Years in the planning, this upgrade will do two things. Decrease outages and offer new stream types.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/audiohelp.shtml?help

How many times have I heard that earnest Hober listeners have had to shell out $19.99 for the so-called "free" Realplayer simply because they were intentionally confused and mislead by Real Networks download page.

Yes, there is a "free" player on the Real download page, but it is hard to find, and then makes you give up more personal information than you feel comfortable with and tries to subscribe you to a litany of marketing spam and hides "opt out" choices.

I hope the folks at Real Networks take this to heart and do some introspection. If the money is more important to them than their client's experience, then we will have to switch to another player.

I simply want to remind you about the Hober Thinking Radio broadcast - it sure is sounding good nowadays. http://hober.com

Can you believe we've passed through five years of streaming continuous glorious unvarnished folk music? The website was re-launched this Autumn, and is growing each week. More people than ever are partaking of the unique mix of unvarnished music that we offer freely to all comers. Thanks go to the many hundreds people who have helped to keep the encoders up-and-running all the time - no small feat. We've been through lots of little outages, pesky negotiations with the music industry, and bandwidth bills that seem to come like the shuffling of a deck of cards. But we've also managed to host over 50 live concert broadcasts, made 13 "Private Reserve" albums, and have added thousands of new titles to the playlist.

And Thank You for telling your friends about the streams - many listeners still have not yet heard about the best station on the internet! If its been a while since you've visited, we hope you take time to come on back in to the warmth.

As Hober Friend Thomas Creed said this week, "Your music selections sustain me in a way that is indescribable. We are living under tough times but you guys make it bearable."

We are making history, my friends. Together we are in the process of logging the largest and longest broadcast of folk music in history, exposing hundreds of thousands to music that they love, but had been unaware of.

Sincerely, gregor and the crew


PS: Since you have made it to the bottom of the letter, let me ask you to consider gifting the project this winter.

    http://hober.com/gift.html