argh! RTE using mad extensions?

FranknFurter

Just tried to download last mondays Joe Duffy Show (for the oulwan) from the RTE Radio 1 website. ( http://www.rte.ie/radio1/liveline/ )

The file has an extension of .smil
?!?! This is a new one on me, and nothing I try will play it.
Any ideas how to play this?
(And are rte mad? why not podcast or use a normal way of streaming or downloading!?)

All help appreciated.

B

[edit]- found it, apparently only "realOne Player" will play it :rolleyes:
*Sigh, rte have lost the plot using somthing so obscure imho.
[/edit]

frodo_dcu

its real media, you real player if you must but try real player alternitive first can't remember the site but a quick google search will find it i'm not sure if it will sure if it will plat smil files but its great for rmbv files

L1011

SMIL = an actual standard, "Podcast" = nothing actually real, just convention based on what other people use.

RTÉ use RealMedia. Thats unlikely to ever use, as the have used it for ten years at this stage. SMIL, the Synchronised Multimedia Integration Language, is the standard format for describing presentations - in this case, RTÉ mostly use it to get your player to not download and hence skip adverts in TV/radio show dumps, or only display part of a file containing an entire show. "Podcasts", e.g. RSS files containing a link and a description, allow nothing of the sort.

I don't see how something thats been a web standard since 1998 is obscure, to be totally honest.

FranknFurter

MYOB wrote:

I don't see how something thats been a web standard since 1998 is obscure, to be totally honest.

Well, I've been online a lot longer than 1998 and I've never heard of it.
Neither has my partner who is a well known programmer.
Nor have several people I've spoken to tonight.

To me, thats "obscure".

B

greglo23

this is what you need to play smil files. http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Media_Player_Classic.htm
smil files are used by real player which is a known heap of s***te which when installed takes over a lot of file associations and reports back on your habits.

L1011

FranknFurter wrote:

Well, I've been online a lot longer than 1998 and I've never heard of it.
Neither has my partner who is a well known programmer.
Nor have several people I've spoken to tonight.

To me, thats "obscure".

B

Well, you've obviously been going out of you way to avoid streaming media* since 1998, ditto anyone else who's "never heard of it".

SMIL files are used by a hell of a lot more than RealPlayer, SMIL is the basis of the description format for Multimedia Messages on mobiles, and indeed any other W3C compliant media markup system. Like it or not, Real Networks actually use standards for streaming/description - the "Real" in "Real Time Streaming Protocol" doesn't mean them, its another 8 year old international (IETF this time) standard, for instance.

*because its used for both Real and Quicktime as well as other non-proprietary formats

DMC

Realplayer, obscure? Pull the other one. CNN, BBC News online, and RTÉ are just some of the websites that have always used Realplayer. In 1998 I was creating Realplayer files for my old website.

FranknFurter

DMC wrote:

Realplayer, obscure? Pull the other one. CNN, BBC News online, and RTÉ are just some of the websites that have always used Realplayer. In 1998 I was creating Realplayer files for my old website.

Oh I never said RealPlayer (the program), was obscure to me, just the .smil extension.
Realplayer is a program I would'nt even download let alone use, for well known reasons.

I spose programs like it and quicktime are programs I have also avoided and not followed their progress over the years.

B

watty

nope. Nothing obscure about .smil

Only much used on Websites.

There are various settings you change in Realplayer that stops it being almost spyware. I use it and people that know me will tell you how paranoid I seem to them regarding computer security.

I have never actually set fire to a copy of Outlook using lighter fuel.

mjsmyth

I never had a problem with realplayer. Just watch what version you download, don't fly thru the installation. Once installed just check thru the options to make sure that nothing you don't want is turned on.

I've be using smil since RTE started. It was the first time I came accross it. As for your partner not knowing about it, I have worked in IT for a long time and still do not know everything.

mj

bringoutthegimp

SMIL: http://www.rfc-archive.org/getrfc.php?rfc=4536

RTSP: http://www.rfc-archive.org/getrfc.php?rfc=2326

Real Player Enterprise (Clutter/Spyware Free version of the player) http://forms.real.com/rnforms/products/tools/red/index.html

SPDUB

bringoutthegimp wrote:

Real Player Enterprise (Clutter/Spyware Free version of the player) http://forms.real.com/rnforms/products/tools/red/index.html

You can also download a clutter/spyware Free version of the player without filling in a form from the BBC radio website