cubiclequeen

As I have written in previous posts, I own my very own internet radio station. My station is named, Pop-a-Rock Radio, and it is hosted on LIVE365.com. This has been a little hobby of mine for over a year now, and I love it! Here are the top 9 things I love most about owning Pop-a-Rock Radio:

1. 
   
   
2. It gives me and excuse AND a reason to buy new music. I am constantly updating the playlists on Pop-a-Rock, because I have several loyal listeners. It would be very boring for them, if I didn't shake things up a bit, and add new music periodically. I mean, who wants to listen to the exact same songs, in the exact same order, every day? It is a challenge to stay within my budget, while at the same time, searching for music that I believe my listeners will enjoy.
   
   
3. It has given me the opportunity to "meet" and work with cool people in the music industry. I am continually receiving requests from indie and unsigned artists who want their music played on Pop-a-Rock. In addition, I have associated with PR firms representing musicians. I have even received free cds and downloads from their artists, as well as, custom-made station ID's. I also have the potential to interview some of these artists.
   
   
4. It has made me more web-savvy, and has allowed me to develop technical skills I never knew I had. To start with, beginning an internet radio station requires at least some technical know-how. However, through trial-and-error, and the community forums at LIVE365, I have learned all kinds of technical tips and tricks. I also have learned quite a bit about developing the Pop-a-Rock website. I use a self-hosted Wordpress blog. Through this, I have learned how to edit html and templates. This has all become a challenge that I love!
   
   
   
   
5. It has opened doors to discovering new music, and has made more knowledgeable about music. I am always on the lookout for artists of which I have not yet heard. I get recommendations from friends, Twitter users, Facebook friends, Myspace, and many other internet resources. I also subscribe to a couple of music publications that feature indie artists.
   
   
6. It has bolstered my self-confidence. It has done this in so many ways. In addition, to making me more tech and web-savvy, the social aspect of promoting Pop-a-Rock Radio has made me much more confident. Just the fact of knowing I have loyal listeners from almost every continent, has done wonders for my self-confidence and social interactions.
   
   
7. It has given me a web presence, even if rather small, around the globe. As I have already mentioned, I have listeners from all over the world and across the United States. In a very small way, Pop-a-Rock Radio has given me my own piece of the internet, and my 15-minutes of fame. How cool is that?
   
   
8. It has given me some marketable skills. All of the aforementioned skills and experiences can be a strong asset if I ever decide to go job hunting again. I have learned about things such as website development, marketing, promotion, writing, technical skills, and more. Surely these can be very marketable skills for the right position.
   
   
9. It has given me a new kind of hope for future endeavors. I not only know that I can step out of my comfort zone and learn something totally new, but I can become good, or even great at it. I want to continually challenge myself, constantly learn, and never grow stagnate. I am excited for the future, even at 40 years old! It is never too late to start a new path and accept a new challenge.
   
   
10. It is a great conversation piece. When people first meet me, and learn that I own an internet radio station, they generally want to hear more about it. Most people would never dream that an average Jane Doe could have a radio station with listeners from such places as Israel, China, Belarus, Thailand, Peru, Alaska, or Georgia (the country, not the state.) I had never dreamed that I could do that either. I always love to talk about my experiences with Pop-a-Rock Radio.
    
    

There you have it. These are the reasons that I love having my own internet radio station. These are the reasons that I "keep on truckin," and never give up on Pop-a-Rock Radio. I would miss it far too much.

Once again, I have some links to share that are interesting, useful, and fun. I actually had to narrow down the list this week, as I can only include seven links for each 7 Wonders Wednesday post.

1. 
   
   
2. I know this post may be outdated by a few days, but the Wise Bread blog offers 10 Things to Do With Leftover Halloween Candy. There are some really good ideas, ranging from making homemade flavored Vodka, to baking, to making a pinata. Even though the post is geared toward Halloween candy, it really can apply to other holidays as well. Typically, I find myself with leftover candy at Christmas, Valentines Day, and Easter, in addition to Halloween. Check out the article for some creative and useful ideas
   
   
3. Do you have a self-hosted Wordpress blog? If you do, you should take a peek at the WpRecipes: Daily Recipes to Cook with WordPress. This site doesnâ't have anything to do with cooking. Rather, it is full of tips, tricks, and how-to's, geared at spicing up your blogâ's design and functionality. There are tons of ideas and DIY tips, with step-by-step instructions. Honestly, I never realized that I could change my blog and layout so much.
   
   
4. Qwitter is a really neat, little tool for Twitter users. If you use Twitter, you can be alerted by email whenever someone stops following you. The alerting email will give you the userâ's display name. It will also tell you which of your posts was the proverbial "straw that broke the camelâ's back.â" Basically, you will learn, after which of your posts, they quit following you.
   
   
5. I love all things Twitter! Over at Mashable, you can read about Sixteen Great Twitter Moments. These are real-life stories and situations. They range from saving money on a computer, to raising funds for a trip, to tracking perilous weather situations, to getting better customer service, and more. This article demonstrates the usefulness of social media sites such as Twitter. It proves that social media goes beyond fun and games.
   
   
6. Would you like to keep up with your favorite RSS feeds on-the-go? If so, you may want to try out Pingie. This is a new service, still in beta, that converts your favorite RSS feeds into SMS text messages. You simply register with your email, cell phone number, and any RSS feed URLs that you would like to include. Whenever that blog or RSS feed is updated, you will receive a text message. Of course, normal carrier text messaging charges will apply.
   
   
7. If you enjoy online radio sites such as Pandora or Lastfm, you might also like Blip.fm. I recently discovered this site, and I love it! At Blip, you can be come a DJ, of sorts. You simply search for a song or artist that you like, and âœBlip it.â" You can also leave a short comment. Once you blip a song, it is queued into a universal Blip.fm playlist. You can listen to your song, and continue listening to songs added by other users. You can also create your own playlist, and add songs that were Blipped by other users. Additionally, you can add other DJs as favorites, if you like the music they blip. Blip.fm is a great way to discover new music and artists, of which you have never heard.
   
   
8. Just in time for Thanksgiving, I found two delicious recipes at the Whatâ's Cooking blog. Check out their post offering a recipe for Apple Spice Dump Cake, made in a a crock pot. The same post has a recipe for Pumpkin Dump Cake, though this one is baked in the oven. They are both wonderful!
   
   

Well that is it for this week. I sincerely hope that you check out some of these websites, and discover something new and useful. I have more cool links, yet to come, next Wednesday.

Most people who know me will tell you that I am somewhat indecisive, and a bit impulsive. These donâ't always have to be *bad* qualities, but they usually do lead me into situations where I get in over my head. Take this afternoon for instance. I decided that I was bored with hosting my Daily-Adventures and Pop-a-Rock Radio blogs on GoDaddy. I wanted to try something new, something even better. I checked out a couple of different web hosting options, but ultimately decided to go with a freebie called Blogetery.



With Blogetery, I found that I could host a Wordpress blog, but with a few more limitations. While it is not necessarily on the âœbigger and better scale,â" it is free. Since I was still contemplating other types of blogging platforms and website builders, I decided that this was good enough for the short term. The cool thing was that I could keep my domain names, and Blogetery is quite easy to use.



I spent most of the day on Sunday working on this little project. As midnight approached, I was still wide awake and ready to continue working out the kinks that had developed. However, I soon realized that I was not satisfied with the new site. I strongly disliked the obtrusive ads that were injected into my posts. I guess that comes with the territory in using a free web hosting service. I also did not like the considerably smaller selection of template designs. Still, I decided to test it out for a couple of days. I even wrote a few new posts, so I could keep up with my NaBloPoMo commitment. I ultimately decided to revert back to Godaddy hosting, and regain the original look and feel of Daily-Adventures. However, when I reverted back, I managed to lose the new posts I had written. To make a long story short: this is the reason why it looks like I have not written any new posts in the last few days. I know that I am no longer qualified to win prizes or such, for the month of November. However, I am still going to commit to daily writing for the month. The prizes aren't really my goal. My personal goal for participating in NaBloPoMo is to become a better, who is more committed and consistent.



By next week, I could once again, decide to take my blogs into even more unchartered waters. Afterall, I am always looking for a new adventure, even if it is a geek-adventure.