impress your friends', but has been somewhat neglected of late. So, since some of us on TPE are expressing our ideas, I decided that it'd be a good thing to assimilate them into the ideology page to give it a little life.
Why, you may ask, did I not link to Rrrob's blog before? Why did I wait until I had my own blog that I wanted to get people to visit? The answer is obviously that I am a selfish inconsiderate jerk. Happy?
While you're thinking about blogs, you may want to check out the blogs of a couple of our friends: the poo, and Gary. See? I'm not so inconsiderate as you jerks think.
Jun 14, 2005
I've just added the self-titled cd from Stellastarr to the rotation. I haven't updated the request pages yet, so for now, you'll just be able to hear them in the normal rotation. I've got a bunch more stuff to add, but need to organize it better, first. Once I do that and get it into rotation, I'll get the request pages updated.
May 31, 2005
Ok, I know we've been through this before, but it's still exciting. The best part about the pAved earth, in my opinion at least, is our Crap Music On-Demand request system. And it's been down for a couple of months due to a change in our content management system (really it's due to the fact that I didn't pay attention to the fact that this change had happened while upgrading and broke the request module that I had written). But tonight, I got off my lazy butt and fixed the requests! So get over there and request away! We've got around 17 or 18,000 songs these days, so there's plenty to choose from -- probably even some cool new stuff you haven't heard.
There are a few little bugs still in the requests, but they seem to be back where they were when I broke them, which is about 90% working. In rethinking the remaining bugs, I still can't figure out what may be causing them. Oh well, they'll get worked out at some point...
May 13, 2005
That's right! Another new episode of Pave the Earth Radio tonight! It's an awe-inspiring sight, er, sound. So, tune in tonight at 9 eastern. While you're at it, join us in the chatroom, too. --Ben
May 6, 2005
Andy's back, so there will be an episode of Pave the Earth Radio tonight. So, be sure to tune in. The show starts at 9 p.m. eastern.
Also, the New Music on TPE page is working now.
May 5, 2005
Alright, the New Music page I just posted about doesn't seem to be working. But, I am very very tired. So, it will have to wait until tomorrow to be fixed. --ben
May 5, 2005
Andy's been wanting a page on the site where we can post a note whenever we've added new music to the station. I finally got around to setting it up. When we add music, we'll make a post about it. It'll show up both here on the home page and on the new 'New Music on TPE' page. The new music page will just have the new music posts, and as such, will be easier to go back though to see what music we've added over time.
This is actually the first new music post. A few
weeks ago, we added The Delgados (who I think just broke up), One AM
Radio, and an EP by the French. Tonight, I added several albums
including a few from Heavenly, two from the Decemberists, and one from
the Arcade Fire. I got the Decemberists and the Arcade Fire set
up in the normal rotation. I also added a Bjork tribute cd
featuring the Decemberists and Kind of Like Spitting. I haven't
listened to all of it, but what I heard was great. --ben
May 5, 2005
There will be a new episode of Fetid Cheese (Q.R.V.) tonight. I've got some new music including the Arcade Fire and Heavenly that I'll be playing. The show starts at 9 p.m. eastern. Hope to see you there. If you tune in, be sure to go into the chatroom by clicking on the 'Lame Chat' link at the bottom of the page. --ben
Apr 7, 2005
During my show tonight, I got the lame chat room back up and running. So, tomorrow night, when you're listening to the show, you can get into chat easier. Lucky you.
Apr 7, 2005
There will be an episode of Fetid Cheese (Q.R.V.) tonight. That's right, after a literal eternity, I (ben) will be doing a show. Since it's quite possible that you've never heard one of my live shows, you should check out the link earlier in this paragraph, and then be sure to tune in. The show will start at 9 p.m. EST. I've been listening to a lot of Hefner, Modest Mouse, and The Postal Service recently, so they'll probably figure heavily into tonight's playlist.
Also, Andy and I (ben) will be doing a live episode of Pave the Earth Radio
tomorrow night. It will be (I think) the last show for at least a
few weeks, since Andy (I think) will be travelling again starting next
week. So, tune in for that, too. It also starts at 9(ish)
EST.
Apr 2, 2005
We've finally switched away from ezboard for our forums. We're now using PhpBB to run them. It's hosted on our own server, there's no ads, and there's a lot more cool stuff we can do with it. Not that we will, but we could.
Over time we've
gotten away from referring to the forums as Agnes. Why Agnes, you
ask? Well, you see, when we first started the pAved earth, we
were using this horrible remotely-hosted message board solution that
was called Agnes. I have no idea why. So, we got used to
referring to it as Agnes, and even when we switched over to ezboard, we
still called it agnes. But, like I said, that has faded over
time. So, as a small but lasting homage to our fallen message
boards of yesteryear (yesterday in the case of ezboard), I have
assigned the new message board the URL of agnes.thepavedearth.com. So, please stop in and say hello. --Ben
Apr 2, 2005
The paved earth is moving to a new server (again). Luckily,
this time it's from one Linux machine to another, so I won't have to
rewrite the site all over again. Also, since we've started using
CMS Made Simple, the transition will go much smoother. In fact,
if you're reading this, you're already looking at the site on the new
server. --Ben
Apr 2, 2005
You know all that stuff I said in the post about the show last week (2 down from this post)? Yeah? Well imagine it was actually about a show tonight.
There will be a show tonight. Andy & I have
discussed it and I'm not planning on being gone when he gets here
(which is what happened last week). So, barring a flood (actually
a possibility),
you should tune in and listen tonight. The show starts at around
9 p.m. eastern. If you find yourself trapped in a flood with
absolutely no chance of survival, you should tune in, so that your last
minutes on earth can be filled with the merry revely that is the
trademark of a live episode of Pave the Earth Radio.
Mar 25, 2005
If you've been paying attention, you've noticed that there have been some live shows over the past week. Last Friday, there was a pseudo-episode of Pave the Earth Radio. Then on Wednesday, Andy played 'Dear Catastrophe Waitress', the latest album from Belle & Sebastian. Tonight, we'll be doing another new episode of Pave the Earth Radio. Show will start around 9-ish p.m. eastern, and will feature Andy & Ben making noise into mics which, in theory, could be interesting and/or funny. So, tune in!
Mar 22, 2005
I fixed most of the problems with the new CMS. Sadly, there is still one lingering problem: the requests. CMS changed their module interface between versions 8 & 9 (we were going from 8.2 to 9.2 I think), and it broke my requests module. So, when I get a chance, I'll update it to the new module interface.
While fixing the site, I stumbled across the option to make the news available as an RSS feed, so I turned that on. I seem to remember seeing it before, but I can't remember if I ever messed around with it. So, there you go; no requests, but you get an RSS feed. Pretty crappy deal. You should get a better agent.
Mar 19, 2005
I attempted to upgrade our site to the newer version of CMS Made Simple, but something went wrong. So, currently the only things working are the home page, the forums, and the streams. I don't have time right now to dig into the problem, so it'll probably be busted until tomorrow. --ben
Mar 19, 2005
Last night, after finally getting our new mixer hooked up, we went through some of the backlog of music waiting to be added into the stream. We ended up deleting some stuff that totally sucked, and added a few albums into the normal rotation. The new stuff added included the latest from Modest Mouse and Belle & Sebastion. --ben
Mar 18, 2005
Andy is once again back in town and is coming by the 'studio' tonight. But, our new mixer still isn't hooked up, so if we can figure it out quickly enough, there may be a show. The only way to know for sure is to tune in tonight at 9 eastern. You may hear a show, you may hear music, you may hear random testing. In all cases, definitely the best way to spend your Friday night.
Also, there has recently been an upsurge of posting on Agnes, our message board (I guess the menu says forums now, oh well). So, visit the forums and say hello, comment on how cool or pathetic you thing Kurt Cobain is, or vote for your favorite band in a horribly biased poll. --Ben
Jan 6, 2005
Due to the unexpected return of Andy, the world traveler, the pAved earth is proud to announce that tomorrow night, Friday, January 7, will herald a new episode of Pave the Earth Radio. So, be sure to tune in around 9:00 p.m. eastern.
Jan 3, 2005
The holidays are over! Hopefully this will mean that I'll have time to get back to working on the site. Sorry for appearing to slip back into the lifeless state we were in over the summer.
Dec 4, 2004
Woo Hoo! The request pages are (mostly) working! Finally, the best part about our station is working again (mostly). I say mostly, because there are a few random bugs. For instance, if you click on 764-Hero, you get an error, and if you click on the Cure, you get a non-formatted page. But, for the most part, the bands' pages work and you can request about 90% of our songs.
So, please request away! If you find something busted, other than what I've noted above, please post in the Tech Support forum, or email us. --ben
Dec 3, 2004
Well, things are progressing. I've hammered out the design a little more and gotten the 'now playing' bar at the top working. Also, I took a photo that I was going to try to make into one of the logos, but it didn't work out.
Nov 30, 2004
Well, I accidentally deleted the temporary (for the last 7 months) 'site' while I was working on this new design.
So, I'm just putting this up as I work on it. There's still a bunch of blank pages and several of the links don't work, so don't freak out if everything's screwy. I'm hoping to have everything up and running this week.
Also, if you're using (the horrible) Microsoft Internet Explorer, there's some wackiness with the stylesheets. I'm working on fixing it, but do yourself a favor and get Firefox. You'll be much happier.