Happy new year, TV fans. Things have been quiet here at Television Obscurities since last September when there was a burst of activity involving anniversaries, most notably the 55th anniversary of The New People. We’re now almost a full month into 2025, which is typically about when I stop getting confused about what year it is. Sadly, it looks like 2025 is going to be mostly a repeat of 2024. I have plenty of projects I’d love to work on relating to obscure television but I have very little free time. Even worse, there are also a number of problems impacting Television Obscurities as 2025 gets underway.
Videos + Audio Files Not Working
I just recently discovered that most of the videos and audio files on Television Obscurities are no longer working. Why? Because the company whose video player I’ve used for many years to embed videos, suspended my account without warning. Apparently, I was grandfathered in to a free subscription the company stopped offering in 2021 and they “are now deactivating accounts that remained on this plan.” This is a massive problem and I honestly have no idea how to move forward.
More Comment Spam
Regular visitors may have noticed an increase in comment spam over the past few months. A few people have even reached out to let me know, which I appreciate. I have no idea why spam comments are making it through more frequently. I try to delete them when I spot them but it seems I don’t spot most of them. I will continue working behind the scenes to fight spam comments as best I can.
Email Issues
If you’ve contacted me using the contact form recently, or even not-so-recently, there’s a good chance you never received a response. I’ve been having issues with email for a while. Not only have spam emails increased but I get a wide variety of email alerts. These range from problems with WordPress to increased firewall attack rates and are important but can quickly clutter up my inbox. And I’m someone who likes a tidy inbox. I use Mozilla Thunderbird as my email client and at some point, I don’t know when, a spam folder appeared. I don’t recall creating it, I don’t know how or why certain emails are sent to this folder, and it’s unclear if the folder automatically deleted emails after a certain time.
I’ve started periodically checking e-mail through a webmail client to see if messages are being marked as spam or not downloaded to Thunderbird. And I’m digging through my inbox and trash and backups looking for any valid emails I may have missed. Please contact me again if you haven’t heard back from me and I’ll try to respond as soon as possible.
Fixing Video + Audio Is The Priority
Right now, finding a way to get video and audio files working again is my first priority. Unfortunately, that means less time for answering emails, less time for deleting spam comments, less time for researching and writing, less time for digitizing reel-to-reel tapes of TV audio from the 1970s, less time for the various projects I have planned and underway. This isn’t how I wanted to start 2025, believe me. Please be patient and hopefully it won’t be long before you can watch and listen again.
Thank you for letting us know what’s happening. When I contacted you about spam, received no reply, and spam seemed to be getting worse, I was wondering if you were abandoning Television Obscurities and moving on to other projects. I wish I could offer some advice on how to solve the problems you’re experiencing, but all I can do is extent my best wishes on overcoming your challenges.
I could’ve sworn I responded to your e-mail, Karen, but apparently it didn’t happen. My apologies.
its been a rocky road since november i am just tuning in hrfe now and am totally famished,,,, expalanartions pleae?>/