Stephen Fry's Mother: iPlayer Downloader

Excerpt from a speech by Stephen Fry on the future of public service broadcasting, in which he mentions the potential of his mother downloading content from the iPlayer. Full speech is on the iPlayer.

May 12th, 2008 / 0 Comments

"It’s all in the database"

Orwellian and sinister… must be 1984 again. Read more…

May 2nd, 2008 / 0 Comments

Talk about iPlayer

If you are interested in developing or discussing iPlayer related apps, take a look in the new forum: iPlayer talk…

April 27th, 2008 / 0 Comments

Like 'Get info' for the iPlayer

If you run into ‘MP4 not available’ errors, this script at dracos.co.uk will tell you if and when an MP4 of an iPlayer programme is available.

Enter the programme URL and it lists availability times of the Download, Streaming and MP4 versions.

For example, when testing Beeb Downloader.app I look for a short ~5-minute programme to download. The 2-minute Weather report seems like a good choice, but it never works - the page confirms that the weather report doesn’t have an MP4.

Not all programmes have an MP4 version. Use the script to check past episodes to see if an MP4 is created for the programme and how long the BBC servers take to make it available - it’s usually after the Download and Streaming versions.

April 25th, 2008 / 0 Comments

The Magical Floating iPlayer

Here’s a (Leopard) multi-tasking tip to view any iPlayer stream on your desktop while you are ‘working’ on that important document or presentation:

Using Safari’s Webclip feature to view the iPlayer content as a Dashboard Widget. First you need to enable Dashboard’s ‘devmode’ - this allows you to float a Widget on your desktop outside of Dashboard. You only need to do this once, devmode will be enabled permanently.

• Open Terminal and copy/paste these 2 lines:

defaults write com.apple.dashboard devmode YES
killall Dock

Get your iPlayer programme:

1. In Safari goto the iPlayer page with the programme you want to watch.
2. Click File > Open in Dashboard… - a purple toolbar will appear.
3. Click the iPlayer’s ‘Play’ button to ‘clip’ the iPlayer.
4. Click the ‘Add’ button - Dashboard will open and load the iPlayer Webclip.
5. Begin dragging the iPlayer Webclip - click and drag the top edge.
6. While dragging the Webclip, press F12 - this exits Dashboard.
7. Release the mouse button - iPlayer will now float on your Desktop.

Now you can get on with your work while ‘unmissing’ your favourite programme.

• iPlayer Webclip will float above all your windows.
• You can run multiple iPlayer Webclips.
• Close the iPlayer Webclip by holding the option key and clicking the ‘x’.
• To change the look of the outer frame, click the ‘i’ in the bottom right corner.

If you are using Tiger the Dash Clipping widget should let you do the same.

April 20th, 2008 / 0 Comments