cityofsound

Learning govt; Interactivity at opendemocracy

LEARNING GOVERNMENT
GEOFF MULGAN, head of Tony Blair's Strategy Unit, describes how Whitehall's bureaucracy has learnt to learn from international examples
http://www.opendemocracy.net/debates/article-3-52-1280.jsp

A NEW WAY FOR GOVERNMENT?
openDemocracy editor, ANTHONY BARNETT, on why Mulgan's piece is more radical than it may appear
http://www.opendemocracy.net/debates/article-3-52-1285.jsp

YOUR TV IS NOT WATCHING YOU
David Burke's notion of interactivity as a threat to freedom and democracy is paranoid and misplaced argues ANDY MAYER
http://www.opendemocracy.net/debates/article-8-41-1286.jsp

Underground philosophy

Coming back from five-a-side football in Kennington last night, ran into this random philosophy on the Northern Line:

Underground hiphop game

Hot on the heels of GTA Vice City raising the bar in terms of music/sound in games:

"Ice Cube and other top West Coast hip hop artists are currently set to write and perform tracks for the True Crime: Streets of L.A. soundtrack when this upcoming title is released later this year .... True Crime: Streets of L.A. is the deepest combination of shooting, fighting & driving ever burned into one game. It puts the player in the shoes of Nick Kang, a rogue ex-cop whose personal vendetta with the L.A. underground nets him as many enemies with the "Force" as with the syndicates he's sworn to destroy ... Not only does the game have the backing of top West Coast hip hop artists, but also lending their voices to the game is an impressive all-star Hollywood line up including Christopher Walken, Gary Oldman and Michael Madsen."

True Crime: Streets of L.A. (September; PS2, Gamecube & Xbox consoles)

London only: Late night tube petition

"Support the official campaign to keep the London Underground open until 3am at weekends... "
http://www.londonbylondon.co.uk/latetube/

Kids use TV as background noise as "previous generations used radio"

"Some were amazed that turning off the television might be a consideration." From BSC research into kids and TV - implications for radio here? Do they really mean "background noise" in abstract sense or aural sense? Would TV without pictures still qualify as "background noise" or is it visual background noise?

MediaGuardian: Children who 'can't live without' constant TV

Classical music metadata

Brendan Quinn and Margaret Hanley (learned BBC colleagues, both) point me to an interesting discussion around classical music metadata, or rather the lack of it, in iTunes etc., over at the TidBITS Talk list.

As a classical music listener, of a kind, and a heavy-duty iTunes user, I've long struggled with this. iTunes4 did begin to add 'composer' tags etc., but I'm then forced to put lots of other info in to the 'comments' box (conductor, soloist etc.). The track names vary massively - I don't have a consistent format (that I can remember, anyway) for marking out movements, suites etc.

We built a separate interface to our classical artist/album database at BBCi Music, based around Amazon's existing design pattern (and the advice our 'classical experts' at BBCi Music) here (please ignore the visual design; needs a facelift). Check the advanced album search.

This doesn't even touch things like 'movement', which the TidBits discussion refers to. It's a fiendishly complex area.

Bricks and mortar at the BBC

New exhibition on the BBC's "new approach to architecture" at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), 66 Portland Place, London W1, a few minutes walk north of Broadcasting House. Called Building the BBC: A Return to Form, the exhibition looks at the highs and lows of the BBC's architectural history as well as the current building programme ... Should be very interesting, given the new Broadcasting House project (going on around me as I write!) and new buildings at White City etc.

From the Beeb's intranet:

"The exhibition, which runs at Riba until June 28 before moving on around the country, is accompanied by a new book by architecture writer Nicola Jackson. 'I think that the book and the exhibition will make BBC employees really proud of the fact that their organisation is showing a real understanding of where architecture is at the moment,' says Jackson. 'The BBC is showing that it is possible to commission really thoughtful, efficient and friendly architecture without it costing the earth."

Radio 3's flagship arts programme, Night Waves, will also be broadcasting a debate on the value of architecture on June 12, marking the beginning of the network's year-long focus on the theme. Hurrah!

I'm off up the road right now ...

Some convoluted pun about waiters and tipping points

We're poised on a glorious precipice right now, with regards to wireless access in cafés and public places ... where the staff have no idea what these invisible, information-breathing clouds suddenly situated around their workplaces actually do, or even that they really exist in any meaningful way cf. previous experience at Benugo.

Today's discovery is that there is a free wifi point in and around Bagelmania on Goodge St, London W1. I realise I'm doing what gourmands never do - reveal their favourite restaurants for fear of overpopulising, however ... Upon seeing a sticker for "wireless internet access £1", I enquired within. The mystified bagelier in the shop knew nothing about wifi, pointing at a PC in the corner as "their only computer". However, upon leaving the shop I checked my powerbook, getting a nice clear signal from ReadyToSurf; went back in, bageled-up and sat down for some free unlimited wifi action.

Lovely.

Apple music store ongoing success; unbundling

3.5m tracks sold in 6 weeks, from less than 5 per cent of the internet population (though I'm sure Macs make up more than 5 per cent of internet users). Not bad. Also unbundling (notion of 'the album' being eroded in favour of cherry-picking tracks) doesn't seem to be happening. I suspect unbundling may go on after purchase actually i.e. user obtains album (by fair means or foul), then edits tracks down over time to a set they really like. So the album is eventually eroded - but not before living with the whole thing at some point. That's probably good news for music execs and artists - and in essence of course mirrors what people have being doing since the dawn of phonography - skipping tracks, either with needle, skip button, or compilation tape. Different payment models may emerge (loaning the album, buying a license, accruing payment per play of a track etc.) but the basic notion of obtaining a bundle of tracks in one go (aka the album) and then editing down over time will not disappear overnight.

BBC News: Confidential Apple music details leaked

In which Tom discovers Radio 4

"I know that everyone else in the UK is going to look at me funny and point out that I should have been paying more attention several months ago."

Tom, I'm looking at you funny and pointing out you should have been paying more attention several months ago ;)

There's loads we (BBC Radio and Music Interactive, where I'm the Technology and Design Manager) aim to do with this kind of content, as we ramp up our audio on demand service, think about new platforms/distribution methods, redesign the BBCi Radio Player. I will get round to opening a discussion around the redesign of our audio on demand services here shortly, such that you have a chance to directly affect the design process of these products ...

Plasticbag: In love with Radio 4