Just thought I'd share A little thing I noticed on the iPlayer website. A while ago the BBC introduced the option to download most programs as a wmv file which you could watch on media player or whatever at a later date, which would expire 30 days later. This was great as it meant you didn't need the BBC iplayer desktop program but could still watch things without streaming which is good for slow internet connections or long train journeys etc. More recently it seemed to me like they had removed that options along with the 'download for portable device' option from the iplayer website. leaving you with the choice to get the BBC desktop 'app' or stream it live. However this options is actually still available for most programs, if you click on where it says 'download' you get a drop down box with two options 'for iplayer desktop' or 'series record' if you hover your mouse underneath where it says series record as if there was a third option then your cursor changes to the pointing hand and there is an invisible hyperlink that lets you download the programs as a wmv file like before! I realise this might just be a glitch on my broswer or something (IE9) but I figured if it helps someone else then its worth sharing.
Man Alive! I admit I read this thinking, "Whit? Why would that even work?" But I preferred downloading the wmvs myself and so tried it anyway.. and there it was! The Invisible Option. How did you even find this? Were you wistfully remembering when there used to be a button there and you dreamily let your cursor play over that fondly remembered spot? Or did you just refuse to believe the BBC could be so cruel and stubbornly clicked there anyway.. possibly wailing and gnashing your teeth? I like to think that this is the work of a ninja website.. maker.. person.. ..under the employ of the BBC, refusing to bow down to their controlling ways and loudly proclaiming (in HTML) "More Download Choices For All!" I also like to think that I'm going to get a new keyboard soon because oh my GOD THIS POS IS SO NOT MADE FOR FAST TYPING! admittedly, it was only £3 from ebuyer..
In the interests of a fair comparison, and because I was sure I'd just used the download feature, I investigated this in several browsers, and got some interesting results: Internet Explorer 9: (Mouse pointer in the location described in OP) Firefox 5: Chrome 13 Beta Channel: So it appears that IE has trouble rendering the menu, with Chrome rendering the text better than Firefox (something I have noticed personally on all websites anyway) Yeah, interesting anyway I do remember them removing the download links but I think they had to reinstate them after complaints about how bad the desktop app was. It needed Adobe AIR installed and such, wasn't very user friendly either.
Can't remember how I found it. Thanks ManicGibbon for the browser comparison, thought it was probably a IE9 thing, but never got on well with FF (think I might be the only person on bit tech who prefers ie!)
Right there is why MS should be made to have their browsers standards compliant. How long is it going to be before MS realise, "hold on a minute, maybe we should make IE do what its supposed to do in the right way, instead of doing it our own way which doesn't work". /rant
i don't know, i prefer FF's text, seems clearer to me. just look at S in "Windows". for downloading videos, if you don't mind slightly less quality, google "get_iplayer". downloads iphone stream version
