Stephen Fry on the BBC

Fry defends the BBC
“The BBC enriches the country in ways we will only discover when it has gone and it is too late to build it back up again,” the writer and comedian said.
That’s just irrational nonsense. There’s no logical reason why we couldn’t, if we so decided, re-create the BBC after we’ve got rid […]

Broadcast Subsidy

Broadband Tax to Fund TV News
A broadband tax is one option being considered by Ofcom to secure the future of the commercial broadcasters’ public service programmes, such as ITV1’s regional news and Channel 4’s current affairs strand Dispatches.
By that logic, presumably papers like the Swindon Evening Advertiser are owed about 40 years of subsidy.
Maybe, just […]

Mary Ann Sieghart on F1

From The Times The money spent on it is equally grotesque: $2.9 billion by the 11 teams alone in 2006. And that does not include broadcasting rights or sponsorship or ticket revenues.
That’s fortunate. If sponsorship and ticket money were spent, rather than received, the teams would soon go out of business.

Chicken Taste Test

I know that there’s individual opinions on these things, but there was a blind tasting test shown on BBC’s Countryfile this morning, comparing an organic chicken, a corn fed chicken, a free range chicken and an intensively produced chicken.
To some surprise of the people running and doing the tasting, the intensively produced chicken won.

Delia Smith: Delia

From The Daily Telegraph
However, the doyenne of cooks was unrepentant, saying she had fully expected a backlash to her new show Delia, which promises to help cut corners, save time and take the fear out of entering a kitchen.
I watched the show, and I’m not sure how much she “cut corners”. Cutting corners means doing […]

No Sex for a Plasma?

via VNUNet
Over 25 million Brits would be willing to give up sex for six months to get their hands on a 50in plasma TV, according to a survey by Comet.

Contrary to the popular belief that men would do just about anything for sex, nearly half of the male respondents would be willing to take a […]

Cheap Chicken Sales Up

via The BBC
The campaign was led by chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall on his recent Hugh’s Chicken Run shows for Channel 4.
Directly after the series was aired, Tesco said sales of standard chickens increased by 7% and free-range by 3%.
Sainsbury’s free-range sales have gone up by 50% but there were also more of its Basics […]

Gaelic TV

From the Horse’s Mouth
The BBC Trust has given its go-ahead for BBC Scotland and Gaelic Media Service (GMS) to launch their planned Gaelic Digital Service (GDS).
The GDS service will cost £20.8m-per-year in total, of which GMS will contribute £10.1m and the BBC £10.7m.
It’s a pity the BBC didn’t mention how many gaelic speakers there are […]

Heroes

Just seen 2 episodes on TV. Could be my new favourite show.

Wi-Fi Cautions

via the BBC…
Two people have been cautioned for using people’s wi-fi broadband internet connections without permission. Neighbours in Redditch, Worcestershire, contacted police on Saturday after seeing a man inside a car using a laptop while parked outside a house.
Apart from using someone’s property in a way that you’re not supposed to, this is just […]