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Real Problems
Universal Nerd writes "Could Real be its own downfall? According to 'Find the Download in a Haystack', it could be. The difficulty folks have in reaching the free version of RealPlayer is forcing Minnesota Public Radio to look towards Windows Media Player as an alternative. I prefer good old MP3 or OGG streaming like the feeds offered at WCPE but I'm sure no 'serious' company would consider it because they don't have their digital rights preserved." See the CarTalk story from yesterday.
It plays Real files, and if you download the K-Lite Mega Codec Pack, everything else too (Quicktime, Divx, Ogg, etc.).
It also includes Media Player Classic, which is a very nice player that picks up where Windows Media Player 6 left off.
I believe that it has been more complicated in the past, but it's not particularly difficult (unlike searching Slashdot for a particular story).
The most pertinent point is the Real-NPR deal. If the clickthrough for public radio listeners is making a free download difficult, then NPR has a legitimate complaint. Their users want a convenient and inexpensive way to access content. If Real can't accomodate, then screw them.
Under capitalism man exploits man. Under communism it's the other way around.
They got the message on the download, anyway. I can get an .exe for the free version only two clicks from the front page.
1. Big, orange "Download RealPlayer" button
2. Little blue text link in the lower right
Voila!
Auto-reply to ACs: "Truly, you have a dizzying intellect."
about video streaming, Real is about the best one can get. The quality is less than average, but it comes at ridiculously low amounts of bandwidth. A 1.5h show compressed to 100M, in quality that is still acceptable, full 15-min cartoons that fit in some 10M files, this is what I haven't seen elsewhere. I'd hate to see Real be gone.
In the other hand, Real could go open-source with all their client software and provide their existing infrastructure to host some web TV and radio stations, for a fee. This could encourage many people to accept RealMedia as a standard, seriously extending Real's market share, while not killing their profit.
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After hearing all the bad things about downloading real player, I decided just now to start the download process of the free version to see how bad the website actualy was.
I went to the website and glanced around for about 5 seconds, then clicked the link that said download. The next page was slightly confusing for about three seconds, before i saw the segment that said 'download free version'. Clicked that, then started my download.
No problem for me.
And that makes it spyware how exactly? Spyware captures personal information about you our your computer usage and transmits it back to a third party. Most software updates just query some type of a file to see what the current software version/build number is. If the two don't match, offer the person a chance to update. Nothing nefarious, but then again I don't wear a foil hat.
BTW: Disabling the updates is easy as going into the preference, changing to update manually and disable update notification on startup.
Get Streambox VCR
Get Streambox Ripper
(you'll find both on P2P networks, although Real successfully sued to have both products crippled or killed)
Download and convert to your favorite format
Don't forget to share!
Linky: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/audiohelp.shtml?help
You get an ad-free, nag-free, spyware-free version of Real Player, thanks to the good old BBC and their unique deal with Real.
Because the BBC is publicly funded, it couldn't justify using a third-party app that pesters BBC licence fee payers for more money - so they threatened to pull out of the Real deal (pardon the pun) if real didn't offer a nag-free version of the player.
There is a Windows Media Player for Mac OS X and 9 that, like its RealPlayer for OS X counterpart, has few annoying "features' that appear in their Windows counterparts. Generally speaking, Mac users can use the streams from the major sites like NPR unless the streaming site has intentionally identified the Macintosh browser or player and refuses access, whether the stream is compatible or not.
WMP for Mac's streaming ability works fine. But this player, unlike the one built-in with Windows, only plays WMA streams and files, and lacks the iTunes-ish MP3 player features.
Of course, aside from the free RealPlayer (which, if you look at this link on a Mac browser that IDs itself as a Mac browser shows a simple link in the right corner to the free RealPlayer), there is QuickTime, which also plays streams well, but there are few sites that use it (one is Cartoon Network's Star Wars: Clone Wars site).
Vos teneo officium eram periculosus ut vos recipero is.
I went to real.com.
Click on the "Download RealPlayer" image
Click on "Download Free RealPlayer" link on the right
The download starts right up without asking for any other info
"People that quote themselves in their signatures bother me" - athakur999
A senior engineer from Real explains how to get RealPlayer 10 to act nicely on one's system. I followed the instructions, and it works quite nicely. However, if one has Real Alternative installed previously, one has to remove it completely using instructions found further down the page.
At the first nastygram from any big patent-wielding corporation, MPlayer's going bye-bye. As far as I'm concerned, thanks to our pal the DMCA, it's just another DeCSS waiting to happen.
Um, you do know that Mplayer is made by a merry band of coders from Hungary, don't you? They have a great deal less regard for US copyright concerns than Norway.
I share some of your concerns but I don't think this is one we really need to worry about. In fact if by some perversion of nature, law and justice F/OSS were to be banned in this country it would move to places like Hungary and Taiwan, and flourish there. And yes, it would make criminals out of a lot of us.
Someone you trust is one of us.
And what the heck did it do exactly? I've installed the k-lite mega codec pack on no less than 10 computers, and NEVER had a problem. In fact, I carry it on my USB keychain drive, just in case.
It's a very convenient way to get the most used codecs and even some of the more obscure ones.
You can always use the reserved (and therefore hopefully nullrouted) example.com domains as described in RFC 2606, eg info@example.com
That is complete bullshit.
Read this.
Memo's from people that use to work at Real or still work there. In one of them, she says the bbc player is exactly the same as the other one.
Think nothing is impossible? Try slamming a revolving door.
Please call or e-mail Minnesota Public Radio, and let them know why you think an open format should be used for streaming content. Here's some reasons I can think of:
* It's pulbic radio, it's funded by taxpayers and supporters, so it's a public resource. All the content should be freely available using open standards
* Open standards like MP3 are supported by the most applications
* Open standards like MP3 are best supported across platforms
* Free software can be used to implement streaming
* They will support the good will of the technically astute in their audience, who are also a source of funding
* Any other good ideas? Here's the contact info, from their web site:
EMAIL
mail@mpr.org
TELEPHONE
General Inquiries: 651-290-1212 or 800-228-7123
An MPR Member/Listener Services associate will answer your call between 8:30 am and 5 pm CT Monday-Friday. Beyond those hours, you may leave a message and your call will be returned within two business days.
MPR Newsroom line: 651-290-1424
News releases may be faxed to the newsroom at 651-290-1295. News tips may be e-mailed to newsroom@mpr.org. E-mail addresses for individual reporters may be found on the newsroom look-up page.
Midmorning or Midday call-in shows: 651-227-6000 or 800-242-2828
We are not able to include emails to shows in progress. If you would like to leave comments for Midmorning, call 651-290-1171.
MAIL
MPR Member/Listener Services
45 East Seventh Street
Saint Paul, MN USA 55101
MEDIA INQUIRIES
Andrea Matthews, 651-290-1303 or amatthews@mpr.org
Suzanne Perry, 651-290-1276 or sperry@mpr.org
LS
There is a fine line between being a cultivated citizen and being someone else's crop. - A. J. Patrick Liszkie
The RealMedia server is avialable in a limited stream use as a free download. As far as propriatary streaming media goes, well, atleast they're cross platform. I agree that nothing beats a streaming ogg/mp3 site for radio/music/audible-content in general, but until business realize they won't get anymore screwed that route than another (as far as preserving IP rights) we won't really see adoption of these uncrippled standards. Besides you can always rip and convert a real stream, it is possible. I'd be sad to see Real go, you have to give them credit for being the first to give us streaming audio of any real quality, and other than there pushing sales attitudes toward their commerical alternatives to there software, I can't find much to fault them for.