Valleywag
death of print
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online video
The definitive guide to watching the Olympics online
The folks who are bringing you the Olympics online don't actually want you to watch their coverage. NBC and Microsoft are delaying the most popular events by three hours so that it won't interfere with more profitable TV broadcasts. And you'll have to download Microsoft's Silverlight browser plug-in to watch in your browser. But a bird's nest of geography and time-delay restrictions worthy of China's Communist Party government is in place. Thankfully, the anarchy of the Web offers plenty of options for having a crowd of curious coworkers surround your computer as you watch live handball, with varying degrees of expense and difficulty. Rather than being the coming-out party for Silverlight Microsoft hopes for, it may instead be the year sports fans learn a few new online-video tricks. More » -
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Alan Blumlein
First 1934 stereo recordings restored
The BBC has an early video clip from EMI research engineer Alan Blumlein, who made a series of stereo recordings in the early 1930s after filing a patent for binaural sound technology. Blumlein early recordings include a stereo capture of the London Philharmonic rehearsing Mozart's Jupiter Symphony in 1934. The recordings have been digitally cleaned up to remove the aging effects of the 78 RPM phonographs on which they were stored. Blumlein was a prolific inventor, awarded 128 patents over the course of his life for everything from stereo phonographs to TV to reconnaissance radar. More » -
online video
BBC Trust slams website's weak management
Think dealing with ADD-addled venture capitalists is bad? In the U.K., the operators of BBC.co.uk have to answer to something called the BBC Trust, charged with making sure BBC media "provides high quality output and good value for all U.K. citizens." The Trust's latest review says BBC.co.uk's "not sufficiently strong" management overspent its 2007 - 2008 budget by 48 percent, or $70.5 million. "This lack of financial accountability is not acceptable," reads the report, which also decrees BBC.co.uk's management has to be out by December. The Trust says the site needs more linking out, better search, better navigation and more caution with its investments. The report does not address our need for Little Britain torrents. -
your privacy is an illusion
The BBC creates a Facebook app to steal identities
In order to demonstrate how easy it would be for an malicious developer to create an application that steals private information from Facebook users, BBC television series Click created such an application themselves. Then they set up some spooky lighting and filmed a dude using two computers. "ID theft is a serious matter," the narrator intones. Check it out in the clip. -
online video
BBC rolls out absolutely useless streaming TV for iPhone
The paid-for-by-British-TV-owners BBC has rolled out an iPhone compatible version of its on-demand streaming video service, iPlayer. Neat, right? Yeah, kinda. It's Wi-Fi only and, oh yeah, available strictly in the U.K. What's the point of all that, then, if I can't watch new episodes of EastEnders? -
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dirk-willem van gulik
Ex-Joost CTO "an arrogant, condescending jerk," like most CTOs we know
Joost fired its former CTO, Dirk-Willem van Gulik, when it found out he was looking for a new job. Or he quit. Hard to tell. But according to a new tipster, one thing is clear: Many at Joost were glad to see him depart for a new job at the BBC. More » -
sex trade
BBC wants to know if you're getting any
After my first week reporting here, BBC Radio 5 Live interviewed me about Valley sex. Do "geek casanovas" (that's what they called you) have to pay for it? Listen to the archive of the broadcast or download through iTunes for my characteristically delicate response. -
BBC and Apple have partnered up to sell BBC programming through the UK iTunes store. [Reuters]
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exits
Fired Joost CTO already had new gig lined up
Joost fired its CTO, Dirk-Willem van Gulik, a company flack told NewTeeVee. For a replacement, the Web TV service named Comcast's Matt Zelesko to be the company's senior vice president of engineering. Here's the weird part, though: van Gulik already has a new job. More »
