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Reselling Concert Tickets
I find this astonishing. Essentially what artists want is a cut of any resale money made from selling on concert tickets. The idea is that when tickets are resold, usually via websites these days, a proportion of the resale value would be passed on to a new body – The Resale Rights Society. I find…
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WRC – Where?
I was genuinely surprised today, to learn that the rally once known as the RAC Rally, had been run this weekend. Now I’m not an especially big rallying fan, but since it became “WRC” branded, it seems that it’s becoming harder for the passive fan to see. Once upon a time it ran for the…
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The Perils of Email
On his newsblog, Nick Robinson links to the emails and letters sent between the NAO and HMRC. As Robinson says: The key thing we learn comes not from the detail but the tone of all the exchanges. They demonstrate little concern from either the NAO or HMRC about data protection. The NAO wants, it would…
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Analogue Switch Off Postponed?
Well, no it hasn’t, because it’s never been timetabled. But that might be the conclusion you’d get if you read this article on Computeractive. The regulator had planned to switch off analogue (FM and AM) radio by 2009 and 2012, to free up radio spectrum which “could be used for other things, for the benefit…
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Dirk Gently
Last Thursday I decided that I’d quite like to order a copy of the recent Radio 4 adaptation of Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency. Produced by the same production team that made the recent Hitch Hikers’ follow-ups, I missed the Radio 4 airing, so thought I’d catch up on CD. I headed off to Amazon…
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Beowulf
I must admit that I’m a bit behind on my film reviews. There are as many as half a dozen that I’ve still to write about. Anyway, without further ado, here’s the latest – Beowulf. There are currently three versions of this film available to see: the bog standard 2D version; a traditional red/blue glasses…
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Writers Who’ve Annoyed Me In The Last 48 Hours
Sorry – there’s no good reason for this entry apart from allowing me to let some steam off. First of all there was Kathryn Flett in The Observer. She gets 1600 words to write about television from the last week, and she manages to waste precisely 884 of them on I’m A Celebrity. She’s so…
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Going Underground
I wish that there was some kind of London equivalent of UX. Somebody please tell me there is!
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NFL Network
Here’s an interesting little tale about something happening over on the other side of the pond. We all know how premium TV works in the UK. If you take either Sky or Virgin Media services, you have to pay extra for premium sports. If you don’t, the best you might get is Eurosport, Motors TV…
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The Future of Radio
Today was an important day in radio, as Ofcom reported its statement on the future of commercial radio in the UK. As most of the country is probably aware – certainly readers of this blog should be – we are just beginning a massive five year switchover from analogue to digital TV. By 2012 the…
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That Lost Database
I must admit that to a certain extent, I’m revelling in the discomfort that Gordon Brown and Alastair Darling are currently experiencing in regard to the appalling loss of personal data that the HMRC has been responsible for. However, I’m still somewhat disappointed that the press and media in general are concentrating more on the…
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Oop. Sorry. Lost It.
I really shouldn’t be surprised, but I am. HM Revenue and Customs has lost 25m Child Benefit records. They were sent on CDs by unrecorded delivery. They didn’t reach their destination. This, don’t forget, is the government that wants to build a national ID database. They simply cannot be trusted with our data. Aside from…
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Yellowface/All The Lovers In The Night
Yellowface by R F Kuang I first came across R F Kuang with last year’s very enjoyable Babel, an alternate history of the British Empire told in a world where magic exists and is controlled by an elite group of individuals. Yellowface is very different, but no less enjoyable. It’s a book about books, and…
Hadrian’s Wall
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