RE: [backstage] backstage.bbc.co.uk TV Schedule competition
> departments in Universities around the country. Students often have > more time, are looking for projects that they'd enjoy hacking around You're kidding right? Students at Edinburgh (and the system is afaik the same at most unis) are timetabled for an average 60hrs of class and study a week minimum - last term the entire CS class in 3rd and 4th year was working >10hrs 7 days a week just to stay on top of our workload. All the graduates I know always tell me how much more time they have now they work 9-5 and get weekends free, and its something that I'm quite looking forward to. I know there is this cultural image that students are slackers out drinking every night, but we arent anymore. We don't get free money like those before us did, so we're either killing ourselves trying to get a good degree in the hopes of maybe bailing out of the huge level of debt we're in, or killing ourselves working part time jobs to stop from getting into a huge level of debt. - 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] backstage.bbc.co.uk TV Schedule competition
I know this conversation has now ended, but I'd just like to briefly suggest that subsequent projects be promoted around Computer Science departments in Universities around the country. Students often have more time, are looking for projects that they'd enjoy hacking around with and are looking for ways in which they can demonstrate their employability. They also have the flexibility to be creative, and you only need a few good ideas to start coming in before other people get equally enthused. Perhaps it's a failing of the UK technical community that we're disconnected from the students and that there are so many non- technical people in the middle of it (and that the more technical people are so extraordinarily busy)? On 1 Sep 2005, at 16:00, Duncan Barclay wrote: It does seem like a lot of people have had a lack of time. Personally I didn't find it too hard to parse the listings, although it could have been easier with a simpler format. I think I have made it clear that developing something around a BBC led theme isn't really a problem for me :) I have actually got a "prototype", although it isn't finished enough to really be submitted just now. Should be done by the deadline though. I have already got the tv listings on a web page, easily scrollable, etc. Hopefully it will be great by the weekend. Duncan Ben Metcalfe wrote: Dear all, I'm writing to let you know that the inaugural backstage.bbc.co.uk competition hasn’t gone as well as I had hoped. In fact, at the time of sending this we haven’t received any entries at all. backstage.bbc.co.uk is very much about the BBC experimenting with new ways of engaging with it’s expert user base, and clearly this specific exercise hasn’t worked. backstage.bbc.co.uk also strives to be a publicly open and transparent project, which is why I am writing to communicate this to you all. Moving forward, I’ve been trying to think about why this has happened – and my guess is that it comes to one of two possibilities: * The TV schedule data we provided over-complicated and in an alien format that was difficult to parse, or * The idea of developing around a BBC-led theme, even for a prize, isn’t an approach that is of interest to the backstage.bbc.co.uk community. I’m keen to gather whether either/both of these reasons are the case, or maybe there’s something else I’ve completely missed? All of your thoughts and views are very subject are very much appreciated, so I’d be really grateful if you could let me know what you think – either publicly on this mailing list or privately (ben.metcalfe [at] bbc.co.uk). I don’t want to pre-empt your views on this, so I will get back to you with some more thoughts and action points on my part, once I am able to gauge where we stand (and thus what we need to do differently next time). Many thanks Ben Metcalfe Project Lead, backstage.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/
RE: [backstage] breaking news alerts
In the wierd way that the BBC works I am responsible for both the homepage Breaking News and the system that delivers the breaking News email. The breaking news email and desktop alert gozmo are both much more fequent events than switching the homepage into 'breaking news' mode The BBC sends out breaking news emails and alerts in the same way it puts a breaking news strap on News 24, i.e. every time a story breaks or a big one develops. Putting the homepage into Breaking News mode is more akin to "We interupt this programme to bring you an urgent news story" happening on BBC One. In fact BBC One being interupted is one of the criteria for switching it over. all the best, m -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of Matthew Somerville Sent: Tue 06/09/2005 9:24 PM To: backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk Subject: Re: [backstage] breaking news alerts Murray wrote: > On Tue, Sep 06, 2005 at 07:53:49PM +0100, Matthew Somerville wrote: > >> Do you mean you want http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/help/3533099.stm and/or >> http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/email/breakingnews ? :) > > I don't think so. Last time I checked, they both issue emails at least > once a day. More frequent than I want. No, that's http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/email/news - the breakingnews one above only emails for breaking news (although the page does say daily e-mail, that's a mistake, I believe). > I could be wrong tho. Certainly the Windows program (the first URI) doesn't send any emails, it pops up a window as soon as there's breaking news, the page has a screenshot of what it did when the Pope died: http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40996000/gif/_40996331_popealert203.gif Works here. 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/ <>
