The Original Sims

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No promises; this will my first live programme in several years and it’s a strange studio, but I’m thinking about Live Blogging tonight when I’m presenter on Belfast radio station U105.  Maurice Jay has been doing the induction, showing me how to work the desk and the Selector.  I’ve been sitting in with Ivan Martin and John Rosborough.  The running order for tonight is done - and trashed.  Do it again before going on air.

So - I’ll attempt to Blog here - or Twitter here - or Flickr from here.

So if join me from 9.00 pm on 105.8FM, or http://www2.u105.com/ (you’ll be asked for a UK Post Code.  (If you don’t have on try BT7 1EB.)

And email me - studio@u105.com from 9.00pm

EB

Story Finders and Audience

Sometimes you just need to slap people on the back and let them know they’ve done a great job.  When BBC NI set up the Story Finders project I had one simple idea.  It was to get one or two people trained up to help provide stories for community websites like YPAM - part of the group of sites for which I was Editor.  With support from BBC (NI and Nations and Regions), Department of Finance and Personnel, BT and NICVA there were enough funds to set up six Story Finders’ centres around Northern Ireland.

BBC NI Controller Peter Johnston, PFP Director Bill McCluggage and Basil Davidson’s back

Each of the groups were given kit (PC or laptop, digital stills and video cameras, audio recorder) and training to help them explore the stories - often oral history - of their locality.  Evelyn Ellison is the co-ordinator and mre recently Cathy Moorehead has been assisting.

Cathy Moorehead trying to get the damn thing to work

So on Thursday 19th people from five of the centres came together to show and tell.  it was my last formal event before leaving the BBC.  I’m very proud of the work they have all done and grateful for their enthusiasm.

My newest Online name (or handle if you are deep into 70’s CB) is Qikker80388. Not as quaint as some in the online nomenclature, but now I’ve joined qik.com (pronounced “quick”) and I can’t work out how to give myself a name more human, I’ll stick with Qikker80388 in the meantime. 

So what’s it all about?  Earlier today I was standing on the shore in Holywood streaming live on the internet a panorama of Belfast Lough from my Nokia.  OK the picture quality wasn’t that good and the slight breeze sounds like a storm.  but let’s not start with the “quality” issue until we get over the technical miracle.  That’s try than sentence again “Earlier today I was standing on the shore in Holywood streaming live on the internet a panorama of Belfast Lough from my Nokia.” http://qik.com/video/105304

Only a few years ago I needed thousands of pounds of kit fast connections and expensive cameras to do much the same. Qik might be miniature quick and dirty, but if the recent history of social media technology is anything to go by, not only are we all going to be broadcasters, we’re all going to have our Outside Broadcast Units, too.

It’s always worth reviewing predictions.  My favourite is Epic 2014  which I first watched about three years ago. Start at This Page http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=85631 for the background to the story and links to the videos.

There are moves every day in the internet business which bring the predictions closer (and faster) most recently the Microsoft/Yahoo failed deal – or perhaps “stalled” would be a better word than “failed”

The Irish Times comes into the office each day – but I rarely lift it to read it.  Like the Guardian, I skim the online version and sometimes take a section to read on the train home.

This story in the Irish Times from about 10 days ago is in line with the EPIC prediction from four years ago.

The report, conducted by Zogby International for the World Editors Forum and Reuters, revealed that newspaper editors were still optimistic about the future of their publications but believed they would have to adapt further for the digital age.
Some 86 per cent of respondents believed newsrooms should become more integrated with digital services as two in three believe the most common form of news consumption will be via electronic media such as online or mobiles within a decade.
"For these editors the future is self-evident and our survey shows that they see the writing on the newsroom wall," said pollster John Zogby. "The evolution of the 4th Estate is no longer questions of if, when or how. Editors now know the solution: Innovate. Integrate. Or perish."
According to the survey, 56 per cent of respondents believed that the majority of news, be it via print or online, would be free in the future. That was up from 48 per cent who answered yes a year ago.

Oh, and another good thing about newspapers online is you can find a story like this when in analogue time the paper would have gone to recycling (or to light the fire).

On Thursday to Magee Campus of the University of Ulster in Derry.  I was part of a panel evaluating a new course; BA (Hons) Creative Technologies.  This is a fantastic course that they hope to launch for September intake.  It answers some of the expectations of the Creative Industries in Northern Ireland. There is a 300 page document outlining the course and several other documents added to that.  So in short how do I explain it? They plan to bring together computer technologies, performance arts, business and some other disciplines to build a course that is not Media Studies, but a place for young performers to understand their performance and then to build their digital stage. 

We, the panel, were extremely enthusiastic about the proposal.  It is visionary.

Normally I would drive to Derry, but this time (and from now on if possible) I took the train.  What a fantastic journey with spectacular scenery.   This is Magilligan Strand (I think) on the return journey.  Just look at the size of the empty beach and those Atlantic breakers.

This is the 96th anniversary of the Titanic sinking.  Over the years we have pulled together bits an pieces for the BBC NI web site (recommended - Peter Matassa produced the main site with Mike McKimm’s footage).  But there is so much out there and no central point to send you to the best.

So today we offer the world The Titanic Portal which I hope in time (well, by 2012) will be a useful resource.

I don’t normally write about the BBC - it is my employer and it’s best to keep comments in-house in any organisation. But I’ll make an exception on this occasion.  There was never any doubt that iPlayer would be taken to the nation’s heart in quick time. I expect there is plenty of research predicting the take up in the Corporation (we BBC people tend to call it that - 4 syllables rather than 3 - that’s the way we are).  But did we expect it to be taken up so quickly?  Possibly. I don’t know.

I’m on both sides on iPlayer.  I use it – frequently – and more often the streaming rather than  download.  I don’t think I’ve downloaded anything since the streaming system started.  I’m also involved (in a very minor way) in putting programme onto iPlayer and getting feedback from the audience.  What has surprised me is the speed and number of emails I get when a programme is not almost immediately available.  (It does take time, people.  It’s mainly automated, but it still takes time.)

Now the ISPs are complaining. There is a very interesting article here. 

But this is only the beginning.  iPlayer will be joined by Kangaroo.  You already have Joost, Bablegum and others on the horizon.  There is no question that better connections will attract richer (bigger) content which should drive even better connections.

Still Blogsitting for William Crawley over at BBC Blogs

When Newspapers or News Broadcasters use the Internet to engage with the audience it’s usually no more than “Send us your pictures”, or “Tell us what you think”. I’m Editor New Media in BBC Northern Ireland and the response I get from the audience to the “Tell us what you think” is “I don’t care what they think. If I care what someone thinks, I prefer it is someone with an informed opinion rather than just an opinion.”

That’s what I was going to cover in this post, until I saw this. “Newly discovered JFK assassination items revealed” (Free sign in required) The Dallas Morning News sets it up like a drama – which to some extent it is.

An old safe is discovered in a Dallas courthouse. Once opened, its contents reveal a secret cache of files related to the death of President John F. Kennedy. There is an assassin’s gun holster, brass knuckles and a transcript of a "smoking gun" conversation to kill the president.

You can read the whole story on the Dallas Morning News Site. (BTW, although the internet now allows me to read newspapers I would never have dreamed of, I’m not a regular of the Dallas Morning News and should credit Cybersoc for pointing to this story.)

I know public participation in public broadcasting is important; it’s just sometimes I wish we in the Main Stream Media were more creative about how the public and they (we, of course) can work together. The classic public participation on the internet was - and still is - SETI @ Home which helped and still helps scientists use your idle computer time by linking your computer to a grid. There is an idea floating around (perhaps now in operation) to use the power of CATCHPAs (that little test you get in some online forms to test whether you are a human). Part of the CATCHPA would also be part of a mathematical formula and by copying in letters/digits you would join with millions of others to perform a calculation. Don’t ask me for details, I’m only a DJ that made good.

This interesting thing about both the SETI and CATCHPA projects is that they are scientists asking for your help not your opinion. MSM only seem to be interested in your opinion (oh, and your photos).

Dallas Morning News are going the way of the scientists and in what would appear to be a very exciting way. On This page they describe the idea

Below is one, large chunk of the documents. In the coming days, dallasnews.com will share more of them for your review. The documents contained here are those that the district attorney’s office made available in electronic form – an estimated 90 percent of all the documents from the vault. Another 10 percent had not yet been scanned when these files were released to The Dallas Morning News. The contents include transcripts, personal and official letters, newspaper clippings, lists of jurors, police reports, rap sheets, autopsy reports, trial notes, police notebooks, photographs and much more. The documents appear here exactly as they were received by The News . They are neither cataloged nor indexed, and they are in no apparent order. Given the volume, we haven’t been able to review most of the files. That’s why were calling on you. Here’s your chance to review never-seen-before materials related to the JFK assassination.

So – I’m tempted to ask – what do you think?

I’d rather know what you found.

… in the BBC at least. The BBC Pronunciation Unit of the BBC is a wonderful establishment and when I worked in radio I would often use their advice and sometimes send themadvice of my own.  Recently they undertook a consiltation on how the easilly written web 2.0 should be said.  now lets be clear.  The PU give guidence and advice, so you can pronounce it what ever way you want to.  What they wanted to know was what is best practice.

Votes cast for “two point oh”: 74%
Votes cast for “two point zero”: 14%
Votes cast for “two point nought”: 5%
Votes cast for “something else” (“web two”, “two oh” and “two dot zero” were mentioned): 5%
Votes cast for “two dot oh”: 2%

My own favourite is WebTwo Nil - but more usually two point oh.  And that’s what I’ll stick to.