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Full-text feeds on BBC blogs

It's great to see the long-awaited improvement to the BBC's blog infrastructure coming fully on-stream. I'm hearing reports of long, long hours being worked this week; and the inevitable post-launch debugging work continues. The Beeb's Jem Stone describes the full horror, and scores extra points for an obscure Guns N Roses reference. But I've spotted one [...] read on »

BBC News site: too wide, too tabular

I've given it a fair crack over an extended period, but I've reached my conclusion: I just don't like the redesigned BBC News site. In 'standard' conditions, a desktop PC running at 1024x768, it's clearly an improvement: brighter, more airy, less cramped. But away from the norm, they've broken the golden rule of any revamp: [...] read on »

Highfield quits BBC

I'm sure other people will have much better insight than I into the departure of Ashley Highfield from his £359,000/year job at the BBC. Of course, he's moving to a not-unrelated position, heading up Project Kangaroo, the video-on-demand joint-venture between the BBC, ITV and Channel Four. The success of iPlayer version 2 may or may [...] read on »

Is that all there is, BBC?

There's a new look to the BBC News website. They've been working on it 'for the past few months'. So there's clearly more to it than just making everything a little bigger - font sizes, white spaces, etc. Isn't there? The trouble is... the screenshot currently showing on the BBC Internet Blog homepage shows the old [...] read on »

BBC finally embedding video

Steve Herrman, writing on the BBC's Editors blog, is absolutely right: the move to video embedded on the page is 'quite a significant moment' for the Beeb's website. Except that, judging by the first visible example, it's got issues. It's either failing to buffer, or returning an error message. As explained in more detail on the [...] read on »

Civil Serf: Simon’s video for BBC

I got an email from the team behind BBC News 24's Your News show during the week, asking if I'd record a contribution as part of a piece they're planning about - guess what - Civil Serf. So here it is, as a Puffbox first-play exclusive. Nothing you probably don't know already, but hey - a [...] read on »

Civil service blogging guidelines

I guess you might see it as kneejerk; I prefer to see it as responsive. The Civil Serf affair has brought the matter of civil servants blogging to a head, and now is absolutely the right time to work out the ground rules. At lunchtime, Tom Watson publishes a 'for starters' list of bullet points on [...] read on »

Commons flame war

I draw your attention to Early Day Motion no 1037, lodged yesterday by Peter Kilfoyle MP and signed by more than 50 MP colleagues: at the current count, 51 Labour and 1 LibDem (Lembit, before you ask). That this House deplores the innuendo of the blog of Nick Robinson, the BBC's lobby correspondent; calls upon him [...] read on »

BBC internet chief promises to learn web

Nick Reynolds is the 'editor' of the BBC internet blog. I must admit, I was glad to see he'd written a post to explain what the 'editor' of the blog did, since it almost seems like a contradiction in terms. Nick says: 'The man who persuades important people in BBC Future Media and Technology to write [...] read on »

HMRC website crisis

Prepare yourself for the next 'IT incompetence' story: HMRC's online self-assessment website has gone down, on the day people must file their tax returns, or face a fine. Based on last year's numbers, it's going to affect thousands of people. The BBC's story has a bit more. read on »