Re: [backstage] Use of Tinyurl in Emails
On 6 Nov 2007, at 00:07, Andrew Bowden wrote: From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of James Cox 'course, bbc.co.uk has had some kind of redirect magic for a while: http://bbc.co.uk/zanelowe/ First time I've seen a big fat httpd.conf called magic :) and there I was thinking you had some nice routing controller thin- app which had some clever logging, tracking and management of such urls :) though i suspect the problem (and usage of tinyurl) is that to get one of those nice urls hooked up, you gotta email someone a request, who needs to get approval from a manager Well lets just say there is a process and it has to be done sensibly else you'd get loads of random redirects. Although I still think bbc.co.uk/breakfast should go to a big portal page for all the BBC's breakfast shows :) -- James Cox, Internet Consultant t: 07968 349990 e: [EMAIL PROTECTED] w: http://imaj.es/
Re: [backstage] Use of Tinyurl in Emails
On 5 Nov 2007, at 12:58, David Greaves wrote: Adam wrote: What does everyone else think. bbc.com/2e5u8e David PS it's smaller than tinyurl and it's a use for bbc.com too... (unless it's used internationally) 'course, bbc.co.uk has had some kind of redirect magic for a while: http://bbc.co.uk/zanelowe/ though i suspect the problem (and usage of tinyurl) is that to get one of those nice urls hooked up, you gotta email someone a request, who needs to get approval from a manager probably not all that efficient when all you want to do is send an email out and go home (or to the pub!) - james -- James Cox, Internet Consultant t: 07968 349990 e: [EMAIL PROTECTED] w: http://imaj.es/
Re: [backstage] O2 - iPhone deal - UK
On 5 Jul 2007, at 19:34, Christopher Woods wrote: Granted they do have a 3G network now, but O2, as usual, were horrendously late to the party - they're forever playing catchup (and when everybody thought they were going to introduce flat-rate data tariffs last month, what did they do? Noo, just a lame Blackberry tariff!) As a former customer of O2, where I was variously ignored, disserviced and overcharged, even if I wanted an iPhone more than anything else, I'd give it serious second thoughts about getting it if it was tied to the O2 network and their customer 'services'. Once is enough, twice just isn't bearable for me. I'm also a happy switcher to T-Mobile, for what it's worth - they know how to treat customers right ;) and it would be a bit mad on their part if they didn't eventually offer the iPhone in the UK territory, especially considering their faster network and better data plans. (imvho) Yeah. I couldn't agree more. Except I don't think there'd be any way for the normal order of things (every network offering the iphone at discount or free pricing) to happen in the UK. I'm barely hoping for a 3G model - but frankly there's no clear signal that's happening, and, as holy as jobs is to me, apple tend to be very cupertino- insular - it's entirely possible they simply don't know or care that the rest of the world is a bit ahead of the game. (and that the 3g chip costs $10-20 more per model and is pretty energy hungry... :( ) james -Original Message- From: Ben O'Neill [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 05 July 2007 14:58 To: backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk Subject: Re: [backstage] O2 - iPhone deal - UK Christopher Woods wrote: Pfft. Good things and bad things will come from this: Good: O2 won't be able to knacker the phone by slapping their custom memory-hogging interface onto it (like they did with my lovely XDA 2i, it took me ages to clear out the crap they put on it!) O2 won't be able to slap their branding on it Bad: O2 most likely won't bring out any inclusive data plan for this, and since when did they have an EDGE network? Orange has largest European EDGE network, and T-Mobile has one too pan-Europe, but O2? Just plain old, slow, GPRS. UK iPhone users are going to have HEFTY data bills, and they're going to be pissed off with the slow browsing speed. O2 has a 3G network, it's expected the iPhone will have 3G when it launches here anyway - 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/ -- James Cox, Internet Consultant t: 07968 349990 e: [EMAIL PROTECTED] w: http://imaj.es/
Re: [backstage] O2 - iPhone deal - UK
On 5 Jul 2007, at 08:33, Christopher Woods wrote: Pfft. Good things and bad things will come from this: Good: O2 won't be able to knacker the phone by slapping their custom memory-hogging interface onto it (like they did with my lovely XDA 2i, it took me ages to clear out the crap they put on it!) O2 won't be able to slap their branding on it Bad: O2 most likely won't bring out any inclusive data plan for this, and since when did they have an EDGE network? Orange has largest European EDGE network, and T-Mobile has one too pan-Europe, but O2? Just plain old, slow, GPRS. UK iPhone users are going to have HEFTY data bills, and they're going to be pissed off with the slow browsing speed. I didn't read the contract, but i understand that flat-data-plans are a pre-requisite for the contract. (and why a number of the networks couldn't compete, i suspect. That and branding.) O2 coverage is pants in quite a few more places than you'd think - including, laughably, the front room of my house in central Birmingham - so I won't be surprised when many people take their iPhones back (or break open the network lock so they can put their T-Mobile USIMs in, with all their Web 'n Walk goodness!) Yeah. I'm also a tmo switcher (from orange) and frankly was rooting for them. I'd be happier to pay a horrendous upgrade fee and 2yr tie in with tmo than switching to o2. I'll be VERY surprised if TMob don't eventually bring out a 3G-enabled iPhone within the next 12 months and roll it out Europe-wide. It's a real missed opportunity, given that Vodafone, Orange, TM and 3 have 3G networks (the latter two running at full HSDPA speed with 3 already running at superfast speeds and TM upping its network from 1.8 to 3.6Mbps before the end of the year) how'd they do that? they'd need a contract with Apple. Right now, att have a 2 yr exclusivity contract with apple in the US. expect the terms to be the same or incredibly similar in the UK. This'll really annoy my Mac-loving housemate though, because he can only get Orange or Vodafone signal in his house in Cornwall, and he REALLY wants an iPhone just because it's from his lord and master, His Jobsiness :D -Original Message- From: Adam Burt [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 05 July 2007 00:00 To: backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk Subject: [backstage] O2 - iPhone deal - UK It looks like O2 have the iPhone in deal in the bag for the UK... http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sector s/telecoms/article2028678.ece Cheers Adam - 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/ -- James Cox, Internet Consultant t: 07968 349990 e: [EMAIL PROTECTED] w: http://imaj.es/
Re: [backstage] London.pm / BBC Backstage Perl Teach-In Day
On 9 May 2007, at 09:21, David Greaves wrote: James Cox wrote: On 8 May 2007, at 15:05, David Greaves wrote: Dave Cross wrote: If you're contemplating signing up for this, then you're too late. All 50 places went in less than 48 hours. We're currently taking names for a waiting list, but I really wouldn't hold out too much hope of many of the people on that list getting places. And they say that Perl is dead :-) 'They' clearly use frameworks ;) hah! every language has it's place and value. i like frameworks - but still love being able to hack text with some one-liner magic... :) still though, learning perl 'properly' would probably make my toes curl. :P The thing you need to know about perl is that it was invented by a linguist. And I'm being very serious indeed (both about Larry's background and that, IMHO, that knowledge influences how you approach perl beyond a certain level). The book 'Advanced Perl Programming' is one of the best language books I've ever read. The documentation for perl should be compulsory reading - if the language doesn't do what the docs say then you can file a bug *knowing* that it's a bug in the language - I once found a bug in perl itself and I was insanely proud. And any language that lets you decide how to (simply) implement the most flexible OO known to man is incredible. If perl's depths don't astonish you then you're not a hacker. Indeed - it's fantastic for getting things done (tm) but when any language/platform/tool permits a developer to work under their own steam, it becomes harder for other developers to join in. Hence the perlisms and the crazy one liners that float about online. Alot of the rails/ruby crowd who dislike PHP argue that php is a cluttered and unfocused language - which, whilst true, lends itself to quick- start development. rubyists argue that, with a bit of linguistic/cultural adjustment, their way of thinking enables syntactic creativity/flexibility while still encouraging you to code effectively/efficiently. I think as long as you feel comfortable in your own coding skin - that goes a long way. As long as you and your team can be collectively productive and reach your goals :) Don't get me wrong, it's not for everyone or everything - flexibility isn't what you give a crowd of code monkeys you just inherited from an outsourcing deal! (ie 95% of today's IT ). no kidding. yay for startups :) -james - 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] London.pm / BBC Backstage Perl Teach-In Day
On 8 May 2007, at 15:05, David Greaves wrote: Dave Cross wrote: If you're contemplating signing up for this, then you're too late. All 50 places went in less than 48 hours. We're currently taking names for a waiting list, but I really wouldn't hold out too much hope of many of the people on that list getting places. And they say that Perl is dead :-) 'They' clearly use frameworks ;) hah! every language has it's place and value. i like frameworks - but still love being able to hack text with some one-liner magic... :) still though, learning perl 'properly' would probably make my toes curl. :P - james - 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] Who would you like to see at Hack Day?
second option is definitely the right path... though if companies want to throw some schwag at it, i'm sure some of us could volunteer to package up and create some schwag bags. (a la valleyschwag) best, james On 2 May 2007, at 11:57, Matthew Cashmore wrote: We’ve been getting a lot of requests from other companies to be involved in Hack Day, and we’re wondering how best to handle it – so I thought I’d ask you guys - you always know best. So the options are pretty much – let anyone come, loads of branding, set up stalls etc – much like a conference. Or We could say – send only actual real developers to help people build stuff Or... We could say – sorry no we’d rather you didn’t come at all I think the second option is the best, but what do you think? Also.. . Is there anyone in particular you think would be helpful to have at the event? BTW – There’s still places available but they’re going fast, so if you’ve not signed up yet I’d get your application in quick smart – http://hackday.org m ___ Matthew Cashmore Development Producer BBC Future Media & Technology, Research and Innovation BC4B5, Broadcast Centre, Media Village, W12 7TP T:020 8008 3959(02 83959) M:07711 913241(072 83959) -- James Cox, Internet Consultant t: 07968 349990 e: [EMAIL PROTECTED] w: http://www.imajes.info/
[backstage] list test
Hi, Haven't received any backstage post for a few days so testing to see if everyone's on holiday, or it's broken. best, james - 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] Twitter, Ruby on Rails redux.
Scaffold is a tool to get you started in development quickly - it is analogous to a house: scaffold is what you put up to keep the house from falling down whilst you build it. There is a quote someplace where dhh defined why he came up with scaffolding, suffice to say it's just a crutch to get you started quickly. Most people happy with rails typically won't use it to get started, opting for a more definite class/model spec. -james On 22 Apr 2007, at 08:29, cisnky wrote: "Users putting scaffold into production deserve what they get!" Do elaborate. On 4/22/07, James Cox <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: *sigh* Users putting scaffold into production deserve what they get. It's the same where you have 'eval' in any language: security is the job of the developer, every one. Oh and btw: Rails is a framework. TO BE CLEAR. DRUPAL, WIKIS, PHPBB ARE NOT. That you don't understand this distinction is telling. - - james On 21 Apr 2007, at 10:06, Gordon Joly wrote: Twitter, Ruby on Rails redux. Perhaps one more issue? Security. There is an accelerating trend to frameworks and other CMS systems for user generated content (wikis, Zope, Drupal, Ruby on Rails, etc). Applications with a database backend (e.g. phpBB) can be installed by Fantastico (cPanel) in seconds and Mediawiki also has a simple web interface for installation. I saw the light in 2004 when Jimbo visited the BBC and gave a public talk in London):- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Jimbo_Wales/BBC_talk_slides Can I add "Wikipedia is not a place for cricket statistics" ? Each framework presents security issues. Mediawiki is now robust, and if you take care, bogus advertising links and other bad stuff can be avoided. Socialtext? Yup, that too. I found a very dirty set of pages, clogged with links to mortgages and various medications. It had not been spotted by the admins, and I was accused of generating the bad stuff in question myself, since nobody could see the links (they were hidden in the user generated tags). I also tried to clean up an installation of phpBB (bulletin board) recently but in the end gave up since there were more bogus users than bona fide users. Scaffold anyone? Gordo -- "Think Feynman"/ http://pobox.com/~gordo/ [EMAIL PROTECTED]/// - 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/ -- James Cox, Internet Consultant t: 07968 349990 e: [EMAIL PROTECTED] w: http://www.imajes.info / -- James Cox, Internet Consultant t: 07968 349990 e: [EMAIL PROTECTED] w: http://www.imajes.info/
Re: [backstage] Twitter, Ruby on Rails redux.
*sigh* Users putting scaffold into production deserve what they get. It's the same where you have 'eval' in any language: security is the job of the developer, every one. Oh and btw: Rails is a framework. TO BE CLEAR. DRUPAL, WIKIS, PHPBB ARE NOT. That you don't understand this distinction is telling. - - james On 21 Apr 2007, at 10:06, Gordon Joly wrote: Twitter, Ruby on Rails redux. Perhaps one more issue? Security. There is an accelerating trend to frameworks and other CMS systems for user generated content (wikis, Zope, Drupal, Ruby on Rails, etc). Applications with a database backend (e.g. phpBB) can be installed by Fantastico (cPanel) in seconds and Mediawiki also has a simple web interface for installation. I saw the light in 2004 when Jimbo visited the BBC and gave a public talk in London):- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Jimbo_Wales/BBC_talk_slides Can I add "Wikipedia is not a place for cricket statistics" ? Each framework presents security issues. Mediawiki is now robust, and if you take care, bogus advertising links and other bad stuff can be avoided. Socialtext? Yup, that too. I found a very dirty set of pages, clogged with links to mortgages and various medications. It had not been spotted by the admins, and I was accused of generating the bad stuff in question myself, since nobody could see the links (they were hidden in the user generated tags). I also tried to clean up an installation of phpBB (bulletin board) recently but in the end gave up since there were more bogus users than bona fide users. Scaffold anyone? Gordo -- "Think Feynman"/ http://pobox.com/~gordo/ [EMAIL PROTECTED]/// - 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/ -- James Cox, Internet Consultant t: 07968 349990 e: [EMAIL PROTECTED] w: http://www.imajes.info/
Re: [backstage] Google Developer Day
clearly, both On 19 Apr 2007, at 17:16, gareth rushgrove wrote: Me too. Mmmm. Now need to decide whether to wear the backstage Tshirt (easily spotted by others on the list) or the Yahoo Tshirt (just for giggles) G On 19/04/07, John <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: i'm there, cool! On 16/04/07, Tom Scott <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I've sent an email to the Developer Day address asking if that "thank > you for your RSVP" email means that I've been accepted. There's only a > few cheap train tickets left, but I'd like to make sure I'm confirmed > before booking! > > -- Tom > > > Squiggle . wrote: > > Likewise. Yay! (I think) > > > > On 4/16/07, Ian Forrester <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> > >> I registered and I think was accepted. > >> > >> Ian Forrester || backstage.bbc.co.uk || cubicgarden.com || > >> geekdinner.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/ > -- John Griffiths » w: http://www.red91.com » e: [EMAIL PROTECTED] » skype: SGMUSE -- Gareth Rushgrove morethanseven.net webdesignbookshelf.com refreshnewcastle.org frontendarchitecture.com - 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/ -- James Cox, Internet Consultant t: 07968 349990 e: [EMAIL PROTECTED] w: http://www.imajes.info/
Re: [backstage] BBC Archive trial
On 19 Apr 2007, at 16:07, Mutt Baskerville wrote: Slightly Off Topic, as you mentioned Ubuntu ISOs, nice to see that the BBC is not covering this on it's technology news, it gave an awful lot of press to Vista. They even gave coverage to some World of Warcraft expansion pack! Then again, I've never agreed with them on their definition of 'news'. Would be interesting to see what would happen if Shuttleworth were to retain the services of waggener edstrom (microsoft's PR agency) - i'm sure they could get some big splashes. - 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] Hack day in London
I'd love to see some cool stuff hacked with as/apollo/flex/etc. a sneaking suspicion tells me that we have all the components to step away from the constrictions of the browser (specifically, dealing with IE) and instead run platforms which are just that little bit easier i was initially thinking a flickr app which used voice activated commands to browse tags etc... you'd have a big screen which you spoke to, and from v.a. > an apollo app > flickr api interaction shame i can't find good quality voice activation. :) - james On 19 Apr 2007, at 16:02, cisnky wrote: Actionscript ? On 4/19/07, Ben Hall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Sounds like a great event. Can any language/technology be used? RoR, Java, C#? Is all the hacking done on the weekend? Or do people do prep before hand? When do we find out if we have been accept/invited? Ben On 19/04/07, James Cox <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Kim - > > sure thing! the beauty of hack days is to make stuff - linking tech with > electronics and you know, sewing. :) > > besides, i've got a stack of shirts. ;p > > - james > > > On 19 Apr 2007, at 15:13, Kim Plowright wrote: > > Well - I ruled myself out of the running for this as frankly, I'm great at > drawing, cooking, sewing and making stuff (among other ladylike pursuits), > but rubbish at coding and electrickery. > > Tom C left a comment suggesting I find a group of people to team up with. > > So if anyone wants a hack-team-mother-figure, let me know! > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Tim > Cowlishaw > Sent: 19 April 2007 13:22 > To: backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk > Subject: Re: [backstage] Hack day in London > > On 4/19/07, oliver wood <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I've signed up, but know whos - am I l33t geek enough :) ? > > > ha! my thoughts exactly are design-y CSS / HTML -type people welcome at > these sort of events? If not, I'll have to finish working my way through > 'Thinking in Java' by June... or just learn RoR. ;-) > > > Cheers, > > Tim > > > > > -- > > > James Cox, > Internet Consultant > t: 07968 349990 e: [EMAIL PROTECTED] w: http://www.imajes.info/ > > - 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/ -- James Cox, Internet Consultant t: 07968 349990 e: [EMAIL PROTECTED] w: http://www.imajes.info/
Re: [backstage] Hack day in London
Kim - sure thing! the beauty of hack days is to make stuff - linking tech with electronics and you know, sewing. :) besides, i've got a stack of shirts. ;p - james On 19 Apr 2007, at 15:13, Kim Plowright wrote: Well - I ruled myself out of the running for this as frankly, I'm great at drawing, cooking, sewing and making stuff (among other ladylike pursuits), but rubbish at coding and electrickery. Tom C left a comment suggesting I find a group of people to team up with. So if anyone wants a hack-team-mother-figure, let me know! From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:owner- [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Tim Cowlishaw Sent: 19 April 2007 13:22 To: backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk Subject: Re: [backstage] Hack day in London On 4/19/07, oliver wood <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: I've signed up, but know whos - am I l33t geek enough :) ? ha! my thoughts exactly are design-y CSS / HTML -type people welcome at these sort of events? If not, I'll have to finish working my way through 'Thinking in Java' by June... or just learn RoR. ;-) Cheers, Tim -- James Cox, Internet Consultant t: 07968 349990 e: [EMAIL PROTECTED] w: http://www.imajes.info/
Re: [backstage] BBC Archive trial
On 19 Apr 2007, at 14:39, Scot McSweeney-Roberts wrote: James Cox wrote: I hope that if this gets past the various layers of governance and gets budget to become a 'real' project, some effort into hooking up into bittorrent (I'm sure Bram could come up with some trickery to have certified users (ie, license fee payers ;)) only which would permit some kind of higher bandwidth product. I've never really felt comfortable with distributed P2P for content that I've paid for. It's great when bittorrent is used for transfering ubuntu iso's around (as it's members of a community helping others in the same community), it's less great but at least makes some sense when it's used for piracy (as it's still a members of a community helping other members in a community, all be it an illicit one) but when it comes to content that I'm paying somebody to send to me, I don't see why I should waste my upload bandwith for someone else's business model. Even with content from the BBC, I pay the licence fee so why should I pay in bandwidth as well? Fair enough, but i love the fact I can grab an ISO or ... er... certain content very rapidly using the P2P model. Since I pay a flat rate anyhow, and i've got loads of upload bandwidth to use, I'm not that fussed. :) - james - 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] BBC Archive trial
On 19 Apr 2007, at 01:48, Christopher Woods wrote: I bet your siblings don't watch downloaded media on a big, high- quality television set. YouTube and even broadband-bitrate streaming formats just look shockingly bad on a TV screen - the old interlaced sets of yore, whose method of display helped to mask the encoding artefacts to a degree, are increasingly relegated to bedrooms and lofts, with big, flatscreen LCD and plasma sets taking centre stage - and they don't hide _anything_ in the source image. Even when I hook up my laptop via DVI to my parents' modest 22" Samsung LCD (720p, HD Ready) in the kitchen, and sit a few feet away, things like BBC News streams look pretty ugly. Freeview looks even worse, especially on HD-ready flatscreens - but that's another bugbear of mine. If the BBC _REALLY_ cared about quality, they'd encode to H264 (or my favourite at the moment, x264) - full-blown H. 264/AVC as used for BBC HD would be overkill because you need a BEAST of a machine to even play big resolutions back without it falling into a complete heap, but whilst x264 would be great for any HD content (we can only hope!) x264 can also give comparable quality to any of the ASP codecs like xvid or divx and bring in slightly smaller filesizes. And, as there's things like the CCCP codec pack and freely available filters, the BBC could create a simple codec bundle - the BBC Playback Pack, which contained the filters, splitters and codecs necessary and maybe an automated update mechanism which would run whilst you were watching a BBC video to check for updates or additional codecs down the line. And, as a bonus, the more skilled PC users could keep their own codec installs if they already had them set up perfectly, and then just be able to view the high-quality content without having to have the BBC pack installed. It'd be a crying shame - and a missed opportunity - if the BBC don't think of doing something like this and encoding with an AVC codec, at least for any HD content that's planned to be offered eventually via the platform. Well here's the kicker: they are all using their computers, which have a resolution at least as high as the new flashy flat screen TVs. So yeah, they see the artifacts... and don't care that much. (that said - free to students is obviously much more valuable than great quality... ) I agree- I don't think this is any harder than trying to push it via real. I accept it's early days, but this is vital if the BBC wants to get this right - picking good quality codecs and running with them. that said, don't forget - the source material for stuff like jeeves and wooster et al isn't that great to begin with -- so there's only so much you can do. I can't wait to see if i have been accepted- really looking forward to being able to call up the great content that exists -- as and when. And hoping very much that it doesn't go the way of 4OD: Windows only! - James - 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] BBC Archive trial
On 18 Apr 2007, at 23:07, Tom Loosemore wrote: > Shame. I love the idea of digging into blackadder and jeeves and > wooster and all the other comedy greats -- but getting them in a > format that is at least somewhat representative of their quality. > Sucks that I'd have to stream it certainly encoding into divx > or mpg would show some understanding of the marketspace. I'm not sure what you mean when you suggest encoding as divx or mpg would show an understanding of the marketplace. It is unfortunately not quite so simple. This is a limited, fixed length trial that will hopefully lead to a Public Value Test. Surely then it makes sense to make use of the BBC's existing Real/WM infrastructure to deliver the content? Hell, if we were going to show some understanding of the marketplace we'd do it all in Flash (which I still hope we do, TBH) It's interesting; I've got a couple of younger siblings - one young enough to still be called a teenager -- just. When asking him and my friends how they're consuming media online, almost all accept the dip in quality -- a youtube effect? -- in exchange for the immediacy of delivery. It's the designers and artists amongst my friends who sit patiently waiting for their HD versions to download. :) What does that mean for the beeb? I think maybe a bit of both: wouldn't it be nice to open up the archives globally to everyone using flash in a youtube deal but reserving the higher quality versions for uk natives - james - 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] BBC Archive trial
On 18 Apr 2007, at 22:51, Jonathan Tweed wrote: On 18 Apr 2007, at 20:03, James Cox wrote: On 18 Apr 2007, at 19:34, Tom Loosemore wrote: it'll be delivered via the internet... using that funny HTML stuff (streamed in Real/WM I expect, cos that'll make it easier to set up - it is a trial after all...). The actual site itself is very nice, IMHO (not that I had anything to do with it!) Shame. I love the idea of digging into blackadder and jeeves and wooster and all the other comedy greats -- but getting them in a format that is at least somewhat representative of their quality. Sucks that I'd have to stream it certainly encoding into divx or mpg would show some understanding of the marketspace. I'm not sure what you mean when you suggest encoding as divx or mpg would show an understanding of the marketplace. It is unfortunately not quite so simple. This is a limited, fixed length trial that will hopefully lead to a Public Value Test. Surely then it makes sense to make use of the BBC's existing Real/WM infrastructure to deliver the content? Fixed Length Trial? Public Value Test? (one has to love the steps to get something done. bravo for trying). Sure it makes sense - i'm not being overly grumpy, just assuming that most of the archive will have had to have been transcoded into something to enable reasonable online delivery; I presume it's stored in a petabyte archive store someplace, in some kind of raw or semi- raw format natively - thus encoding it --- getting it to real / wm is great- you have that, but adding in a divx/mpg transcoder so that a level of quality is preserved would be great. Why do i care? because whilst streaming is great for live events, imho... it's not really fantastic for enjoying the backlist. I hope that if this gets past the various layers of governance and gets budget to become a 'real' project, some effort into hooking up into bittorrent (I'm sure Bram could come up with some trickery to have certified users (ie, license fee payers ;)) only which would permit some kind of higher bandwidth product. That would almost be worth paying for. :) -- james Disclaimer: I work at the BBC but not on the Archive Trial. I do however work in a related area and have had limited access to a pre- trial version of the site. I really like what I've seen so far and would encourage anyone who is thinking about it to sign up for the trial before it fills up. My views are of course my own and not necessarily those of my employer. understood - and thanks for commenting.
Re: [backstage] BBC Archive trial
On 18 Apr 2007, at 19:34, Tom Loosemore wrote: it'll be delivered via the internet... using that funny HTML stuff (streamed in Real/WM I expect, cos that'll make it easier to set up - it is a trial after all...). The actual site itself is very nice, IMHO (not that I had anything to do with it!) Shame. I love the idea of digging into blackadder and jeeves and wooster and all the other comedy greats -- but getting them in a format that is at least somewhat representative of their quality. Sucks that I'd have to stream it certainly encoding into divx or mpg would show some understanding of the marketspace. - james - 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] BBC Archive trial
I'm in-- i think? On 18 Apr 2007, at 20:55, Richard P Edwards wrote: And the same here . I got kicked off after about 60% when I said I was male. hhm. Oh well, perhaps 35-44 age bracket is already full. On 18 Apr 2007, at 19:40, Toni Sant wrote: Here's what I got: Many thanks for your time - unfortunately you did not meet the recruitment criteria for this trial. Is there a list of recruitment criteria? Cheers... ...t.s. -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Ian Forrester Sent: 18 April 2007 16:40 To: backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk Subject: [backstage] BBC Archive trial Hi All, Outside of the framework debate... The BBC Archive trial is getting closer to opening its doors. Exclusively I can now tell you that the register your interest form is up (16:30). So if your interested in taking part in the trial, go to http://bbc.co.uk/archive now. There is no press launch or anything like that yet, so your really the first people to find out about this. So do it today before the 20,000 places disappear. Cheers, Ian Forrester Senior Producer, BBC Backstage BC4 B4, Media Village, 201 Wood Lane, London W12 7RJ email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] phone: 02080083965 - 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/ * To view the terms under which this email is distributed, please go to http://www.hull.ac.uk/legal/email_disclaimer.html * - 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/ -- James Cox, Internet Consultant t: 07968 349990 e: [EMAIL PROTECTED] w: http://www.imajes.info/
Re: [backstage] BBC Archive trial
Ian - any idea how this trial is going to be delivered? any tech specs on the trial itself? i'm thinking scary black boxes and dial groups. wait, that was nielson. --- :) On 18 Apr 2007, at 16:39, Ian Forrester wrote: Hi All, Outside of the framework debate... The BBC Archive trial is getting closer to opening its doors. Exclusively I can now tell you that the register your interest form is up (16:30). So if your interested in taking part in the trial, go to http://bbc.co.uk/archive now. There is no press launch or anything like that yet, so your really the first people to find out about this. So do it today before the 20,000 places disappear. Cheers, Ian Forrester Senior Producer, BBC Backstage BC4 B4, Media Village, 201 Wood Lane, London W12 7RJ email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] phone: 02080083965 - 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/ -- James Cox, Internet Consultant t: 07968 349990 e: [EMAIL PROTECTED] w: http://www.imajes.info/
Re: [backstage] [Fwd: Fwd: Twitter Fever]
On 18 Apr 2007, at 15:38, Nic James Ferrier wrote: James Cox <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: So hop off the language hate bandwagon, because no-one cares. Instead, add something constructive. Actually, I wasn't on the language hate bandwagon. I was on the frameworks hate bandwagon. my mistake, my rage had built up to overly intense levels such that my cursory edit didn't spot this school boy error. :) Down with rails! Up with some random other thing! Come on! You're not seriously suggesting this thread is any more ill-informed, ridiculous or downright silly than some others are you? No, i'm saying that the signal v. noise ratio has decreased and it's time we should talk about stuff that's really interesting. Such as fixing the bbc's content opacity, or ensuring that I win the lottery this weekend - come on, one of you lot must know who the independent adjudicator is... - james - 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] [Fwd: Fwd: Twitter Fever]
On 17 Apr 2007, at 23:47, Nic James Ferrier wrote: Gordon Joly <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: At 10:31 +0100 17/4/07, Ian Forrester wrote: I think it can scale if they open up the queuing system and stick to charging for SMS's. I think Kosso has the right idea - http://kosso.wordpress.com/2007/03/28/os-twitter-and-services/ How will charging affect packets going through routers? Charging is not necessary... it just has to be designed correctly. Twitter is just in need of horizontal scaling. Split the namespace across many servers and it would scale. No problem. Which is why I don't understand why they're having some problems. Well, I do. It's because they're using rails. If you do that it suggests you don't know what you're doing. [sits back and waits for everyone to explode with rage] Nic, Without being the flag bearer of the rails brigade [1], that they are using Rails has nothing significant to do with their problems - they'd exist with any platform in use. It's fortunate that it's not one that would require rigmarole to upgrade - i'd hate to see twitter having to amend their Volume License Agreement every week. I don't know what the actual technical competence of this list is, but aside from joining-the-dots with mashups, I'm yet to see much which is truly groundbreaking, impressive and unique - which makes this conversation so empty and pointless. It's true: Twitter hasn't really done anything magical, other than connecting mobile, im and web in a tangled mesh of ubiquity. Sure, there are problems - from design to use: bear in mind that the twitter crew's original mantra was for a tool to tell friends where they are and what they are up to (the sort of thing that jaiku et al are really honing in on, by demoting the conversation). So as to your suggestion - adding more servers. It's an easy fix when you have a service generating income. Twitter, currently, does not. Thus who keeps paying for the machines? Who keeps paying for the text messages - twitter's SMS bill is large enough to get the attention of any provider out there. Developers who understand scalability know that it's often a plumbing problem: as soon as one pipe is capped or uncovered, another leak starts. You constantly have to uncover and release pressure until the system is in balance. Right now twitter is struggling because it's run out of compute cycles; next week it may be the database. Twitter currently has a traffic rank in the top 500 websites - and is completely dynamic. Google currently indexes over 220, 000 pages from twitter.com. It's not a trivial problem. Its not something that a few more servers will fix: twitter needs to come up with new architecture such that it can manage the service properly. In reality this means transitioning to a core twitter centric codebase - ie, do exactly as amazon, ebay and others have done: replace the web scripting language they prototyped in and roll their own, where it makes sense. So hop off the language hate bandwagon, because no-one cares. Instead, add something constructive. Sincerely - James Cox [1] Seriously, I really don't give a crap what platform you prefer. - 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] [Fwd: Fwd: Twitter Fever]
On 16 Apr 2007, at 15:23, Richard Lockwood wrote: I think you'll find that's "designed"... So yes, it was architected badly in the first place, but this doesn't mean that they knew what was going to happen and how would you define those terms? - 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] [Fwd: Fwd: Twitter Fever]
On 12 Apr 2007, at 02:12, Nic James Ferrier wrote: Mr I Forrester <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: I did talk to the twitter guys about this issue. I think from there point of view, they never said twitter was meant to be a real time system. It just behaved like that from the start. They're winding you up. Have you noticed the tricks they're putting in to make you think your updates are going live? When you post the post is added to your list on the client side. It's async-ajaxed to the backend as well. But if you refresh and it hasn't got back yet it disappears from your list. Whoops. I think they know perfectly well how interactive it should be but they've built it wrong and are now playing catch up. Nic, sorry, but this is just wrong. The ajax updates are there to reduce page compute time, not to try and 'trick people' into thinking that it's 'faster'. They really did intend for it to be a status update tool, something people would update 2-3 times a day. However people are using it real time - and a number of bots are posting super frequently (eg, the beeb feeds). So yes, it was architected badly in the first place, but this doesn't mean that they knew what was going to happen - 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] Weather feeds
That sounds rad, and, exactly what i need.:)PS: Ian, Ben was monkeying about with trying to get weather feeds working with all kinds of hoohah, perhaps you could dig around in your new hat and see where that's all at? i'm sure many of us on this list would like to play with weather more, (oh, to be young again and dream of a weather device similar to Stewie's) and so hopefully you could give us an update as to where it is at -- last discussion was back in feb.Best,jamesOn 26 Sep 2006, at 12:46, K Schmitt wrote:There will be atom feeds containing day 1 of the five day forecast forall locations available on the bbc weather site very soon (where verysoon < 2 weeks). This is what the Met Office have agreed to without adeveloper key system in place. I'm not sure what has happened to thedeveloper key system Mr. Metcalfe was working on. Maybe Ian knows?Best,KassOn 9/26/06, Ian Forrester <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Consider yourself slapped.There are no BBC weather feeds at this current moment (to my knowledge), I'msorry to say.People tend to use Weather.com for weather data.Cheers,Ian Forrester || backstage.bbc.co.uk From: [EMAIL PROTECTED][mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] On Behalf Of James CoxSent: 26 September 2006 05:44To: backstage@lists.bbc.co.ukSubject: [backstage] Weather feedsAll,Slap me down for not searching, but does anyone know of the location of (ifany) beeb weather feeds exist? some kind of 'quick forecast for a region'kind of thing?i guess since it's metoffice data that probably isn't going to happen, butjust had to ask...best,james--James Cox,Internet Consultantt: 07968 349990 e: [EMAIL PROTECTED] w: http://www.imajes.info/ -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/ --James Cox, Internet Consultantt: 07968 349990 e: [EMAIL PROTECTED] w: http://www.imajes.info/
[backstage] Weather feeds
All,Slap me down for not searching, but does anyone know of the location of (if any) beeb weather feeds exist? some kind of 'quick forecast for a region' kind of thing?i guess since it's metoffice data that probably isn't going to happen, but just had to ask...best,james --James Cox, Internet Consultantt: 07968 349990 e: [EMAIL PROTECTED] w: http://www.imajes.info/
Re: [backstage] Job Vacancy: Lead and Design backstage.bbc.co.uk
On 7 Aug 2006, at 07:27, Jem Stone wrote: Dear all As subscribers to the list will know we're looking for a new person to lead and design the next bit of backstage. Full details of the vacancy are here: https://jobs.bbc.co.uk/jobportal/search/vacancy.aspx?id=8668 I love how the BBC thinks it has the ability to find and recruit for such a vacancy in under a week in August. Anyone have a cached copy? - james - 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/
