Monday, February 27, 2006

CastPodder 4.0-2 vs iPodder 2.1-1

As I mentioned in my last post, I downloaded the Alan Kohler market report podcast using CastPodder 4.0-2 and it works fine.

Previously I had used the version of iPodder in the Ubuntu repository (2.1-1) and it did not work.

Onwards and upwards!

Sunday, February 26, 2006

Linux podcast aggegator: CastPodder, nee iPodder

The podcast aggregator in the Ubuntu repositories is iPodder 2.1. I installed this, but there seems to be a problem. Some of the files I download using this have a MIME type of text/html, even though the "enclosure" tag in the xml gives a MIME type of audio/mpeg. These files do not play, although the XMMS audio player is loaded, but it says immediately that the file is finished. I tried a few files, and the xml files which contain iTunes tags do not work, but the ones without iTunes tags download and the audio plays correctly (and the MIME type is correct).

I could not find this as a bug on line, but the latest version of iPodder is 2.1.9, so maybe this has changed in the latest version.

To test the theory that this is a bug in the program, I downloaded and installed CastPodder from
http://borgforge.net/frs/?group_id=6

using the method given in
http://www.psychocats.net/linux/installingsoftware.php

After this installation, I can start it with /usr/bin/CastPodder

CastPodder is the Linux fork of the iPodder project after copyright objections to the name iPodder
(Juice is the fork for Windows and Mac)

CastPodder works with a xml feed which contains iTunes tags. I'll try it with the Alan Kohler podcast tomorrow when a new episode is available.

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Pope Leo XIII, marxism and modernism

An interesting figure in the development of the Church's relationships to modern philosophy is Pope Leo XII. He identified the flaws in Marxism, as well as the errors in the way workers were treated in his encyclcal Rerum Novarum. He also set up a school of Thomistic philosophy at the University of Louvain to discuss and study the issues brought up by modernism.
http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/pope0256.htm

Divine consolation

These are thought of C.S. Lewis after the death of his wife:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/questionofgod/transcript/grief.html
Note especially the last paragraph in the quote below:

Narrator: "A Grief Observed" is Lewis's description of the journey he took after Joy's death, a portrait of grief and a struggle with his own faith.

Lewis: Talk to me about the truth of religion and I'll listen gladly. Talk to me about the duty of religion and I'll listen submissively. But don't come talking to me about the consolation of religion or I shall suspect that you don't understand. The conclusion is not "So there's no God, after all" but "So this is what God is really like, the Cosmic Sadist. The spiteful imbecile?"

Peter Kreeft: He lashes out at God and he says, "How can you expect us to live this way?" Very much like Job. Very honestly, he doesn't just argue. He emotes, the whole of his being is there, in front of God, it's a deep trust in God that allows him to give vent to his distrust.

Lewis: From the rational point of view what grounds has Helen's death given me for doubting all that I believe? Should it, for a sane man, make quite such a difference as this? No. And it wouldn't for a man whose faith had been real faith. The case is too plain. If my house has collapsed at one blow it is because it was a house of cards. Indeed, it's likely enough that what I shall call, if it happens, a 'restoration of faith', will turn out to be only one more house of cards.

Something quite unexpected has happened, it came this morning early. Suddenly, at the very moment when, so far, I mourned Helen least, I remembered her best. Imagine a man in total darkness. He thinks he is in a cellar or dungeon. Then there comes a sound. He thinks it might be a sound from far off — waves or windblown trees or cattle half a mile away. And if so, it proves he's not in a cellar, but free, in the open air. Lord, are these your real terms? Can I meet Helen again only if I learn to love you so much I don't care whether I meet her or not? When I lay these questions before God I get no answer. But a rather special sort of "no answer." It is not the locked door. It is more like a silent gaze. As though he shook his head, like, "Peace, child, you don't understand." How wicked it would be, if we could, to call the dead back. She said, not to me, but to the chaplain, "I am at peace with God." She smiled. But not at me.