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I second Audio Hijack Pro. I have made many recordings with it. It is not fully Lion compatible yet. There is however another option: download BBC iPlayer streams. It works outside the UK if you use the provided proxy server. The iPlayer streams are not the same quality as the Radio 3 HD stream but not bad at 192 kbps. http://tom-tech.com/iplayer_automator/iPlayer_Automator/Get_iPlayer_Automator.html Other BBC radio iPlayer streams come in at 128 kbps. The software makes it possible to search for individual programs on the BBC and works really well (if the proxy is working). As an example you can search for 'Prom' and get a list of all the available TV and radio shows. The radio streams are AAC wrapped in Flash. Get-iplayer-automator converts everything (both TV and radio) automatically to a format that iTunes can use. Extra tip: in iTunes you change the 'kind' of audio files. If a file ends up in music you can change it to podcast. It takes a bit of fiddling to find the optimal settings but it works really well.

The problem with the analysis of Apple stuff is that people that build their own high end PCs are in an extremely small minority. Most people want a computer that works out of the box and don't worry about options to upgrade. Most people want laptops and in the PC world they can't be upgraded either. As I have said before, I can install any software that's available for OS X on my Mac. I have yet to come across hardware that doesn't work. Even with HP dropping support for my printer from 10.6 I was able to use a driver for a different printer that simply works. As far as repairs are concerned I can tell you about a positive experience I had with Apple this summer. While on holiday in the UK the hard drive in my nearly 4 year old MacBook failed. Fortunately I wasn't to far from an Apple Store so I took it in for analysis. With his diagnostic tool the Genius could see that the hard drive was operating at an extremely slow speed. He offered to install a new (and bigger) hard drive and to put a completely updated version of 10.6 and iLife 11 on it. New hard drive + labour: GBP 135. I decided to take the offer because it was much cheaper than buying a new Mac and I don't need a new Mac anyway. When I picked up the MacBook later in the day the case had even been cleaned and looked like new. Fortunately I had a full Time Machine backup at home. After the holiday it took about an hour to get the MacBook back to complete working order. It's always unfortunate when a hard drive fails. But at least Apple were able to sort me out within a day. It also showed me (once again) how important it is to have a decent backup. I wonder if this kind of service is available in the PC world. In the Apple Store they didn't even try to sell me a new Mac. They just wanted to solve my problem.

Impressive and important work? Probably. But this is money from the Windows tax on PC's. I'd rather not have paid this tax, in particular through governments that tied themselves into using Microsoft licenses. I'd rather have elected governments spend money than unelected Mr. Gates.

I hope you will enjoy all the free stuff from the iTunes store! I can follow what you say about Apple not allowing you to with your gear what you want. I don't agree with you when it comes to Macs. I can install anything on my Mac that I like. I can even install Windows and Linux on it. Apple doesn't care what I do with my Mac. The App Store for iOS devices is a walled garden. But is that necessarily a bad thing for most users? Most people prefer software that has been tried and tested by Apple before they buy it. I think this explains the success of both the iPhone and the iPad. I haven't heard of of users that their device stopped working properly after installing an app they bought in the App Store. It may be annoying that iOS doesn't support Flash. But Flash would deplete your battery very quickly. IMHO this is the technical reason for not supporting Flash. Adobe should do better. Having control over hardware and software actually is Apple's USP. It may seem like a dictatorship but at worst it is a benign dictatorship. At best it produces products that simply work.

I don't know of other software than iTunes that will play the BBC radio streams. But you can create an Apple ID (so you can browse the Store for all the free stuff like podcasts) without a credit card. Just download iTunes from the Apple website and follow these instructions on how to create an Apple ID without a credit card: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2534 Here's a detailed description on how to it on a Windows PC: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/12936/create-an-itunes-account-without-a-credit-card/ Even if you don't want to use iTunes as your media player it seems to be the best software for podcast subscriptions. And the radio streams are (now) pretty useful too. There's lots of free stuff in the iTunes Store. I honestly can't see how this is proprietary dictatorship.

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I agree. HD is overinflated because there is no definition. I'm old enough to remember the attempts to the define HiFi. The Germans tried it with DIN 45500 as a HiFi standard. I remember that it was used by German (and Dutch) manufacturers in the 1970's. I also remember some awful Philips gear that was supposed to conform to the standard. Pretty meaningless.

There has been a lot of discussion in the UK about 'HD' stream. It is HD compared to other streams. The stream from the BBC website is wrapped in Flash so they can put geolocation on it, like they do with the iPlayer. The stream in iTunes radio however should be available outside the UK. Here in NL it works fine.

The Archers is available as a podcast. You can subscribe through the iTunes Store. Free! I don't think the shipping forecast is on a podcast yet. It is available on the BBC iPlayer though. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0133r94

The full programming of the BBC is available on their website. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/1xtra/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4extra/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/5live/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/5livesportsextra/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/asiannetwork/ All times in the schedules are UK times.

This is my first post on the forum. I think I have some news here that has not been covered in the forum. Without any publicity the BBC has sneaked in high(er) quality streams into iTunes. This means that the streams are now available outside the UK. Pick of the bunch is BBC Radio 3. The high quality stream is available in 320 kbps and sounds quite a bit better than the FM feed we get through the cable system here in Amsterdam when streamed through Airport Express/Cambridge Audio DACmagic. The other stations are now available in 128 kbps. The radio streams can be found in the following categories in iTunes radio: - Adult contemorary: BBC Radio 2 - Alternative Rock: BBC Radio 6 Music - Classical: BBC Radio 3 - Comedy: BBC Radio 4 Extra - International/World: BBC Asian Network - News/Talk Radio: BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 4 LW, BBC Radio 5 live - Sports: BBC Radio 5 live sports extra - Top 40/Pop: BBC Radio 1 High, BBC Radio 1Xtra For other devices I have copied the URLs of the streams: BBC Radio 1 - 128kbps http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/r1_aaclca.pls BBC Radio 2 - 128kbps http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/r2_aaclca.pls BBC Radio 3 - 320kbps http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/r3_aaclca.pls BBC Radio 4 - 128kbps http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/r4_aaclca.pls BBC Radio 4 LW - 128kbps http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/r4lw_aaclca.pls BBC Radio 4 Extra - 128kbps http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/r4x_aaclca.pls BBC 5 Live - 128kbps http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/r5l_aaclca.pls BBC 5 Live Sports Extra - 128kbps http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/r5lsp_aaclca.pls - 128 Kbps BBC 6 Music - 128kbps http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/r6_aaclca.pls - 128 Kbps BBC 1Xtra - 128kbps http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/r1x_aaclca.pls - 128 Kbps