tomVersus

• recommended The Butterfly Effect on Boxee. check it out at http://bit.ly/I6sFh #

• Trends: Impacts Of The Era of Social Colonization http://bit.ly/aAJ9c by @jowyang #

• I love Sweden in the springtime #

• Finishing off my presentation for Online Steering Group tomorrow. #

• Enjoying the first day in the new house. Even comes with more sunshine. #
• @mgarthwaite Finally! Try this: @kt19weather #
• Likes Nick Hornby: True - http://likaholix.com/r/bE6 #topical #
• On nightshift with baby K on my first day of leave. #
• @degsy Is our scrum training good then? Would you recommend for someone else? in reply to degsy #
• @Doctoe Think of all the calories you’ll burn trying to dislodge the seed. That’s exercise! And healthy. in reply to Doctoe #
• Trying out Likaholix, but still buggy and showing up errors on the page. Go on, you know you want to Like Me: http://likaholix.com/tomvs #
• Ticket to Sweden booked! Visiting the Hex during the bank holiday weekend in less than a month. #

• I’m from the Tropic of Capricorn. All this changing the clocks just confuses me. #
• F1 on iPlayer is awsome. If only iPlayer could give me extra hours in the day or get rid of exhaustion. Ahh! Insomnia time filler… #
• @degsy Cool programme! But only 23 hours left on iPlayer, I’m going to miss it… in reply to degsy #
• @degsy Played with Desktop today, almost deleted it. But 30 days! Really? Interesting. There’s always redux… in reply to degsy #
• @degsy There’s no way to get from /programme page to iplayer page for a programme? in reply to degsy #
• @degsy Ie, the iPlayer logo and text are just dead text. No link. in reply to degsy #
• @ourman I second the “wet African earth” one in reply to ourman #
• Off reading, then more reading, then bed. Night all! #
• On the stationary bike with my blackberry working - not enough hours in the day. Damn, have i become “that exec”? #
• Blackberry in hand, F1 on iplayer, and me on the stationary bike #
• @darwinshome If I had breath in my lungs I’d LOL in reply to darwinshome #

• Beste rede om op Twitter te wees - my broer @peetrofski #
• @thedullfig unfortunately that’s not a newsroom. It’s the free service at Heathrow T5. in reply to thedullfig #
• @kirkwoodd likewise! See you at MT in reply to kirkwoodd #

• Watching @darenbbc give a new presentation on Twitter. Any questions? #
• @darwinshome Working :-). I meant questions for @darenbbc in reply to darwinshome #
• I have less creases in my trousers than @darenbbc #
• @darenBBC hello 14 other people in reply to darenBBC #
• @aarons I thank you very lots. in reply to aarons #
• @darenbbc http://twitpic.com/212sh #
• Instead of looking at @darrenbbc, I’m looking at MI6 across the river: http://twitpic.com/2130l #
• @thedullfig uhm, which pic was that? I have published newsroom pics, but can’t remember if it was twitpic or Flicke. URL? in reply to thedullfig #
• @evafryc So, could you change your username on Twitter? How was the experience? Easy/hard? #
• Blogging. And catching up. And preparing. And replying to emails. Beginning to feel a bit like work. #
• Watching the DSi promotional video on Amazon. Me wants. But then again, like Freddie said, me wants it all. http://bit.ly/CoGWp #
• Enjoying some more excellent late night reading on unique user names and identification. tx 2 @aarons #

• Listening to @jemstone on “Capturing Comments” in the Council Chamber in BH http://twitpic.com/1sqmg #
• Now watching @rooreynolds show the radio people some social media tools. Council Chamber, BH http://twitpic.com/1ssct #

• @kjmarsh @thoroughlygood Have a look at http://bbc5.tv - especially the news videos http://is.gd/kSNd #
• @trippenbach Haiku haiku, haiku. Haiku haiku! in reply to trippenbach #

• I believe Twitter is now mainstream. When *I* have more than 500 hundred followers, and I do *no* marketing, it must have hit the big time. #
• @boxee Count me in for the Nerd Pride Parade in reply to boxee #
• Looking forwar to #BeeBCamp today! Conference Centre, floor 5, White City #
• Heathrow, Terminal 5, international departures. http://twitpic.com/1klm7 #
• So, Hulu content not available on Boxee anymore “because of content providers” http://tinyurl.com/djaart #

• Working my way through some sections of the interim report on Digital Britain. http://tinyurl.com/4nxgkx #
• Read HP’s Social Computing Lab reports (via @jowyang) http://www.hpl.hp.com/research/idl/results.html #
• @josswinn Ah! Brilliant, thanx. Very helpful. Don’t know how much I can contribute, but have a good idea of how much I can use it. in reply to josswinn #
• Prepping for a meeting with @sicross #
• @kjmarsh @thoroughlygood Good site (content and approach) on Digital Britain http://writetoreply.org/digitalbritain/ via @josswinn #
• @PaulWalsh Wow, you *really* hate Ecademy? in reply to PaulWalsh #
• @rooreynolds My doctor told me to add a tot of whisky as well! Apparently makes the Lemsip work better in reply to rooreynolds #
• @derivadow I have to agree on Being Human - I was quite impressed as well. in reply to derivadow #
• Loving Twitterfall http://twitterfall.com/ #
• Lol. I also enjoy being human (most of the time), but I’m also enjoying the TV show “Being Human” @mydogminton #
• @thoroughlygood Just sent you an email with account details. #
• @aarons No Twitter access? Oh just grow up! Or do what I did and move house. in reply to aarons #
• @currybet If you know him as well as I do, you call him John in reply to currybet #
• @chunkylover Hmm, do you know him by any chance? in reply to chunkylover #
• @ruskin147 Like in the old days when there was a “Turbo Boost” button on PCs? MAde it go from 2.4MHz to 4.8MHz!! in reply to ruskin147 #
• @boxee Any news on the iPhone app? in reply to boxee #
• @cubicgarden Please let us know the verdict of Google Sync in reply to cubicgarden #
• RT @jemimakiss: MediaGuardian >> Daren Forsyth leaves BBC-land to launch a Twitter-esque startup http://tinyurl.com/d5zmce #
• @cubicgarden Thanx! Will check it out. in reply to cubicgarden #
• @darenbbc How was the last PAYE day? #
• @darenBBC Thanx, was wondering about that. Who will now fill your impressive shoes? in reply to darenBBC #
• Oh great, @aarons is sitting behind me in the meeting reading over my shoulder #
• @robertbrook I passed on your message in reply to robertbrook #
• @JemStone Try using systemproxy add-on for FF - it reads proxy data from OS X so you don’t have to http://systemproxy.mozdev.org/ in reply to JemStone #
• @FreyaSykes I’m tweeting in a meeting about social media. These people look at me funny if I *don’t* tweet in reply to FreyaSykes #
• @FreyaSykes Not always the best job - at the mo’ I’m an Excel jockey going thru pages and pages of budget details… in reply to FreyaSykes #
• Checking out numbers (comments) for our blogs over the past year. Fascinating reading, even if it is a sreadsheet #
• @VicThompson @freyasykes Well crafted spreadsheet? You’ll have to show me one of those babies in reply to VicThompson #
• @jlcoassin Yes, I have a tiny bit of experience in this - both simplified and traditional. Why? Who wants to know? in reply to jlcoassin #
• RT @twestival: Wondering if everyone tweets the word Twestival right now - can we trend higher than Valentine’s day? Let’s try - GO ! #
• @niallomalley I disagree totally on BG epay site. Tried it this weekend and had to abandon attempt. Eventually they phoned me back to do it in reply to niallomalley #
• @Cybersoc thanx for ref in reply to Cybersoc #
• @sicross you doin SxSW this year? in reply to sicross #
• Bad journalist/PR fight on Twitter: http://tinyurl.com/b8cy5f #
• @FreyaSykes Yeah, I had a ticket but can’t make it. Doh! in reply to FreyaSykes #
• @sambrook Best. Tea. Ever. in reply to sambrook #
• #uksnow SW19 3/10 #
• Snowing in Wimbledon as Katie and I pass through on our way home #
• Listening to TechWeekly interview with @tweetdeck. While using @tweetdeck. Good work, @iaindodsworth! #
• Now if only this Seagate 320Gb will partition FAT32 on my MacBook I can plug it into my HomeHub for NAS. Apparently #
• Tom loves Spotify. And Spotify loves Tom. #
• Sharing: Spotify plugin for Boxee (partnership with Boxee) - I would love it if Spotify partnered up with Boxee … http://gsfn.us/t/1ax7 #
• Still amazed at Spotify - all the music I want! Any music. Now. Is this legal? http://spotify.com #
• Wish I was at @twestival London. Instead I’m babysitting in the snow. Hmm, not *all* bad #
• @darrenwaters Sure. Plug in a FAT32 drive to USB-A port and it becomes network storage. Don’t know bout speed yet. Link to follow… in reply to darrenwaters #
• @darrenwaters Explanation of the HomeHub: http://is.gd/jlzZ in reply to darrenwaters #
• @MichaelCox Spotify rocks! haha. Anyway, I was late to the party. in reply to MichaelCox #
• @hemmysphere You could have sent them pictures? in reply to hemmysphere #
• @mibly Would you believe I applied for that job? (And obviously didn’t get it) in reply to mibly #
• @bmcmichael LOVINGIT! BUYING 2! in reply to bmcmichael #
• @MichaelCox Hmm, “Radio” not working for me - I like classical music… in reply to MichaelCox #
• #uksnow KT24 0/10 #
• This is tweet number 5000 for me. #
• @mibly Uh, Buckingham Palace, SW1A 1AA, London? in reply to mibly #
• Would like to see some personality spamming features in Spotify. AKA “recommend”, “rate”, “+1″ or whatever. Or am I just missing it? #
• @darrenwaters Dang and blaster! BTHomeHub only supports USB1.1. Makes for Veeeerrrrryyyy slow media drive. Will test… in reply to darrenwaters #
• @mydogminton Tell me more? in reply to mydogminton #
• @huey Ah, thanx. Perhaps that’s it. But I like Boxee’s model of sharing and recommending to my friends. in reply to huey #
• @ourman Odd. Please let me know when you find out anything. in reply to ourman #
• I just got an interstitial page going from a bbc.com site to a bbc.co.uk site. The page warned me I’m “now leaving the bbc.co.uk” #
• @speckled_jim No, it was the other way round! I was going from .com to .co.uk, but the message read “…leaving bbc.co.uk”. in reply to speckled_jim #
• “Gastroenteritis - if you don’t have a stomach for Africa” @ourman #
• Checking out Backtype - “Find, follow and share comments on the web” http://www.backtype.com/ #
• And now I’ve discovered TwitterCounter - http://twittercounter.com/tomvs/all #
• @LynDJ You say “nerdy” as if it’s a bad thing? in reply to LynDJ #

• Wow. My own local amateur weatherstation with constant updates thanx to @jimeasterbrook. You are a genius and a gentleman, sir. in reply to jimeasterbrook #
• @darenBBC “complicated shit” in reply to darenBBC #
• RT @secrettweet: 13205 I just donated $5 to secrettweet.com because reading about other people’s misfortunes make me feel lucky. #
• @jimeasterbrook Your weather station stopped tweeting 14 hours ago in reply to jimeasterbrook #
• @darenBBC Glad you liked it - first thing that came to mind. I’m good, let me know when to come over again. in reply to darenBBC #
• It’s snowing in Surrey (KT24) #uksnow #
• #uksnow kt24 #
• RT @paul_clarke: snow? tag with #uksnow and 1st part postcode then some bright spark will mashup amazing time/snow map. or something #
• @sicross Happy for you! That’s awesome. Uh, will you be at work tomorrow? in reply to sicross #
• RT @billt: For those who are interesting Power of Informaton Task Force report Beta up for comments http://poit.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/poit/ #
• “Worst and heaviest snowfall for 6 years” expected - BBC News - #uksnow http://is.gd/hYIv #
• @JemStone I saw your report from out in the backwaters of Sussex, as it appears to be in reply to JemStone #
• Now for some work and static biking. Hope it’s compatible. Else I’ll prob just spend the time on the bike and on Twitter… #
• @sicross Cool, looking forward. Also another gettogether tomorrow around the relationship model. Looking forward… in reply to sicross #
• #uksnow kt24 6/10 #
• @degsy What time + channel Superbowl XLIII? in reply to degsy #
• @darenBBC what time and which channel (freeview) for Superbowl XLIII? in reply to darenBBC #
• Hoping I can get #Superbowl streaming from #iPlayer over #Boxee on my MacBook hooked up to my tv. Any thoughts? #
• Watching tourists (I guess) taking pictures in our village of the #uksnow kt24 #
• @JemStone thanx. Now for my aspirations of watching it through @boxee on my MacBook. No satellite, no freeview reception thanx 2 #uksnow in reply to JemStone #
• RT @JemStone: Rather fortuitiously or not, new BBCWeather Site comes out of beta tomorrow morning. http://news.bbc.co.uk/weather/ #
• I’m going outside to measure the #uksnow fall so far in KT24. Still coming down strong. #
• #uksnow KT24 7/10 3in and still coming down! #
• 3 inches of snow and still coming down. This boy from Africa is enjoying the heaviest snow of his life! #uksnow #
• Snowing in Surrey, KT24, #uksnow http://twitpic.com/1adon #
• Your name in Web2.0 - http://web2.0write.com/ via @alexmyers #
• Check out my text written in Web 2.0 logos.: http://tinyurl.com/b3aeak Created from http://web2.0write.com/ #
• @FreyaSykes Thanx, will check my twitpic issue #
• Disappointed my Twitpic of snow not showing up. Will try to repost. #
• Check out my text written in Web 2.0 logos.: http://tinyurl.com/dddj55 Created from http://web2.0write.com/ #
• “BBC” in Web 2.0 logos.: http://tinyurl.com/bhdf75 Created from http://web2.0write.com/ #
• Repost of my Surrey snow pic: http://twitpic.com/1aduz #
• Registering for live updates from train provider in anticipation of a hectic day of commuting tomorrow thanx to #uksnow. http://is.gd/i1FW #
• RT @benmarsh: Mapped #uksnow tweets: http://moourl.com/uksnow #
• @FreyaSykes Repost of my Surrey snow pic: http://twitpic.com/1aduz #
• @FreyaSykes I am incapable of detecting rudeness in others #
• @FreyaSykes My commute is 80-90 minutes on a GOOD day. Already shivering, not cold but thinking about tomorrow morning… #
• @FreyaSykes Ahh! I’m as slow as the London trains on a snowy night. Only NOW do I get your “rude” tweet. Doh! #
• @chlorinekid <throws a snowball> Grumpy old man #
• Enjoying the Interactive Tree of Life, even if it forces Flash10 http://www.wellcometreeoflife.org/interactive/ #
• @FreyaSykes Weeellll, I had to see your “Rugby” photo on Flickr before I made a connection in reply to FreyaSykes #
• @PaulWalsh Or you might just be a typical #superbowl watcher getting ready? lol in reply to PaulWalsh #
• Unmoderated BBC content… RT @mibly: hah, looks like the beeb uses the same CCTV footage, http://tinyurl.com/co5mfm #
• @FreyaSykes Not exactly my cup of tea, if you know what I mean. in reply to FreyaSykes #
• @mydogminton My thoughts exactly in reply to mydogminton #
• @mibly Yeah, I’m going to LOVE my EdPol meeting tomorrow! in reply to mibly #
• Who needs #superbowl when we have supersnow in #uksnow #
• @FreyaSykes Hmm, perhaps more like ladies chess. in reply to FreyaSykes #
• So, do I watch #superbowl or #twitlive? Ahh, both live on web, thanx BBC and @leolaporte #
• @FreyaSykes For the second time tonight from you: ROTFL!!! Thanx for that in reply to FreyaSykes #
• @ap1978 Yeah, it’s working fine. In fact, the problem is with me keeping up, not my laptop. in reply to ap1978 #
• @FreyaSykes Ohh, that kind of talk… in reply to FreyaSykes #
• @darenBBC I remember those siggie runs, but never in the snow for me in reply to darenBBC #
• RT @martingoode: Love the fact that #uksnow is almost as popular as the superbowl. WEATHER!!!!!!!!!!1!! (via @drewb) #
• @JULIANBRAY Don’t know what you mean: I AM in southeast England KT24 in reply to JULIANBRAY #
• #uksnow KT24 4/10 #
• I’m afraid in THIS house #superbowl is seriously losing out to Tweeps and #uksnow #
• @JULIANBRAY Cool. No, really: cool! It’s about 4 inches now in Surrey, between Guildford and Cobham. #uksnow in reply to JULIANBRAY #
• @mibly Thanx. Wonder where those lines came from… in reply to mibly #
• Time for a midnight uitsmijter. Yes, yes, Dutch blood and background. #
• #uksnow kt24 8/10 #
• @degsy The Boss has grown old. But he STILL ROCKS! in reply to degsy #
• Reminder of the live #uksnow live mashup map: http://www.benmarsh.co.uk/snow/ #
• It’s almost as cool as in my imagination as a boy. GI Joe movie ad: http://tinyurl.com/bsfnrs #
• @JasonCalacanis Please don’t use Hulu ads - we can’t see it here in the UK. Mahalo is international, no? in reply to JasonCalacanis #
• Still snowing 4 hours later. At least 3 inches, perhaps 4 by now. #
• #uksnow KT24 6/10 #
• Watching #superbowl? Do u know where your wife is? http://twitter.com/secrettweet/status/1168453176 #
• I’m new to this island, but I take it this #uksnow is out of the ordinary? #
• @threewheeledone I’m out in Surrey b2n Guildford an Cobham, and we have almost 4 inches! Never saw this much in Cambridge in reply to threewheeledone #
• @pranman Link plz for BBC story? in reply to pranman #
• Flickr pics of #uksnow: http://tinyurl.com/cwbvb3 #
• #uksnow kt24 6/10 #
• @pranman Ah thanx. I’m looking for another example of http://tinyurl.com/co5mfm in reply to pranman #
• @aarons @jemstone @rooreynolds @nickreynoldsatw Moderation FAIL: http://is.gd/i2zr #
• @pranman Stunning live cam of Oxford street thanx. in reply to pranman #
• RT @rishil: ha ha ha Livewebcam of #uksnow on oxford street london http://tinyurl.com/bcbngr #
• @mikewhills Kingston to Clackets in 3 hours. Wow, you should have walked in reply to mikewhills #
• @darenBBC Shouldn’t you be sleeping? in reply to darenBBC #
• @degsy Good dame, innit? in reply to degsy #
• @degsy Obviously I meant “good GAME” and not “good DAME”. Doh in reply to degsy #
• Last 49 seconds of the #superbowl… #
• @degsy Still 5 seconds left… in reply to degsy #
• Steelers - winningest franchise in NFL history #superbowl #
• @nickreynoldsatw @sicross at the moment of writing 03:12 all trains in our area suspended. Might miss our first meeting of the morning #
• Thank you Steelers and Cardinals for an outstanding and entertaining game! #superbowl #
• @degsy I saw your earlier call. I followed your lead and I’m glad I did! Good luck for the morning alarm… in reply to degsy #
• @darenBBC Sleep tight in reply to darenBBC #
• #uksnow KT24 6/10 #
• More than seven hours later and it’s still snowing here in Surrey! #uksnow #
• Just so happens I’m still awake after 4AM on a Monday morning for a minor crisis at work. #
• @WildlifePhotog Yeah, I’m between you and Guildford and it must be at least 6 iches of #uksnow in reply to WildlifePhotog #
• I love, love LOVE living in the UK! #
• Busy prepping for Wednesday: helping out @teppie migrating Westminster Abbey’s people to the web way of thinking #
• @Hannechr Yeah, it has its problems, but Istruggle to see them Overall it’s a brilliant place to be, with some great people. #
• Looking for a conference in Sweden in April. Any suggestions? Willing to write a paper or case studyto get there if necessary. #
• @teppie please check your email and let me know if it looks OK? #
• @chlorinekid And it’s not just on snow days - I love this place even on gray rainy days. And when summer comes… in reply to chlorinekid #
• @chlorinekid lol Undoubtedly some artists in your neighbourhood. in reply to chlorinekid #
• Working from home, in front of the window upstairs while looking at more light #uksnow falling over the village. #
• @thoroughlygood @kjmarsh Thought of you when I read this, esp the Elearning bit: http://tinyurl.com/5qpjre #
• @edwarp09 Hi! Please do! Yes, I am interested. in reply to edwarp09 #
• Forced to look at the stories (and photo) of Phelps and the pipe. It’s for work, dontcherknow! #
• @currybet Would love to, but with the shortened work week missed meetings are moved on. #
• “Informavores” now there’s a term I haven’t seen in a while. #
• @robertbrook Ahh, there is that too. No, I’m doing some reading on “information scent” and attracting informavores (sic) #
• No trains through the village since Friday: first engineering works over the weekend and then snow and ice. Hope it’s sorted by tomorrow! #
• Ran across this old article on info pollution by @doctoe from back in 2003: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3171376.stm #
• “I have to read up and prepare before going on a date with you tonight” from @kobie. Said without a hint of sarcasm. #
• Thanx @darwinshome for the link. Shared with @aarons, @jemstone, @rooreynolds and @nickreynoldsatw #
• @PaulWalsh YES! We did it last year with @mbites, @nickreynoldsatw, @jemstone and the BBC Internet Blog to talk about openness and start ups #
• @PaulWalsh True. But @mbites had open invite on TCUK, and anyone who could make it to BH in London was welcome. #
• Hello civilization: we have trains again through the village for the first time in days. #
• @teppie Trains running and almost on time even. See you shortly after 9 #
• Watching @mbites’ face on BBCNews, talking about Facebook’s 5th birthday #
• @fords Don’t be afraid to send such messages (re Twhirl and Tweetdeck) in public over Twitter. You might be surprised at the responses…. #
• Oh, and welcome back to @fords #
• Thanx to @teppie for her kinds words #
• Going through the BBC podcast directory again and picking out some gems: http://is.gd/ioN4 #
• @lucyh Don’t know if this is now of interest to you? Cordis call for proposals for funding: http://is.gd/isUF #

• @degsy I find Tweetie overrated but Twitterfon is excellent in reply to degsy #
• Just found out my mom is coming to Uppsala for the whole of April! #
• Myconnect working as well as always. Back to Black(berry). #
• @rich13 “Be the change you want to see in the world” - Gandhi. http://snurl.com/at88v #
• @katiesol Wimbledaon sation will do that to you #
• @trippenbach Where’s the haiku? #
• Comment is not currency, quality of comment is the currency. “It’s like counting page requests to your website.” #
• @kate_day Good Q, but at this stage I’m just going for getting people to think about their community in terms of quality instead of size. #
• @trippenbach Through the keyboard / over the network / a thank you tweet from me / sent to you #
• Working on the plan to help @jemstone. Not easy, but necessary. #
• Hiding away and Considering friendship models, thanx to @rich13 #
• @darwinshome whichever model Karen allows in reply to darwinshome #
• @derivadow thanx, friend in reply to derivadow #
• @martinstabe Impressed with a CMS? Pray tell, which one? in reply to martinstabe #
• @teppie you’ll have to show me this Room! in reply to teppie #
• RT @paulbradshaw: 10 Twitter users that every journalism student should follow? Please add your suggestions: http://bit.ly/Gdl5 #
• Looking at the phenominal list of profanities people might use. Wish people could spend that time more productively #
• Reminder: Twitter is not totally secure. And the fact that it says “BBC” on the tin doesn’t *mean* it’s the BBC http://snurl.com/avlv2 #
• @aarons Let me know how iLife09 turns out - I’m ver interested in reply to aarons #
• @shockwave3 Damn, can’t make the party. Sorry! in reply to shockwave3 #
• My “fast” train is now almost 50% late. Not complaining, just warning you tweeps that there ar probs at Waterloo #
• Listening to @sicross’s pitch #
• Running off to meet @teppie for some charitable work at the Abbey #

• Lê in die bed en lees bietjie Hennie Aucamp terwyl dit buite storm. #
• On my way to a requierments meeting with some smart people about social networking #
• @sicross contact @trippenbach for more info on BeeBCamp2 happening 18 February in reply to sicross #
• Just installed @TwitterFon app on my iPhone before my trek across town. Looks good so far #
• More studying of the BBC Editorial Policy pages - http://snurl.com/acu9d #
• @darrenwaters Yep, I am. All the same apps as you in reply to darrenwaters #
• Thank you @thoroughlygood, but I wasn’t reading it to fall asleep #
• listening to Guardian Daily on the fast train to Waterloo #
• My brother being asked to change from covering games to games and gadgets. Some people have all the luck #
• @kentnichols I’m not an Abba fan at all, but have to admit I enjoyed Mamma Mia. PErhaps it’s because the girls Iwas with loved it so much… in reply to kentnichols #
• Crazy hectic busy day ahead, kicking off with discussions about linking policy on social spaces #
• Sharing some social media info with @jemstone, @nickreynoldsatw and @rooreynolds. Missing @aarons #
• Reading through some strategy and requierment documentation - including upcoming blog posts. #
• @DavidH2 Good to see you here on Twitter. Use it in the way that makes sense to you in reply to DavidH2 #
• “We have a shortage of executives.” Never thought I’d say that at the Beeb, did you? #
• @darenBBC Amen, brother! The revolution will get them in reply to darenBBC #
• Done with requirements meeting, now struggling with some editorial stuff that came up from user comments. #
• @jimeasterbrook My legs are still wobbly and my vision blurred after I realised what I said… in reply to jimeasterbrook #
• BeeBCamp happening 18 February. Speak to @trippenbach or @DavidH2 #
• BeeBCamp2 is coming: http://wikis.gateway.bbc.co.uk/confluence/display/beebcamp/Home (internal link) #
• Done speaking to an old colleague about social media policies in large organisations, and how far intranets have come… #
• RT @trippenbach: @tomVS and everyone - keep spreading the word, BeeBCamp 2 is gonna kick! http://snurl.com/ah9kb #
• Hi @tim_weber and welcome. Lots of journalists and BBC people here. Consider yourself among friends in reply to secrettweet #
• @mydogminton jump, jump, jump! Uh I mean be responsible and go swim in reply to mydogminton #
• @LloydDavis what time is Tuttle and how do I invite myself? in reply to LloydDavis #
• @mydogminton You going to #tuttle? Might need to move my calendar around, but interested in reply to mydogminton #
• @chblm What about your lunch menu? Will you tell us about that? in reply to chblm #
• Finally home, quick sandwhich and some emails before some old Macross Saga series 1. Yup, proud geek. #
• @lucyh Where can we see some pics? I’m dying to meet the new addition! And I have three ready-made friends for her in reply to lucyh #
• @kjmarsh @thoroughlygood @DavidH2 NYT Facebook policy in reply to kjmarsh #
• Sorry, let’s try again with link, @kjmarsh @thoroughlygood @DavidH2 NYT Facebook policyhttp://snurl.com/ahonf via @dotben #
• So BT has referred me to Otelo (ie they won’t take note of my actual complaint). Ombudsman here I come #
• thoroughlygood NYT’s Facebook policy for journalists http://snurl.com/ahonf via @dotben #
• @thoroughlygood NYT’s Facebook policy for journalists http://snurl.com/ahonf in reply to thoroughlygood #
• Upgrading my entire iTunes library to DRM-free. Feel slightly pissed off and cheated having to pay, though. #
• Switching off and tuning out - MAcross and popcorn waiting. See you tweeps tomorrow #
• @IAmKat Your life is one, long hell in reply to IAmKat #
• Having publicity shots taken, unexpectedly. Cheese! #
• @Cybersoc You are too kind, sir. What will I be in? PRobably the doghouse in reply to Cybersoc #
• Positive meeting re a site refresh. Also looking at exloiting the underlying technology, and linking up with some exciting new products #
• Dealing with rude and abusive community members can really drag down the mood. #
• @kate_day I do love the conspiracies especially in reply to kate_day #
• Damn, still need to do a decommissiong plan for @jemstone asap. #
• Enjoying @kjmarsh’s periodic highlights from #omc09 #
• Looking forward to meeting @darenBBC this afternoon, but first some official letter writing to the public #
• Heading off to weeky team meet. Busy week, lots to discuss. #
• Looking forward to meeting @darenbbc soon #
• @PetaHaigh lol “build a bonfire” in reply to PetaHaigh #
• Great to finally meet and talk with @darenBBC at MediaTrust. And run into some old acquaintances… in reply to darenBBC #
• Done with weekly routine Editorial Policy meeting of 30 mins. which always ends up as 2 hours #
• Small discussion on moderation requierments - how do we improve the back end and experience #
• @shockwave3 Hey cool. When/where is it? I might be out of town that day, but Iif I’m around *of course* I’lll be there #
• @mydogminton As always, comments and suggestions are welcome #
• Too late on a Friday afternoon to be debating friendship models. Crib sheets welcome. #
• Is there some kind of protest outside TVC? #
• @jamescridland How long can you hold your breath? It’s “live” as long as the audience believes it is. Ask ITV. #
• @thoroughlygood Thank you. As always your reply is highly amusing, if factually deficient #
• Reading interesting comparator analysis from @sicross team #
• Weekend in Paris for rugby. Shame, @aarons, your ife must be difficult #
• @thoroughlygood See! SEE! See how you lie! #
• Apparently a protest outside TVC by Tamil Tigers wanting more News coverage #
• @thoroughlygood Food fight? With you? I know where *that* leads #
• In a pub in Vauxhall helping a friend with paperwork. Bloody bureaucracy #

• Slowly getting back into Twitter, blogging and the web after three weeks of sunshine and “real” life. #
• @lucyh “Real” friends invite me for coffee in reply to lucyh #
• Done with weekly editorial meeting of live services, now testing some new functionality ahead of launching a new service #
• @darwinshome The honey nut lattes were good, the conversation better. Glad we could catch up… in reply to darwinshome #
• @mydogminton Yes, have you noticed a certain reluctance to throw myself back into the social scene? Even if it is “just” online? in reply to mydogminton #
• Just had the Salford announcement, and it seems my teams are staying in London. However, individuals still have the option to go if the want #
• @sicross To be honest I’m not sure. An email has done the rounds, and on our side we’ve been told we’re nt moving. in reply to sicross #
• @darwinshome I was all ears (and caffeine). in reply to darwinshome #
• Reading through a project proposal for some exciting new functionality on bbc.co.uk for radio and tv #
• @kjmarsh Good to (finally) see you on here, Kevin. Like most things in life, you get out of Twitter what you put in in reply to kjmarsh #
• @darenBBC Glad to see your brain’s still working. Sort of. in reply to darenBBC #
• Watching @fords play with my iPhone while we discuss social media and journalism training #
• @plasticsnow I absolutely refuse to be seen with @thoroughlygood - he upstages me every time. Uh, where do I set this message to “private”? in reply to plasticsnow #
• @darenBBC Thanx. It’s *great* to be back here! I do love this town, and tese people. Yes, despite the weather in reply to darenBBC #
• @IAmKat No, I’m (almost) man enough to be compared to @thoroughlygood. I’m just not thoroughly good, that’s all. And no shifts necessary in reply to IAmKat #
• @degsy Better than eating laptops while using a pistachio nut HAppy New Year! in reply to degsy #
• Points failure on the Central Line #
• @Dan_10v11 Thanx and welcome back yourself. I’ve been soaking up the sun down south for three weeks. But glad to be back! in reply to Dan_10v11 #
• Why has no one told me about http://www.bikely.com/ ? Wow, user uploadable bike trails around the globe. #
• @thoroughlygood Fight over @iamkat? No contest! You’ll beat me like eggs. in reply to thoroughlygood #
• Tech people losing their Jobs: http://snurl.com/a2dsc #
• @Mazi Hi yourself Thanx for the welcome… in reply to Mazi #
• Prepping for team meeting, which means I’m trying to decide what I aford to leave out and still fit in 60 minutes. #
• @sicross Thanx man, but WHEN? Looks like a brilliant social media resource though, if you have time to read it all. in reply to sicross #
• Retweet @sicross: Social web peeps - read ALL of this! http://www.w3.org/2008/09/msnws/papers/ #
• @limalicas Activity Monitor in the /UtilITIES folder under /Applications in reply to limalicas #
• Retweet @darenBBC: Digital Love, come on!!, spring will be here soon, days are getting longer. http://blip.fm/~1lryp - RT spread the love #
• @paulbradshaw So what’s the difference between a “web journo” and other types? How about Peston? Is he “web” or not? in reply to paulbradshaw #
• Installing a cornucopia of Garmin software on my Mac - http://www8.garmin.com/macosx/index.jsp #
• Studying a contract and listening to Elgar. Pomp and circumsance, I guess. #

• Bike shopping. #
• Home. #

• In a dodgy little internet cafe/computer shoppe in Dana Bay, looking out over the Indian Ocean http://tinyurl.com/7jrxxb #
• Open wifi in the centre of Mossel Bay http://tinyurl.com/76h5o5 http://twitpic.com/vjpo #
• @thoroughlygood I saw your tweet on commenting in reply to thoroughlygood #
• @Doctoe and what was your answer? in reply to Doctoe #
• Loving all the sunshine @thoroughlygood, but missing broadband and all my “not-real friends” (ie online people) #

• Hat shopping. Suggestions welcome. http://www.hatsandcaps.co.uk/ #
• @darrenwaters Get one of them round tables. You won’t publish much but it will at least be damn funny. in reply to darrenwaters #

• @IAmKat Now, it’s my big K,. And she’s not 1 but 31 in reply to IAmKat #
• Downloading latest Boxe release #
• Sorry, should be latest *Boxee* release. Yes, I’m a bit excited. Even though most new features are for US audience #
• Watching iPlayer on Boxee. Thank you: http://tinyurl.com/5wbt82 #
• Finished meeting in Tely Centre with the other social media guys, smashing together our proposal for comments for the next year. #
• Going through roadmaps and sprints for the next 12 months. #
• Quick catch up #
• Reading the Home Office Task Force’s good guidance for social networks: http://ping.fm/aL3Am #
• This flu isn’t helping much. But it is providing some quirky hallucinations… #
• recommended Louis Theroux: Law and Disorder in Johannesburg on Boxee #
• Ahhh… Chivas and Lemsip. Yes. #
• Setting up VPN on my iPhone: http://tinyurl.com/65rbf7 #
• Sleepless. #
• @thoroughlygood Good luck with the cat. I’m sitting and sickly coughing by myself in reply to thoroughlygood #
• Have to get back into the office today or it will be a week wasted. #
• My second sighting of a Sony Ebook Reader “in the wild” - another train commuter. #
• @iplayer Would like to make contact via DM or email. #
• Finished budget related meeting. Slow progress, but progress nonetheless. #
• Sorting out BBC iPlayer Twitter account @BBCiPlayer but it seems @iplayer is alreayd taken. #
• @JemStone Where are you? in reply to JemStone #
• Just as downbeat as @jemstone and not as upbeat as @aarons: I’m supposed to be in that meeting with them. #
• Enjoying this performance of The Emperor by Ask #
• Enjoying this performance of The Emperor by Ashkenazy despite myself: http://tinyurl.com/68qzc9 #
• @thoroughlygood I don’t care much for Ashkenazy’s style, but he’s obviously quite taken with this Ludwig chap. I prefer Brendle + Rattle. in reply to thoroughlygood #
• @darenBBC Sort of sorted. HAving a bit of a headache with a.) content and b.) the two different accounts @iplayer and @bbciplayer in reply to darenBBC #
• @darenBBC Yeah, thanx for spreading your love around in reply to darenBBC #
• Doing my last bit for Auntie for the day. Then it’s me andMr Wodehouse #
• @darrenwaters Do you use a proxy? Or are you Stateside? in reply to darrenwaters #
• @darenBBC That’s right, go forth and multiply our followers. I thought you were off sick today? in reply to darenBBC #
• @darenBBC O ditto. I’ve been in bed two days, but lappie and brain still working… in reply to darenBBC #
• @darenBBC If you could see my Tweetdeck now: 15 little Darens in yellow jackets all OVER the place! in reply to darenBBC #
• @darenBBC Beginning to think I’ve overdone it completely on the the Chivas and Lemsip… in reply to darenBBC #
• @darenBBC Hmm, smiling Daren or stern Daren? Actually Tweetdeck doesn’t update all instances I’ve just learned. So I’ve got ha’ and ha’ in reply to darenBBC #
• @darenBBC lmao in reply to darenBBC #
• @darenBBC Great, now I have a Tweetdeck full of you, only it’s 3 different avatars! in reply to darenBBC #
• It seems #beebcamp 2 is taking shape for some time in February. With added secret sauce. Or so a birdy told me #
• @marksimpkins Would youhappen to know something more about this thand I do? in reply to thoroughlygood #
• @thoroughlygood Yes! Why not? I can do anytime between 1 and 3 PM in reply to thoroughlygood #
• @thoroughlygood I assume that last tweet was supposed to be @tomvs? in reply to thoroughlygood #
• Finally left the office. Now for more than 3 weeks of holiday. Can’t remember how to relax. #
• Busy packing for three weeks in the sun… Ok, done. #

• @leguape Yes, threded comments are def on the list! in reply to leguape #
• @marksimpkins Yes, brilliant thanx. I’m also thinking about selective switching off - on the client side… in reply to marksimpkins #
• Enjoying coffee and Calacanis’ latest email which contains “the History of Violence” essay by Steven Pinker from TED: http://is.gd/1aO7 #
• Oh great, trying Live Mesh after TUAW write up. But it’s not supported on Tiger, only Leopard on the Mac. http://is.gd/9ekZ #
• Increasingly frustrated with Last.fm’s interface. Why can’t I play the track I want? #
• Doing some research on commenting, and hopefully also producing a blog post for the Internet Blog #
• @69105 Or allow you to choose which order you want comments displayed? in reply to 69105 #
• Collating your comments about comments http://is.gd/9H5A and http://is.gd/9H5C #
• Trying to work on the commute, but slightly distracted as Foul ‘Ol Ron obviuosly just boarded one of the coaches #
• @thoroughlygood Thanx for (all) the feedback in reply to thoroughlygood #
• Getting horribly lost in Telly Centre #
• Done meeting with EdPol and ITAKU #
• On the shuttle bus to Broadcasting House with @rooreynolds and @nickreyonldsatw #
• @69105 We’re working on all that in reply to 69105 #
• Hotdesking on someone’s free wifi in Henry Wood House #
• Trying to put together some meaningful stats on how people comment on BBC sites. #
• @edwarp09 I use my iPhone, so the site is http://ping.fm/iphone in reply to edwarp09 #
• Finished with weekly editorial planning meeting for bbc.co.uk live services. Interesting discussions around curation as well as compliance. #
• Working through stats, thanx to some v. v. helpful colleagues. #
• Meeting @aarons, @nickreynoldsatw and EdPol to talk about content issues, moderation and editorial on blogs #
• Diving into Sage (stats tool) to try and come up with some intelligent answers. Me + Sage = unlikely #
• Working on measuring our social media engagement, and this “framework” is proving v helpful: http://ping.fm/ghaVx #
• Heading to Television Centre to talk stats with the 606 crowd #
• I’m getting all nostalgic watching some colleagues play Counter Strike in Broadcast Centre. (Not *in* the building, obviously, on PC I mean) #
• Very excited about today’s workshop: planning how to improve one of the BBC’s best communities #
• Refreshing to meet someone else who demands people be on time for meetings. #
• @nicprice You’ve been away from here a while, haven’t you? in reply to nicprice #
• @leguape Sorry, only getting replies now. You want to do coffee so I can get some context? in reply to leguape #
• I need to figure out a better way of picking up replies on Twitter. Even Tweetdeck is not working - I need BIG red letters. #
• Quick coffee and putting together an agenda for the weekly team meet in an hour. Yep, I’m on the edge but still on time. #
• @Cybersoc I missed your replies and only got the coffee invite now. Damn. Why don’t you invite me over to Headshift Towers for drinks in reply to Cybersoc #
• @thoroughlygood Good running into you yesterday. Please send me a meeting request if needed? in reply to thoroughlygood #
• recommended Diva on Boxee. check it out at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082269 #
• Out Of Office switched on, Blackberry switched off, Yammer shutting down and I have the day off! #
• Almost time for the start of K’s birthday party. Quiet before the storm - everyone’s walking here so they don’t have to drive home tonight! #

• Sunday eve, prepping for tomorrow and a busy week ahead. Roll on Christmas break… #
• Oh boy. Just realised I’ve had a spelling mistake in my email sig for weeks. And no one told me. Or no one noticed #
• Seems 3 of the 4 people in our meeting are not in yet. #
• @marksimpkins On Gateway, under travel and tranport, shuttle buses http://finance.gateway.bbc.co.uk/procurement/transport/shuttle.html in reply to marksimpkins #
• Busy Monday morning so far, talking about spaces, business development and off site moderation, and social media (commenting) strategy. #
• @caspararemi don’t get me started on Amazon’s UI and journeys. In technical terms: it sucks. in reply to caspararemi #
• Broadcast Centre 4th floor to the new Shepherds Bush overground station: 16 minutes’ walk. About equal to tube journey (but healthier). #
• Writing up notes from the mornings discussions. Then prepping before meeting our strategy guru. #
• Meeting with @nickreynoldsatw #
• @degsy Done. If you live in Hong Kong or somewhere. in reply to degsy #
• @Doctoe Sorry. in reply to Doctoe #
• Getting slightly annoyed at the repeated error messages on Boxee because Hulu doesn’t work outside US. Need iPlayer on Boxee! #
• Hehe, listening to Beeskraal playing boeremusiek on Radio Suid Afrika through Boxee #
• @hemmysphere Yes Hemmy, you are oh-so-relativistically right. But like Sting (almost) said: “I want my iPlayer” in reply to hemmysphere #
• @hemmysphere Hemmy, do you have ANY idea how much I’d *love* to be there? Will see what Ican do, but please keep reminding us… in reply to hemmysphere #
• TBTT (Too busy to tweet). Sad, but true. And due to sensitivity I’m increasingly working on stuff that I just cannot tweet. #
• Done with 2 weekly 1 on 1 meetings, service redesign meeting and 1st meeting with our strategist. Now hour of emails then external supplier #
• @Doctoe “Westie” seems to depend on where you say it…http://tinyurl.com/rdu8q in reply to Doctoe #
• @danielmorris I’m too busy to reply now. Will tweet later. Doh! in reply to danielmorris #
• At the College of Journalism’s Future of Multimedia Journalism conference at White City (5th floor) #
• Watching @paulbradshaw at the Future of News conference in White City conf centre #
• @billt All the conference sessions are livestreamed and archived on the intranet. So you don’t *have* to be there, just if you want coffee in reply to billt #
• Thanx to @IAmKat for the link to @riverthames. Now I don’t have to go outside to see the Thames’ tide… #
• Working from home - much better to sit in peace and read community feedback. http://ping.fm/bZ7ie #
• Some of our friends are staying in the Taj hotel in Mumbai - they were luckily out for the day when the terrorists attacked! #
• Checking out the competition. #
• @edwarp09 Yes. On a very small note: I’m having trouble changing flight tickets with Expedia because they’re so pbusy this morning! in reply to edwarp09 #
• Head spinning? Welcome to the beeb @helenst #
• @boxee Uhm, pedantic remark: Your blog posts don’t have dates n them (only below comments or in URL). in reply to boxee #
• Working on the possible future of “comments” - setting up a wish list. #

• Springbok rugby on BBC One, through an absolute fluke I’m watching both television and rugby at the same time. #
• Looking for @aarons in the crowd at IRL vs NZ #
• XMind now opensource and free! Mindmapping software on Windows/Mac http://ping.fm/pOVmy #
• @jamestutt Is that good, bad or neutral? I imediately assumed completely positive, but perhaps you were forced to watch both? in reply to jamestutt #
• Thx to Jim for building a personal weather station near my home, and publishing the results: http://ping.fm/TMOYs #
• @boxee Unashamed begging: please send my alpha invite in reply to boxee #
• Printing out an online discussion to read offline. Feels wrong, but I left my charger at home… #
• Trying to listen to masses of audience members by going through BBC message boards and blog comments. And I’m making notes… #
• Catching up with the internal blog platform and all its details as part of the handover #
• Watching my Windows-using colleagues enjoying Chrome, and I’m slightly envious. #
• RT @currybet on the tidal wave of web leaks of the names of BabyP’s killers on mainstream media sites hosting UGC - http://twurl.nl/punqse #
• @currybet Yes, it was exciting on Friday PM on BBC message boards when this started coming out. Luckily we have a brilliant team this side! in reply to currybet #
• Spent an informative weekly 1 on 1 meeting talking about songwriting and music and personal drive. Long live Mr Cohen. #
• Done with weekly editorial planning meeting for bbc.co.uk online services. Lots of exciting stuff happening, and new stuff coming. #
• Finally behind a laptop again. At home there are no desk phones or people to interrupt me, dammit. Writing up notes of the day’s 7 meetings #
• Sorting out details of the moderation details on the BBC’s Yahoo! channel. http://ping.fm/EumRs #
• Good seeing @thoroghlygood again this morning, trying to help out with his new project. #
• Talking about dev requirements and upcoming changes for social type stuff #
• @fabricoffolly Thank you kind sir! in reply to fabricoffolly #
• Finished a weekly 1 on 1 in which we spent half the time talking about birth & babies. New dads, what can I say? #
• Email not working. Then some anonymous guy dropped a printed email on my desk explaining why. Thank you friendly hand delivery email guy #
• @thoroughlygood Use the people available. in reply to thoroughlygood #
• Finsihed a meeting with @jemstone @nickreynoldsatw @rooreynolds @aarons. Yes, it was around social media type stuff. - blogs, commenting… #
• Leaving work a bit earlier to attend an evening of school governor training. #
• Thanx to @fabricoffolly I’m now installing Boxee on third Mac at home. http://boxee.tv #
• Huzzah! Kat now has a passport! Warmer climes, here we come! #
• Phew! Unlike some ‘roos I know, I now have a TV license! Unrelated: What are you doing tonight, @rooreynolds? #
• @jamescridland I believe 3G phones can send/receive data while on a phone call. in reply to jamescridland #
• @jamescridland Hi James, I just replied to your message on Yammer about the SCD boards. Didn’t want to sound defensive, but what a day! in reply to jamescridland #
• Writing a summary of the hectic afternoon/evening my team’s with the SCD news. #
• @hemmysphere Speaking of which, where’s my Wii? in reply to hemmysphere #
• @peeebeee Thanx, I usd to be in telecoms but @jamescridland saying it got me thinking twice in reply to peeebeee #
• One solace in working this late is the knowledge that some of my colleagues are also still working #
• Prepping for weekly team meeting. Busy week behind us, changing times ahead. Hmm, sound like any other week I guess. #
• My status has changed so much today I didn’t have time to update it. #
• Wow, a lot of emails and calls flying around at the moment. Keep on doing the right thing. #
• Being distracted from serious work late at night by colleagues testing new toys in Broadcast Centre. #
• Still working through a back log of emails after all the telephone calls this afternoon and evening. Strictly fall-out #
• Finally heading home, it’s been a crazy 36 hours. I should just get a cot here. #
• Busy week. #
• Been building close relationships with the press office over the last 24 hours or so. #
• Reading through a data protection review and how it applies to our services. #
• Off to see Julian in EdPol about the last couple of weeks - going to be an interesting discussion. #
• @ourmanatthebeeb LOL, yes, demotions all round, drop and give them ten type of thing in reply to ourmanatthebeeb #
• @ourmanatthebeeb Boogie Nightsh? Mish Moneypenny, I exshpected more of you. in reply to ourmanatthebeeb #
• The Malmaison hotel in Oxford is great, despite of (or because of) once being a prison. Enjoy, @fabricoffolly #

Thanx to @fabricoffolly I now have Boxee. He sent me an invite earlier this week, but I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had time to play around.

Tonight I finally have time to install it on the three Macs at home: iMac, MacBook and MacBook Pro. I’m slighty worried about the content available on Boxee as it’s an American product and we obviously don’t have access to Hulu in the UK.

However, so far it looks great. I’ve played around a bit with the settings, and I like the fact that it brings web videos to my computer. Using my Apple remote (which you get with your Mac), I can navigate and view web based videos without going to the websites.

Boxee is supposed to pick up local content as well, but I still need to test that. My old MacBook is hooked up to our excellent Sony Trinitron flatscreen, and we use that to watch a lot of media. apple’s built in software - called Front Row - works great for navigating content, but it’s only for content stored in iTunes. Boxee opens that up beautifully.

It also includes social tools. If I had friends (go figure, it’s a Friday night), I’d be able to get recommendations from them and also see what they liked.

Now if only I could get iPlayer on Boxee, I might start watching television again.

Enough writing, more playing.

Although I’m still waiting for my Boxee alpha tester invite, from certain accounts it seems like a great tool.

The idea behind Boxee is to watch any un-DRM’ed content and pull in reviews, ratings and social media type content around the content you’re watching. We’re constantly talking about new iPlayer ideas inside the BBC, and it seems a lot of the thinking is moving towards social viewing.

Boxee pulls in video and audio from places like Hulu and Last.fm, but I would love to see the BBC talk to them to get a UK version up and running.

The welcome video from Boxee:

quick intro to boxee from boxee on Vimeo.

(Contrary to what Veronica said back in April, Boxee is now available on Windows as well.)

• Finally adding work critical shared Exchange folders to Entourage. Allowing me to actually do my job, which always help. #
• Just been accused by @lucyh of being a blogger. Tsk, tsk. #
• Retweet @euan: oooh - Google Earth for the iPhone/iPod Touch http://tinyurl.com/58ywla #
• Finished interesting meeting on handling user generated content complaints, and how we handle it. #
• @JemStone I’ll wait, but thx for letting know… in reply to JemStone #
• @lucyh It depends on whther I *want* to be a blogger or not? in reply to lucyh #
• Thanx @rooreynolds and @jemstone for the informative chat. Now for @nickreynoldsatw about complaints procedure and social media stuff #
• Feeling stupid for being half an hour late for a meeting with BBC Switch at Grafton House #
• GoDaddy.com has the *worst* ever user experience + interface design. WORST! (Even if it’s quite cool that FF suggest it when I type “god”) #
• Press releases they way they are supposed to be: http://lin.cr/4r7 #
• Looking forward to BeeBCamp tomorrow: http://lin.cr/4ra #
• Kicking off #BeeBCamp and seeing some familiar faces like @jemstone @rooreynolds @anti_social @tristanf @dan_10v11 #
• Discussing the amount of audience feedback and how we handle it at #beebcamp #
• Discussing global navigation across all BBC.co.uk properties at #beebca #
• Discussing global navigation across all BBC.co.uk properties at #beebcamp #
• Eavesdropping on Steve Bowbrick’s session on a common platform for the BBC at #beebcamp #
• “A gaming strategy for the BBC?” Beginning to talk about how we handle games at #beebcamp #
• Always good to meet fellow Twitterers in real life. Slightly embarrassing, but very good. Tx @doctor #
• Hope that @tristanf will answer his own question: “What should we do next?” #beebcamp #
• Sorry, last tweet supposed to be @doctoe #
• Lunchtime! #beebcamp #
• External blogging at the BBC. With @rooreynolds at #beebcamp #
• Blogs and news at the BBC with @dan_10v11 at #beebcamp #
• Final session of the day: What Next? What we do after #BeeBCamp. With, uh, me. #
• @huey We could have used your insights into gaming! Would love to see the ideas you’re working on. in reply to huey #
• @mydogminton We undertook to spread as much of the #beebcamp learning as possible. Watch this space. in reply to mydogminton #
• @squaccs Dear ma’am, I can never remember how to spell your name :-). (For the record, she also attended #beebcamp in reply to squaccs #
• @squaccs Dear ma’am, I can never remember how to spell your name :-). (For the record, she also attended #beebcamp) in reply to squaccs #
• @thoroughlygood There should be some interesting (external) blog posts about external blogging at the BBC. As well as other #beebcamp stuff in reply to thoroughlygood #
• @teppie Should *I* wear a morning suit and a top hat when I visit you at the Abbey? Or is a bowler more de rigeur? in reply to teppie #
• @teppie Sorry, you’re confused. The Princess Royal visiting the Abbey tomorrow is *just me*. in reply to teppie #
• @marksimpkins I think it went very well. Lots of likeminded people with broadminded ideas. You were missed. Or so I was told in reply to marksimpkins #
• Ended up in long chat with @rooreynolds and people from BBC World Service about social media. Missed drinks, sorry @squaccs and @anti_social #
• OMG! Alexander McCall Smith online novel at Telegraph daily chapters http://lin.cr/4yh + read by Andrew Sachs, via iTunes http://lin.cr/4yi #
• Managing my online identities. Becoming more and more time consuming #
• New non-personal Flickr account set up. Still busy detangling my personal and professional online personas. http://lin.cr/4yp #
• @squaccs Sorry I missed the macho beer drink session - must’ve been all footy and hairy forearms with you, @anti-social & @danielmorris in reply to squaccs #
• @degsy You’re welcom re McCall Smith - I just had to spread the love! And the online novel has a Twitter stream as well @CorduroyMansion in reply to degsy #
• @plasticsnow Flickr friendship created, thanx in reply to plasticsnow #
• RT @jamescridland: is concerned at the snow in North London. #
• Wow, according to @cybersoc, @jamescridland, @euan it’s snowing in north London! Thank goodness Surrey is more civilised. #
• Hmm, perhaps we should have a hash tag for #snowinnorthlondon, @currybet, @nicprice, @doctoe? It really *does* seem to be snowing. Weird. #
• @IAmKat Still no snow in Surrey where I am, but getting a report from @charlesarthur about snow in Essex. in reply to IAmKat #
• Am I the “London snow tracker” tonight? Can you tell this boy comes from Africa where “snow” was either a drug, or a bad, white rapper? #
• @nicprice Thanx, using Tweetdeck and have a column open to do search for “snow”. That’s how I know @GarethM is also reporting snow. in reply to nicprice #
• RT @GarethM: Would you believe it. There’s snow down here in Crystal Palace http://twitpic.com/io0d #
• And @mydogminton also reporting snow in W12 an hour ago. Seems to be moving slowly south. Where’s the live maps mashup, people? #
• @IAmKat LMAO yes I’m the snow informer in reply to IAmKat #
• Excellent news for us snow watchers: seems @cubicgarden is on a train from Manchester to London, now moving through Rugby. No snow yet tho #
• @cubicgarden Welcome to London, but you’re about 13 hours too late we missed you at #BeeBCamp today in reply to cubicgarden #
• Shutting down all Twitter interfaces as I have a long night of work ahead before bedtime #
• Oh yes, CrossOver is free today. Run Windows apps on Mac or Linux WITHOUT Windows. This includes games… http://lin.cr/4vd #
• Shortly after 1AM, and I can confirm it’s now even snowing in Surrey! Time for bed, done blogging. #
• @GarethM LMAO at Crystal Palace after last night’s snow pic in reply to GarethM #
• Ah, someone gets it! @CorduroyMansion actually responding to my tweets about McCall Smith’s online novel. #
• @CorduroyMansion Of course I’m enjoying the novel! Thanx for fitting into my lifestyle, as opposed to expecting me to fit in around yours in reply to CorduroyMansion #
• Trying to get back into Yammer, and still trying to figure out how to balance intenral/external voice. I belive in being open at the BBC #
• Waiting for @thoroughlygood for some handover discussions. #
• No problem, @thoroughlygood (who is frighteningly flattering) #
• So far I’m very impressed with the team behind @CorduroyMansion, and glad you like it as well @degsy. Perhaps I’ll blog the experience #
• Phew, busy morning. After handover I’ve had three weekly 1on1s to do. Now catching up on email - thanx for the work Brand/Ross #
• Wow, what a relief to have such great people on the team. Too bad they won’t read this (as they’re too busy actually working) #
• Heading to Westminster Abbey for tea with @teppie #
• Tea at @teppie’s offices http://twitpic.com/ird9 #
• @edwarp09 It was more a visit than tea, really. We strolled through the Abbey whie discussing online strategy, CMS’s and requirements in reply to edwarp09 #
• @teppie Thanx for showing me your new workplace. Terribly impressive, all the gilt etc. Must have taken them some time to pimp that place in reply to teppie #
• Damn. Missed my train, having to wait half an hour… #
• @IAmKat Congrats on surviving! in reply to IAmKat #
• Updating all my accounts at http://ping.fm thanx to @thoroughlygood’s reminder and @stephenfry’s mention #
• Missed my train, then heard about delays on the tube. Decided I’d get more done at home by skipping the 3+ hours’ commute. #
• Catching up on board problems and moderation issues. Feeling sorry for P. who came back from leave into the Brand/Ross thing #
• Ping.fm has come a long way since the early beta days. Trying to remember how to use it. If you read this, it obviously worked #
• Trying out Choosy on the Mac - allows you to quickly choose a browser for default links http://ping.fm/5RhFs #
• @thoroughlygood @sambrook I can just see it now: “Dr. ThoroughlyWho” and “Friday Night with Thoroughly Ross” in reply to thoroughlygood #
• I finally started using Qwitter to see who stops following me (and after which post) http://useqwitter.com/ #
• @thoroughlygood Please drop Phil Edwards a line sometime today or tomorrow… in reply to thoroughlygood #
• Looking forward to my first competitive basketball game in *years* #
• Trying out TwitRel which is supposed to creat a Twitter community by linking you to people with similar tweets. http://ping.fm/1lZyk #
• @WilHarris You can add a link, you know? To the new flash player, I mean. in reply to WilHarris #
• Working on a report back to the team about my first month here. A *lot* to take in. #
• @ruskin147 I share your depression this morning in reply to ruskin147 #
• Done with 1 on 1 and weekly team meeting giving an overview of my first month #
• Taking a quick trip through the massive new Westfield shopping mall which opened yesterday in W1 #
• Putting together my favourite type of powerpoint: the “single pager” #
• Finished relaxing, hour long get-to-know session with new team assistant. #
• Best “Out of office” ever! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7702913.stm #
• Ah! Finally home on hallow e’n. #
• @thoroughlygood Hope you enjoy my two oversized monitors setup. I miss them in reply to thoroughlygood #
• Oh brother. All these haterz who think they’re not. “We’re sensible and considerate, you fuck.” #
• My lovely wife just walked in with a present: “The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency” softback. #
• @thoroughlygood Sun? Uh, are you in the right office? Are you even in the right city? in reply to thoroughlygood #
• Re-working my 1-slide prsentation, thanx to team feedback. #
• @jemimakiss Such a typical vitalist thing to say. You people don’t even realise how badly you treat the undead community. in reply to jemimakiss #
• Thanx to all of you who send me emails with signatures longer than the actual content #
• Not bragging or anything, but I really *do* love the back lighting on this MacBook Pro keyboard #
• Doing some more work on my job description. You’d think it’s a good position to be in, but it’s actually a bit stressful #
• Getting a great response about the BBC/Gaming blog post I did after BeeBCamp http://ping.fm/wS68o #
• @derivadow I’m still trying to find the time to blog all my notes + it gives me more posts over a longer time in reply to derivadow #
• @derivadow Oh my bad, I misunderstood. A blog to follow explaining this in reply to derivadow #
• Only one day away from the office, and Entourage takes such a loooong time to sync all my mailboxes. #
• Exchange seems to be losing a lot of emails and meeting invites I’m supposed to get. #
• Prepping to meet about message boards and hosting #
• Looking forward to the BBC Wildlife Fund thingy tonight at the London Zoo #
• More Entourage frustrations: it seems I can’t “vote” on an email like in Outlook? #
• Suspect I’m being stalked by @thoroughlygood. Still deciding whether that statement is positive or negative. #
• Done with another 1 on 1 and drawing pictures to better understand stuff still works for me. #
• Wondering whether IE7 was rolled out in the new desktop update? #
• I might not watch Bond tonight like @jamescridland, but at least I’ll be enjoying the BBC Wildlife Fund party at London Zoo like @deridavow #
• On a BBC bus heading to the zoo. Yes, I know. #
• Here I am: http://tinyurl.com/6abwzm #
• Which part of “Don’t eat smelly food on public transport” does my neighbour NOT understand? #
• @degsy last month was also my 2 year anniv at the Beeb, and I got exactly the same as you in reply to degsy #
• @mydogminton Hi Matt! in reply to mydogminton #
• @mydogminton Glad to prove any point you wish to make. Perhaps slightly self selecting, but don’t tell Matt in reply to mydogminton #
• @darenBBC No, FB certainly doesn’t have that same “live” feeling as Twitter. in reply to darenBBC #
• @darenBBC One word summary: anxious. in reply to darenBBC #
• @mbites We were talking about journous Twittering their day - someone coined the phrase “ambient journalism”. in reply to mbites #
• What are you doing NOW? I’m on BBC News(TV), BBC News (web), live.twit.tv, Twitter, Yammer, CNN.com, CNN (TV). Crazy! #
• @mydogminton Quick blog post: http://moontan.co.za/tomversus/?p=46 in reply to mydogminton #
• @mydogminton Link, dammit, link! Now I’ll have actually do a SEARCH for TechCrunch + hologram in reply to mydogminton #
• CNN’s map my favourite, but they’re not reporting anything (or their system is broken?) http://lin.cr/6tc #
• BBC map not as detailed as CNN, but at least the BBC is actually updating http://lin.cr/6te #
• @darenBBC I agree: it totally sounds like McCain is conceding defeat in that speech in reply to darenBBC #
• Loving Jeremy Vine: “What would you like to see David? Would you like to see Indiana? Well, let’s look at Indiana!” Touch touch, touch! #
• @charlesarthur Echo in the studio bothered me as well. Lots of audio problems tonight. in reply to charlesarthur #
• wow! Obama 171 and McCain 58 http://lin.cr/6te #
• Apaprently we’re saying “Florida has gone Obama” here on Twitter. #
• @mydogminton Lol. And those sound effects? in reply to mydogminton #
• BBC calls Ohio! #
• @JasonCalacanis BBC just called Ohio for Obama http://tinyurl.com/5htjuv in reply to JasonCalacanis #
• @cubicgarden Ian, bed time after that yogurt? in reply to cubicgarden #
• Is @loiclemeur the only person on Twitter *not* following the election? #
• @squaccs Welcome home! in reply to squaccs #
• @squaccs I’m enjoying the BBC live feed from Washington with Dimbleby http://lin.cr/6tz and online map here: http://lin.cr/6te in reply to squaccs #
• @squaccs Sexy, innit? in reply to squaccs #
• Loving the BBC’s election coverage, but their scheduling sucks. Who’s awake at this time of night? #
• @speckled_jim Doh! Of course you. in reply to speckled_jim #
• BBC live news feed just died on me. House all quiet. Perhaps a sign that I should head to bed… #
• Congrats to *all* in News and FM&T Journalism for keeping us awake and informed in such style #
• Finally off to bed. What an historic night, and I expect to see some tired faces at the office in a few hours #
• Tired, but getting some work done on the train #
• Working on complaints about how we manage communities #
• @huey How’s that strategy doc coming along? in reply to huey #
• Informal coffee break with @nickreynoldsatw translates into several action points. That’s a productive pause. #
• Being forced to undergo online Blackberry training module. Then I have to write a test before I get unlock code. #
• ahh, and the online blackberry module *only* works on IE, not FF or Safari. So I can’t use my Blackberry if I have a Mac? #
• @degsy Do you use Mail to connect to external IMAP through the firewall? in reply to degsy #
• @JemStone I got 8/10 (triggering an auto email to them). Then like a good boy I went back and did it again for 10/10 and anohter auto email in reply to JemStone #
• @degsy Thanx, I was afraid of that, but hoping for some sudo-like luv for my Mac in reply to degsy #
• Going through Erik’s presentation on the future of the group (int link) http://ping.fm/LXEsF #
• Trying out the new(ish) Shepherd’s Bush overland station. But it means i’m forced to look at that curly, red “Westfield” logo #
• Listening to the Guardian’s podcast “The Road to the White House” on Barack Obama #
• Not meeting @aarons this morning due to illness. His, not mine. #
• Writing up more handover notes ahead of a meeting later today with @thoroughlygood #
• Talking blogs with Kate in World Service. #
• I am repeatedly amazed at the incredible amount of effort that goes into making bbc.co.uk work #
• @currybet Although we do have a lot of (very industrous) hamsters, I mean it amazes me how much thought and dedication goes into bbc.co.uk in reply to currybet #
• Games/play wiki at the BBC - discussing the importance/possibilities (int link) http://ping.fm/t3G9M #
• Just found the wiki for ONEinTEN - the innovation pipeline for FM&T http://ping.fm/unV3q #
• Doing some prep work for tomorrow’s meetings. Than Wodehouse and bed. #
• Heading to a meeting made up entirely of Twitterers. Oh yes, it is the BBC’s social media group. #
• Watching @doctoe running past me in the TVC foyer. Hellooooo… #
• @Doctoe No worries, I was blinded by the return of the muscles http://twitter.com/Doctoe/status/993890664 in reply to Doctoe #
• Speaking my home language at work for the first time in more than 2 years. Freaked out. So used to working in English. #
• RT @Cybersoc: Just used DoYouFeed.com to create an iPhone friendly version - works with any RSS. Sample here: http://tinyurl.com/6xs3r3 #
• Very informative meeting with Simon et al about Spaces #
• Quickly popped in at Tempero on Great Portland Street and now in Bush House #
• Good meeting with @Grace_davies, new to the BBC. She’s new media editor for http://BBC.co.uk/worldservice/trust #
• I lead a full and adventurous life. Which means I end up in A&E quite a bit. #
• Learning about the inner workings of H2G2 http://BBC.co.uk/h2g2 #
• Thinking about spaces. As well as Spaces. #
• What an incredible rainstorm in W12. And I have to walk to TVC soon. #
• Glad the platform announcer cleared that up for me: apparently the wet platforms are due to the weather. And I didn’t even notice the rain #
• Putting together a list of questions for the H2G2 team. #
• Tuesday morning, done with two 1 on 1s, now to meet with @nickatw #
• @jopkins Regarding the Flip and Mac. How do you upload to Flickr? Not thru iPhoto I assume? in reply to jopkins #
• Meeting about BBC presence - and user discussions - on other social media platforms like YouTube, Bebo etc. #
• Phew. 6 meetings today, each one successful, I think. Now finishing off some paperwork on complaints. #
• Hmm, Broadcast Centre quite lively tonight. At least on the 4th floor. #
• Finally leaving the office for BBC Club in W1 and @lucyh’s leaving do. #
• @jopkins thanx, v interested in Flip in reply to jopkins #
• Wow, “Amazon” ambient sounds in Whitenoise on the iPhone doing a good job of filtering out CBeebies in the background. Yes, working at home. #
• Staring at a spreadsheet with lots and lots of little figures on it. Wow, and they all have little £ signs. Hmm, important. #
• Amazed at all the interesting research the BBC gets up to. Just found out about some stuff around participative media which sounds cool. #
• @leguape Agreed. Which is why I’m spamming these channels slightly. But now you know in reply to leguape #
• @thoroughlygood Been there, not done that InfoSec can be very serious. in reply to thoroughlygood #
• Researching social media user rights (think identity, personal data, privacy) ahead of a team meeting tomorrow. #
• Putting together the agenda for tomorrow’s team meeting. Yeah, you know who you are #
• Welcome to all my new PR followers! Obviously my Twitter account was published in some PR related space #
• <FRUSTRATED>Seems Ping.fm lost a whole bunch of updates. Yes, great news for my Facebook unFriends, bad news for my Yammer activity. #
• Finally registered on http://id.bbc.co.uk with Safari instead of FF. Had a some minor issues though. #
• “Membership Beta” looks sleek in FF, but couldn’t get it to work. Timer just kept on spinning. #
• “Membership Beta” looks less refined in Safari, but at least it works. Had some problems with the UI #
• Looking at the BBC channel on Yahoo video. <shakes head> http://ping.fm/VJzYt #
• @thoroughlygood Fail? in reply to thoroughlygood #
• @darenBBC Open, but no services use it yet. And it is still beta, remember. http://id.bbc.co.uk/ in reply to darenBBC #
• @darenBBC Hehe, I didn’t build it, I just Twittered the URL Enjoy in reply to darenBBC #
• Now it’s really, *really* off to bed. Oh, and reading of course. #
• And loving Marvin Minsky talking about “Health, population and the human mind” at TED http://ping.fm/oWw6u #
• Prepping for weekly team meeting, then @aarons re blogs handover, then coaching, and then a new blog meeting with @thoroughlygood #
• @aarons I heard you were under the weather. Is it the stomach bug or the nasty flu doing the rounds? in reply to aarons #
• Having a look at what the competition is getting up to thanx to @jemstone http://ping.fm/70h06 #
• Sorting out a possible legal issue with duty lawyer over some comments posted on the site. #
• Not excelling in Excel #
• Catching up with other BBC geeks’ blogs. Just reading the blogroll here: http://ping.fm/8eT6M #

Being responsible for web based communities (or societies?), I’ve always had a keen interest on sociology and anthropology.

A few years ago I read Jared Diamond’s amazing “Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies“. In this book Diamond looked at how different societies progressed and built over the ages.

He has a five point framework for predicting or understanding collapses:

1. Human impact on the environment, inadvertently destroying the resources they depend upon (e.g. soil erosion, deforestation).
2. Climate change - drier, colder, wetter - can be fatal especially if the society can’t adapt to them.
3. Relations with friendly societies that may prop up a society. Without such support a society will collapse.
4. Relations with hostile societies, which can intentionally or unintentionally kill off a society.
5. Political, economical, social and cultural factors in a society that makes it more or less likely that the society will survive.

How is this applicable to online communities?

• Doing some prep work for tomorrow’s meetings. Than Wodehouse and bed. #
• Heading to a meeting made up entirely of Twitterers. Oh yes, it is the BBC’s social media group. #
• Watching @doctoe running past me in the TVC foyer. Hellooooo… #
• @Doctoe No worries, I was blinded by the return of the muscles http://twitter.com/Doctoe/status/993890664 in reply to Doctoe #
• Speaking my home language at work for the first time in more than 2 years. Freaked out. So used to working in English. #
• RT @Cybersoc: Just used DoYouFeed.com to create an iPhone friendly version - works with any RSS. Sample here: http://tinyurl.com/6xs3r3 #
• Very informative meeting with Simon et al about Spaces #
• Quickly popped in at Tempero on Great Portland Street and now in Bush House #
• Good meeting with @Grace_davies, new to the BBC. She’s new media editor for http://BBC.co.uk/worldservice/trust #
• I lead a full and adventurous life. Which means I end up in A&E quite a bit. #

• Doing some prep work for tomorrow’s meetings. Than Wodehouse and bed. #
• Heading to a meeting made up entirely of Twitterers. Oh yes, it is the BBC’s social media group. #
• Watching @doctoe running past me in the TVC foyer. Hellooooo… #
• @Doctoe No worries, I was blinded by the return of the muscles http://twitter.com/Doctoe/status/993890664 in reply to Doctoe #
• Speaking my home language at work for the first time in more than 2 years. Freaked out. So used to working in English. #
• RT @Cybersoc: Just used DoYouFeed.com to create an iPhone friendly version - works with any RSS. Sample here: http://tinyurl.com/6xs3r3 #
• Very informative meeting with Simon et al about Spaces #
• Quickly popped in at Tempero on Great Portland Street and now in Bush House #
• Good meeting with @Grace_davies, new to the BBC. She’s new media editor for http://BBC.co.uk/worldservice/trust #
• I lead a full and adventurous life. Which means I end up in A&E quite a bit. #

• Listening to the Guardian’s podcast “The Road to the White House” on Barack Obama #
• Not meeting @aarons this morning due to illness. His, not mine. #
• Writing up more handover notes ahead of a meeting later today with @thoroughlygood #
• Talking blogs with Kate in World Service. #
• I am repeatedly amazed at the incredible amount of effort that goes into making bbc.co.uk work #
• @currybet Although we do have a lot of (very industrous) hamsters, I mean it amazes me how much thought and dedication goes into bbc.co.uk in reply to currybet #
• Games/play wiki at the BBC - discussing the importance/possibilities (int link) http://ping.fm/t3G9M #
• Just found the wiki for ONEinTEN - the innovation pipeline for FM&T http://ping.fm/unV3q #

• @thoroughlygood Hope you enjoy my two oversized monitors setup. I miss them in reply to thoroughlygood #
• Oh brother. All these haterz who think they’re not. “We’re sensible and considerate, you fuck.” #
• My lovely wife just walked in with a present: “The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency” softback. #
• @thoroughlygood Sun? Uh, are you in the right office? Are you even in the right city? in reply to thoroughlygood #
• Re-working my 1-slide prsentation, thanx to team feedback. #
• @jemimakiss Such a typical vitalist thing to say. You people don’t even realise how badly you treat the undead community. in reply to jemimakiss #
• Thanx to all of you who send me emails with signatures longer than the actual content #
• Not bragging or anything, but I really *do* love the back lighting on this MacBook Pro keyboard #
• Doing some more work on my job description. You’d think it’s a good position to be in, but it’s actually a bit stressful #
• Getting a great response about the BBC/Gaming blog post I did after BeeBCamp http://ping.fm/wS68o #
• @derivadow I’m still trying to find the time to blog all my notes + it gives me more posts over a longer time in reply to derivadow #
• @derivadow Oh my bad, I misunderstood. A blog to follow explaining this in reply to derivadow #
• Only one day away from the office, and Entourage takes such a loooong time to sync all my mailboxes. #
• Exchange seems to be losing a lot of emails and meeting invites I’m supposed to get. #
• Prepping to meet about message boards and hosting #
• Looking forward to the BBC Wildlife Fund thingy tonight at the London Zoo #
• More Entourage frustrations: it seems I can’t “vote” on an email like in Outlook? #
• Suspect I’m being stalked by @thoroughlygood. Still deciding whether that statement is positive or negative. #
• Done with another 1 on 1 and drawing pictures to better understand stuff still works for me. #
• Wondering whether IE7 was rolled out in the new desktop update? #
• I might not watch Bond tonight like @jamescridland, but at least I’ll be enjoying the BBC Wildlife Fund party at London Zoo like @deridavow #
• On a BBC bus heading to the zoo. Yes, I know. #
• Here I am: http://tinyurl.com/6abwzm #
• Which part of “Don’t eat smelly food on public transport” does my neighbour NOT understand? #
• @degsy last month was also my 2 year anniv at the Beeb, and I got exactly the same as you in reply to degsy #
• @mydogminton Hi Matt! in reply to mydogminton #
• @mydogminton Glad to prove any point you wish to make. Perhaps slightly self selecting, but don’t tell Matt in reply to mydogminton #
• @darenBBC No, FB certainly doesn’t have that same “live” feeling as Twitter. in reply to darenBBC #
• @darenBBC One word summary: anxious. in reply to darenBBC #
• @mbites We were talking about journous Twittering their day - someone coined the phrase “ambient journalism”. in reply to mbites #
• What are you doing NOW? I’m on BBC News(TV), BBC News (web), live.twit.tv, Twitter, Yammer, CNN.com, CNN (TV). Crazy! #
• @mydogminton Quick blog post: http://moontan.co.za/tomversus/?p=46 in reply to mydogminton #
• @mydogminton Link, dammit, link! Now I’ll have actually do a SEARCH for TechCrunch + hologram in reply to mydogminton #
• CNN’s map my favourite, but they’re not reporting anything (or their system is broken?) http://lin.cr/6tc #
• BBC map not as detailed as CNN, but at least the BBC is actually updating http://lin.cr/6te #
• @darenBBC I agree: it totally sounds like McCain is conceding defeat in that speech in reply to darenBBC #
• Loving Jeremy Vine: “What would you like to see David? Would you like to see Indiana? Well, let’s look at Indiana!” Touch touch, touch! #
• @charlesarthur Echo in the studio bothered me as well. Lots of audio problems tonight. in reply to charlesarthur #
• wow! Obama 171 and McCain 58 http://lin.cr/6te #
• Apaprently we’re saying “Florida has gone Obama” here on Twitter. #
• @mydogminton Lol. And those sound effects? in reply to mydogminton #
• BBC calls Ohio! #
• @JasonCalacanis BBC just called Ohio for Obama http://tinyurl.com/5htjuv in reply to JasonCalacanis #
• @cubicgarden Ian, bed time after that yogurt? in reply to cubicgarden #
• Is @loiclemeur the only person on Twitter *not* following the election? #
• @squaccs Welcome home! in reply to squaccs #
• @squaccs I’m enjoying the BBC live feed from Washington with Dimbleby http://lin.cr/6tz and online map here: http://lin.cr/6te in reply to squaccs #
• @squaccs Sexy, innit? in reply to squaccs #
• Loving the BBC’s election coverage, but their scheduling sucks. Who’s awake at this time of night? #
• @speckled_jim Doh! Of course you. in reply to speckled_jim #
• BBC live news feed just died on me. House all quiet. Perhaps a sign that I should head to bed… #
• Congrats to *all* in News and FM&T Journalism for keeping us awake and informed in such style #
• Finally off to bed. What an historic night, and I expect to see some tired faces at the office in a few hours #
• Tired, but getting some work done on the train #
• Working on complaints about how we manage communities #
• @huey How’s that strategy doc coming along? in reply to huey #
• Informal coffee break with @nickreynoldsatw translates into several action points. That’s a productive pause. #
• Being forced to undergo online Blackberry training module. Then I have to write a test before I get unlock code. #
• ahh, and the online blackberry module *only* works on IE, not FF or Safari. So I can’t use my Blackberry if I have a Mac? #
• @degsy Do you use Mail to connect to external IMAP through the firewall? in reply to degsy #
• @JemStone I got 8/10 (triggering an auto email to them). Then like a good boy I went back and did it again for 10/10 and anohter auto email in reply to JemStone #
• @degsy Thanx, I was afraid of that, but hoping for some sudo-like luv for my Mac in reply to degsy #
• Going through Erik’s presentation on the future of the group (int link) http://ping.fm/LXEsF #
• Trying out the new(ish) Shepherd’s Bush overland station. But it means i’m forced to look at that curly, red “Westfield” logo #

Just a quick note based on this Tweet of mine:

What are you doing NOW? I’m on BBC News(TV), BBC News (web), live.twit.tv, Twitter, Yammer, CNN.com, CNN (TV). Crazy!

While trying to keep up with all the streams of incoming information, it struck me how cluttered my screen is. We have so many choices!

Here are my sources, and I know I’m still missing tons:

• Watching BBC News channel live on the web
• Watching CNN on Livestation
• Watching Leo Laporte covering the tech angle on Twit.tv
• FF tab with BBC News site
• FF tab with CNN site
• FF tab with MSNBC site
• FF tab with Fox News site
• Twitter for general chatter
• Yammer for the interesting facts on the traffic numbers on the BBC News website

So far, I’m finding the BBC’s coverage the best and the fastest, with CNN being the slowest. Of the maps, I prefer CNN’s to the rest, but because it’s so far behind I prefer the BBC’s.

In balance, then, the BBC is my favourite source.

• @WilHarris You can add a link, you know? To the new flash player, I mean. in reply to WilHarris #
• Working on a report back to the team about my first month here. A *lot* to take in. #
• @ruskin147 I share your depression this morning in reply to ruskin147 #
• Done with 1 on 1 and weekly team meeting giving an overview of my first month #
• Taking a quick trip through the massive new Westfield shopping mall which opened yesterday in W1 #
• Putting together my favourite type of powerpoint: the “single pager” #
• Finished relaxing, hour long get-to-know session with new team assistant. #
• Best “Out of office” ever! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7702913.stm #
• Ah! Finally home on hallow e’n. #

• @WilHarris You can add a link, you know? To the new flash player, I mean. in reply to WilHarris #
• Working on a report back to the team about my first month here. A *lot* to take in. #
• @ruskin147 I share your depression this morning in reply to ruskin147 #
• Done with 1 on 1 and weekly team meeting giving an overview of my first month #
• Taking a quick trip through the massive new Westfield shopping mall which opened yesterday in W1 #
• Putting together my favourite type of powerpoint: the “single pager” #
• Finished relaxing, hour long get-to-know session with new team assistant. #
• Best “Out of office” ever! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7702913.stm #
• Ah! Finally home on hallow e’n. #

Yes, it’s birthday season again.

In the last month I’ve had at least five friends or family members with birthdays, and even more in the coming month. Yes, including my own. It does set one thinking, doesn’t it.

Thanks to kybernetikos for this handy age calculator. Since men and women have different life expectancies, we aren’t all equal in age even though the numbers might say so. Yes, slightly confusing, but think about the difference between man years and dog years, and you’ll understand the difference between man years and woman years.

The implied insult in that last sentence is entirely from kyb’s blog post on the age calculator, so I take no responsibility.  

• Damn. Missed my train, having to wait half an hour… #
• @IAmKat Congrats on surviving! in reply to IAmKat #
• Updating all my accounts at http://ping.fm thanx to @thoroughlygood’s reminder and @stephenfry’s mention #
• Missed my train, then heard about delays on the tube. Decided I’d get more done at home by skipping the 3+ hours’ commute. #
• Catching up on board problems and moderation issues. Feeling sorry for P. who came back from leave into the Brand/Ross thing #
• Ping.fm has come a long way since the early beta days. Trying to remember how to use it. If you read this, it obviously worked #
• Trying out Choosy on the Mac - allows you to quickly choose a browser for default links http://ping.fm/5RhFs #
• @thoroughlygood @sambrook I can just see it now: “Dr. ThoroughlyWho” and “Friday Night with Thoroughly Ross” in reply to thoroughlygood #
• I finally started using Qwitter to see who stops following me (and after which post) http://useqwitter.com/ #
• @thoroughlygood Please drop Phil Edwards a line sometime today or tomorrow… in reply to thoroughlygood #
• Looking forward to my first competitive basketball game in *years* #
• Trying out TwitRel which is supposed to creat a Twitter community by linking you to people with similar tweets. http://ping.fm/1lZyk #

• Damn. Missed my train, having to wait half an hour… #
• @IAmKat Congrats on surviving! in reply to IAmKat #
• Updating all my accounts at http://ping.fm thanx to @thoroughlygood’s reminder and @stephenfry’s mention #
• Missed my train, then heard about delays on the tube. Decided I’d get more done at home by skipping the 3+ hours’ commute. #
• Catching up on board problems and moderation issues. Feeling sorry for P. who came back from leave into the Brand/Ross thing #
• Ping.fm has come a long way since the early beta days. Trying to remember how to use it. If you read this, it obviously worked #
• Trying out Choosy on the Mac - allows you to quickly choose a browser for default links http://ping.fm/5RhFs #
• @thoroughlygood @sambrook I can just see it now: “Dr. ThoroughlyWho” and “Friday Night with Thoroughly Ross” in reply to thoroughlygood #
• I finally started using Qwitter to see who stops following me (and after which post) http://useqwitter.com/ #
• @thoroughlygood Please drop Phil Edwards a line sometime today or tomorrow… in reply to thoroughlygood #
• Looking forward to my first competitive basketball game in *years* #
• Trying out TwitRel which is supposed to creat a Twitter community by linking you to people with similar tweets. http://ping.fm/1lZyk #

Phillip posted some details about BeeBCamp, and then made a strong argument called “We need more fun and games“. We are doing great stuff with regards to gaming, especially in Vision, but Phillip thinks we can do so much more. He argues that gaming is the dominant cultural form of our time, and it’s a great way to entertain, educate and inform our audiences. We have a unique opportunity as the BBC.

I’d like to add two things here.

Firstly, Phillip made another excellent argument at BeeBCamp which he forgot to blog. With the BBC archive and all our content, we have an incredible amount of game content and footage just waiting to be exploited. As an example he talked about using an open source 3D engine and populating it with BBC content to make a whole new, free and open source game.

Secondly, as a result of my Tweeting and bloggig about BeeBCamp, I’ve already had 3 colleaugues contact me. They missed out on BeeBCamp, but wanted to contribute to the gaming discussion. Huey is actually finishing a gaming strategy for his division, and other teams have been working on similar ideas. It seems there is a an obvious ground swell in the BBC in favour of gaming.

Jason DaPonte also joined the gaming session and blogged about it, and he has some interesting background and experience in this space at the Beeb.  I hope this post answershis question on what is happening at the BBC.

(Image CC A Hermida)

• Shortly after 1AM, and I can confirm it’s now even snowing in Surrey! Time for bed, done blogging. #
• @GarethM LMAO at Crystal Palace after last night’s snow pic in reply to GarethM #
• Ah, someone gets it! @CorduroyMansion actually responding to my tweets about McCall Smith’s online novel. #
• @CorduroyMansion Of course I’m enjoying the novel! Thanx for fitting into my lifestyle, as opposed to expecting me to fit in around yours in reply to CorduroyMansion #
• Trying to get back into Yammer, and still trying to figure out how to balance intenral/external voice. I belive in being open at the BBC #
• Waiting for @thoroughlygood for some handover discussions. #
• No problem, @thoroughlygood (who is frighteningly flattering) #
• So far I’m very impressed with the team behind @CorduroyMansion, and glad you like it as well @degsy. Perhaps I’ll blog the experience #
• Phew, busy morning. After handover I’ve had three weekly 1on1s to do. Now catching up on email - thanx for the work Brand/Ross #
• Wow, what a relief to have such great people on the team. Too bad they won’t read this (as they’re too busy actually working) #
• Heading to Westminster Abbey for tea with @teppie #
• Tea at @teppie’s offices http://twitpic.com/ird9 #
• @edwarp09 It was more a visit than tea, really. We strolled through the Abbey whie discussing online strategy, CMS’s and requirements in reply to edwarp09 #
• @teppie Thanx for showing me your new workplace. Terribly impressive, all the gilt etc. Must have taken them some time to pimp that place in reply to teppie #

The fourth session I attended on the morning of BeeBCamp was done by Tristan Ferne from Audio & Music Interactive (A&Mi). He heads up a development team who does research and innovation type stuff around the BBC’s radio platforms. Yes, it’s probably one of the coolest jobs in the world.

It came out almost immediately that the BBC is obviously in a unique position. Although we can innovate and have a lot of content to work with, we also have some negatives:

• We’re not as agile as start ups
• We’re responsible to our community, which pays the license fee
• We can’t compete with start ups in terms of focus
• We always have to keep editorial judgments and public broadcast responsibility in mind

This led us to discuss how the BBC can differentiate ourselves from other software developers:

• The BBC is in a unique position, and we don’t have to compete with start ups
• We are community led, which also means we should make use of our audience and innovate in partnership with them
• There still needs to be a lot of cultural change in the organisation

A lot of interesting ideas came out of this session, and Rain had some of the best. My notes were a bit sparse as I got excited about all the cool ideas:

• Rain was really interested in virtual worlds and getting BBC people to use them for work. With a lot of FM&T people moving to Salford soon, she suggested it would be a better way of interacting
• Another adjunct to this was marrying the real world with virtual, using RFID tags. Wouldn’t it be great to have a virtual Media Village, and you could do a quick “Google search” to see where a colleague was? (Yes, this did raise the privacy issue)
• This also led  to a discussion on how technology is shaping learning, and how we can use technology to better train people at the BBC (subtle reminders to the gaming session of earlier)
• I suggested the opposite marriage of virtual and real worlds: using a device to give me information about the world around me. I blogged the semantic life idea last year, and there was also a similar product at TC50 called Tonchidot which did this with the iPhone

Obviously the current financial crisis is hurting tech companies, and this is all the more reason for the BBC to take up the slack in research and innovation. Perhaps we should look at all the great ideas from places like the TechCrunch Deadpool? If someone is in there, they had a great idea but for some reason it didn’t work out. As the BBC we have the opportunity (and in some cases the responsibility) to try out these ideas for the public good.

• Kicking off #BeeBCamp and seeing some familiar faces like @jemstone @rooreynolds @anti_social @tristanf @dan_10v11 #
• Discussing the amount of audience feedback and how we handle it at #beebcamp #
• Discussing global navigation across all BBC.co.uk properties at #beebca #
• Discussing global navigation across all BBC.co.uk properties at #beebcamp #
• Eavesdropping on Steve Bowbrick’s session on a common platform for the BBC at #beebcamp #
• “A gaming strategy for the BBC?” Beginning to talk about how we handle games at #beebcamp #
• Always good to meet fellow Twitterers in real life. Slightly embarrassing, but very good. Tx @doctor #
• Hope that @tristanf will answer his own question: “What should we do next?” #beebcamp #
• Sorry, last tweet supposed to be @doctoe #
• Lunchtime! #beebcamp #
• External blogging at the BBC. With @rooreynolds at #beebcamp #
• Blogs and news at the BBC with @dan_10v11 at #beebcamp #
• Final session of the day: What Next? What we do after #BeeBCamp. With, uh, me. #
• @huey We could have used your insights into gaming! Would love to see the ideas you’re working on. in reply to huey #
• @mydogminton We undertook to spread as much of the #beebcamp learning as possible. Watch this space. in reply to mydogminton #
• @squaccs Dear ma’am, I can never remember how to spell your name :-). (For the record, she also attended #beebcamp in reply to squaccs #
• @squaccs Dear ma’am, I can never remember how to spell your name :-). (For the record, she also attended #beebcamp) in reply to squaccs #
• @thoroughlygood There should be some interesting (external) blog posts about external blogging at the BBC. As well as other #beebcamp stuff in reply to thoroughlygood #
• @teppie Should *I* wear a morning suit and a top hat when I visit you at the Abbey? Or is a bowler more de rigeur? in reply to teppie #
• @teppie Sorry, you’re confused. The Princess Royal visiting the Abbey tomorrow is *just me*. in reply to teppie #
• @marksimpkins I think it went very well. Lots of likeminded people with broadminded ideas. You were missed. Or so I was told in reply to marksimpkins #
• Ended up in long chat with @rooreynolds and people from BBC World Service about social media. Missed drinks, sorry @squaccs and @anti_social #
• OMG! Alexander McCall Smith online novel at Telegraph daily chapters http://lin.cr/4yh + read by Andrew Sachs, via iTunes http://lin.cr/4yi #
• Managing my online identities. Becoming more and more time consuming #
• New non-personal Flickr account set up. Still busy detangling my personal and professional online personas. http://lin.cr/4yp #
• @squaccs Sorry I missed the macho beer drink session - must’ve been all footy and hairy forearms with you, @anti-social & @danielmorris in reply to squaccs #
• @degsy You’re welcom re McCall Smith - I just had to spread the love! And the online novel has a Twitter stream as well @CorduroyMansion in reply to degsy #
• @plasticsnow Flickr friendship created, thanx in reply to plasticsnow #
• RT @jamescridland: is concerned at the snow in North London. #
• Wow, according to @cybersoc, @jamescridland, @euan it’s snowing in north London! Thank goodness Surrey is more civilised. #
• Hmm, perhaps we should have a hash tag for #snowinnorthlondon, @currybet, @nicprice, @doctoe? It really *does* seem to be snowing. Weird. #
• @IAmKat Still no snow in Surrey where I am, but getting a report from @charlesarthur about snow in Essex. in reply to IAmKat #
• Am I the “London snow tracker” tonight? Can you tell this boy comes from Africa where “snow” was either a drug, or a bad, white rapper? #
• @nicprice Thanx, using Tweetdeck and have a column open to do search for “snow”. That’s how I know @GarethM is also reporting snow. in reply to nicprice #
• RT @GarethM: Would you believe it. There’s snow down here in Crystal Palace http://twitpic.com/io0d #
• And @mydogminton also reporting snow in W12 an hour ago. Seems to be moving slowly south. Where’s the live maps mashup, people? #
• @IAmKat LMAO yes I’m the snow informer in reply to IAmKat #
• Excellent news for us snow watchers: seems @cubicgarden is on a train from Manchester to London, now moving through Rugby. No snow yet tho #
• @cubicgarden Welcome to London, but you’re about 13 hours too late we missed you at #BeeBCamp today in reply to cubicgarden #
• Shutting down all Twitter interfaces as I have a long night of work ahead before bedtime #
• Oh yes, CrossOver is free today. Run Windows apps on Mac or Linux WITHOUT Windows. This includes games… http://lin.cr/4vd #

• Kicking off #BeeBCamp and seeing some familiar faces like @jemstone @rooreynolds @anti_social @tristanf @dan_10v11 #
• Discussing the amount of audience feedback and how we handle it at #beebcamp #
• Discussing global navigation across all BBC.co.uk properties at #beebca #
• Discussing global navigation across all BBC.co.uk properties at #beebcamp #
• Eavesdropping on Steve Bowbrick’s session on a common platform for the BBC at #beebcamp #
• “A gaming strategy for the BBC?” Beginning to talk about how we handle games at #beebcamp #
• Always good to meet fellow Twitterers in real life. Slightly embarrassing, but very good. Tx @doctor #
• Hope that @tristanf will answer his own question: “What should we do next?” #beebcamp #
• Sorry, last tweet supposed to be @doctoe #
• Lunchtime! #beebcamp #
• External blogging at the BBC. With @rooreynolds at #beebcamp #
• Blogs and news at the BBC with @dan_10v11 at #beebcamp #
• Final session of the day: What Next? What we do after #BeeBCamp. With, uh, me. #
• @huey We could have used your insights into gaming! Would love to see the ideas you’re working on. in reply to huey #
• @mydogminton We undertook to spread as much of the #beebcamp learning as possible. Watch this space. in reply to mydogminton #
• @squaccs Dear ma’am, I can never remember how to spell your name :-). (For the record, she also attended #beebcamp in reply to squaccs #
• @squaccs Dear ma’am, I can never remember how to spell your name :-). (For the record, she also attended #beebcamp) in reply to squaccs #
• @thoroughlygood There should be some interesting (external) blog posts about external blogging at the BBC. As well as other #beebcamp stuff in reply to thoroughlygood #
• @teppie Should *I* wear a morning suit and a top hat when I visit you at the Abbey? Or is a bowler more de rigeur? in reply to teppie #
• @teppie Sorry, you’re confused. The Princess Royal visiting the Abbey tomorrow is *just me*. in reply to teppie #
• @marksimpkins I think it went very well. Lots of likeminded people with broadminded ideas. You were missed. Or so I was told in reply to marksimpkins #
• Ended up in long chat with @rooreynolds and people from BBC World Service about social media. Missed drinks, sorry @squaccs and @anti_social #
• OMG! Alexander McCall Smith online novel at Telegraph daily chapters http://lin.cr/4yh + read by Andrew Sachs, via iTunes http://lin.cr/4yi #
• Managing my online identities. Becoming more and more time consuming #
• New non-personal Flickr account set up. Still busy detangling my personal and professional online personas. http://lin.cr/4yp #
• @squaccs Sorry I missed the macho beer drink session - must’ve been all footy and hairy forearms with you, @anti-social & @danielmorris in reply to squaccs #
• @degsy You’re welcom re McCall Smith - I just had to spread the love! And the online novel has a Twitter stream as well @CorduroyMansion in reply to degsy #
• @plasticsnow Flickr friendship created, thanx in reply to plasticsnow #
• RT @jamescridland: is concerned at the snow in North London. #
• Wow, according to @cybersoc, @jamescridland, @euan it’s snowing in north London! Thank goodness Surrey is more civilised. #
• Hmm, perhaps we should have a hash tag for #snowinnorthlondon, @currybet, @nicprice, @doctoe? It really *does* seem to be snowing. Weird. #
• @IAmKat Still no snow in Surrey where I am, but getting a report from @charlesarthur about snow in Essex. in reply to IAmKat #
• Am I the “London snow tracker” tonight? Can you tell this boy comes from Africa where “snow” was either a drug, or a bad, white rapper? #
• @nicprice Thanx, using Tweetdeck and have a column open to do search for “snow”. That’s how I know @GarethM is also reporting snow. in reply to nicprice #
• RT @GarethM: Would you believe it. There’s snow down here in Crystal Palace http://twitpic.com/io0d #
• And @mydogminton also reporting snow in W12 an hour ago. Seems to be moving slowly south. Where’s the live maps mashup, people? #
• @IAmKat LMAO yes I’m the snow informer in reply to IAmKat #
• Excellent news for us snow watchers: seems @cubicgarden is on a train from Manchester to London, now moving through Rugby. No snow yet tho #
• @cubicgarden Welcome to London, but you’re about 13 hours too late we missed you at #BeeBCamp today in reply to cubicgarden #
• Shutting down all Twitter interfaces as I have a long night of work ahead before bedtime #
• Oh yes, CrossOver is free today. Run Windows apps on Mac or Linux WITHOUT Windows. This includes games… http://lin.cr/4vd #

Seriously? More than 27000 people complained about the Johnathan Ross and Russel Brand show of ten days ago?

According to the timeline on the BBC News site, by 18:30 on Wednesday 29 October “the total amount of complaints pass 27,000″. This seems to me incredibly high.

And I mean “incredible” in the sense that it just seems to be too bad to be true.

Working with communities I have a good understanding of the wisdom of the crowds, as well as it’s opposite effect of mob rule. I also understand about online activism, and concerted efforts at gaming the system. In the last month in my new job I have learned a lot about how much effort malicious people can invest into gaming a system.

As far as I understand, the BBC’s information line was so busy they had to re-programme the response to allow people to automatically leave a complaint without speaking to an operator. With online communties where people are allowed this kind of automatic, “cheap” feedback there will inevitably be double posts (or triple, or quadruple, or more).

The official number is more than 27000 complaints - I wonder how many people complained?

And what was their complaints about? By the time you get so far down a story surely people would be complaining about a range of different things, like Brand not initially publishing an apology, or the wording of Ross’ apology, or the type of flowers they sent Andrew Sachs.

I’d love to get at those numbers and see what the actual breakdown is. Perhaps an FOI request by Media Guardian? 

This session was led by Jasper who worked on exciting projects like Adventure Rock and other online games in Children’s. Highlights of the session:

• I kicked off by asking how on Earth we got away with not having a gaming strategy. Games are the “dominant cultural form” of our generation as Phillip is always fast to point out, and I believe the BBC should be on the forefront of game development
• Jason DaPonte quickly explained to us that a few years ago there was a public review which concluded that the BBC was to stop pursuing games (reference needed).
• David Hayward equated the gaming “turf wars” to other similar turf wars going on in local news, notably the local video news for local websites
• Gaming takes many, many forms. From playground games like hide-and-seek to big title console games
• The children’s audience is absolutely demanding media in the form of games, and we’re not delivering. We’re very quickly losing that segment of the public, and we have to respond in some way
• This view needs to be understood at a commissioner level
• Gaming can’t just be added as a nice-to-have after the fact in the commissioning process (this echoes the problems we sometimes have with social media and the commissioning process)
• Divisions are looking for some kind of pan-BBC framework or guidance
• Where are the BBC games for DS or Playstation3?

There are several things we can do to take this forward, some suggested in the session:

• Educate top level executives in the importance of gaming as a medium, and in its importance as the dominant cultural form
• A reluctant suggestion to create a wiki of all former and existing games and gaming technologies
• Educate production teams on how to commission and build games
• Create a framework for developers to follow

Having had some time to think about this I’ve come up with some more suggestions. It seems the gaming issue is very similar to the growing pains we’ve had with social media, and perhaps some of the lessons we learnt there can be applied (and some of the mistakes avoided):

• Have a small, pan-BBC group that stays up to date on all the developments inside the BBC with regards to gaming
• Have a repository (like the wiki suggested) for internal knowledge about gaming, but supplement this by best practice guides and toolkits
• Appoint a games editor or executive whose responsibility it is to take overall responsibility for gaming at the BBC 

In time gaming can (and perhaps should) become just as big as television or radio. If it’s truly the “dominant cultural form” of our time, then the BBC is behind the times in not pursuing this more actively? We finished off the session by asking everyone’s favourite games:

• Elder Scrolls III
• DS (with the kids, Wii coming Christmas)
• SimCity2000, SSX3 (with my 6-year old daughter)
• Guitar Hero - but only when I’m drunk
• Civ
• Call of Duty 4
• Echo Crome
• Facebook - wasting more time on their “social gaming”
• Wii Sport - as a casual gamer

What really interested me about this list was the amount of times we mentioned the word “social”. Most of the people mentioned playing the game with their friends (before or after a few beers), or with their children, or online. It seems that there was a spread of different types of gamers, but most of them had the social aspect in common. After I tweeted about this session, a Twitter contact replied saying he was working on a strategy for one of the divisions and would send it to me as soon as it was done.  

This session was led by Mat Hampson, and he asked for ideas about how to improve the BBC’s global site navigation.

The BBC uses a (newish) page layout system called Barlesque, which manages the headers and footers on each and every bbc.co.uk page you visit. It replaced the old Barley system, and does quite a lot of things normal people (and some geeks) don’t even notice.

“But how we can we improve on this?” Mat asked us.

They already provide the set of developer tools to help build sites according to the standards and guidelines, but what functionality would we like to see? Barlesque already provides truly global navigation across all BBC properties, like the World Service and Vision, as well as across different CMS’s and platforms like the blog network and News.

One of the main ideas (to my mind) was the concept of using the navigation to convey information. This isn’t just about showing a crumbtrail, but providing feedback that the user actually wants. For example, I might get an advanced notice in the navigation bar alerting me to the start of a new season of my favourite programme. Or I could receive live cricket updates as my team’s game progresses - or any other team I choose for that matter.

At the moment it’s cookie based, limiting the amount of data they can store - and it can be a huge amount if you factor in all my possible iPlayer viewer data alone. Integrating it with identity services will allow them to have better access to information that actually relates to me as a person. This, of course, works only for the content I allow them to use. Other possible ideas included changing the global navigation to adapt to you as a user - your background, habits and recent history - and display a “customised” navigation that will guide you to the content you want.   

• Finally adding work critical shared Exchange folders to Entourage. Allowing me to actually do my job, which always help. #
• Just been accused by @lucyh of being a blogger. Tsk, tsk. #
• Retweet @euan: oooh - Google Earth for the iPhone/iPod Touch http://tinyurl.com/58ywla #
• Finished interesting meeting on handling user generated content complaints, and how we handle it. #
• @JemStone I’ll wait, but thx for letting know… in reply to JemStone #
• @lucyh It depends on whther I *want* to be a blogger or not? in reply to lucyh #
• Thanx @rooreynolds and @jemstone for the informative chat. Now for @nickreynoldsatw about complaints procedure and social media stuff #
• Feeling stupid for being half an hour late for a meeting with BBC Switch at Grafton House #
• GoDaddy.com has the *worst* ever user experience + interface design. WORST! (Even if it’s quite cool that FF suggest it when I type “god”) #
• Press releases they way they are supposed to be: http://lin.cr/4r7 #
• Looking forward to BeeBCamp tomorrow: http://lin.cr/4ra #

I didn’t know everyone in this (smallish) session, but did recognise my former boss Jem Stone. Grace, the new media editor for the BBC World Service Trust was also there, as well as Daniel Bennett and journalists from current affairs.The question raised various issues from the different people, for example:

• Do we receive too much feedback?
• How do production teams handle the deluge of feedback?
• How can production teams adapt to these new streams of feedback
• Do we spend too much time and money on feedback? 
• How do we tap into existing communities when researching news stories?
• How do we moderate incoming comments?

Of course we couldn’t answer all of these, but did get to some answers:

• We do receive too much, but production teams and process need to change and adapt. The media world is changing, and we can’t keep on going with 80-year old production approaches.
• The same goes for journalism. Even 20 years ago a journalist hit the phones, then hit the pubs. It was a time consuming process, and good stories took time to build up because it took time to build the contacts
• It’s faster to get information, but the challenge now lies in identifying the trustworthy, balanced, fair comments
• The processes are changing, and the tools are changing
• The BBC does an excellent job of listening to its audience, but we’re also learning how best to do it
• Production teams need co-ordinated guidance and central support
• Production teams need ways of tapping into existing online communities who know the content better
• Ideas like open sourcing and crowd sourcing research were mentioned, but it depends on the team/story/editor

See my BeeBCamp intro and disclaimer.

I’ve intentionally waited to post my notes from BeeBCamp. Not only was there family duties to fulfill, but it also gave me a chance to peek at what the other guys were saying.Roo blogged a good intro to BeeBCamp on Monday, and I briefly blogged about it as well. What you read here are my personal notes - and my personal view - so please keep the following in mind:

• This is my take on what I experienced. It’s not verbatim, and it’s definitely not minutes
• I couldn’t attend all the sessions
• I took notes where I could, but at times I got so excited I forgot to write anything down
• If you feel I’ve missed something, add them to the comments of the applicable session

Overall the mood of the day was refreshingly positive. An event like this can be overrun by frustrated employees looking for a forum to complain. I found the opposite: likeminded people sharing broadminded ideas. This is one of the main reasons I came to work for the BBC - mixing with interesting people and doing interesting work. We all have broadly similar goals, but we come at it from completely different angles.  As far as I could tell, there were people from all the different divisions of the BBC. Personally I spoke to people from:

• Future Media & Technology 
• Vision
• World Service
• Audio & Music
• World Service Trust
• News

If I missed someone, please comment. Of course, meeting people is the best aspect of an event such as this. One person came up to me and asked if I was indeed Tom. ”Yes, I am” I answered, and the person introduced herself as a longtime Twitter contact of mine. We follow each other, have occasional conversations, work in the same broad area (although she’s with Vision) and only met now for the first time. That personal contact alone is reason enough for an event such as BeeBCamp.People spotted:

• Roo Reynolds
• Daniel Bennett
• Phillip Trippenbach
• Jo Twist
• Steve Bowbrick
• Jem Stone

 I’ll blog my notes from these sessions as individual posts for the sake of clarity and easy linking:

• Are we too obsessed with audience feedback?
• Where next for the global navigation?
• Where is the BBC’s gaming strategy?
• What should we build next? 
• What next? How do we take BeeBCamp further? 

(Links to go live as I publish the posts) 

• Shuttle bus is late. If you want to see a couple of BBC people standing around in the morning cold go down to Kensington Olympia NOW #
• Finally behind my desk. 3 back to back meetings needing some prep work first. #
• Stnading in the sun outside Media Centre means I get to see all kinds of interesting people pass by. @thoroughlygood for example #
• I hate it when everyone else is informed about the meeting being moved earlier, except for me. #
• It seems my theme on http://tomversus.com doesn’t work in anything else but Safari… #
• Watching @aarons finish his work as we get ready for a meeting with Sport on 606 #
• Leaving White City to fulfill my school governor duties #
• Hmmm, who thought inocent tech blogs would become hotbeds for religous discussion? Proof that tech/gaming is now pervasive/mainstream? #
• @ruskin147 Sorrry for late reply. I use Entourage on MaBook Pro to sync to Exchange. Yes, I might be able to help you otherwise in reply to ruskin147 #
• Struggling to sort out theme problems on my Wordpress blog #
• Oh !@£$%^&* I just accidentally changed all the attributes of all the files in all the directories on my linux server recursively. 757 #
• Anyone else having Gmail IMAP problems? Or even POP issues? #
• <BIG SIGH> My blog is back up. After a bad accident with CHMOD on the Linux server I’ve restored most of the functionality. #
• This tweeted from the now-working blog. Both work and personal back up. PHEW. #
• Right, midnight. And I want to be in White City on early shuttle. #
• Oh great, past midnight again. I *really* have to go to bed. No Tom, really really. #
• Thanx Alexander McCall Smith for mixing the Afrikaans in with the Scots! Verkrampte + crabbit #
• Prepping for meeting the H2G2 (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) team later this morning - http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/ #
• @ruskin147 “Why I don’t do work blogs” is my somewhat feeble attempt at your topic http://moontan.co.za/tomversus/?p=15 in reply to ruskin147 #
• @derivadow Tell me more? Or where do I go for more? in reply to derivadow #
• @anti_social Thanx. The issue was on Macbook and iMac with Mail and Gmail IMAP. Restart Mail, resent message, all fine… in reply to anti_social #
• Looking forward to learn as much as possible about H2G2 http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/ #
• Lovely time with the h2g2 team. Now for a weekly 1on1 then lunch. #
• Done with another 1on1, now on to coaching session. #
• @thoroughlygood Trying to figure out if that’s an insult, compliment, or just taking the piss. I hope the last… in reply to thoroughlygood #
• Off to Media Centre to see friendly Watchdog people #
• Getting excited working through new visual refreshes. #
• Just seen team from The Money Programme boil beetroot in the abandoned parking lot outside Media Centre. Yes, really. #
• Fun to run into @thoroughlygood at Tesco. My replacement, sort of Tom2.0 at CoJo #
• Glad I’m working late - finally bumped into mr Rose. #
• @lucyh When I casually refer to “bumped” I mean I had to walk across half the floor to interrupt him while talking in reply to lucyh #
• Trying to list all the functions and work that needs to be done. #
• Bizarre! Watching two grannies on BBC News Wii Boxing. And then hugging. 5 minutes to YouTube… #
• Yay, I’m not the only guy on this floor of the office. There’s a cleaner and another guy at a screen on the far side. #
• Seems @cubicgarden’s site is down? http://cubicgarden.com #
• Yay! Made it home before midnight. My train didn’t turn into a pumpkin (it just looked like one) #
• I say: bring back men’s hats. We should each wear a trilby or homburg to work, and top hats with our morning suits or with tails at night #
• Getting ready for a project meeting later this morning - all about improving moderation #
• @paulbradshaw I tried Tweetdeck for a day or two, but didn’t like it. Perhaps I’m just too used to Twhirl - best so far IMO in reply to paulbradshaw #
• @richard_barley I found Tweetdeck too “big” on screen estate. Twhirl is nice and compact. You guys saying I should give TD another spin? in reply to richard_barley #
• @thoroughlygood Yes, because your PC will work better the more you impress the techie. in reply to thoroughlygood #
• @richard_barley You just like it because you like the developer OK, I’ll give it another spin - I do have a spare monitro lying around in reply to richard_barley #
• @richard_barley Ah, that settles it. One day when I get up to 30 friends I’ll def use it in reply to richard_barley #
• @edwarp09 Thank you for supporting my Back to Hats campaign. (You are the 3rd). I dare say Gatsby would have been te in reply to edwarp09 #
• @richard_barley And there’s always @TheRealBritney for taking it mainstream. (But she’s not answering my DMs for a date. Not the spirit!) in reply to richard_barley #
• @richard_barley Ugh, just found out she has babies, tho. Eww gross. Not so sure of the match anymore. Will wait for other mainstream celeb in reply to richard_barley #
• @richard_barley Oh. My. Gawd. You are a genius. And I’m sure Paris uses Twitterberry. in reply to richard_barley #
• @richard_barley Can’t remember if Tweetdeck handles multiple accounts? in reply to richard_barley #
• @limalicas Oh! That was MY email. Toshiba just phoned asking me why I hadn’t replied. Please pass the laptop on te me. in reply to limalicas #
• Damn, my Blackberry order got mixed up and they assigned it to the PA who ordered it! #
• Off to editorial policy to ask some tough questions. Which are being asked of me. And then to make the decisions… #
• Done at Editorial Policy, now to Sport in Telly Centre #
• @darwinshome I just emailed you with more work. My bad! Go to bed now! in reply to darwinshome #
• Don’t seem to be a way to delete a Friendfeed account? #
• @Doctoe Drobo? Not speaking from experience here, but those who have it seem to love it. I’d love it, if I could afford it. in reply to Doctoe #
• @darwinshome Thanx for the link, u r a * NOW SLEEP! in reply to darwinshome #
• Once again mucking about with plugins and Wordpress self hosted. #
• Our IT support company is the best in the world - only THEY could bugger up OS X #
• Can’t get into email - database broekn and needs a rebuild. #
• No access to email is SO relaxing - I’m reading the news, browsing the business and politics sections, catching up with web news #
• Finished meeting @nickreynoldsatw about social media at the beeb. Now over to meet more social media guys #
• oh dear. Did I neglect to give @rooreynolds and @jameshoward a venue? And I do get lost in TVC so easily #
• @Doctoe This might be a bit out of date, but Western Digital was *the brand* back when I still custom built my machines. Always, always WD in reply to Doctoe #
• @teppie DM me your new email and physical addresses at the Abbey in reply to teppie #
• Dealing with an issue on the Strictly Come Dancing message board #
• Blogging dead? Finally reading Wired article, and it was published ON THE SAME DAY as my similar post. Coincidence? http://snurl.com/4ns88 #
• @Doctoe Can I come watch? That is one of my *aaaarrrrggghhh* pet peeves. in reply to Doctoe #
• @darenBBC Hang on, how die YOU get in 1st class? Surely not rich parents in reply to darenBBC #
• Loving John Hodgman on “sex pyramids” on TED #
• Feeling humbled watching Garrett Lisi explain quantum physics and E8 #
• @anti_social No, TED podcast through iTunes. Search for TEDTalks. in reply to anti_social #

Perhaps my quote of the week:

We want creative, analytical, independent, idea-producing team players who bleed binary and breathe HTTP.

On the SWAT blog Jacques laments the scarcity of passionate rock star web developers. He is responsible for the “recruitment of developers, architects and other technically skilled people” in both South Africa and Brazil, and is despondent about the lack of really passionate and talented web developers.

The blog post led to a long discussion (70+ comments) on the topic, with several forays into the merits of a university education - or lack thereof.

Having been involved with tertiary education and trying to nurture developers in what can only be described as a “startup incubator”, I obviously have some views of my own.

We could identify the “rock stars” very early on in their university career. They were the ones who showed interest (and occasionally showed us some code). Sometimes they were loudmouths, and sometimes they were quiet and reserved, but they all had one thing in common - a passion for coding.

In most cases a tertiary education gave them better exposure, a wider view of the world, and possibly quite a lot of social skills. I never, ever for a second thought we could teach these rock stars anything about coding, but we could teach them what to do with their creative code. We could show them how to work in teams (especially helpful for rock stars), and we could give them the safe and constructive environment in which to play around.

A tertiary education is obviously also about much more than just learning coding skills. Coming from an academic family I had always believed it’s just as much about building social networks and learning to fit in socially. There’s culture to take in, sport to support or take part in, and campus life which teaches us about interaction.

In my 6+ years of involvement at tertiary level, I can sadly say we were lucky if we had three rock stars a year. Out of a group of 240 new students each year, we’d be lucky to have 3 rock stars - or roughly 1%.

You can’t create rock stars, but we tried to nurture them.

Tomorrow at 9:30 we kick off the first BeeBCamp, to be held at the White City Conference centre (5th floor). Phillip Trippenbach and Roo Reynolds helped David Hayward at the College of Journalism (internal link) put it together, and it’s loosely based on the Barcamp idea.

What is BeeBCamp? Think of it as a user generated conference, an “un-conference”, or you can think of it as “an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment“. It’s a place where BBC staff can get together, meet one another and talk about the exciting stuff we’re working on.

Having said that, please keep in mind I’m only a supporter, not an organiser, so David, Phillip and Roo might have some more ideas.

Have a look at the (internal only) BeeBCamp wiki. At the time of writing there were almost 60 confirmed attendees.

• Loving John Hodgman on “sex pyramids” on TED #
• Feeling humbled watching Garrett Lisi explain quantum physics and E8 #
• @anti_social No, TED podcast through iTunes. Search for TEDTalks. in reply to anti_social #

• Our IT support company is the best in the world - only THEY could bugger up OS X #
• Can’t get into email - database broekn and needs a rebuild. #
• No access to email is SO relaxing - I’m reading the news, browsing the business and politics sections, catching up with web news #
• Finished meeting @nickreynoldsatw about social media at the beeb. Now over to meet more social media guys #
• oh dear. Did I neglect to give @rooreynolds and @jameshoward a venue? And I do get lost in TVC so easily #
• @Doctoe This might be a bit out of date, but Western Digital was *the brand* back when I still custom built my machines. Always, always WD in reply to Doctoe #
• @teppie DM me your new email and physical addresses at the Abbey in reply to teppie #
• Dealing with an issue on the Strictly Come Dancing message board #
• Blogging dead? Finally reading Wired article, and it was published ON THE SAME DAY as my similar post. Coincidence? http://snurl.com/4ns88 #
• @Doctoe Can I come watch? That is one of my *aaaarrrrggghhh* pet peeves. in reply to Doctoe #
• @darenBBC Hang on, how die YOU get in 1st class? Surely not rich parents in reply to darenBBC #

• Getting ready for a project meeting later this morning - all about improving moderation #
• @paulbradshaw I tried Tweetdeck for a day or two, but didn’t like it. Perhaps I’m just too used to Twhirl - best so far IMO in reply to paulbradshaw #
• @richard_barley I found Tweetdeck too “big” on screen estate. Twhirl is nice and compact. You guys saying I should give TD another spin? in reply to richard_barley #
• @thoroughlygood Yes, because your PC will work better the more you impress the techie. in reply to thoroughlygood #
• @richard_barley You just like it because you like the developer OK, I’ll give it another spin - I do have a spare monitro lying around in reply to richard_barley #
• @richard_barley Ah, that settles it. One day when I get up to 30 friends I’ll def use it in reply to richard_barley #
• @edwarp09 Thank you for supporting my Back to Hats campaign. (You are the 3rd). I dare say Gatsby would have been te in reply to edwarp09 #
• @richard_barley And there’s always @TheRealBritney for taking it mainstream. (But she’s not answering my DMs for a date. Not the spirit!) in reply to richard_barley #
• @richard_barley Ugh, just found out she has babies, tho. Eww gross. Not so sure of the match anymore. Will wait for other mainstream celeb in reply to richard_barley #
• @richard_barley Oh. My. Gawd. You are a genius. And I’m sure Paris uses Twitterberry. in reply to richard_barley #
• @richard_barley Can’t remember if Tweetdeck handles multiple accounts? in reply to richard_barley #
• @limalicas Oh! That was MY email. Toshiba just phoned asking me why I hadn’t replied. Please pass the laptop on te me. in reply to limalicas #
• Damn, my Blackberry order got mixed up and they assigned it to the PA who ordered it! #
• Off to editorial policy to ask some tough questions. Which are being asked of me. And then to make the decisions… #
• Done at Editorial Policy, now to Sport in Telly Centre #
• @darwinshome I just emailed you with more work. My bad! Go to bed now! in reply to darwinshome #
• Don’t seem to be a way to delete a Friendfeed account? #
• @Doctoe Drobo? Not speaking from experience here, but those who have it seem to love it. I’d love it, if I could afford it. in reply to Doctoe #
• @darwinshome Thanx for the link, u r a * NOW SLEEP! in reply to darwinshome #
• Once again mucking about with plugins and Wordpress self hosted. #

• Prepping for meeting the H2G2 (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) team later this morning - http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/ #
• @ruskin147 “Why I don’t do work blogs” is my somewhat feeble attempt at your topic http://moontan.co.za/tomversus/?p=15 in reply to ruskin147 #
• @derivadow Tell me more? Or where do I go for more? in reply to derivadow #
• @anti_social Thanx. The issue was on Macbook and iMac with Mail and Gmail IMAP. Restart Mail, resent message, all fine… in reply to anti_social #
• Looking forward to learn as much as possible about H2G2 http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/ #
• Lovely time with the h2g2 team. Now for a weekly 1on1 then lunch. #
• Done with another 1on1, now on to coaching session. #
• @thoroughlygood Trying to figure out if that’s an insult, compliment, or just taking the piss. I hope the last… in reply to thoroughlygood #
• Off to Media Centre to see friendly Watchdog people #
• Getting excited working through new visual refreshes. #
• Just seen team from The Money Programme boil beetroot in the abandoned parking lot outside Media Centre. Yes, really. #
• Fun to run into @thoroughlygood at Tesco. My replacement, sort of Tom2.0 at CoJo #
• Glad I’m working late - finally bumped into mr Rose. #
• @lucyh When I casually refer to “bumped” I mean I had to walk across half the floor to interrupt him while talking in reply to lucyh #
• Trying to list all the functions and work that needs to be done. #
• Bizarre! Watching two grannies on BBC News Wii Boxing. And then hugging. 5 minutes to YouTube… #
• Yay, I’m not the only guy on this floor of the office. There’s a cleaner and another guy at a screen on the far side. #
• Seems @cubicgarden’s site is down? http://cubicgarden.com #
• Yay! Made it home before midnight. My train didn’t turn into a pumpkin (it just looked like one) #
• I say: bring back men’s hats. We should each wear a trilby or homburg to work, and top hats with our morning suits or with tails at night #

• Shuttle bus is late. If you want to see a couple of BBC people standing around in the morning cold go down to Kensington Olympia NOW #
• Finally behind my desk. 3 back to back meetings needing some prep work first. #
• Stnading in the sun outside Media Centre means I get to see all kinds of interesting people pass by. @thoroughlygood for example #
• I hate it when everyone else is informed about the meeting being moved earlier, except for me. #
• It seems my theme on http://tomversus.com doesn’t work in anything else but Safari… #
• Watching @aarons finish his work as we get ready for a meeting with Sport on 606 #
• Leaving White City to fulfill my school governor duties #
• Hmmm, who thought inocent tech blogs would become hotbeds for religous discussion? Proof that tech/gaming is now pervasive/mainstream? #
• @ruskin147 Sorrry for late reply. I use Entourage on MaBook Pro to sync to Exchange. Yes, I might be able to help you otherwise in reply to ruskin147 #
• Struggling to sort out theme problems on my Wordpress blog #
• Oh !@£$%^&* I just accidentally changed all the attributes of all the files in all the directories on my linux server recursively. 757 #
• Anyone else having Gmail IMAP problems? Or even POP issues? #
• <BIG SIGH> My blog is back up. After a bad accident with CHMOD on the Linux server I’ve restored most of the functionality. #
• This tweeted from the now-working blog. Both work and personal back up. PHEW. #

• Shuttle bus is late. If you want to see a couple of BBC people standing around in the morning cold go down to Kensington Olympia NOW #
• Finally behind my desk. 3 back to back meetings needing some prep work first. #
• Stnading in the sun outside Media Centre means I get to see all kinds of interesting people pass by. @thoroughlygood for example #
• I hate it when everyone else is informed about the meeting being moved earlier, except for me. #
• It seems my theme on http://tomversus.com doesn’t work in anything else but Safari… #
• Watching @aarons finish his work as we get ready for a meeting with Sport on 606 #
• Leaving White City to fulfill my school governor duties #
• Hmmm, who thought inocent tech blogs would become hotbeds for religous discussion? Proof that tech/gaming is now pervasive/mainstream? #
• @ruskin147 Sorrry for late reply. I use Entourage on MaBook Pro to sync to Exchange. Yes, I might be able to help you otherwise in reply to ruskin147 #
• Struggling to sort out theme problems on my Wordpress blog #
• Oh !@£$%^&* I just accidentally changed all the attributes of all the files in all the directories on my linux server recursively. 757 #
• Anyone else having Gmail IMAP problems? Or even POP issues? #
• <BIG SIGH> My blog is back up. After a bad accident with CHMOD on the Linux server I’ve restored most of the functionality. #
• This tweeted from the now-working blog. Both work and personal back up. PHEW. #

• Right, midnight. And I want to be in White City on early shuttle. #
• Oh great, past midnight again. I *really* have to go to bed. No Tom, really really. #
• Thanx Alexander McCall Smith for mixing the Afrikaans in with the Scots! Verkrampte + crabbit #

When I joined the BBC’s Future Media & Technology group at the end of last month, they conveniently held an open week with hour long sessions on what’s happening in the division. One of the first things I did in my new role was to attend a (brief) talk by Anthony Rose about iPlayer labs.

It was brief, because he quickly showed off some of their lab ideas on where iPlayer can go. After getting us excited, he opened the floor to questions and suggestions. Promising a handsome prize to the best idea, he opened up a small competition for the best idea submitted to him over the coming weeks.

Being in charge of communities and social platforms, I obviously have an interest in opening up the sharing, social possibilities of a platform like iPlayer. I’ve sent him a couple of ideas, and here’s my latest:

I want to see comments pop up as I watch a programme. And I want to add comments as I go along.

There can be several names/descriptions for this:

• Live comments
• Timeshifting chat
• Running comments
• Async chatting
• Social tv
• Community watching
• Group watch

Background:
One of the prime motivators for watching a live programme is the social aspect. Watch the programme with friends, or phone one up afterwards and discuss it, or chat about it at school or the office tomorrow. Television brings people together around a theme, and people love talking about it during and afterwards. We constantly comment on football matches or horror films, and we comment on dress sense or attention to detail.

Proposal:
As I watch iPlayer, I can pause at any time and add a comment at that specific time code. *Do not* add comments below the player on a static page. Have comments scrolling/appearing/popping up as the video plays.

“The best goal ever!”
“Look behind you, scared young girl in dark house!”
“I saw a lion eat a monkey just like that when I was in Africa!”

When someone else watches the same programme (or match), comments will pop up at the time they were added in the timeline. Like a live chat, this simulated chat will appear in sync with what’s happening on the screen, even if it’s all added asynchronously.

Allowing people to reply to earlier comments might also improve the social feeling. Viewers might even come back and re-watch programmes to see if people responded to their witty remarks.

When I first heard about Joost I was most excited about the live chat feature. But that still requires people to co-ordinate their time. iPlayer is the exact opposite - timeshifting - so we should timeshift the conversations.

Even though it is asynchronous, we have a timeline available in the video. Synch the commenting with this timeline, and allow nested comments.

Voila! Timeshifted chat.

I don’t follow the general iPlayer wish list discussions, or even the general on-demand chatter, so I’m not sure if this has come up anywhere else?

This isn’t worth a full blog post, because if the concept doesn’t grab your imagination then no post of mine will.

Josh Bernoff published a short post on Wal-Mart and social media. He was impressed with how their top execs “got it”, and listed some reasons

1. Ratings and reviews
2. The checkout blog
3. elevenmoms.com (linking to and working with mommy bloggers, e.g. opinion formers)
4. Management attitudes

If he is so excited about a “bland” corporate like Wal-Mart, imagine what’s going on in creative media companies. He does admit that it takes time and effort to get these ideas to market, but I think he’s fourth point is the most crucial.

As I go to bed, I’ll be taking these thoughts with me, thinking about incorporating some of these ideas at work…

• The trains mirror me this Monday morning: we’re all late #
• Working through the mass of emails I missed during my wisdom teeth adventure. #
• Last cup of coffee was more than 4 days ago. Being back in the office and suddenly I need the caffeine again! #
• Coffee with @aarons #
• Finished a productive coffee with @nickreynoldsatw #
• Jaw mysteriously aching today. Unrelated: I forgot my post-wisdom-teeth-extraction meds at home. #
• Great catch up with @lucyh - and there was a lot of catching up to do, while it lasts… #
• In Media Centre, seeing @degsy not seeing me. Obviously he’s more interested in his meeting #
• At Bush House for a little launch party. Blog post to follow, I hope. #
• On train home and *finally* catching up with the video of Eric Huggers’ Q&A session at the Open Week #
• Back home, and I’m enjoying chicken & leek soup. With soft bread. (And nursing my aching jaw - it sucks leaving your meds at home) #
• Cool invite: BBC Wildlife Fund party at the London Zoo in 2 weeks’ time. #
• @ruskin147 How *long* has FF been open? Perhaps a close and restart of the olde browser? in reply to ruskin147 #
• @derivadow Excellent! You going too I take it. Although I just realised it’s going to be late winter in the outside air… in reply to derivadow #
• I’m trying to synch Entourage and iCal as we speak - nightmare! “Synch is hard” as Melrin Mann said. #
• @ruskin147 I’m trying to synch Entourage and iCal as we speak - nightmare! “Synch is hard” as Melrin Mann said. in reply to ruskin147 #
• @derivadow My bad: “…a basement-to-rooftop rainforest under a translucent roof” Not cold at all! http://snurl.com/4jk9c in reply to derivadow #
• Almost 11PM, work email checked, but still need to blog. <frustrated>Who decided on these short days anyway? It’s like Twitter</frustrated> #
• Thanx to @LitmanLive for this link on the top 50 Social Media blogs of the year http://tinyurl.com/6g498b #

• Oh hello, where did this stomache bug come from? What a star to an early Monday morning. #
• Lying in bed (and agony) with a stomach bug. I can’t get much work done, but at least I can harass colleugues via email. Mwhuhaha #
• @teppie Twice sick in bed in one week - I feel like such a typical male in reply to teppie #
• Are bank directors now essentially public servants? http://snurl.com/4bbh6 #
• Just realised I’ve been capatilising nouns in English (like in German). Wonder how long this has gone on? And why no one told me? #
• Finally enough energy and tim to wade through more work emails. Oh, and finishing that BBC Internet blog post, to be published tomorrow. #
• Done with work for the night, think I might be stuck in this hunched pose as my muscles atrophied. #
• Waiting for my desktop update to finish and humouring the London Underground by completing their (offline) travel survey #
• Working through the backlog of emails - for a single day. <sigh> #
• BeeBCamp wiki link (internal only, of course): http://wikis.gateway.bbc.co.uk/confluence/display/beebcamp/Home #
• Looking forward to attending the NMA Awards. I think. http://www.imaawards.co.uk/Default.aspx #
• @thedullfig Sorry to have misled you in reply to thedullfig #
• @Dan_10v11 Did you put your name down? Are you going to present a session? 20 minutes, any topic you want… in reply to Dan_10v11 #
• Finished good meeting with colleague who’s going to help me quite a lot in new post. Always welcome. Now for weekly chat with a team member #
• @teppie BeeBCamp. Guess we won’t see you anymore… in reply to teppie #
• Awaiting the imminent arrival of the @rooreynolds #
• @Dan_10v11 Not trying to sound too Pollyana-ish, but it’s as great (or forward looking) as we make it. The idea is the audience presents in reply to Dan_10v11 #
• @teppie They miss you in reply to teppie #
• @Dan_10v11 OK, when I have time I’ll blog about it. Would love to have you there, would love to hear you talk. in reply to Dan_10v11 #
• @thedullfig I know, but I enjoyed the doule bluff in reply to thedullfig #
• Talking nonsense on Twitter while waiting for my next meeting #
• @rooreynolds Thanx in reply to rooreynolds #
• Just finsihed final meeting for the day. Thankfully it was @rooreynolds, so I didn’t mind it running 2hrs+ to almost 8PM #
• @rooreynolds Likewise. in reply to rooreynolds #
• @lucyh Which match? in reply to lucyh #
• 8PM and there’s hardly 4 people left in this part of the office? Scandalous. #
• @aarons All I can say is “Thank you for your co-operation” in reply to aarons #
• Finally home, now a long night and dental surgery to look forward to. #
• It’s not just tech savvy new media types: school governors can also repeatedly use the “Reply to All button”. #
• @rooreynolds USB takes *a lot* of processing power, in addition to the powering of the 3G chip. in reply to rooreynolds #
• A suny Engish autumn morning with the oaks turning, and dental surgery in the afternoon. My life is so rich and varied #
• Thanx to @siobhanny for the Twitter Song on YouTube: http://tinyurl.com/537ywy #
• Watching Calacanis and Nixon presentation at FOWA http://snurl.com/4ese7 #
• @hemmysphere I scored 8/10 as well http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7671677.stm in reply to hemmysphere #
• Booked in, lying in hospital bed waiting for maxillo facial surgeon. Good bye, cruel world. #
• Feel like I’m in “Lost”: in pain, needle sticking out my hand and nothing makes sense. #
• Had three teeth extracted this PM. Now readin business news. No, I can’t spot the difference either. #
• The trains mirror me this Monday morning: we’re all late #
• Working through the mass of emails I missed during my wisdom teeth adventure. #
• Last cup of coffee was more than 4 days ago. Being back in the office and suddenly I need the caffeine again! #
• Coffee with @aarons #
• Finished a productive coffee with @nickreynoldsatw #
• Jaw mysteriously aching today. Unrelated: I forgot my post-wisdom-teeth-extraction meds at home. #
• Great catch up with @lucyh - and there was a lot of catching up to do, while it lasts… #
• In Media Centre, seeing @degsy not seeing me. Obviously he’s more interested in his meeting #
• At Bush House for a little launch party. Blog post to follow, I hope. #
• On train home and *finally* catching up with the video of Eric Huggers’ Q&A session at the Open Week #
• Back home, and I’m enjoying chicken & leek soup. With soft bread. (And nursing my aching jaw - it sucks leaving your meds at home) #
• Cool invite: BBC Wildlife Fund party at the London Zoo in 2 weeks’ time. #
• @ruskin147 How *long* has FF been open? Perhaps a close and restart of the olde browser? in reply to ruskin147 #
• @derivadow Excellent! You going too I take it. Although I just realised it’s going to be late winter in the outside air… in reply to derivadow #
• I’m trying to synch Entourage and iCal as we speak - nightmare! “Synch is hard” as Melrin Mann said. #
• @ruskin147 I’m trying to synch Entourage and iCal as we speak - nightmare! “Synch is hard” as Melrin Mann said. in reply to ruskin147 #
• @derivadow My bad: “…a basement-to-rooftop rainforest under a translucent roof” Not cold at all! http://snurl.com/4jk9c in reply to derivadow #
• Almost 11PM, work email checked, but still need to blog. <frustrated>Who decided on these short days anyway? It’s like Twitter</frustrated> #
• Thanx to @LitmanLive for this link on the top 50 Social Media blogs of the year http://tinyurl.com/6g498b #

or,

A justification for no apologies

Some time ago I read that you should never apologise in a podcast, and I think it also applied to a blog. It was so long ago that I can’t even bother to link to it (or even Google it to link to it).

Anyway, I decided to apply that to blogs as well. I won’t apologise on a blog, especially as most blogs seem to consist of:
a. Good blog post, lots of enthusiasm, then
b. OKish blog post, rushed or forced, then
c. a long break, followed by
d. lots of posts each apologising for never publishing anything.

Sounds familiar?

This is why Twitter works so well for me too - have you ever seen someone post

Oh, I apologise for not having posted anything meaningful on my Twitter page for quite some lengthy amount of indeterminate time. I’ve been so busy smelling the roses that I just haven’t had the time to Twitter anything meaningful. Please forgive me for not posting anything sensible, but if you allow me oh reader the pleasure and honour of your time I promise to attempt to elucidate you once more…

I prefer Twitter to blogging for several reasons:
1. It fits with my work schedule and lifestyle (more precisely it fits in between my schedules)
2. I use it as a micro journal of what I’ve done, and I quite often go back to it when I do weekly reports
3. English is not my first language, so it takes me some time to craft something that I am happy to publish
4. Being a pedant (and repeatedly being accused of being anal-retentive by formerly close friends) it takes even longer to publish something I don’t feel is actually perfect
5. Being so short, Twitter forces conciseness but is at the same time very forgiving
6. I don’t have time to blog

The last point is probably the most important reason: I have so many things going on that blogging - although very, very important to me - just falls so far down the list…

I do have a (very) personal blog for family matters, but I just can’t seem to get the professional blog thing going. The grandparents are desperate for baby pics, so whatever drivel I actually write is lapped up and adored.

A professional blog seems like a lot of time and effort that could have gone into planning or strategy documents, or sharing things with colleagues. Granted, some of this can be done by using a blog, and I am in fact using a blog to disseminate some work related information.

Some of my colleagues are clearly so much better at work blogging than I am. I’m thinking of such prolific bloggers as Roo Reynolds, Ian Forrester, Tom Scott, Dan Taylor, Lucy Hooberman, James Cridland and many more.

Personally I think blogging should be left to the real professionals, such as Nick Robinson’s Newslog.

This has been a very long winded way of saying persoanlly I’m not so hot on blogging anymore. If you’ve read all the way to here you’re either an exceptionally loyal friend or someone with even more commitment to blogs than I am.

For my part, I’m decidedly unsorry for not blogging more. I set up this blog as a daily and weekly repository for my tweets. If an occasional blog slips in, perhaps that it something I should apologise for…

• @rooreynolds USB takes *a lot* of processing power, in addition to the powering of the 3G chip. in reply to rooreynolds #
• A suny Engish autumn morning with the oaks turning, and dental surgery in the afternoon. My life is so rich and varied #
• Thanx to @siobhanny for the Twitter Song on YouTube: http://tinyurl.com/537ywy #
• Watching Calacanis and Nixon presentation at FOWA http://snurl.com/4ese7 #
• @hemmysphere I scored 8/10 as well http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7671677.stm in reply to hemmysphere #
• Booked in, lying in hospital bed waiting for maxillo facial surgeon. Good bye, cruel world. #
• Feel like I’m in “Lost”: in pain, needle sticking out my hand and nothing makes sense. #
• Had three teeth extracted this PM. Now readin business news. No, I can’t spot the difference either. #

• @rooreynolds USB takes *a lot* of processing power, in addition to the powering of the 3G chip. in reply to rooreynolds #
• A suny Engish autumn morning with the oaks turning, and dental surgery in the afternoon. My life is so rich and varied #
• Thanx to @siobhanny for the Twitter Song on YouTube: http://tinyurl.com/537ywy #
• Watching Calacanis and Nixon presentation at FOWA http://snurl.com/4ese7 #
• @hemmysphere I scored 8/10 as well http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7671677.stm in reply to hemmysphere #
• Booked in, lying in hospital bed waiting for maxillo facial surgeon. Good bye, cruel world. #
• Feel like I’m in “Lost”: in pain, needle sticking out my hand and nothing makes sense. #
• Had three teeth extracted this PM. Now readin business news. No, I can’t spot the difference either. #

• Waiting for my desktop update to finish and humouring the London Underground by completing their (offline) travel survey #
• Working through the backlog of emails - for a single day. <sigh> #
• BeeBCamp wiki link (internal only, of course): http://wikis.gateway.bbc.co.uk/confluence/display/beebcamp/Home #
• Looking forward to attending the NMA Awards. I think. http://www.imaawards.co.uk/Default.aspx #
• @thedullfig Sorry to have misled you in reply to thedullfig #
• @Dan_10v11 Did you put your name down? Are you going to present a session? 20 minutes, any topic you want… in reply to Dan_10v11 #
• Finished good meeting with colleague who’s going to help me quite a lot in new post. Always welcome. Now for weekly chat with a team member #
• @teppie BeeBCamp. Guess we won’t see you anymore… in reply to teppie #
• Awaiting the imminent arrival of the @rooreynolds #
• @Dan_10v11 Not trying to sound too Pollyana-ish, but it’s as great (or forward looking) as we make it. The idea is the audience presents in reply to Dan_10v11 #
• @teppie They miss you in reply to teppie #
• @Dan_10v11 OK, when I have time I’ll blog about it. Would love to have you there, would love to hear you talk. in reply to Dan_10v11 #
• @thedullfig I know, but I enjoyed the doule bluff in reply to thedullfig #
• Talking nonsense on Twitter while waiting for my next meeting #
• @rooreynolds Thanx in reply to rooreynolds #
• Just finsihed final meeting for the day. Thankfully it was @rooreynolds, so I didn’t mind it running 2hrs+ to almost 8PM #
• @rooreynolds Likewise. in reply to rooreynolds #
• @lucyh Which match? in reply to lucyh #
• 8PM and there’s hardly 4 people left in this part of the office? Scandalous. #
• @aarons All I can say is “Thank you for your co-operation” in reply to aarons #
• Finally home, now a long night and dental surgery to look forward to. #
• It’s not just tech savvy new media types: school governors can also repeatedly use the “Reply to All button”. #

Last week Thursday (9 October) we had a major code release for the software running most of the BBC’s social software platforms. Think about Sport’s 606 spaces, or BBC Message Boards or all the BBC blogs’ comments…

It was almost perfect, but there’s always a hitch, isn’t there?

Read my full account on the BBC Internet Blog.

• Entourage does not have an “Out of Office Assistant”. So I have to go into Outlook webmail access - from work - to turn it off. #
• @degsy Sudo does eaase the pains… in reply to degsy #
• @currybet Did you actually *read* the Lloyds ad across the Metro? “The world’s smallest bank” LMAO! in reply to currybet #
• Finally through my backlog of email. Just one day away from the office and it piles on, and I’m still new in the job! #
• Once a in blue moon moderators get thanked and praise for the excellent and demanding work they do. People, appreciate your moderators. #
• Done with two meetings, now an hour or two for some admin stuff #
• @teppie I’mback in the office today, a day in bed did me a world of good. in reply to teppie #

• Entourage does not have an “Out of Office Assistant”. So I have to go into Outlook webmail access - from work - to turn it off. #
• @degsy Sudo does eaase the pains… in reply to degsy #
• @currybet Did you actually *read* the Lloyds ad across the Metro? “The world’s smallest bank” LMAO! in reply to currybet #
• Finally through my backlog of email. Just one day away from the office and it piles on, and I’m still new in the job! #
• Once a in blue moon moderators get thanked and praise for the excellent and demanding work they do. People, appreciate your moderators. #
• Done with two meetings, now an hour or two for some admin stuff #
• @teppie I’mback in the office today, a day in bed did me a world of good. in reply to teppie #

• Heddo wordd. I ab fidaddy ub. Dab flu! #
• Thanx to @Dan_10v11 for user testing new blog Issues with redirecting and masking, and a theme that was broken, but better now. #
• @teppie Nope, I’m in bed for the day. Reading Peston’s blog to keep my spirits up Am missing FOWA, but coffee next week sounds good! in reply to teppie #
• @LloydDavis Hello to the newbie, and welcome to the wonderful world of instant talkification in reply to LloydDavis #
• Lying in bed and browsing Wrodpress themes #
• @jamescridland You didn’t realise or Terry Pratchett didn’t realise? in reply to jamescridland #
• Watching the 2nd last episode of Torchwood #

• Heddo wordd. I ab fidaddy ub. Dab flu! #
• Thanx to @Dan_10v11 for user testing new blog Issues with redirecting and masking, and a theme that was broken, but better now. #
• @teppie Nope, I’m in bed for the day. Reading Peston’s blog to keep my spirits up Am missing FOWA, but coffee next week sounds good! in reply to teppie #
• @LloydDavis Hello to the newbie, and welcome to the wonderful world of instant talkification in reply to LloydDavis #
• Lying in bed and browsing Wrodpress themes #
• @jamescridland You didn’t realise or Terry Pratchett didn’t realise? in reply to jamescridland #
• Watching the 2nd last episode of Torchwood #

Earlier today Dan_10v11 on Twitter sent me a message saying he used a tweet of mine as a blog post. My tweet read:

Finding myself more and more reading Peston’s blog for insight, as opposed to “official” BBC stories. http://snurl.com/4461h

Of course I had no problem with this, and I have already blogged about the possibility for miscommunication using microblogging.

What I would like to explain is the context around that specific tweet.

At the time of the run on Northern Rock, I was working at the BBC’s College of Journalism. It was our job to discuss and dissect journalism in all forms, and we naturally debated Robert’s possible role in the run on the bank. He broke the story, but by reporting it he might have been making it worse. Some people argued that the run on the Rock would not have happened if he hadn’t reported it. Other people reckoned it would still have happened, but less severe, while other people argued it was inevitable.

The same case can be made for the banking crises we find ourselves in now. Peston is having a great time as a journalist, and breaking stories all over the place. Even his detractors (like some commenters on his blog) admit he is obviously the man of the moment when it comes to reporting the crisis.

So whether you think Peston is a gloom merchant with a pessimistic view fanning the flames, or whether he’s Scoop McScoop with the insight on everything, the point is that he obviously has a unique insight into all these stories. I don’t know the man personally, but I do know that he knows more about what’s going on than any other person I’m aware of.

Which is why I’m reading his insightful (inciteful?) blog posts rather than “official” BBC news stories.

Robert sometimes updates his latest posts with new information, and then there’s all the comments. I don’t read past about the first 10 comments, and I suspect Robert doesn’t read them at all. All in all, it’s a more complete source of information than an unnamed BBC story. The fact that it’s a blog from the BBC gives me even more faith - to me it’s better than a usual BBC news story.

Earlier today I received a short message on Twitter: 

I ripped off one of your tweets to make a blog post earlier: http://is.gd/3AUa    

Dan also blogs for the Frontline Club, and although we’ve never met (in the flesh) we regularly talk online. He lifted my tweet from earlier:

Finding myself more and more reading Peston’s blog for insight, as opposed to “official” BBC stories. http://snurl.com/4461h 25     

I obviously have no issues whatsoever with Dan using my tweet like that - as a complete post on his blog - as long as he correctly attributes it. Once something is “let loose” on the interwebs, it’s very naive to believe we control it.

My comment about preferring blogs to “official” BBC news might benefit from some context to put it in perspective, but it’s still something I chose to publish on a microblogging platform. I’m not “ashamed” of the comment, and I don’t mind it being used. It’s not taken out of context: there is no context on a microblogging platform. That’s sometimes the problem. Online all the other subtle forms of communication is lost - voice, body language, etc - and you’re only left with the words. In general a blog post (like this one) provides little information compared to a conversation, but it still provides vastly more information than a single sentence.

Twitter, as a microblogging platform, limits posts to what can fit in a single text message: 140 characters. Some Twitterers like Merlin Mann (as hotdogsladies) manage to put quite a lot of communication into this short form. Other people are less able to convey meaning.

In my tweet of this morning I was capturing my behaviour, for which Twitter is excellent. It’s great for those moments when you realise you’re doing something, and instead of just getting a wry smile I can actually share my wry thought with the world.

And yes, I do realise the rest of the world might not want to know that little thought. Then don’t bother with microblogging. 

A guy has to live somewhere, right?

I am Tom van Aardt, I’m allowed a desk at the BBC, and I feel uncomfortable offline. Think of this blog as my parents’ basement, but on the web. It’s sort of my new online home. My virtual den. Before this I used to blog a bit for the great guys at MyBroadband, now I do even less online but in even more places.

I’m most often to be found on Twitter as tomVS 

Disclaimer

Obviously whatever I publish here is not signed off, condoned, approved, accepted, endorsed, supported, upheld, recommended, advocated, blessed, sanctioned, ratified, authorised or validated in any way whatsoever by my employer. For formal communications visit the press office, and for informal discussions you can read the Internet Blog.

My employer has staff blogging guidelines which I wasn’t around to help create, but I am around to follow.

So, these are my views, and not those of the BBC.

You can also read more about the scarcity of posts on this blog.

This blog hasn’t been up for a week, and already I’m finding myself mucking about in phpMyAdmin.

Everything worked fine, and I was able to set the blog up in less than an hour. Admittedly I already had a hosted server up and running, so it was a case of 

1. Downloading Wordpress from Wordpress.org
2. Unzipping and uploading to a directory on the web server
3. Running the install file from a browser window (which is the default page when you go to the new site anyway)

It was interesting to see the winner of TechCrunch50. Having been involved with incubating young start ups for six years in the guise of student projects, I’ve always been interested in DEMO and then TC50.

The winner of TC50 this year was Yammer, which people are describing as “Twitter behind the firewall” or “Twitter for the enterprise”. Chris Brogan reckons a lot of companies are interested in this, and I completely agree. My own organisation is very open, and the young digirati are outward looking and forthcoming, and even we need some internal Twitter.

The take off so far internally of Yammer seems to be good. At least, it’s more popular than I thought it would be. People are actively posting and - even better - it’s leading to detailed discussions across departments. It also seems that Yammer doesn’t limit these discussions to 140 characters: some of my colleagues get quite expressive in their debates.

So far I’m still on as the network admin for Yammer on the BBC network, which makes me slightly nervous. I had to provide a credit card number and used my own personal number. Yammer hasn’t responded to my query about this, but luckily the first three months are free. After that we start paying $1 per month per user.

As I’ve been typing this - almost 11PM on a Tuesday - another two people have joined our work network. So far, it’s looking active. James blogged about it last week, which started a bit of a conversation regarding trust and data on 3rd party sites.

Now if only I can figure out how Cubicgarden manages to cross-post between Twitter and Yammer, even though he doesn’t like it.