Recording BBC radio
in [UK Linux]
|
Prev: question about top
Next: hosts.deny not working
From: Bruce Stephens on 18 Jul 2005 18:22 Whiskers <catwheezel(a)operamail.com> writes: > On 2005-07-18, Bruce Stephens <bruce+usenet(a)cenderis.demon.co.uk> wrote: [...] >> I can go with that. On the other hand, the particular pages I'm >> looking at sure look very similar. And anyway, the Radio 3 pages >> purport to allow me to Listen Again, but just don't seem to have any >> links or anything that might let me. Maybe it's just a bug, and >> there's some alternative route through the website that gets a page >> that actually works. > > I can get the pop-up page with some of the graphics associated with > the BBC Radio Player, using Opera 8.01 with Real Player plugin, on > Mandriva 2005. But for Radio 3, the best I can get after that is a > Real Player window with an error message "Requested file not > found. The link you followed may be outdated or > inaccurate. (file:///home/mark/helper)". There is no such file. I've had a look at the Javascript (using the rather wonderful Web Developer extension), and it looks like it's trying to do browser detection amongst other things, and presumably isn't recognising "Mozilla Spacebeetle" as an instance of anything that it recognises. Also it's using cookies, and I may not be sending any to bbc.co.uk, I forget. So that's why, I suspect. And I guess it's working so much harder than Radio 4/BBC7 because Radio 3 programs tend to be longer, so it's worth trying to remember how far through you were the last time you listened and so on (which is something it appears to try and do). [...]
From: graham on 19 Jul 2005 05:27 On Mon, 18 Jul 2005 15:57:37 +0100, Bruce Stephens wrote: > Whiskers <catwheezel(a)operamail.com> writes: > >> On 2005-07-18, Bruce Stephens <bruce+usenet(a)cenderis.demon.co.uk> wrote: > > [...] > >>> Cool. I still find it odd that the Radio 3 pages are >>> similar-but-different to the Radio 4 and BBC 7 pages, in that the >>> latter actually have links to things that allow one to listen to the >>> programs and the Radio 3 pages appear not to. I'll have to look next >>> time I boot into Windows, and see if they look the same in IE. >> >> Looks as though there isn't a single group of web-techies in the BBC >> doing all the design and interfaces across all the web sites. I >> think the different radio and TV channels like to do their own >> thing. > > I can go with that. On the other hand, the particular pages I'm > looking at sure look very similar. And anyway, the Radio 3 pages > purport to allow me to Listen Again, but just don't seem to have any > links or anything that might let me. Maybe it's just a bug, and > there's some alternative route through the website that gets a page > that actually works. It works here using firefox and the bbc radio player,presumably using the mplayer plugin. I click the listen again link, then "Listen to Radio 3". After a pause it auto starts to play the current radio 3 programme. I then click a listen again programme, currently the top selection is Late Junction. After an even loger pause it plays.
From: Whiskers on 19 Jul 2005 09:23 On 2005-07-18, Bruce Stephens <bruce+usenet(a)cenderis.demon.co.uk> wrote: snip > I've had a look at the Javascript (using the rather wonderful Web > Developer extension), and it looks like it's trying to do browser > detection amongst other things, and presumably isn't recognising > "Mozilla Spacebeetle" as an instance of anything that it recognises. > Also it's using cookies, and I may not be sending any to bbc.co.uk, I > forget. I have Opera set to treat all cookes as 'session cookies'. That shouldn't be a problem. > So that's why, I suspect. And I guess it's working so much harder > than Radio 4/BBC7 because Radio 3 programs tend to be longer, so it's > worth trying to remember how far through you were the last time you > listened and so on (which is something it appears to try and do). Then they are trying too hard. All I want to do is 'time shift' retrospectively, which is a lot more convenient than predicting which programme I might want to hear at some time other than the scheduled broadcast and setting up a tape-recorder to grab it off the air 'in real time' (which has been common practice since tape-recorders became popular in the 1960s, and standard operating procedure with TV programmes since the advent of the VCR). I do understand the BBC wanting to protect their copyright material from 'piracy', and pirate copies are a lot easier to produce using computers and the internet than using a tape-recorder, but what they are doing can be circumvented by anyone determined enough, so it will only deter the honest or lazy - witness the rapid availability of "mp3" versions of the latest "Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series in the bunny groups. I'd happily register to join a 'club' with anti-piracy undertakings, in order to have access to sensible downloadable audio files of a few programmes for my own private use. "Streaming" is a pain. I'm glad to see the BBC are tentatively dipping a toe in the podcasting waters. Perhaps they'll extend that to something I actually want to listen to ... -- -- ^^^^^^^^^^ -- Whiskers -- ~~~~~~~~~~
From: Bruce Stephens on 19 Jul 2005 14:06 Whiskers <catwheezel(a)operamail.com> writes: [...] > Then they are trying too hard. All I want to do is 'time shift' > retrospectively, which is a lot more convenient than predicting > which programme I might want to hear at some time other than the > scheduled broadcast and setting up a tape-recorder to grab it off > the air 'in real time' (which has been common practice since > tape-recorders became popular in the 1960s, and standard operating > procedure with TV programmes since the advent of the VCR). That's what they're trying to allow, I think (for 7 days after broadcast, anyway, which I think is a bit mean for some of the once-a-week series they have on BBC7). It's just that the Radio 3 implementation doesn't work for me where the Radio 4/BBC7 ones do. So I think it's (arguably) a bug rather than a deliberate feature. > I do understand the BBC wanting to protect their copyright material > from 'piracy', and pirate copies are a lot easier to produce using > computers and the internet than using a tape-recorder, but what they > are doing can be circumvented by anyone determined enough, so it > will only deter the honest or lazy - witness the rapid availability > of "mp3" versions of the latest "Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy" > series in the bunny groups. Well, in that particular case they had high quality RealAudio and WMA streams, nicely cut to the right length (most of the Radio things seem to be a bit random, as though they weren't sure when the thing actually began or ended). I'd guess the MP3 downloads will expand a bit. [...]
From: Jonathan Buzzard on 19 Jul 2005 15:26
On Mon, 18 Jul 2005 14:25:34 +0100, Whiskers wrote: > On 2005-07-18, Jonathan Buzzard <jonathan(a)uk.me.buzzard> wrote: > > snip > >> I would only add that you will get *much* better results getting a >> Freeview box with a USB interface and recording the broadcast MP2 >> stream. I have been doing that now almost since the start of BBC7, >> and have a large archive of material. I believe there are some >> satellite systems that would work now that the BBC broadcasts >> free to air on the satellite system. You get BBC7 in 160kbps MP2 >> in stereo which beats the hell out of the direct streaming and listen >> again archives. >> >> JAB. > > An interesting approach; I didn't know there were Freeview boxes with USB > connectors. My Sony hasn't. There are a few, the Hauupauge DEC2000t is the one I use. There is another one that uses a USB2 connection, and can record a whole MUX at once. There are also a number of PCI adaptor cards that can capture the MPEG stream direct. JAB. -- Jonathan A. Buzzard Email: jonathan (at) buzzard.me.uk Northumberland, United Kingdom. Tel: +44 1661-832195 |