The Inquisitr » bbc

Christopher Walken makes Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” somehow enjoyable

Kim LaCapria — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 20:45:21 +0000

Never thought you’d see the day?

Christopher Walken does his Christopher Walken thing reading Lady Gaga’s Poker Face, with predictably awesome results.

Video: Cassetteboy vs. Nick Griffin vs. Question Time

Kim LaCapria — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:41:38 +0000

A YouTube remix with the subtext of last night’s Question Time. Hilarious.

Nanny State Gone Mad: BBC Changes Lyrics To Humpty Dumpty, Little Miss Muffet

Duncan Riley — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 05:21:45 +0000

UK public broadcaster BBC is under fire for changing the lyrics on classics such as Humpty Dumpty and Little Miss Muffet to remove the negatives.

In the BBC version of Humpty Dumpty, the King’s horses “made Humpty happy again” instead of “couldn’t put Humpty together again.” In Little Miss Muffet, Miss Muffet makes friends with the spider rather than being frightened away.

The BBC claims that it’s not a case of the nanny state gone mad, saying that the words had been changed for “creative” purposes.

Labour MP and former minister Tom Harris though wasn’t buying the line, telling The Independent that the changes were “pathetic,” and that “This is what happens when adults try to make these kinds of judgments.”

The BBC brings world’s largest zoo to you – online

Steven Hodson — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:44:39 +0000

Of all of the traditional media trying to get online in a useful way the BBC has to be one of the best examples of how it can be done. Their latest effort is to bring to you the world’s biggest zoo and all from within the comfort of your web browser.’

After all the BBC has to have one of the largest video libraries of animals, insects, and birds in the world so why not put it all together in such away that we can all enjoy all that information. In order to do this the BBC spent many years planning such a thing and once the funding and technology made it possible they started putting thought into action.

As a result we have the BBC’ Wildlife Finder where you can go to once videos and learn about 370 animals. This is only a start however as staff are toiling the hundreds of wildlife programs to add new videos daily.

BBC staff are combing through hundreds of wildlife programmes, from spectaculars such as Planet Earth to regional TV news items, to create an unprecedented collection. Early stars in terms of hits online include Darwin’s frog, a tiny resident of forests in Chile, which gives birth through the mouth of the male. The process is repeated in slow motion – another feature of the archive’s ability to spy on Earth’s wild creatures to an unprecedented extent.

A New Guinea jumping spider has also leapt into the popularity charts, soaring from a leaf on to the cameraman’s lens. He carries on filming, as a commentary tells us about the exceptional size of the spider’s jaws. "Its jump is only used," the film explains, without the slightest wobble as spider legs skid on the glass, "as a means of getting on to its prey."

Source: The Guardian – BBC opens world’s biggest online zoo

BBC broadcasts ‘PS3 failure’ report, Sony not happy

Chris Greenhough — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 23:08:37 +0000

Tonight’s edition of the BBC’s Watchdog program has aired a report on the PlayStation 3’s alleged lack of reliability. Watchdog apparently received 155 complaints from viewers about the console, leading to tonight’s investigation into the so-called “yellow light of death.”

News of the impending broadcast came out earlier today, prompting Sony to release an impassioned press release, denying Watchdog’s claims that Sony “refuses to fix” consoles that suffer from the dreaded yellow light. In a lengthy retort (the full version of which can be read here), Sony UK boss Ray Maguire harrumphed:

“From the correspondence to date, I have serious concerns as to the accuracy of these allegations and the likely tone of the Watchdog report. [...] The information that you have provided suggests a fundamental misunderstanding of the technical issues and a mis-characterisation of SCEUK’s Out of Warranty repairs policy.”

Well, the program aired just a couple of hours ago (those in the UK can view the full programme here), and while Sony has yet to respond, its earlier statement contained an ominous message for the BBC:

“If the report is broadcast in what appears to be its current form, SCEUK will scrutinise its accuracy and will take all necessary steps to protect its reputation and that of the PS3.”

Having seen the show myself, I’d suggest Sony actually has a case here. The Watchdog report lacked credibility in my view, drawing conclusions based on very small samples of users.

Furthermore, a stunt on the show (in which Watchdog offered to repair PS3s for free outside Sony’s HQ, to show up Sony charging £128 per repair) backfired spectacularly, with four of the eleven systems no longer working after Watchdog’s technicians had fiddled with them. Oops. I can hear Sony’s lawyers cracking their knuckles from here.

[Via GamesIndustry.biz]

Magician predicts lottery numbers

Dennis Bjørn Petersen — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 11:57:32 +0000

The British magician Derren Brown predicted lottery numbers on live television. But how did he do it? Was is a scam?

This Friday thousands of Brits will tune in to Channel 4, when magician Derren Brown will reveal how he managed to do the impossible: Guess the numbers for the midweekly National Lottery, before they were randomly drawn on live television.

The illusionist wrote the numbers down, before the machine on “Midweek Lotto Draw” showed them, but because of legal issues he was only allowed to show the numbers as they were drawn by the BBC.

Derren Brown revealed his numbers on Channel 4, while BBC ran “Midweek Lotto Draw”. Because of this, many people believe the trick is a scam.

Whippersnapper trades iPod for Walkman, shame

Kim LaCapria — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:04:48 +0000

The BBC has profiled a charmingly articulate 13-year-old boy’s assessment of the Walkman vs. his trusty iPod.

Obvious “mommy totally wrote this for me” aside, it was an interesting article. Reading the piece, I recalled about a decade ago when my mother was driving a cousin somewhere when he started frantically smacking the window crank in the car. It took her a second to realize that the kid, now 19, had never seen a manual open/close window doodad. He had no idea what to do with the crank-thingy.

So Scott Campbell, hailing from Aberdeenshire, gamely traded his iPod for a Walkman for a whole week. Scotty starts his review:

So it’s not exactly the most aesthetically pleasing choice of music player. If I was browsing in a shop maybe I would have chosen something else.

From a practical point of view, the Walkman is rather cumbersome, and it is certainly not pocket-sized, unless you have large pockets. It comes with a handy belt clip screwed on to the back, yet the weight of the unit is enough to haul down a low-slung pair of combats.

“Aesthetics” aside (did I mention this kid is very frickin’ eloquent?), Scott has a bit to learn about the technical limitations of his new old device. After taking two days to realize that the tape actually has two sides, he then “mistook the metal/normal switch on the Walkman for a genre-specific equaliser.” In another “man I’m old” moment, you can read about his surprise at the lack of a shuffle option. I’m still impressed by the inclusion of one. Campbell craftily uses the rewind function to create an ad hoc shuffle feature.

Dad comes in all buzzkilly here and tells the kid about the Walkman’s “tape munching” feature. Even I’d forgotten about that, despite having spent hours at the age of thirteen myself tearfully untangling my beloved Doors cassettes. Also mentioned is the Walkman’s insatiable thirst for batteries, all but forgotten to us now as our toys charge mainly via USB or in a wall socket.

The kid isn’t all unimpressed though, he liked the two headphone jacks to share music with a friend. But his overall impression is that of horror- each tape only held about twelve tracks!

[Image: Flickr]

The gracious dive of the wild Fox

Duncan Riley — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 15:00:16 +0000

Foxes, usually hunted and generally disliked, aren’t an animal you would immediately consider to have any element of grace. And yet surprisingly they do.

This ad for the BBC series Yellowstone shows a Fox diving. Not diving from a ledge, but from a standing position, and used as a way of capturing food. It’s the least thing you’d expect to see from a Fox, which perhaps is why it’s worthy of watching.

No related posts.

British Actress Stephanie Parker found dead

Duncan Riley — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 10:31:49 +0000

British Actress Stephanie Parker has been found dead in Wales two days after the series she appeared in had ended.

Parker played the role of Stacey Weaver in the BBC Wales show Belonging since she was 15 (she was 22 at the time of her death.) She has also appeared in Doc Martin, Doctors and on Casualty.

Police say there were no suspicious circumstances and that the death was being treated as suicide. Some reports suggest that Parker might have hung herself, although other reports say she was found on “open ground.”

Parker lived in Pontypridd, Glamorgan, 10 miles from Bridgend, a Welsh town which has seen a spate of teenage suicides over recent years.

BBC shows what happens when you buy a botnet

Steven Hodson — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 03:17:31 +0000

As a way to show its viewer how easily their computers could be a part of a botnet the BBC technology show Click went out and purchased what they called a low value botnet from one of the many underground Internet chatrooms. They then used that network to spam a Gmail and Hotmail account specifically setup up for this investigation.

After successfully leaving thousands of spam emails in those accounts in a matter of hours they turned their attention to performing a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack on a site provided by security company Prevx. Once they completed all that they wanted to do the show left messages on the infected computers in the botnet that they were infected and then disabled the botnet.

Tony Hart Dies Aged 83

Duncan Riley — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 00:05:35 +0000

British artist, presenter and actor Tony Hart has passed away aged 83.

Hart spent over 50 years on television and appeared on TV shows including Playbox, Titch and Quackers, Vision On, Take Hart, Artbox Bunch, and Smart Hart. He’s best known outside the UK for his role on the BBC series Heartbeat from 1985 to 1994.

On many of his shows, he shared his love of art, demonstrating small-scale projects and creating large-scale artworks. Hart also created the original design for the Blue Peter badge, also used as the program’s logo.

Hart received two BAFTA awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998.

He is survived by his daughter, Carolyn, and two grandchildren.

BBC to Begin Offering Online Simulcasts of Shows

JR — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:49:58 +0000

The BBC will start simulcasting some of its shows online as they debut over-the-air, the network has announced.

Shows such as “EastEnders,” “Heroes,” and “Never Mind The Buzzcocks” are among the titles that will be offered live on the Internet in real-time as they first play on the broadcast channels. The move will bring the BBC One and BBC Two channels online in fully streamable forms, joining several — BBC Three, BBC Four, CBBC, Cbeebies, and BBC News — that are already broadcasting both online and on-air.

The network describes the decision as being part of its “commitment to make channels available online.” BBC cites recent research showing the number of people who watch TV online has doubled in the last year alone. A similar report released earlier this year echoes that sentiment.

BBC Preparing to Take on iTunes

JR — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 21:13:51 +0000

Watch out, iTunes: The BBC’s getting into the online music game, and with a unique twist in mind.

BBC Worldwide has revealed plans to launch an Internet-based music download service in competition with Apple. The store will feature tunes from the BBC’s archives with the option to pay to download or pay less to “rent” — meaning the track would be downloaded with a temporary lifespan. The service will also let you stream anything in its entirety for free, if you don’t mind pre-, post- and mid-roll advertisements. All purchased and downloaded content will be DRM-free and is expected to run about 79p (USD$.89) per track.

The interesting thing here is the service will actually offer something new compared to its competitors. Rather than standard album tracks, the catalog will be made up of live performances that have aired on the BBC over the years — anything from “Top of the Pops” to various music festivals and radio or TV specials. Some will even date back to the 70s-era “Old Grey Whistle Test”, a program that had performances ranging from John Lennon to the Eagles.

A beta version is expected to debut in November with a full launch following early next year. The name of the service has not yet been decided.