This is a longer version of the comment I left at the BBC website. Unfortunately, they only allow 350 characters, which is almost two whole tweets! That is not enough to leave a proper comment on this subject. OK, I’ve said that the Beeb should begin charging for BBC iPlayer, not totally in jest. The [...]

I have to admit that I now use Ubuntu pretty much whenever I can, but the latest get_iplayer Digest has made me realise that it makes sense to use a linux based OS for that programme.  The error message one recieves when using the windows version reiterates that fact: WARNING: Stream does not start with [...]

An addition to my last post, The BBC should have some way to comment about the quality of the BBC iPlayer material. In particular, the video, sound, download, etcetera.

I am going to come straight out and say that I have disliked the official iPlayer programme since it became “user unfriendly” due to various attempts at DRM. For the most part, I prefer to use the third party programmes such as get_iplayer and the now defunct ipdl.exe for their flexibility. I do use the [...]

In case you missed it, this is the big news in the iPlayer community. I do have to admit agreeing with the Inquirer’s comment that “Middle class, middle aged people will be outraged that the great unwashed’s commercial telly has found its way onto the BBC’s Iplayer, and Youview might be worried too.” Part of [...]

Especially since I know how to get your attention, but it isn’t something that my relations who work for Auntie haven’t heard until they are sick of it. I know the BBC’s (and ITV’s) point of view about preserving digital rights and all that. It’s not just the BBC since other entities are involved (E.g., [...]

It wasn’t the BBC or get-iPlayer, but my new ISP. Or should I say, my new internet connection. There was a switch from DSL to wireless. While my wireless connection is excellent, it was a little too good. I live less than half a kilometre from several towers, which was confusing my wireless modem. The [...]

Editorial Comment: get_iplayer is still working on one of my computers: so the question is: (a) is the issue with flvstreamer (my version does not support SWF verification or (b) my new ISP. Later in the weekend, there will be an experiment to figure out what was the problem. Also, there wasn’t a rash of [...]

OK, there has been a lot of discussion on the get_iplayer listserve about get_iplayer not recording.  I’m not responding to the listserve, but blogging about it for a few reasons. First off, this failure is intermittent and unpredictable.  That is some of my computers experience it, and others do not.  I have been able to [...]

When I say BT, I mean BitTorrent, which is a peer-to-peer, open source file-sharing application effective for distributing very large software and media files. In my case, video files. My preferred method is to download directly from the BBC site (or in the past ITV and Channel 4), but the problem is that some programmes [...]

Since I see links coming in from the BBC when I mention various programmes. …And I know you buggers hate things such as get_iPlayer since you just did something to block ipdl.exe downloads. On the other hand, there is still the problem of “video piracy” and that people can still download using tools other than [...]

I’m finding that the –mode flashvhigh command is producing really super results these days. The flashhd mode isn’t that reliable, but it is my first choice since it produces an HD recording. So, it seems that working with a hierarchy of of flashhd > flashvhigh > flashhigh . flashstd produces the best results in terms [...]

There is some discussion about what the heck is the Beeb doing with HD material in the unofficial iPlayer community.  This is dues to the fact that HD material is totally erratic in how it downloads due to a multitude of factors, such as popularity of program and the version of RTMPdump.  I just downloaded [...]

I do have to admit I love getting fanmail: especially when it gives me useful information and this lovely comment came from my iPLAYER post: According to the linuxcentre website, the officially blessed get_iplayer is at: http://www.infradead.org/get_iplayer/ There is also a link to the Windows installer there (which includes rtmpdump) – it’s been there for [...]

Well, Spooks is back for yet another Season (we’re on 9 now). The first episode in this series made it look promising (as opposed to Season 7 which was pure rubbish). Richard Armitage is the best male lead character whilst Peter Firth should have carried through with his resignation threat. I won’t spoil the ending, [...]