pretend cracker boy
being a big “curb your enthusiasm fan”, i wanted to scoop up all the radio interviews i could find online, just to keep and listen to when i want without having to stream the things or possibly run into a dead link one day.
i started with the NPR / fresh air pages. they have a java clicker there that loads the streaming file into your preferred player (windows media player for me). i’m not a web geek, but bill st. clair had helped me understand how to ferret out this type of thing a while back. so i took that information and got to geekin’. was able to find the java function file, and analyze the getMedia function well enough to construct a URL. it was far easier than the modulo operator hurdle used in the example he walked me through.
function: getMedia(prgCode, showDate, segNum, mediaPreference)
java click: javascript:getMedia(‘FA’, ’28-Dec-2004′, ’2′, ‘RM,WM’);
resulting URL: http://www.npr.org/dmg/dmg.php?prgCode=FA&showDate=28-Dec-2004&segNum=2&mediaPref=WM
i started rubbing my hands together and getting excited. threw that URL into a dummy web page, then right-clicked and selected ‘save target as’. bummer though, because what saved was a shortcut, not the .wma file. arghhhh!
well no reason to quit now, i thought. i opened that shorcut in a text editor, and got this URL:
http://wm.npr.na-central.speedera.net/wm.npr.na-central/fa/20041228_fa_02.wma
ahaa! i am the champion of all that is webbish! i do the dummy web page again, ‘save target as’, and… bummer; it’s another shortcut. ROFL.
i don’t feel like being an expert on windows media, so after googling for about 30 minutes, i have given up. i have been beaten. if anybody can give me the 3-sentence description of which brick wall i ran into, that would be too kickass. i still haven’t figured out if it was a translation script at the host server, or part of the .wma format. or something else.
here’s the best site i found on the subject.
January 13th, 2005 at 08:30
‘fraid I don’t know any more URL magic this time. My guess is that the server is turning your URL into a shortcut.
You might try NetTransport: http://www.xi-soft.com/ . I don’t have it installed any more, so I don’t know if it will work, but I remember it working for me before I wiped my disk and upgraded to XP.
January 13th, 2005 at 09:04
thank you, sir!
April 21st, 2005 at 08:25
Fyi, I wanted to grab an episode of Fresh Air (18-Apr-2005). I asked a tech guru friend (using computers since 1977) and he recommended NetTransport (www.xi-soft.com) shareware (free to try out). You’ve still got to figure out the “real” URL as the first poster mentioned. I figured it out by going to (boot drive, I’m on C:\)> Documents and Settings> (login account, I’m using Administrator)> Local Settings> Temp> and saw the temporary file created by RealPlayer WHILE I WAS PLAYING THE AUDIO after clicking the link on NPR.org. The file in this example was “smi5AE.smi”, it’s 1Kb, and it is text. Drag it onto Notepad to check the contents. Therein will find a link like this: rtsp://real.npr.na-central.speedera.net:80/real.npr.na-central/fa/20050418_fa_01.rm
That’s what you need. Download NetTransport and create a “Job” with that URL. It will then download and save an RM audio file for you.
My friend and I both dislike RealPlayer so after it finished, I used Streambox Ripper (find it here: http://www.sonicspot.com/streamboxripper/streamboxripper.html ) to CONVERT the RA to MP3.
Sounds like a lot of work, and it will take you 15 minutes or so the first time you download, install and test everything, but then you can use it over and over again. Have fun.
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS FRESH AIR episode. The guest (Gary Leffew) is a very interesting “salt of the earth” fellow.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4605045
Interviews
Messing with the Bull: Riding Champ Gary Leffew
by Dave Davies
Fresh Air from WHYY, April 18, 2005 · Gary Leffew is a former bull-riding champ, actor, stunt coordinator and consultant to HBO’s Deadwood. He punches up scripts for David Milch’s Deadwood, making sure the cowboys talk like real cowboys do. In 1970 he won the world championship bull riding competition. After that Leffew took up acting and appeared in many commercials. Now he teaches bull riding at his California Ranch.
David in Cincinnati, Ohio (don’t blame me, I didn’t vote for him in ’00 or ’04)
April 21st, 2005 at 13:03
thanks, david! great info. i’ve lost my jones for this right now, but i’ll definitely refer back to your comment if i get inspired later. appreciate it.
i’ve heard a lot of good things about deadwood, but have quit watching TV again. not even sure if the cable where i live now has HBO.
(don’t blame me; i’ve never voted for anybody, and never will!)