Backstage Idea Store use our stuff to build your stuff....

Written by LoopZilla the 1 Jan 09 at 20:06.

Write some software?

Write some software?

Written by www.richardsprojects.co.uk the 2 Jan 09 at 18:04.

bit.ly, snurl and tinyURL have APIs to allow you to use their service. You use one of them to allow BBC site users to easily make short URLs of pages.

This should be quicker to implement, but I'm not sure how you'd choose which one to use. Also, in support of solution #1 creating a BBC service would give the short URLS a more official BBC like nature.

bit.ly, snurl and tinyURL have APIs to allow you to use their service. You use one of them to allow BBC site users to easily make short URLs of pages. This should be quicker to implement, but I'm not sure how you'd choose which one to use. Also, in support of solution #1 creating a BBC service would give the short URLS a more official BBC like nature.

Written by cubicgarden the 22 Dec 08 at 17:59.

Start encoding things in Dirac, dummy

Start encoding things in Dirac, dummy

Written by sgbirch the 15 Jan 09 at 10:33.

Ogg Theora is a mature free and open video compression format freely available for Windows, Mac and Linux. It can be used to distribute film and video online and on disc without the licensing and royalty fees or vendor lock-in associated with other formats.

Theora scales from postage stamp to HD resolution, and is considered particularly competitive at low bitrates.

Theora is in full public release as of November 3, 2008. The bitstream format for Theora I was frozen Thursday, 2004 July 1. All bitstreams encoded since that date will remain compatible with future releases.

Ref: http://theora.org

Ogg Theora is a mature free and open video compression format freely available for Windows, Mac and Linux. It can be used to distribute film and video online and on disc without the licensing and royalty fees or vendor lock-in associated with other formats. Theora scales from postage stamp to HD resolution, and is considered particularly competitive at low bitrates. Theora is in full public release as of November 3, 2008. The bitstream format for Theora I was frozen Thursday, 2004 July 1. All bitstreams encoded since that date will remain compatible with future releases. Ref: http://theora.org

Written by ianforrester the 20 Feb 09 at 15:51.

Sign up it email, im or twitters you

Sign up it email, im or twitters you

Written by phileinsophia the 25 Feb 09 at 05:36.

If iPlayer had a sign in (non-required), a button could be added for a show that read "Notify me when the next episode comes out".

This would also solve the issue of keeping track of what episodes we've already watched (and suggestions) for those of us who use computers at different locations.

If iPlayer had a sign in (non-required), a button could be added for a show that read "Notify me when the next episode comes out". This would also solve the issue of keeping track of what episodes we've already watched (and suggestions) for those of us who use computers at different locations.

Written by briansuda the 23 Dec 08 at 20:49.

If there was a way to release the raw data about the events, the teams, the countries, the venues, participants, winners and losers. It would allow anyone on the Internet to take the data and remix it. Finding new trends, creating new visualizations and augmenting the data with additional information from other places.

If there was a way to release the raw data about the events, the teams, the countries, the venues, participants, winners and losers. It would allow anyone on the Internet to take the data and remix it. Finding new trends, creating new visualizations and augmenting the data with additional information from other places.

Written by briansuda the 23 Dec 08 at 20:56.

As the thousands of people flock to London to attend the games, millions more will be at home watching the events on TV or listening on the radio.

The data presented on the web about the games should compliment the event, not just repeat it. While watching the games on TV, the overlays will tell me the score, the teams, etc. To have a mobile device in hand, I want as little screen real-estate devoted to duplicate data. I want to be able to create queries and ask questions to the website that are beyond the sound-bites given by the announcers.

This will take a new way of thinking, putting yourself into the shoes of a spectator. What will they want to know? and how do we provide them the tools to ask those question? and then also display them in a simple to understand format without confusing or distracting from the event infront of them.

The only way to do this will be for new interfaces that don't exist today.

As the thousands of people flock to London to attend the games, millions more will be at home watching the events on TV or listening on the radio. The data presented on the web about the games should compliment the event, not just repeat it. While watching the games on TV, the overlays will tell me the score, the teams, etc. To have a mobile device in hand, I want as little screen real-estate devoted to duplicate data. I want to be able to create queries and ask questions to the website that are beyond the sound-bites given by the announcers. This will take a new way of thinking, putting yourself into the shoes of a spectator. What will they want to know? and how do we provide them the tools to ask those question? and then also display them in a simple to understand format without confusing or distracting from the event infront of them. The only way to do this will be for new interfaces that don't exist today.

Written by www.richardsprojects.co.uk the 29 Dec 08 at 07:48.

Provide a news search engine on the BBC that allows you to search for news based on location.

Provide a news search engine on the BBC that allows you to search for news based on location.

Written by www.richardsprojects.co.uk the 29 Dec 08 at 07:52.

Provide location data in the BBC news feeds and the page's metadata to allow people to create location based services with BBC news.

Provide location data in the BBC news feeds and the page's metadata to allow people to create location based services with BBC news.

Written by www.richardsprojects.co.uk the 2 Jan 09 at 18:25.

There's obviously a lot of existing content that isn't marked up and doesn't have place data associated with it.

You could create an algorithm to search through the content looking for place names and adding the appropriate location data. You could then use crowd sourcing to check how accurate this new location data is.

There's obviously a lot of existing content that isn't marked up and doesn't have place data associated with it. You could create an algorithm to search through the content looking for place names and adding the appropriate location data. You could then use crowd sourcing to check how accurate this new location data is.

Written by nickshanks the 31 Aug 09 at 21:12.

Provide RDF linking to the /programmes I have watched and a datetime showing when I watched them. Allow me to provide a URI for myself (foaf:Person rdf:about=URI), and/or a URL to a seeAlso file. Provide a checkbox to allow me to make this information publicly accessible (i.e. without needing to log in) so that I can then provide a seeAlso triple linking to this page from my Foaf file.

Provide RDF linking to the /programmes I have watched and a datetime showing when I watched them. Allow me to provide a URI for myself (foaf:Person rdf:about=URI), and/or a URL to a seeAlso file. Provide a checkbox to allow me to make this information publicly accessible (i.e. without needing to log in) so that I can then provide a seeAlso triple linking to this page from my Foaf file.

Written by davidmarks the 22 Dec 08 at 18:08.

Make the video on the BBC News website iPhone compatible.

Make the video on the BBC News website iPhone compatible.

Written by ianforrester the 24 Feb 09 at 21:48.

Doing nothing will do no harm and could be useful for later when there is a really good worth while idea.

Doing nothing will do no harm and could be useful for later when there is a really good worth while idea.

Written by ianforrester the 24 Feb 09 at 21:50.

Aggregate all the replies across the other BBC accounts and push out the best ones on @bbc

Aggregate all the replies across the other BBC accounts and push out the best ones on @bbc

Written by thegreatgonzo the 25 Feb 09 at 07:10.

I really like what Tim O'Reilly does with his twitter account, he promotes and re-tweets the best and most important things happening in his sphere. The BBC has a great deal of news and other content that would benefit from promotion plus the combined output of all the already committed twitterers like Rory C-J, bbccouk etc. This would obviously require a significant amount of effort by someone to aggregate and edit.

I really like what Tim O'Reilly does with his twitter account, he promotes and re-tweets the best and most important things happening in his sphere. The BBC has a great deal of news and other content that would benefit from promotion plus the combined output of all the already committed twitterers like Rory C-J, bbccouk etc. This would obviously require a significant amount of effort by someone to aggregate and edit.

Written by artistofideas the 26 Feb 09 at 04:57.

First note that #2 and #3 are kissing cousins -- both are "selections" ... using somewhat different slices of raw data ... mentioning someONE specific to do the "SELECTION" in 3.

"AGGREGATION" is NOT "SELECTION" ... of "THE BEST."

AGGREGATION is ... "some kind of orchestration" ... of common threads ... opinions ... visualizations ... so that WE ALL see ... what WE ALL think.

What we are used to ... is some RANDOM selection of something ... that has been APPROVED by someone ... as "within the pale" of public conversation.

Aggregation ... can produce surprises. Selection ... amplifies the usual suspects.

NOW: How do you DO aggregation? Well, that's a good question. One that that will not be answered in this little box tonight. lol BUT it is the right question. Start there.

First note that #2 and #3 are kissing cousins -- both are "selections" ... using somewhat different slices of raw data ... mentioning someONE specific to do the "SELECTION" in 3. "AGGREGATION" is NOT "SELECTION" ... of "THE BEST." AGGREGATION is ... "some kind of orchestration" ... of common threads ... opinions ... visualizations ... so that WE ALL see ... what WE ALL think. What we are used to ... is some RANDOM selection of something ... that has been APPROVED by someone ... as "within the pale" of public conversation. Aggregation ... can produce surprises. Selection ... amplifies the usual suspects. NOW: How do you DO aggregation? Well, that's a good question. One that that will not be answered in this little box tonight. lol BUT it is the right question. Start there.

Written by Morphy_Richards the 27 Feb 09 at 13:25.

The issues raised in the vid and by a very erudite Helge point to what it should not be used for.

Let's share ideas, yes, but also ideas from an opinion leader. It would thus seem obvious that your/our leader should share his ideas, opinions and conjectures - in the spirit of public service, open governance etc.

This would be a great example of pushing an idea upstairs.

Why not?

Mark does not seem to be on Twitter at the moment...

The issues raised in the vid and by a very erudite Helge point to what it should not be used for. Let's share ideas, yes, but also ideas from an opinion leader. It would thus seem obvious that your/our leader should share his ideas, opinions and conjectures - in the spirit of public service, open governance etc. This would be a great example of pushing an idea upstairs. Why not? Mark does not seem to be on Twitter at the moment...

Written by Basem the 24 Mar 09 at 06:16.

For example, if im watching a program such as the news or the cooking shows, i would like to know what happened during the break. Twitter updates can update me on what happened during a break in the news, in a show, or a link can be posted on twitter for more info. All of this can be done realtime. Moreover, with a twitter app i can follow the BBC in with all the info in realtime.

For example, if im watching a program such as the news or the cooking shows, i would like to know what happened during the break. Twitter updates can update me on what happened during a break in the news, in a show, or a link can be posted on twitter for more info. All of this can be done realtime. Moreover, with a twitter app i can follow the BBC in with all the info in realtime.

Written by ianforrester the 9 Feb 09 at 23:19.

Setting up laconi.ca and getting it working with Twitter will convince TV and Radio that there is an alternative which actually works

Setting up laconi.ca and getting it working with Twitter will convince TV and Radio that there is an alternative which actually works

Written by ianforrester the 9 Feb 09 at 23:33.

Now Jaiku is open source, maybe the BBC can offer development effort on Jaiku and set it up on a server for testing purposes

Now Jaiku is open source, maybe the BBC can offer development effort on Jaiku and set it up on a server for testing purposes

Written by ianforrester the 20 Feb 09 at 16:01.

PIPs for every TV show

PIPs for every TV show

Written by Basem the 24 Mar 09 at 02:46.

Develop an application that fetches the guide from the internet, it shows whats on now and whats next and the highlights of the day. I can read news from it if i want to. If im interested in a program, i click on it to watch a promo or a trailer. I can set an alarm to remind me of the timing of the program and when it starts.

Develop an application that fetches the guide from the internet, it shows whats on now and whats next and the highlights of the day. I can read news from it if i want to. If im interested in a program, i click on it to watch a promo or a trailer. I can set an alarm to remind me of the timing of the program and when it starts.

Written by ianforrester the 28 Oct 08 at 11:12.

Make a Ogg Vorbis stream available

Make a Ogg Vorbis stream available

Written by www.richardsprojects.co.uk the 22 Dec 08 at 19:33.

An online fantasy football game could be greatly enhanced by showing users video footage of the members of their fantasy football team and how they gained or lost points.

This video could be put together in the form of your own personalised Match of the Day programme that was dedicated to your own fantasy team. Groups of friends could also start leagues and the video could show you how all the fantasy teams were doing against each other.

If compiling this video footage into a personalised programme is too ambitious, then there would still be ways of delivering users with separate clips that were relevant to their fantasy team.

This would take BBC football footage and personalise it to users in a new way.

An online fantasy football game could be greatly enhanced by showing users video footage of the members of their fantasy football team and how they gained or lost points. This video could be put together in the form of your own personalised Match of the Day programme that was dedicated to your own fantasy team. Groups of friends could also start leagues and the video could show you how all the fantasy teams were doing against each other. If compiling this video footage into a personalised programme is too ambitious, then there would still be ways of delivering users with separate clips that were relevant to their fantasy team. This would take BBC football footage and personalise it to users in a new way.

Written by emc the 22 Dec 08 at 20:03.

Anyone having installed the BBC Mobile Reporter iPhone app can become a BBC Reporter *creating* content such as highly localised images, audio clips or short texts (less than 160 characters). The iPhone app would be the "feedback channel" to BBC.

Anyone having installed the BBC Mobile Reporter iPhone app can become a BBC Reporter *creating* content such as highly localised images, audio clips or short texts (less than 160 characters). The iPhone app would be the "feedback channel" to BBC.

Written by sgbirch the 15 Jan 09 at 10:54.

Anyone using a web browser on a desktop machine or mobile device would be able to report stories and upload images, audio, or short video clips. The advantage of an HTML approach is that any device could be used.

This solution makes it possible to report news using Linux, Mac, Windows as well as mobile devices such as Android, iPhone, Windows Mobile. The BBC should not create a service which supports devices from only one vendor.

The huge advantage the BBC has over other sites (like digg) is its ability to pull viewer generated content into mainstream news on radio, television or the web.

Anyone using a web browser on a desktop machine or mobile device would be able to report stories and upload images, audio, or short video clips. The advantage of an HTML approach is that any device could be used. This solution makes it possible to report news using Linux, Mac, Windows as well as mobile devices such as Android, iPhone, Windows Mobile. The BBC should not create a service which supports devices from only one vendor. The huge advantage the BBC has over other sites (like digg) is its ability to pull viewer generated content into mainstream news on radio, television or the web.

Written by ianforrester the 20 Feb 09 at 18:20.

Provide geo points permanently on the site using KML files

Provide geo points permanently on the site using KML files

Written by rainashford the 3 Nov 08 at 14:16.

Call for entries is here: http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/news/archives/2008/10/backstage_logo_2.html

The competition is going to be open for a month and our criteria for judging entries is:

A strong, imaginative design which:
· is modern
· embodies the spirit of backstage: geeky, open, fun and cool
· is simple and can be reproduced easily on print/TV/online
· is in CMYK or B/W and should not be more than two block colours
· is in 300dpi print resolution and in 72dpi screen resolution

The deadline for entries is Sunday 30th November and we’re aiming to announce the result by Friday 5th December.

Terms and Conditions are here: http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/news/archives/2005/10/backstage_logo_1.html

Call for entries is here: http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/news/archives/2008/10/backstage_logo_2.html The competition is going to be open for a month and our criteria for judging entries is: A strong, imaginative design which: · is modern · embodies the spirit of backstage: geeky, open, fun and cool · is simple and can be reproduced easily on print/TV/online · is in CMYK or B/W and should not be more than two block colours · is in 300dpi print resolution and in 72dpi screen resolution The deadline for entries is Sunday 30th November and we’re aiming to announce the result by Friday 5th December. Terms and Conditions are here: http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/news/archives/2005/10/backstage_logo_1.html

Written by mittfh the 17 Apr 09 at 19:24.

Yahoo's Pipes facility is a great way to mangle RSS feeds, and with a bit of help from their discussion boards, I produced two pipes covering the observations and forecast for my local area (Coventry - nearest location to where I live).

Interestingly, Twitterfeed seems to rely more heavily on the feed GUID to determine whether what it is looking at is a duplicate of a previous feed entry than the PubDate, even if you ask it to look at the PubDate. So as the GUID for the Observations only changes once a day, and the GUID for the Forecast doesn't contain any date information, I added the utime to the end. Just to be on the safe side with the Forecast, I also extracted the day name (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday etc.) from the title and added that to the GUID, to help Twitterfeed distinguish between the forecasts for each day.

Here's my Pipe for the observations: http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/pipe.info?_id=1d677760b8655e6bab80b62feed2395a

And for the forecast: http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/pipe.info?_id=RHTz4ewi3hGpaqvb3nBDOQ

I currently have the forecast to output to @CovWeather (http://www.twitter.com/CovWeather) once every six hours, and the observations every three hours. Feel free to examine the pipe sources and provide ideas on optimising them etc, or request I clone them to another UK town / city...

Yahoo's Pipes facility is a great way to mangle RSS feeds, and with a bit of help from their discussion boards, I produced two pipes covering the observations and forecast for my local area (Coventry - nearest location to where I live). Interestingly, Twitterfeed seems to rely more heavily on the feed GUID to determine whether what it is looking at is a duplicate of a previous feed entry than the PubDate, even if you ask it to look at the PubDate. So as the GUID for the Observations only changes once a day, and the GUID for the Forecast doesn't contain any date information, I added the utime to the end. Just to be on the safe side with the Forecast, I also extracted the day name (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday etc.) from the title and added that to the GUID, to help Twitterfeed distinguish between the forecasts for each day. Here's my Pipe for the observations: http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/pipe.info?_id=1d677760b8655e6bab80b62feed2395a And for the forecast: http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/pipe.info?_id=RHTz4ewi3hGpaqvb3nBDOQ I currently have the forecast to output to @CovWeather (http://www.twitter.com/CovWeather) once every six hours, and the observations every three hours. Feel free to examine the pipe sources and provide ideas on optimising them etc, or request I clone them to another UK town / city...

Written by Payo the 25 Jun 09 at 12:38.

I understand that contracts with actors, writers and others involved with BBC TV and Radio limit the amount of content that the BBC can release for use by other people at zero cost.

However I wondering if the publicity clause that is included in most artist contracts would be allow you to release short video clips (say 15 seconds from each TV show) and stills for use in projects like wikipedia as well as fan sites and blogs; on the basis that all these all add to the publicity of the show.

Maybe the process for checking the legal documentation in the standard artist contracts/ release forms could be crowd sourced with notes on which clauses and key phrases to look for.

I suspect many people wanting to use such material would be happy to pay a small admin fee for this service (say £10/$20 year).

I understand that contracts with actors, writers and others involved with BBC TV and Radio limit the amount of content that the BBC can release for use by other people at zero cost. However I wondering if the publicity clause that is included in most artist contracts would be allow you to release short video clips (say 15 seconds from each TV show) and stills for use in projects like wikipedia as well as fan sites and blogs; on the basis that all these all add to the publicity of the show. Maybe the process for checking the legal documentation in the standard artist contracts/ release forms could be crowd sourced with notes on which clauses and key phrases to look for. I suspect many people wanting to use such material would be happy to pay a small admin fee for this service (say £10/$20 year).

Written by www.richardsprojects.co.uk the 23 Dec 08 at 12:16.

The results page doesn't need to tell you the results straight away. You could keep some of the tension and excitement by using video to reveal them just as if you were watching the programme live.

Also, if users could login and store their numbers, then these could be displayed and highlighted when they dropped through the machine.

The results page doesn't need to tell you the results straight away. You could keep some of the tension and excitement by using video to reveal them just as if you were watching the programme live. Also, if users could login and store their numbers, then these could be displayed and highlighted when they dropped through the machine.

Written by Twiggy the 6 Jan 09 at 13:42.

A clever bit of code that prioritises whatever media is playing in the active window is and mutes any other pieces of audio currently running, ideally pausing the lower priority media for pick up later on. The code would have to allow online and offline apps and programs to talk to each other so that Youtube could interrupt Windows Media Player and vice versa. It would also have to recognise that programs with incidental sound such as Word or Outlook didn't end up shutting other stuff up when it shouldn't. It would be nice if the muting and unmuting wasn't just a simple on/off effect but a fade instead.

A clever bit of code that prioritises whatever media is playing in the active window is and mutes any other pieces of audio currently running, ideally pausing the lower priority media for pick up later on. The code would have to allow online and offline apps and programs to talk to each other so that Youtube could interrupt Windows Media Player and vice versa. It would also have to recognise that programs with incidental sound such as Word or Outlook didn't end up shutting other stuff up when it shouldn't. It would be nice if the muting and unmuting wasn't just a simple on/off effect but a fade instead.