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Interesting Stuff 2008-09-09

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Alan Connor | 09:00 UK time, Tuesday, 9 September 2008

Lots of snap and crackle about the social radio software prototype Radio Pop [see post below | also see: social radio hardware]. Blog posts by creators and have been joined by more from former colleague and boss (gulp!) . Dan even has a feature wishlist, which he concedes is a little unfair for a week-old prototype.

Other comments include ("in a way, the last.fm of radio listening"); the Beeb's , who also has feature requests and who links to ; of ("shows the type of thing we are thinking and building inside the 91Èȱ¬ but can't really make public easily") and :

Nice to see that our license fee isn't being frittered away on pointless exercises too.
(Mind you, if it helps to get rid of Chris Moyles, it can't be all bad.)

Bad news, Ian Hughes:

(Also from Ryan Morrison, , too much of a pageload to include in Internet Blog - click, compare and contrast!)

§

Ex-Beeboid Ben Metcalfe trying to watch John McCain's acceptance speech:

one has to ask why the 91Èȱ¬ doesn't secure worldwide distribution for 'general news', esp like in this case where it's probably recording the broadcast live from the convention... it's 91Èȱ¬ copyright end-to-end.

§

evan_sign211x160blog.jpgIn , Ian Burrell talks to Stephen Mitchell (Head of Multimedia Programmes, Radio News) about repurposing material like Evan Davis' piece on the demise of hitch-hiking:

He was able to do a nice piece of radio journalism for the Today programme, a witty piece for the online audience and then join breakfast television on the same story. None of that felt forced.

§

The imminent appearance of iPlayer on the Nokia N96 phone [see post below] is featured in (deep breath) , , , , , , , , , , , , and . Read them all! Make notes! Keep for reference when iPlayer comes to a new platform - like, , the fridge!

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greenwich_pips.jpg
Greenwich Time Signal and tuning note appararus, Savoy Hill 1927

If you've ever wondered what kind of backup is in place for the , about a pips pipe.

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malcolm_clarke.jpg
Malcolm Clarke, assistant, 91Èȱ¬ Radiophonic Workshop, c1985

Good news from for fans of very early electronica made by stitching and stretching tape (and that includes 91Èȱ¬ Internet Blog):

Mute have announced that they will release a 50th anniversary retrospective double CD from the 91Èȱ¬ Radiophonic Workshop, which will feature 100 classic, rare and previously unavailable pieces of music and sound effects from various 91Èȱ¬ TV and Radio shows from 1958 through to 1997, including work by the likes of John Baker, Delia Derbyshire, Daphne Oram, Elizabeth Parker, Desmond Briscoe, Paddy Kingsland, Peter Howell and Malcolm Clarke, amongst others.

§

The , which is in the photo above and the one above that, and which gave our banner its owl, was the talk of - or at least of one of its talks. 91Èȱ¬ technology manager Ant Miller gave "an exploration of whether and what the 91Èȱ¬ could or ought to do along the same lines some 25 years later" but 's has written a post that's "rather more structured and complete than anything I had written down about it!" Rain's notes :

What is the 91Èȱ¬ Micro? It wasn't a 91Èȱ¬ machine; it wasn't for kids; it wasn't for schools...

And the Barcamp also featured a called at which Rain and Ant were joined by Forrester, and one of the questions was:

should staff members have their own blogs aggregated publicly for everyone to read?

Hmmm. Interesting stuff...

Alan Connor is co-editor, 91Èȱ¬ Internet Blog.

Comments

  • Comment number 1.

    I would be very interested to hear some elaboration on the reasons for restricting news content online.

    Being in the UK, it isn't an issue for me, and I fully understand (and support) the restriction of 91Èȱ¬ content to those of us who actually pay for this stuff through the licence fee.

    It would, however, be interesting to know if there are other reasons behind it and, if so, what they are.

  • Comment number 2.

    Unfortunately even for those of us IN the UK the restriction of video news can be a problem. I'm accessing the web via T-Mobile's 3G 'mobile broadband' service and although I can access 91Èȱ¬ iPlayer (both for streaming and downloading programmes, albeit slower than on my home broadband connection), I can't see any 91Èȱ¬ News/Sport content.

    Given any GeoIP database I've queried sees me as being in the UK and iPlayer of all things sees me as being in the UK, why won't the 91Èȱ¬ NEWS website?! I've e-mailed the Beeb and T-Mobile about this but unfortunately they both blame each other!

  • Comment number 3.

    Living in Belgium, I think it's absolutely ridiculous of the 91Èȱ¬ what they're doing. I pay your 91Èȱ¬ license fee too, you know (via my local provider), which allows me to watch the 91Èȱ¬ channels, even when I'm not in the UK.
    I thought 91Èȱ¬ was ment for everyone! I mean, what harm could be done when allowing everybody to watch the newsclips (I'm not talking about copyright-stuff like Top Gear clips)? Why can't I see the previews of The Apprentice on iPlayer?
    Does the license fee paid by a UK resident has more value to you than a license fee paid by a Belgian (the amount is roughly the same)?
    To end with: the internet is a place which is accesible to everyone. CNN, Fox, VRT, they all sent their news down the www stream. So please Beeb, stop building a fort around England and lighten up: see that protectionism 1 allways fails after some time and 2 is totally pointless because 3 it (almost) doesn't anything to open up!

  • Comment number 4.

    Frederic-Belgium - it isn't the 'licence fee' you're paying though - you are paying for the channels and are paying for a commercial service from your local cable operator - who in turn licence the channels from the 91Èȱ¬ (in fact I'm not even 100% certain they have to pay the 91Èȱ¬).

    So you are NOT paying a licence fee as the 91Èȱ¬ doesnt' directly get your money - what you're paying for is the right to watch those channels through your cable operator.

    So in answer to your question "Does the license fee paid by a UK resident has more value to you than a license fee paid by a Belgian" the answer is and should remain a resounding 'YES'.

  • Comment number 5.

    Hi upyourego (same from finalgear?):
    I asked my local cable operator and they assured me that the money I pay (in order to recieve 91Èȱ¬ channels) is being transfered directly to the 91Èȱ¬!

  • Comment number 6.

    As someone who's come to love the news from the 91Èȱ¬, but can't get it as often as he would like, I'd greatly appreciate allowing more access to the 91Èȱ¬'s news sources. (I'd also enjoy access to other 91Èȱ¬ stuff, like Songs of Praise or Doctor Who...)

  • Comment number 7.

    This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

  • Comment number 8.

    Wowsers, great shot of that 91Èȱ¬ Micro, now that takes me back sometime. I hope these are not installed throughout the 91Èȱ¬ offices still? I jest,.. Good work, and interesting stuff indeed.

    Matthew Anderson
    Director of [Unsuitable/Broken URL removed by Moderator].

  • Comment number 9.

    This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

  • Comment number 10.

    This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

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