Recording RealAudio on Mac

The basic reason I want an MP3 player with a radio included is so that I can listen to NPR. However, having the option of recording NPR radio streams online pretty much negates that want for a radio on an ipod. After a little looking and some fiddling around, I got Streamers to work on my iBook.

I had a lot of problems getting Streamers to work properly, so I'm going to outline what I needed to do to get it going. The first issue you should be aware of is that there are bugs in the RealPlayer 10 version. However, the RealOne (real player version 9) version of Streamers works. You can download RealOne Player from the Real website here, or by navigating to the old releases section of the real webpage.

You also need to download Windows Media Player from the Microsoft website. Wow, I can't believe I just linked to MS. I have version 9 running. I don't know why this is needed, but I think it has something to do with the way the author wrote the code.

You need to get Wiretap. Not wiretap pro, but the original program. However, you can google for "wiretap.sit" and find the sucker that way. I didn't want to link to a specific page, as I don't know if/when the link would go dead. If you still can't find it, get in touch with me (I guess you can leave a comment) and I can email the .sit file to you. Make sure to change the preferences the way the Streamers help file says: In WireTap's preferences, specify the Desktop as the location to which files should be saved. Make sure the "Application Name" checkbox is deselected. Select the "Prefix" checkbox, and enter only "recording" in the text field. Deselect the checkbox next to "Open files after recording them."

When you download streamers, go into the "Real Player 9" folder. Drag the Streamers app into your application folder, and not in a folder within the application folder. You can start it up and you should be ready to go. Be aware that Streamers will open iCal (among other programs), so be patient and let all the apps open. Now read the Streamers help file, as it is actually helpful--it tells you how to use the program, and it's not overly long.

I think this is a great program, and you can't beat the price. I really have no excuse for not having an iPod anymore (well, except for the price thing).

One more thing: On NPR's main page, the audio streams are embedded, that is, you can't right-click (or ctrl-click), to copy the URL. To extract the URL of embedded streams, you can download the file (on my mac, the files get downloaded to my desktop automatically when I double click on them), then open the .smil or whatever file using a text editor. The URL should show up front and center. Alternatively, you can start playing the clip, then in real player, you can select "view file info" and view the source from there. I think version 10 left out this feature.

My band is having our first show Thursday Feb 17th, at DC9. Doors open at 8ish, we go on at 9ish, & it's $6. We've been practicing a lot and we're really looking forward to it. See you there?

Drinking Game Time

It's that time of year again. The State of the Union Drinking Game is ready & waiting for your inebriated SotU-watching pleasure. I'm still trying to figure out which station to watch it on. I'll probably start out with C-Span, but then switch between all the major networks. I stuck to C-span for the prez debates last year and got shafted with their lack of camera angles.