Re: Six years old

Chris Ridd <chrisridd@xxxxxxx> wrote:

(Rowland McDonnell) said:

Chris Ridd <chrisridd@xxxxxxx> wrote:

(Rowland McDonnell) said:
[snip]

I have no data at all on any failures. And so what if it's human error?
Any time the Beeb's put the wrong episode up for downloading with the
wrong identification (and that's happened to me in the past but I kept
no records of exactly which episodes), that's human error, innit?

Who cares what causes the fault? Faults happen.

Given that the Beeb are certainly using some content management system
to organize their website, there's never going to be a difference
between what they put up in HTML, and what they put in the RSS.

The RSS feed is as accurate as their website.

Yes, I know. Your point being?

You're seeing problems where there aren't any. See below too.

But I have in fact experienced problems, so you are certainly wrong in
your assertion. See below.

*MY* point is that my manual check alerts me if something's gone wrong,
so I can delete the duff download and re-check in a day or two to see if
they've got it sorted out by now.

Shrug. You can do exactly the same thing within iTunes. I'm not going
to bother explaining *again* how, so look for yourself.

Yes, I know, but given that /I/ generally do not have iTunes running and
normally do have a Web browser running, and that /I/ have a link to the
In Our Time download page in /my/ Web browser's bookmarks, why should
/I/ bother messing about like that?

If, like one person here, I should only check the episodes once a month,
then there's a good chance that every now and then, I'll find I have
duplicated episodes and missed ones.

That's possible - most podcasts only remember the last n (30, say)
episodes and then they cycle out of the RSS.

Eh? That's utterly irrelevant: this a specific BBC programme download,
not the set of all or most of `your favourite' podcasts.

The In Our Time download is available for one week after the first
broadcast, and then it is gone - as is the case with almost all BBC
programme downloads. The new episode turns up, the old one goes. Old
episodes are available for streaming listening, mind - just not for
download and of course no-one can record internet audio streams, can
they?

(one has to wonder about the Beeb at times)

Of course you'll also find that websites like the BBC remove old shows
from download, so you're really just arguing whether they remove the
download file first or whether they remove it from the RSS first.

Erm, no I'm not.

I'm
saying those will both happen at the same time.

Of course they do. What I'm telling you is that if /I/ were to rely on
an automated system, /I/ would be less likely to ensure that /I/ checked
/I/ had the right one each time. And since it's bother to use the
automated system for /me/ (I'd have to make sure iTunes was given a run
each week, which is not necessarily what happens in the natural run of
things) and no bother for /me/ to use the `manual' download method -
well, /I/ will use what's easiest for /me/.

The problem is that you want to argue that my method is somehow
fundamntally wrong - well, it's not. It's right for /me/.

Once in a blue moon, you'll find last week's episode with this week's
name on it, or similar idiocy - if that happens, they get it fixed in a
day or so, but that's no good if you're trusting the podcast, is it?

Are you *sure* they don't lie to you inside the podcast about the
show's episode number? The only way to *really* be sure is to be
present when they're recording the show.

Now you are being silly.

There is no episode number given. Melvin just says `Hello' and launches
into the topic. And that's how I check: listening to the first few
seconds of the programme (annoying BBC announcement ignored).

I'm interested in the content of the downloaded programme. If Melvin is
supposed to be discussing black holes this week on the radio and you
find that you've just downloaded last week's episode on the Abbasid
Caliphs (but it's labelled with this week's date and `black holes'), the
Beeb has cocked up. And that's the sort of thing that's happened a
couple of times. Only once or twice IIRC, but it's happened.

I don't give a damn when it was recorded or anything like that; I just
want to make sure that I've got each episode published in the schedule.

Rowland.

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