Month: September 2009

  • Aerial Photography: An Experiment

    They say that if you don’t experiment, you won’t succeed. So let’s call yesterday an experiment shall we? About a year ago, Photojojo – a great photography website – sent out a link to a balloon photography experiment carried out by a guy named David Trawin. He basically attached helium balloons to a cradle that…

  • Lazy TV Journalism

    Tonight, [channel] Five shows the first episode of what we’re told is the hot new US series of the Autumn – FlashForward. But their advertising campaign is a bit odd: “From the US network that brought you Lost…” run the trails. That’s true – they both air on ABC in the US. But that’s really…

  • The iPhone on Orange

    There’s much excitement today as Orange announces – two years after the phone’s first launch – that it has secured the iPhone on its network. They’ve set up a pre-order system and everything. As Rory-Cellan Jones says in his good piece over at the BBC: new phone launches on a network – so what? I…

  • Radio Times 26 September

    Strictly and X-Factor have finished. What else is on this evening? As ever, I’ll try to help. Best viewed large.

  • Stephen Fry on DAB in Just A Minute

    The BBC has launched a series of neat animations promoting Just A Minute. It’s curious, though, that they chose this particular excerpt from Stephen Fry on DAB… Nicely done, nonetheless. (Actually, we do need to face up to reception issues, and improve coverage strength so that these issues go away). As ever, these are my…

  • Pure Sensia

    Today I went along to the launch of a very interesting new radio, the Pure Sensia. It’s a DAB radio, FM radio, internet radio and media player rolled into one. But it also, interestingly allows you to use apps. And as we all know, there’s nothing more exciting than apps in 2009. I’ve got to…

  • Two Unmissable Things

    Here are two separate programmes that you simply must watch and listen to… for entirely different reasons. First off, there’s my current favourite radio feature on any programme anywhere at the moment. Yes, it’s an Absolute Radio show and I work there, and yes, I know all the people who make it. But honestly irrespective…

  • Derren Brown and the Lottery “Prediction”

    Look – I really shouldn’t spend much time on this as there’s been far too much time wasted on the internet with people trying to guess how he did it and what he did. Brown told us after Wednesday’s live prediction that all would be revealed on Friday and we too would be able to…

  • iPod Nano

    This week saw the annual refreshing of Apple’s iPod range. As always there was lots of speculation prior to the announcement about exactly what features would be included. There was lots of talk about cameras being fitted to various models, and about the long term future of the iPod Classic – the “original” iPod (this…

  • Lost Land of the Volcano

    Last night saw the first in a new three part natural history series on BBC1 called Lost Land of the Volcano. The series follows a team of scientists as they search a remote part of New Guinea in a search for new species. I know this, because the programme mentioned it. Quite a lot. In…

  • The Beatles Reissued

    Today marks the day that The Beatles complete catalogue is re-issed on CD (and quite possibly digitally – but we’ll find out later). The original CDs were – seemingly – fairly rushed affairs and during the intervening years, technology has marched on, and many less famous classic albums have had the remastering process applied. For…

  • All Change At Radio 2

    So the news that we all sort-of knew was going to happen anyway, has come to pass. Following a “BBC insider” having a chat with the Mail on Sunday over the weekend, El Tel has announced to his listeners that – yes – it is true. He’ll soon be departing his weekday breakfast show, and…