CRISTIANO RONALDO
That boy is simply awesome
FRIDAY NIGHT PROJECT
Justin and Alan - probably better than Ant and Dec
THE EDEN SESSIONS
The Verve and entry for £40, bargain
FORMULA 1
Coming back to the BBC at last
JOSS STONE
We don’t want a f*cking Flake
DELIA SMITH
Honestly, enough is enough
THE INDEPENDENT
Thursday’s front page story: Spring is here. Slow news day anyone?
HEATHER MILLS
Gutted for you, no really…
In recent years Adobe’s Photoshop has achieved that unique status of becoming a generic name, in this case for anything that involves ‘touching up’ a picture (it’s hard to write that without imagining Russell Brand saying it and making some dirty connotation).
Anyways, generally in life now if we see an image of, for instance, a model that looks like it has been digitally altered, we often claimed it to be ‘Photoshopped’. Much like the Hoover, Walkman, Jacuzzi and other brand names (nothing to do with Russell) that have achieved this status over the years, Adobe must be pleased. Of course, though, with such mass cultural appeal you do get some truly awful examples of Photoshop being used in all manner of awful and unnecessary ways.
On that theme, here’s a funny site (via) that shows some of the best Photoshop mistakes. Well worth a look.
After a 12 year gap, the BBC today announced it has won the rights to show Formula 1 from 2009 as part of a five year deal.
The most interesting thing to come out so far is that it appears F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone made the decision himself to terminate ITV’s contract only three years into its deal. This will no doubt come as a huge blow to the commercial station who have just invested a great deal of money to bring live F1 content to its website.
As for the fans, there is bound to be mixed reaction. While the BBC is often cited as being the better broadcaster of sporting events, let’s not forget when it last had to rights to F1 back in 1996, the coverage was far less than adequate. In the following years ITV has brought the sport a long way on our screens and there is much that will be missed.
Many will certainly hope Martin Brundle will be retained as a co-commentator, and hopefully his famous pit walks will continue. The jury is still out for many on James Allen though, but over the years he has slowly turned into one of the finest in the business. But it is also the little things that make ITV’s coverage so good, that the BBC will have to replicate to satisfy the fans.
Is it easy to overlook just how good ITV’s pre-race build up is, with detailed qualifying analysis, track and driver information and many interesting features, usually as a result of fans’ questions. Let’s also not forget they have quietly, but impressively managed to score exclusive content with Lewis Hamilton on numerous occasions over the last year, including candid interviews with Steve Ryder at every race weekend.
For all of ITV’s qualities though, it is its progression in the technology stakes that has been lacking. Living in the truly digital age as we do it has been disappointing that it haven’t made use of any interactive features in its coverage. Indeed only this year have they provided any sort of output online. And it isn’t because the technology isn’t there. Back in 2002 Ecclestone debuted the F1 Digital+ channel which allowed in-race interaction which included various camera angles or statistics to be displayed on screen at your choosing.
Judging on Ecclestone’s comments so far it would seem he hopes the move to the BBC will provide a platform for this kind of leap forward in technology, making F1 a truly unique viewing platform. For ITV though you can’t feel a bit sorry - as Brundle would say, they’ve put in a ’stellar’ performance, but maybe they’ve just run out of fuel on the last lap.
