Everyone hates the BBC

With the ‘actor gets phone call from professional hairpieces’ furore reaching it’s crescendo and hyper-local broadcasting being binned to a general round of raspberries, November hasn’t been kind to the Beeb.

The month is set to conclude on form then, with the results of a recent YouGov poll finding that six out of ten people consider the £139.50 licence fee “a rip-off”.

Two in ten thought that the national broadcaster could do better, with one in ten being content with the service.

Many surveyed also preferred re-runs of The Two Ronnies to any current programming.

Hmmm.

The survey of 2062 UK adults – commissioned by The People newspaper – comes at a time when the BBC’s entitlement to the licence fee has been under increasing scrutiny.

At an Oxford University conference in January, the then culture secretary James Purnell asked:

“…do we think it’s sustainable for every penny of the licence fee to go to a single organisation in an industry which now has very many providers rather than just a handful? Would some form of contestability for licence-fee funding help to sustain quality, innovation and efficiency?”- The Times

Mumbai under attack (breaking news)

Seeing Leopold’s, a bar where you used to hang-out, with blood spattering the walls and bullet-holes raking the interior brings the very realness of this current worldwide insanity home.

Seeing Leopold’s throw their doors open today, well, that says more about the Indian spirit than any amount of political rhetoric…

Mumbai has been rocked by a series of what is believed to be coordinated terrorist attacks moments ago – Western hostages are thought to have been taken.

Running gun battles continue at some hotels.

One senior officer told BBC journalists that attacks have been confirmed in seven locations so far. Dozens are thought to be dead or injured in the gun attacks.

The attackers have been described by some witnesses as seeking holders of American and British passports.

There have also been unconfirmed reports of explosions around the city.

Leopolds, a popular Western-style cafe / bar frequented by tourists in the backpacker area of Colaba was also sprayed with gunfire.

Indian troops are currently poised to storm the five-star Oberoi hotel were gunmen are holding a number of hostages.

Compulsive gaming “a social problem” not addiction – say Dutch experts

The BBC has reported that 90% of those seeking treatment for compulsively playing videogames are not actually addicted.

Keith Bakker, of the Smith and Jones Centre in Amsterdam – which also treats addiction to alcohol and narcotics – has told the BBC:

“…the more we work with these kids the less I believe we can call this an addiction. What many of these kids need is their parents and school teachers — this is a social problem…”

A new programme by the clinic relies on enhancing social abilities, instead of applying regular addiction counselling.

Bullying and loneliness were cited as contributing to compulsive behaviour, with overindulgent parents taking the brunt of the blame.

Confessions of a reformed gamer (extract)

Confessions of a reformed gamer (extract)

It has been 122 121 days since my Nintendo DS Lite was stolen. I’ve been denied the chance to manipulate mushroom gobbling Italian tradesmen for over three months. It shows.

Unfettered, I’ve taken up calligraphy, met a girl and joined a choir. My ass is smaller and face clearer – a twinkle in my eyes now says come hither, its ok…I’m clean…

In short my life has become one long joyous Senokot advert, with a James Blunt soundtrack.

Through my men’s group EmpowerMENt I’ve even started to sponsor other recovering addicts like ‘John’. ‘John’ hit rock-bottom when he ate his Spaniel 79 hours into a Warcraft binge.

It haunts him to this day.

You’re a different person when you’re ‘hitting up some game’ (that’s insider slang). Eating a dog can become a small price to pay to maintain ‘the sugar-screen rush’ (that’s more insider slang).

I remember the first time I ate a…

Quatnum of Solace…Qauntum of Solase *Quantum of Solace* blunders revealed…

Its open season once again down at moviemistakes.com where the latest Bond outing Quantum of Solace has been torn to pieces by eagle-eyed reviewers.

Disappearing blood stains, unrealistic parachute physics and unexplained Aston Martin colour changes all come under scrutiny this time around.

This Aston Martin was accidentally replaced with an ice-cream van in the next scene...

One critic points out:

“At the end of “Casino Royale,” Bond is wearing a three-piece suit. Although “Quantum of Solace” begins just minutes later, Bond is wearing a completely different, two-piece, suit.”

A concerned citizen may or may not have said, “this is frankly shocking in a £160m production and I want my £6.40 back from VUE Cinemas.”

Join the nitpicking here.

(stock.xchng image used)

BBC scrap local news venture

Local media around the UK are likely to be breathing a collective sigh of relief today with the BBC announcing an end to it’s plans for a localised online news service.

BBC Trust Chairman, Sir Michael Lyons, cited concerns over the move’s potential impact on “under pressure” local media as a reason for the decision in a statement earlier.

He also stated that the BBC’s current priority was the improvement of existing services in line with public wishes expressed by recent value test findings.

Regional newspaper body, the Newspaper Society, had previously called the BBC’s online video move “very damaging” in an August submission to the Trust according to The Guardian.

NS director, David Newell commented, “this is a proposal which the BBC should never have made and would have severely reduced consumer’s media choice…“

Mr Newell also called for a meeting with the Secretary of State to further discuss the roles of the BBC and the local media.

The proposed £68m video network was due to be put in place across 65 UK locations by 2013.

A public consultation questionnaire has already been launched by the Beeb. You can let them know what you think of the decision here.

Flagship BBC channels to be streamed live

BBC One and BBC Two are finally set to make the transition to live online streaming next week, according to comments from BBC Vision director Jana Bennett.

Internet simulcasting marks a step forward for the BBC, where it has traditionally lagged behind rivals Channel Four and ITV.

PETA lampoons ‘Cooking Mama’

With turkey bothering season just around the corner PETA has decided to launch it’s take on popular DS title Cooking Mama.

In the gory parody players prepare a turkey carcass for Thanksgiving dinner. Tasks include plucking and disemboweling the bird as quickly as possible, while digesting PETA factoids titled ‘What Mama Never Told You’ like:

“In the U.S. almost all birds have their throats slit while they’re still conscious, and according to the U.S. Department Of Agriculture, millions are scalded to death with tanks of hot water.”

Mmm, appetising.

Cooking Mama creators Majesco have remained tight-lipped so far, and have failed to comment on either the ‘tribute’ or pressure for a vegetarian addition to the series, according to Wired.

Try your hand at Cooking Mama: Mama Kills Animals here.

(Image reproduced with PETA’s permission)

Guardian interview of Facebook’s Zuckerberg

It must have seemed like a peach of an opportunity for The Guardian’s Simon Garfield when he landed a chance to interview the multi-billionaire founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg.

But the reality turned out to be anti-climatic, not through any fault of Garfield’s – but rather Zuckerberg’s recalcitrance.

The Zuckerberg schtick has always been rooted in contradiction. That image of the workaholic college dropout billionaire, perennially clad in a North Face fleece – a social networking leader and aloof geek – by The Times’ reckoning.

He’s even removed the ‘add friend’ button from his Facebook profile.

Garfield paints a bemusing picture of the interview at the London Excel Centre. Zuckerberg, flanked by two ‘advisers’ specialising in an array of duties from question filtering to general fleece advice, seems to make for a nightmarish interviewee.

Coolness to the media

He reinterprets questions, and blandly regurgitates stock answers. The word ’share’ becomes almost like a punctuation mark and its clear that this was never going to get off message despite Garfield’s attempts otherwise:

Garfield: Did you ever wish you could communicate more, and more easily, when you were a kid?

Mark Zuckerberg: I don’t know. I haven’t thought that much about that.

Ultimately we were faced with the Zuckerberg story as it has been known since 2004.

While the article’s true focus was the Facebook Connect angle, it’s hard not to feel stung by a coolness towards the media displayed by a man whose success has sprung from the ethos of ’share and share alike’.

Read So how many friends do you have, Mark? here.

Associated Newspapers’ Irish job cuts

Associated Newspapers has jettisoned 15 staff from the Irish Daily Mail and the Irish Mail on Sunday.

London based AN – also responsible for UK papers the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, Evening Standard and London Metro – has blamed the “current economic downturn”, according to the Irish Independent.

The news comes just four weeks after job cuts at the freesheet Metro. Managing director, Steve Auckland, called this part of ongoing “streamlining” of the business in an interview with The Guardian.

AN’s parent company Daily Mail and General Trust is to release it’s preliminary 2008 Annual Report in coming weeks.