Posts by Nigel Whitfield.

Go for a spin on Record Store Day: Lifting the lid on vinyl, CD and tape

Re: Have I missed something?

Sorry. Of course, I meant digital formats like MP3 or FLAC

Labour policy review tells EU where to stuff its geo-blocking ban

That particular case was quite complicated, because it touched on a lot of things.

For instance, a prohibition on the import or use of foreign decoder cards was found to be against the regulations about freedom of supply of services.

And, football matches, in themselves, aren't intellectual property, so don't fall under the ambit of copyright law in that way.

But "surrounding media" might count as copyright - opening sequences, logos and so on. And the Premier League could restrict the distribution of those.

There's a summary of the case from BBC news which mentions this. In the case of other material, say a film or a drama series, or a musical work, then under the current rules, it would appear that the owner can say "no," because it certainly is a disctinct creation that they are allowed to control.

Re: Meanwhile, in the real world...

That's a possibility; the BBC would, probably, have to pay a bit more for some imported material, which was now being watched across the continent. (Not least, because there might be less demand from, say, German broadcasters for a localised version now, thanks to many people there being happy to watch the English).

There is a distinct possibility that some big ticket programmes may not be localised for other markets, or may not attract such large audiences in those markets, if people have already been able to view the UK/American (and I'm thinking this could often be the case with US imports, say Desperate Housewives) versions via British broadcasters, thanks to the lifting of restrictions.

The BBC and Sky would perhaps be the least disadvantaged because both have some sort of mechanism for getting fees from people. ITV and Channel 4, for example don't, and would have to either give stuff away to people on the continent for no extra return (while likely paying extra for the content in the first place), or spend a lot of money on adding some sort of mechanism to allow for people to give them money.

Meanwhile, what of the foreign broadcaster that was previously showing a blockbuster import, dubbed into the local language? There is a possibility that they might find that the audience shrinks once people can get the non-dubbed version elsewhere. How much it will shrink we don't know, but isn't it at least possible, and worth considering that a loss of potential ad revenue because of this could then affect the amount of money that the broadcaster has to create original material in their own language.

And that's surely what the article was driving at - there could be unintended consequences in a variety of ways which would result in far less money being available for local material, while a wave of generic hollywood and euro-pap does far better.

To a degree, of course, some of this has been handled in the UK already, albeit on a smaller scale. Look at S4C, which receives subsidy specifically to create programmes in the local language, and to a lesser degree BBC Alba.

I'm not quiet sure how they handle this in Ireland - if TG4 has a subsidy specifically to support the language - but that may be the way that things end up being done, if people elsewhere in Europe are keen to retain the production of good quality material in their own language.

DTS announces DTS:X – sparks object-based audio war with Dolby

Since DTS:X is, effectively mapping an object into a space, based on the speaker setup you tell it you have, it could account for this.

Lots of AV kit has the ability to configure automatically using a small microphone, which you place in your normal listening position. There's no reason I can see why the information gained by doing that couldn't be used to inform the placing of the objects onto the different channels during playback, to more accurately recreate their position.

@ Xpositor

I suppose that may depend on how exactly all the objects are marked up; for instance, all the objects that make up the dialogue of a film could simply be bundled together as "dialogue" so you control them as one.

Or they could all be separate.

And yes, one of the things that DTS talked about was the ability for extra streams to be sourced from elsewhere and synchronised with the main video, so I suppose it might be possible to do something like that.

More likely, I suspect, would be just swapping all the dialogue for the dubbed version.

(As far as I remember, the specific example I chatted to them about for this was the Eurovision Song Contest; a system like this could allow technically people to choose the commentary of their home country, no matter where they were watching it.)

Of course, while the technical side of the whole thing is clever - especially the ability to effectively downmix to match whatever your speaker combination is, as well as relative levels etc - how much you will get in implementation remains to be seen.

In that screenshot, for example, one of the items has a padlock and was locked out; something that DTS talked about was the ability for certain things to be available depending on what the operator wants, so for instance everyone might get the ability to alter those relative levels of some thing in a sports game, but only people who've paid a premium get to hear the coach, or the goalkeeper.

One of the examples for this that DTS was touting at IBC last year was things like sports broadcasts, where you can choose your own mix of commentator, crowd, and even in some cases sound from miked up players, like the goalie or ref. You can see a screenshot of how that sort of thing might work in terms of interface at the top of my IBC report.

I would imagine that for films, it would be along very similar lines.

The coming of DAB+: Stereo eluded the radio star

Re: " it is harder to spot in a car most of the time."

One of the Zipcars round here had DAB in it, and the tuning in that was equally baffling - it seemed to present everything by mux/ensemble, offering helpful choices like 11B, 12A, and so on, then listing the stations within that, as if it made any sense at all to someone who just wanted to get the frigging Archers.

I don't know if it had a more sane tuning mode, with something radical like an alphabetical list of stations, because I decided to give up, rather than risk an accident dicking around with all that nonsense.

Also - for another thrilling Reg article - I have to drive to Lincolnshire this weekend. You're making me worried.

Re: RTF R M

You can usually turn it off completely. But sometimes it's actually handy - driving in London, it can be very useful to get the bulletins every 20 minutes, just in case something's going to mess things up.

The problem is the stations that turn it on too early, or turn if off too late, so you're stuck with half a news bulletin. Even worse when you get the impression someone just sat on the button at random and your current station is hijacked.

Re: broadcasts?

Well, if you want DAB to succeed - and I'd argue that those sales figures, with analogue radio still outselling digital, suggest it isn't really - then I think you do have to come up with some sort of plan to improve it dramatically.

That means addressing the shortcomings of DAB, which can either be done by allocating more spectrum so people can broadcast with better quality, and not be priced out of the market when they wish to do so, or by switching to DAB+ to offer the improvements in the same spectrum.

At some stage, in TV, we are going to need to do a switch to DVB-T2/H.264, even for SD channels, because of the squeeze on spectrum. That's why there's a temporary HD mux, to provide an incentive for people to get equipment that's compatible with that.

Something bolder should be being done with DAB+ in my view. Not just one mono station, but a whole load of them, providing people with a real incentive to switch over. Not necessarily over night, but a clear statement of a phased timetable.

So, for instance, if the new mux was all DAB+ with content you couldn't get anywhere, wouldn't that be a fairly compelling reason? People with older sets would continue to get the existing DAB stations. Over a few years, some of those would convert to DAB+, with the BBC channels probably being the last to go - possibly with a DAB+ Radio 3/6 Music to help things along.

At least that would be a plan. Which, I think, would be a damn sight better than what we have now. Surely we can't just keep saying "think of the first generation sets" indefinitely? There were quite a lot of first gen Freeview boxes and TVs that fell by the wayside over things like the change to 8k; those generally cost a fair bit more than a DAB radio.

If we just keep on as we are, a lot of people are never going to see the point of buying into digital radio.

Re: Freeview Radio

I sometimes do the same; when the 'new' series of Hitckhikers was on Radio 4 several years ago, the FM tuner was suffering from a lot of hiss in stereo, and the DAB set was doing its usual gargling. The only way I could get a hiss free decent quality stereo recording was from the Freeview box. Which I promptly recorded onto tape using a Revox A77.

Re: Ever seen a Digital Tick?

The digital radio tick is, apparently, pretty new, unlike the one for TV.

Re: DAB...

The sound quality is the big thing that, I think, might persuade some people to get a DAB+ set. If, for instance, the 'HD' streams for Radio 3 were available as high bitrate DAB+ instead of on the web, that might help. But, I gather, there are no plans for the BBC to do that at the moment, even though some there are keen to do it.

Re: Magic eye?

It's just an ordinary bulb and comes on when it's running on the mains. If connected to a DC mains and the light doesn't come on, you have the connections the wrong way round.

The Twin Miracle is a bit of an odd set; I think it was the first (or certainly one of the first) British battery/mains sets. As with many sets of that vintage, it worked on AC or DC mains.

Battery power needs a 90v battery for the high tension, which is pretty hard to find these days. Low tension was 1.5v battery with all the filaments in parallel.

Since you couldn't have a transformer, one leg of the mains lead was asbestos insulated resistance wire. When the mains is connected, power runs through the rectifier valve as it warms up. When there's enough, a relay triggers and rearranges the filament circuit into series with the HT supply.

Re: DAB killed the radio star

One of the things Ofcom seems to be hoping is that thanks to Open Digital Radio it will be much cheaper in future to get online with DAB, and that may be aimed at things like community stations, RSL, and so on.

I think that those might actually be able to provide the good reasons for people to want DAB+

Re: I listen to the best music....

While I was researching this, somewhere I came across a comment from a wag that finally, with DAB+, digital radio might finally be able to approach the stellar sound quality of the great 208

So where's all these digital services GDS promised us?

Re: Digital Bubble

The access to technology is a significant problem. It's all very well suggesting those on low incomes can use a computer in a library, but libraries are being closed all over the country, or shifted to volunteer staff.

Those who need to use computers in places like that will probably be more likely that others to need assistance, which potentially means having someone hovering by the computer to help you as you enter personal details. Bad enough when it's a paid librarian, but even worse when it's a volunteer.

The likes of MLF still talk about cheap computers and low price internet access as a solution to some of these things, but people who are struggling to make ends meet at the moment - or in some cases failing - won't be able to spare £100 for a computer, or £10 a month for a internet connection.

If public access computers in libraries continue to disappear, and services are pushed to digital only, some of the most vulnerable will be forced to pay cybercafes a few quid just to be able to fill in the forms they need to claim benefits.

That, to me, would be a shocking state of affairs. If you push services to digital only without making provision for the most vulnerable, you're really just shifting some of your costs onto those least able to pay them.

Coral Reefs: Secret Cities of the Sea exhibition – life beneath the waves

Re: Spoon feeding or research?

Well, yes, that is a point - but I think that this sort of thing can be done in different ways. For example, at the Science Museum's new gallery, which I wrote about a few months back, there are interactive displays that allow you to either look at the quick summary, or to read a bit deeper into the background. I'd like to see more of that, ideally with options for both kids and adults.

If interactive displays can't be provided, because of cost, since most of us do have a portable device when we're visiting, it wouldn't be too hard to provide short URLs or QR codes either - again, with a little work, you could have multiple ones, for different key stages, experts, and so on.

It certainly is hard to pitch information at a level that will please everyone, but it seems to me that one of the great advantages of modern technology is that you can provide alternatives, even if it's only a few links to further reading, without too much effort.

Well, yes, indeed. That is a problem. But, for example, while the big aquarium at the end is beautiful and has lots of colour in it, perhaps some smaller tanks with samples of the fish being talked about, or more colourful pictures alongside some of the samples might have helped. Even a small video screen, showing clips of those fish in the wild would be an improvement.

Obviously, you don't want them to go killing fresh ones and putting them in jars; but a pale old sample in a jar of preservative doesn't really get across the beauty of some of these things. A little something extra would perk it up no end - I can imagine some kids, for example, being singularly unimpressed at dead things in jars, whereas they might light up more at a video screen where they can see "Nemo"

That, in my view, would lift the exhibition somewhat, and could be done without spoiling the 'reveal' of the aquarium at the end of the room.

Mono Magic: Photography, Breaking Bad style

Re: Bah!

Yes, that sort of thing can be a problem - but as I mentioned, you can also use some phones as a meter too, which can solve some of those problems.

I'm not arguing that it's better than digital at all. It's different and, yes, romantic to an extent, I suppose. Or some people may just love messing around with chemicals. As other commenters have mentioned, the limitations may encourage people to think more about those such as selection and framing than they do when they can fire off loads of shots in an instant. Of course you can think about those with digital too, but perhaps film gives you a nudge in that direction.

Ultimately, I hope the various links and bits of info in the article might inspire some people to give it a go; it really is a lot cheaper, and a lot simpler, than many people imagine to process your own film.

Or even if you just buy a single roll of a cheap film like APX100 and send it off to develop and print, you'll have spent around the same as four pints of beer, and who knows, you might decide you like it enough to experiment some more. If you've got an old camera in a cupboard, buy a roll of film, take it on holiday alongside your digital, and save it for that moment when you go "wow", and then see how you feel when the prints drop through the letterbox.

Re: Ken Rockwell laughing stock.

Indeed, he's not loved by all (I'm sure I'm not, either), however I didn't suggest that site for photographic advice, but for info to help compare some of the older secondhand kit, and I do think that - notwithstanding that it's personal opinion - the info there will help people work out a bit more about things like which secondhand film kit on eBay will be a good idea, and which won't.

Re: That old red dot..

Rollei still sells a range of IR film (manufactured by Agfa), and there's also an Ilford IR film too

Re: It is techno-Luddism

Is it Luddism to want to have that sense of achievement from doing the whole job yourself, taking the photos, and processing them? Others have alluded to the 'magical' feeling of seeing prints appear as you develop them.

Picking the film you want to use, deciding on how you'll develop it, doing the processing - these are all things from which people derive pleasure, and end up with something that they feel is all their own work.

I think that makes the whole process pretty rewarding, and that's a perfectly good reason for doing it. Just as some people enjoy cooking, when you can get a perfectly good ready meal, or building their own bookshelves instead of going to Heal's (or IKEA).

And, though the decent DSLRs are cheaper now, I've still probably not spent as much as I would have had to to buy a Nikon DSLR that would be be fully compatible with my old lenses. Yes, I could pick up a digital compact, or CSC, but this way I don't have perfectly usable kit just sitting gathering dust.

Re: Well, it's a hobby

I won't dispute that it can take time, but I do think it can be a lot cheaper to develop film than people think, and if you shop well the rolls of film are relatively inexpensive too

Re: pinhole cameras are fun

Do! It was a proper holiday that inspired me to get back into film some years back.

I'd been in Köln, and seen so many people in the cathedral just experiencing it through a three inch screen instead of actually looking. So when I set off for Sicily by train, I took the FG20 with me, and came back with some great shots.

Re: Dust to (bloody) dust.

The kitty pic also suffers from the film - Adox CHS100 - which is quite prone to spotting, I find, and even more than usual with the caffeine developer

Millions of voters are missing: It’s another #GovtDigiShambles

Re: It worked for me, but not well

I registered well in advance, and heard nothing at all. So on Voter Registration Day, whenever that was, I filled in the online form again.

According to the letter from the council, I'm now registered twice, once with the initials of all my names, and once with the last one missing. Given that I entered the same NI number, I don't quite understand why they couldn't de-dupe something like that very easily.

Re: No doubt...

And in that regard, very much a re-run of 1992.

Although the poll tax was officially called the "Community Charge" I think it very much suited the then administration for it to be so widely called by a name that, implicitly, linked payment to voting.

I was most annoyed to find in 1992 that I wasn't able to vote, because the landlord of the house in which I rented a room had unilaterally taken it upon himself to decide, when the form arrived, addressed to him, that we probably wouldn't want to have to pay the tax, so he didn't put our names down on the form.

In the office where I worked then, 5 out of 7 people were not registered, largely because of concern about the poll tax, either on their part or as in my case that of "well meaning" other people.

Certainly in 1992, I think it's a fair assumption that many of those who were against the community charge would have been less likely to vote for the incumbent administration. It would be interesting to know how many people did disappear from the electoral rolls, compared to before the introduction of the charge.

It may, of course, be cock up rather than conspiracy. But to for the same party to "lose" so many people from the registers when an election is considered by all to be very close not once, but twice, will certainly raise some eyebrows.

OK, they're not ROBOT BUTLERS, but Internet of Home 'Things' are getting smarter

Re: The big problem (and risk) is connectivity

Murder by IoT:

Sneak into someone's house, perhaps via a flaw in their connected lock. Put very heat sensitive compounds close to their dryer and/or oven. Sneak out, wait until they're asleep (and you're safely alibied) and then crank the oven up to full, the dryer on max, and wait for the chemicals to catch fire. I guess after turning the appliances on, for good measure, you could launch a DDoS on their smoke detector, to knock that out of action.

Re: This is just stupid

Having invented the 'smart fridge' it seems some companies just won't give up on the blasted thing. I suppose having a camera so you can see what's inside is almost an admission that earlier iterations screwed up, because the idea of having to scan everything in and out of your fridge, and thus only ever buying things that had compatible bar codes or RFID tags was clearly bonkers.

At least with a camera you can buy what the hell you like, and not worry if it's incompatible with the fridge. But still, meh...

Cheaper power

We keep hearing of these appliances being able to start when the price of electricity is cheaper. But, other than the old 'Economy 7' fixed times, is that really going to come with the roll-out of smart meters?

It essentially means the electricity companies will be publishing, minute by minute, a spot price for their electricity, in response to demand. So far, however, we've seen that they don't even manage to reduce the price for consumers month by month when their own costs fall; forgive me if I'm sceptical about their desire to pass on lower prices.

And, will they pass spot prices, or will they be able to say "low price window for 2 hours" ? What if, for example, there's not a long enough window at a low price for the wash cycle? Does the machine start anyway, and damn the expense at the end (just when, perhaps, it might be doing the drying)? Or does it say "Best wait until there's enough time to do the whole thing cheaply", and leave you to open the door on a load of stinking socks when you were expecting something clean to wear to work?

How many Androids does it take to change a light bulb?

Re: the dreaded dingy CFL

Certainly, some of the older/cheaper LED bulbs have been pretty dingy too. The most recent ones I've bought, however, do definitely exceed the brightness of the GU10 halogens that they replaced, likewise the ones I'm using for the fittings are better than the daylight tinted tungstens.

But, I got them from a specialist online, rather than the local DIY store.

Re: Clueless

That, interestingly, looks identical to the old 12volt track I have sitting discarded in my office, which was part of an IKEA lighting system.

Re: Uh-oh

Even if people don't go for the app controlled bulbs, you can probably still expect a few moans when they decide to save money replacing bulbs with LEDs, and then wonder why their dimmer switch doesn't work properly any more.

Re: IoT? WoT?

I suppose, with a name like Montague, you simply ask your manservant to dim the lights for you when you need to impress friends at parties.

Re: Clueless

Well, I suppose the key thing is that you're not going to want the track to melt and drip in someone's hair. So, I would have thought that as long as you get the loads roughly equivalent, you should be ok.

For example - exact values will vary by bulb - but a 60W spot on a 240V track is going to draw 0.25 amps. And you can get a 400 Lumen 12v LED spot that's roughly 50W equivalent and draws 6W, which is 0.5 amps. Just make sure you're not drawing more current than the track is rated for.

Alternative may be simply to get the 240V LED bulbs, of which there's a pretty good range these days.

Re: Uh-oh

Quite probably. And, of course, it's not just lights, but other things as well - there's a fair range of stuff in the WeMo range, for example, and you'll have the same problems with Lollipop whatever is it you're trying to connect, at least until they update the app.

But in the case of lightbulbs, I suspect there are going to be a lot more people who "just expect it to work"

Telly behemoths: Does size matter?

Re: Hiding your TV in the cabinet...

I did cross my mind that there may be a profitable trade to be had in convincing little old ladies to let you take that old telly with doors off their hands for a few quid, then swap the insides for a modern LCD, and flog the result to retro-loving hipsters.

I was thinking perhaps one of these classic "Ultra" sets

http://www.golden-agetv.co.uk/img/equipment/283b.JPG

Re: Old 1990s class joke....

That reminds me of KY TV, the telly spin-off from RadioActive

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWtPEXfQki0

Re: are you sure ?

maybe you know a lot of vulgar people?

Re: Sony

Indeed; it would only really have worked if the interconnects were standard, but I'm pretty sure they weren't.

Given things like AV amps to handle source switching and audio, plus receivers for satellite or terrestrial, and fairly decent compatibility via HDMI, we are almost there, I guess. It's just that the makers of the screens insist on putting all the 'smart' stuff in the TV, when really it could pretty much all be done via a Chromecast or Roku, which can be replaced for far less when it finally runs out of oomph.

Indeed, if people do want to call up some of this stuff while watching TV, given the upscaling and other processing a modern AV amp can do, it's a shame none of them has an HDMI input designated as 'Smart stuff' that allows it to be overlaid on what you're watching in some way.

And fancy things like decent remote controls. I remember some of the first that had just the two buttons - volume and channel, guaranteed to deafen people before you could properly turn it down. Not to mention annoy the pets, because it was ultrasonic.

Our Rediffusion rental set had all the buttons; I can't remember if it was IR or ultrasonic. I do recall that the remote off made the power switch on the set pop out with a satisfying click. You could only turn it off by remote, not on.

Who uses the Universal Credit system? ALMOST NOBODY, says report

Re: Benefits of benefits

And one of the ways in which it can take away jobs - especially at the very low end of the market - is by demanding that people do some of those jobs (stacking shelves, working in care homes) as 'work experience' or 'voluntary community work' in return for a level of benefits that is not even equivalent to the minimum wage.

Why should a charitiy or company employee someone on minimum wage when the job centre will just send them a serf?

Re: I struggle to know how seriously to take this...

Well, yes, a planned rollout is a good idea.

However, what they're rolling out, even at this pretty late stage, is still only the phase of the project for single people, which is about the simplest possible case for the system to cope with.

It's still miles off being able to cope with complex benefit claims - and it's surely those that are the most likely area where it might - just might - be able to save some money.

So, the small number of people to whom it's being rolled out now is really more a reflection of the fact that they have only just about got it to work for one simple use case, rather than anything else.

The best plan ...

... is probably for an incoming government to scrap this stupid waste of money. And to make IDS personally liable for the bill.

'Utterly unusable' MS Word dumped by SciFi author Charles Stross

Re: Word Perfect

For quite some time when I first went freelance (20 years ago this spring) I did all my writing using WordPerfect 5.1 for Unix. Mostly on a Wyse 50 terminal that I had on the kitchen table, because it had a great keyboard.

Leaky battery attack reveals the paths you walk in life

In some businesses, people may have to install an app that's been developed in house, for instance. And since an app using this technique doesn't throw up any alerts about permissions, some companies might well think they could do this.

Remember that in some situations, knowing that someone isn't where they are supposed to be could be just as useful as knowing where they are. A company with people who work in the field might well find this sort of technique handy for knowing whether or not their reps are where they're supposed to be, or if they're spending rather too long at lunch, instead.

Bung a library that does this into an app that provides a corporate manual, brochure or something like that, and you have a tracking system on employees' phones, without them being any the wiser.

Euro broadcast industry still in a fug over that 4K-ing UHD telly

Re: “the most significant advance since colour”

To be fair, when industry people talk about UHD, they generally are meaning more than just pixels, and the roadmap from groups like the DVB for future phases of UHD is very much about things such as increased frame rate, wider colour gamut and high dynamic range.

And, having seen all of those things side by side back at IBC then I certainly wouldn't claim it as a stupid statement. Combining these technologies really does provide a startling improvement in picture quality, compared to the leap up to HD.

Of course, most of those demos at IBC are carefully controlled, and very few of them are actually on your typical broadcaster's stream that's been compressed to buggery in order to maximise shareholder value, so whether what we'll eventually see in our homes for UHD Phase 2/3 is anywhere near as good is certainly up for debate.

But UHD is not just about 4K. If it's done properly, it is about all those other aspects too. The fact that they are not all fully standardised yet is, in my view, a good argument for not buying a 4K screen just yet. Wait until you know that both screen and connectivity have been adequately specced for the finalised UHD standards. To do otherwise may be a little like buying an early 'HD' TV that turns out to have a weird resolution, no H.264 decoder, and only a DVI connector on the back.

Be your own Big Brother: Covert home spy gadgetry

Re: What's even creepier than the song

Well spotted!

I do like a man who knows his musical theatre :)