Wendy Sutherland

Strange coincidence. I was at Dyce airport last Friday, waiting to fly to the Outdoors Show. They had some art on display. I was drawn to the work of one artist. I recognised the work when I  caught up with last week's "Landward" BBC programme. Her name is Wendy Sutherland. Her site is here, and there's a link to the other artists on display at the airport, and here's the link to the BBC page about the outdoor artists featured in the series.

Having walked in rain, mist and low cloud, there is always something to see, hear and feel.

BBC New-look Website

I normally go to the BBC News front page, in fact, my browser starts up to that page. So I didn't take much notice of the new BBC front page, BBC.co.uk. But, this link jumped out at me, so it seems quite user-specific. Of course, it isn't, but sometimes random seems link that.

How To Take Good Photos: Tom Ang presents top tips on how to get the most out of your digital camera.

A series that I'm waiting to come to BBC2 is "The Genius of Photography", which was shown on BBC4. I do not receive BBC4. The website has some information. And a link to the BBC photography homepage. And so, the cycle is complete.

BBC WorldWide on MySpaceTV

I missed this as it's been a busy week, so thanks to Michael for referring to the feed in his blogging assessment:

BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC and MySpace, the world's largest social networking platform, today announced the launch of a ground-breaking partnership to bring new and archived short form BBC content to MySpaceTV.

The announcement marks the first global agreement of this type between MySpaceTV and a major broadcaster. Under the partnership, the best BBC video content will be made available online globally via MySpaceTV, the social networking site's popular new video platform. MySpace users will be able to visit and subscribe to the BBC Worldwide's MySpaceTV video channel in order to view, embed and virally share BBC content across the MySpace community.

Full report available at: sangha-solutions.blogspot.com

BBC Worldwide's page on MySpace - they've already got some clips from Doc Who and Red Dwarf. Lets see if I can embed the code without being a MySpace member (stifles evil cackle)...

Red Dwarf: Taranshula

Add to My Profile | More Videos

BBC iPLayer

The BBC has relaunched their iPlayer. You can catch programmes from the last 7 days from BBC1 and BBC2, also the digital channels BBC3, BBC4, News24 and BBC Parliament.

Useful programmes for your career range from "World Business Report" to "Panorama: One Click from Danger".

They have also integrated the "listen again" radio features into the iPlayer so you can catch radio shows too. Crossing Continents on Thursday's Radio 4 was a feature on technology, e-athletes and cyber-addiction in South Korea (newslink).

Citizen What?

From 13th November 2007:

The National Union for Journalists (NUJ) has admitted its first full-time freelance professional blogger as a member.
Conrad Quilty-Harper, who blogs for technology blog Engadget, had his application for membership approved at a meeting of the NUJ’s London Freelance branch last night, Tim Gopsill, editor of The Journalist, confirmed to Journalism.co.uk.
Harper was invited to attend the freelance meeting where his application was passed after he was initially rejected by the union for being a student on a non-media course.

Source

And earlier, on the 25th October 2007:

Guardian media blogger and former Daily Mirror editor Roy Greenslade is quitting the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), because of the organisation's attitude towards new media.
Greenslade, who has been a member of the union for 42 years, announced his resignation on his blog and said it would be 'hypocritical' to remain a NUJ member 'when I am now so opposed to the union's central aims'.
In his post Greenslade said the group's policies needed to be updated to accommodate the growth of online journalism: "Journalistic skills are not entirely wiped out in an online world, but…they cannot be confined any longer to an exclusive élite group."
Explaining his decision Greenslade suggested that while the NUJ sees the internet as a threat to journalism 'it [the web] is much more a threat to the union itself.'
"[T]he union, as with the print unions of old, cannot possibly adapt to meet the revolutionary demands of a new technology," his blog post said.

Source

Interesting times indeed. Anyone fancy a Diet of Worms? In the same way that professional photographers have been affected by sites like Flickr, cheap dSLRs and people willing to put the time and effort in to try and improve their skills, then journalism must also be affected. It comes to reason, that as news becomes more speculative, exclusives are not exclusives, the tv news complains when people rebroadcast their feeds but happily show YouTube videos without stating that they have the owner's permission. What really separates the paid journalist from the citizen journalist? Time, effort, money, resources, skills in obtaining the news, a talent for language. Some have skills and talent, others one or the other - just like in any job. Is every citizen a journalist? No. Is everyone who owns a camera a photographer? No. In days past, eyewitnesses to events would only be able to describe the event, now they have videos and still photos, some have been keeping blogs instead of written diaries.

In a knowledge-lead society, do we need to be able to distinguish between facts and opinions. Is a review in a magazine opinion or fact? Are comments left about a piece of software factual or trite nonsense left by a competitor? Only the knowledgeable reader can judge. But where do they learn that judgement from? No-one seems to be teaching online citizenship these days.

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."  Mahatma Gandhi (source)

Are bloggers looking for a fight? I amn't. What is victory? I don't know. Anyone can use the same quote when they feel that they are being oppressed. Do I feel that bloggers are being oppressed? Wise up. Blogs are merely a medium. The person behind the computer is the important cog in the Web2.0 wheel. In our own mind, we are important. We are important to our families and friends. We matter. Does what we have to say about the world matter? Probably not. But we are social animals, we have brains and can think. So why not use the tools available to us to be sociable, to think and to converse. Geography, social class, skin colour, cultural background, age, gender, physical abilities and religion are less important than your ability to be a sentient human being. If you refuse to think, to reason, to discuss, to create, then you are an empty shell of a being.

Maybe that is what scares some in the media? A lot is just boring, brainless drivel, re-hashing old news, cutting back on investing in investigative journalism, and making decent programmes for television. If there is only so much happening in the world, but news has to be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, why can't there be more detailed, in-depth news? Maybe because we, the recipient, have no time for it? In the Information Age, there is a growing divide - the news reflects this. There are just too many channels for their to be a good standard of quality programmes. Will this change in the future? I don't know, but can guess that there will be an increase in the number of niche channels.

For the record, my main sources of news are: BBC News website, Radio 4's Today programme, Radio 4 news (especially midnight), Newsnight, Channel 4 news.

Scotland's Music Nr 5

Just watched the penultimate program in Phil Cunningham's "Scotland's Music" TV series.

Episode 5 was about celebration with clips on their website.

Paolo Nutini discussed why he liked Burns' original tune for "Auld Lang Syne". The Peatbog Faeries talked about reading the crowd. There was a retrospective on Jimmy Shand (especially the Bluebell Polka). A battle of the bands between east (Colin Dewar) and west coast (Fergie MacDonald. Heuch. I'm a west-coaster. I prefer this. Toes are tapping, and fingers drumming out the tune). Niel Gow's NE fiddling style, painted by Raeburn, celebrated in festival. Scott Skinner, Queen Victoria's Strathspey King.

A trip back in history through earlier courts to the effect of the Reformation on music. The use of the canntaireachd to pass on pipe music when it seen as illegal after the '45 (though they were never prescribed, an earlier programme said). And ends with Sir Harry Lauder. "Why would we give Harry Lauder a hard time?" Fine, fun tunes like this. Can anyone take The White Heather Club seriously? What is wrong with fun? Fiona Kennedy speaks about Scottish music on television, with her Dad, Calum at the forefront.

This links neatly to the modern scene: Sandi Thom and the Internet; the rise of festivals in Scotland. "The future's going to be incredible", says the presenter, who plays the set at Belladrum with his pal Aly Bain.

Just one more episode in this great series to watch.

Cunntas 06.12.07

BBC2 Alba's QnA session. I'm really enjoying these. The panel were asked about topics ranging from the Year of Highland Culture, naming a teddy bear, Trump's quest for a golf development, the knock-on effect on other developments being delayed for environmental concerns, house prices in Inverness and Oban, and finally, a great question linked to the "Highland Lives" project.

The question was: who would you present to the world in a project like that?

The panelists chose:

• Morag Macleod (link), formerly of the School of Scottish Studies.
• Alexander MacDonald (1) and Dr John MacInnes (link, 2)
• Murdo Macfarlane of Lewis (The Scotsman, Wikipedia)

As to Cunntas, you can catch some of the earlier episodes here.

Convergence 2.0

Yesterday I watched Alan Yentob's "Imagine...WWW" with a couple of HNC classes, as he covered the future of the Web. Although a year old, I was surprised to find a couple of items from it being cited that day:

1. David Firth, of SaladFingers fame, was on ScreenWipe last night on BBC2. (Sorry Salima).
   
2. "The Long Tail" being discussed on the new http://twit.tv/natn podcast. (YouTube video)

To me, this reflects the power of Web2.0. It is about sharing ideas, just-in-time learning, and creativity. A real meritocracy. Participate or not, it is your choice, just don't complain about missing out. Learn Japanese if you want. Learn how to create spheres in Photoshop if you want. Learn how to fold a lightcube if you want.

Leo and Amber described themselves as being Internet Content Creators. Not being pigeon-holed into one particular format. I thought back to the Yentob programme, where he mentioned convergence. The two ideas, memes if you will, merged, intertwingled. I had been thinking of convergence in a Web 1.0 way: the technologies coming together so that, for example, my mobile phone has a media player, so I don't need two devices. What if I think of convergence in a Web 2.0 way? The sharing, the communities, the people, the learning, the exploration, the fun, and the meritocracy is all that is important, and not the hosting technology.

Do I care that you are listening to this on a podcast? Nope. Do I care if you are using Safari on a Mac, or browsing via a mobile phone? Nope. So why should you care if this is posted on a blog, written on a forum or a wiki, in some class notes or discussed in a YouTube video. Is this not what converging technologies should be really about? Share the knowledge, share the creativity, share the power. In return you will gain new knowledge, find new creativity, and be empowered to take new strides forward.

Any media that fails to keep up has a problem. Any technology that fails to keep up has a problem. But that is their problem, and not ours.

Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever said Napoleon.

Do we not want our futures to be glorious? The revolution has started. Your future jobs will be affected by the new uses, the new systems, the new convergence. Software and hardware are just the tools of the trade. In the past, a joiner would use a variety of saws, chisels, and the like - today you use a variety of ICT tools to complete the job. Fall asleep, and the world keeps on moving without you. Miss work, and you need to catch up. The days of the dinosaurs are coming to an end. The new world is fast-moving, fun, slender and dangerous for dinosaurs.

Image source

If you don't understand something, ask, delve into the meme pool, visit the library; look for ideas from the past, from other technologies, merge concepts together. Stand on the shoulder of giants. There are only 26 letters in the English language, but that didn't stop William Shakespeare or Terence Alan Patrick Sean Milligan, so why should it stop you? There are fewer chords than that and even less primary colours, so why should these restrict you from being a better artist or musician?

The main restrictions are time, quality and money. Much software is legally free. Quality improves as you invest more time, or more money to buy hardware or better software. Time is the problem. You can do anything, you just haven't the time to do everything.

This and That

This

and

that

OD Oh

Before leaving work tonight, some of us were chatting about "Heroes", and it got me thinking as I (finally) left the office in the cold and dark...

• Maggie - she had seen series 1 on Sky. Her son had seen part of series 2 abroad.
• Duncan - had seen next week's on Freeview, but would be recording the terrestrial showing of it tonight as the Freeview picture isn't great quality. So the 0900pm showing was a 'repeat'. Wasn't sure if I'd be watching the next show on Freeview when it came on. [I decided that I'd better as "0.07%" was gripping].
• Doreen - seen some, but lost her place. Would like to borrow the series when I've finished recording it.

So my brain, in an attempt to keep warm, starts thinking thus...We all watch the same TV series, but we can't discuss it openly without the fear of dropping a spoiler. Is "on demand" stopping the promotion of television programmes? Is it making us more insular in our watching habits? Is too much choice watering down television? If you are constantly switching channels, does it become easier to just switch off?

TV: This World

From tonight's TV listings, BBC2's award-winning investigative documentary "This World" series: "Inside Burma's Uprising".

In September, Burma's population rose up once again against their military rulers. Civilians joined demonstrations by Buddhist monks across the country, but the rising sense of anarchy was cut short in just days when the army were ordered to shoot. The film documents the accounts of bloggers, monks, student leaders and protest organisers who were lucky enough to escape. Their friends are dead or in jail. (Source: Radio Times)

BBC's article on the program can be found here and a watch-again feature here.

IT Room/Crowd

Just saw a trailer for the IT Room. Hmm, wonder if it is the US version of the IT Crowd. Nothing at IMDB at time of posting, but found a couple of blog entries to find others wondering the same:

• JimStroud
• hawkmucci

I gave up on the IT Crowd quite quickly. Funniest thing about it was the goth in the server room. Not enough goths around. Maybe they're drinking too much Irn Bru?

TV Times

As we live in interesting times, this lecture should be fun.

Royal Television Society Huw Weldon Memorial Lecture 2007

Monday 05 November, 11:20pm - 12:00am , BBC2

Interactive media guru Anthony Lilley examines the changing media landscape. With thousands of cable TV channels, how will broadcasters survive? What can audiences expect from this new era in entertainment?

BBC Source

I've got my video set (or the 21st century equivalent of it).

Additional information:

• Lilley to discuss the 'me' in media, says MediaGuardian
• "TV drawing wrong lessons from new media" - Lilley, blogs New Media Curious
• 'Get over fear of interactive media', say MediaGuardian
• Anthony Lilley's bio at Magic Lantern
• And Magic Lantern's own blog can be found here: lanternamagica.wordpress.com 

Everyone seems to be worried about the social aspects of the Web. Even Radio4's "Thinking Allowed" took the opportunity of marking Channel 4's 25th birthday to mention people making movies with their mobile phones.

Expect an additional post after I've watched the programme. We live in interesting, educational and entertaining times.

Only 400 Scottish Wildcats

I caught up with last night's "Landward", and was captivated by the article about the near-extinction of the Scottish wildcat. You can catch the programme online here.

Amongst a variety of people being interviewed was Peter Cairns of the Tooth & Claw project

In 2004, a team of scientists attached to WildCRU (Wildlife Conservation Research Unit) and the National Museums of Scotland estimated that as few as 400 wildcats remained. A previously quoted population of around 5,000 is now believed to be attributable to feral domestic cats or hybrid mixes of domestic and wildcat.

Further information and some more stunning photographs at the Scottish Wildcat Association (or Trust)

You can see some wildcats in captivity at the Highland Wildlife Park in Kincraig. Link

Genius of Photography

BBC4 - one of the Freeview channels - starts a new series tonight called the "Genius of Photography". I have a Freeview box but the BBC transmitter fails to send a signal to my region, so I don't receive BBC4. I hope that they rebroadcast the series on terrestrial, as it looks quite good. The BBC fails to say if the show is also being transmitted over their "on demand" system.

Links: BBC4. Magazine.

Jupiter 2

It was 10 years ago today that the Jupiter 2 was lost in space. Who could forget where they were when they first heard the words:

"As of this moment, the spacecraft [Jupiter 2] has crossed the limits of our galaxy. It is presumed to be hopelessly lost in space."

Will we ever find out what happened to those intrepid Robinsons, and their pilot, Major West.

In related news, since launch day, NASA has been unable to track down a missing scientist. With the violence of take off, there is the possibility that Dr Smith was incinerated by the launch jets, leaving no trace of his body. Friends described him as being "erratic, but harmless".

News footage

Further information

Culture of Blood

You know it's going to be a fun programme when it is entitled "Clan Macleod: Culture of Blood". BBC2 series continued, and the MacLeod's sponsorship of the arts, the love of feasts and the Kings of Scotland's politically aggravation of feuds between clans (e.g. us versus the MacDonalds at home and away) and later came the cleansing of the Gaelic culture.

But genetics seems to have a way of carrying cultural identity. Yesterday I was discussing swords and today I had one of my classes practicing with Audacity by recording Japanese poems. Heuch.

Sadly for me, they didn't cover the Lewis branch, so my people's exploits against the Fife Adventurers (and the Morrisons) were lost. Link

But I had been to St Clement's Church, tomb of Alisdair Crotach MacLeod, mentioned in the programme. Photos taken in the Summer (honest) of 2005.

Archaeolink

Went to Archaeolink Prehistory Park near Bennachie (which I'm not allowed to climb until I've seen the physio).

The wicker man is ready for burning at the end of Summer. Wonder if they have this track ready? What do you expect with a pose like that?

As you approach the thatched round house, the atmosphere is set.

Some of FJ's friends were storytelling - not only were they very good, but they had some swords for me to look at whilst the ladies talked about the new "Robin Hood" series that started last night. Me? Excepting the Sheriff, I can't stand it. So I gave the weaponry the once over. The left one looked familiar, and I later found the original in a book of mine - it was a replica Viking sword c950AD.

...and they were still talking, so I started playing with the fire.

Scrubbed

Sad news. I just found Zach Braff's blog and read the words "We are currently shooting episode 6 of the final season of Scrubs" ' ' Aaargh.

I'm watching the re-runs at tea-time on freeview, and tonight they did the M*A*S*H trick of having a psychologist interview the main cast about their issues. There's so much imagination and enthusiasm shown in that show. Scrubs clip. M*A*S*H clip.

I wonder if the cast will re-unite for a computer advert? Sans Alda.

Trouble on the Farm

A former student of mine appeared in tonight's episode of Emmerdale. I felt like a geek photographing the screen, but it's the most active I've been all day.

Mike Mitchell (left) as trainer to the bare-knuckle fighter suggests: "You and him, take a walk"

Flashing his pearlies, Mike swaggers up to the hero and tell him that "it's time".

After that there was some scenes during the illegal fight, and his name appears on the credits.