Open Post 2009-24-04
Post categories: open
| 14:25 UK time, Friday, 24 April 2009
Although I'm sure Officer Dibble will disagree with me I thought the first open post on this blog was reasonably sucessful. So I thought I'd try another one.
This post is for comments and questions about anything to do with BBC Online, BBC iPlayer, BBC HD, and the BBC's digital and mobile services.
But as it's an open post you can leave a comment about whatever you like.
I can't guarantee that every single comment or question will get a response. But I'll try.
OPEN picture by mag3737 on flickr.
Nick Reynolds is editor, BBC Internet blog
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~41~RS~)
Comments
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Firstly could someone please adjust the header image for this page so the BBC in the title lines up properly with the masthead logo? It's really irritating to look at and breaks the grid guidelines that have been mentioned on this very blog.
Secondly, would it be possible to make a "our plans for the next six months / next year" post? There are dribs and drabs of info about new features arriving, identity, comment improvements, iPlayer 3.0, but is it possible to give us an idea of what else is being planned?
Cheers :)
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Right then, I'll try again after no joy on another blog post:
When's live streaming TV coming for the iPhone please?
Thanks
Matt
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Several points ...
Please can you get someone to officially reply to ALL NEW iPlayer messageboard threads at least Daily. It's frustrating to see open threads without responses for days on end.
The e-mail support system really isn't fast enough and as I believe it's contracted out can only offer limited help anyway.
Why did you not tryout HD on Labs first? The speed issues could have been located early then.
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OK - since the thread is 'open' - with regard to the news earlier this year of the very first 21:9 aspect HD TV (Panasonic I think) - has this registered with your 'future High Def planning' group (should you have one) and could it be something that could happen in Broadcast TV in the next 5 to 10 years in the UK? - or would 3D TV be a more likely development option?
Thanks, daveac
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A couple of things from me, more out of curiosity than anything else…
When is the BBC Trust expected to give its verdict on the Project Canvas consultation? (The actual consultation page now 404s, unfortunately).
Is Redux currently (actively) set up for transcoding to Dirac? If so, what's the audio codec used, and what container format (MPEG 4 PS, MPEG 2 TS, MKV, etc)?
Would the BBC be willing to name and shame content providers who insist that HD broadcasts containing their programming carry the CCI flags set to prevent copying (e.g., shifting recorded programmes between devices, or sending over the wrong sort of cables), even when told precisely what the real pros and cons to consumers of such DRM measures are?
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Any news on iPlayer for Windows mobile?
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@lewiscolin - if you get the Skyfire browser for Windows Mobile it allows you to view pretty much any site that uses flash without any real problems - including the iPlayer.
I've watched live streaming television/radio and on demand stuff through it and it works great - although if you're phone is older or doesn't have a particularly good processor it may jump and jog a little - that's the phone not the iPlayer.
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Not sure if this comes under the digital services referred to (if not, pointers please), a request and a suggestion;
Relating to radio delivery via Freeview (and probably Freesat), is their any possibility of updating the BBC World Service OSG to match the interactive version used by the BBC's UK services - more precisely the ability to activate the screen saver), secondly, would it be possible to offer the active (radio) studio web-cams via the same Freeview interactive OSG menus?
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Is the test card still broadcast and if so, where and when will I find it? I have freeview and not HD. My TV picture isn't good and I can't work out the combination of brightness, colour, contrast and sharpness to aim for, so the test card would help.
I'm not sure if this is the place to ask. If not, I'd be grateful if you'd point me in the right direction.
Thanks.
Clare
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Ok, here's a couple of unconnected questions from me!
1) Are BBC Nations & Regions news programmes coming to iPlayer anytime soon? I'd love to be able to watch my local region's main bulletin when I'm elsewhere in the country..
2) Red button on Freesat - at the moment we can't get most of the extra content that appears on other platforms, sport excepted. I understand there's priorities and this'll happen eventually, but was wondering if thought had been given to just providing the raw feeds a la channel 301 & 302 on Freeview in the meantime? That'd keep us happy until we can navigate to via red button!
Thanks,
Paul
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Is there even the slightest chance of iPlayer coming to the Xbox360/XBL marketplace?
It's one of only two HD-capable devices I have (the other being a hardware player that doesn't do DRM at all), neither of which is a computer. And it has internet access, HD output and DRM support.
Especially now that iPlayer has gone HD, can we please, Please, have a legit method of getting HD content via iPlayer. Especially useful to those of us who can't get satellite or cable. And whose computers are either old/underpowered or not anywhere near the HD TV setup.
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Dear nevali
In one of my posts I said we hope to apply DRM on a programme by programme basis as soon as we can. So we would hope most BBC programmes would be clear of protection and only those where the rights holder required copy and distribution protection would have it applied
Andy
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clarer1 you can call up the test card on freeview following these instructions
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test_Card_W
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Dear daveac
I think it's the Philips TV
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2009/02/20/philips_cinema_tv_dated/
We do know about it but as yet there is no agreed standard for broadcast. I would imagine you will have to "zoom" to fill the screen with a 2.35:1 movie. We will wait to see what happens!
Andy
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Will you be adding grouped RSS feeds for the podcasts? It would be handy to be able to subscribe by channel or genre.
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Nick, I'm bringing over my question from your previous Open Post blog http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/2009/04/open_post_20090403.html?dnafrom=60&dnato=80#dnaacs seeing as it hasn't been answered.
Re my message 15, posted on 3 April 2009.
"Nick, how do I delete blogs that I have made comments to? I know the convoluted way to unsubscribe from message board threads but not for blogs, ta."
Andrew Bowden answered me on The BBC section of the Points of View messageboard a couple of days ago that
"The blog comments system does use the same underlying technology as the message boards. So there will be a convoluted of un-subscribing a blog post you've commented on, from your Blogs profile page.
Just don't ask me what it is!"
So Nick, can you please tell me how I can unsubscribe to blogs. Thank you.
I've also posted this question again on the original blog because I was unaware that you had opened a second one on the same topic. Apologies for this but there was no mention or links from your original blog.
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Nippie Sweetie - I don't quite understand what you mean. Do you mean is there a way of you deleting a comment you have made on a blog?
Nevali - I'm told the Trust's decision on Canvas is due on the 24th of July.
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Hi Andy,
Many thanks for your reply. Your comments on that post were actually what prompted the question--will the BBC be willing name those content providers who insist on flying in the face of reason, as it were, once per-programme CCI has been implemented? Obviously, people won't actually know until it's broadcast which programmes are affected (unless there's going to be some other means of announcing it).
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No Nick, I mean when I'm logged in to the messageboards, I can click a link to view a list of my discussions (on messageboards) and another link to view a list of my comments (to blogs).
To unsubscribe from discussions I have taken part in ie to delete them from my history list (but not delete the message itself), I have to go to h2g2, click on the My Space link and this takes me to the messageboard threads I have participated in (although on h2g2, they're called Conversation).
I have to hover my mouse over the asterisk * next to one of the threads I want to delete and a little box pops up saying "Unsubscribe". If I click on the asterisk, the thread will be deleted from my discussions.
Sorry if my description sounds rather basic but I copied it from a post I had made to another messageboarder who was having problems unsubscribing! :)
Anyway, I just wanted to know if there's a similar thing for blogs. Call it housekeeping if you like. ;)
Thanks
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A recent irritation,
The iPlayer twitter feed was for technical developments only now it's being used for programme tweets as well. Perhaps introduce a separate twitter feed for the programmes. I don't really want my twitter box full of programme info but do want to get the lowdown on new engineering developments.
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#19
I might have missed something here but why on earth would anyone want/need to do such a thing! I can understand that someone might want to have some or all of their own contributions removed (but that would not remove any that have been attributed to you and quoted be others), I can't understand why someone would want you just remove reference to such messages - care to explain?
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Nippie Sweetie - I'm still confused and as Boilerplated says wonder why you want to do this.
I don't think there is an easy way for a poster to remove a comment from a blog after its been posted - a moderator can of course.
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It's not removing the actual contribution/comment I have made to the discussion Boilerplated, it's just removing the individual blog/thread from *my* list. I suppose it's like manually deleting the "sent" or "deleted" messages from your email - keeps things nice and tidy and doesn't clog you up (as it were)!
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Nick, if you follow my instructions and go to h2g2 http://www.bbc.co.uk/messageboards/newguide/ you'll see how you can unsusbcibe from the messageboard threads you have contributed to ie on the Points of View messageboards. This does *not* remove your posts/comments but it *does* remove them from the "Your discussions" link on the messageboards. I'm wondering if there's a similar thing for blog comments.
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As Nippie says it is about keeping your "my discussions" down to a managable list. If you keep ALL your postings for however many numbers of years, you actually can't find the IMPORTANT ones which you MAY want to quote from at a later date. It's simple logic NOT to have hundreds or thousands of discussions in your history, or delete discussions which are now redundant.
A lot of message boarders just clean out their history, regularly.
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Back to the questions...
Are there any plans on making 5.1 audio streams available on the HD iPlayer programmes that have it broadcast as such?
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Thank you Hymagumba. I'd begun to think my TV was dying, the picture was so poor. Suddenly it's like new again. Many thanks.
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Dear nevali
I don't believe there is any way we can say in advance. We always try to negotiate for clear transmission first though.
Andy
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Hi,
I was wondering why the BBC blogs aren't yet using valid markup in their pages? Much of the rest of the BBC sites are, for example the homepage, /programmes and most of iplayer.
[ I came across the problem when writing a feed aggregator - the markup inside the rss descriptions contains errors which make it quite difficult to parse. ]
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pauljarvis wrote..
"Back to the questions..."
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I hope you are NOT referring to Nippie's question. As Nick says you can ask questions about anything. There are some people who are new to blogging here, and THEY are every bit as entitled to ask THEIR question as your SO MUCH MORE IMPORTANT question. (duh)
Nippie's question is very valid. Message boarders clean out their "history" regularly, and Nippie was simply trying to find out if there was a similar system on blogs. Nick has responded that there is not - so he obviously felt that HER question was worth responding to, even saying that he didn't understand the concept Nippie was describing. It is a common aspect of message boarding and someone newish to blogging is entitled to ask how best to use the functions here.
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Nippie Sweetie,
Do you mean is there a way to clean up this page
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/profile/?userid=181701
in the same way you can clean up this page
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/brunel/MP181701
so you can keep track of where you've been more easily?
I didn't even know that page existed on h2g2, it's quite funny to see me complaing about iPlayer being inferior to the iMP, I'm not often that wrong ;)
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Hymagumba
That's it. We asked Andrew on the Message boards, but he admitted that he didn't know how to delete redundant history on blogs, the way we do on message boards. So, you would think IF there was a way to do it, you could get an answer HERE. Apparantly there is NO way to tidy up your blogging history.
As an added point, BBC's method of deleting your history on the Message boards is really convoluted. First make your way OUT of where you are, traipse around trying to find where you are meant to be, and then, sign in, find your conversations, and then click on the asterisk. It took me years of being on the boards before I knew it was even available.
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I suppose it's more of a hangover from the messageboards being based on h2g2 rather than a well thought out feature for messageboards. If DNA was still only used to power h2g2 it wouldn't be convoluted.
That's probably why it's not available, the customers are using the features in a way the developers never envisenged (which is prob why Nick didn't have a clue what you were talking about)
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#30 Niclara, thank you - you know exactly why messageboarders are now having to use blogs to ask this type of question. And for the seasoned bloggers, the reason is because Nick Reynolds closed the Online messageboard, so people unfamiliar with blogs *have* to now use blogs.
#31 Hymagumba, I could kiss you - a blogger who eventually understands what I mean!
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Nick is it really necessary to once again get personal in a blog? You've attempted it before with niclaramartin and you're now trying it again with Officer Dibble in your blogs.
Will Officer Dibble be able to start a blog in the same manner you are able to?
At least on a messageboard everyone is equally able to start a thread and respond to others.
If it weren't (once again) thanks to Nippie Sweetie how would the messageboard community know about this blog or even Officer Dibble?
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Faye, I too noticed the personal attack towards another message boarder in the first line of THIS blog. It's one thing to battle in the comment section, but a different one if you write a blog (from the safety of authorship). Of course if you "Google" these things, what you get is "so niclaramartin got annoyed", or "Although I'm sure Officer Dibble will disagree with me.....". It's down to word placement at the BEGINNING of a blog. It is a very unattractive trait to personalise blogs against posters. If you Google "Points of View Messageboards", you DON'T immediately get a personal attack on posters (and they say message boards ARE where the nasty comments are). Nick you have written some good blogs, there is absolutely no need to take the tack you are now.
I still maintain that THESE "open" blogs, DON'T work for the simple reason that there are too many people asking widely diverse questions relevant to THEM, and everyone is talking OVER each other, without enough in the way of responses. It would be far more beneficial to the posters if THEY could open a "thread" on the Question they want answered, and for other posters (with an interest in THAT question) AND BBC staff to go THERE to answer/have a dialogue IN DETAIL about THAT topic. Of course we had that on the message boards (Digital and Online Boards) where technical questions could be asked by posters and responded to by either other posters or the occasional response from BBC staff. It was a terrific QUESTION and ANSWER model. The problem is that the boards were not highlighted/linked to enough, and not enough people KNEW about them. They genuinely were a terrific concept by BBC, and a good place for technical queries to be answered. The "open" blogs are too fluid, for quality QUESTION and ANSWER interchange.
Maybe bloggers disagree, and are happy with NOT having their questions answered. Sorry, but, it's too late for you to visit the Online and Digital message boards - Nick closed them.
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Sorry I already asked this question on another post's comments, probably that was not the right place.. so here goes on the Open Post
On iPlayer the search is not very comprehensive. I was told about the Manic Street Preachers being featured on Radio 4's Front Row broadcast last Tuesday. I tried to search for it from the search box on the iPlayer front page (typed "Front Row") and got one hit about the Grand Prix!
The only way I discovered the actual Front Row programme was to navigate via the Radio 4 page and then look through the schedules.
There are a number of other obvious programme names that don't show up in a simple search
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Hi niclaramartin, if this blog (and others) was meant to 'win over' messageboarders to the joys of blogging I think it's sadly failed.
You'd think following the so called debate since November (starting here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/2008/11/points_of_view_message_board.html for the uninitiated) these blogs would be a shining example of good practice, sadly they are not.
It's funny, surely under Nick's messageboards, the text of this blog would be failed if it were a message on the boards according to his own House Rules:
"We reserve the right to fail messages which:
* Are considered likely to disrupt, provoke, attack or offend others"
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For those who NEVER had the opportunity to go over to the "Digital" message board BEFORE Nick closed it, have a wee look at the following link.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mbpointsofview/F1951572
Now, I don't know about you, BUT, I think BBC were on to a winner there. The general public could go there, and ask similar questions to what are being asked on THIS blog, BUT, the layout makes it so much easier for others to see and respond to YOUR question, or find a topic THEY have questions about too.
All that was required was MUCH BETTER signposting/linkage to the board, a "Search" facility, AND for BBC staff to pop their heads in and answer any questions OTHER posters hadn't already been able to answer.
The concept was great. The lack of input (highlighting WHERE it was/BBC staff to respond) was the failure. Ultimately, Nick decided NOT to improve on what was there, preferring to close it.
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Nick
It may also be worth quoting from one of the posters on that final thread....
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"I haven't posted often on this board, but have found it very useful (probably the most useful in terms of information of all boards)."
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Although you say there was low traffic/posting, a lot of people DIDN'T NEED to post. ONCE they had found a thread on the topic of interest to them, they could read through, and perhaps find the answer, without the need to comment.
It was a user generated directory of technical questions and answers.
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Nick,
Would it not have been professional and courteous to state on the last Open Blog that it was now redundant and you started another one? PS. why did you feel the need to start another one when the first one was such a "success".
Secondly, many have said that they have questions outstanding from the last Open Blog, including me, - are you going to address them?
Thirdly, by what criteria do you base the success of the last Open Blog, or merely "that you think it was successful" as you thought the Radio boards were "unloved".
I can't think of any gauge of success that would come up with anything other than disaster? Does anyone of the users of the last Open Blog feel satisfied and suitably informed?
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Could you make BBC News videos accessable through Nintendo Wii like iPlayer videos? It's annoying going through the news site on the Internet Channel and not being able to watch what is often key video within articles.
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Could a browser session cookie be set for the TV and radio listing pages so that when switching channel listings after setting a date the subsequent pages display the user selected date rather than defaulting back to the current (server) date - it would make comparing/choosing what to watch or listen to on different channels a lot easier.
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#30, niclaramartin: I wasn't aiming it at anything specific, just a throwaway comment that this blog ended up being a conversation about a single subject, thus not allowing other people to ask their own questions, which is the exact same problem being described by yourself and other posters. I was under the impression the 'open blog' is an opportunity to hear questions/feedback from many individuals, without focusing on a single topic/question. Unfortunately, this strange (apparantly 'successful') system has the major flaw which you described very well in comment #36.
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#44
Unfortunately all the BBC blogs seem to suffer from two major problems, the first is that they seems to attract their fare share of 'rantothons' and secondly they attracts more than a few posters who want to do nothing more than post links to their own (favourite) blogs - sometimes it's so blatant that they don't even bother to comment on what has been said in the blog they are 'commenting' on...
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pauljarvis
Apologies if you were not MEANING to be offensive. The fact that it turned into a ONE topic discussion is because Nippie asked a relevant "leave a comment about whatever you like" question which Nick then asked clarification on. It took several attempts before a non-BBC employee answered the question. (Too many others left unanswered!!!!)
Boilerplated
I'm going to agree with you (in part). The problem is that Nick had a USEFUL tool to Technical QUESTION and ANSWERS, but, unfortunately, it was not in the blog network. It was actually a messageboard, which I think Bloggers would have found ACCEPTABLE to them (not a chit-chat, "off" topic board).
Have a look....
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mbpointsofview/F1951572
and tell me that ALTHOUGH it was a message board, it was not a better model for QUESTIONS and ANSWERS.
We are simply trying to highlight (unlike BBC ever did) that there WAS a MUCH better model for people wanting answers to TECHNICAL questions than THIS format.
Apologies to those who feel we high-jacked the thread, BUT I genuinely think THIS model was ALWAYS doomed to failure.
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Faye Tsar, NiclaraMartin and Officer Dibble.
To respond to some of the points made above.
1. I was not attacking Officer Dibble when I linked to his comment. I was simply acknowledging that some people have different opinions to mine.
2. If Officer Dibble wishes to set up a blog to discuss my behaviour he is perfectly at liberty to do so.
3. Although this is an open thread the subject of the Points of View message boards has already been amply covered by 7 blog posts and many more threads on the POV boards. So if you wish to continue to discuss it please do so here and here. (or even here)
I have already said that I can't guarantee to answer every question on ths post or on the previous open post. We've had a good discussion on both. Can we please keep it that way. I will moderate out any comments I consider to be abusive or disruptive.
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Nick wrote..
" I was not attacking Officer Dibble when I linked to his comment. I was simply acknowledging that some people have different opinions to mine."
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As I say on the "other" blog, Nick, THAT is an abuse of power. If Jemima Kiss writes a blog naming you and disagreeing, YOU have EQUAL power, by dint of number of readers, to respond in a PERSONAL way. However, to take a COMMENT (note "comment" NOT blog) and name an individual is like settling scores in a playground, whilst the other guy has his hands tied behind his back. In other words Nick, not attractive, not clever, and not acceptable. A simple "a poster disagrees with me..." would suffice.
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nick wrote..
"If Officer Dibble wishes to set up a blog to discuss my behaviour he is perfectly at liberty to do so"
------------------
(See my point above about differences in POWER. A member of the public could NEVER have the same pulling power which a BBC employee has.)
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nick wrote
"Although this is an open thread the subject of the Points of View message boards has already been amply covered by 7 blog posts and many more threads on the POV boards. So if you wish to continue to discuss it please do so here and here. (or even here)"
------------------
The point, Nick, is that MOST bloggers will have NO IDEA that BBC provided a VERY GOOD model of QUESTION and ANSWER of technical questions over on the Message boards. As one of the other posters says elsewhere, you may not have had a lot of input from BBC staff, but ANOTHER poster invariably had the answer to YOUR technical query.
I think you have not only NOT SERVED message boarders well, you have also NOT SERVED Bloggers well either, (by not highlighting a board where the questions which are being asked above NOT being answered, WOULD have been answered).
Nick wrote..
"I have already said that I can't guarantee to answer every question on ths post or on the previous open post. We've had a good discussion on both"
----------------
I SIMPLY HAVE TO ASK ALL POSTERS A SIMPLE QUESTION - "HOW MANY HAVE HAD THEIR QUESTIONS ANSWERED SATISFACTORALLY".
I don't think MANY people will agree with your statement "We've had a good discussion on both"
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Nick wrote..
"I will moderate out any comments I consider to be abusive or disruptive."
------------
You have the POWER (as I say). And THAT is a failure of your blogging Nick. YOU can ignore questions and when people get angry YOU moderate them. On the message boards, YOU would have to defend your stance, WITHOUT the ability to moderate comments you don't like.
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Nick
Back on topic.
WHEN ARE BBC going to improve THEIR blogs? I have listed ad infinitum, (and linked to GOOD blogs) features, which would make BBC blogging so much more acceptable, and visually easier to read.
Also I think you have to address the problem of far too many blogs, which are poorly written. It would be better if you had a smaller number of BETTER quality written blogs, rather than the myriad of blogs (which appear just to justify QUANTITY rather than QUALITY). I am not including you in this Nick, as I think you do write some good blogs. Others, not so.
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#48
"I SIMPLY HAVE TO ASK ALL POSTERS A SIMPLE QUESTION - "HOW MANY HAVE HAD THEIR QUESTIONS ANSWERED SATISFACTORALLY"."
Anyone who didn't get the answer they wanted?...
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Boilerplated
OR, ANY ONE of the posters above who DID ask technical questions, to which they have NOT received an answer, on NOT just THIS blog, but on PREVIOUS ones. There are MANY unanswered questions BEFORE the comments we have written.
This is NOT a good model for Questions and Answers.
The Digital and Online Boards (although message boards - WERE a directory of Questions and Answers which DID receive ANSWERS)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mbpointsofview/F1951572
Check for yourself and tell me that THAT was not a SUPERIOR model to an "open" blog. You may even find answers (already there) to questions you have not received answers to here.
I think it is a valid point to raise that THIS style of "Question/Answer" blog does NOT work, BUT that there WAS a system which DID.
SURELY, ALL THAT POSTERS TO A QUESTIONS BLOG WANT, ARE ANSWERS. BBC ARE NOT DELIVERING HERE. BUT FELLOW POSTERS DID ON THOSE BOARDS. And if BBC had supported THOSE boards, ALL people with questions of a technical nature could have found answers easily THERE.
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I thoroughly enjoyed the BBC iPlayer during my one year's stay in the UK as a Post Graduate Student. It was the year in which the iPlayer was launched and it was a great way to learn abut British Life, art, culture, politics and ofcourse.. Comedy. Now though, I am back in India and I really miss the iPlayer. Could the iPlayer be made available outside the UK as well? At least the content on BBC World can be made available for a suitable fee. Now that HD content is available on the iPlayer, I really look forward to watching the iPlayer outside the UK.
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#52
UK citizens pay a licence fee, and the iPlayer is funded from that. Aside from the licence fee, I suspect there are insurmountable problems regarding broadcast rights that would prevent this.
Console yourself in the fact that UK licence payers who travel abroad on business cannot access the iPlayer either.
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#3 ChrisCornwell
We state several times on the messageboard that we don't respond to every new post, but we do monitor them all. For one thing other users may be able to help, and often the answer is already in the searchable help pages http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/help
You can also contact the support team there - they do respond to every query and their support shouldn't be "limited". While they may take some time to respond, major issues should be flagged up and passed on to us swiftly.
Jonathan
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Is there any way I can record IPlayer programmes onto DVD, so that I can view them on my TV ?
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I use the iplayer primarily because so few radio programmes are podcasted, so I have to play them & record in order to get them onto my ipod.
Are there any plans for extending the use of podcasts, or putting a 'create podcast' function into iplayer ?
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#55
I hope not, as it would break any DRM and thus mean that many programmes would probably not be available via the iPlayer 'Catch-up' service. Why can't you watch (or record) via the original broadcast?
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Five Live used to be available to Live-stream via Windows Media Player or Real player. The link then changed to iPlayer. But 5Live isn't available for Live stream on iPlayer (certainly not on the Windows Mobile variant). So we've lost the ability to live stream 5Live. Which frustratingly, is the only station I actually listen to.
Any chance of fixing this? Either make it available via iPlayer, or switch back to WMP\Real?
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#37 achookang
That is strange, I've passed this on for the team to look into.
Jonathan
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Hymagumba - header now adjusted.
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#58:
I might have misunderstood what you're asking, but Radio Five Live is available on iPlayer here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/playlive/bbc_radio_five_live/
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#54 Jon iPlayer Host
I KNOW that you say that not every post is answered, what I am suggesting is that every post SHOULD be answered promptly, to avoid frustration.
*NEW*
Any plans to restore the functionality of the Download Manager to that of the last beta pre Dec 2007 so that programmes can be sorted against title and date of expiry?
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Hi Nick - I've got a really simple suggestion - can you change the title of your blog entry to have a valid date format - e.g. Open Post 2009-04-24 rather than the confusing Americanised format that you've used. Thank-you!
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You may be aware of this but the BBC site has just got a big thumbs-up from Website usability guru Jakob Nielson:
“World's Best Headlines: BBC News
Summary:
Precise communication in a handful of words? The editors at BBC News achieve it every day, offering remarkable headline usability.”
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/headlines-bbc.html
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#61
Thanks, but this is not available via iPlayer when viewed on Windows Mobile. Every other radio station is available, and the WMP \ Real streams used to be as well.
The incosistencies in all the iPlayer variants is a particular bug-bear of mine.
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Please may we have Raio Listings pages on Ceefax for the other BBC national digital radio stations and for Planet Rock?
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#65
The live streams are listed at http://iplayerhelp.external.bbc.co.uk/help/finding_programmes/real_wma_streams
Jonathan
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Can I watch live feed on the BBC website, e.g. Mr. Obama's inauguration, from my office which does not have a TV licence. Or should until it has happened and watch it as "catch-up"?
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#68: In the footer of the iPlayer watch live pages it states "Don't forget, to watch TV online as it's being broadcast, you still need a TV licence."
--
Is there any time scale for News programme websites to be converted to the new template system? Amongst other programmes Click still uses the old layout, and considering it's tag line is "The BBC's flagship technology programme" I'd have thought it would have been using the new (template) technology by now.
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"Press REVEAL on handset for answers," will disappear from Ceefax page 519, th only page on which it appearsm after the revamp of the Entertainment News pages on Tuesday 19 May.
May we have a memories of Press REVEAL Blog posted soon?
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Nick,
The Online Board has disappeared so I will have to seek an answer here. Does anyone know if the BBC's HD streams that are on Freesat as good as those on the SkyHD service? Can I use my existing Sky+ twin SD dish to receive HD Freesat on a suitable Humax Freesat PVR? Effectively I wish to swap my Sky+ SD box for a Freesat HD box.
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Dear Officer Dibble
Thanks for the post. There is no Freesat (or Sky) stream for BBC HD, it is the same signal. Only the EPG and access services differ
Andy
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"The Online Board has disappeared so I will have to seek an answer here. Does anyone know if the BBC's HD streams that are on Freesat as good as those on the SkyHD service?"
They are literally the same signal, coming from the same satellite. Both boxes are recieving the same transmission.
Phazer
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I have found some BBC Travel Unit pages taht are out of date or have their present content almost competely covered by newer pages on Channel 4 Teletext pp 700-749 and 750-799.
BBC Two page 460 succeeded by NHS Choices Ch 4 Teletext page 704 and Directgove Ch 4 page 758
BBC Two page 461 succeeded by NHS Choice Ch 4 pages 736-739 and Directgove Ch 4 page 794/1 Aids hotlien number)
BBC Two page 470/1 contact details: Tel no succeded by content of Directgov Ch 4 page 793/1 top half of page
BBC Two page 470/2 contact details: Tel no and web details succeeded by content of Direct gov Ch4 page 793/1 bottom half of page.
BBC Two page 470/2 other content succeeded by Direcgov Ch 4 pages 776-778.
BBC traevel Index page 430, A-Z index 199 and Fastext Links on BBC Two page 465 refer to oneor more of teh out of date pages.
So no need to migrate pages 460, 461 or 470 to Red Button. Ta-Daah!
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Why do the times in the blog's rss feed use French time? The normal pages use BST, but the rss seems to be an hour in the future. Is this intentional?
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Any plans of introducing buffering in the iplayer while streaming ?
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We still cant get the 'pound sign' in the comments section. It shows up as as ? Is this going to be worked on?
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ShravanNagraj - it's being worked on now.
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Why, when using Sky, can I not tune in to BBC London on channel 0152 when I'm in Liverpool. If I was in London I can tune in to the station using 0152. Where's the logic in blocking the channel to the rest of the country?
I know the feed is there and I can add the channel via "add channels" - but this makes it really fiddly to tune in. At the end of the day we all pay for the BBC via the license fee and the epg position is paid for. If BBC radio Wales is broadcast across the UK on 0154 then the same should be said for Radio London.
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How do you cater for people who, whether in hardware or software, have their media-player of choice and strongly dislike having to use alternate or proprietary players to view or listen to content?
Like I, personally, favour VLC. it means I get to use the same program with pretty much the same pros, cons and controls across all three OS platfors and for almost everything I throw at it.
Choice of player means a lot to some of us, and DRMd and proprietary solutions takes that choice away and is often not appreciated. Especially when there's no goo *technical* reason for doing so.
So how do you win opinions like that over? (especially as those opinions CAN still go hand-in-hand with wanting a non-torrent solution to viweing)
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no.73 Thanks Phazer. Just the info I needed.
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When are the iPlayer message boards getting some tlc? There are several issues with them that could do to be sorted, as have been mentioned over there.
At present, information seems to be all over the place, messageboards, blogs, twitter, news pages, there's probably even more, with no rhyme or reason behind it all, material often being repeated by many or hidden away on one.
Are there any plans to create a centralised kick off point to access all these different ways of "communication" being utilised by BBC staff? Ideally with some explanation of how they work (think of new people too), together with details of their significance/role within the decision making of the BBC, as some seem open whilst others are steered/controlled.
Each addition of a new posting/messaging "in thing" the BBC embraces, seems to turn actually communicating into an even bigger tangled mess. I know I'm getting confused by it all. Isn't it far better to do a few things well, rather than trying to do everything poorly.
Egg
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I note the Ceefax/Red Button Film Review Page 525 will not be updated after 22 May, so So Long to that feature as it folls Games REview into the ether.
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@TiggsPanther"Choice of player means a lot to some of us, and DRMd and proprietary solutions takes that choice away and is often not appreciated."
The choice is that or not having any content at all.
@Egg on a Stilt "When are the iPlayer message boards getting some tlc? There are several issues with them that could do to be sorted, as have been mentioned over there."
Agreed. The new sign on system hasn't ever worked more than 50% of the time since it was brought in, and broke updating the new posts notification on the my posts screeen. It needs to either be fixed or rolled back to the same sign on service the POV board uses.
Phazer
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@84
Problem is, the content is already out there.
It is only personal choice to stay legit that means I don't "otherwise acquire" progrmming I've missed. But it gets annoying where there is no real technical reason why my choice of software or hardware is not valid. Yet if I were to forgo my ethics, I'd have a wide choice of files that are 100% compatible with the apps and gadgets I already have.
This gets further complicated by the fact that two or three of my hardware platforms (Xbox 360, iTunes/iPod, not 100% sure about PSP) actually support DRM. And seeing that Macs/AppleTVs and Xbox 360s are often connected to HDTV sets, it still puzzles me why this obvious user-friendly DRM-friendly route hasn't been followed.
Now I may personally dislike DRM (with a passion), but I'd also be willing to compromise and use DRMd files if it meant that my existing DRM-capable players were supported. So why no BBC-blessed solution that plays with what I have? What many people have? What many people want a non-torrent method of viewing via?
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I have two requests regarding the EPG that the BBC provide for FreeSat:
1. It would be really useful if it could include either the date of original transmission or indicate whether something is a repeat.
2. Cover more than the next 7 days. If you are going on holiday, 2 or 3 weeks would be much more useful (perhaps this is up to FreeSat rather than the BBC).
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69 - The Broll
Click is lined up to be widened in the near future. I don't have an exact date to give you at the moment, but it's likely to be in the summer.
Alex Perry
BBC
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A question on embedded video advertisements on the BBC website (for audience outside the UK).
This could be partly due to the lack of buffering which has been answered before but, I would like to report that when the internet connection speed is low, then the the advert invariably does not complete and gets stuck in the middle. In such cases (when the speed is slow)The viewer never gets to the actual news/video clip. However, in cases where there is no advert placed inside the video, The viewer can access the news/video clip and watch it albeit with breaks in the middle.
It seems like the web connection is redirected and ad content is got from a different site and redirected back again to the BBC after the advert is played. I think this doesn't work properly when the connection is slow.
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The Markets page on Business section of the BBC Website is still on the old format. Will it be changed to the new one?
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
Oh look, a thread about Digital on the Television messageboard.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mbpointsofview/F1951566?thread=6603928
At least the posters are helping each other out.
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Is this the place where Nick responds to comments? He seems to have abandoned his POV blog and the POV boards.
This blog is a bit of a mess, isn't it? Random comments everywhere!
Nick, do you think your new rules on the POV boards have improved things there? It seems to be that traffic has decreased alarmingly over the past couple of weeks, and the threads being started are not nearly as interesting as once they were. Was this what you were after?
Thanks.
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"Is this the place where Nick responds to comments?"
Not in the last month, it isn't. ;)
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According to the blurb, on this blog...
"Senior staff from the BBC's online and technology teams discuss issues raised by you about BBC Online, BBC iPlayer, the BBC's digital and mobile services, and the technology behind them."
So where exactlty do we raise these issues we'd like discussed?
To me it looks like the place for BBC insiders to publish PR material, slap themselves on the back, spam/crosspost other BBC blogs or just "braindump" their latest barrel-scrapings from the blogosphere.
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Nick, has your experiment in openness now been completed?
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It's a never ending journey... but see my comment (second and third paragraph) earlier in this thread.
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to be honest Nick... No - I can't be bothered, you never say anything.
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I'm finding the online updating of the election results in detail non-existent and it's very very annoying! When a council has swung dramatically we want to see the break down of seats! So far they are all still showing pre-election status!
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Argh! I've been going round in circles for hours! I have a question about a BBC competition which is NOT answered in the competition rules or the programme page, and I have been totally unable to find a relevent blog or message board to ask the question. When I follow the 'contact us' links I keep being promised that I will get the opportunity to ask the question should I not find the answer anywhere else, but despite repeated deatailed study of every page I am taken to, I have not found a way of contacting anyone about this. There is no contact link for the programme, or the competition. I am somewhat surprised by this after recent 'problems' over BBC competitions. HOW DO I CONTACT THE BBC?
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girlkojak
Unfortunately, you have come through to BBC blogs. As you can see from the above comment 96 by Nick Reynolds, you may have to wait a month for a reply. There are two "Open" blogs where you can ask just about anything, but again it's hit and miss, as to when Nick will pop a head in to read your question.
Quicker to get a reply on the MESSAGEBOARDS (from fellow viewers/listeners), than wait for a BBC employee to respond on a blog.
If your question is about a BBC competition on a BBC TELEVISION programme then I would think that there is NO problem with going to the BBC POV Television Board, and asking the question there. The Host Sarah should be able to get an answer for you.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mbpointsofview/F1951566
I see from your History that this is your first posting (unless you have cleared your previous discussions. IF it is your first time on the messageboards, all you need to do is click on "start new discussion", give it a title like "Help with XXXXX Competition", and type your question in the wee "comments" box which appear.
IF your question is about a BBC Radio programme, then, it's a wee bit more complicated. Until recently you could have just gone to the RADIO board on POV Message boards and asked your question THERE, but Nick CLOSED the Radio board a couple of months ago. If you remember the Radio station then you MAY be able to ask the question on the messageboard of THAT radio station.
When all else fails, you could ask the folks over on the Archer Messageboard - it's open later than 10 o'clock, and if you go to THE BULL board I think they talk about just about anything and everything, so every possibility that you may get an answer there.
Good luck. There have been lots of complaints about finding your way around the BBC website, so you are not alone. That is why without knowing what the question is, I'm sending you off to speak to members of the public, instead of wading through the BBC website.
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girlkojak - if you give more detail I will try and find the right route for you. Which BBC competition?
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Nick
girlkojak posted her question THREE days ago, and there is every possibility that she needed a reply quickly to enter the competition. The competition may have been, and gone, so not much point in her hanging around waiting for someone from BBC to advise her.
If she'd gone to the POV Television board or (in the past) the GENERAL RADIO messageboard, no doubt a member of the general public (message board posters) could have pointed her in the right direction quicker than a busy blog author.
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Re: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8158468.stm
The graph on this page cannot be interpeted because it doesn't say whether the rate is per day, per week or per month. Please could you give this information.
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as listeners of radio2 for a great many years my collegue and I were wondering why the presenters cant take their annual leave at the same time as we do? or at least give us plenty of notice so that we can make alternative listening arrangements, ie, sarah kennedy, then the tog followed by ken bruce, jeremy vine, steve wright, chris evens, then home. its become such a part of our working routine that when one or two of them disappears it disrupts our entire day. Oh, by the way elaine page on a sunday! not good,
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Just wondered if it was a regular occurence for a non-topical event blog post to have a rigidly-enforced three (and a bit) day time limit?
It's not something I'd seen before in this ebb 'n flow, cut 'n thrust, no-holds-barred, hurly-burly, post-a-minute world of BBC blogs.
Seems like what someone would do if they really DIDN'T want to post something and wanted it to disappear as soon as possible off the main page and topical posts list.
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Seurat - as I've explained before the reason there is a time limit on that particular post is that the conversation around POV has started to disrupt both this blog and the POV boards themselves - so to try and manage this I've set some limits on it.
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Surely not giving us a place to discuss POV issues causes disruptions, as we have to come here on a non-related blog to talk about it!
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Nick Reynolds wrote:
Seurat - as I've explained before the reason there is a time limit on that particular post is that the conversation around POV has started to disrupt both this blog and the POV boards themselves - so to try and manage this I've set some limits on it.
I have to respond, especially as the forum for this subject has been closed by you. You 'manage' it to suit your own means, that's not the same as having an open dialogue with users of BBC's online services.
I don't mind if the blog is closed if debate is concluded, but yet again there is unfinished business as you fail to address points made. All you ever have to do is answer a straight question with a straight answer.
The amount of blogs you write on a subject is irrelevant, if people come away from them thinking that genuine points they make are unanswered/avoided/skirted around/ignored - of course they will endeavour to pursue an answer. To you this is 'disruption', it's a problem of your own making.
I don't think, with the greatest respect, you've "done the best I can", I think you've attempted to avoid questions when the straight answer would be detrimental to you and the BBC.
Here's the link for anyone else to decide for themselves whether it's fair to say Nick has avoided answering genuine questions:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/2009/07/points_of_view_message_boards.html
I also think it's a shame Sarah is left to clear up the mess caused by your 'improvements'.
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I watched Tom Daley on the bbc home page expecting to see the dive when instead we had a boring interview for 1.5 mins.
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
Faye Tsar - "I think you've attempted to avoid questions when the straight answer would be detrimental to you and the BBC."
If you can provide me with the questions you think I have avoided then I will attempt to answer them. But I do mean questions, not statements of opinion. Leave a comment on this thread with the questions clearly laid out and I will respond.
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Nick, thanks for your partial response to post 108.
Wouldn't it have just been easier to keep the 'numbers' blog open?
I think you've avoided giving us the full picture of the figures, we have not been given the post figures for May and June and part of July - reasons I have already 'blogged' about. You and I might disagree whether they are detrimental to the BBC considering you've already said in a pre-emptive salvo that:
But even if there is a fall in them that won't necessarily prove anything.
As for getting questions rather than replying to statements of opinion, why do you deem one worthy of response and not another - surely a 'debate' is agreeing or countering an opinion (made up of questions and statements of opinions).
How could anyone foresee that given that you've already said:
Comment and I will engage.
You did not say, "give specific questions and I will answer, I will ignore opinion". We've commented and the points made have not always been responded too (like post 108).
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I too have many many unanswered questions that were stated clearly and required simple answers. They have been selectively avoided by Nick. I would give Nick the list again, but each time I do this the blog goes cold and I don't get an answer.
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"Wouldn't it have just been easier to keep the 'numbers' blog open?"
No, because I have to try and manage this conversation which as I've already said is disrupting both this blog and the boards. A time limit is one way of doing then.
I've already responded to statements of opinion many times and given reasons for the decisions taken, so I want to avoid saying the same things again and again.
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You have responded to some statements of opinion, Nick, but you rarely answer our replies to your replies! Hardly a dialogue.
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I'm getting confused now.
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You don't engage or converse with us. You think answering one question, or responding to one comment, is enough. But we often come back to counter your response - ie. enaging in a dialogue or conversation . You hardly ever reply to those posts, presumably because you think you've already answered.
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I have engaged many times and left hundreds of comments. Don't know what else I can do really.
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Nor do I, Nick.
Except maybe hand all this over to someone who can answer our questions and comments.
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This has been going on so long I can't remember what questions I've answered.
The offer is still open if you want to ask any questions again.
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Ok i will try
Nick you said "discussion about non-bbc issues is not a good use of the license fee"
my question
Nick do you accept that the bbcs double standards and inconsistent approach to the above quote has led to much of the tension that you have been dealing with?
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No, I don't.
The POV boards are not in my view a place where people should discuss non BBC matters.
And I'm not responsible for whatever happens anywhere else.
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Nick if you had a chance to go back in time and could start this project again what would you do differently?
Do you accept your approach from the start has led to much of the tension that you have been dealing with?
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If I could start again I would have started in January rather than November as it took too long to get things sorted.
No I don't accept that. I think there would always be people who no matter what approach I took would disagree with the changes.
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Are the BBC in any shape or form trying to gradually get rid of boards in favour of blogs where they have more control?
If not why are boards being deleted as more blogs are appearing?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mbpointsofview/F1951574?thread=5976819
Nick could you answer post 1 on this thread
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Professor Techno - I can't answer post 1 on that thread because:
1. It's not about the Points of View message boards
2. It's about things that happened well before I got into this line of work
3. It appears to be about complex and sensitive legal matters - so I'd be daft to even think about talking about it without talking to a lawyer first
As for your first question by coincidence I am thinking about writing a blog post about this very subject. But in fact the BBC has just as much "control" over boards as it does over blogs. It's not about "control". It's about this question: is the effort you are putting in worth what you get back?
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A subject incidentally that I explored in this post.
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It's about this question: is the effort you are putting in worth what you get back?
And who decides that for each individual messageboard, Nick?
Because there seems to be a huge discrepancy between what some messageboards Hosts/authorities think the effort ratio should be and what others are actually implementing.
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If blogs are a good way for the BBC to to interact with license fee payers why do quite a few BBC bloggers (news editors) never answer follow up comments?
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questions
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128 - that would decided by whoever is editorially in charge of each board. It's certainly not decided by me, thank goodness. Incidentally Radio are strengthening their hosting - for example the 6music feedback board recently reopened with a new host.
129 - some people respond to comments others don't. On the Internet blog I think we do quite well.
As for why some people do it better than others, then I suppose there are factors like how much time you have. Answering comments in the way I'm doing here is a time consuming exercise. (Incidentally I've kind of covered this in the blog post I linked to above - which is another reason why people might not respond to all comments - you end up answering the same questions again and again).
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And who decides who's in editorial charge of each board?
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That depends on what you mean.
Blogs and boards are the editorial responsibility of the particular BBC division who run them. So for example the Strictly Come Dancing board is the responsibility of BBC Vision.
So BBC Vision would decide who hosts that board.
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Are all BBC messageboards run by BBC Vision?
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Nick, here's some questions:
Nick, when you initially decided to start the consultation process way back in November, you posted on the "bbc.co.uk" board in order to 'engage' with the POV Television board users about it's future.
Did you dogmatically choose to post there as you thought it was the correct place to post it, when statistically you would have has a much larger response has you posted on the Television board where the traffic is several times the one of the 'bbc.co.uk' board?
Second (follow on) question:
As a result do you think this action alone set out the stall of your mindset (as well as the manner in which you were perceived) - it was more important for you to post in the right place (in your opinion) than get the largest response from people that use the board under discussion?
Third question:
Do you in your current position at the BBC think it absurd that the BBC doesn't have (and hasn't had for a while) a coherent policy for messageboards and online services across the BBC. Do you think you and your colleagues would have more less problems to deal with had the BBC developed operational systems in an ordered and consistent manner, leading to no absurd inconsistencies?
For the most obvious and most glaring example: You can freely talk about non BBC television programmes but not on the television board itself.
Fourth questions:
What are the posting figures for the BBC Television board for May and June?
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cricket-Angel - no, that was just an example, see my previous answer.
Faye Tsar - I've already answered questions 1 & 2 many times so I'm not going to answer them again.
The answer to question 3 is possibly - but then again what you're really making decisions about is communities and different communities behave in different ways. These are quite subtle editorial judgements so complete consistency across the whole thing may not be desirable.
So there may well be places on BBC online where people discuss non BBC TV programmes. But I don't think the Points of View message boards should be one of them (as I've explained many times already).
Question 4 - although I'm under no obligation to give you that information if I get time and can find the numbers I might do.
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Nick, you say this is about communities and that there are other BBC messageboards where it is OK to discuss non-BBC programmes, yet you ruined the POV online community by suddenly fprbidding us to do exactly that.
How did you take into account the POV online comunity (eg. their views, observing the boards, statiscal analysis, please free to add your own) when you decided to align the boards to a fifteen minute seasonal programme, and severely restricted what could be discussed on the boards?
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Nick, in your humble opinion, do you think the current trend of Messageboards being closed as BLOGS increase will continue, until we get to a stage that Messageboards will be largely extinct on the BBC?
Why do you think many people believe that there is a conspiracy within the BBC to gradually close ALL boards? This conspiracy did not come about overnight, indeed arguments such as this have been around since i started using BBC messageboards (6 years ago)
What do you think the rationale is behind such views, and is there any substance whatsoever in such claims?
Is the BBC at fault for not challenging this this theory for such a long time?
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I read all the comments on both the blogs and the boards and participated in the discussions. I looked at the traffic numbers.
But I should point out that the boards were already aligned before I came along to the programme as they have the same name.
Changing the name of the boards and making them an open discussion about anything was an option, but not one there was any real justification for or enthusiasm for here.
Incidentally these are also questions I've answered before.
Just so you know, I am not going to answer any more questions that I've already answered.
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Nick Reynolds wrote:
Faye Tsar - I've already answered questions 1 & 2 many times so I'm not going to answer them again.
Thanks for the response, can you point me to the search facility so I can look for your previous answers?
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Seeing as neither you nor we can remember if you've answered specific questions, that should make things quite interesting!
Did the Hosts before Sarah work for the POV production team? Why did the boards have to be restricted in what could be discussed on them?
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Nick, I meant to add - did you look at and engage with the Television Board? You seemed to give that board a wide berth pre-The Changes.
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Another question:
Nick if someone has asked you a question before, can you please put a link to your previous answer or just cut and paste the answer here, or introduce a search facility in the next week for us to find it...
... or just answer the question, perhaps?
I'm confident enough to say that several people might say you may have, in the past, responded to their questions but not answered them.
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All you have to do to find most of the answers is to look at my previous blog posts or indeed look at my comments.
The only question above which I haven't previously answered is comment 142 the answer to which is I did look at the television board pre changes. It looked to me like a lively, good board worth keeping open, but the non BBC related material on it was distracting and irrelevant.
I'm afraid I'm not going to answer the same points again and again. You have not been able to show me any questions I haven't answered before, so I am not going to answer any more POV questions on this thread.
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"This Is What We Do".
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We are doomed
BTW Nick how many complaints did the BBC receive regarding your conduct and genarlly about the project?
I would guess they are in double figures which should tell you alot about how unsuccesful this project has been
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
"hat would decided by whoever is editorially in charge of each board."
Nick, who is editorially in charge of the POV boards now? Sarah seems to be hosting them, but appears to be bound by the (often bizarre) editorial decisions of the previous regime (one N. Reynolds).
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It looked to me like a lively, good board worth keeping open, but the non BBC related material on it was distracting and irrelevant.
This was your response, Nick, to the Television Board ^^^.
Distracting and irrelevant to whom?
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Sorry, meant to add:
Nick, why do you think the TV board was a lively good board before your changes? Could it be because there was a freedom of discussion that allowed a community to be built up and people felt happy and confident discussing topics with like-minded and familiar folk?
Everyone has noticed how the board has slowed right down and been stifled since your changes. Tis rarely lively nowadays :-(
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
I wonder what the stats are like for trafic on the POV board - pre Reynolds - post Reynolds.
I know a number of people do comaplian traffic is done but I havent really noticed it as such. Maybe certain thread trafic i down.
Any stats Nick?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/2009/07/points_of_view_message_boards.html?dnafrom=60&dnato=80#dnaacs
Some of the numbers are here, Franky ^^^^
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bookmark
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Why is'nt there a good quality DIY green energy program on any of the BBC channels?
If there is a program in the making can we please have serious presenters and not the clowns usually scene on this type of show.
A Bryant
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My Observation is about BBC/Sport/Football.
About 2-3 years ago the BBC football site went very tabloid; everyone was storming out, raging and furious. Like a lot of people in my office, I left the BBC football site that season in favour of more measured reporting available at ESPN and other outlets.
I notice this morning Rafa Benitez was “furious” after the game yesterday. It’s a lie, a pathetic lie. I’m a Tottenham supporter and I was pleasantly surprised at how measured and calm Benitez was given the immediate post-match circumstances.
I’ll give the BBC site two weeks before deleting the bookmark again. Please stop this childish nonsense.
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I have enjoyed Angela Bradberry's Wainwright/Rambling programmes on BBC2/4.
Please repeat the original Wainwright Coast to Coast programmes from the 80s.
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Why is it that every time a BBC TV programme shows clips from programmes that were recorded in 4:3, they zoom them to 16:9? I assume it's to get rid of the black bars, but this doesn't make for a good quality picture, it makes the quality worse and doesn't show you what the originally composition would have been, as well as chopping of bits of the picture.
If they have to zoom them, couldn't they zoom them to half-way between 4:3 and 16:9?
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Nick, any idea what is going to happen to both Mark Mardell's and Justin Webb's blogs, that is the now old blogs pre the end of this month, are they and our contributions going to be archived for future reference or are they going to vanish into the ether - I hope not as both have a historical place, they are often comments on what is now history, made at the time.
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
I used to get BBC.com video streaming but not anymore. Instead there is a black box. Any one know why the video streaming can not be seen anymore. Does anyone else have the similar problem?
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On my IBM PC I do get video streaming from other sites like washingtonpost.com e.g.:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2009/09/09/VI2009090903355.html?hpid=artslot
but for some reason the video streaming content of bbc.com/news has disappeared and all I get is a black box in place of ANY video streaming content on bbc.com/news. bbc.com has a rich video streaming content but I can not access it on my IBM PC.
I want to know if anybody in the USA has observed the same problem?
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#162. At 6:19pm on 10 Sep 2009, ajain31 wrote:
"but for some reason the video streaming content of bbc.com/news has disappeared and all I get is a black box in place of ANY video streaming content on bbc.com/news."
Most BBC video streaming content is now blocked to any IP numbers outside the UK, search through the various "Changes to international pages" blogs (that URL leads to the last blog - of four - and has links to the previous blogs). This seems to be due to both rights issues and internal BBC issues.
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Please note that no apostrophes are needed in the phrase below. Please could someone amend this on http://www.bbc.co.uk/switch/thecut/about.shtml
'...he meets the Mackinnon’s and the Loxley’s, two families with an age old history of bad blood.'
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I've recently worked my way through the new archive of Tomorrow's World and have really enjoyed the experience. Having also been watching the new series of Bang Goes the Theory, it has been interesting to compare and contrast the two. I must say as a fan of TW since I was a nipper (I'm now 50) it is head and shoulders over the new kid due to a variety of reasons. I liked TW's approach of tackling scientific stories which had political and ethical issues and explaning these clearly. It also did a pretty good job at explaning the science behind the story in layman's terms. I'm a computer scientist and so I have my discipline that I know well, but only sketchy idea of material, chemical, biological science and TW helped to provide a broad interest in science in general. I also think the presenters also had a high degree of credibility that the new team, don't, for me anyway, provide. There is too much comparison with Channel 5's Gadget Show (not just the fact that Dallas Campbell switched shows) that I find irritating in what is supposed to be a more general science program.
So come on BBC, isn't the TW format too good a brand and a winning formula to miss out on. How about bringing it back.
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I started watching 'Cash in the attic' on BBC1 on Sept 30th but I'd missed the start.
Angela Rippon was in a beautiful stately home but I missed it's name and location.
I'd like to know whether it's open to the public because my wife would love to see it,
Robin Parker
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#166. At 12:30pm on 30 Sep 2009, thunderbirdsparker wrote:
"I started watching 'Cash in the attic' on BBC1 on Sept 30th but I'd missed the start."
iPlayer is your friend (assuming you are in the UK), as is the BBC web based schedules.
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Dear BBC, I wanted to write and thank you for the excellent drama currently running on BBC1 - 'Criminal Justice'. It's hard hitting storyline and superb acting of all the main characters and supporting actors, the intimate filming and sensitive attention to detail; the cruel reality of dealing with a situation as a 'stand alone' without regard for the whole picture and with authoratative figures able to influence the lives of those who have no say in what happens them. The brutality and reality of the criminal and legal system and the perceived bias that those in authority can have. It is excellent.
I have signed up for the message board, but for the life of me I cannot work out how to add a comment. In days gone by I would get out a pen and paper and merely post a letter, indeed I would send an email, but am unable to find a way to do this also.
I do wish the BBC would desist from shrinking the credits in favour of 'what's on next' or other messages. Apart from an excellent acting crewe, there are those whose credits should be displayed proudly, the director; producer; script writer and the editing and casting director. All worthy of a mention and I do like to be able to read them. This form of finishing a programme does not reflect the pride these people must have in their work.
This letter should go on 'points of view' but I cannot work out how.
Janeycycle
[Personal details removed by Moderator]
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You could try here janeycycle http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mbpointsofview/F1951566
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My son is doing Howards End as part of his A level syllabus. It is currently on being read by John Hurt on Radio 4, but during the day, when he is at achool. Although you can listen again on the internet, it is not available in a format that can be downloaded onto an MP3 player or CD and kept. Is there any way of doing this?
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Hi, does any one remember the programme Against All Odds, I belive it was presented by Kate Sanderson then Jake Humphrey, Are there any vidoes or DVDs available of this programme?
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What's happening with the BBC Beta Homepage?
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It's in beta Mike. An upgraded version of the page is due in the next couple of months.
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