Re: [backstage] AGH! Cruddy BBC website
Martin Belam [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: One of the things I tried to do that I was suprised didn't work [and is an issue for backstage I suspect] is the normal BBC 2 tv schedule. It only has links for one week. I didn't try url hacking maybe that would have worked I don't know. I was just suprised that the standard listing showed only one week of listings. The TV schedule is only actually fixed about 10 days in advance. There is even legislation/code of practice about when the terrestrial TV companies have to notify each other of what they are going to show when. When I was at the BBC I saw a presentation about the whole scheduling effort which was quite gob-smacking in its complexity. So how was it that a specific tv schedule search for university challenge produced a time and dat but the browsing did not? My point was that the browser only allowed 7 days INCLUDING today. So not 10 days. The reason I say it's an issue for backstage is that it's BBC published data that someone could be using via screen scraping. I know it's available in other forms but those forms are more complicated than HTML. The webpages are like a microformat already /8- -- Nic Ferrier http://www.tapsellferrier.co.uk for all your tapsell ferrier needs - Sent via the backstage.bbc.co.uk discussion group. To unsubscribe, please visit http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/archives/2005/01/mailing_list.html. Unofficial list archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk/
Re: [backstage] AGH! Cruddy BBC website
Lee Goddard [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Nic James Ferrier The reason I say it's an issue for backstage is that it's BBC published data that someone could be using via screen scraping. I know it's available in other forms but those forms are more complicated than HTML. The webpages are like a microformat already /8- Any chance of your releasing WWW::Search::BBCsomethingOrAnother? :-P No chance. But maybe www.search.bbcsomethingoranother Actually, I did already write a tv listings scraper. But it used ITV. Whenever I mentioned it here I felt like Eric Morecambe doing those jokes about the other side. Maybe I'll have a go at using the BBCs pages. -- Nic Ferrier http://www.tapsellferrier.co.uk for all your tapsell ferrier needs PS: not doing WWW:Search::BBCsomethingOrAnother - I hate perl. - Sent via the backstage.bbc.co.uk discussion group. To unsubscribe, please visit http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/archives/2005/01/mailing_list.html. Unofficial list archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk/
Re: [backstage] AGH! Cruddy BBC website
One of the things I tried to do that I was suprised didn't work [and is an issue for backstage I suspect] is the normal BBC 2 tv schedule. It only has links for one week. I didn't try url hacking maybe that would have worked I don't know. I was just suprised that the standard listing showed only one week of listings. The TV schedule is only actually fixed about 10 days in advance. There is even legislation/code of practice about when the terrestrial TV companies have to notify each other of what they are going to show when. When I was at the BBC I saw a presentation about the whole scheduling effort which was quite gob-smacking in its complexity. all the best martin http://www.currybet.net - Sent via the backstage.bbc.co.uk discussion group. To unsubscribe, please visit http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/archives/2005/01/mailing_list.html. Unofficial list archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk/
[backstage] AGH! Cruddy BBC website
I am in a bad mood because all the tech I've tried over the last few days has broken. Even my aga is broken and that is very low tech. [sometimes I think there must be days when a low level magnetic field settles over my house and causes mysterious things to go wrong] So I settle down to watch university challenge as a nice breather from fighting kernel builds on 64 bit and... whadya know? It's that ejit john humphries and his over egged ego trip mastermind. When is university challenge on then? I go look at the BBC site. Type univeristy challenge into search... a whole load of press releases. No programme page though. Select A-Z... index U... no mention of university challenge. Select BBC 2, the home of university challenge, select A-Z of programmes... index U... no university challenge page. Apparently university challenge doesn't run on the BBC. A while ago there was a competition to make a new design for the BBC website embracing web 2.0. It seems to me that the BBC should just do what it should be doing and let me have access to the information I need. After all, that is why I pay my licence fee. Agh! I know this isn't the BBC website helpline... but it's pointless complaining there (I've tried it before) because you just get a load of public sector waffle about serving the audience blah blah blah. It makes me angry when commercial sites don't work. Let alone ones I'm paying for with taxes. -- Nic Ferrier http://www.tapsellferrier.co.uk for all your tapsell ferrier needs - Sent via the backstage.bbc.co.uk discussion group. To unsubscribe, please visit http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/archives/2005/01/mailing_list.html. Unofficial list archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk/
Re: [backstage] AGH! Cruddy BBC website
Nic James Ferrier wrote: When is university challenge on then? I go look at the BBC site. Type univeristy challenge into search... a whole load of press releases. No programme page though. It sounds like the search should have an extra bit, listings if the search term matches a programme name, sounds sensible. There's a nice Show me times for a programme box on http://www.bbc.co.uk/whatson/ (which then tells you it's not on this week at all, but simply normal time next week), but not much use if you can't find it (I went Home - TV - TV listings). I actually had a similar issue an hour or so ago (not with the BBC, though - they're all as bad, it seems) - I want to watch both Bones and Scrubs on Thursday, and having cable means I can't record one and watch the other. So I simply wanted to find out if Bones was repeated, as I knew the last series was. Searching for Bones on the Sky One website gave nothing, the special New Bones section gave no indication of repeats, so in the end I had to trawl through the full listings. It's enough to drive a programmer to program something - incidentally, I wanted to try some of the Backstage TV things created, but there's no way to list prototypes by category on the site that I can see? I did scroll through the long list of stuff and tried a few, but I don't want to install Java, or the .net libraries, mightyv.com came up with nothing, (then, neither did radiotimes.com). Let me just find some round tuits... ;) -- ATB, Matthew - Sent via the backstage.bbc.co.uk discussion group. To unsubscribe, please visit http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/archives/2005/01/mailing_list.html. Unofficial list archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk/
Re: [backstage] AGH! Cruddy BBC website
Matthew Somerville [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: term matches a programme name, sounds sensible. There's a nice Show me times for a programme box on http://www.bbc.co.uk/whatson/ (which then tells you it's not on this week at all, but simply normal time next week), but not much use if you can't find it (I went Home - TV - TV listings). That's good and works. One of the things I tried to do that I was suprised didn't work [and is an issue for backstage I suspect] is the normal BBC 2 tv schedule. It only has links for one week. I didn't try url hacking maybe that would have worked I don't know. I was just suprised that the standard listing showed only one week of listings. If I was trying to read scrape that I'd be a bit annoyed. It's enough to drive a programmer to program something - incidentally, I wanted to try some of the Backstage TV things created, but there's no way to list prototypes by category on the site that I can see? I did scroll through the long list of stuff and tried a few, but I don't want to install Java, or the .net libraries, mightyv.com came up with nothing, (then, neither did radiotimes.com). Let me just find some round tuits... ;) I know, I know. The trouble is, I have this over and over again with the beeb. It just so happens that it's this time that I snapped. -- Nic Ferrier http://www.tapsellferrier.co.uk for all your tapsell ferrier needs - Sent via the backstage.bbc.co.uk discussion group. To unsubscribe, please visit http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/archives/2005/01/mailing_list.html. Unofficial list archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk/
Re: [backstage] AGH! Cruddy BBC website
Nic, you have my utmost sympathy... On 13/11/06, Nic James Ferrier [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I am in a bad mood because all the tech I've tried over the last few days has broken. Even my aga is broken and that is very low tech. [sometimes I think there must be days when a low level magnetic field settles over my house and causes mysterious things to go wrong] So I settle down to watch university challenge as a nice breather from fighting kernel builds on 64 bit and... whadya know? It's that ejit john humphries and his over egged ego trip mastermind. When is university challenge on then? I go look at the BBC site. Type univeristy challenge into search... a whole load of press releases. No programme page though. Select A-Z... index U... no mention of university challenge. Select BBC 2, the home of university challenge, select A-Z of programmes... index U... no university challenge page. Apparently university challenge doesn't run on the BBC. A while ago there was a competition to make a new design for the BBC website embracing web 2.0. It seems to me that the BBC should just do what it should be doing and let me have access to the information I need. After all, that is why I pay my licence fee. Agh! I know this isn't the BBC website helpline... but it's pointless complaining there (I've tried it before) because you just get a load of public sector waffle about serving the audience blah blah blah. It makes me angry when commercial sites don't work. Let alone ones I'm paying for with taxes. -- Nic Ferrier http://www.tapsellferrier.co.uk for all your tapsell ferrier needs - Sent via the backstage.bbc.co.uk discussion group. To unsubscribe, please visit http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/archives/2005/01/mailing_list.html. Unofficial list archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk/ - Sent via the backstage.bbc.co.uk discussion group. To unsubscribe, please visit http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/archives/2005/01/mailing_list.html. Unofficial list archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk/
