Posts tagged Bbc at Switched

Posts with tag bbc

Facebook, YouTube Serving as Hot Spots for Hate Groups

by Lee Bains, posted Nov 19th 2008 at 12:36PM

Ugh, the online thugs are at it again. Last week, YouTube executives have removed several videos that were made in tribute to the infamous Columbine school shootings of 1999 and the two boys who perpetrated them, the BBC reported.

In a recent investigative report, the BBC found that a small but thriving Columbine-obsessed community, both in the United States and Britain, was responsible for a large number of YouTube videos championing the Columbine shooters -- fan reenactments of the boys' own homemade videos were also found. After that BBC report brought these developments to the attention of YouTube executives, the offending videos, in clear violation of YouTube's terms of service, were promptly removed. Google UK executive Peter Barron explained, "We do not tolerate videos that glorify school shootings and have removed the videos that fall into that category".

Continue reading Facebook, YouTube Serving as Hot Spots for Hate Groups

BBC Boxes Up Blu-ray 'Earth Collection' in Time for the Holidays

by Steven Kim, posted Nov 15th 2008 at 9:01AM

If you're planning on buying into a new HD set and/or a Blu-ray player this holiday season, the BBC is packaging up a six-disc Blu-ray set that you'll want to check out. 'The BBC Earth Collection' combines the 'Planet Earth: The Complete Series' and 'Earth: The Biography' like so much peanut butter and chocolate -- if you're getting a whole new TV and Blu-ray player setup, it's a great way to show off your new gear; if you're just getting a Blu-ray player for your current set, the visuals will make your TV feel new again. There's nothing new added to either title, but expect to see this box show up with an MSRP of $130. If it seems pricey, remember that new gear isn't any good without content!

Study Finds Virtual Worlds Offer Good Real-World Lessons for Kids

by Tim Stevens, posted May 25th 2008 at 10:05AM

Virtual Worlds as Beneficial Practice for Children

Online role-playing games are often seen to be detrimental for children -- at best a waste of time, and, at worst, an addictive scourge -- but a new study is showing that this may not necessarily be the case. The study calls one such world "powerful and engaging" for children aged six to 12.

The online world, hosted by BBC and called 'Adventure Rock,' is a place designed for kids to go and explore. Unlike most online games, it's a mostly solo affair. Players can communicate with others, but only on a message board, where they can share locations of special items or enemies.

The researchers, David Gauntlett and Lizzie Jackson from the University of Westminster, indicated that the game could be empowering for kids, and a good bit more engaging for them than watching television. They indicated that children used the virtual world as a sort of practice place for real life, which let them experience situations and figure out the right way to react in an environment where they could try again if they didn't like the outcome.

Mind you, the study was just for BBC's online world, so your kid isn't exactly guaranteed to receive the same benefits from 'World of Warcraft' or the like. [Source: BBC News]

Sound Index Charts Most Discussed Bands on the 'Net

by Tim Stevens, posted May 21st 2008 at 10:42AM

BBC Launches Sound Index, Charts Most Discussed Bands on Web

The days of the Weekly Top 40 list dictating the hottest properties in music are long gone. Now hot bands come and go almost daily, and the BBC has come up with its own replacement for those venerable pop lists of yore. Called the Sound Index, it's basically a system that trawls over popular online social networks, like MySpace and Bebo, and compiles lists of who's being talked about the most. Generate the most buzz and you'll be top of the digital charts.

With the weekly radio lists, an artist used to be considered dominant if they could stay at the top of the charts for two weeks in a row. With Sound Index the charts are re-generated every six hours, meaning an artist would be lucky to keep their number one spot for a few days before getting disrupted. Case-in-point, when the list launched yesterday Coldplay was #1 on the list. As of today, it's been bumped to #3 and the Ting Tings have displaced them. Such is the way of the fickle Internet music listener. [Source: BBC Sound Index, via TechCrunch]

BBC Coming to iTunes

by Thomas Houston, posted Feb 19th 2008 at 5:40PM

Following today's announcement that iTunes is now among the top 10 US record sellers, the BBC will be offering its programs through Apple's iTunes Music Store as part of continuing efforts to expand its content outside the borders of the UK.

Currently, BBC programs are made available on the free, UK-only iPlayer application after airing on TV, and short clips and previews are available on the BBC YouTube Channel. The new deal with Apple outlines the BBC's plan to offers at least 10 series through iTunes, including "Life on Mars" and "Ashes to Ashes." Simon Danker, director of digital media at BBC Worldwide, said, "We want to give audiences a wide variety of options on how and where to view their favorite BBC shows." Once purchased and downloaded, users will be able to view the content in iTunes and on iPods, iPhones, and Apple TVs.

While we're encouraged by the BBC's first step in making this content available worldwide, we're hoping that more of the enormous BBC archives will be opened up and made available on iTunes soon.

from BBC News

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Scientology Goes After Blog for Posting Video of Tom Cruise

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Jan 17th 2008 at 2:01PM

For those of you unfamiliar with the Church of Scientology let us give you a very, very abbreviated background. Scientology was started in 1952 by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard. The secretive religion has proven to be very popular amongst the Hollywood elite, but has faced allegations that it harasses critics, abuses members trust, and is not a religious organization but a commercial enterprise and a cult.

Tom Cruise is one of the organization's most visible and vocal proponents. Not long ago at a ceremony held by the Church of Scientology International (CSI) Tom Cruise was awarded the Freedom Medal of Valor. His wild-eyed video acceptance speech talking about how Scientology holds the answers to everything made its way on to pop culture and gossip blog Gawker. CSI immediately jumped to legal action, as many of its critics would have expected, sending a cease and desist order to Gawker accusing them of violating copyright law by posting the video from the award ceremony.

Gawker has so far refused to remove the video, arguing that it was posted in the context of "news reporting and critical commentary" and therefore falls under the fair use doctrine. CSI has yet to respond, but we're pretty sure this isn't over yet. The Church of Scientology is, if anything, determined, as one BBC reporter found out.

The entire terrifying video, from fervent introduction and speech by the church's supreme leader David Miscavige, to border line psychotic description of the church by Tom Cruise is available here. And don't worry if they get taken down, we've got copies too.

Update:
Those videos in the last link were removed as expected. But don't worry as you can see we've already reposted. We're keeping an eye out for black SUVs parked outside of our apartments now.

From Boing Boing

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Big Awards, Tiny Speeches

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Jun 7th 2007 at 1:33PM

The 11th annual Webby Awards were recently handed out in New York City, providing pats on the backs in more than 100 categories to the very best productions on the Web. This year's winners ran the gamut from eBay and YouTube to David Bowie and the Beastie Boys. In a nice break from traditional award ceremony orations, it's mandated that Webby acceptance speeches be mercifully short -- limited to just five words. Here's a sampling of the best ones:

"Don't believe everything you hear." - Factcheck (Best Politics)
"Fat cats need watch dogs." - OpenSecrets (Best Politics - People's Voice)
"Can anyone fix my computer?" - The Beastie Boys, (Artists of the Year)
"Have sex, make more kids." - Nick.com (Best Youth)
"Now let's get hammered." - DIYNetwork.com (Best Lifestyle)
"Thanks Mom. Whoever you are." - Clearification (Best Branded Content - People's Voice)

Though, Lifetime Achievement Award winner, David Bowie, had a bit of trouble sticking to the rules:

"I only get five words? Sh*t, that was five. Four more there. That's three. Two."

From BBC

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