I sent an offical complaint through the BBC's internal complaints and got this reply within a couple of days. I asked about the closure and the BBC's continuing lack of sci-fi and fantasy based tv as well as expressing my disbelief that they aren't following up Doctor Who with more similar content, instead removing the section of the site that deals with most of the BBC's "cult" output that isn't Doctor Who.
My Reply
Thank you for your e-mail.
We recognise that the Cult website has attracted a large following. However, efficiency savings are needed to pay for new projects which will ensure that the BBC continues to offer distinctive and innovative services, so it is necessary to close this site.
As Ashley Highfield, Director of New Media, explained in December "...to meet the 10% target set out by the BBC Governors, we are announcing today a further 7.5% reduction to be achieved through lowering investment in areas where we feel this will not cause a reduction in public value...These changes build on the first steps we took in July to close those websites which we felt did not offer sufficient distinctive public value for the investment required. The savings we made in July represented 2.5% of our web output."
Furthermore, the BBC outlined in November its commitment to offer more distinctive content. We felt that many areas covered by the Cult site were already being replicated on other areas of the web. This meant there was very little distinction between the BBC and the commercial sector.
The exception to this is Dr Who, the largest of our Cult sites, which has now evolved into its own website, as an extension of the hugely successful BBC ONE TV series. We hope users will continue to visit and enjoy this site.
Regards
Sophie Walpole - Head of iD&E
And
Chris Chalton - Communications Manager, MC&A
I like the idea that my browser (Firefox) may crash upon finding bad code that could be used to infiltrate my system. This is just another call for web monkeys to write standard html with the browsers to only parsing to said standards, therefore assigning things brought up by this study to history.
This also could be part of the intergration that Microsoft keeps harping on about. The error checking on the html is so good that it can only come from inside the OS*.
* Apologies if this is wrong, I know nothing about OS and Browser coding, and is based on wild speculation only
Well considering NME is owned, a few companies up, the ladder by Time Warner and that Q Magazine & Kerrang! are owned by EMAP, who also own pratically all the major non-MTV TV music channels and commercial radio stations, I wouldn't be suprised with what they say at all.
Brilliant, put africa and south america through an industrial revolution and watch the co2 jump again just like the last one in the 1800s. They will still cut down forests because it's their natural resource.
At least Kyoto is there (178 member countries and counting), doing something about it. If the U.S. doesn't like it, is there anything stopping them doing a different version that they feel is right and leading the world that way, instead of just dismissing Kyoto and looking like they don't care whatever happens.
I remember a section of the story from William Gibson's "Idoru" where one of the main characters has a retro styled computer made by "Harley Davidson". Ever since reading that book I have been waiting for a company to start designing electronics that doesn't look like another piece of hardware. Considering how much I use my MP3 player and digital camera, you would think more companies would have a range of styles. Basically I want "retro styling" to be a step towards be getting my mp3 player to look like my watch.
Probably because he is one of those MTV generation who get their directing knowledge from music videos.
He works for Hammer and Tongs, who produce very innovating videos espically "Coffee and TV" for Blur and "Demons" for Fatboy Slim. The company as a whole does Badly Drawn Boy's videos, all of which are the right style and humour for a HHGTTG film.
Slashdot Mirror
I sent an offical complaint through the BBC's internal complaints and got this reply within a couple of days. I asked about the closure and the BBC's continuing lack of sci-fi and fantasy based tv as well as expressing my disbelief that they aren't following up Doctor Who with more similar content, instead removing the section of the site that deals with most of the BBC's "cult" output that isn't Doctor Who. My Reply Thank you for your e-mail.
We recognise that the Cult website has attracted a large following. However, efficiency savings are needed to pay for new projects which will ensure that the BBC continues to offer distinctive and innovative services, so it is necessary to close this site.
As Ashley Highfield, Director of New Media, explained in December "...to meet the 10% target set out by the BBC Governors, we are announcing today a further 7.5% reduction to be achieved through lowering investment in areas where we feel this will not cause a reduction in public value...These changes build on the first steps we took in July to close those websites which we felt did not offer sufficient distinctive public value for the investment required. The savings we made in July represented 2.5% of our web output."
Furthermore, the BBC outlined in November its commitment to offer more distinctive content. We felt that many areas covered by the Cult site were already being replicated on other areas of the web. This meant there was very little distinction between the BBC and the commercial sector.
The exception to this is Dr Who, the largest of our Cult sites, which has now evolved into its own website, as an extension of the hugely successful BBC ONE TV series. We hope users will continue to visit and enjoy this site.
Regards
Sophie Walpole - Head of iD&E
And
Chris Chalton - Communications Manager, MC&A
I like the idea that my browser (Firefox) may crash upon finding bad code that could be used to infiltrate my system. This is just another call for web monkeys to write standard html with the browsers to only parsing to said standards, therefore assigning things brought up by this study to history.
This also could be part of the intergration that Microsoft keeps harping on about. The error checking on the html is so good that it can only come from inside the OS*.
* Apologies if this is wrong, I know nothing about OS and Browser coding, and is based on wild speculation only
Well considering NME is owned, a few companies up, the ladder by Time Warner and that Q Magazine & Kerrang! are owned by EMAP, who also own pratically all the major non-MTV TV music channels and commercial radio stations, I wouldn't be suprised with what they say at all.
Brilliant, put africa and south america through an industrial revolution and watch the co2 jump again just like the last one in the 1800s. They will still cut down forests because it's their natural resource.
At least Kyoto is there (178 member countries and counting), doing something about it. If the U.S. doesn't like it, is there anything stopping them doing a different version that they feel is right and leading the world that way, instead of just dismissing Kyoto and looking like they don't care whatever happens.
I remember a section of the story from William Gibson's "Idoru" where one of the main characters has a retro styled computer made by "Harley Davidson". Ever since reading that book I have been waiting for a company to start designing electronics that doesn't look like another piece of hardware. Considering how much I use my MP3 player and digital camera, you would think more companies would have a range of styles. Basically I want "retro styling" to be a step towards be getting my mp3 player to look like my watch.
Probably because he is one of those MTV generation who get their directing knowledge from music videos.
He works for Hammer and Tongs, who produce very innovating videos espically "Coffee and TV" for Blur and "Demons" for Fatboy Slim. The company as a whole does Badly Drawn Boy's videos, all of which are the right style and humour for a HHGTTG film.
The company Hammer and Tongs