Watch Apple Trailers On GNU/Linux

Today i noticed that the Apple Trailers page doesn’t let you play their videos on a GNU/Linux system by default. GStreamer couldn’t open the links to the .mov files that i found in the source code of the webpage, nor could VLC Player. Seems that Apple checks for the QuickTime User Agent string.

This means, unless GStreamer Plugin can fake that User Agent, we will have to go for a less user-friendly workaround. I downloaded the trailer i wanted to see using Wget with the -U flag to change the User Agent.

Go to the apple trailer you want to download, and copy the link to the .mov file by right clicking on the (failing) Gstreamer plugin on that page and chosing ‘copy’. Alternatively you can just go browse the source and find the .mov file there.

Now open up a terminal and type this:
wget -U QuickTime/7.6.6 http://trailers.apple.com/the-link-to-your-trailer-goes-here.mov
now you can play it using VLC Player, or your favorite video player (if it supports .mov files)

That’s it!
you could also automate the process by using a greasemonkey script or a bash script as you please…
EDIT: hack, i made one for you! It’s a php script that downloads the trailer to your home/Downloads folder.
1. download the script, rename it ‘TrailerDownloader.php’ and put it in your home folder.
2. Go to the apple trailers page and choose a trailer you want to watch (click a movie poster). Then copy the url of the page.
3. Open up a terminal (make sure you got php5, php-curl, and php-cli installed) and type
php TrailerDownloader.php http://trailers.apple.com/the-url-of-the-trailer-page-goes-here and press enter.
4. You’ll be presented with all possible trailer downloads for that movie, pick a number. Then hit the up arrow on your keyboard, and add a space and the trailer number to the end of the command. like this:
php TrailerDownloader.php http://trailers.apple.com/the-url-of-the-trailer-page-goes-here 3
5. Hit enter and wait. The trailer will be downloaded to your Downloads folder.

regards
Toon

Use your Mac’s iSight on Ubuntu

There are two possible scenario’s.
1. You are running Ubuntu natively (or via Boot Camp) on your Mac, and you can’t get the iSight to work with Ubuntu.
2. You are running Ubuntu in a virtual machine using VMWare, Parallells, or VirtualBox, and you can’t get the iSight to work with Ubuntu.

both scenario’s are a pain in the ass, AND both scenarios have a really simple solution.

STEP 0. foolproof: if you’re trying to use your iSight in a virtual machine, make sure your vm software links the camera to the virtual machine!

STEP 1. get the AppleUSBVideoSupport file. you can find that file on an existing Mac OSX 10.4 or 10.5 installation at this location:
/System/Library/Extensions/IOUSBFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AppleUSBVideoSupport.kext/Contents/MacOS/AppleUSBVideoSupport
or you can download it from here. (unzip this first)

STEP 2. Put the AppleUSBVideoSupport file on your Ubuntu Desktop.

STEP 3. Open a terminal window on Ubuntu, and update your repositories:
sudo apt-get update
then install the iSight Firmware Tools like this:
sudo apt-get install isight-firmware-tools

STEP 4. The installer will ask you for the AppleUSBVideoSupport file. give it the right path to that file:
/home/**yourusername**/Desktop/AppleUSBVideoSupport

STEP 5. Reboot or log out and log back in. You can now use your iSight with Ubuntu!

Toon 🙂