Channel4 4OD Solved November 24, 2009
Posted by granthamtech in Desktop, Online Security.Tags: 40d, black, black screen, channel4, channel4 4od, hangs, hosts, Linux, Loading content, no video, not working, problem, screen, windows
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For some time I have been getting my TV online, principally with the BBC IPlayer. I also receive ITV content, albeit problematically, using the ITV Player. But for some reason I was never able to get the Channel4 4OD service to work.
After selecting a programme to watch I would be presented with an empty video window, a “Loading content” message and nothing else. It didn’t matter whether I used Vista or Linux Mint, Firefox or Internet Explorer, the result was always the same – a sort of black screen of death as shown in this screenshot.
Of course I Googled the problem but found no fix. I could see from the general web chatter that others were having the problem but, clearly, it was a minority issue and there was no obvious solution.
Eventually I saw a reference to a test link that pointed to the url “realmedia.channel4.com” and clicked on it. I expected some kind of test page response or, at worst, perhaps an invalid request or maybe a 404 not found error. Instead nothing happened at all. The click went nowhere. This provided the clue to the problem solution.
After checking my hosts file I found that “realmedia.channel4.com” was being redirected to my localhost at 127.0.0.1 – i.e. nowhere. And this was the reason that 4OD wasn’t working. After commenting out that entry in the hosts file 4OD worked perfectly.
How did this redirection get into the hosts file? I posted a previous blog called “Using The Hosts File To Ward Off Web Attacks” which described how you can download a hosts file from this site to redirect hundreds of well known bad site urls to localhost at 127.0.0.1. This redirection makes these bad sites inaccessible and is a great enhancement to security on the PC generally. However it seems that, for some reason, “realmedia.channel4.com” is included in the hosts file as a bad site url thereby preventing 4OD from working. I’m not sure why the entry for 4OD is considered a bad site that needs to be redirected but it is, as of the date of this post, still being included in the download.
So if you have a problem using the Channel4 4OD service as described above do check your hosts file to see if “realmedia.channel4.com” has been redirected. If you find that this is the case then either removing it or commenting it out will hopefully fix the problem.
Of course now I have to find something on 4OD that I consider worth watching. Sadly, from what I can see, it appears to be some kind of landfill site for the dross that is celebrity culture. But that’s another rant altogether.
Not Much November 4, 2009
Posted by granthamtech in Governing Elite.Tags: deceit, immigration, labour, newspeak, words
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I am pleased to hear a minister finally admit that mistakes in immigration policy have been made. I am pleased. But not much.
The text of the admission was no doubt finely crafted by some publicly financed wordsmith to admit guilt but without actually saying so. An example of the technique of sfumato but expressed through words rather than paint. It was language that conveyed the general meaning but nuanced with just enough linguistic sedative so as not to unduly alarm the reader or listener. In this way it is possible to describe even a fraudulent pretext for war as no more than a “fib”. Another bootprint along the malign dirt road to our Newspeak future.
Keeping my delight just a little in check though, I couldn’t help but be struck by the use of the word “maladroit”. Apparently the profundity of the minister’s mea colpa was limited to the reach of this anemic and more French than English word. One can imagine hours spent by the ministers team desperately searching through dictionaries, perhaps even drawing suggestions from a hat, trying to find a sanitised alternative to the words that really describe the situation. Eventually they came up with this perfumed “mot juste”, which only hinted that maybe things might possibly have been done differently.
Instead of “maladroit” I’d like to suggest other words that would more accurately describe what has been going on. How about “bungling”. Too kind perhaps? Ok then what about “incompetent”? And given what we now know about the intentionality of what was done perhaps I will be forgiven for needing two words to fully describe these policies. The two words I have in mind are “knowingly culpable” but there are many others of course.
So, albeit with the caveats mentioned above, I am pleased to hear that mistakes in immigration policy have been admitted to. But not much.
Insult To Injury October 28, 2009
Posted by granthamtech in Governing Elite.Tags: blair, eu, european union, political class, president
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So it is true then. In today’s gaga Britain where absurdities morph seamlessly into the commonplace it is hard to be surprised any more. It is hard to be astonished by any single twist emanating from the body of the political elite snake. It seems the bewildered people of the UK are, apparently, to be recipients of a bright, shiny, new president of the EU.
That such a vacuous, unelected position should be created and foisted upon the people of Europe is bad enough. That Tony Blair could soon be sitting in the, no doubt richly upholstered, chair of said president is unconscionable. (It,s apt that in the Merriam-Webster dictionary the example given for the word “unconscionable” is “a politician with an unconscionable disregard for the truth“).
For many people even a passing glimpse of Blair is likely to bring on an acute attack of nausea. Sadly for me, memory impairment associated with the ageing process appears not to extend to the central figure of the Blair years and he still lurks, like a Vanish resistant stain. So the prospect of this discredited man, presumably as “Head Of The EU Super State”, grinning out from newspapers, TV interviews and embedded in web pages is not a happy one.
How far will this go? Will Blair smirk down from public buildings on a sickened populace? Will he appear on postage stamps, leaving a really bad taste in the mouth? Imagine if the contagion was to spread to notes and coins. The prospect of that face staring back at me whenever I open my wallet is more than enough motivation, if such were needed, to spend less. Will he have a presidential residence? More to the point will there be an expenses system that will allow him, for old times sake, to “flip” palaces?
I do not recall voting to be represented by a president of the EU (although I do vaguely recall stumbling over the debris of a broken promise on an EU membership referendum) and doubtless I will not be asked to vote on who the president will be.
The EU is already top heavy enough, weighed down with members of the political class and their worker bee bureaucrats. Furthermore, what deep desire do we have that will be satisfied by the addition of this office? The injury of our undemocratic EU membership must not be compounded by the insult of El Presidente Blair.
All Together Now? October 21, 2009
Posted by granthamtech in Governing Elite.Tags: climate change, consensus, dissent, global warming, mainstream media
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It’s hard to know exactly where to stand on the vexed issue of “climate change” nee “global warming“. If one accepts the evidence put out by most of the mainstream media then there is very little room for doubt. The planet is heating up and the heating is due to human activity. The polar ice is melting and the planet is faced with catastrophe. Further more, the mainstream media assures us, there is a worldwide scientific consensus to this effect.
Fairly typical of this consensus is a report that “Global warming worse than predicted, top scientist says” on the ABC News Australia website. Our own Met Office is very clear on the subject. It’s website states – “It is now clear that man-made greenhouse gases are causing climate change“. The debate, it might seem, is over.
However if one raises the level of scepticism, just a tad, and releases the information dissemination headlock, only a little, and seeks an alternative point of view what do we find? We find that there are apparently large numbers of scientists who dissent from the standard view put forward by both the IPCC and, more famously, by Al Gore. A U.S. senate minority report states that “More Than 700 International Scientists Dissent Over Man-Made Global Warming Claims. Scientists continue to debunk “consensus” in 2008 and 2009“.
The website “Global Climate Change Facts” is informative and presents the case for each side. There are links to articles that range from the scary “NOAA: Climate Change Irreversible” to the rather more reassuring “Antarctic ice 2% above average“.
If you have a spare hour and a half to invest, (not really a lot in geological time), there is an entertaining and thought provoking YouTube video of a presentation by Lord Christopher Monckton in October 2009 at a climate skeptic event.
Unfortunately none of these differing views give us a definitive answer to the question – is unsustainable man made global warming real? Without training in climatology and earth sciences one cannot know who has the science right. Neither can one be sure where the hidden agendas lie and nor which vested interest is really behind any given piece of data or rhetoric. However what is clear is that, contrary to the mainstream media standard line, a consensus on this important issue there is not.
Auntie Will Make It Better October 16, 2009
Posted by granthamtech in Governing Elite.Tags: bbc, comedy, humour, liberal bias, liberal elite
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Thank goodness for the BBC. Once again the Corporation, free of the burden of being elected and therefore representative of common opinion, has shown itself to be totally indispensable in it’s ability to disseminate ideas and thoughts, to us, it’s adoring public. I like to think of Auntie as a kind of moral and intellectual guardrail, ensuring we don’t fall overboard from the ship of acceptability into a sea of inappropriateness.
I have no idea what I would do without her. No doubt I would have to reconcile myself to a life spent stumbling around in a fog of uncertainty not knowing quite how to formulate an acceptable point of view. How lost I would be on issues such as climate change, membership of the European Union, immigration and the preservation of the English landscape. If I am ever at a loss as to how to think about a given topic, and I need access to a slightly left of centre, fully paid up member of the liberal elite, even after the shops have closed, then I know that Auntie will provide me with it.
There are those, of course, who criticise BBC programme makers for “dumbing down” it’s content in recent years. I don’t see it myself. I think that Horizon for example is much more exciting in it’s new format now that no single image in the programme lasts for more than 3 seconds and we are no longer forced to take in as much information as before. Now thats what I call that progress.
But it gets better. Not content with providing me with a pre-packaged, socially acceptable political framework Auntie has now turned her matronly attention to the often thorny question of comedy. I admit to having been confused for some time now about what is and what is not funny. For example I know that Christians are funny but that other religions are not. I also know that the French can be made fun of, even to the point of vilification, but that other nationalities cannot. But there are grey areas don’t you think? So it is great to discover that Auntie will now provide us with another framework, this time to help us formulate correct attitudes to humour. Very liberating.
So no more hesitancy trying to decide whether to laugh or not. No more awkward silences trying to guess how a studio audience will be signalled to react. We will benefit from this. After all who amongst us has not disguised an inappropriate chuckle as a cough even when not in polite company?
All of this guidance on which we now depend and for which we are so very grateful is, apparently, included at no additional charge! Hoorah BBC. In this respect alone the licence fee is worth every penny.
Dave October 9, 2009
Posted by granthamtech in Governing Elite.Tags: dave, dave ja vu, david cameron, hope, hope springs eternal, man on the clapham omnibus, politicians
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I’m hearing a lot about “Dave” recently. Firstly, if I am not mistaken, there is the “Dave” taken to mean “that bloke down the pub”. A sort of modern day “man on the Clapham omnibus” whose opinions would tend to correspond with the views of a reasonable person – a benchmark for the common man of the day. Sadly I have never been fortunate enough to encounter this particular Dave. I am sure there would be much to learn and share. There is however, in any case, a tragedy tinted irony to the fact that in todays society Dave’s reasonable views, if sought as such, would be largely unbroadcastable, at least in the mainstream media.
Then there is a digital TV channel also known as Dave and it’s time-shifted younger brother Dave ja vu. I,m guessing here but maybe the use of the name is also a reference to reasonableness. Reasonable programmes that the bloke on the bus could watch on his mobile media player.
Then of course there is the “Dave” as in David Cameron. I must say that I found his recent conference performance annoyingly impressive. This is because I have become so cynical that, in my eyes, for a politician to lie it is sufficient merely that their lips move. Sadly we have seen it all before. I recall similar feelings arising back in 1997 when the calamitous Blair tsunami first broke over an unsuspecting but ever hopeful nation. At the time it seemed to be a long overdue breath of fresh air. Today, when the word Blair has morphed into a synonym for mendacity, we know better.
So, in spite of my canny gut feelings, in spite of the near certain knowledge that nothing of substance will actually change, in spite of all this, curiously, hope stirs anew. And hope, a bit like Peter Kay’s dunk drunk Hob Nobs, seems always to come back and say “Go on – hit me again!”.
So “Dave” Cameron. A reasonable bloke? Perhaps. But I fear that in the end, like a time-shifted TV repeat, he will be less “reasonable bloke on the Clapham omnibus” and more “Dave ja vu”.
Clean Out Of Touch September 20, 2009
Posted by granthamtech in Governing Elite.Tags: chattering classes, cleaners, cleaning house, liberal elite
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Reading the output of some columnists found in the weekend “heavies” is always a bit of of teeth grinding experience for a sensitive person like me. These journalistic barricades are almost invariably manned by the sons and daughters of the liberal elite who like to educate the rest of us in the finer points of progressive thinking. If you feel the need for lectures on “Hand Wringing 101″ or introductions to “Self Loathing For Beginners” then the weekend qualities are generally good places to find them. For myself, in an effort to keep my dentistry costs to a minimum, I try to avoid reading much beyond the headlines.
I was, however, drawn to this article about Baroness Scotland and her surprisingly illegal immigrant cleaner. The article whilst not condoning the use of illegal, though gratifyingly cheap, labour points out that, well, we all do it don’t we?
The author, one Jemima Lewis, (I feel an “Ok yah” coming on…), writes.. “Can you, with hand on heart, swear that you have never hired a cleaner of foreign extraction without first running her documents past the Home Office?“. Well now thats a tough one to answer isn’t it? Have I, as an able bodied person, felt the need to pay a stranger to enter my home in order to clean up after me? Hmm… can I get back to you on that, Jemima?
Some older bodies, like me, may remember the famous Lady Chatterley obscenity court case back in the sixties. Beyond any scandal relating to the content of the book itself was the furore caused by the chief prosecutor asking the court if the book was one “you would wish your servants to read“. The point being that the poor old dust encrusted and heavily bewigged legal worthy was so out of touch with the lives of ordinary people that he assumed that servants were the norm in society.
This brings us back to jolly old Jemima and her indispensably foreign cleaners. Most ordinary, able bodied, people do not suffer agonies over the legal status of their cleaners as they simply don’t use them. For some of us, the prospect of having to welcome a cleaner into the house would, albeit paradoxically, require that the house be clean first.
Sorry Jemima. You wouldn’t understand. It’s a lower middle class, clean-up after yourself, kind of thing.
Podcasts: Get Thee Behind Me August 21, 2009
Posted by granthamtech in Uncategorized.Tags: podcast, podcasts, time management, waste of time, wasting time
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I appear to be a junkie. A podcast junkie that is. Stealthily, insidiously and silently this addictive media form has crept up on me and is more or less dominating my daylight hours. For those that may not know, a “podcast” is simply a segment of video, or more usually, audio content in digital form that is produced on a regular basis – daily, weekly or monthly. This digital content may be streamed for immediate listening or downloaded for subsequent playback on the computer or MP3 player.
There are thousands of podcasts available on almost every conceivable topic. Everything from low carb dieting to buddhist tech. Most of them are produced by ordinary individuals who have a particular interest they wish to share and impart to others. To create a podcast all that is required is a microphone, some audio software and something to talk about. In addition to individual producers, most audio broadcast media organisations make their programming available in the form of podcasts. Certainly the BBC makes its output available in this form.
Doing a quick count it appears that I have subscribed to over 100 different podcasts and am listening to or watching around 35 a week. A few of them might only be 10 minutes in duration but for the most part each is around 45 minutes in length. Little wonder then that recently I have been wondering why I am not getting anything useful done.
There are some things you can do, and enjoy, whilst listening to a podcast. Gardening is one. DIY is another and, on the rare occasions I actually do any, housework is yet another. However it is my experience that reading and writing are not things that can be done whilst also listening to a podcast. Either one or the other is possible but not both. The effect is that the podcast content is heard but not listened to. Or, and this is the real problem, the task of reading or writing goes into suspension whilst one concentrates on the audio.
Having thought about it I have decided that if I wish to write more then I need to seriously reduce the number of podcasts I listen to. I need to take a set of digital secateurs and prune away the least useful and the least interesting. This will not be easy but I am going to have to be ruthless. There may be some withdrawal effects. Even now I am wondering how I am going to cope with not having my weekly shot of tech info on Windows 7. And what about the world of commodities? What if I want to buy some soya bean futures?
If I succeed in reducing my consumption of these digitised time thieves, my expectation is that I will be able to improve my use of time. Ironically this brings me nearly full circle as it was a desire to learn and understand more of the world that led me down the slippery slope of podcast abuse in the first place. Oh dear. I seem to be backsliding already.
Perhaps just one more hit of scepticism. Just one more taste of livin the vida lo-carb…
Google Chrome For Linux August 16, 2009
Posted by granthamtech in Browsers, Google, Linux.Tags: alpha, browser, Browsers, chrome, crunchbang, dillo, google chrome, Linux
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I’m rather looking forward to the time when Google finally releases its Chrome browser for Linux. I know it has been available on Windows for quite some time. But for us Linux types? Nada. Well not exactly nada but up to this point only an alpha version is available and it’s not all that easy to find either. You can go here to get a .deb file.
So, rather than wait who knows how long for the final product, I thought I’d download the alpha and give it a try. I have to say that I am impressed with it’s performance. I usually write my blogging nonsense on a second hand, 800mhz Pentium III, ram challenged (256K) IBM Thinkpad T21 running the slimline CrunchBang Linux. This is perfectly fine for text processing but can be pretty treacle like when browsing with Firefox. In fact, because the T21 is so underpowered I would sometimes revert to using the tiny but highly functional Dillo browser to get a decent response from the machine. But with Chrome I’m seeing a “mainstream” browser that loads fast, runs fast and seems fairly robust if not pushed.
As one would expect, the alpha version of Chrome for Linux is far from complete. There is no Flash support and the bookmark menuing, at least for deep menus, teeters agonisingly close to being unusable. It may be that, being so incomplete, Chrome only appears to be quick. Maybe when they have bolted on all the missing bits it will lose some of its pace. On the other hand perhaps there are optimisations still to be carried out. At any rate the remarkable speed characteristics of the browser hopefully will, for the most part, be carried through to a beta and final version.
If it does then it will be my preferred browser for any lower powered machines. I’ll reserve the light weight Dillo browser for the really hard cases. In any case even this feature incomplete alpha version works well enough right now for my needs on this computer. Not a bad outcome for what was just a speculative download born of impatience. Will I replace Firefox with Chrome on my main machines? Probably not. Not unless Chrome equivalents of the (currently) irreplaceable NoScript and FireBug plugins find their way into the Google browser.
What’s The Rush? August 12, 2009
Posted by granthamtech in Uncategorized.Tags: 2012, asda, time speeding up
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Does time move at a constant rate? I have always believed so but recently I have been struck by what appears to me to be an apparent speeding up of the passage of time. What was once an ambling, slow moving stream is now a fast running torrent in spate. It may well be another of the many surprises that life has in store for those of us who have survived beyond middle age. Even so it is remarkable how rapidly the weeks and even the months seem to fly by. And it’s not just me who is seeing this effect.
I remember reading an explanation suggesting that to a younger person any unit of time represents a much greater percentage of their life thus far than the same interval represents to an older person. So I would perceive a month to be a much shorter period of time than would a 12 year old. This does seems to me to be quite a reasonable explanation and perhaps I should just leave it at that.
However, just recently this perceived increase in the passage of time seems to me to be much more pronounced. Sometimes it seems I watch the passing of weeks and months much as the H.G. Wells time traveller might have done, as the date dials of his machine spun blurringly into the future.
So is it a real speeding up? Or yet another side effect of the ageing process? There are those, admittedly people of a more fanciful persuasion, who argue that its not just a perception problem caused by a personal instrument malfunction but is in fact caused by real physical changes in the world. Some of them seem to think that this apparent speeding up will increase and culminate in 2012 when, apparently, the planet passes through the galactic plane. Strangely this speeding up of time is said to result in an increased consciousness and “awareness”. Contrarily I would have thought that increased awareness of the world would arise from a slowing of time rather than a speeding up. Just imagine the detail, normally going unnoticed, being laid bare by a world in slow motion.
In any case for most of us, any increase in the rate of the passage of time that also has a corresponding effect on the rate of mind and body ageing could only be considered distinctly negative. Speaking for myself I’m bored with ageing anyway and would be much more impressed if time would actually slow down a bit.
And to this end there are places you can go where time itself, whilst not actually standing still, does seem to slow to a crawl. Places where we can all get a biological break from the onward rush of bodily decay. Foremost amongst them for me is the checkout at Asda. This supermarket, in all its wonder, has deployed a time distortion field such that a 10 minute wait is made to appear to last very much longer. I admit, while I’m waiting, I’m not always best pleased at the delay. But on subsequent consideration, my time driven biology and I can offer thanks for the recuperative effects bestowed, albeit inadvertently.
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