Depending on how your computer audio is set up, automatically playing audio on some websites can interrupt a station playlist. Firefox is coming to the rescue.
Auto-Playing Audio/Video will be Blocked
That's great! I have Firefox and it's annoying when a small window pops up an ad starts playing and I have to mute the sound to stop it. Why do I have to have sound from ads forced on me?
The others should do this too.
But my broadcast computer is not connected to the internet so on that nothing can pop up or those update messages can't interrupt it either.
Google Chrome Already Does That!!
I know sometimes ads that automatically play Audio is annoying however when I want to use the WebSDR on k3fef(dot)com I have to use the link to disable the blocking of the Auto Player.
The Best Way To Block Ads is Ublock
I always use this and it can even help stop drive by ads that can often plant Trojan horse Adware or worse Malware. I think NOT USING an ad blocker is the utmost dangerous type of behavior on a computer. Even Android you can use the browser called Brave and it has an Ad Blocker in it which is very effective.
Thelegacy said "I think NOT USING an ad blocker is the utmost dangerous type of behavior on a computer."
There are so many other ways that your computer can be infected by malware and viruses that that statement oversimplifies the situation.
If you run decent virus/malware detection software, AND don't visit unfamiliar websites, then you should be OK. I ALWAYS check out websites I don't know anything about before 'going in'. Sort of like safe sex.
Firefox always warns me if a web site isn't safe.
I have AVG pay version that was $19.95 a year and it protects against everything....not just basic stuff but hackers, privacy, and payments.
If AVG zapped something a notice comes on letting me know.
I will look into this ad blocker.
But my broadcast computer will never be connected to the internet so nothing will interrupt the Zara broadcast. No internet= no ads, updates, no interruptions.
When will the new firefox be out?
Mark's Question Answered
"When will the new firefox be out?"
March 19, 2019 according to this
My on-air machine is connected to the internet for the sole purpose of automatically downloading programming elements, which it then automatically plays as programmed. It is never used for web-surfing and no browser is ever used.
My regular computers that are not on the air have the "block pop-ups" option checked, and I never see pop up ads or other similar crap. All my computers are Macs. On line for 25+ years, never had a virus, malware, adware, or any other type of intrusion.
TIB
The Browserless Life
Something interesting said by Tim: "no browser is ever used."
What all can be done without using a browser? Never thought about it before.
With an IP address at hand, I guess you'd use the Command Prompt to type or paste the address for downloading an audiofile.
Macs aren't as susceptible to viruses as I understand as the creators of all this computer destroying junk is done to infect windows as that is the vast majority of computers. No fun in just infecting a few people. It's computer terrorism!
The other operating system Linux is the same.
How can you be connected to the internet and download things with no browser? I don't expect a complicated explanation just always thought that the browser was needed. That's new found knowledge.
My computer for broadcasting has no browser....well it has the default one with windows(internet explorer) but it's not activated. Put Zara on from a back up USB drive.
The software that runs my station is Megaseg. It is a Mac only automation program. Among it's many features is it's ability to download audio and store it until it's called upon to be played back on the air. It contains no browser. Obviously, the computer is connected to the internet, but Megaseg contains no browser, etc.
So, for example, I have it download the hourly 5 minute newscast from FSN. You instruct it what time you want it to download and from what link, be it a website address or an ftp link. You can also set it up to download repeatedly in the event one download doesn't complete for some reason, and to give up after so many attempts if you so choose, just in case you might have an unstable connection, or the file wasn't ready on time. It then makes that file available for the automation to play back whenever it's scheduled to do so. This process requires no web browser.
It's one of the reasons I always provide the Oompah Hour at the exact same link every week. In case someone has an auto-download program, they can set it up to do to the same link every time.
I've always assumed that Zara and such programs had this ability. Maybe I'm wrong?
At work, we use this type of auto-download extensively, hundreds of times a day on three stations. Of course at work our automation system cost tens of thousands of dollars, with custom computers and servers in the building. But it works over and over again, never missing a beat.
Auto download offers a ton of flexibility. One example -- I program a file to play a few times a day called "weather". I have an audio file titled weather that is actually a local PSA announcement. When I'm at work, miles away, I can go in the studio, record a forecast for my Part 15, upload it to my web server, and a few times a day my automation goes to download that file and play it on the air. So I can update the forecast that plays in Bovey from Grand Rapids 12 miles away. The whole process including recording, saving and uploading takes about a minute. I can also do this on the road with my iPhone. I use a simple recording program and record the forecast, save it as a mp3 and using a simple program upload it to my web provider, where my auto download grabs it the next time it calls for it. If for some reason I get busy and can't do an update, of I forget (!) it simply plays the PSA in it's place and no one knows the difference.
It seems more complicated to explain than it is to actually do it!
TIB
Manual or Automatic
Tim describes automated downloading: "I always provide the Oompah Hour at the exact same link every week. In case someone has an auto-download program, they can set it up to do to the same link every time. I’ve always assumed that Zara and such programs had this ability."
Zara does have auto-download capability as several users have reported, but we don't use it at KDX because it requires programs always to have the same title, i.e., "oompahhour.mp3", which works well if each new download replaces the previous one, such as with newscasts.
But the collector of the entire Oompah Library must pay close attention to relabeling each new show so it shows that shows distinct title, i.e., "Oompah Hour No. 255", which places a manual responsibility on top of the convenience of automation.
Many of the programs used by KDX have different titles every time which defeats auto-download and requires manual intervention.
Perhaps I could set certain programs to auto-download and free-up some of my effort, and it's worth considering.