SATURDAY NIGHT OPEN THREAD…

This is to discuss any BBC-related issue that concerns you. Please use it sensibly. no abuse and no trolls.

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195 Responses to SATURDAY NIGHT OPEN THREAD…

  1. GCooper says:

    Congratulations! The site certainly looks cleaner but it’s the judgement of Solomon between haloscan and this. Halosan seems unable to stay upright half the time – this system is clunky and awkward to use.

    As long as the general threads don’t keep vanishing down the page, I’ll be happy – especially as the new, bright, layout will be Joe Public-friendly, which helps us spread the word.

       0 likes

  2. John Horne Tooke says:

    “Tories promise to name and shame high earners at BBC and Channel 4”

    “The BBC declined to comment on the Conservative announcement, while a Channel 4 source said that it was not clear whether a Tory government would have the power to name the individuals who earn more than £150,000 a year.”
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/may/01/bbc-channel-4-conservatives-high-earners

    The government does not have the power to name individuals??

    Is this true? Doesn’t the government make the law? Oh no its the EU isn’t it.

    Whats the point in voting?

       0 likes

  3. John Horne Tooke says:

    “Tories promise to name and shame high earners at BBC and Channel 4”

    “The BBC declined to comment on the Conservative announcement, while a Channel 4 source said that it was not clear whether a Tory government would have the power to name the individuals who earn more than £150,000 a year.”
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/may/01/bbc-channel-4-conservatives-high-earners

    The government does not have the power to name individuals??

    Is this true? Doesn’t the government make the law? Oh no its the EU isn’t it.

    Whats the point in voting?

       0 likes

  4. John Horne Tooke says:

    “Tories promise to name and shame high earners at BBC and Channel 4”

    “The BBC declined to comment on the Conservative announcement, while a Channel 4 source said that it was not clear whether a Tory government would have the power to name the individuals who earn more than £150,000 a year.”
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/may/01/bbc-channel-4-conservatives-high-earners

    The government does not have the power to name individuals??

    Is this true? Doesn’t the government make the law? Oh no its the EU isn’t it.

    Whats the point in voting?

       0 likes

  5. mamapajamas says:

    John Horne Tooke said…
    “Why doesn’t the BBC get this “swine flu” in perspective.”
    It isn’t just the Beeb… ALL news media is running amok with this story. The probability is that it’s already mutated to a more benign strain, since there haven’t been any deaths since the primary cases in Mexico. It was the fact that the fatalities in Mexico were so atypical… young, otherwise healthy people… that freaked everyone out.

    For me and people like me, ANY kind of flu is dangerous because of pulmonary issues, but this seems to have turned into a pussy cat. You’d think Disney World would be one of the first places world-wide where it would turn up, but there hasn’t been a single case reported in Florida.

       0 likes

  6. mamapajamas says:

    John Horne Tooke said…
    “Why doesn’t the BBC get this “swine flu” in perspective.”
    It isn’t just the Beeb… ALL news media is running amok with this story. The probability is that it’s already mutated to a more benign strain, since there haven’t been any deaths since the primary cases in Mexico. It was the fact that the fatalities in Mexico were so atypical… young, otherwise healthy people… that freaked everyone out.

    For me and people like me, ANY kind of flu is dangerous because of pulmonary issues, but this seems to have turned into a pussy cat. You’d think Disney World would be one of the first places world-wide where it would turn up, but there hasn’t been a single case reported in Florida.

       0 likes

  7. mamapajamas says:

    John Horne Tooke said…
    “Why doesn’t the BBC get this “swine flu” in perspective.”
    It isn’t just the Beeb… ALL news media is running amok with this story. The probability is that it’s already mutated to a more benign strain, since there haven’t been any deaths since the primary cases in Mexico. It was the fact that the fatalities in Mexico were so atypical… young, otherwise healthy people… that freaked everyone out.

    For me and people like me, ANY kind of flu is dangerous because of pulmonary issues, but this seems to have turned into a pussy cat. You’d think Disney World would be one of the first places world-wide where it would turn up, but there hasn’t been a single case reported in Florida.

       0 likes

  8. Anonymous says:

    I wonder what they think of the new site design down at the BBC. Oh wait, who cares.

       0 likes

  9. Anonymous says:

    I wonder what they think of the new site design down at the BBC. Oh wait, who cares.

       0 likes

  10. Anonymous says:

    I wonder what they think of the new site design down at the BBC. Oh wait, who cares.

       0 likes

  11. Jason says:

    There is a Python script available which will export all of your Haloscan comments into an XML file, although I guess you’d probably have to write another script to import them into Blogger (probably doable though, if you know someone who’s up on these things).

    The script is here. I know a thing or two about Python – it’s a very easy language to work with – but nothing about the network side of things unfortunately.

       0 likes

  12. Jason says:

    There is a Python script available which will export all of your Haloscan comments into an XML file, although I guess you’d probably have to write another script to import them into Blogger (probably doable though, if you know someone who’s up on these things).

    The script is here. I know a thing or two about Python – it’s a very easy language to work with – but nothing about the network side of things unfortunately.

       0 likes

  13. Jason says:

    There is a Python script available which will export all of your Haloscan comments into an XML file, although I guess you’d probably have to write another script to import them into Blogger (probably doable though, if you know someone who’s up on these things).

    The script is here. I know a thing or two about Python – it’s a very easy language to work with – but nothing about the network side of things unfortunately.

       0 likes

  14. Jason says:

    I’m actually guessing the main problem with getting the Haloscan comments into Blogger is that this site isn’t hosted from your own domain, it’s a free Blogspot blog and so I don’t expect you have open access to any databases, etc. If this was a blog hosted on your own domain I’m thinking you could find out a thing or two about the Blogger comment database table structure and then write a little script to load all the comments from the XML file into the database. Voila, they’d all be there. But since this isn’t your own domain name my guess is the best you could do would be to write a script to actually manually post all of the old comments into the new site, which would probably take – oh I don’t know – a bloody long time!

       0 likes

  15. Jason says:

    I’m actually guessing the main problem with getting the Haloscan comments into Blogger is that this site isn’t hosted from your own domain, it’s a free Blogspot blog and so I don’t expect you have open access to any databases, etc. If this was a blog hosted on your own domain I’m thinking you could find out a thing or two about the Blogger comment database table structure and then write a little script to load all the comments from the XML file into the database. Voila, they’d all be there. But since this isn’t your own domain name my guess is the best you could do would be to write a script to actually manually post all of the old comments into the new site, which would probably take – oh I don’t know – a bloody long time!

       0 likes

  16. Jason says:

    I’m actually guessing the main problem with getting the Haloscan comments into Blogger is that this site isn’t hosted from your own domain, it’s a free Blogspot blog and so I don’t expect you have open access to any databases, etc. If this was a blog hosted on your own domain I’m thinking you could find out a thing or two about the Blogger comment database table structure and then write a little script to load all the comments from the XML file into the database. Voila, they’d all be there. But since this isn’t your own domain name my guess is the best you could do would be to write a script to actually manually post all of the old comments into the new site, which would probably take – oh I don’t know – a bloody long time!

       0 likes

  17. Anonymous says:

    Testing, testing. This new comment system’s a dog. I’ve just been asked to write “anusy”, which sums up how i feel this morning, but is a new word for me.

    My one issue with the site is the picture of David Vance. I imagined him to have the air of an old testament preacher (think Chuck Heston cum Robert Mitchum). But he looks more like a well loved biology teacher at a minor public school.

    Anyway, lead story on the BBC radio news this morning is the Blears criticism of the Government. Might david file that under “Save Brown”?

       0 likes

  18. Anonymous says:

    Testing, testing. This new comment system’s a dog. I’ve just been asked to write “anusy”, which sums up how i feel this morning, but is a new word for me.

    My one issue with the site is the picture of David Vance. I imagined him to have the air of an old testament preacher (think Chuck Heston cum Robert Mitchum). But he looks more like a well loved biology teacher at a minor public school.

    Anyway, lead story on the BBC radio news this morning is the Blears criticism of the Government. Might david file that under “Save Brown”?

       0 likes

  19. Anonymous says:

    Testing, testing. This new comment system’s a dog. I’ve just been asked to write “anusy”, which sums up how i feel this morning, but is a new word for me.

    My one issue with the site is the picture of David Vance. I imagined him to have the air of an old testament preacher (think Chuck Heston cum Robert Mitchum). But he looks more like a well loved biology teacher at a minor public school.

    Anyway, lead story on the BBC radio news this morning is the Blears criticism of the Government. Might david file that under “Save Brown”?

       0 likes

  20. Flapjackdavy says:

    Above was me

       0 likes

  21. Flapjackdavy says:

    Above was me

       0 likes

  22. Flapjackdavy says:

    Above was me

       0 likes

  23. Jason says:

    mamapajamas said…
    For me and people like me, ANY kind of flu is dangerous because of pulmonary issues, but this seems to have turned into a pussy cat. You’d think Disney World would be one of the first places world-wide where it would turn up, but there hasn’t been a single case reported in Florida.
    I tend to switch off to any health scare stories these days. Remember the SARS panic in 2003? Here in New York people were running around like headless chickens saying they were avoiding Chinatown etc….nothing came of that. Then there’s been various bird flu scares, flesh eating bug scares…you name it. It’s all a load of bollocks if you ask me. I’m on the subway four or five times a day packed in with people from all over the world, people sneezing and coughing and spluttering all over the place. What can you do? Sometimes I’ll get flu, sometimes a cold, but it’s never a serious affair. I just came down with flu right as they were announcing swine flu cases in Queens and Manhattan. Aches and pains, fever, sneezing, coughing etc. If it was swine flu I had, it was a piece of p**s. Didn’t even take a day off work.

       0 likes

  24. Jason says:

    mamapajamas said…
    For me and people like me, ANY kind of flu is dangerous because of pulmonary issues, but this seems to have turned into a pussy cat. You’d think Disney World would be one of the first places world-wide where it would turn up, but there hasn’t been a single case reported in Florida.
    I tend to switch off to any health scare stories these days. Remember the SARS panic in 2003? Here in New York people were running around like headless chickens saying they were avoiding Chinatown etc….nothing came of that. Then there’s been various bird flu scares, flesh eating bug scares…you name it. It’s all a load of bollocks if you ask me. I’m on the subway four or five times a day packed in with people from all over the world, people sneezing and coughing and spluttering all over the place. What can you do? Sometimes I’ll get flu, sometimes a cold, but it’s never a serious affair. I just came down with flu right as they were announcing swine flu cases in Queens and Manhattan. Aches and pains, fever, sneezing, coughing etc. If it was swine flu I had, it was a piece of p**s. Didn’t even take a day off work.

       0 likes

  25. Jason says:

    mamapajamas said…
    For me and people like me, ANY kind of flu is dangerous because of pulmonary issues, but this seems to have turned into a pussy cat. You’d think Disney World would be one of the first places world-wide where it would turn up, but there hasn’t been a single case reported in Florida.
    I tend to switch off to any health scare stories these days. Remember the SARS panic in 2003? Here in New York people were running around like headless chickens saying they were avoiding Chinatown etc….nothing came of that. Then there’s been various bird flu scares, flesh eating bug scares…you name it. It’s all a load of bollocks if you ask me. I’m on the subway four or five times a day packed in with people from all over the world, people sneezing and coughing and spluttering all over the place. What can you do? Sometimes I’ll get flu, sometimes a cold, but it’s never a serious affair. I just came down with flu right as they were announcing swine flu cases in Queens and Manhattan. Aches and pains, fever, sneezing, coughing etc. If it was swine flu I had, it was a piece of p**s. Didn’t even take a day off work.

       0 likes

  26. Jason says:

    A problem I’ve found with this comment system: if you enclose a paragraph in italics tags (or any other tags for all I know) and then write another paragraph after it, the paragraph break will show correctly in your post preview but will be lost when you post it. See my post above for an illustration!

       0 likes

  27. Jason says:

    A problem I’ve found with this comment system: if you enclose a paragraph in italics tags (or any other tags for all I know) and then write another paragraph after it, the paragraph break will show correctly in your post preview but will be lost when you post it. See my post above for an illustration!

       0 likes

  28. Jason says:

    A problem I’ve found with this comment system: if you enclose a paragraph in italics tags (or any other tags for all I know) and then write another paragraph after it, the paragraph break will show correctly in your post preview but will be lost when you post it. See my post above for an illustration!

       0 likes

  29. Anonymous says:

    Some new system teething problems, evidently.

    One thing I liked about Halo was that it told me how many comments were new since I last visited.

    Now I seem to need to guess and/or work backwards as I don’t fancy working through scores to find just one.

    Can that be addressed?

       0 likes

  30. Anonymous says:

    Some new system teething problems, evidently.

    One thing I liked about Halo was that it told me how many comments were new since I last visited.

    Now I seem to need to guess and/or work backwards as I don’t fancy working through scores to find just one.

    Can that be addressed?

       0 likes

  31. Anonymous says:

    Some new system teething problems, evidently.

    One thing I liked about Halo was that it told me how many comments were new since I last visited.

    Now I seem to need to guess and/or work backwards as I don’t fancy working through scores to find just one.

    Can that be addressed?

       0 likes

  32. robert says:

    Those seem to be the main 3 problems raised by almost everyone:
    1. no figure appears for ‘unread comments’
    2. no maximise facility for comments page
    3. having to type word recognition every time (what was wrong with the old haloscan system?)

    Apart from that, well done DV and colleagues – and also: well done for listening to everyone’s opinion (a rare thing these days!)

       0 likes

  33. robert says:

    Those seem to be the main 3 problems raised by almost everyone:
    1. no figure appears for ‘unread comments’
    2. no maximise facility for comments page
    3. having to type word recognition every time (what was wrong with the old haloscan system?)

    Apart from that, well done DV and colleagues – and also: well done for listening to everyone’s opinion (a rare thing these days!)

       0 likes

  34. robert says:

    Those seem to be the main 3 problems raised by almost everyone:
    1. no figure appears for ‘unread comments’
    2. no maximise facility for comments page
    3. having to type word recognition every time (what was wrong with the old haloscan system?)

    Apart from that, well done DV and colleagues – and also: well done for listening to everyone’s opinion (a rare thing these days!)

       0 likes

  35. Dick the Prick says:

    Ooooh colours.

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  36. BaggieJonathan says:

    What is this picture of David of which you all speak?
    I see no picture.

    The verification is very little extra effort.
    And if you click name/url its very very simple.
    But it might have the facility to help keep spammers and trolls in check so good on it.

       0 likes

  37. Dick the Prick says:

    Ooooh colours.

       0 likes

  38. BaggieJonathan says:

    What is this picture of David of which you all speak?
    I see no picture.

    The verification is very little extra effort.
    And if you click name/url its very very simple.
    But it might have the facility to help keep spammers and trolls in check so good on it.

       0 likes

  39. Dick the Prick says:

    Ooooh colours.

       0 likes

  40. BaggieJonathan says:

    What is this picture of David of which you all speak?
    I see no picture.

    The verification is very little extra effort.
    And if you click name/url its very very simple.
    But it might have the facility to help keep spammers and trolls in check so good on it.

       0 likes

  41. Philip says:

    David et al

    I’m on hols and have just grabbed a couple of mins with the laptop. Just like to say that the site looks great – big improvement over the old layout.

    I’m sure any teething issues will sort themselves out – I had the same with my site when I switched over to WordPress earlier in the year – but all was OK in the end!

       0 likes

  42. Philip says:

    David et al

    I’m on hols and have just grabbed a couple of mins with the laptop. Just like to say that the site looks great – big improvement over the old layout.

    I’m sure any teething issues will sort themselves out – I had the same with my site when I switched over to WordPress earlier in the year – but all was OK in the end!

       0 likes

  43. Philip says:

    David et al

    I’m on hols and have just grabbed a couple of mins with the laptop. Just like to say that the site looks great – big improvement over the old layout.

    I’m sure any teething issues will sort themselves out – I had the same with my site when I switched over to WordPress earlier in the year – but all was OK in the end!

       0 likes

  44. Anonymous says:

    No doubt the BBC will assist with this dhimmi project:

    ‘Jihadwatch’:

    [Extract]:

    “Scottish government to tackle ‘Islamophobia’ in schools
    ‘We are not intending to educate people about the Islamic religion, but to challenge myths and stereotypes and encourage people to think critically about the information that they receive.’

    “Noble sentiments and all, but one must inquire: If the Scottish government is ‘not intending to educate people about the Islamic religion,’ how will it differentiate ‘myths and stereotypes’ from reality, from sharia?” (‘Jihadwatch’)

       0 likes

  45. Anonymous says:

    No doubt the BBC will assist with this dhimmi project:

    ‘Jihadwatch’:

    [Extract]:

    “Scottish government to tackle ‘Islamophobia’ in schools
    ‘We are not intending to educate people about the Islamic religion, but to challenge myths and stereotypes and encourage people to think critically about the information that they receive.’

    “Noble sentiments and all, but one must inquire: If the Scottish government is ‘not intending to educate people about the Islamic religion,’ how will it differentiate ‘myths and stereotypes’ from reality, from sharia?” (‘Jihadwatch’)

       0 likes

  46. Anonymous says:

    No doubt the BBC will assist with this dhimmi project:

    ‘Jihadwatch’:

    [Extract]:

    “Scottish government to tackle ‘Islamophobia’ in schools
    ‘We are not intending to educate people about the Islamic religion, but to challenge myths and stereotypes and encourage people to think critically about the information that they receive.’

    “Noble sentiments and all, but one must inquire: If the Scottish government is ‘not intending to educate people about the Islamic religion,’ how will it differentiate ‘myths and stereotypes’ from reality, from sharia?” (‘Jihadwatch’)

       0 likes

  47. Ron Todd says:

    IS it just my computer or is there really a big blq blank at the top of the site

       0 likes

  48. Ron Todd says:

    IS it just my computer or is there really a big blq blank at the top of the site

       0 likes

  49. Ron Todd says:

    IS it just my computer or is there really a big blq blank at the top of the site

       0 likes

  50. Martin says:

    I saw a bit of the Marr show this morning. He had a rather nice cosy chat with our next Prime Mentalist.

    Patrick Stewart (a Liebour luvvie) putting the boot in to the Tories.

    Marr was pathetic.

       0 likes