Downloading clips using get-iplayer --pid

I've found that certain BBC videos will only download using get-iplayer's --pid option, even with an updated cache.

The video here is one such example.

I solved the problem by going into the browser page source (Ctrl-u) and finding the pid (p01cm5hy) which then can be given to get-iplayer.

The command which works is get-iplayer --pid p01cm5hy

EDIT

Here's another BBC page which needs a different method.

In page source, find the line which begins with "writeVideoEMP" followed by a URL which you can use like this:

get-iplayer --url http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/playlist/p00mbyh1

Bandwidth Throttling in Ubuntu

Need to limit the amount of bandwidth an application uses? Using the command-line and a handy utility called trickle you can.

sudo apt-get install trickle

trickle takes simple -d (for download) and -u (upload) options and then applies the limit to whatever application you put afterwards. As an example, here's how to force firefox to only use 10kB/s of download bandwidth and 5k of upload:

trickle -d 10 -u 5 firefox &

Pretty cool, eh?

Download Flash Video in Ubuntu using get-flash-videos

Want to download and save flash video in Ubuntu? Here's how!

First off, grab get-flash-videos_1.24-1_all.deb from here

Open it and Ubuntu Software Centre will ask you if you want to install (I installed all the optional stuff afterwards, just in case)

For some strange reason the command to run the downloader is get_flash_videos with underscores and not get-flash-videos as you would expect. This can be fixed by using the terminal:

cd /usr/bin
mv get_flash_videos get-flash-videos

Videos get saved into whatever directory you are in when you run the command. To use the downloader: go to the page which contains the video you want to save, then copy (Ctrl-c) and paste the URL (web address) from your browser into a terminal (Ctrl-Shift-v) like this:

get-flash-videos "http://yoururlgoeshere.com"

(The quotes are needed if the URL contains characters such as &)

Enjoy!

Saving from BBC News pages using get-iplayer

Someone asked me if I could save a copy of a video clip from the BBC. I said 'sure, as long as it's on iplayer I can just use get-iplayer'.

Unfortunately the clip was embedded in a news page and not on iPlayer, so after a little fruitless messing about I assumed it couldn't be grabbed - wrong!

It turns out that:

sudo get-iplayer --url fullurlofpagewhichcontainstheclip

...saves the clip locally, no sweat

Ubunu 10.10 Pidgin Sound Crackle Fix for Samsung NC10

After reinstalling Ubuntu onto my NC10 I found that the sound in pidgin was crackling.

I found the solution to my problem - run "gstreamer-properties" from a terminal and setting the audio default output plugin to ALSA

Ubuntu Linux 10.10 Brightness Fix

Ubuntu 10.10 came out today, and the brightness controls on my NC10 stopped working again...

The fix - enable the voria repository and install samsung-backlight

How? Pop a terminal (menu > accessories > terminal) and do:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:voria/ppa

followed by:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade

and then:

sudo apt-get install samsung-backlight

Reboot your machine, and voilà - working brightness!

Sony to Kill PS3 Linux in 3.21 Update

It's being widely reported today that SCE are set to completely remove OtherOS from the PS3. This comes on the back of the current 'slim' model not featuring the option to install another OS in the first place.

Over the years Sony have been quietly removing features from the PS3, and are apparently about to remove another. As the owner of a 'fat' PS3 with an XFCE partition I'm disappointed to say the least. Although the PS3 runs Linux very slowly, it's always fun to see things like VLC and Transmission working on a games console.

The decision apparently stems from a recent hack, forcing SCE's hand into welding the door shut before all kinds of grog-swilling piracy jumps off.

Having said all that, the update is apparently due for release on April 1st...