1) Roll your cursor around in the photo banner area. That makes various options appear and disappear.
2) Before you Sign Up or SIGN IN, you can play "Free Stuff" or 30 seconds of anything for free. You can add sample items to the playlist "Free Stuff," but you can't make or save a new playlist unless you register for an account and SIGN IN.
3) After you SIGN IN, if you don't have an Access Plan, you can play 30 seconds of anything plus "Free Stuff." You can build and save playlists, but you can only hear the first 30 seconds of any selection.
4) If you have Prepaid Access Time (Prepaid Minutes), once you SIGN IN your Access Time will be used for all streaming. So be sure to listen to samples before you SIGN IN. After SIGN IN, any listening will decrement your prepaid time, including play of the continuous stream Radio Channel.
The service works by streaming audio to you "on demand." The system automatically adjusts to broadband and dial-up connections. You can listen anywhere you have an internet connection. Our streaming format is AAC+ (mp4), delivered by our Flash Media Servers. Music streams at 128 kbps, 64 kbps, or 28 kbps: the system automatically sends the best audio quality for your internet connectivity.
Hardware: You need a computer connected to the internet. It doesn't matter if it's a Mac or a PC running Windows, Vista, Unix or Linux.*
Software: You need a current version of a common web broswer--either Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Safari. Many users also get wonderful performance via Google Chrome browser. You need Flash Media Player version 9 or later. If you don't have Flash Media Player or the version you have needs to be updated, your web browser will notify you or will download it direct and free of charge from the Adobe website.**
Settings: Your web browser must be set to accept cookies and pop up blocker must be off. The alternative to accepting cookies or turning pop up blocker off is to include our URLs, hos.com and entriq.net, as trusted sites or exceptions in the Privacy, Security, and/or Content areas of your browser. See the TECH SUPPORT section of our HELP page for how to configure the settings for your web browser.
*We support Windows XP and Vista, Macs with OS X 10.2 or later, and Linux (RHEL3 or 4). We do not support Windows 2000 or Windows 98 or 95; though you might get the service to work with those operating systems, we cannot provide technical support or advice for you. The same is true for non-supported web browsers including Opera, Netscape, etc.
**The minimum Adobe Flash Player required for our site is v9.0.115.0. If Adobe's automatic detection and update of your Adobe Flash Player fails, please visit this url, and follow the directions to take the download it offers or to download a version of Adobe Flash Player specifically for your computer's operating system and web browser:
To offer free service we have to attract listeners to our paid services. Registration allows you to try our programming and allows us to track usage patterns and communicate occasionally with our free listeners with news and service offers. Registration also enables us to save your FAVORITES and personal PLAYLISTS. You must be registered and signed in to use those features.
There is a SIGN UP link at the top right of the screen. To register, click SIGN UP, enter your email address under "New User" and click Login. You don't need to register or SIGN IN to view anything on the site, use the search function, or play samples and demos. You must SIGN UP and then be SIGNED IN to play complete streams, or use PLAYLISTS or FAVORITES.
When you visit HOS.com and want to play music, please use the SIGN IN link after you've signed up and created your account. The SIGN IN link appears late in the site-loading process for a reason: if you try to sign in before all the elements of the service are loaded, you may not be properly or fully signed in. All the elements of the service have to be present and synchronized when you SIGN IN. If you get ahead of the process and use SIGN UP or MY ACCOUNT instead of SIGN IN, you make the process take longer and more likely to deny you your access rights.
When you SIGN IN successfully to HOS.com, the SIGN IN link changes to SIGN OUT. It toggles between SIGN IN and SIGN OUT, depending on whether you are or are not signed in.
To use our AUTOMATIC SIGN IN, you simply close the HOS.com window or tab when you're done listening. The next time you return you won't have to SIGN IN. The system will sign you in automatically. Your access rights will be available to you sooner, without having to wait for the SIGN IN link to load and without formally signing in. Each time you SIGN IN, either automatically or manually, you are given a 12-hour session in which to stream without having to SIGN IN again.
People using shared or public computers can and should turn OFF automatic sign in: Just click SIGN OUT when you're done listening to Hearts of Space. When you return, you'll you'll have to SIGN IN again. Whether or not your email address and/or password will be filled in for you depends on how you have your browser set up for autofill and remembering passwords.
Automatic SIGN IN also does not work if you leave HOS.com open but inactive and your listening session expires while the window or tab is open. In that case, you get a message that your session has timed out after 12 hours, and you have to SIGN IN again. On the other hand, if you leave our window or tab open for, say, 6 hours, after streaming for two hours, you've used 8 hours of a 12-hour listening session. When you resume streaming, you have only 4 hours left in that session any may be interrupted before you're finished. If you had closed the window or tab, and then reopened it, you would get a new 12-hour session when you were automatically signed in again.
For more information on sessions and Timeouts, please see the entry on Timeouts and Streaming Interruptions under Troubleshooting.
Click SIGN IN, then click "I forgot my password" in the SIGN IN window. Follow the instructions, and look for an email message from service@hos.com. If it doesn't come soon, check your spam filter. If you've registered a fake or outdated email address, contact us for assistance. Include your name, registered email address, current email address, and a brief description of the problem.
If the system won't accept your password but you're sure you're typing in the right one, click "I forgot my password" anyway. Something has slipped a digit somewhere, and this will enable you to refresh your password by using the same one again. After clicking "I forgot my password," follow the instructions, and look for an email message from service@hos.com. If it doesn't come soon, check your spam filter. If you've registered a fake or outdated email address, contact us at help@hos.com for assistance. Include your name, registered email address, current email address, and a brief description of the problem.
Sorry for this inconvenience. Your email client is adding a space or break to our technology provider's link to reset your password. No one knows why this happens occasionally, and we agree it is very annoying! Write to help@hos.com and tell us your registered email address and that you're getting this error. We'll fix it asap or escalate it to higher techs if we can't.
There are two ways to play music:
1) Click on any light green PLAY icon or triangle on the site -- next to a radio PROGRAM, next to an ALBUM, or next to the title of an album TRACK. This sends the selection directly to the player.
2) Click ADD to add the selection (radio PROGRAM, ALBUM, or TRACK) to your Active Playlist. Once an item is added to a playlist, you can click and drag it to change the order of play.
For a completely uninterrupted musical experience, you can turn radio program voiceovers off (and back on):
While any radio program is playing, click the microphone icon located in the upper right corner of the player, to the right of the THIS WEEK'S SHOW tab. The music momentarily fades down and then up again, and the mic icon acquires a red slash: voiceovers are now turned off. To turn them back on, click the mic icon again while any radio program is playing. The icon loses the red slash, and the voiceovers play normally again.
The default starting state of the icon and voiceovers is on. Once you turn voiceovers off, they remain off until you turn them on again. The system remembers this preference when you sign out, so when you sign in again the voiceovers are as they were when you last signed out.
The old QUEUE function has been incorporated into the MY PLAYLISTS tab. QUEUE worked only for Windows users on Internet Explorer. MY PLAYLISTS is available to everyone. QUEUE had to be configured every time you wanted to use it, whereas playlists can be saved and played again and again.
No worries! Your Favorites from our old interface are safe!
1) Access your Favorites the old familiar way:
Mouseover PROGRAMS in the new main menu bar. See Favorites right below? Click it, and your old Favorites appear in a table in the content pane below the player. There's also a Favorites link under ALBUMS (next to Programs in the main menu bar).
If your Favorites don't load right away, maximize your browser window (make it full screen size). After you do this once, your browser 'learns' the new parameters and does it at any size subsequently.
If you have a fairly slow internet connection and more than, say 25 or 30 FAVORITES, it may take longer for the table to load. Be patient and they will appear. Favorite Programs, Albums, and Album Tracks now appear on the same page, each presented in their own scrollable table.
2) Access and use Favorites in MY PLAYLISTS:
Click the MY PLAYLISTS tab in the the right side of the Flash player.
Then click MANAGE PLAYLISTS.
See the playlist called "Favorites"? If you had Favorites in the old system in December 2008, there they are. We created a playlist for you out of your Favorites at that time.
Click to highlight and selection the Favorites playlist.
Double-click on the highlight, or click SELECT.
This makes Favorites the ACTIVE PLAYLIST (see the top of the tab?).
Click any PLAY triangle. The list will start with the selection you clicked, then automatically play through the list.
Change the order of play by clicking and dragging the selections.
Delete an item by clicking the gray triangle to its right--click Delete.
See an item's detail page by clicking the title of the item or the MORE INFO option under the gray triangle.
ADD items to your Active Playlist by navigating through the PROGRAMS and ALBUMS archives as usual, then click ADD.
FAV works exactly the same as it did before: it marks a selection as a Favorite. It does not, however, add the FAV to a playlist or update your Favorites playlist. FAV and ADD are completely separate.
Our bet is that after using MY PLAYLISTS you'll re-organize all your FAVORITES under MY PLAYLISTS. Eventually, you'll stop using the old FAVORITES function and use PLAYLISTS exclusively. It's far more functional, efficient, and satisfying!
Playlists are lists of our music selections you can create, name and rename, save, select, edit, load, and play in the MY PLAYLISTS tab of the player. You can combine radio PROGRAMS, ALBUMS, and TRACKS from the ALBUMS section in the same playlist. There's no limit to the number of playlists you can make and save, though practically speaking you won't want to scroll through too many to get the one you want. Create a NEW playlist then SELECT it, or an existing playlist, to make it the "Active Playlist." Items are ADDed to the "Active Playlist" when you click the ADD icon in a table of selections or on a page of PROGRAM DETAILS.
Here's an example to get you started. Let's load your FAVORITES into a Playlist:
SIGN IN as usual (you can't use PLAYLISTS unless you Sign In).
Click the MY PLAYLISTS tab in the right side of the player area.
Click MANAGE PLAYLISTS and create and name a NEW playlist:
Click NEW, type the name of the playlist, click OK.
SELECT your new playlist to make it the "Active Playlist."
Call up your list of FAVORITES:
In the main menu bar, click PROGRAMS or ALBUMS.
In the sub-menu that appears, click FAVORITES (all the way to the right).
In the Favorite Programs table, click the ADD icon next to any programs you want to put in your new playlist.
To rearrange the order or play within the playlist, click, drag, and drop selections where you want them to go.
To play the Active Playlist, click the PLAY triangle next to the top or any other selection.
After that it will play through the selections in the PLAYLIST, one after the other, without your having to do anything else. It will stop after twelve hours or when it gets to the end of the list, whichever comes first (it won't repeat automatically from the top).
The playlist is automatically saved, and you can highlight, SELECT, and (re)play it any time you SIGN IN. You can edit the playlist you're currently playing, or you can create and configure playlists while you're listening to completely different music.
You can of course play PROGRAMS and ALBUMS directly, without going through FAVORITES or MY PLAYLISTS simply by using the PLAY icon anytime.
Our service is streaming only. Copyright licensing issues still prevent us from selling downloads of the radio programs, and this probably will be the case for some time. We plan to sell full album and individual track downloads of licensed albums soon.
You may browse other locations online while streaming by opening another website in a new browser tab or a new browser window. You may resize or minimize our window. But if you close the window displaying our website, the player will stop.
Please be assured that all of your purchase transactions through hos.com are secure. https://secure.hos.com is displayed in the header of each transaction window. This verifies that the transaction is being processed from a secure socket layer (SSL), and only a valid SSL can display this URL. This is always visible on our service to all users, on all platforms and browsers. However, the lock icon may not be visible to users of Windows/IE or Windows/Firefox, though it always is to users of Mac/Safari and Mac/Firefox. Our secure transaction processor is aware of this browser visibility issue and they are working on resolving it. In the meantime, please look at the top of the window for the URL https://secure.hos.com..., and be assured that your transaction is indeed secure. We reply within 24 hours, usually much less, to billing inquiries sent to help@hos.com.
We are currently in the process of developing a Hearts of Space iPhone app. We hope it will be ready before Christmas 2009, but the timeline for Apple approving an app for placement in the App Store is entirely unpredictable and out of our control. Once we're available on the iPhone and iPod Touch, we'll turn our attention to other mobile platforms and devices.
[Currently, you can view our website on your iPhone, but you can't stream music because there's no Flash player for the iPhone. We got caught in the standoff over this between Apple and Adobe.]
Sorry, we are not compatible with those services, which work only with open streams, Our streams are protected so you have to SIGN IN and have access privileges to play them. This is not compatible with the way a DMR works.
A "stereo FM transmitter" lets you hear Hearts of Space on your stereo in any room of your home, by broadcasting the audio signal from your PC or Mac to an FM receiver connected to your stereo. In fact, you can "tune in" to your own "broadcast" of Hearts of Space, or anything else, on any FM receiver within range.
A Google search of "stereo FM transmitter" or "wireless computer to stereo" brings up lots of these devices, starting around $25. The more expensive ones ($99) have better audio quality, a stronger signal, and a greater range. This one looks interesting and has come down in price recently:
www.wholehousefmtransmitter.com.
An alternative, also about $99, is a set of wireless speakers that can be up to 150' away from your computer and still play what's streaming through your PC, for example:
www.calcellular.com/bt-speaker.html
Also, five different methods are summarized here:
www.giantpath.com/news/20041211_PC-to-Stereo.html
Last but not least, there's a whole new range of really inexpensive USB wireless FM transmitters that have come out recenlty:
(We haven't tried any of these ourselves: they're just examples to get you started.)
Click MY ACCOUNT at the top of the website and choose 'Change Account Information.'
Click MY ACCOUNT at the top of the website (enter your existing email address and password if you are not already signed in). Choose 'Change Account Information' from the MY ACCOUNT window. Type your new email address over the old one. You may also change your password here or leave it as it is. Click 'Save Changes. (If you click 'Return,' no changes will be saved.) Once you click 'Save Changes' you can verify the changes in My Account. The new email address becomes your new SIGN IN immediately.
Once you've registered or created an account, it's never necessary to create a new account. You can view, update, change, manage or cancel your account anytime by clicking MY ACCOUNT in the main menu bar. When you purchase or upgrade an Access Plan, the features of your plan are simply incorporated into your existing account.
Your email address is your User ID on the service. Please use a valid email address - your account is tied to it. Your email address is the only way we have to communicate with you about your account to avoid service interruptions due to failed payment transactions, outdated payment information, etc. We never sell, rent, give, or share your email address with anyone else.
Click MY ACCOUNT at the top of the website. In the My Account window, choose 'Manage Subscriptions.' Click the Cancel link next to any Active subscription. This changes the subscription's Status to 'ToBeCancelled.' This means the subscription won't renew at its next 'bill date.' If you change your mind before then, you may click the link to 'Reconnect' the subscription and it will renew normally, without interruption, as scheduled on the 'Billed Until' date.
'ToBeCancelled' status stops future billing and causes the subscription to expire instead of renew at its next bill date. You can continue to use your canceled subscription until it expires on its next 'bill date.' No refunds are due or issued for subscriptions cancelled after their 'bill date' unless the cancellation is part of an upgrade of access.
Please do not email and ask us to cancel your subscription for you. Cancellation is a secured transaction that must be initiated and confirmed by you, through the system, the same way you initiated access. You will receive an email at your registered email address confirming your cancellation. If you do not receive an email confirmation shortly after canceling your subscription, please return to My Account and check the status of your subscription. If you can't confirm your cancellation, please email us at help@hos.com.
The only time a credit or refund will be issued for unused time on an Access Plan is if you upgrade your Plan, that is, if you change from one Access Plan to a more expensive Access Plan.
It is not necessary to cancel a one-time billing access plan; it will simply expire when its term ends and no further billing will occur.
Shortly before your credit card expiration date, our system will send an email to your registered email address, asking you to update your expiration date. Please follow the directions in the message to update your expiration date. Or SIGN IN to MY ACCOUNT > 'Manage payment information' or MY ACCOUNT > 'Manage Subscriptions.'
The best method to update payment card information depends on whether or not you have an Active subscription. In either case, please click MY ACCOUNT.
a) If you have an active Current Subscription, please click 'Manage Subscriptions.' In the Subscriptions window, click the link under 'Credit Card' (even if it's really a debit card). The link shown is the name or nickname you gave the payment method when you entered it. The next window is headed 'Select a payment method.' Click the Edit link next to the 'Existing Card' you wish to change. In the 'Credit Card Details' window, type the new information over any old or outdated information. Be sure there's a check next to 'Use this card for all of my existing subscriptions and open invoices.' Click the Update button to save your changes and make them effective.
b) If you use one-time billing or do not have an active Current Subscription, please click 'Manage Payment Methods' in My Account. In the window headed 'Payment methods on file,' you may remove any inactive card data or edit any card data by clicking the appropriate 'Remove' or 'Edit' link next to the card. Or you may add a new card by clicking the 'Add card' button. The following window, headed 'Credit Card details,' allows you to check a box to 'Use this card for all of my existing subscriptions and open invoices.' Click 'Update' to save your changes when you're done.
The system will not allow a payment card to be deleted if it's the designated payment method for an active subscription. If you have an active subscription and want to change the card to which it is billed, please follow the instructions to update or change your debit or credit card.
All billing and payment issues are handled by our own Customer Support. The best way to reach us is by email to help@hos.com. Or call 415-499-9901 x10 anytime and leave a voice message, including your registered email address and current email address if different. If you want someone to call you back, be sure to leave your phone number(s) and best times to reach you.
If you travel with a laptop, or can access an internet connection on any other computer where you're going, you can SIGN IN and use the service wherever you are. If you have Prepaid Access Time, you are charged for streaming minutes only when you use them. They'll wait patiently until you return. For regular subscribers, there's unfortunately no provision for 'suspending' subscriptions while you're away.
The $2 charge from us is a temporary artifact of authorizing your credit/debit card. It's not a "real" charge, and it will disappear shortly. It appears only online, never in a final monthly statement, and it will not be actually taken from your bank account if you're using a debit card. Contact us if it doesn't disappear in a day or two.
We accept all debit and credit cards displaying a Visa, MasterCard, or American Express logo.
We also accept a check or money order in the mail, in the amount of any one-year, one-time plan.
First, SIGN UP and create your HOS account if you haven't already done so.
Then, send your check or money order to Hearts of Space, 454 Las Gallinas Avenue #333, San Rafael, CA 94903.
Be sure to include your registered email address and contact information, including your phone number with your payment
We'll deposit the funds to your account as a "pre-payment," and notify you by email.
Finally, SIGN IN using that email address, go to the PLANS page, and purchase your Access Plan using the funds after we've notified you that they've been deposited to your account.
If you have further questions, please write to help@hos.com.
Access plans allow you to stream content from our service. There are six plans available. For prices, please see our ACCESS PLANS SUMMARY page. Except where noted, Access Plans are available for a term of 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, or 1 year, with or without recurring billing:
Our Weekly Program stream is free to all registered users on Sundays from midnight Eastern to midnight Pacific Time (GMT-5 to GMT-8, 27 hours total). All you have to do is SIGN UP. Then visit our site on Sunday. During the FREE time window, click on the tab for 'THIS WEEK'S SHOW' in the player. To play the show, click the PLAY triangle to the left of the title of the show, sit back, and enjoy the music.
3 days of All Archive Access on-demand streaming. Includes all interactive features and all content. The UNLIMITED 3 DAY PASS is a one-time charge: billing does not recur.
Unlimited on-demand 24/7 interactive service. Full content includes The Weekly Show, The Radio Channel, our complete Archive of radio PROGRAMS, ALBUMS and TRACKS, plus all other interactive features like playlists and voiceover on/off. You may purchase a 1-month, 3-month, 6-month, or 1-year term, with or without recurring billing.
Hear the current program any time, as often as you like, each week. Program changes every Friday.
A continuous, non-interactive stream of HOS radio programs, one after the other, no need to click or make selections--like an all-HOS radio station. Tune in any time, listen as long as you like. The stream will run continuously for up to eight hours after SIGN IN; after that, you have to SIGN IN and start the stream again.
The RADIO CHANNEL draws randomly on the entire archive, eliminating seasonally and thematically inappropriate programs until their time of year comes around. When you SIGN IN, you will hear whatever is playing at the time. You can SIGN OFF whenever you like. You may stop the stream at any time, but you cannot pause it and return to where it was when you left off. After stopping, you re-enter the stream at its current point. You may not rewind or fast forward the RADIO CHANNEL. (For these and other interactive features, please access our Archive of radio PROGRAMS, ALBUMS, and album TRACKS.)
Prepaid Minutes are a unique feature of our service, enabling you to buy streaming access time in blocks of 10 or 15 hours and use them at your leisure. Billing is non-recurring--no subscription.
Your credit or debit card is charged once and 600 or 900 minutes of prepaid access time is credited to your account. The system tracks your actual usage and deducts it as you stream. Your remaining minutes are displayed when you SIGN IN or in MY ACCOUNT > 'Time remaining.'
When your minutes go to zero, the system ends your access to everything but free content. To continue your usage, purchase more Access Time or a different Access Plan.
Minutes are deducted only for actual streaming time, not for browsing while not listening or while the player is paused. Once you SIGN IN minutes are deducted for ALL streaming, whether you hear only a short sample or listen to a selection all the way through 'and regardless of any other Access Plan(s) you may have.
Some users want to know the really granular details about how prepaid minutes are charged. A minute is a long time to a computer, so they actually are tracked and charged by the second. When you purchase prepaid access time, say, 900 minutes, the system credits your account with 54,000 seconds (60 seconds in a minute x 900 minutes). If you already have some time, it's added to what's already there. As you stream, the player reports to the server. When you stop, the total number of seconds you've streamed are deducted from the number of seconds in your account. When you reach zero, the server tells the player you've run out of time.
Please be aware that after SIGN IN, ALL streaming is deducted from your prepaid minutes. The only exceptions are the weekly show during the free window on Sundays and free content such as Demos. Therefore, please do NOT combine Prepaid Access Time with other Access Plans, as the system will deduct your prepaid minutes for ALL streaming once you SIGN IN. And be careful when streaming the RADIO CHANNEL; remember to turn it off before going to sleep or leaving the room :-)
You may customize your access by combining plans, but some combinations are not advisable. For example, you may successfully combine both a la carte services, RADIO CHANNEL (only) and WEEKLY SHOW (only). However, please do not combine Prepaid Access Time with other plans in the same account, because the system will always deduct prepaid minutes as you stream, regardless any other Access Plan(s) you may have.
We understand that listeners have different preferences with regard to billing and subscription policy so we offer two billing options: with recurring billing and one-time billing. For more information please read about our policies, recurring billing and one-time billing plans.
One time billing is a purchase of an access plan for a set term. Period. No automatic renewals, no recurring billing. Your credit or debit card is charged once at the beginning of the term you choose: 1 month (AAA only), 3 months, 6 months, or 1 year. At the end of the term, your access ends. To continue your service, purchase the same or a different access plan after your first plan ends. To cancel your service, do nothing; the access plan works and remains available during its full term, then it expires at the end of the term you chose. To view the details of your one-time billing transaction(s), please click MY ACCOUNT, 'View Purchase History.'
Recurring billing means the same as automatic renewal. Choose a 1 month (AAA only), 3 month, 6 month, or 1 year term; your credit card is charged at the time of purchase and automatically billed at the term interval until after you cancel your plan. Renewal is automatic and there is no advance notice (our transaction provider doesn't offer this, sorry). You get a receipt for the transaction by email after it occurs, or a notice if there's any difficulty.
Purchasing a subscription with recurring billing authorizes the first and all future transactions. Your card is billed when you purchase your subscription, and then automatically every month (AAA only), 3 months, 6 months or year thereafter on the same day of the month as your initial purchase. This date becomes your 'bill date'.
Your initial purchase establishes a 'bill date,' the day of the month the transaction occurred. Future renewals occur on that day of the month. For example, if you purchase a 6 month recurring billing access plan on the 10th of May, your next renewal will occur automatically on November 10. If you cancel your subscription before November 10, no renewal will occur and your access will end on your next bill date, November 10 in this example. To see your 'bill date,' please click MY ACCOUNT and then 'Manage Subscriptions,' where you will see the date your subscription is 'Billed Until,' along with the credit or debit card your renewals are billed to, the price, and your subscription status.
Access plans with recurring billing (automatic renewals) appear as 'Current Subscriptions.' To view one-time billing transactions or discontinued subscriptions, click 'View Purchase History.' There you will see all purchases made from your account, whether one-time billing, or recurring billing and renewals.
In MY ACCOUNT, click 'View Purchase History' to see the history of all your subscription purchases, automatic renewals, and all other purchases from our site, such as Gift Certificates.'[ top ]
You may change from one ACCESS PLAN to another at any time by simply purchasing the new plan you want. However, to receive a credit for unused time on your old plan, you must upgrade your plan, that is, purchase a higher value (more expensive) access plan, and you must notify us of the upgrade--the system isn't 'smart enough' to detect this automatically.
An upgrade occurs when you switch to a higher-value access plan from a lower value access plan. However, upgrades are not automatic; we have to help you personally. To receive a credit for the unused portion of your previous (less expensive) plan, purchase the new plan, cancel your old plan in MY ACCOUNT (if it is recurring billing), and send an email to help@hos.com telling us you've upgraded. We will disconnect your previous (less expensive) plan and give you a credit for its remaining, unused portion. We will not issue credits or refunds for two plans running simultaneously unless you tell us about your upgrade and cancel your less expensive plan within a reasonable time of purchasing the new plan. If you do not receive an email from us telling you the amount of your credit within 24 hours of telling us about your upgrade, please contact us again.
Sorry, no credits or refunds are issued for downgrading your Access Plan Plan--that is, for moving from one Access Plan to another of lesser value. To downgrade your plan, cancel your plan if it is a recurring subscription, and wait for it to expire. When it expires, purchase the less expensive Access Plan.
To empty browser cache, please close any HOS window.
Have a blank window open or go to google.com or yahoo.com --
anywhere except HOS.com. Then, follow these directions for your web browser:
Empty browser cache in Firefox (3.5 and later):
At the top of the Firefox window, click the Tools menu, then select Clear Recent History.
Uncheck everything except Cache, and click Clear Now.
Empty browser cache in Safari:
Under the Safari menu, click Empty Cache, then click Empty.
Delete temporary internet files (same as empty browser cache) in INTERNET EXPLORER 7:
Under the Tools Menu, select Internet Options, then the General Tab.
Under Browsing History, click Delete...
Then click Delete Files... and confirm by clicking Yes.
Click Close, then OK in the Internet Options box.
If all is not well now, please write to us using this pdf to find and tell us what version you're using of
a) our player
b) the Adobe Flash Player
c) your operating system -- Windows XP, Vista, Mac OS X, Linux, including the specific version as illustrated in this pdf, which tells you where to find this information.
d) your web browser -- IE7, Chrome, Firefox, or Safari
Sending a screen shot of our site would be very helpful as well.
To clear cache and cookies, please close any HOS window.
Have a blank window open or go to google.com or yahoo.com --
anywhere except HOS.com. Then, follow these directions for your web browser:
Clear cache and cookies in Firefox 3.5 and later:
At the top of the Firefox window, click the Tools menu, then select Clear Recent History...
Under Time Range to Clear, select Everything.
Under Details, select Cookies and Cache.
Click Clear Now.
Clear cache & cookies in Firefox (before v3.5):
Click the Tools menu, then select Options
Select the Privacy tab
In the Private Data section, click Settings...
Uncheck everything except do check Cache and Cookies, the click OK
In the Private Data section of Privacy Options, click Clear Now...
Click OK (closes Options window).
Clear cache & cookies in INTERNET EXPLORER 8 (if you're on IE6 or IE7 let us know):
Under the Tools Menu, select Clear Recent History...
Under Time and Range to Clear, click Everything.
Undet Details, check Cache and Cookies.
Click Clear Now.
Empty browser cache & delete cookies in Safari:
Under the Safari menu, click Reset Safari
Check Empty the Cache and Remove All Cookies.
Uncheck everything else.
Click Reset.
After you do this, Exit/Quit your browser. Wait at least 30 seconds, then restart, and come back to HOS.com. The site should greet you as "Guest." If not, go back and do the procedure again. Make sure that you do not have HOS.com open in any browser window or tab when you empty cache and/or delete cookies.
Sometimes we update our player but your browser hangs on to the old version that no longer communicates properly with our servers.
Empty your browser cache exactly as below to resolve this:
Close any HOS window. Have a blank window open or go to google.com or yahoo.com -- anywhere except HOS.com. Then, follow the directions for your web browser:
In Internet Explorer:
Under the Tools Menu, select Internet Options, then theGeneral Tab.
Under Browsing History, click Delete...
Then clickDelete Files... and confirm by clicking Yes.
Click Close, then OK in the Internet Options box.
In Safari: Under the Safari menu, click Empty Cache
In Firefox: Click the Tools menu, then select Clear Private Data.
Uncheck everything except Cache, and click Clear Private Data Now.
Firefox users should also check their add ons. If Adblock, Adblock Plus, and/or NoScript are installed, each must be disabled for hos.com. If Firefox has been updated recently, you may have to re-disable these by turning them off completely. See our entries for troubleshooting in Firefox.
If this fails to correct the problem, let us know at help@hos.com.
No worries! Your Favorites from our old interface are safe!
1) Access your Favorites the old familiar way:
Mouseover PROGRAMS in the new main menu bar. See Favorites right below? Click it, and your old Favorites appear in a table in the content pane below the player. There's also a Favorites link under ALBUMS (next to Programs in the main menu bar). If you have a fairly slow internet connection and more than, say 25 or 30 FAVORITES, it may take longer for the table to load. Be patient and they will appear. Favorite Programs, Albums, and Album Tracks now appear on the same page, each presented in their own scrollable table. 2) Access and use Favorites in MY PLAYLISTS: Click the MY PLAYLISTS tab in the the right side of the Flash player. Click to highlight and selection the Favorites playlist. Change the order of play by clicking and dragging the selections. ADD items to your Active Playlist by navigating through the PROGRAMS and ALBUMS archives as usual, then click ADD. FAV works exactly the same as it did before: it marks a selection as a Favorite. It does not, however, add the FAV to a playlist or update your Favorites playlist. FAV and ADD are completely separate. Our bet is that after using MY PLAYLISTS you'll re-organize all your FAVORITES under MY PLAYLISTS. Eventually, you'll stop using the old FAVORITES function and use PLAYLISTS exclusively. It's far more functional, efficient, and satisfying!
Then click MANAGE PLAYLISTS.
See the playlist called "Favorites"? If you had Favorites in the old system in December 2008, there they are. We created a playlist for you out of your Favorites at that time.
Double-click on the highlight, or click SELECT.
This makes Favorites the ACTIVE PLAYLIST (see the top of the tab?).
Click any PLAY triangle. The list will start with the selection you clicked, then automatically play through the list.
Delete an item by clicking the gray triangle to its right--click Delete.
See an item's detail page by clicking the title of the item or the MORE INFO option under the gray triangle.
The center part of the page that doesn't load is our new custom Flash Media Audio Player. Something is preventing it from connecting to our Flash steaming server.
If you've used our service recently without difficulty, please empty your web browser cache and try again:
Launch your web browser but don't go to HOS.com. Go to google.com or yahoo.com -- anywhere EXCEPT HOS.com. Then empty browser cache (called delete temporary internet files in IE):
Empty browser cache in Firefox:
Click the Tools menu, then select Clear Private Data.
Uncheck everything except Cache, and click Clear Private Data Now.
Empty browser cache in Safari:
Under the Safari menu, click Empty Cache
Delete temporary internet files (same as empty browser cache) in INTERNET EXPLORER:
Under the Tools Menu, select Internet Options, then the General Tab.
Under Browsing History, click Delete...
Then click Delete Files...and confirm by clicking Yes.
Click Close, then OK in the Internet Options box.
Then navigate to HOS.com.
Click Reset in the far upper left corner.
If this does not resolve the issue and you're on a home network, please reboot your router or cable modem. This usually clears this issue when it occurs at home.
Some users have resolved this issue by turning OFF Norton Protection Center.
If you're on a corporate or institutional network, and your browser hangs up on the message "Trying connection on Port...," what you see is our player trying various standard network addresses ('ports'), but failing to get through. Your IT department may be blocking these ports or the RTMP protocol -- the streaming media protocol used by Adobe Flash Media Server and Player. If so, please contact your IT department and ask if they can make an exception for HOS.com or for you. Please give your network administrators the following information and ask them to help you, as the network you're on is blocking our service:
We address standard ports for streaming media:
We stream RTMP protocol (Flash Media Server) on the default port 1935.
We stream RTMP Secure (RTMPS) on port 443 using HTTPS.
We stream RTMP "Tunneled" (RTMPT) on port 80.
Port 8080 is also required for data services associated with the Flash Media player.
If your network administration blocks port 8080 or the RTMP protocol, the service won't work.
If they open port 8080, it will work, unless a 'traffic shaper' is blocking the RTMP protocol.
With the above information, you can ask your network administrators to enable our service to work. Please feel free to have your techs talk to ours directly (see below). It's a simple fix. Our webmaster@hos.com is happy to work with them on allowing our streams through to you.
If you're not on a corporate network, please turn OFF all third party security software and anti-malware. If our player loads and our service works with everything off, you'll know one of those programs caused the block. To identify which one, turn the applications back on one at a time, loading and playing from our site in between. Then search the blocking program's online or printed documentation to find out how to disable it for www.hos.com, or what settings will allow streaming media through the RTMP protocol. When you identify an offending application and a solution, please let us know so we can pass it on to others with this same difficulty.
You can also reinstall Adobe Flash Player -- if you're on v9, see if upgrading to v10 resolves this issue:
http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/?promoid=DXLUJ
If none of the above work, please write to us using this pdf to find and tell us what version you're using of
a) our player
b) the Adobe Flash Player, and
c) your operating system -- Windows or Mac, and the specific version as illustrated in this pdf, which tells you where to find this information.
Sending a screen shot of our site would be very helpful as well.
If your screen is 800 pixels tall or less, you'll see an up-arrow icon next to the SIGN IN link in the far upper right of the screen.
This is the minimize or "roll up" player icon. Click it to create more room under the player for viewing tables (especially Favorites) and PGM DETAILS.
After you minimize or "roll up" over the player this way, the icon changes to a down-arrow.
Click that down-arrow to return the player to its normal, maximized size.
We designed the new site for monitors with at least 800 pixels in the vertical dimension. If your screen is smaller than that, you may not have enough room below the player in the content frame, where the tables, lists, and program details appear.
The standard laptop screen for a long time has been 1024 x 800 pixels. The newer, wider screens from Apple run 1280 x 800.
It's not just size that matters in a screen; it's also resolution. Look at the Display settings in your Control Panel (Windows) or System Preferences (Mac) to see your monitor resolution, and set it to the highest resolution possible for your hardware (it won't let you go higher than your computer can support). That gives you the most screen real estate for your hardware. If type is too small to read in that resolution, use the Zoom control (see below) to make it bigger.
There is a scroll bar on the right of the content pane that lets you scroll up and down in a table or list.
You can also use the Zoom function in your browser:
Control - (minus or hyphen) to zoom out,
Control + (plus) to zoom in,
Control 0 (zero) to reset to default or start.
If Zoom Out doesn't give you enough room, or it makes the type too small for you to read, here are some other ways to gain more useable space:
1. Turn off all third party toolbars and add ons that appear above the browser, between the browser and the top of your screen.
2. Turn off the Status Bar at the bottom of the browser window (this gives back about 3/8").
3. Turn off the Navigation bar (in Firefox only, this gains about 1/2").
4. Turn off the Menu bar (3/8" to 1/2" gain).
There are usually keyboard commands or other shortcuts to regain these controls or views when you want them.
After a prolonged PAUSE some users report that our new Flash Media Player won't resume play. Some can see the time counter moving, but there's no sound.
The player actually has muted itself:
Click the mute icon -- that little speaker to the left of the volume control bar -- to make it sound again.
This is a known bug in some versions of the Flash Media Player software (not in our player or our code), especially in combination with some browsers and operating systems. It is more likely to occur when using Internet Explorer v6, Firefox v3 before 3.0.6, and on Macs.
Please update your browser to its latest release, then do the same for Adobe Flash Player:
IE6 users should upgrade to IE7 if possible--for many other reasons, too, then update Flash Player to the latest release. Learn about why you should upgrade:
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-us/help/a426bb85-708c-4b75-87e2-874f9be3b4aa1033.mspx
Get the upgrade, free, from Microsoft:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads/ie/getitnow.mspx
Firefox users should get the latest release 3.0.6 from Mozilla before updating Flash Player, as it contains some fixes for Firefox relating to this problem and Flash player as well:
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/?from=getfirefox
Everyone experiencing this problem should updateFlash Player from Adobe to the very latest release, and keep current with new releases as they occur:
http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/?promoid=DXLUJ
Let us know at help@hos.com if you have any questions.
There are two separate and distinct messages that you might get about the unexpected or unwanted end of play or connection to the server:
1) Your session has timed out after 12 hours. Please login again to continue listening.
Our service allows a twelve-hour session from the time you SIGN IN. When you SIGN IN you start a 12-hour session. If you neither SIGN OUT nor close our window or tab, and you come back before your first session expires, you resume an unfinished session, and your current session seems to end early.
When you're done listening or leave your computer, it's best to close the HOS.com window or tab, or SIGN OUT. In either case, you get a "fresh session" when you return. If you close the HOS.com window or tab, you invoke automatic SIGN IN: you're automatically signed in when you return. If you SIGN OUT, you have to SIGN IN manually when you return. Users of shared or public computers should SIGN OUT when they're done, to make sure no one else uses HOS.com from your account.
When your session does time out after 12 hours, there is no automatic reconnection. You have to (and should be able to) sign in again and resume streaming. (The session length is not to limit streaming, just to prevent unattended streams from running for prolonged periods.)
If you want to extend a session after you've already listened for a while, just SIGN OUT and SIGN IN again and you're good to go for another 12 hours.
2) Your connection to the media server has dropped, please click OK to reconnect.
This error message gives you an opportunity for a one-click reconnection (followed by another click to confirm). This disconnection is not from a session that ends. It occurs because your internet connection dropped out, or dropped so low in bandwidth that Flash Media Player (FMP) with dynamic buffering couldn't keep its connection to the server over the 'net.
Internet connections are not always continuous even when they're supposed to be. Broadband connections are "persistent" but not always "continuous." Bandwidth also varies throughout the day for various reasons completely outside our or your control.
If you have DSL broadband, for example, your actual bandwidth depends on how far you are from your Internet Service Provider's (ISP) central office; how many other people share the connection; and the total load (demand for bandwidth) at any given time. If your bandwidth drops low enough, or if your internet connection experiences a "drop out," Flash Media Player (FMP) disconnects unexpectedly from Flash Media Server (FMS). Our FMS sends you a message asking if you want to reconnect. Your SIGN IN session isn't affected by this. (Unless coincidentally your session expires during the time you're disconnected from the Flash Media Server.)
If these interruptions are frequent, check your actual bandwidth at different times of day over several days. We like http://www.speedtest.net because it tracks your results over time and is quick and fun to use. Then send these results to your ISP. You're paying for a steady internet connection and you should have it. If it's not steady enough to sustain the FMP/FMS connection, your ISP has a problem to fix. It may take a bit of effort on your part but the results are well worth the effort.
We hope these disconnection messages now make more sense. If you have session timeouts closer together than 12 hours from SIGN IN, please document the timing and let us know. If your internet connection drops frequently enough to bother you, please contact your ISP.
We're happy to provide information and assistance whenever you write in to help@hos.com.
Enjoy the music with our thanks for subscribing and supporting Hearts of Space!
Please SIGN IN. The site 'remembers' you from your last sign in session, but to give you full streams it has to check with our secure server, and this requires you to SIGN IN. You know you're signed in when the SIGN IN link in the upper right corner of the site says SIGN OUT.
Click to PLAY your selection. After you SIGN IN, the 30 second sample indication may still display and disappear when you actually click to Play the music.
If you still get samples instead of full streams, check MY ACCOUNT to make sure your subscription hasn't expired (link to MY ACCOUNT is next to HELP in user services area, upper right of site).
If your subscription is Active or ToBeCancelled (but not yet expired), or if you have purchased a one-time billing Access Plan that is not yet expired, please click the RESET link in the far upper left of the site.
If you still get only 30 second samples after resetting, please empty your browser cache using the directions from the first entry in this Help! section, "EMPTY BROWSER CACHE--troubleshooting first aid."
Afterwards all will be well. Let us know at help@hos.com if any difficulties persist.
If you get a red error message saying Your email address or password is incorrect, please try again, and you try again but get the same error: even though you haven't forgotten your password, please click "I forgot my password."
That triggers an email to your registered email address. The email contains a link and an expiration date. Click the link before it expires, then reset or refresh your password in the window that opens. After that, you should be able to SIGN IN and OUT freely.
If not, or if the situation recurs -- your password stops working again, and perhaps again -- please write to help@hos.com and let us know. Our techs are currently researching this problem: an account's password stops working for no apparent reason, is reset, but stops again.
We don't yet know why this happens, only that it mainly affects registered email addresses imported into the current system in 2005 from our original Real Audio service. These accounts have a different type of UserId. Some interaction between the current system and the data structure of these older accounts is not working as it should over time. We hope to have the problem resolved shortly. In the meantime, if password resets become annoying we can help move you into a new account without this annoying legacy.
If your system date and time is inaccurate, you may not be able to SIGN IN or maintain your session on our service. (A slow clock makes your session expire too soon or even before it begins. A fast clock signs you in tomorrow or next month but you want to stream now.) So, to insure smooth, secure communication, our server tests your time setting every time you SIGN IN.
You might have the wrong time for two reasons: the time is set wrong, or the time zone is set wrong. If your computer clock agrees with your wall clock, but the time zone is incorrect, when your computer talks to our server their communication won't sync up and we won't be able to send you data securely.
On modern systems, the best way to set the computer's clock is to properly set the time zone and daylight savings rule (respect DST or not), and then set the computer to synchronize to Internet time. Windows boxes living on a corporate domain usually sync to that domain's time (which should sync to the internet time servers). Older versions of Windows don't have any easy way to sync the clock to the Internet; and some firewalls block the network time protocol (NTP). In those cases, you have to set your system clock manually.
Under the START menu, choose Control Panel. Then click Date, Time, Language and Regional Options, then Date & Time. In the Date and Time Properties window, set the correct Time Zone in the pulldown menu on the Time Zone tab. Then correct the date and time by clicking the Internet Time tab and then "Update Now." To keep your system clock accurate, it's a good idea to check (yes) to "Automatically synchronize with an Internet time server."
Under the Apple menu, select System Preferences. In the System section, select Date & Time. Select the Date & Time tab. Make sure there IS a check next to 'Set date & time automatically:' and choose the correct Apple time synchronization (Apple America, Apple Asia, Apple Europe). Select the Time Zone tab. Select the Closest City from the dropdown menu. Close the Date & Time preferences window.
If something doesn't look right on our site, please send us an image of your screen and an image of our window on your screen. Here's how:
Send an image of your entire screen as it appears on your monitor:
- Open a new document or email message, or create a reply to a message we sent you.
- Press PRINT SCREEN.
- Paste the image into the document or email message: click document or message, then the Paste command (Control+V) or choose Paste from the Edit menu.
- If you've created a document, Save the document (Command+S), close it, and attach it to the email message.
Send an image of the active window -- ours -- as it appears on your monitor:
- Open a new document or email message, or create a reply to a message we sent you.
- Click the window containing our site (this makes it the active window).
- Press ALT+PRINT SCREEN.
- Paste the image into the document or email message: click the document or message, then the Paste command (Control+V) or choose Paste from the Edit menu.
- If you've created a document, Save the document (Command+S), close it, and attach it to the email message.
If something doesn't look right on our site, please send us an image of your screen and an image of our window on your screen. Here's how:
To send a screen shot of the entire screen as it appears on your monitor, open a new email message or create a Reply to one we sent you.
- Click Command (Apple Key) - Control - Shift - 3. That captures your entire screen to an image on your clipboard (you hear a camera click).
To paste that image into an email message, click the place in the email message where you want to insert the image, then choose Paste from the Edit Menu or press Command (Apple Key) - V.
To capture a selected part of your screen to an image on your clipboard, click Command - Control - Shift - 4. That turns the cursor into a cross-hairs.
Click and drag the cross-hairs to select the portion of the screen you want to copy.
When you release the click-drag, the image copies to the clipboard (you hear a camera click).
To paste the image into the email message, click the insert point in the message, then choose Paste from the Edit menu, or click Command (Apple Key) - V.
You can help us help answer your question or resolve your issue better and faster the more specific you are when you write in. Please describe the problem in as much detail as you can: What were you trying to do? What specifically did you do or click? What happened or didn't happen? (You can't break the player by clicking on it, so don't worry about saying what you did!)
Also, please tell us the name and version of your web browser:
On Windows, either Internet Explorer 7, IE6, or Firefox 2 or 3
On Macs, either Safari 2 or 3, or Firefox 2 or 3
If your issue concerns the Flash player, please use this pdf to find and tell us what version you're using of
a) our player
b) the Adobe Flash Player, and
c) your operating system -- Windows or Mac, and the specific version as illustrated in this pdf, which tells you where to find this information.
If you're trying to listen to Hearts of Space on your computer on a Windows system, and you see the message "Trying to connect on port: 1935" and it stops at this message - chances are something on your computer or your network is blocking the Flash Player stream.
To help us help you troubleshoot this problem, please download this file:
Open the file HOS_CONNECTION_DEBUGGER.exe after downloading it.
Let it run for 5 minutes.
It will try to connect with our Flash streaming server and show a record of the results. After 5 minutes, please copy and paste the report results into a new email message to webmaster@hos.com. We'll analyze the report and reply back to you. Thank you!
In the menu area at the top of the Internet Explorer v7 (IE7) window, click the Tools button.
In the list that appears, choose Internet Options. In the window that opens, the General tab will be the first tab displayed.
Select the Security tab. In the "Security level for this zone" section, click and raise the slider bar to High.
Click the Default Level button below the slider bar. The slider should now read Medium-high.
Select the Privacy tab. In the "Settings" section, click and raise the slider bar to High.
Click the Default button below the slider bar. The slider should now read Medium.
In the lower portion of the Privacy tab, make sure there is NO check next to "Turn on Pop-up blocker."
If there is a check, remove it, then click Apply when it becomes available.
Click the OK button at the bottom of the Internet Options window.
Exit and restart Internet Explorer for your changes to take effect.
Navigate back to our website, and let us know at help@hos.com if you need further assistance.
Please make sure your settings in IE7 match our requirements.
See "Settings for Internet Explorer 7" above.
Please delete cookies and temporary files (basic computer 'mousekeeping' needs doing from time to time):
Launch Internet Explorer 7 and navigate to google.com or yahoo.com--anywhere EXCEPT our site, hos.com.
In the menu area at the top of the Internet Explorer v7 (IE7) window, click the Tools button.
In the list that appears, choose Internet Options.
In the window that opens, the General tab will be the first tab displayed.
Select the General tab.
In the "Browsing history" section, click the Delete' button.
In the window that opens: Click the Delete Files button, and click Yes to confirm.
Click the Delete Cookies button, then click Yes to confirm.
Click the Close button.
Click OK to close the Internet Options window.
Exit and restart Internet Explorer for your changes to take effect.
Navigate back to hos.com, and let us know at help@hos.com if you need further assistance.
When you return to the site, it should NOT greet you by name.
If it still greets you by name, you haven't deleted all your old 'stale' cookies, so go back and do that part again.
If you're still having difficulty signing in or making a purchase, try adding our our URLs to Security and Privacy Settings in IE7:
In the menu area at the top of the Internet Explorer (IE) window, click the Tools button
In the list that appears, choose Internet Options
In the window that opens, the General tab will be the first tab displayed
Please select the Security tab
Select the Internet zone
Select the Trusted Sites zone
Click the Sites button
In the Trusted Sites window, UNcheck (if necessary) the box next to "Require server verification..."
Type hos.com under "add this website to the zone" and click Add.
Type entriq.net under "add this website to the zone" and click Add.
Click the Close button to exit the Trusted Sites window
If the Apply button becomes available in Internet Options/Security tab, click it
Please select the Privacy tab
Click the Sites button
In the Per Site Privacy Actions window, under Address of Website: type hos.com and click Allow.
In the Per Site Privacy Actions window, under Address of Website: type entriq.net and click Allow.
(Type each of these URLs just like that; no http://, no www. Just hos.com and entriq.net.)
Click OK to exit the Per Site Privacy Actions window
If the Apply button becomes available, click it.
Please click the OK button, at the bottom of the Internet Options window.
Please EXIT Internet Explorer for your changes to take effect.
Please SHUT DOWN your computer so you can restart it with these new settings and all software can synch up with them.
Reboot the computer, then launch IE7 and navigate back to our site and try again.
Internet Explorer uses an ActiveX installer to install Adobe Flash Player. This runs from the Adobe website and cannot be downloaded separately.
First, make sure to run the correct version of the Adobe Flash Player (AFP) installer for your operating system (OS):
http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/?promoid=DXLUJ
The Flash Player installer page detects your OS and browser type and version and gives you the option to select a different OS/browser combination in the event the site detection fails.
If the Adobe website does not detect the correct version of your OS and browser, click the link to choose your correct set up.
If the Adobe site does detect your OS and browser correctly, when you click "Agree and install now" to install the software, does it really install and complete the installation? Or do you see an alert in your browser menu bar warning you about an ActiveX installer trying to run?
If you see that alert, you must click on that bar, then click again to allow the ActiveX installer to run in the browser.
The bottom line here is that if you have been downloading a separate installer application and trying run that, or not specifically allowing the ActiveX routine to run, it won't work: Adobe Flash Player installer for Microsoft Windows Internet Explorer must be run from the Adobe website as an ActiveX routine, and with your specific consent.
If you have any questions or encounter difficulty, contact us at help@hos.com. Be sure to include the correct version of your Windows Operating system and Internet Explorer web browser software. If you don't know this information or how to get it, please see our HELP entry under TROUBLESHOOTING (above) entitled "How to tell us what software you're using..."
In the menu area at the top of the Internet Explorer 6 window, select Tools.
Select Internet Options from the Tools menu that drops down.
Select the Security tab.
For Security level for this zone, move the slider bar to High.
Click Default Level.
This will reset your Security settings to Medium.
Select the Privacy tab.
For Settings, move the slider bar to High.
Click Default.
This will reset your Privacy settings to Medium.
Exit and restart Internet Explorer for your changes to take effect.
Navigate back to hos.com, and let us know at help@hos.com if you need further assistance.
Please make sure your settings in IE6 match our requirements.
See "Settings for Internet Explorer 6" above.
Please Delete Cookies and Temporary files (basic computer 'mousekeeping' needs doing from time to time):
Launch Internet Explorer 6 and navigate to google.com or yahoo.com ' anywhere EXCEPT our site, hos.com.
From Internet Explorer, select Tools.
Select Internet Options from the Tools menu.
On the General tab, click Delete Cookies for Temporary Internet Files.
Click OK in the Delete Cookies message box.
Click Delete Files.
Check 'Delete all offline content'.
Click OK until you close the Internet Options diaSIGN box.
Exit and restart Internet Explorer for your changes to take effect.
Navigate back to hos.com, and let us know at help@hos.com if you need further assistance.
When you return to the site, it should not greet you by name.
If it still greets you by name, you haven't deleted all your old 'stale' cookies, so go back and do that part again.
Internet Explorer uses an ActiveX installer to install Adobe Flash Player. This runs from the Adobe website and cannot be downloaded separately.
First, make sure to run the correct version of the Adobe Flash Player (AFP) installer for your operating system (OS):
http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/?promoid=DXLUJ
The Flash Player installer page detects your OS and browser type and version and gives you the option to select a different OS/browser combination in the event the site detection fails.
If the Adobe website does not detect the correct version of your OS and browser, click the link to choose your correct set up.
If the Adobe site does detect your OS and browser correctly, when you click "Agree and install now" to install the software, does it really install and complete the installation? Or do you see an alert in your browser menu bar warning you about an ActiveX installer trying to run?
If you see that alert, you must click on that bar, then click again to allow the ActiveX installer to run in the browser.
The bottom line here is that if you have been downloading a separate installer application and trying run that, or not specifically allowing the ActiveX routine to run, it won't work: Adobe Flash Player installer for Microsoft Windows Internet Explorer must be run from the Adobe website as an ActiveX routine, and with your specific consent.
If you have any questions or encounter difficulty, contact us at help@hos.com. Be sure to include the correct version of your Windows Operating system and Internet Explorer web browser software. If you don't know this information or how to get it, please see our HELP entry under TROUBLESHOOTING (above) entitled "How to tell us what software you're using..."
Launch Firefox.
In the menu area at the top of the Firefox window, click Tools, then select Options.
In the Options window, select the Content tab.
UNCHECK the box next to Block pop-up windows; or allow two domains as exceptions: hos.com and entriq.net.
The other 3 options in the top of the Content window should be checked (Load images automatically, Enable JavaScript, Enable Java).
Select the Privacy tab.
Put (or leave) a check next to 'Accept cookies from sites'.
Put (or leave) a check next to 'Accept third-party cookies'.
Next to 'Keep until' select the option 'they expire'.
Close The Options window.
Exit and restart Firefox for your changes to take effect.
Navigate back to hos.com, and let us know at help@hos.com if you need further assistance. If you have Adblock Plus installed with Firefox you need to turn it off, or disable adblock for www.hos.com.
To enable Adblock plus, open Adblock Plus preferences from the top right corner of your Firefox browser. Left-click to activate a checkbox to disable adblock for www.hos.com. Then quit Firefox and open it again.
Please make sure your settings in Firefox match our requirements.
See "Settings for Firefox on a Windows PC" above.
Please Delete Cookies and Temporary files (basic computer 'mousekeeping' needs doing from time to time):
Directions for Firefox before v3.5:
Launch Firefox, but don't go to hos.com.
Go to google.com or yahoo.com -- anywhere EXCEPT hos.com.
Under the Tools menu, select Options.
In the Options window, select the Privacy tab.
Under "Private Data" check "Ask me before clearing private data," then click "Clear Now..."
Click to place check marks next to Cache and Cookies (nothing else -- this preserves your saved passwords, etc.).
Click "Clear Private Data Now".
Click OK to close the Options dialog box.
Launch a new window or tab and return to HOS.com
When you return to the site, it should greet you as Guest.
If it still greets you by name, you haven't deleted all your 'stale' old cookies, so go back and do that part again, after closing the window or tab containing HOS.com.
Directions for Firefox v3.5+:
At the top of the Firefox window, click the Tools menu, then select Options...
Select the Advanced panel.
Click the Network tab.
In the Offline Storage section, click Clear Now.
Click the Privacy Tab
The two boxes regarding cookies should be checked:
"Accept cookies from sites" and "Accept third-party cookies"
Click the Show Cookies... button
Type hos.com in the Search box
Select all the cookies containing hos.com and click Remove Cookies
Type 'entriq' (our media authorization network provider) in the Search box
Select all the cookies containing 'entriq'.
If any are found, select them and click Remove Cookies.
Click Close to exit the Cookies window.
Click OK to close the Options window.
ADBLOCK:
If you have Adblock Plus installed with Firefox you need to turn it off, or disable Adblock for www.hos.com.
To enable Adblock plus, open Adblock Plus preferences from the top right corner of your Firefox browser.
Left-click to activate a checkbox to disable adblock for www.hos.com. Then quit Firefox and open it again.
Adblock or Adblock Plus "add-ons" disable our Flash Player. So you have to disable Adblock or Adblock Plus for our site:
Open Adblock preferences from the top right corner of your Firefox browser.
Left-click to activate a checkbox to disable Adblock for www.hos.com.
Then QUIT Firefox and open it again, navigate back to HOS.com...
After updating Firefox:
Firefox updates interfere with some add ons or their settings until the add ons or settings are updated to match the new Firefox release. This applies to Adblock and Adblock Plus. After updating Firefox you may find yourself unable to PLAY at HOS.com even though you've disabled Adblock as above.
If this occurs, disable Adblock or Adblock Plus completely.
Stream successfully from HOS.com.
Then re-enable Adblock, and disable it for www.hos.com as above.
In otherwords, after updating Firefox, update your setting in Adblock for www.hos.com, by disabling Adblock entirely then re-enabling your exception settings.
Under the Firefox menu, select Preferences.
Select the Content tab.
UNCHECK the box next to 'Block pop-up windows'; or allow two domains as exceptions: hos.com and entriq.net.
Put or leave in place the checks next to Load images automatically, Enable JavaScript, Enable Java.
Select the Privacy tab.
CHECK or leave the check next to 'Accept cookies from sites'.
CHECK or leave the check next to 'Accept third-party cookies'.
Next to Keep until:, select the option 'they expire'.
Close the Preferences window.
Exit and restart Firefox for your changes to take effect.
Navigate back to hos.com, and let us know at help@hos.com if you need further assistance.
Please make sure your settings in Firefox match our requirements.
See "Settings for Firefox on a Mac" above.
Please Delete Cookies and Temporary files (basic computer 'mousekeeping' needs doing from time to time):
Launch Firefox, open a new window and navigate to google.com or yahoo.com ' anywhere except hos.com.
Under the Firefox menu, select Preferences.
Select the Privacy tab.
In the Private Data section at the bottom of the window, put a check next to 'Ask me before clearing private data' and click 'Clear Now'' In the 'Clear Private Data' Window, check only Cache and Cookies (nothing else, this preserves your saved passwords and other browsing history).
Click 'Clear Private Data Now'.
Close the Preferences window (headed Privacy).
Now, navigate to hos.com and proceed as usual.
If you still encounter difficulty, write to us at help@hos.com and describe the problem as best you can.
When you return to the site, it should NOT greet you by name.
If it still greets you by name, you haven't deleted all your 'stale' old cookies, so go back and do that part again.
For Firefox 3.5:
At the top of the Firefox window, click the Tools menu, then select Options...
Select the Advanced panel.
Click the Network tab.
In the Offline Storage section, click Clear Now.
Click OK to close the Options window.
Empty browser cache in Firefox (before FF 3.5):
At the top of the Firefox window, click the Tools menu, then select Clear Private Data.
Uncheck everything except Cache, and click Clear Private Data Now.
Adblock or Adblock Plus may be the problem. If you have either installed with Firefox, turn it off or disable it for www.hos.com.
To disable Adblock or Adblock Plus for HOS, open Adblock preferences from the top right corner of your Firefox browser.
Left-click to activate a checkbox to disable Adblock for www.hos.com.
Then QUIT Firefox and open it again.
Launch Safari, but don't navigate to hos.com yet.
Have no window open, or a blank window, or navigate to google.com or yahoo.com ' anywhere except hos.com.
Select the Security tab.
Under Web content: check the first 3 selections (Enable plug-ins, Enable Java, Enable JavaScript).
UNCHECK 'Block pop-up windows'.Under Accept Cookies:, choose Always.
Close Preferences.
Close Safari and restart it to save your changes and make them fully effective.
After re-launching Safari, navigate to hos.com.
Please make sure your settings in Safari match our requirements.
See "Settings for Safari" above.
Open Safari, but do not go to hos.com.
Have no window open, or a blank window, or navigate to google.com or yahoo.com in the window, anywhere except hos.com.
Under the Safari menu, select Empty Cache, then click Empty to confirm.
Under the Safari menu, select Preferences.
Click the Security tab, then click Show Cookies.
Click "Remove All" - OR to delete only OUR cookies: Type hos.com in the Spotlight search box.
When it returns one or more cookies containing hos.com, click Remove All, and confirm your choice by clicking Remove All again.
Type 'entriq' in the Spotlight search box.
When it returns one or more cookies containing entriq, click Remove All, and confirm your choice by clicking Remove All again.
Click Done.
Close the Security window.
Close/quit Safari and relaunch it before returning to hos.com.
When you return to the site, it should NOT greet you by name.
If it still greets you by name, you haven't deleted all your 'stale' old cookies, so go back and do that part again.
1) Adobe says this regarding Flash support on 64-bit operating systems:
http://www.adobe.com/go/6b3af6c9
2) Chris Jean, one of our faithful subscribers and an uber-Linux user, has solved the problem of using our Flash player on Ubuntu 64-bit and posted it on his site. Our thanks to Chris for his work and his generosity sharing it:
From Chris's site
http://gaarai.com/2009/02/20/proper-adobe-flash-support-on-ubuntu-64-bit/
DATE: Feb.20, 2009
TITLE: Proper Adobe Flash Support on Ubuntu 64-bit
That's right. Adobe has finally released a 64-bit version of Flash. There are two important things to note:
1. They actually released this back in November. It's my fault for not knowing this until now, but I still wonder why it was so hard to find. Shouldn't it be offered as an option on the download page?
2. This is not an official release version; rather, it's an alpha release. This means that the plugin may not be stable and doesn't have full support currently. They have the following notice on the download page:
This is a prerelease version of the Adobe Flash Player 10 software for Solaris and 64-bit Linux platforms. It is being made available for developers and consumers to test their content to ensure new features function as expected, existing content plays back correctly, and there are no compatibility issues.
Despite the fact that it's an alpha release, I've had no problems with the plugin so far. It works great and fixes all the problems I listed above.
Automated Install
I've created a script that will take care of the details of installing this solution for you. Simply run the following commands from Terminal (Applications > Accessories > Terminal):
wgethttp://gaarai.com/install_adobe_flash_64.sh
chmod +x install_adobe_flash_64.sh
./install_adobe_flash_64.sh
Since this script uses the sudo command, you will be prompted for your password. I have to use sudo since I need to close Firefox, remove apt packages, remove existing Flash plugins in the /usr/lib directory, and copy the new plugin to /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/.
Manual Install
If my script and its use of sudo makes you uncomfortable, this is the sequence of steps you need to install the plugin manually:
1. Download the Adobe Flash 64-bit plugin (the following is all one line):
wgethttp://download.macromedia.com/pub/labs/flashplayer10/libflashplayer-10.0.d21.1.linux-x86_64.so.tar.gz
2. Extract the libflashplayer.so from the archive:
tar xvfz libflashplayer-10.0.d21.1.linux-x86_64.so.tar.gz
3. Close Firefox
4. Remove old Flash plugins. The follow commands are what my script uses to automate this process:
sudo apt-get remove -y --purge -qq flashplugin-nonfree \
gnash gnash-common mozilla-plugin-gnash \
swfdec-mozilla libflashsupport nspluginwrapper
sudo rm -f /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/*flash*sudo rm -f ~/.mozilla/plugins/*flash*
sudo rm -f /usr/lib/firefox/plugins/*flash*
sudo rm -f /usr/lib/firefox-addons/plugins/*flash*
sudo rm -rf /usr/lib/nspluginwrapper
5. Copy libflashplayer.so to /usr/bin/mozilla/plugins/:
sudo mkdir -p /usr/bin/mozilla/plugins/
sudo cp libflashplayer.so /usr/bin/mozilla/plugins
Now you're ready to load Firefox again and test it out.
Closing Thoughts
Now that Flash works properly, I can even make use of the Hearts of Space's new Flash player. When this new Flash player came out last week, I lost the ability to listen to the HoS programming. It was this straw that broke my tolerance for this issue and led me to search for a solution. If you don't know about Hearts of Space, it's "slow music for fast times" and is my favorite radio show. I'm happy to have a subscription to fill my day with Space.
Even though there's not yet Adobe Flash Player for 64-bit Windows 7, there are options for HOS users with Windows 7 64-bit systems:
A) Use the 32-bit version of Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) which comes with Windows 7 as its default browser.
B) Download another browser like Firefox or Google Chrome (Opera is not supported at HOS.com).
Here are more details about each option, taken from Adobe's website and the Microsoft Forums Feb. 27, 2010 at
You can find more up to date information anytime by Googling "Adobe Flash Player for Windows 7 64 bit."
A) Adobe recommends option A) above -- run Flash Player in a 32-bit browser running on a 64-bit operating system.
Options A) and B) are both recommended in the Microsoft Forums. There's also this note which may be helpful: "The default browser in [Windows] 7 is the 32-bit IE. You actually have to browse the Program Files folder, not Program Files (x86) folder to the Internet Explorer sub folder there and create a new shortcut for the iexplorer.exe file to run the 64-bit version."
B) After downloading Firefox or Chrome, come to HOS.com and see if you can play music (use our demo or Free Stuff if you don't yet subscribe). If it works, you're good to go.
If it doesn't work for HOS.com, you have one more step to do: download a new Adobe Flash Player for Firefox or Chrome, using this link while in the Chrome browser:
http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/?promoid=DXLUJ
Firefox and Chrome use the same plug in, so you can select Firefox as the browser even if you're using Chrome.
Or you can select "Different operating system or browser?" and then select the operating system Windows 7.
Make the next choice "Flash Player 10 for Windows Other Browsers".
When the download from Adobe is complete, click to Open the file install_flash_player.exe.
Then click Run.
Follow Adobe's directions to close Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and/or Opera. Then click "Try again" and allow the installation of Adobe Flash Player to proceed.
Let us know at help@hos.com if you have further questions or concerns about using HOS.com on a Windows 7 system.
Cookies are little "notes" (text files) saved to your hard drive by websites you've visited, including ours. They contain information the site needs to 'know' or 'remember' about you when you come again, or as you move from page to page within the site to keep track of who you are, what your site privileges are, etc. Our site cannot keep track of your Sign In session unless it can write cookies to your hard drive and update them each time you Sign In.
Allowing pop ups is necessary for our SIGN IN, purchase, and MY ACCOUNT windows, which are, technically, pop ups. If you don't allow pop ups, these windows can't open or function completely and properly.
If you absolutely object to these requirements, which are also required by many other web sites, try adding our URLs as Trusted Sites or Exceptions to the Security, Privacy, and Content areas of your web browser. The URLs to add are hos.com and entriq.net. Entriq provides our proprietary Media Authorization Network (MAN) and transaction processing. When you add these URLs as Trusted Sites or Exceptions to blocking cookies or pop-ups, type them exactly and only as they appear here: hos.com and entriq.net, no http://, no www, no other prefix or suffix.
Cookies are little "notes" (text files) saved to your hard drive by websites you've visited, including ours. They contain information the site wants to 'know' or 'remember' about you when you come again, or as you move from page to page within the site to keep track of who you are, what your site privileges are, etc. Sometimes, the information in cookies get 'stale' and needs to be refreshed. Deleting cookies prompts the sites you visit to write new ones the next time you visit, pulling up-to-date information from its database and saving information you give it when you revisit or SIGN IN. Deleting cookies will not affect your ability to SIGN IN or use other websites. Saved passwords and other SIGN IN info are stored separately and will not be affected.
Temporary files, also called cached pages, are web pages your browser saves to resurrect quickly when you call for a page you've visited before. If the page or your relation to it has changed, your browser may give you the same-old-same-old. To get the freshest version of the page, delete all the old saved (cached) pages, and your browser will display and save fresh ones. Deleting temporary internet files will not affect your computer's performance or how websites function when you visit them. Saved passwords and other Sign In info are stored separately and will not be affected.
Our Media Authorization Network (MAN) provider and transaction processor takes its responsibility for the security of your personal and financial data very seriously. They insist on SIGN IN each time. You can set most browsers to "autofill" your email address, but you have to type or paste in your password each time. If this vexes you, you might create a password that's easy to type with one hand's pattern of keys your fingers 'recite' rather than something meaningful you mentally remember and type.