Sky bids big for Virgin Media channels – FT.com Quite why anyone would want to pay £160m for a set of channels which includes the awfulness that is Virgin 1, I really don’t know. Especially a company who described the channel package as "almost worthless" in court when BSkyB and Virgin Media were fighting over money. (tags: BSkyB VirginMedia sky Television) EastEnders: Muslim character to have gay love affair – guardian.co.uk The Guardian calls it "one of the last taboos left in soap". (tags: EastEnders televisionprogrammes Television soapoperas) Tube workers to strike over pay – BBC News I regularly think the RMT needs someone to advise them on PR… Asking for a 5% pay rise AND fewer hours during a recession when inflation is as low as it is… Well it isn’t what I’d do if I wanted sympathy for my cause… (tags: LondonUnderground London TransportForLondon RMT unions) How does your pay compare with an MP’s? – BBC News Magazine Michael Blastland compares MPs salaries with the average one which is, apparently, £390 a week. It comes a few days after someone told me that MPs earn about £20,000 a year more than I thought they did. Of course the... View Article
I recently had a go using a new TV. Not that special except that the TV in question had an Ethernet connection going into it, meaning the world of internet delivered content was available. The presence of a back channel meant that communication to the viewer was no longer one way.
Scamalot – The Daily Show with Jon Stewart "You are mocking moats because you don’t understand them Stewart!" Sometimes you need an American viewpoint on MP expense scandals. Not very often of course. But if it’s Jon Stewart’s then we really should. (tags: MPsexpenses JonStewart TheDailyShow politics humour politicalhumour) Adam and Joe: ‘There are a lot of people like us’ – The Observer Top interview (tags: BBC BBCRadio6Music AdamAndJoe) "Should there be an investigation into BBC employee expenses and allowances as there has been into MP’s?" – BBC Points of View Board A question pondered on the BBC’s Points of View board. So I decided to check my expenses. Here they are. Year 2008/2009 – nothing. El Zilco. Year 2007/2008 – £1.85 for train travel between East Croydon and the BBC’s office in Kingswood Warren. I got from home to Croydon using my own Travelcard and used the Annual Gold Card bit to save the BBC (and hence you) some cash. Year 2006/2007. Nowt. I can see the scandal brewing already off that lot. (tags: expenses BBC work)
Jonathan Ross’s Radio 2 show to be pre-recorded to prevent on-air gaffes – guardian.co.uk Even post-Sachsgate, some people were still touting Ross as the replacement for Wogan when he retires from the Breakfast Show… But you can’t pre-record your flagship show every day… (tags: JonathanRoss BBCRadio2 BBC radio)
Wells and Young’s unveils new Bombardier font – The Publican URGH! They’re going to make the Bombardier pump as ugly and awful as most lager pubs. Horrible. Ugly. Thank goodness most of the pubs I visit don’t use the brewery-supplied beer fonts, but use those simple, discrete gold bars instead. (tags: beer Bombardier WellsAndYoungs pubs) David Suchet catches Orient Express for ITV documentary – guardian.co.uk Someone should mention that Five did this two years ago in the form of Gavin Stamp’s Orient Express. I suspect the insight Gavin Stamp gave it will be far more worthwhile than what David Suchet can provide… (tags: Five itv OrientExpress Television) Up to 18m homes will have to retune Freeview in push for HD World Cup – guardian.co.uk My set top box automatically scans for new channels and puts them in the EPG for me without complaint. Quite why every box can’t do this is beyond me. (tags: Freeview digitaltelevision Television) Four minutes. Exactly. – BBC Radio 4 Blog Radio 4 announcer Charles Carroll explains the fun that happens just after noon every day on Radio 4. The time when the station splits into two for the shipping forecast, then comes back together again.... View Article
Cerys Matthews to be daily lunchtime presenter for BBC 6Music – Guardian I was just pondering whether Cerys would be joining 6music to take over whilst Nemone’s on maternity leave. She was in on the 10-1pm slot recently and was absolutely brilliant. Real passion for music, and a marvellous variety of music too. Good call 6music. Now make sure she gets a slot when Nemone comes back! (tags: CerysMatthews BBC BBC6music)
Siobhain Mcdonagh MP’s personal expenses (PDF) My MP has started putting her expenses on her website. No I don’t know any reason why she’d want to do that either. Got to be honest, it’s all rather dull and the Daily Telegraph certainly won’t be running a story on this lot. Unless they think £1,794 on travel is too much for a London MP to spend… (tags: MPsexpenses Merton MitchamandMordenMP SiobhainMcDonagh parliament politics) Siobhain McDonagh MP’s office costs (PDF) At least her office costs are more interesting. I am dismayed however that a change in rules in 2007/8 saw Siobhain spend far far far less on postage than before. Maybe that explains why she doesn’t bombard me with letters any more… (tags: MPsexpenses Merton MitchamandMordenMP SiobhainMcDonagh parliament politics) Marc Edward carpets and flooring Please. someone tell me what was going through their minds when they registered "sexycarpets.co.uk"? They have markedwardcarpets.com but it redirects! Feels very wrong when looking at work. (tags: carpets urls Internet web) Facebook moves Cardiff to England – BBC News Who do Americans have this collective denial of the United Kingdom and its constituent parts? It’s not hard… (tags: UnitedKingdom facebook Wales England) Merton councillors pick new mayor... View Article
“Wimbledon households contribute the greater part of council tax paid in Merton borough. In mayoral terms, this is taxation without representation.” says councillor Ron Scott.
It's been a bit of a roller coaster ride ever since the announcement that the team I work in - the TV Platforms department - would be moving to Salford in 2011.
Three surnames for one person. Too many? – BBC News Magazine Of course the whole problem of names and marriages could be solved by women simply not changing their name when they marry. After all, it is a rather pointless and daft custom that just serves to create hassle and problems. What about the kids I hear someone ask? Well for good measure, any female offspring take the surname of the mother, and male offspring take that of the father. Then we would never have these silly problems! Sorted. (You can have that idea for free!) (tags: surnames genderequality feminism bbcnewsmagazine) NME Radio launches on DAB in London – NME.com Great news for my DAB radio – especially as I’m not a huge fan of some of 6music’s weekend schedule. Adam and Joe, Liz Kershaw, the Freak Zone are of course the exceptions! (tags: NMERadio radio DAB London) Protest at ‘unsafe’ shared road – BBC News Apparently there’s a plan to transform Exhibition Road into a place with no kerbs or pedestrian crossings – and a speed limit of 20mph. Sounds dumb and dangerous? I used such a road in central Bern, Switzerland, and felt surprisingly safe. Large articulated bendy... View Article
