it's adrianpegg.com

"The key to our energy future may be in space. A new long-range energy transmission experiment opens..."

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 11:59:23 +0100

“The key to our energy future may be in space. A new long-range energy transmission experiment opens the possibility of sending solar energy from space to earth. Former NASA executive and physicist John Mankins captured solar energy from a mountain top in Maui and beamed it 92 miles to the main island of Hawaii.”

- Researchers Beam ‘Space’ Solar Power in Hawaii | Wired Science from Wired.com

(A programme produced in the UK by Impossible Pictures - they don’t mention that bit…)

Infinite Winds, one of my programmes, is trailed in the USA

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 12:38:57 +0100

Infinite Winds, one of my programmes, is trailed in the USA

Oosah and its unpleasant T&Cs

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 22:43:00 +0100

Oosah and its unpleasant T&Cs:

Ooosah is a very tempting proposition, with the promise of a whole terabyte of webspace free to upload and share your own content.

But be warned. The following iniquitous line appears deep in the Terms & Conditions …

… by posting Content to Oosah, you automatically grant, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant, to Oosah (and its successors) an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, assignable, royalty free, worldwide license to use, copy, perform, display, distribute and to prepare derivative works of such Content in connection with the Site and any current and future services offered by Oosah, and to grant and authorize sublicenses of the foregoing.

Notice that this is not limited to content you have decided to share, so even your private content may be used by Oosah to do pretty much what they like with - even create derivative works. What’s more, once uploaded your stealthily obtained ‘permission’ cannot be withdrawn.

This is underhand and disgraceful. When you upload something and mark it as ‘private’ you presumably wouldn’t expect to see it passed on to a third party by sublicence, but they have endowed themselves with just that authority. Even Facebook’s T&Cs (http://www.new.facebook.com/terms.php) aren’t as bad as this. At least Facebook allows permission to expire if the content is withdrawn.

Oosah. Steer clear until further notice

T&Cs - see clause 9c http://www.oosah.com/terms.php

How to write a hit sitcom - Graham Linehan

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 07:57:38 +0100

How to write a hit sitcom - Graham Linehan

"Independent television producers beat the BBC’s in-house department to secure more commissions in..."

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 22:07:45 +0100

“Independent television producers beat the BBC’s in-house department to secure more commissions in the first year of the Corporation’s Window of Creative Competition system, a report has revealed.”

- The Stage / News / BBC’s Window of Creative Competition is a hit for independent TV producers

"Exclusive read-through shows for the third series of BBC One’s award-winning sitcom Not Going..."

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 11:41:00 +0100

“Exclusive read-through shows for the third series of BBC One’s award-winning sitcom Not Going Out, starring Lee Mack, Tim Vine, Sally Bretton and Miranda Hart.”

- This is a very interesting development in the world of sitcom, and I haven’t heard of anyone doing something like this before. What a great idea though.

Whe I was doing sitcoms in the 80s, the first real chance you had to see if anything was funny was at the read-through. The first time the actors and production team got together and read through the script that would be recorded that following weekend. It’s a natural development, especially when the cast includes such a talented stand-ups as Lee Mack and Tim Vine, to turn this event into a show in itself, and have time to build on the laughs and tweak the script based on a real audience reaction to it.

I love ‘Not Going Out’, and maybe this is why …

Free tickets

"A leading UK media academic has warned broadcasters and national newspapers not to be fooled by..."

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 07:25:00 +0100

“A leading UK media academic has warned broadcasters and national newspapers not to be fooled by “hype” about the internet. Patrick Barwise, emeritus professor of management and marketing at the London Business School, defined as “Bollocks 2.0” claims about the threat to traditional media from innovations such as social networking and internet television.”

- FT.com / World - Web no threat to TV, says UK expert

"Shares in ITV have risen by as much as 13% on speculation about a potential takeover of the UK..."

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 18:27:53 +0100

“Shares in ITV have risen by as much as 13% on speculation about a potential takeover of the UK broadcaster. This followed remarks by the co-founder of TV production firm Endemol, reported by the Financial Times, that a tie-up with ITV could “make sense”.”

- BBC NEWS | Business | Bid speculation lifts ITV shares

30+ Awesome Sites for Streaming Music

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 20:17:59 +0100

30+ Awesome Sites for Streaming Music: Recently we brought you a list of free & legal music downloads, but we understand that not everyone wants to eat up space on their hard drive or MP3 player. So we’ve compiled a list of 30+…

"Ionoco has introduced a new low-cost production set-up that allows producers to make niche..."

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 08:55:25 +0100

“Ionoco has introduced a new low-cost production set-up that allows producers to make niche programming using web cameras and convert the output to broadcast quality.”

- Ionoco introduces ‘OB in a box’

"This article explains how to replace an original iPhone with an iPhone 3G using the same carrier. If..."

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 16:59:11 +0100

“This article explains how to replace an original iPhone with an iPhone 3G using the same carrier. If you follow these steps to backup your original iPhone first, and then restore the backup to your iPhone 3G, your saved SMS messages, email accounts, photos, notes, and other personal settings will be present on your iPhone 3G.”

- How to replace an original iPhone with an iPhone 3G

UK Government Moves Forward with Data Sharing, APIs, and Mashup Contest

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 21:28:18 +0100

UK Government Moves Forward with Data Sharing, APIs, and Mashup Contest: As reported by the BBC, the UK government has established a task force, aptly named the Power of Information Task Force, to lead a massive data sharing effort…

Photo

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:35:05 +0100

Never mind the creative, feel the marketing...

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 21:18:00 +0100

The BBC has selected a marketing man, Tim Davie, to take over from Jenny Abramsky as Director of Audio and Music. Just to be clear, that makes him responsible for 11 national radio stations, as well as the 3 BBC orchestras, television music entertainment, the Proms and a number of other things.

Now I have nothing against marketing of course, nothing much at all happens without it, but to hand over full creative control of ALL BBC audio to someone whose sole objective (it would seem to me) will be reach and metrics, surely doesn’t suggest much attention will be paid to the fringes and experimentation with new ideas.

I’m afraid it makes me question what the BBC thinks it is for - again.

Full story in Broadcast

"The BBC will on Monday make an unprecedented proposal to co-operate with commercial broadcasters...."

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 10:37:17 +0100

“The BBC will on Monday make an unprecedented proposal to co-operate with commercial broadcasters. Mark Thompson, director-general of the BBC, will suggest in a submission to the industry regulator that the BBC should help commercial rivals by offering to exploit their programmes internationally, and by sharing new technologies to help cut costs.”

- According to The Times, on Monday the BBC will launch its fightback against ‘top-slicing’ the licence fee by offering to share resources with rival broadcasters…

BBC ready to help its rivals develop their programmes - Times Online

The brilliant Adam Buxton has been at it again … (via...

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 09:26:46 +0100

The brilliant Adam Buxton has been at it again … (via Twitter - thanks Gia)

"ITV’s £20m investment in broadband TV is starting to pay off, with 12 million views of..."

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 09:22:30 +0100

“ITV’s £20m investment in broadband TV is starting to pay off, with 12 million views of programmes or clips on ITV.com in May and programming including Coronation Street, Britain’s Got Talent and Euro 2008 football among the biggest online video hits.”

- ITV’s web video figures rocket | Media | guardian.co.uk

The Insider: You can’t film here

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 17:30:42 +0100

The Insider: You can’t film here

"A man was handcuffed, arrested and charged – after laughing too much at Have I Got News For You...."

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 20:21:26 +0100

“A man was handcuffed, arrested and charged – after laughing too much at Have I Got News For You. Christopher Cocker, 36, guffawed so hard at a joke Paul Merton cracked on the BBC One show that he fell off his sofa. The thud startled his downstairs neighbour who thought he had collapsed, so called police.”

- Criminally funny… : News 2008 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide

Blocking spam registrations with name fields

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 18:40:03 +0100

Blocking spam registrations with name fields: Britcaster.com - the original home of the Uk’s podcaster community - still ticks over in a lazy backwater of the internet receiving a handful of new show registrations each week. It also…