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News From Max on Apr-12-2010

Search Function is fully operational and indexed as of April 12, 2010.


News From Max on Dec-02-2009

Get SingOut! books and/or subscriptions and/or donate for a folkie you love.


News From on Nov-18-2009

Read more here: http://bit.ly/SingOut From Pete Seeger: “Today, in these changing and challenging economic times, Sing Out! is struggling to survive...


News From Max on Sep-25-2009

Search is active and updated as of 9-24-09.


News From Max on Apr-29-2009

The MudChat is alive and the Forum Search is re-indexed and active as of 4/29/09.


News From Max on Apr-26-2009

MudChat is Back!


News From Joe Offer on Mar-24-2009

Check out these valuable resources:


News From Max on Mar-24-2009

We're working on repairing or replacing MudChat and we're working on a few back end glitches from the move. Stay tuned for more...


News From Max on Feb-25-2009

The mudcat move is happening this Friday, the 27th of February. We should be down from about Noon EST to sometime that evening/night (if all goes as planned).


News From Max on Jan-25-2009

The SuperSearch has been reindexed as of January 17,2009. The chat is currently out of order. We may have to shop for a new one.


News From Max on Nov-13-2008

Supersearch is now up to date as of 7pm EST, 11/11/2008. Happy Searching!


News From Max on Nov-12-2008

UK Amazon AmazonUk.mudcat.org

US Amazon amazon.mudcat.org.


News From Max on Nov-12-2008

Holiday Shopping UK Amazon AmazonUk.mudcat.org

US Amazon amazon.mudcat.org.


News From Max on Nov-12-2008

Holiday Shopping UK Amazon AmazonUk.mudcat.org

US Amazon amazon.mudcat.org.


News From Max on Nov-11-2008

The Forum SuperSearch is up to date as of 7pm, 11/11/2008. And don't forget to do your Holiday shopping through http://amazon.mudcat.org. Thanks.


News From New Digitrad on Oct-21-2007

The new version of the DigiTrad is now online. Search away!


News From Joe Offer on May-30-2007

From the FAQ, January 9, 2007: From now on, anonymous posting will be watched and controlled. We've had far too many problems with anonymous posters. If you want to post, use a consistent name. We're not requiring registration, although we certainly prefer that. You may certainly use a pseudonym as a user name, but please use that same name every time you post. If you post without using a consistent name, you risk having your messages deleted.


News From Max on Nov-17-2006

The Mudcat is under attack. We blocked the spammers last week from posting, so now those same people are hammering the site until the web server crashes, over and over again. We're working on a technical way to defend ourselves. Stay patient.


News From Max on Nov-12-2006

Get Yours Today!
The Mudcat CD Collection
Click here for ordering information.



News From Mudcat Needs Your Help on Jan-15-2005

ALERT: The recent mudcat problems are due to adware installed on Mudcat user's computer, specifically something called FunWebProducts. There is an article about it here (click). Apparently it's driving Web Masters crazy all over the world.

I encourage everyone to download and run Spybot to rid your computer of this, and probably hundreds more adware and spyware software.


News From Mudcat Needs Your Help on Jan-15-2005

ALERT: The recent mudcat problems are due to adware installed on Mudcat user's computer, specifically something called FunWebProducts. There is an article about it here (click). Apparently it's driving Web Masters crazy all over the world.

I encourage everyone to download and run Spybot to rid your computer of this, and probably hundreds more adware and spyware software.


News From Joe Offer on Dec-02-2002

Get Yours Today!
The Mudcat CD Collection
Click here for ordering information.


News From Joe Offer on Dec-02-2002

Get Yours Today!
The Mudcat CD Collection
Click here for ordering information.


News From Joe Offer on Dec-01-2002

Get Mudcat CD's in time for Christmas
Click here for ordering information.


News From Joe Offer on Dec-01-2002

Get Mudcat CD's in time for Christmas
Click here for ordering information.


News From Joe Offer on Dec-01-2002

Get Mudcat CD's in time for Christmas
Click here for ordering information.


News From Joe Offer on Dec-01-2002

Get Mudcat CD's in time for Christmas
Click here for ordering information.


News From Pene Azul on Dec-16-2001

Order your 2002 Mudcat Nearly Nude Calendar!


News From Pene Azul on Dec-16-2001

Order your 2002 Mudcat Nearly Nude Calendar!


News From Pene Azul on Dec-16-2001

Order your 2002 Mudcat Nearly Nude Calendar today!


News From Pene Azul on Dec-16-2001

Order your 2002 Mudcat Nearly Nude Calendar today!


News From Pene Azul on Dec-16-2001

Order your
2002 Mudcat Nearly Nude Calendar
today!
Click here for details.


News From Pene Azul on Dec-16-2001

Order your
2002 Mudcat Nearly Nude Calendar
today!
Click here for details.


News From Pene Azul on May-22-2001


Order your Nearly Nude Mudcatter Calendar!


News From Pene Azul on May-22-2001


Order your Nearly Nude Mudcatter Calendar!


News From Pene Azul on May-22-2001

Order your Nearly Nude Mudcatter Calendar!

Order the fun & tastefully provocative Nearly Nude Mudcatter Calendar today!


News From Pene Azul on May-22-2001

Order your Nearly Nude Mudcatter Calendar!

Order the fun & tastefully provocative Nearly Nude Mudcatter Calendar today!


News From Max on Feb-22-2001

I updated the SuperSearch Index today, so it is up to date now. It should run every night, and be updated almost everyday from now on. I also added a new mirror today, lets welcome dharma. So, the mirrors currently include http://dharma.mudcat.org, http://ragtime.mudcat.org and http://loki.mudcat.org. Shorty hosts www, so its not a mirror, it is the primary server. More upgrades are around the corner.


News From Max on Feb-22-2001

I updated the SuperSearch Index today, so it is up to date now. It should run every night, and be updated almost everyday from now on. I also added a new mirror today, lets welcome dharma. So, the mirrors currently include http://dharma.mudcat.org, http://ragtime.mudcat.org and http://loki.mudcat.org. Shorty hosts www, so its not a mirror, it is the primary server. More upgrades are around the corner.


News From Max on May-17-2000

Hi all, notice that Teal thread stuck at the top of the forum? That is a PermaThread. Joe, Dick and I have been trying to figure out the most effective place for a couple of important and helpful administrative messages that can also be interactive (posted to). We found it. I hope you don't mind it too much. Right now we just have the FAQ, but I know of another 2 or so PermaThreads coming soon. The rules are simple: Each PermaThread has an owner. Joe is the owner of the FAQ. Anyone can post to the PermaThread, but the owner reserves the right to edit or delete anything he or she wants. This will keep them effective and neat. Stay tuned guys, new and exciting additions will be unveiled throughout the summer.


News From Max on May-17-2000

Hi all, notice that Teal thread stuck at the top of the forum? That is a PermaThread. Joe, Dick and I have been trying to figure out the most effective place for a couple of important and helpful administrative messages that can also be interactive (posted to). We found it. I hope you don't mind it too much. Right now we just have the FAQ, but I know of another 2 or so PermaThreads coming soon. The rules are simple: Each PermaThread has an owner. Joe is the owner of the FAQ. Anyone can post to the PermaThread, but the owner reserves the right to edit or delete anything he or she wants. This will keep them effective and neat. Stay tuned guys, new and exciting additions will be unveiled throughout the summer.


News From SuperSearch is Back on May-03-2000

That's right folks, we did it. The fund raising was effective and we got our new technology and I found the time to pull it off. If you've noticed the Mudcat has been a little squirly lately, that is why. There are over 218,000 messages in the forum now, which made up a 600+ MegaByte index file that the SuperSearch gets its answers from.

Now, there may be a couple of bugs, and the only way to find out how much this new machine and system works is to just put it live and let you all at it. So have fun. I will continue to be working on it, so if it glitches or doesn't work when you try it, just wait a few and try again.

I have several more changes (more like additions) on the way, so keep your eyes out for new and exciting things.


News From SuperSearch is Back on May-03-2000

That's right folks, we did it. The fund raising was effective and we got our new technology and I found the time to pull it off. If you've noticed the Mudcat has been a little squirly lately, that is why. There are over 218,000 messages in the forum now, which made up a 600+ MegaByte index file that the SuperSearch gets its answers from.

Now, there may be a couple of bugs, and the only way to find out how much this new machine and system works is to just put it live and let you all at it. So have fun. I will continue to be working on it, so if it glitches or doesn't work when you try it, just wait a few and try again.

I have several more changes (more like additions) on the way, so keep your eyes out for new and exciting things.


News From Max on Jan-19-2000

Today I made it so that the prefix of GUEST, is added to any post from a user without a cookie. This is a temporary solution to prevent the impersonation of members' codenames.


News From Max on Jan-19-2000

Today I made it so that the prefix of GUEST, is added to any post from a user without a cookie. This is a temporary solution to prevent the impersonation of members' codenames.


News From Max on Jan-10-2000

The Fall 1999 Edition of the Digital Tradition for PC and Unix is now available for download (sorry for the delay). It is also installed here at the Mudcat, so go ahead and search for oct99 to see all the new submissions. I also modified the new SuperSearch to search both the Digitrad and the Forum. Stay tuned because more tweaks and changes are imminent.


News From Max on Jan-10-2000

The Fall 1999 Edition of the Digital Tradition for PC and Unix is now available for download (sorry for the delay). It is also installed here at the Mudcat, so go ahead and search for oct99 to see all the new submissions. I also modified the new SuperSearch to search both the Digitrad and the Forum. Stay tuned because more tweaks and changes are imminent.


News From Max on Jan-05-2000

Happy New Year all. I've added a really super search to the forum. I replaced the cheesy quick search on the main forum page with the SuperSearch. I indexed all 155,000+ messages in the forum. I am sure a lot of old threads will come alive again and redundant questions will be reduced. It can be found directly below "Create a New Thread" on the main forum page. I will be further enhancing this feature and adding a more advanced version soon. Also, the Radio Show for Jan 12th, 2000 will be a very special show. Please tune in! Later…


News From Max on Jan-05-2000

Happy New Year all. I've added a really super search to the forum. I replaced the cheesy quick search on the main forum page with the SuperSearch. I indexed all 155,000+ messages in the forum. I am sure a lot of old threads will come alive again and redundant questions will be reduced. It can be found directly below "Create a New Thread" on the main forum page. I will be further enhancing this feature and adding a more advanced version soon. Also, the Radio Show for Jan 12th, 2000 will be a very special show. Please tune in! Later…


News From Max on Sep-27-1999

Rick Fielding's latest show is now online. Sept. 13, 1999 with Jaimie Snider. You can find this and other programs on our radio page. Sorry for the delay on this one, but I almost had a life last week.


News From Max on Sep-27-1999

Rick Fielding's latest show is now online. Sept. 13, 1999 with Jaimie Snider. You can find this and other programs on our radio page. Sorry for the delay on this one, but I almost had a life last week.


News From Max on Sep-08-1999

Added a new Rick Fielding Program (August 30th, 1999) today, you can find it on the radio page. Also, as you may know, there is not going to be a live broadcast of Mudcat Radio tonight (Wed, Sept 8th) but an archive will be available tonight or tomorrow. Please feel free to call in (1-888-488-9050) any time today after 6pm EST. We will be recording on schedule between 7 and 8pm EST.


News From Max on Sep-08-1999

Added a new Rick Fielding Program (August 30th, 1999) today, you can find it on the radio page. Also, as you may know, there is not going to be a live broadcast of Mudcat Radio tonight (Wed, Sept 8th) but an archive will be available tonight or tomorrow. Please feel free to call in (1-888-488-9050) any time today after 6pm EST. We will be recording on schedule between 7 and 8pm EST.


News From Max on Aug-27-1999

Introducing Mudcat Radio, Episode I "Feet First" Wednesdays 7pm to 8pm EST in Real Audio here at the Mudcat, hosted by Max and Bert.

Episode I "Feet First" is going to be one heck of an experiment. We decided not to do a dry run or an experiment without an audience, and just make it the theme of the show. Anyhow, we're going to expect anything and have fun with it.

The hopeful itinerary of Episode I will be as follows:

We are going to be having a Theme Song Contest for two songs, an intro song at the beginning and a goodbye song at the end.  We can have multiple winners for each and will rotate all the entries.  Send your entries on CD or tape or email them, anything.  The winners will receive Mudcat Music, which could be a copy of Art Thieme's "On the Wilderness Road" (Vinyl) or any number of albums that have been contributed to the Mudcat. 

As mentioned above, we will take calls throughout the show, and will also be in the chat, so be sure to put your two cents in one way or another.  We are really interested in a very interactive experience. 

We have no expectations really, we're just going to try to have some fun with this.  Feel free to contribute stuff for us to do and talk about.  And be sure to tune in Wednesdays 7-8pm Eastern Standard Time. 


News From Max on Aug-27-1999

Introducing Mudcat Radio, Episode I "Feet First" Wednesdays 7pm to 8pm EST in Real Audio here at the Mudcat, hosted by Max and Bert.

Episode I "Feet First" is going to be one heck of an experiment. We decided not to do a dry run or an experiment without an audience, and just make it the theme of the show. Anyhow, we're going to expect anything and have fun with it.

The hopeful itinerary of Episode I will be as follows:

We are going to be having a Theme Song Contest for two songs, an intro song at the beginning and a goodbye song at the end.  We can have multiple winners for each and will rotate all the entries.  Send your entries on CD or tape or email them, anything.  The winners will receive Mudcat Music, which could be a copy of Art Thieme's "On the Wilderness Road" (Vinyl) or any number of albums that have been contributed to the Mudcat. 

As mentioned above, we will take calls throughout the show, and will also be in the chat, so be sure to put your two cents in one way or another.  We are really interested in a very interactive experience. 

We have no expectations really, we're just going to try to have some fun with this.  Feel free to contribute stuff for us to do and talk about.  And be sure to tune in Wednesdays 7-8pm Eastern Standard Time. 


News From Max on Aug-20-1999

Hi all, notice any green words in the forum? This is some new technology that we developed (Patent Pending) for indexing product catalogs with forums. I know some of you may be annoyed by it, and I will gladly take it away if I receive $50,000.00 in donations. We will be improving its accuracy over the next several weeks, and will take suggestions on how to make it more subtle and effective. In the mean time, please be patient. This really really helps us in many ways to be able to continue to finance the Mudcat and Digitrad. Not only with the sales we hope for, but we intend to license this technology, and the Mudcat is the most perfect test case one could hope for. So until we figure out how to fund ourselves without being annoying or commercial, you're just going to have to live with our experimenting. Thank you all and have fun.

Coming very soon: Mudcat Chat, Folk Radio, More records, books, and products relevant to our community.


News From Max on Aug-20-1999

Hi all, notice any green words in the forum? This is some new technology that we developed (Patent Pending) for indexing product catalogs with forums. I know some of you may be annoyed by it, and I will gladly take it away if I receive $50,000.00 in donations. We will be improving its accuracy over the next several weeks, and will take suggestions on how to make it more subtle and effective. In the mean time, please be patient. This really really helps us in many ways to be able to continue to finance the Mudcat and Digitrad. Not only with the sales we hope for, but we intend to license this technology, and the Mudcat is the most perfect test case one could hope for. So until we figure out how to fund ourselves without being annoying or commercial, you're just going to have to live with our experimenting. Thank you all and have fun.

Coming very soon: Mudcat Chat, Folk Radio, More records, books, and products relevant to our community.


News From Max on Aug-04-1999

Welcome to The New and Improved Mudcat. We are not done yet, but a lot or our enhancements and changes have been implemented today. Because of the nature of some of our changes, a few more additions and changes will roll out throughout August, such as a Mudcat Chat, more Folk Radio Programs, etc.

The new stuff today includes The Mudcat Record Shop and Auction, Help items associated with specific features (noted by the word Help next to certain things), Mudcat for Kids (which is very empty right now), The Spring 99 version of the Digitrad for search online and for download, and several visual and invisible (to you) enhancements. Oh, and a lot of fixes of bugs in the old Mudcat (like Personal Messages).

When I catch my breathe, I will explain more. For now I am preparing to receive 400,000 emails about errors and bugs and congratulations and complaints. Please take a deep breath and be patient and Thank you for making Mudcat a great place to be. Also, please take a moment to check and reset your bookmarks to The Mudcat, some things have changed. Thanks.


News From Max on Aug-04-1999

Welcome to The New and Improved Mudcat. We are not done yet, but a lot or our enhancements and changes have been implemented today. Because of the nature of some of our changes, a few more additions and changes will roll out throughout August, such as a Mudcat Chat, more Folk Radio Programs, etc.

The new stuff today includes The Mudcat Record Shop and Auction, Help items associated with specific features (noted by the word Help next to certain things), Mudcat for Kids (which is very empty right now), The Spring 99 version of the Digitrad for search online and for download, and several visual and invisible (to you) enhancements. Oh, and a lot of fixes of bugs in the old Mudcat (like Personal Messages).

When I catch my breathe, I will explain more. For now I am preparing to receive 400,000 emails about errors and bugs and congratulations and complaints. Please take a deep breath and be patient and Thank you for making Mudcat a great place to be. Also, please take a moment to check and reset your bookmarks to The Mudcat, some things have changed. Thanks.


News From PRINTING MUSIC (1) on Sep-10-1997

PRINTING MUSIC (part 1)

A few months back, the Mudcat Café instituted MIDI playback of the songs for which we have music. This supplemented the existing music players for those who downloaded the entire Digital Tradition database, and permitted those who prefer to do their searches on the Web to hear the tunes. We’ve received a large number of requests from folks who would like to print out the tunes in conventional music notation. This has always been possible with SongWright, which has the capabilities of reading tunes in its own format or in MIDI, playing the tunes either on the computer’s beeper or through a MIDI interface or a sound card. SongWright, though, costs $100 or so; for those who wish to work with music composition or editing, it’s a bargain, we feel, but it’s a bit steep just for those who want to print out scores. We’ve found a neat shareware program—Noteworthy Composer 1.3—that will import a MIDI file, play it for you (emulating a vast selection of instruments) if you have MIDI capabilities, transpose it to any key and print it out. It runs under Windows 3.1 or Windows 95. It can be downloaded from:

www.ntworthy.com

Installation, on a couple of platforms we tried, was very easy. Here’s how you use it: When you click on the blue section at the bottom of the lyrics that says: ”Click here to play”, hold down the shift key. This will download the tune (in MIDI format) instead of playing it. You then open Noteworthy, import the MIDI file you wish to play, and follow instructions. Piece of cake. We’ll be reporting on some other neat programs for printing, playing, transposing, arranging, editing and even selecting chords from MIDI, SongWright and ABC formats in the very near future. Watch this space.


News From PRINTING MUSIC (1) on Sep-10-1997

PRINTING MUSIC (part 1)

A few months back, the Mudcat Café instituted MIDI playback of the songs for which we have music. This supplemented the existing music players for those who downloaded the entire Digital Tradition database, and permitted those who prefer to do their searches on the Web to hear the tunes. We’ve received a large number of requests from folks who would like to print out the tunes in conventional music notation. This has always been possible with SongWright, which has the capabilities of reading tunes in its own format or in MIDI, playing the tunes either on the computer’s beeper or through a MIDI interface or a sound card. SongWright, though, costs $100 or so; for those who wish to work with music composition or editing, it’s a bargain, we feel, but it’s a bit steep just for those who want to print out scores. We’ve found a neat shareware program—Noteworthy Composer 1.3—that will import a MIDI file, play it for you (emulating a vast selection of instruments) if you have MIDI capabilities, transpose it to any key and print it out. It runs under Windows 3.1 or Windows 95. It can be downloaded from:

www.ntworthy.com

Installation, on a couple of platforms we tried, was very easy. Here’s how you use it: When you click on the blue section at the bottom of the lyrics that says: ”Click here to play”, hold down the shift key. This will download the tune (in MIDI format) instead of playing it. You then open Noteworthy, import the MIDI file you wish to play, and follow instructions. Piece of cake. We’ll be reporting on some other neat programs for printing, playing, transposing, arranging, editing and even selecting chords from MIDI, SongWright and ABC formats in the very near future. Watch this space.


News From Max D. Spiegel on Aug-21-1997

OK, I have been working all day on something that takes advantage of the cookies that I have been placing on your pages as you signed up for the membership. This is a serve yourself links page. It is a system that allows you all to enter links to your favorite sites and other links of interest. It is somewhat of an experiment because it relies on honesty and collective thought.

There is a form here (http://www.onstagemedia.com/mudcat/links/EntryForm.cfm) where you can enter new links to the pages. You can view all of the links in the database here (http://www.onstagemedia.com/mudcat/links/all-links.cfm). Taking advantage of membership, you can go here (http://www.onstagemedia.com/mudcat/links/all-new-links.cfm) to see only the new links since your last visit to the links pages. You can also search the links pages here (http://www.onstagemedia.com/mudcat/links/findlinks.cfm) by category, title or description.

Remember, you must be a registered member (free) to participate in this feature. If you try to go to these pages without a cookie, you will be automatically forwarded to our membership page or will receive an error. Which leeds me to remind you that this is a prototype. It will change as the days go on, and may have a bug or so. Let me know how you like it or what I could change or what doesn't work in this thread.

Have Fun.


News From Max D. Spiegel on Aug-21-1997

OK, I have been working all day on something that takes advantage of the cookies that I have been placing on your pages as you signed up for the membership. This is a serve yourself links page. It is a system that allows you all to enter links to your favorite sites and other links of interest. It is somewhat of an experiment because it relies on honesty and collective thought.

There is a form here (http://www.onstagemedia.com/mudcat/links/EntryForm.cfm) where you can enter new links to the pages. You can view all of the links in the database here (http://www.onstagemedia.com/mudcat/links/all-links.cfm). Taking advantage of membership, you can go here (http://www.onstagemedia.com/mudcat/links/all-new-links.cfm) to see only the new links since your last visit to the links pages. You can also search the links pages here (http://www.onstagemedia.com/mudcat/links/findlinks.cfm) by category, title or description.

Remember, you must be a registered member (free) to participate in this feature. If you try to go to these pages without a cookie, you will be automatically forwarded to our membership page or will receive an error. Which leeds me to remind you that this is a prototype. It will change as the days go on, and may have a bug or so. Let me know how you like it or what I could change or what doesn't work in this thread.

Have Fun.


News From Max D. Spiegel on Aug-18-1997

Hi folks, or is it Folkies? Nonetheless, sorry for all of the trouble of late, but you should all be glad to know that our move is on the move. We have begun the transfer of all our sites from our current ISP to a new one. This should be much less trouble than before.

There is a new feature that is up today, Membership! You can get to it through the "Join Us" link throughout the site. As is explained on the membership pages, the details are:

Membership to the Mudcat Café allows us to plant a cookie on your machine. This lets us know who you are, the last time you have visited so we can alert you to what is new since you last visited, as well as eliminate any forms you should ever have to fill out here, and many other fine things. It is all in the works still, so you may not see these benefits for a short while. You will also be presented with an opportunity to make a contribution to the Mudcat. We are sorry that we cannot offer a tax write-off yet, and will certainly understand if you would like to hold off your contribution until our paperwork goes through for it to be a write-off. This should be 6 more months or so. We are a non-profit corporation and registered so with the US government as The Mudcat Café Music Foundation but are not yet tax exempt 501(3)c. We promise to never let anyone have access to our files with your information in them so please be honest when filling out these forms. The CodeName blank allows you to go by this alias in public areas of the site like the discussion forum. Your CodeName will be used throughout the site for personalization and interaction with other Mudcat patrons so pick a name you would like to go by and be known by. I use my real name and you may use yours if you like. If you receive a duplicate record error, that means your CodeName has already been taken. If you feel this is in error, jot me a line at mudcat@deltablues.com .

If you would like, you can contribute online with Visa or MasterCard though our secure server. It is encrypted with top of the line technology, the same we use for our clients who sell up to $20,000 worth of merchandise online. If you still do not feel safe, you can state that you will send a check online and give the value. You may also call (610) 873-7743 or Fax (610) 873-7618 with a Visa or MasterCard contribution, or send a check or money order to The Mudcat Café, 1541 N. Bailey Rd., Downingtown, PA 19335. Please fill out the membership form no matter how you plan to contribute, it will help us keep track of your information. Note that all Credit Card charges will be in the name of Onstage Media, Inc. This is also my company and handles our credit card processing.

Your contributions will go directly and 100% towards a better, faster, more reliable site. Currently we are spending on the ISP switch for speed and reliability reasons.

Let me know of any concerns, corrections, or errors that you may encounter in this membership scheme. It is all very new and may have bugs, errors, etc. If you would like any official documentation about our legitimacy or status as a non-profit corporation, please call (610) 873-7743 and we will mail or fax you copies of our incorporation papers.

I will explain more of the benefits of membership as the new features pop up over the next few weeks. For now, trust me.

Well, give it a go and let us know.

Max


News From Max D. Spiegel on Aug-18-1997

Hi folks, or is it Folkies? Nonetheless, sorry for all of the trouble of late, but you should all be glad to know that our move is on the move. We have begun the transfer of all our sites from our current ISP to a new one. This should be much less trouble than before.

There is a new feature that is up today, Membership! You can get to it through the "Join Us" link throughout the site. As is explained on the membership pages, the details are:

Membership to the Mudcat Café allows us to plant a cookie on your machine. This lets us know who you are, the last time you have visited so we can alert you to what is new since you last visited, as well as eliminate any forms you should ever have to fill out here, and many other fine things. It is all in the works still, so you may not see these benefits for a short while. You will also be presented with an opportunity to make a contribution to the Mudcat. We are sorry that we cannot offer a tax write-off yet, and will certainly understand if you would like to hold off your contribution until our paperwork goes through for it to be a write-off. This should be 6 more months or so. We are a non-profit corporation and registered so with the US government as The Mudcat Café Music Foundation but are not yet tax exempt 501(3)c. We promise to never let anyone have access to our files with your information in them so please be honest when filling out these forms. The CodeName blank allows you to go by this alias in public areas of the site like the discussion forum. Your CodeName will be used throughout the site for personalization and interaction with other Mudcat patrons so pick a name you would like to go by and be known by. I use my real name and you may use yours if you like. If you receive a duplicate record error, that means your CodeName has already been taken. If you feel this is in error, jot me a line at mudcat@deltablues.com .

If you would like, you can contribute online with Visa or MasterCard though our secure server. It is encrypted with top of the line technology, the same we use for our clients who sell up to $20,000 worth of merchandise online. If you still do not feel safe, you can state that you will send a check online and give the value. You may also call (610) 873-7743 or Fax (610) 873-7618 with a Visa or MasterCard contribution, or send a check or money order to The Mudcat Café, 1541 N. Bailey Rd., Downingtown, PA 19335. Please fill out the membership form no matter how you plan to contribute, it will help us keep track of your information. Note that all Credit Card charges will be in the name of Onstage Media, Inc. This is also my company and handles our credit card processing.

Your contributions will go directly and 100% towards a better, faster, more reliable site. Currently we are spending on the ISP switch for speed and reliability reasons.

Let me know of any concerns, corrections, or errors that you may encounter in this membership scheme. It is all very new and may have bugs, errors, etc. If you would like any official documentation about our legitimacy or status as a non-profit corporation, please call (610) 873-7743 and we will mail or fax you copies of our incorporation papers.

I will explain more of the benefits of membership as the new features pop up over the next few weeks. For now, trust me.

Well, give it a go and let us know.

Max


News From Max D. Spiegel on Jun-25-1997

Hey Hey, we have added a new sense. Audio is here. There are now 3013 midi files available in the database. Songs that have a midi file will show a link at the end of the file. Click it to open or hold the shift key in when you click and save it to your hard drive. Dick and I are looking for some good freeware to print the midi files as a score. We'll keep you updated.

Also, Mississippi Crossroads is a new addition to the site. We are the only internet site to broadcast this show. Download the Real Player 3.0 to listen to hours and hours of quality blues radio. Real Player 3.0 is free, and Real Audio has a Plus player available for a fee. Real Player 3.0 should do fine, so no purchase is neccessary to enjoy this new service. More info on Real Audio can be found at http://www.real.com.

There is a new 2 hour show every week, and we will also be filling in the archive as time goes along. Meanwhile, enjoy, and let me know of any bugs. This is all very new.

Stay tuned for even more new services in the next couple of weeks.

later…


News From Max D. Spiegel on Jun-25-1997

Hey Hey, we have added a new sense. Audio is here. There are now 3013 midi files available in the database. Songs that have a midi file will show a link at the end of the file. Click it to open or hold the shift key in when you click and save it to your hard drive. Dick and I are looking for some good freeware to print the midi files as a score. We'll keep you updated.

Also, Mississippi Crossroads is a new addition to the site. We are the only internet site to broadcast this show. Download the Real Player 3.0 to listen to hours and hours of quality blues radio. Real Player 3.0 is free, and Real Audio has a Plus player available for a fee. Real Player 3.0 should do fine, so no purchase is neccessary to enjoy this new service. More info on Real Audio can be found at http://www.real.com.

There is a new 2 hour show every week, and we will also be filling in the archive as time goes along. Meanwhile, enjoy, and let me know of any bugs. This is all very new.

Stay tuned for even more new services in the next couple of weeks.

later…


News From Max D. Spiegel (Mr. Mudcat) on Jun-17-1997

Boy do we have some nice new features.

First, we have upgraded our connection and our machines as well as rewrote the Discussion Forum to achieve a 400% speed increase. Also, reliability has increased tenfold (thank God).



Some of the other new features are this news page, a help page to help you get around and enhance your search techniques, a tighter and easier integration of the database and the discussion forum, and an all around better navigation scheme.



Some things that are very close to completion are the incorporation of the midi files (3500 of them) into the database, a cookie driven member section to allow customization, personalization, and a personal discussion forum system to allow private and public messages. Also in the new Personalized Discussion Forum will be a Java chat room. We may schedule times to discuss specific issues such as search techniques etc.

We also now have the technology to broadcast RealAudio version 3.0 streaming audio. We have The Mississippi Crossroads Radio Show almost ready to air. A two hour per week radio program recorded live in the Mississippi Delta and broadcast on the Mudcat 5 days before any of the National Radio Stations that carry it.



We are still brainstorming on everything that we can do with this streaming audio. There may be many things ahead, and we are always grateful for any suggestion you all may have. I'm hot on the idea of our viewers (at least 65% of which are musicians) submitting their own music for an online RealFolk Jukebox.

Also coming soon is The Mudcat Record Collection. We are negotiating with many folk and blues labels to include their artists in our collection. Also, since we have RealAudio, clips of the music for sale may be available.



Oh, and we also have biographies and fact-sheets soon to be online about all your favorite folk artists and we have at least doubled our collection of blues biographies.

Stay tuned, I am sure I have forgotten a few things, and thanks to continued commitment of sponsorship by Onstage Media, Inc., there are a lot of exciting things ahead.

Happy Travels


News From Max D. Spiegel (Mr. Mudcat) on Jun-17-1997

Boy do we have some nice new features.

First, we have upgraded our connection and our machines as well as rewrote the Discussion Forum to achieve a 400% speed increase. Also, reliability has increased tenfold (thank God).



Some of the other new features are this news page, a help page to help you get around and enhance your search techniques, a tighter and easier integration of the database and the discussion forum, and an all around better navigation scheme.



Some things that are very close to completion are the incorporation of the midi files (3500 of them) into the database, a cookie driven member section to allow customization, personalization, and a personal discussion forum system to allow private and public messages. Also in the new Personalized Discussion Forum will be a Java chat room. We may schedule times to discuss specific issues such as search techniques etc.

We also now have the technology to broadcast RealAudio version 3.0 streaming audio. We have The Mississippi Crossroads Radio Show almost ready to air. A two hour per week radio program recorded live in the Mississippi Delta and broadcast on the Mudcat 5 days before any of the National Radio Stations that carry it.



We are still brainstorming on everything that we can do with this streaming audio. There may be many things ahead, and we are always grateful for any suggestion you all may have. I'm hot on the idea of our viewers (at least 65% of which are musicians) submitting their own music for an online RealFolk Jukebox.

Also coming soon is The Mudcat Record Collection. We are negotiating with many folk and blues labels to include their artists in our collection. Also, since we have RealAudio, clips of the music for sale may be available.



Oh, and we also have biographies and fact-sheets soon to be online about all your favorite folk artists and we have at least doubled our collection of blues biographies.

Stay tuned, I am sure I have forgotten a few things, and thanks to continued commitment of sponsorship by Onstage Media, Inc., there are a lot of exciting things ahead.

Happy Travels