BBC BLOGS - Backstage.bbc.co.uk blog

Archives for January 2005

In-Pix (BBC News picture gallery viewer)

Post categories:

|13:40 UK time, Friday, 28 January 2005

Comments

[Made by BBC Staff]

This was done by parsing the the BBC News RSS feed for the 'In Pictures' section. Then the actual gallery page is 'scraped' for the block of html which controls the Javascript, and this is then turned into another XML file (well-formed html!) which feeds the Flash slideshow here.

To start, just click on one of the titles and the slideshows will loop from there.

BBC News and Sport printable digest

Post categories:

|13:25 UK time, Friday, 28 January 2005

Comments

[Made by BBC Staff]

Being the bling bling kinda guy I am, I've got the fancy laptop and I've got the online PDA/Smartphone combo device. I love reading BBC News on both.

But being the slave drivers the BBC are, I find myself travelling home late at night on the tube. There's scary people on there man, people who want to steal "my precious".

So, I decided I wanted to make a script that would produce a printable digest of all of today's news. If someone wants to theive a few pages of A4 from me, they're welcome to it.

I produced BBC News and Sport digest to do this. Yeah, I even included BBC Sport despite the fact I don't use it much (just to keep Chris R and Ben G happy!).

Have a go, let me know what you think.

(Yes, I do know that requesting "-1" number of stories breaks it! What were you expecting??!??)

backstage.bbc.co.uk discussion list

Post categories:

|12:58 UK time, Friday, 28 January 2005

[email protected] is a discussion list for anyone keen to build interesting new prototypes or proofs of concept with BBC content.

Membership of the list is open to anyone who is keen to innovate using bbc.co.uk content - whether they work for the BBC or not. It's a proper discussion list, as in you can post as well as read. [Gentle Plea: please be gentle with the BBC staff on the list - they suffer enough already.]

The list's House Rules are simple: Be Nice To Each Other and Don't Break The Law. If you are rude or spam the list then you'll be taken off.

Finally, remember that the noise is the signal. You can't post too much. Deploy filters.

Subscribe and Unsubscribe


Please enter your email address below:



BBC Privacy Policy

You'll then get an email asking you to confirm your subscription, after which we will approve your membership.

New backstage developer list

We now have a brand new list that is totally devoted to technical developer questions and answers - no wide ranging discussions about DRM and the like, just pure tech development talk straight from the community.

For the moment you need to interact with it via email, but the new site will enable you to subscribe and un-subscribe via a GUI – similar to the main list now.

The new list is called backstage-developer you subscribe by sending an email to

[email protected]

With either (in the body of the message, leave the subject blank)

subscribe backstage-developer [your email]

Or

unsubscribe backstage-developer [your email]

It works in exactly the same way as the main backstage list but we’re going to take a much firmer view on what is discussed there – the developer list will be completely developer focused, and by that I mean messages along the lines of ‘Where’s the Weather API stuff?’ or ‘I’ve just built X give it a go’.

As I’m sure you all know majordomo is a little, well, old, and set in its ways – when you send your email send it in plain text only and avoid using any sig lines.

Once you’ve sent your mail you’ll get a confirmation email back from with a link to confirm that you wish to join. (you may want to check your spam folders for this email).

Submit Your Idea

Post categories:

|12:00 UK time, Friday, 28 January 2005

(Got a Prototype instead?)

If you've got a great idea about how you might re-use BBC content in new and interesting ways, why not share it with the world using the form below?

If you have designed anything to describe your your idea then please include the url of where the design sits. Should you want to find someone to help you build the idea why not try asking on the discussion list?

We ask for your email so we can contact you easily is we have any questions regarding your idea. We will not publish your email address or use it for any other purpose.

NB: The BBC's Commissioning Site has fuller detail about the overall BBC TV/Radio/Web and Interactive TV commissioning process, details of strategy and names of who best to contact. The bbc.co.uk commissioning page is here.

Submit Your Idea


(Tell us as much as possible about your idea, plus what you'd do to improve it if only you had the time/money.)

I agree to the terms and conditions + BBC privacy policy and have added the "supported by backstage.bbc.co.uk" attribution to any work I have produced to support my idea.










Submit Your Prototype

Post categories:

|12:30 UK time, Tuesday, 25 January 2005

(Got an Idea instead?)

If you've built a prototype using bbc.co.uk feeds, please use the form below tell everyone more about it, including where it lives on the Internet.

Some words explaining how & why you've built what you've built, plus what you might do next if only you had the time or resources would also be nice.

We ask for your email so we can contact you easily if we have any questions regarding your work - so make sure you use a valid email address. We will not publish your email address or use it for any other purpose.

Submit Your Prototype







(Tell us why and how you have built what you have built, plus what you'd do to improve it if only you had the time/money.)

I agree to the terms and conditions + BBC privacy policy and have added a text link where the prototype is being hosted back to BBC Backstage: "supported by backstage.bbc.co.uk".









Terms of Use

Post categories:

|14:53 UK time, Thursday, 20 January 2005

1. Access to and use of the BBC content made available on BBC Backstage (backstage.bbc.co.uk) is subject to these Terms of Use, the BBC Privacy Policy, the RSS Licence (if you use RSS feeds) and/or API Licence (if you use the APIs) as appropriate.

2. Whilst there is no substitute for reading the RSS Licence and API Licence here is a brief summary of what the Licences say:

You may:

  • Use the APIs or RSS feeds ('BBC Content') for your own personal and non-commercial use

  • Share your prototype or idea with anyone

You must:

  • Include the following attribution that you use content from BBC Backstage: "supported by backstage.bbc.co.uk"

You must not:
Charge users for accessing your work that contains or uses BBC Content

  • Sell applications that use or incorporate BBC Content

  • Re-edit or re-contextualise BBC Content in any way that is illegal, is or is likely to bring the BBC into disrepute or is otherwise inappropriate

3. If you have any questions about use of Backstage, take a look at the Backstage FAQs to see if your question has already been answered.

4. If you are under 16:

  • Please get a parent’s or guardian’s permission before taking part in BBC Backstage.

  • Never reveal any personal information about yourself or anyone else (for example, telephone number, home address or email address).

5. The BBC may edit, amend or change the BBC Content that appears on the backstage.bbc.co.uk site at any time at its discretion. The BBC also reserves the right to modify or discontinue the backstage.bbc.co.uk site at any time.

6 The BBC may alter these Terms of Use at any time by posting changes online. Please review these Terms of Use regularly to ensure that you are aware of any recent changes made by the BBC. Your continued use of Backstage after changes are posted shall indicate your agreement to adhere to and be bound by the Terms of Use, the Backstage Privacy Policy (including the RSS Licence and/or API Licence as appropriate) as amended or updated from time to time.

Contact Us

Post categories:

|14:51 UK time, Thursday, 20 January 2005

Please read the Frequently Asked Questions [FAQ] if you have a query it's likely that others will have the same query and we will have answered it there.

If you want to contact the backstage.bbc.co.uk 'community' then please join the email discussion list and post your query there.

If you still need to contact the team then email us at [email protected] and we'll get back to you as quickly as we can.

More about BBC Backstage

Post categories:

|14:50 UK time, Thursday, 20 January 2005

backstage.bbc.co.uk is a pilot for open innovation, and was announced in the BBC's response to the Graf Review of BBC Online:

"The BBC will support social innovation by encouraging users' efforts to build sites and projects that meet their needs and those of their communities ... The BBC will also be committed to using open standards that will enable users to find and repurpose BBC content in more flexible ways" Page 9, BBC's response to the Graf Report, November 2004 (PDF 183kb).

backstage.bbc.co.uk attempts to encourage and support those who have provided most of the innovation on the internet - the passionate, highly-skilled & public-spirited developers and designers many of whom volunteer their time and effort.

In the past the BBC has not always encouraged such "amateur innovators", however public-spirited their intentions and products. backstage.bbc.co.uk aims to foster a newly constructive and open dialogue with the wider development community using BBC content and tools to deliver public value.

backstage.bbc.co.uk will provide data, resources and support for users who wish to build prototypes and proofs of concepts using BBC material. We will encourage people both inside and outside the BBC to share knowledge, ideas & prototypes with each other.

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