Before you take the time to navigate through djdiamonddog.com, there are a few things that you should know to have
the best viewing experience.
First and foremost, I code this site entirely by hand on Windows Notepad, so there will definitely be bugs from
time to time. I am FAR from being a webmaster, so everything you see here is from an amateur. If you notice any
bugs or bad links, please email me & let me know so I can fix them.
Second, for an optimal viewing experience, please use
Mozilla Firefox
as your browser. Since I am not a webmaster, I have had a LOT of problems getting djdiamonddog.com to
work properly in ANY of the Internet Explorer browsers. I've found that
Firefox
handles all the coding better and allows for more functionality when viewing. If you don't already have
Firefox
installed on your computer, you can download version 3.6.8
here
.
Thirdly (and probably most important), to view djdiamonddog.com & make use of the features available, you must
have your javascript enabled in your browser. If not, the menus will not display correctly & neither will the
media players. I have several javascript codes in the site that are vital to the way everything looks &
runs. So please enable the javascript on your browser or you may find many problems viewing.
So remember, if you're experiencing any problems viewing or navigating djdiamonddog.com, please try the above
suggestions & you should be fine.
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The home button will either (1) bring up a sub-menu to the
activity stream
, the
Diamond Dog biography
,
the Help page, or (2) will navigate to the entry page if clicked. The entry page is where the latest music
is advertised to hear & you will always encounter that page first when visiting djdiamonddog.com.
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The activity stream page can be accessed via the
home
menu. The activity stream page is where all the website updates are reported. Here, you will hear about the newest
mix additions, latest website additions, be able to stream & download the latest mixes as well as view artist bios. The
activity stream page is the first place to check if you haven't visited djdiamonddog.com in awhile. It will give you
the quickest opportunity to catch up on what's new!!
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Simple and self-explanatory. For those of you who may be interested in Diamond Dog's history, this is the place to
go. And, like many of the other pages here, the Biography page is filled with informational links... many
powered by
Wikipedia
. The Biography page can be accessed via the
home
menu.
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Like many other DJ's and artists, I try to use the various (and popular) social networks to stay in contact with my
supporters and friends. These sites add another dimension to my ability to share new mixes as well as new ideas with
the people who are interested. From the Social Networks menu, you can access all of my social networking
accounts...
Well, this is the main reason that most everyone visits djdiamonddog.com.... the music. From the music menu, you can
access everything that has to do with music or music videos. From
mixtapes
&
media players
to
Music videos
&
Music Charts
,
if it has to do with music, then you'll find under the Music menu. These pages all have links to various artists,
artist biographies, download links, streaming options, cd purchase links, and much more. So, when in doubt, check this
menu!!
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The browse option, which can be accessed via the
music
menu, gives you the opportunity to browse through ALL of the music at djdiamonddog.com
in one place. You can sort the tracks by artist or category. When browsing by artist,
all of the artists at djdiamonddog.com are sorted by artist name (regardless of the category any given song
might fall under). When sorting by category, you can choose from mashups, extended mixes, blends,
remixes or mixes. Everything under each category (except mixes) is organized by artist name. When sorting
by mixes, they are organized alphabetically by the genres included in the mix
(ie: if a given mix contains both hip hop & pop music, then it will be listed twice, once with the hip hop & once with the pop)
or by the mix title.
The browse table also contains a search box at the top. To conduct a search, simply type in the song or artist and hit ENTER. Your search result will display highlighted within the table. If you would like to continue to search with the same entry, click the SEARCH MUSIC button until you get your desired result.
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The Mixtapes page, which is accessible from the
Music
menu, contains all of the mixtapes that I have available. Most of them can be found in the Watertown area, but there are
also several starting to pop up around different areas, especially with the mixtapes page being available &
online. Oh yeah.... and they are FREE! That's always good, too!!
On the mixtapes page, you will have a list of mixtapes on the left & an instruction screen on the right.
The instruction screen is always accessible from the mixtapes page by clicking the Instructions link
located on the left, with the mixtape links. All the information you will need to know about downloading &
burning my mixtapes is located on this page, along with some free (that's right.. FREE) software to help do the job
right.
To view any of the mixtapes, simply click on the one that you'd like to preview & and a page will load to the right
(in place of the Instructions screen) with the respective mixtape's album art, playlist, links to artist bios
(who appear on the cd), and a preview player so you can listen before downloading. At any time, if you want to see a
different mixtape, simply click the mixtape you'd like to view and it will load in place of the previous one.
Downloading Mixtapes
Downloading the ZIP files is as easy as downloading any of the other music files on this site. Simply click the mixtape picture that you would like to download and save. Just remember, these files cannot be sampled because they are compressed. You can sample any of the mixtapes via the flash player under the album art. Most of the mixtape downloads are over 100mb, so they will take a fair amount of time to download fully.
Extracting The Music
Extracting the tracks from the ZIP file is a simple process. I use
WINRAR
to unpack all of my ZIP or RAR files. If I'm not mistaken, most PC's come with the ability to extract ZIP files, which is why I used ZIP as opposed to RAR. You can usually google a free download link for WINRAR, too. To extract the music files, you must first right-click the ZIP file and choose the option EXTRACT HERE. I have taken tha passwords out of my mixtapes, so there's no need to worry about passwords anymore. The software will unpack the complete mixtape... complete with cover art, track listing, a HELP file, a link for FREE burning software (if anyone needs it) and a cue file (which is used to seperate the tracks when burning to cd). Everything will be unpacked and placed in a folder with the mixtape name. All the files included are not necessary for burning (except the CUE file & the MP3 file)... the rest are there for your convenience. The HELP file will explain everything you need to do to burn the disc. The tracklist file contains the song & artist info for each track. The download page will
supply a link to a free piece of software to burn the cd if necessary and the cd cover art is available for those who want the disc in a cd case with a cover.
Burning To Disc
Burning the cd's has become even easier than before. By using the CUE file (which is included with each mixtape download), everyone can burn
copies of my cd's with one or 2 clicks. For those of you who are unfamiliar with burning mix cd's with CUE files, I'll give you a quick
description.
Most media burning software will support CUE files. However, I have experienced problems with Nero. So, if you have other software and
can't get it to work correctly, here's a rundown of how to use "Image Burn", the software package I've included...
The Pop-Out Media Player, which is accessible from the
Music
menu, puts ALL of the Mixes, Mashups, Remixes, DJ Extended Mixes, & Blendzz together on one player, which can operate
once you close the djdiamonddog.com main page. The player will open into it's own mini window & you can operate it
from there. There are great features on the media player aside from simply streaming music. However, some of the
functions will only work correctly if the djdiamonddog.com web page is open. The player can stream music completely
seperate from the main website, but it will need the djdiamonddog.com website to be open in order to download any
music or view artist biographies.
STREAMING With The Pop-Out Media Player
To stream with the Pop-Out Media Player is easy. When the player initially loads, there will be 5 scrolling
pictures, one for each media categoty (Mixes, Mashups, Remixes, DJ Extended Mixes, & Blendzz). Simply click the media
type you'd like to browse & the player will load a list of tracks available under the given category. Each song is
listed alphabetically by artist, making it easier to browse (mashups each have 2 listings, one for each artist
featured on the track). To browse up & down the list, scroll with the scrollbar located to the immediate right
of the track times. To stream, simply click the track you'd like to hear. The volume is located at the bottom,
along with the scrollbar to move forward & backwards through the song playing. There is also a shuffle option to the
right of the volume button.
If you need to return to the media categories (ie: Mashups, Remixes, etc.), click the Back To Styles button
at the top right. You can also browse through each category without returning to the Styles screen by clicking
the arrows on the left & right side of each picture, over the pause button.
DOWNLOADING With The Pop-Out Media Player
Downloading with the Pop-Out Media Player is easy, but also requires that you have the djdiamonddog.com web
page open. To download, all you have to do is click the arrow next to the song title. By clicking the arrow, a
page will open on the left side of the djdiamonddog.com web page which contains the respective song title, artist,
independent media player, artist biography, & download link. To download, right-click the link and "Save As" whatever
name you'd like. Some bonus features of using these download pages are...
The Video section is located in the
music
menu. This section adds another dimension to djdiamonddog.com... Not only can you LISTEN to the music, but you
can WATCH the music videos as well. From the Video section section, you will be able to watch
popular music videos
(mostly from YouTube) and also view the
original video remixes & mashups
from Diamond Dog.
VIDEOS OF THE WEEK
Every week, I update the Video section with a new "Video OfThe Week". I pick these videos at random. Sometimes
it will be hip hop & other times it will be rock. Sometimes it will be a newer release & other times it will be
older. It all depends on my mood. I just like this section because sometimes people will view it & be able to see
a video that they forgot about... or never saw before.
Navigating this section is cake. In the middle column, there is a list of "Videos Of The Week", & to the right is
a screen that lists "Song Info". By hovering the mouse over each "Video Of The Week", the respective song's
information will show up to the right, helping you to choose what you wanna hear. To watch the video, simply click
the video title (in the middle column) and a new window will open up with the video you chose. As time goes on,
I expect to have a nice collection of video links here, although they will be in no particular order.
ORIGINAL DIAMOND DOG VIDEOS
The far left column lists all of the Diamond Dog original sounds. To watch any of the videos listed in this
column, simply click the video title & the video's page will load in place of all the
Video Of The Week
material. Once the video loads, click play to start it. There is also further video information to the right side of
the video. If, at any time, you'd like to return to the
Video Of The Week
,
simply scroll to the top of the list
in the left column (Diamond Dog's original videos list) and you will see the
Video Of The Week
link. Click it, and all the
Video Of The Week
information will return to the screen.
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The Top 10 chart can be accessed via the
music
menu. The Top 10 chart is updated weekly & lists the top 10 hip hop/R&B songs of the current week. The chart
has many resource links. By clicking the song title, you will be a popup player (courtesy of the
djbooth.net
)
where you will be able to sample the track.
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The Supporters menu will link you to all the artists and DJ's who support me. All of these people have
great music & mixes & are definitely worthy of being promoted. They all have gone "above & beyond" to help me
and my website out and I support each one of them 100%.
If you hover over the Supporters menu, you will see a drop down list of my supporters. By clicking
on the given link, you will be taken directly to that individuals invormation along with pic(s) and website link.
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The Contact Me option is available on the Contact menu. This is the menu where you can access my
email...
hitmeup@djdiamonddog.com
...
and contact me about anything from ideas or feedback to requests and booking. If you enjoy my mixes, I love
getting emails letting me know, so don't hesitate to get at me anytime.
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There are 2 ways to stream the music from djdiamonddog.com...
The first way is by using the
Pop Out Media Player
where you will have access to ALL the music at djdiamonddog.com. For more information on streaming from the
Pop Out Media Player
, please
read this
.
The second way to stream music at djdiamonddog.com is via the individual media players which are located on
each track's download page. You can access these individual pages from the
Activity Stream
(for the newer additions), the
Pop Out Media Player
,
and the
browse
link. Once the
individual download pages are loaded, you can play that track via the player located at the bottom. These
players only play one song, but they load much faster than the
Pop Out Media Player
,
making it easier to access the music quickly, especially after I add the Browse option.
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There are several download options at djdiamonddog.com. To learn about downloading
Mixtapes
,
click here
. Once you download a full mixtape, you will want to read more about
extracting
&
burning
them, as well.
To download individual MP3's of mixes, remixes, mashups, blendz & extended versions, you will have to access the
pages via the
Pop Out Media Player
(read the instructions about downloading from the player by
clicking here
.
You can also download the newer additions to djdiamonddog.com via the
Activity Stream
.
When you see a track or mix in the
Activity Stream
that you are interested in downloading, click the title. A page will load on the left of the screen with
the specified track's info (picture, media player, artist bio & download link). To download, simply right-click
the download link & "save as" whatever name you choose.
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If it's one thing I really try hard to accomplish here at djdiamonddog.com, it's to offer you as many
reference links as humanly possible. I try to add reference links to every page you will view here.
My
Mixtape
section has links to artist bios via
Wikipedia
.
There are also numerous links from my
Biography
page that are very interesting. You can also access playlists & genre descriptions when viewing any of my
mixes.
I try to take the time to include as many references as possible, in hopes that these links will keep you
(my supporters) from having to navigate manually to a different site for answers. I try to keep all the
resources right here at your fingertips.
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