All credit to my wife for spotting that the Daily Mail made the mistake of referrering to the BBC as being funded by taxpayers. Of course, this is not so (although one could argue that any MP who is claiming their TV license fee on expenses IS funding the BBC through tax!). The BBC is funded entirely by the optional TV license fee. Having a TV is a personal choice and is not something that is being forced upon you, quite unlike paying tax.
It’s somewhat ironic, therefore, that commercial broadcasters want a slice of the TV license fee for themselves. Particularly when you consider that the big commercial broadcasters such as ITV, Channel 4 and the rest actually cost the TV license payer even MORE money than the BBC, since commercial broadcasters are funded from advertising. Who pays the advertisers? We do. We buy their products. We use their services. Well, those that pay the TV license fee and have televisions, anyway.
If there is anything or anyone that’s failing commercial broadcasters is the ad agencies themselves. Have you seen any REALLY good TV commercials recently? Something actually SELLs you the product that you go out and buy it just as soon as you can? No, neither have I. Ad agencies are running out of ideas and have been producing lame and uninteresting adverts for quite some time now. The recession may play one part in nobody spending money, but I can assure you that while agencies continue to pump out over the top and ridicilous adverts – nobody is going want to buy whatever the heck it is they’re trying to sell you. A gorilla playing the drums? Do be brief. Those people that are already eating Cadbury’s chocolate are going to be doing so anyway. They don’t need a man in a monkey suit to convince them it’s still okay.
Going back to the TV license; while I have no real strong opinions on how the TV license is spent (other than it must NOT go to commercial broadcasters for the reason I’ve specified above), TV license payers are not shareholders. And yet we have the BBC Trust to ensure that certain standards are met and that the TV license represents value for money. And TV license payers have no say in who gets to decide all this.
What a thoroughly strange way to organise and watch news and entertainment. I am still very glad not to own a TV.
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A test post, unfortunately. But I do dislike 10,000BC the movie. Hate it in fact.
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The C905 looks to be well and truly lost. Nothing has been handed into Arriva and therefore must assume that somebody has taken it for themselves, has been destroyed, or has mysteriously vanished into thin air in one of those Mysterious World of Arthur C. Clarke moments.
The Nokia E71 which I panic ordered yesterday turned up, and is going back to T-Mobile after Jennifer and I agreed that I shouldn’t have ordered it (given her current employment status in particular) and will have to use her old T-Mobile phone under March next year when I can upgrade/renew or leave T-Mobile for pastures new.
Just waiting for the new SIM and should be mobile once again in a matter of days.
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Have successfully managed to lose my Sony Erricsson C905 phone this morning on the way to work. Have reported it lost to T-Mobile who have now blocked the phone line and are now sending out a replacement SIM card.
I probably lost it when grabbing tissues from my pocket dealing with this blasted hayfever. The phone could be on a 28 Arriva bus, a 36 Arriva bus, or somewhere in the Friary Shopping Centre or Guildford Bus Station.
Frustrated and angry does not come close to describing my mood – especially with myself – right now.
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Caption should read: “Ah, Mr. Bond! We meet again!”
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Recently my employers purchased £1,400 worth of software – the Adobe Creative Premium Production suite – for me to produce videos and to work on various video related projects on the new Dell XPS system that I have here at home.
Got it home, installed it, started to work on said video project. Hard drive issues with the Dell meant that I would have to do a re-install of the software at a later date. So, closer to the time that I was going to swap out the hard drives, I deactivated the software. Having experienced the wonders of online activation when hard drives fail without having deactivated first, this seemed the sensible option.
Dell came and fixed the hard drive issues and got home to do a big 6 hour re-install of the OS and applications. Installed the Adobe stuff and activated it. So far so good. Until I needed to install the software on a laptop in the office to do some of the work in the office for a week (which is permissable under the Adobe license – provided that both machines are not running the software at the same time, and there was no chance of that). When the Premium Production suite was activated on the laptop at work, it deactivated the software at home. This sems to go against what Adobe allows in their license. And I’m especially annoyed that I properly deactivated the software prior to re-installing the software on the XPS machine.
In order to try and resolve this issue, I call the activation “hot-line” and am put through to an automated system which asks for the original serial number and an installation number. What installation number? The activation system does not helpfully provide it – only the serial number! The phone system eventually (having to wait for three failed stabs at entering the installation number) puts you in a queue to speak to an operator, but no indication as to how long or where you are in the queue.
Heck, even Microsoft of all companies do this much better than Adobe.
Now, you could say I could have simply used the CDs to install a trial version of the Production suite on the office laptop, but the license says you can use two activations at a time, and maybe I might want to use it from time to time afterwards on the laptop and after 30 days.
Sigh.
Another thing. I sent Adobe Customer Service a query the other day via the Adobe web site, and never heard a dicky bird from them until a message telling me that they felt my issue was resolved. Replying to the email to tell them that it was certainly not resulted in an email bounce back telling me that it was an unmanned address – something not mentioned in the email I had just received from them!
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Today I am working on editing and improving some videos for a work-related project and I’m now using the full version of Adobe Creative Production Premium which comes with most of the major Adobe products. One such product is Soundbooth which has worked miracles on reducing extremely annoying sound noise which was recorded with the microphone on overgain (hence lots of static, etc) – something I’ve done myself and am only too aware of.
The Dell XPS continues to impress, but am now a little bit concerned over the secondary hard drive which is making minor beeping noises whenver it seems to be working a little too hard. Western Digital haven’t exactly been the most helpful (first they say it’s normal, now they say it isn’t and won’t actually say what the beeping is supposed to mean). I’m thinking that I should get Dell to replace the other hard drive and hope that’ll be the end of the mess. In the mean time, I’m going to have to use something like Acronis TrueImage to back up the hard drive(s) for an easy restore – Dell do not provide 64-bit driver CD-ROM for this machine which requires a 3G dongle to get Internet access to download them.
Have managed to break the chain of my electric pushbike, so will need to go into work by bus all next week until I can get it fixed. Hopefully the part is still under warranty.
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Dell are sending out a replacement hard drive for the laptop. This necessitates I break the RAID 0 mirror and re-install Windows and everything else again. At least I have a Blu-Ray writer to back everything up to it (providing the BD-RE discs arrive in time). Need to do some video editing this week for Kate, so will have to install the trial version of Premiere Pro. Should be interesting to see how fast it renders and re-renders video.
Speaking of Blu-Ray, I’m going to be backing up ALL of my old Mini-DV tapes to Blu-Ray disc in the (hopefully) not too distance future. Does anybody have a MiniDV video camera/playback unit with firewire (or USB at a pinch) they could lend me to do this? I’m a bit nervous having to use the PCE-1000 unit after the issues last year..
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Have just returned from two weeks away. We set off to Dubai for a week before heading to Tobago for another. Photos of which can be found here (Dubai) and here (Tobago). I’m in the process of sorting out the video, but here are a couple of simple shots taken from the Dubai Mall: Bagpipes, Dancers, Carnival. Jennifer and I both had a wonderful time, and it’s regretful that we’re now stuck with rain all week after two weeks of glorious sunshine.
Work-wise, I’ve taken delivery of a Dell XPS M1730 laptop that consists of a 2.80Ghz Core 2 Extreme processor (overclockable through BIOS to 3.4Ghz), 6Gb RAM, 640Gb disk space (2 x 320Gb 7,200RPM hard drives in hardware RAID 0), Blu-Ray reader AND writer, 2 x NVIDIA 9800M GT 512Mb graphics cards in SLI configuration. It’s a wonderful system except that bloody Dell have supplied both a 7,200RPM 16Mb cache hard drive and a 5,400RPM 8Mb cache HD instead of two 7,200RPM drives. What’s even worse is that the primary drive is the slower 5,400RPM model. I’m also a bit miffed that although they supply 800Mhz DDR2 memory, but the chipset only supports up to a maximum of 667Mhz thereby squeezing more money out of the punter who sees no additional benefit. Generally it’s a very impressive rig, but it’s let down by Dell’s incompetence.
Am awaiting the arrival of Adobe Creative Production Premium suite for Windows to go with the laptop as I’m in the process of doing a lot of video editing and encoding for work at the moment. The irony of this is that Adobe After Effects includes software from my previous employers who made me redundant.
My boss, Kate Craig-Wood, is interviewed by CNBC here which features me in a cameo appearance as “engineer who plugs in SSD drive into server”. Speaking of Memset, we have some very, very good miniserver pacakges at the moment. Prices are incredibly competitive in my opinion.
Posted in Television, Travels, Virtualisation, Work | No Comments »
Now, I’m all for respecting copyright (but damn it – we need clearer fair-use rights here in the UK). But one thing that drives me around the bend and smacks of distrust is the major film and record labels use of DRM in their products (DVD, Blu-Ray, etc). Nothing says “We don’t trust you” more than DRM.
Now, it’s a GOOD thing that record labels are moving away from propritary DRM on services such as iTunes, but the movie companies are still clearly nervous about it. DRM has prevented film producers themselves watching their own movies on certain services because they’re Mac users, and the content has been protected with Windows Media.
I’m about to enter the world of Blu-Ray thanks to a work laptop. From what I’ve been reading, there have been many changes to firmware, specifications and such to thwart pirates. The inconvienience comes to the consumer who has to keep applying the updates, the software and everything else to please the film studios just so that you can watch a film. Quite frankly, it’s bloody outrageous.
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The Good
The show looks great having been shot on Red One digital cameras. Makes a massive difference even in standard definition. Hope they bring this out on Blu-Ray and even consider showing it at special cinema screenings to take advantage that they shot this in 4k resolution.
Everybody’s back in character, just like the old times. Honestly, it doesn’t feel as though they’ve ever been away for over a decade. Good to have the Boys from the Dwarf back.
The visual effects. From what I gather, the VFX guys pretty much did this for free (or at least, for very little money), and yet the quality is very good indeed – it more than serves the purpose.
The Bad
Plot line feels very similar to the film version of the League of Gentlemen: Appocolypse, in which the characters from the show become self-aware that they are fictional characters and attempt to seek their creators.
Each episode is far too short for a commercial TV station, with abrubt endings after the first two parts, and commercial break getting in the way of allowing the plot to flow along.
It feels like one long, very expensive advert for the TV channel: Dave. There’s multiple references to Dave (owned by UKTV) in the story. The fact one is watching this on Dave makes it somewhat redundant mentioning it. If you’d buying the DVDs, why do you want to pay for a glorified commercial?
The Budget
For what they’ve achieved on a low budget – to produce 90 minutes of filmatic sci-fi comedy/drama is most excellent. Plot issues aside, this I think, should be considered a great success and hope that it leads on to a proper TV series (or film, or mini-series) with a larger budget. Imagine what they could do *then*!
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Planet of the Dead was okay-ish, but what really stood out for me was the badly modelled CG bus that looked dreadful when you put it against real backdrops. I expected the Mill to produce higher quality modeling than that even on their budget and time constraints. It made Thomas the Tank Engine seem real in comparison.
Hell, even the visual effects of the new Red Dwarf: Back to Earth “mini-series” is better – with better quality visual effects provided mainly by volunteers, and on a budget far less, I’m sure, than Planet of the Dead. Is the BBC beginning to get a bit stale?
It didn’t help that the script was pretty flat to boot.
I’m also getting a bit fed up of Doctor Who’s campy monsters and the silly masks from Neil Gorton and his team, whom I know can do better work than that. It’s getting back to the Space Precinct days. Why can we, the British, not afford quality science fiction drama like the Americans and Canadians produce? We do have the money to do it, I’m sure, but why aren’t we comissioning decent home-made stuff?
Look, I know Doctor Who is technically a kids show (but then again, what would you call the Sarah Jane Adventures – a show for toddlers?). However, it’d just be nice to have a proper mainstream sci-fi show just for adults. I don’t particularly think Torchwood can be considered that. It still gets too campy at times.
Posted in Entertainment, Sci-Fi, Television | 1 Comment »
I’ve been a huge fan of Douglas Adams as long as I can remember – possibly even longer than that. Ever since I started watching the BBC TV series in Primary School and then consequently reading the Hitchiker’s “trilogy” in secondary school, I thought Douglas Adams was the very best writer in the history of the universe. Hell, when I broke my wrist and had to have the bones reset, I refused to be wheeled into the operating theatre until an episode of the TV series I had been watching on the ward’s TV had finished.
So imagine my delight that a journalist by the name of Neil Gaiman had come along and wrote a biography of Douglas and his work which came out in 1993 (shortly after I had finished secondary school and was enrolled in college). The book was called Don’t Panic: Douglas Adams and the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and it gave accounts from the people involved in bringing Hitchhiker’s to the many mediums for which it has appeared. It is also one of the funniest books I’ve ever read.
I decided to revisit the book this week, and still find it extremely funny, entertaining and altogether one of the best factual/biographical books I’ve come across. It is geniuely laugh-out-loud in places – especially the chapter on Letters. And yet, it is also a poignant reminder that Douglas has gone – so has Geoffrey Perkins – and we are not likely to ever see their like ever again.
That said, Stephen Fry (who is also closely associated with Douglas Adams) is currently undertaking a TV series of Last Chance to See which was originally a radio series presented by Douglas and Mark Carwardine.
It would be nice to see Don’t Panic: Douglas Adams and the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy updated with everything (the good and the bad) that has happened since 1993, including the film (which I enjoyed very much, to my surprise) which Douglas had been working on for well over a decade. That said, there is always the Salmon of Doubt which continues the story of Douglas Adams a little bit further..
Douglas Adams is still my favourite author of all time – his work is infinitely re-readable (although I did struggle through Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency initially), and will continue to remain so.
Note: Back in secondary school, I theorised that Slartibartfast probably had a brother. His name would have been WankyFuckBollocks (I blame Ben Elton and Alexi Sayle who were heavy influences on me through their shows on TV at the time) and was the less popular son of the family. The thought was dismissed immediately by my peers, and I could see their point.
Update: You can play an enhanced version of the text adventure game, with graphics supplied by Rod Lord (whom I graciously had the chance to talk to back in my days at MPC as he was working on the MINT TV adverts with MPC doing some of the post-production stuff) over at the BBC’s Hitchhiker’s mini-site. When asked, “who is Douglas Adams?”, the game replied: “That’s not a person!”.
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I’m currently evaluating Virtualbox, a project being managed by Sun Microsystems, that offers free and open source enterprise-level virtualisation.
While I love VMware Fusion, I am looking to go back to Windows (as I should be getting a Windows-based laptop from work to do various projects on – all of which I can’t mention, but am very excited about) and having just seen the prices of VMware Workstation and comparing that against Fusion, I can safely rule out running Workstation as it is far too costly. Yes, there is VMWare Player and a way of generating the VMX config files, but there are features in Workstation that are nice to have.
So today I’ve been trying out Windows Vista, 64-bit, under Virtualbox on my Macbook. I have to say it runs exceedingly well, enough for it to replace Fusion and also enough for me to use during SquirrelSave tests. I will be able to copy the VM images over to Windows as need be and not pay for an expensive VM license.
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