bbc
The BBC listens!
Interestingly, the BBC have picked up my blog post about the iPlayer’s weird search results. In the right-hand nav is a ‘BBC on blogs’ menu, linking to the top 5 blog posts that are about the BBC. This is both cool and annoying at the same time:
- Cool because it shows they’re listening (albeit probably via Google Alerts) but also reading (because it’s a human-moderated list) what people are saying
- Annoying because I wish I’d said something more interesting. As it happens, I still re-read that blog post and can’t think of anything else to put into it…
Nice one, Aunty. I promise to try and think of more constructive things to say next time!
0BBC iPlayer’s weird search results
I like Top Gear: Jeremy Clarkson reminds me of my dad, and therefore makes me laugh. Heaven forbid you ever want to find any Top Gear shows on BBC’s iPlayer, though:
Not only is there just 1 episode in there, it also returns a link to ‘Rewind the 60′s’ with Lulu. Not quite what I was after. Closer inspection reveals that it’s in the search results because the show detail contains the words ‘top’ and ‘gear’ – in completely different sentences:
Well done BBC!
Most popular BBC story is a ‘thank thank’ page
Just a quick one this fine morning to say well done to the BBC. We’re all familiar with the bottom-right ‘popular stories’ panel on news.bbc.co.uk – which today looked like this:
Fascinated as to what the ‘Thanks for your email’ story was, I clicked it…
Click to enlarge
Fascinating. 
TV Licensing (www.tvlicensing.co.uk) site review
Everyone hates paying their TV license. There’s no escaping it, and it’s annoying to think we’re being made to fund the likes of Eastenders and other such guff. So how do they go about achieving this feat online?
I am writing this whilst on the train, so here we have…
A (short) review of www.tvlicensing.co.uk
As mentioned already, the thought of being made to pay for the privilege of watching colour television in our own homes is all sorts of shit – especially when the fee goes towards paying for programs you probably don’t even watch. Does the site support the shit-ness? Does it make you want to part with your money? Or is it like every other quango site? Read on and find out!
1We are SO British.
“Stormy weather forms funnel cloud!”
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/7492301.stm)
I think this News article sums up Britain wonderfully. A funnel CLOUD (singular) was spotted in the sky: instantly warrants BBC News report. Quote:
Nigel Bolton, a weather forecaster with the Met Office added: “We have about 30 to 40 touchdown tornadoes a year in the UK and if this funnel cloud had touched down it could have badly damaged a tree or a shed roof.
Oh no: not a tree! What about that shed roof?! Watch out now.
Don’t have nightmares.
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