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New Hitchhiker's Episodes Available Online

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the don't-panic dept.

Michael Sheldon writes "The BBC is now offering the first of the new Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio episodes as either Real or WMP audio streams. Meaning listeners abroad can now hear the new series, which started playing on UK radio last Tuesday."

55 of 218 comments (clear)

  1. RA and WMA? by moonbender · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Shame that they don't offer either MP3 or OGG versions of the show. Wonder why they decided against using them, especially considering that the BBC has some experience with OGG - they used to have some live radio streams running it.

    --
    Switch back to Slashdot's D1 system.
    1. Re:RA and WMA? by SpooForBrains · · Score: 5, Funny

      They were working on broadcasting it on the Sub Ether Waveband but they didn't have the necessary rights.

      --
      "The dew has clearly fallen with a particularly sickening thud this morning"
    2. Re:RA and WMA? by jonwil · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I suspect part of it is not wanting it in a format that can be saved to disk and kept for later (otherwise it would hurt sales when the thing is released on CD or whatever)

    3. Re:RA and WMA? by Alranor · · Score: 5, Insightful

      So i'm guessing they've never heard of mplayer -dumpstream before then.

      Ah well, never mind eh.

    4. Re:RA and WMA? by SpooForBrains · · Score: 2

      Sure, just check your copy of the Guide.

      --
      "The dew has clearly fallen with a particularly sickening thud this morning"
    5. Re:RA and WMA? by Malc · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Experience with OGG? They haven't touched it for nearly two years!

      Personally I'm disappointed they didn't also offer it in FLAC, PCM, DTS, SDDS and Dolby Digital! Give it a rest, stop whining, and be happy that they made it available in the first place. It seems people get moderated up just for whinging about OGG. And no, I'm not new here ;)

    6. Re:RA and WMA? by mlush · · Score: 2, Insightful
      So i'm guessing they've never heard of mplayer -dumpstream before then.

      The Beeb know about mplayer -dumpstream, however 95%+ of the userbase have not. From the beeb's POV a partial solution is better than none at all

    7. Re:RA and WMA? by SpinyManiac · · Score: 2, Informative

      Well, I've got it in MP3.

      1 Plug laptop into digital TV STB
      2 Set STB to Radio 4
      3 Record
      4 Feed WAV into RazorLAME
      5 Enjoy VBR goodness

      There's an analog stage in the recording, and finding the cables to go from SCART to 3.5mm jack was a bit of a challenge.

      --
      It's never too late to have a happy childhood.
    8. Re:RA and WMA? by Ford+Prefect · · Score: 4, Funny
      Sure, just check your copy of the Guide.

      Okay then...

      BEEPcrkcrkcrk-BEEPcrkcrkcrk-KRCKaKRCK-BORP!
      What to do if you find yourself with a computer that's unable to play Realaudio, and you're at your wits' end with no hope of HHGTTG:

      Consider how lucky you are that life has been good to you so far.

      Alternatively, if life hasn't been good to you so far, which, given your current circumstances is more likely:

      Consider how lucky you are that it won't be troubling you much longer.

      Grr. Pile of rubbish.
      --
      Tedious Bloggy Stuff - hooray?
    9. Re:RA and WMA? by hedley · · Score: 2, Informative

      Use Streambox (google it). Comes with a transcoder.
      Drag drop ra onto it and you can get mp3 out.

      Streambox can also pull down any ra content as long as you drill down to the rtsp: tag that the stream uses. Thus I have already saved this weeks HHTG I did not require the Beeb link.

      Enjoy!

      Hedley

    10. Re:RA and WMA? by dasmegabyte · · Score: 4, Funny

      Yeah, moderation is very simple. Somebody agrees with you, +1, Insightful even if it's the same, tired, flawed opinion that's been posted for years. Somebody disagrees with you, -1 Troll even if it's new, perceptive and well argued.

      For example, you got a +5 for pointing out the same, tired argument that some people whine about OGG and get moderated for it. I will get modded -1 Troll, because of my vitriolic .sig.

      You know what? Fuck Slashdot. I'm going to start reading Fark, which is just as retarded but shows me boobies.

      --
      Hey freaks: now you're ju
    11. Re:RA and WMA? by Colonel+Cholling · · Score: 3, Funny

      not very much a fan of fantasy

      And I, and probably most slashdot readers, am not very much a fan of people who can't distinguish between science fiction and fantasy. (Failure to distinguish between science fiction and real life is, sometimes, forgivable.) I thus offer the following quick guide:

      If a story is set in some vague time period that can't figure out whether it's ancient Rome, the Middle Ages, or the Renaissance, and features wizards and lots of square-chinned guys with poor hygeine and names like Glorn Thundertrousers, it's probably fantasy.

      If a story features spaceships, robots, time travel, lots of made-up technobabble, a high-school knowledge of physics, and lots of people in Spandex jumpsuits who are either green or have multiple heads, and have names that look like the result of a random banging on a keyboard, it's probably sci-fi.

      If a story just has columns of abbreviations and numbers and words like "liquidity" and "divestiture," you're reading the financial reports by mistake.

      --

      I am Sartre of the Borg. Existence is futile.
  2. KCRW has original series by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    FYI, Primary and Secondary Phase's are available from KCRW in Real format:

    http://kcrw.org/show/hg

  3. FFS! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Look you don't have to wait for the BBC put *PUT THEM ONLINE* to listen from abroad. You can listen to Radio 4 *LIVE* via streaming (HHGTTG is on Tuesdays at 6pm UK time)... this story relates to the BBC's "Listen Again" feature which allows to to catch it if you miss it.

    1. Re:FFS! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Yup, I listened to the first episode on Tuesday here in Wisconsin, live.

      But a minor correction: it is actually on Tuesdays at 6:30 PM their time. That is 12:30 PM my time (central), so that is 1:30 PM Eastern, 11:30 AM Mountain, and 10:30 AM Pacific. Every Tuesday for the next five weeks.

      The first new episode was really quite impressive, and brought back a flood of memories from when I'd last read the books 15 or so years ago.

  4. There's isn't a 42 joke in here, I swear! by Aquatopia17 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I for one am really excited that HG2G has finally made its way back to radio. And on top of that, I can listen to it hassle-free (not as in beer) and free (as in beer) of charge over the internet. I wish listening to American proprietary radio stations was always this easy.

    --
    Don't sweat the petty things. Don't pet the sweaty things. --Stephen J. Simmons
    1. Re:There's isn't a 42 joke in here, I swear! by ninthwave · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The BBC isn't propietery it is paid for by a license fee which is charged to all owners of Tv's and radios like a tax. They have to be as free as possible as it has been paid for by the UK citizens already.

      --
      I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates, who said: "I drank what?" - Chris Knight (Val Kilmer)- Real Genius
    2. Re:There's isn't a 42 joke in here, I swear! by LordK2002 · · Score: 4, Funny
      I wish listening to American proprietary radio stations was always this easy.
      Really? I would prefer it if listening to American proprietary radio stations were made as difficult as possible.
    3. Re:There's isn't a 42 joke in here, I swear! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful
      charged to all owners of Tv's and radios like a tax.

      No, just TVs; they gave up on taxing radios decades ago, after the invention of the transistor made radios so small, cheap and portable that it was impossible to keep track of them. TV's are getting near that magic transition point too, plus what the licensing people don't want the general public to realise is that digital TV tuners aren't detectable by their much hyped but rarely seen detection equipment... The TV tax is an anachronism, but politicians like having the BBC utterly dependent on their goodwill = recently one radio reporter did a report critical of the Government, and it scared the Beeb so shitless that a governor resigned,,,

    4. Re:There's isn't a 42 joke in here, I swear! by ninthwave · · Score: 2

      And many bad whitewashed inquiries and the director general resigned and did some program about it on Channel 4.

      Sorry I am Yank living over here for the last three years, I really thought the fee was in the sale of radios, didn't realise they scrapped it altogether. Living in the states for 30 years and here for 3 I appreciate my TV license tax. It is excellent value that is produced with it. Is it still needed. I don't know but I would like to think that the BBC would have that revenue stream guaranteed so that no matter what happens with the media market the core services can stay.

      --
      I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates, who said: "I drank what?" - Chris Knight (Val Kilmer)- Real Genius
    5. Re:There's isn't a 42 joke in here, I swear! by Aquatopia17 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Proprietary means the radio station (or anything else you're talking about for that matter) is owned by a private entity, unlike the BBC, which is funded/owned by the state (though not as extreme as the state-controlled media one may find in an oppressive dictatorship).

      --
      Don't sweat the petty things. Don't pet the sweaty things. --Stephen J. Simmons
    6. Re:There's isn't a 42 joke in here, I swear! by Billy69 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      plus what the licensing people don't want the general public to realise is that digital TV tuners aren't detectable by their much hyped but rarely seen detection equipment
      Surely it is not that hard to re-tune their equipment to the higher frequency produced by the local oscillator in the digital tuner. I mean, even I could probably do that.

      --
      #include "disclaimer.h"
    7. Re:There's isn't a 42 joke in here, I swear! by Mwongozi · · Score: 2, Informative

      The license fee for radios was dropped years ago. Only the TV license remains, which funds both TV and Radio. (And the BBC web site.)

  5. Reason for no OGG / MP3 by tod_miller · · Score: 3, Interesting

    There are still copyrights, but more so they want to pull people into thier sprawl of a site.

    I love the radio shows. I have them as MP3 (must OGG 'em)

    Any updates on the film? It is a long way off, I don't wanna rush them, but they can keep us in suspense, and trickle delicious sweet information to us slowly - and an OGG of marvin saying 'diodes on my left side'.

    In unrelated 42 news, Seinfeld 1-3 series set was 42 on the amazon sales rank, and I bought it today. Nov i'll be out.

    --
    #hostfile 0.0.0.0 primidi.com 0.0.0.0 www.primidi.com 0.0.0.0 radio.weblogs.com
  6. Purchase on MP3 from bbcshop by tod_miller · · Score: 3, Informative

    Errm... Here...

    Or *mule*, gnu*, *azaa it. torrent to mp3's greatly appreciated, all proceeds go to my HDD.

    --
    #hostfile 0.0.0.0 primidi.com 0.0.0.0 www.primidi.com 0.0.0.0 radio.weblogs.com
  7. Re:Where can I get the originals? by SpooForBrains · · Score: 4, Informative

    Here. The audio effects make up a large part of the experience, so buying the CD is highly recommended.

    --
    "The dew has clearly fallen with a particularly sickening thud this morning"
  8. Re:So.. by moonbender · · Score: 3, Informative

    One way that usually works is to set your sound config up to record "What You Hear". Kind of like the analogue gap, except it never becomes analogue and leaves your computer. ;) Of course, that'll only get you uncompressed PCM files and, when re-compressed, artifacts, but I doubt there's anything else you can do.

    --
    Switch back to Slashdot's D1 system.
  9. mplayer to the rescue! by CoolVibe · · Score: 5, Informative
    $ mplayer -dumpstream mms://wm.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hitchhikers/h2g3_episode 1.asf &

    Share and enjoy, and why don't you stick your head in a pig ;)

    1. Re:mplayer to the rescue! by CoolVibe · · Score: 3, Informative

      grmbl, damn slashdot. Watch out when copy&pasting that, there is a stray space in there courtesy of slashcode.

    2. Re:mplayer to the rescue! by gyrojoe · · Score: 3, Informative
      If you want to encode it to something else, convert it to wav like this:
      $ mplayer stream.dump -ao pcm
      Convert the resulting wav file to MP3 (or OGG) and you're done.
    3. Re:mplayer to the rescue! by Hieronymus+Howard · · Score: 3, Informative

      Gentoo users will require mplayer to be compiled with the new (and undocumented) network flag in their USE flags, otherwise streaming will not work.

  10. Re:So.. by Excors · · Score: 5, Informative

    I've been using the shareware version of NetTransport, which seems to work quite nicely - give it the .ram or .asx URL, wait half an hour, and it'll save the 26MB of .rm or .asf data.

  11. Live Stream by rollerbob · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Surely listeners abroad can hear the new series at the same time as everyone else simply by pressing the 'Listen Live' button on the Radio 4 website at 17:30GMT (18:30BST) every Tuesday for the duration of the series.

  12. Any one up for a flollop? by I+Need+Beer · · Score: 2, Funny

    * Non orthopaedicly sprung life-forms are reminded that mattresses are the only sentient creatures to require regular flolloping. *

    --
    PEBCAK
  13. Pre-Order of new tertiary phase: by tod_miller · · Score: 2, Informative

    http://www.bbcshop.com/invt/0563510439&source= 841

    Original cast and the Life the Universe and Everything, I think Dougie wrote it - although in thier infinite wisdom those fsk-a-wits at the beeb have actually not given the information in the description.

    I mean, it is not as if anyone would be interested to know.

    I really hate stupid websites. I am not sure if I should buy it - or listen to it. I am just going to go stand in a corner, brain the size of the universe...

    --
    #hostfile 0.0.0.0 primidi.com 0.0.0.0 www.primidi.com 0.0.0.0 radio.weblogs.com
  14. Easy enough to transcode to mp3 or ogg... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...if you have a babelfish handy.

  15. HHGTTG Text Adventure by stephendl · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Even better on the site is a flash version of the original HHGTTG text adventure game...

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hitchhikers/game.shtml

    --
    I stole this sig.
    1. Re:HHGTTG Text Adventure by Ford+Prefect · · Score: 5, Funny

      Dear moderators,

      The above post actually comes just after my post on the subject, not before. 'Stephendl' obviously copied mine, only for it to be swept back through an eddy in the space-time continuum. Please moderate accordingly.

      (Apologies!)

      --
      Tedious Bloggy Stuff - hooray?
  16. Updated Infocom Game by Ford+Prefect · · Score: 4, Informative

    As trailed a few weeks ago, there's the updated version of the old Infocom interactive fiction version of the Guide.

    I had a play on it yesterday - I've no idea how they built it, but they seem to have some unholy alliance of Flash, Z-code and XML running it all. It's pretty cool, too - it's the same old game, but with added graphics...

    --
    Tedious Bloggy Stuff - hooray?
    1. Re:Updated Infocom Game by stratjakt · · Score: 2, Insightful

      As much as I liked HHGTG as a kid, and as much as I loved the infocom games (Planetfall and Stationfall are probably my favorites), the HHGTG infocom game was probably about the worst one they made. One misstep and the game was over, it was completely linear and frustrating.

      Check out this little quote on the fate of the "Restaurant" sequel that was never released.

      Apparantly DNA just didn't "get" the idea of interactive fiction.

      Anyhow, is there any way to hear the original radio series, or obtain the original TV series for free (legally, of course)?

      --
      I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
    2. Re:Updated Infocom Game by Masem · · Score: 2, Interesting

      While HHGTTG may have been the worst, all of Infocom's games suffered from dying easily from making the wrong move; HHGTTG made it worse that you had to make right moves, wholely unrelated to your actions at the current time, in order to survive the game later (e.g. dog/sandwich). all you young'uns with your LucasArts never-can-die-at-all-no-matter-how-hard-you-try adventure games!

      --
      "Pinky, you've left the lens cap of your mind on again." - P&TB
      "I can see my house from here!" - ST:
    3. Re:Updated Infocom Game by Sean+D.+Solle · · Score: 5, Informative
      ... some unholy alliance of Flash, Z-code and XML

      The back end's a C++ multi-threaded ZMachine running as a web server extension (can be compiled either as an Apache module or an ISAPI DLL).

      As well as sending the user's input and the game's output back and forth as XML, it also watches the ZMachine's internal state to send the location, score, number of moves, inventory etc.

      It has extra "knowledge" about the HHG game's internals (which is how it can handle the bedroom being dark, house being knocked down etc). This was hard-coded in the release that the BBC are running (due to time constraints - we had to ship on Sep 21st!), but newer builds have an external config file which can let the game twiddle the XML output accordingly, so in theory it could run any of the Infocom adventures.

      Shim's Flash client grabs the XML, pulls up Rod's artwork, displays the inventory and handles the text i/o history.

      Most of the team is on vacation at the moment (I'm posting in the naive hope that it'll mean less email waiting for me when I get back ;-), but there'll be full spec released in due course.

      It's pretty cool, too

      Thanks ... glad you like it!

      Sean.

  17. net transport by Errtu76 · · Score: 4, Informative

    You can save streaming media using Net Transport

    1. Re:net transport by DoctorRad · · Score: 2, Informative
      Not to mention the many incarnations of Streambox VCR that are floating around. Streambox Ripper will convert the Real Audio to MP3 or WAV.

      Matt.

      --

      Save the Bottom Line
    2. Re:net transport by slackerboy · · Score: 4, Funny

      From their website:
      "Net Transport is the faster, terrible (very many users call from feedback) and most powerful downloading tool that you ever saw"

      I'm still trying to figure out if that's a glowing recommendation or not....

      --
      Things to do today: See list of things to do yesterday
  18. From memory, the full song by SpooForBrains · · Score: 2

    Share and Enjoy!
    Share and Enjoy!
    Journey through life with a plastic boy
    Or girl by your side let your pal be you guide
    And if it gets slow or starts to annoy

    Does it grind when it walks
    Or squeak when it talks?
    Has it eaten your hat
    Or had sex with your cat?

    Sprayed oil on your walls
    Or ripped of your doors
    And it gets to the point
    You can't stand anymore

    Bring it to us
    We won't give a fig
    We'll tell you
    Go Stick Your Head in a Pig!

    --
    "The dew has clearly fallen with a particularly sickening thud this morning"
  19. Eddies in the space-time continuum... by Serious+Simon · · Score: 3, Funny

    Who's Eddy?

    1. Re:Eddies in the space-time continuum... by AndroidCat · · Score: 5, Funny

      Hi there! I'm Eddy, your shipboard computer!

      --
      One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
  20. Quicktime by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The show should be available in Quicktime format -- Douglas Adams was Macintosh fanatic.

  21. I'm sorry I am tooo depressed..... by adsl · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...to listen to a radio programme. I think I will go and dismantle myself. Love Marvin:(

  22. While we are griping about formats... by museumpeace · · Score: 2, Interesting

    go a little farther into the BBC website to hear/read the recorded interviews where Douglas Adams made predictions about how all these formats and playback technologies where going to mold the economy and user experience of consuming media. This page was also the entry point for a contest seeking new material you might create for submission to the HHGG. [like I wasn't already wasting enough time reading /. !-)]

    --
    SLASHDOT: news for people who can't concentrate on work or have no life at all and got tired of yelling back at the TV.
  23. Re:Where can I get the originals? by kraut · · Score: 3, Informative

    You can get a slightly cheaper version from http://www.bbcshop.com

    --
    no taxation without representation!
  24. Re:timing is everything by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    You think we're going to Slashdot the BBC?

    HA HA HA!

    Any minute now someone is going to post a link to the map of their "content distribution system" that's available somewhere on the BBC website.

    The one that shows the redundant 4Gb links. Everywhere. And the multihomed hosting in the UK & US.

    Do your worst!

  25. well, the pause button doesn't work in firefox.... by acroyear · · Score: 2, Funny

    but, to quote marvin, "I think I feel good about it."

    --
    "But remember, most lynch mobs aren't this nice." (H.Simpson)
    -- Joe
  26. Re:this is awesome by iantri · · Score: 2, Informative
    Yes. You can just dump the stream with mplayer. However, I imagine you are looking to convert it to DVD-Audio or something so that you can play it on your stereo system. Here is the best way I can think of: (Windows)

    1. Dump the stream (however you wish). It is important that you dump the raw stream and not record the audio produced by it (Total Recorder is out). Mplayer will do this.

    2. Install Avisynth (http://www.avisynth.org).

    3. Create a script like so: (save as h2g2.avs or the like)

    DirectShowSource("h2g2file.wma")

    Playing this back in a AVI player will be the same as an AVI without video, with 5.1ch WAV audio (it frameserves in real-time). 4. Install Besweet and Besweet GUI.

    5. Load the AVS file into Besweet GUI.

    6. Encode to 5.1ch AC3 or OGG or whatever you wish.


    Enjoy!

    Sorry, it's a little roundabout..