I’ve renamed this blog from Right Brain to Notes. It’s usually my immediate thoughts on a story rather than something substantially creative so the new title feels more honest.
Author Archives: barstep
York Mystery Plays’ return to Museum Gardens welcomed (From York Press)
YORK Mystery Plays??? return to its home in the Museum Gardens has been welcomed by the cast and crew who have helped bring the event back to York???s events calendar.Jonathan Brown, general manager of Riding Lights Theatre Company, said: ???People have really fond memories of the plays being here. It has a fabulous outdoor setting, with a festival atmosphere. It just feels good.???
Really excited about Riding Lights Theatre Company being involved in the York Mystery Plays.
Ten years since the North Yorkshire Floods of 2000
Ten years since the BBC Radio York team served the county of North Yorkshire during the worst floods in living memory and in some areas, since records began.
Staff worked a 24 hour shift system and we broadcast live throughout a seven day period. People came to rely on our service, listening to the updates in remote places cut off from the outside world by the rising waters.
At times I became part of the county’s emergency response team – invited in to briefings at Silver Command at Fulford Road Police Station in York. A fine line had to be drawn between our public service and our impartiality – one I think I stood astride with integrity.
The following spring BBC Radio York was honoured with a Radio Academy Gold Award for Community Service. One of the memorable proud moments of my broadcasting career – possible only because of the great team I worked with at the studios in Bootham Row.
Improved Wi-Fi is Hi-Pri on East Coast Trains
New and improved Wi-Fi service
Wireless internet that???s quicker, better quality, and more reliable ??? that???s what you asked for, and that???s what we???re pleased to deliver. From Monday 4 October 2010, you will experience the benefits of a new and improved Wi-Fi system on board all East Coast trains.
The updated system uses the latest HSPA and 3G technology so you will enjoy a more reliable Wi-Fi connection with faster upload and download speeds while you travel. Aerials and modems have also been updated, ensuring the system is compatible with future communication standards.
All Standard Class passengers are entitled to 15 minutes free access to the improved Wi-Fi system. Thereafter, access will be charged at ??4.95 for 60 minutes or ??9.95 for 24 hours. First Class passengers can still access the service free of charge.
O and by the way – it’s no longer free like it used to be. I would have to be a lot better to justify the cost to me.
Is this comedy – or a fatal mistake?
Do I remove the 10:10 Tags from my keyring? The campaign seems to have seriously misjudged the public reaction to this “comedy short” written by Richard Curtis.
Or have they created the kind of buzz that will make us think more about the impact of global warming?
My initial reaction is – FAIL
10:10 have removed the film from their website with a light hearted “Ooops” apology, but it’s all over YouTube and the denialists are having a field day in the comments columns.
What do you think?
Cyclists??? satnav app launched on the iPhone | Bikehub | http://www.bikehub.co.uk
Now this is worth having – and it’s free. If you have an iPhone and a bike then download it and discover new routes.
Britain from the Air
An exhibition of these large scale pictures of Britain from the Air is about to open in Bath but a small sample of images is online. They’re promising an interactive map with scaled down versions of all the images soon.
I’m ‘Not Ashamed’ either – but I won’t be wearing the badge | Ekklesia
The ???Not Ashamed??? campaign fails to promote the breadth and depth of Christian engagement in public life and thus does a disservice to the cause it claims to champion.
Like so many other initiatives, it gives the impression that British Christians are a paranoid group concerned only with their own interests and clinging desperately onto privileges which compromise their integrity.
And that really is something to be ashamed of.
I am inclined to agree (I suppose that means I do agree) with this comment from Simon Hill in his Ekklesia blog. What do you think?
Awareness! The Headphone App aims to keep users safe from harm – iPod/iPhone – Macworld UK
Currently featured as part of the Apple iTunes App Store ‘New & Noteworthy’ choice selection, Awareness! The Headphone App from UK firm essency aims to let users listen to music and the outside world at the same time.
Highlighting ‘iPod zombies,’ Edmund King, the president of the AA, recently called for the Department for Transport to launch a campaign warning cyclists of the risks of being lost in music. “They [iPods] are meant to be mobile, but if you are cycling, you need all your senses about you,” the AA president said.
http://www.misco.co.uk/applications/factfinder/search.asp?querytext=bufffalo LINKSTATION PRO” target=”_blank” />
The latest Department for Transport (DfT) figures show that 820 cyclists were killed or seriously injured in the three months to June of last year, a 19 per cent rise on the same period in 2008.
The Awareness! application promises to help rectify the problem, allowing users to listen to music at whatever volume they choose but, importantly, to remain fully aware in situations where they need to be safe. As well as cycling and jogging, examples could include when travelling late at night or when needing to listen out for important announcements or hear conversations.
Accessing the iPhone, iPod touch or headset microphones, Awareness! allows the user to set precisely the amount and type of external sound they want delivered into their headphone mix.
Offered fully auto or fully manual, users can bleed in some audio spatial awareness, while an auto-set microphone trigger level allows warnings to break through even the loudest music insists essency. You can also turn Awareness! off at any time.
The latest 1.1 update adds improved functionality and has implemented user requested features.
Essency co-founders Alex and Antony share a passion for technology and music making that spans over 25 years. With a background in the fields of music, sound engineering and computing, the duo plan a trio of applications lined up for the iPhone and iPod touch, which they believe could change headphones forever.
Available from the Apple iTunes App Store, Awareness! The Headphone App costs ??2.99 and requires the iOS 4.1 Software Update or later.
The makers add, Awareness! also requires the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPod touch 3 generation – with headset, iPod touch 4 generation. The application will be iPad compatible when Apple release the iOS 4.2 update in November.
Awareness! will not work on the iPhone 3G or on wireless or Bluetooth headsets.
An Awareness! can be seen here and below.
A campaign group Youth for Road Safety, has recently launched a new campaign, ‘Tune into Traffic’ under the slogan ‘Your earphones could kill you’.
Manpreet Darroch, campaign director told the Daily Mail: “It???s a serious problem which is only going to get worse as the number of cyclists increases – lots of people are completely oblivious to what???s going on around them.”
“People don???t realise how dangerous listening to music is on the roads – whether pedestrian or cyclist. It takes one of your key senses away. People shouldn???t do it.”
“You can legislate until you are blue in the face. On the issue of iPods we just need to raise awareness.”
Useful? I think it could be.
You can’t even give them away
It doesnt seem long ago that I was sitting in a technical seminar on the benefits of the latest video recording format from JVC – VHS. Soon afterwards the format wad adopted by the film industry as the defacto standard for video distribution. We all went out and joined video rental shops – and paid a subscription for the privilege. If we were very fortunate some kind soul would give us a VHS of our favourite film as a birthday or Christmas present. Today I spotted this notice in the window if a local charity shop. The humble VHS is a dead duck. You can’t even give them away confirming my decision to mothball my VHS recorders and discard all but my most treasured tapes to the skip earlier this year. How long before the DVD follows them?




