Folks;

Before I do anything else, I want to thank all the folks who support the Nostalgic Rumblings blog and other lists, web services, etc., whether by financial support, moral support, or simply posting questions, answers, or comments; it’s because of all of you that the OldRadio.Network exists in the first place. I’d also like to note that no payment is ever required to visit the web sites or receive the mailing lists…not now, not ever; or at least as long as I’m operating them, anyway.

That said, there is some need for support. Prices increase, time investments increase as well, and for various personal reasons my company is increasingly unable to subsidize the “hobby” aspects of the server, so I’d like that side of things to be a little bit more self-sufficient. At the same time, though, as some people have noted, I don’t routinely post notices requesting financial support the way Bill did…it’s a little uncomfortable for me, and sometimes feels just a bit unseemly.

The web services, as you can see, do have small single advertisements at the top of each page (compare this to the bazillion of ads thrown on the top, sides, and bottom of most other website pages). The unfortunate truth is that they bring in very little income. The Barnes and Nobel book sales are in the same category; for the past EIGHTEEN MONTHS, we’ve received a few cents over $25.00 as commission for sales through The Nostalgia Pages/The Nostalgic Rumblings Blog. I’ve been seriously considering the addition of advertisements onto the top of the mailing lists, and there are quite a few dealers who would be happy to advertise on the lists. But I think that would be ugly and annoying, particularly to those visually-impared subscribers who use software to read the lists. Besides, I’ve held out this long on general principle, so I couldn’t bring myself to add advertisements now.

To rectify all these different issues, and after considerable thought and research, I’ve decided to take a two-prong approach to making the old-time radio/nostalgic TV aspects just a little bit more self-supporting, and it’s to explain these two prongs I send this over-long message. To those subscribed to all of the mailing lists on the server who will receive multiple copies, I apologize in advance.

The first prong is a reworking of the Fundraiser disc distributed back in 2003, when our server went through a series of downtime caused by one provider’s incompetence, and a second’s suddenly going out-of-business. (The former still owes my company some money, and the second still owes my company a computer. I’m not expecting to see either, frankly, but “hope springs eternal.”) Thanks in large part to the sale of the fundraiser disc and some donations by individuals and organizations, we were able to rapidly move TWICE to keep the list operational even when the server was sitting in my office instead of a server farm, and build an upgraded machine for placement at the farm - for that support I will _always_ be grateful.

That 2003 disc was sold at a price of $10, but many of you were overly generous and paid more, sometimes _much_ more…something else I am extremely grateful for, especially considering the conditions. Fortunately, that immediate (dare I say, desperate?) need for funds is a thing left in the past - the concern now is solely for a renewing source of income.

So my plan here, and it should be interesting to see if I can stick to it, is to release a new disc every month or month-and-a-half, available at the new storefront (hang on a sec, I’ll get there); each disc will contain a different mix of Old-Time Radio shows in MP3 format, various OTR-related video pieces in VCD-compatable format, and some chatter from yours-truly. This will force me to spend more time listening to OTR, and give you choices…if you don’t care about what’s on this month’s disc, maybe you’ll be excited about the programming on next month’s. The price for the discs will be fixed at $10, with state sales taxes computed for those unfortunate enough to have Pennsylvania delivery addresses.

The storefront will also give me an opportunity to sell other items, too; for example, some years ago I was able to “cherry-pick” an old record warehouse (for our younger subscribers, please get your parents to tell you what a vinyl “record” is) for OTR programs. After keeping one copy of each record for myself (hey, I _did_ have to breath in all that dust!), there are a few titles available still in the shrink-wrap; over time, I’ll be able to make those available through the on-line store. I’d also like to put together some public-domain feature film DVDs, complete-series CDs, and maybe some other items, too.

It isn’t much to look at now, and indeed the only two items currently available are the two fundraiser discs (the one from 2003, and the first 2005 disc), but over time there will be additional items added. I hope you’ll stop by occasionally, remembering that your support there goes DIRECTLY to support the mailing list and web-based services.

Check out http://shop.oldradio.net/ - suggestions/comments appreciated, either via email, or by using the form you’ll find in the storefront.

And for those who are financially able and interested in supporting the lists and web services with voluntary “subscription” fees ($35/year is the most common, with more or less also gratefully accepted), we’re going to add program distribution, using the BitTorrent peer-to-peer system. Because BitTorrent clients help distribute the files while receiving them, the load on our server can be managed while still distributing large blocks of shows (indeed, 400-600 MB blocks should not be unreasonable, even on dialup for patient users). The plan is to begin with programs I have here, and eventually (with the help of others) distributing complete series blocks.

I still need to write some of the authentication routines, but plans are to begin distribution by the end of May, after beta-testing with the help of a few interested souls sometime earlyt next month. Those of you who have already contributed will be receiving a seperate and verbose email on this shortly, completely explaining the system, where to get it, how easy it is to use, and how to participate. If you haven’t yet, and are interested in supporting the lists and web-based services with a voluntary contribution, just click the little “PayPal Donate” button at the top of the left-hand control panel.

So there you have it; hopefully something for anyone interested in supporting The Nostalgia Pages, Phorums, Nostalgic Rumblings, and other web-based services, along with the OTR Digest, Kinescope, and other mailing lists on the server.