Ogg

The Ogg bitstream format--spearheaded by the Xiph.org Foundation--has been created as the framework of a larger initiative aimed at developing a set of components for the coding and decoding of multimedia content which are both freely available and freely re-implementable in software. The Ogg bitstream is defined in RFC 3533 and its MIME transport type in RFC 3534.

Various components of the project are intended to stand as alternatives to proprietary codecs such as MP3 and MPEG, RealAudio and RealVideo[?], QuickTime, and Windows Media Audio and Windows Media Video[?].

The principal Ogg component to date is Vorbis, for audio data. Other components include Theora, for video data; Speex, for voice data; and FLAC, for high-fidelity audio data.

It is often assumed that the name "Ogg" comes from the character of Nanny Ogg in Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels. Rather, it is jargon that arose in the computer game Netrek[?], originally meaning a kamikaze attack, and later, more generally, to do something forcefully, possibly without consideration of the drain on future resources -- at its inception, the Ogg project was thought to be somewhat ambitious given the power of the PC hardware of the time.

Ogg codecs

• Audio codecs
  • lossy
    • Speex: handles voice data at low bitrates (~8-32 kbps/channel)
    • Vorbis: handles general audio data at mid- to high-level bitrates (~32-128 kbps/channel)
  • lossless
    • Squish[?]: handles archival and high fidelity audio data; Ogg's original codec
    • FLAC: handles archival and high-fidelity audio data

• Video codecs
  • Theora: based upon On2 (http://on2.com/)'s VP3[?] adapted to the Ogg framework, multiplexed with Vorbis-encoded audio channels
  • Tarkin: an experimental codec utilizing 3D wavelet transforms

External links

• Xiph.org Foundation's Ogg page (http://www.xiph.org/ogg/)
• Xiph.org Foundation's page on names (http://www.xiph.org/xiphname)

OGG is also the abbreviated title on a British Mockumentary Operation Good Guys[?], which is a spoof dcumentary ('Mockumentary') about an incompetant Police Force.

The actors involved include:

David Gillespie as D.I. Beach, with D.S. Ash (Ray Burdis), Sgt Dominic de Sade (Dominic Anciano), Kim Finch (Kim Taylforth), Bones (Perry Benson), Gary Barwick (Gary Beadle), Strings (John Beckett), Roy Leyton (Roy Smiles) and Mark Kemp (Mark Burdis).

There have been three series' so far, which have featured guest stars, including Denise van Outen[?] and Donna Air[?].

A CD has been released featuring music from the series, and also a book.

External Links

• O.G.G. Fansite (http://www.phill.co.uk/comedy/goodguys/)