Month: August 2006

  • Footballers Wives Not Yet in US

    If you read the trade press, or follow Mediaguardian, you can’t help to have noticed all the reports about how Footballers’ Wives, the trashy ITV series, is being remade in US by ABC. On the surface, this seems like another successful deal for a British indie. But this is Shed Productions, who’ve seen Footballers’ Wives…

  • User Generated Ads

    I was on the tube this morning, and after avoiding a man who threw up in the middle of the carriage, I ended up standing near a guy who was refining a paper copy of his Powerpoint presentation. Closer examination, as I pretended to read my book, revealed that he was giving an i-Level presentation…

  • New York Times Article Unavailable in the UK

    If you read a story like this one on Mediaguardian explaining how the New York Times has prevented internet users in the UK from reading a specific article it has published online, what’s your natural inclination? To find a way to read the article of course! According to the Mediaguardian piece and another piece on…

  • Idea for Amazon Feature

    Unless I’m missing something, there’s a feature that I’d love Amazon to add to its service. I’d like them to let me know when one of my favourite authors has a new book upcoming. For example, I like John Le Carré’s novels, but if it wasn’t for the fact that I otherwise knew to look…

  • Love Island Washed Away

    A paltry 3.8m viewers for the final should ensure that ITV never again brings back [Celebrity] Love Island. I do look forward to reading Executive Producer Natalka Znak’s thoughts on the series’ end on the Mediaguardian blog. Previous choice titbits from her contributions have included: “We have a great show that is funny and full…

  • Chip My Bin or Chip Me

    Is it me, or does it seem that chipped bins (RFID, I assume) are causing more anxiety in middle England than ID cards? “You can chip me all you like, but I draw the line at my dustbin,” seems to be the unspoken sentiment.

  • Ad Funded Free Downloads?

    So how is SprialFrog going to make money exactly? According to a piece in today’s FT (read it quick before it costs you), Universal Music is backing the service which will offer free downloads based on users experiencing ads. Unless we’re going to have to watch a whole series of ads, I can’t see how…

  • “Ultimate Play The Game” T-Shirts

    Inspired by Makezine, I tried out my new Speedart Fabric Screen Printing kit this weekend to make an “Ultimate Play The Game” T-shirt. I’m sure Rare will be delighted (You do remember Ultimate Play the Game don’t you? They made some groundbreaking games for the ZX Spectrum like Jetpac, Atic Atac and Sabre Wulf in…

  • Geotagging in Flickr

    The new geotagging feature in Flickr is very nice, but it does show up the shortcomings of Yahoo Maps in the UK. The maps really are poor compared with Google Maps. In particular, the whereabouts of railway lines is really off-kilter.

  • All Star Cup

    The All Star Cup on ITV, and more particularly ITV2, offers a somewhat better streaming service than Time Team. But then it’s real golf coverage – albeit that some of it is decidedly average. The US team seems a little short of star names, although any actor in television worth his or her salt will…

  • Swans on the River

  • Wottakers

    My local Ottakers has completed its transformation into a Waterstones.