Archive: 2010-03
A response to Nick Reynolds
I submitted this as a response to Nick Reynolds’s post “Freedom? Open Source?” Tell me why?, and I think it’s worth republishing here.
If I say so, it must be true
The various iPlayer implementations use an XML service to find the stream location. This service is found at:
To : two :: ni : ni
I took a bus home the other day. The newer London buses have computerised displays and audible announcements of the route and upcoming stops (in that slightly odd glued-together way where the intonation doesn’t quite match up):
Steps to install a free iPhone app
How to: get decent service from your bank
Or, how ombudsman is my favourite Swedish loanword.
Experiencing iPhone OS for the first time
I’ve never really used an iPhone or iPod touch (they share the same OS, although only the former has the telephony part) before now. I picked up a second hand iPod touch yesterday to assist me with my iPlayer hacking, and it’s given me the first chance to experience the user interface in any depth.
Why people don’t cycle more
Short answer: because car drivers are arseholes.
A cock-up, not a conspiracy
It turns out that the reason that iPlayer TV downloads aren’t working is not that the BBC have changed anything. It’s just that their system’s broken down again for the second time in a couple of weeks. A page on the iPlayer Help system currently announces:
iPlayer TV downloads are broken
Updated information on the problem: there’s a problem at the BBC’s end
More Westminster woo-woo
Since last I wrote about it, several more MPs have pledged their support for the Dark Arts in the form of EDM 908 in defence of homeopathy.
Old sea forts and 6Music
Do you care about old sea forts?
Goodbye to free Wi-Fi?
The Digital Economy Bill factsheet on Online Infringement of Copyright: Libraries, Universities and Wi-Fi Providers [PDF] (context) raises some serious questions about the legislative competence and technical expertise of the people drafting the Digital Economy Bill. It also describes a bleak future for public access networks.