BBC Builders: Image wizard Crystal Hirschorn
Another key developer making ripples in the BBC tech talent pool is Crystal Hirschorn, senior web developer of BBC Images. Hirschorn moved from the US in 2001 to study computer science and business at Kingston University. After six years working for the National Archives , helping to build the Electronic Records Online and Domesday sites, she joined the BBC as a clientside developer. But her UK move had been in the planning for years; she completed high school in the US a year early because she was so keen to move. • What are you working on? I am a senior web developer on the BBC Images project which sits within the technology enabling and frameworks section of the BBC (we provide the bits of tech and templates that makes other bits of tech work together). The aim of the project is to provide reusable, easy to integrate web applications templates to best showcase and find attractive images from our programmes. These applications can be embedded on almost any BBC web page and in the long-term we're aiming to enable them to be embeddable on any website, anywhere. One of our most recent projects was for the new series of Doctor Who . The Doctor Who team were keen to show off images of their new monsters, such as the amazing new daleks, so I built a application template which allows audiences to easily find and view them. The new Doctor Who website has 360 degree views of the new Tardis and special videos of the new monsters in action
Excerpt from:
BBC Builders: Image wizard Crystal Hirschorn
Liz Bonnin: ‘I’m still a nerd, just a different type of a nerd’
The master's degree-wielding BBC presenter Liz Bonnin is so nerdy that she prefers a PC to a Mac What's your favourite piece of technology, and how has it improved your life? I don't use that many, but I do love my iPod – and I have the old school 20GB version, with the wheel. It works beautifully. I have everything on it, and I just think it's my favourite piece of kit. It's just a genius invention. When was the last time you used it, and what for? It was actually yesterday – I downloaded the Il Postino soundtrack because a friend of mine was telling me about the Chilean poet it was based on. I bought Rhianna's Rude Boy as well – just the single, not the album – on iTunes. What additional features would you add if you could? I think if this one ever does break down, I will get the updated version that you can get video on as well. But I'm the kind of person who doesn't get carried away with one piece of kit that does everything. Do you think it will be obsolete in 10 years' time? No, I can't imagine how you can beat something like this for having your whole music collection on
Original post:
Liz Bonnin: 'I'm still a nerd, just a different type of a nerd'
From the archive: Macintosh launched by Apple
Originally published on 25 January 1984 Apple Computer, the firm that gave Silicon Valley its style, was converted to Madison Avenue values at a stroke yesterday for the simultaneous launch on both sides of the Atlantic of the computer that will fight its battle with IBM. With all the showbiz of a car launch, including the lights, dry ice, and a revolving stage, Macintosh ("the biggest advance in the office since the telephone and the calculator") was launched in both New York and London as the first stage in Apple's bid to revitalise the company after the comparative failure of its Lisa computer and in the face of burgeoning sales for the IBM personal computer. Based on the advanced 32-bit architecture developed for Lisa, Macintosh is built round a powerful Motorola 68000 microprocessor with 128K of RAM and a 512K version due later this year. It has a built-in nine-inch screen, weighs only 171b (77kg) and will fit into a canvas bag the size of an average ruck-sack, with a price in the region of $3,100. Apart from its power, the secret of the Macintosh's potential is its ease of use, based on the Xerox concept of the "mouse". The mouse, a device centred on a ball bearing which fits neatly in the palm of the hand, is wheeled round the desktop acting as a cursor between labels or "icons" displayed on the screen which do away with complicated instructions to the machine. It makes the Macintosh very easy to use, particularly in its graphics program. Geoff Andrews Tax aid sought for satellite TV launch The chairman of the BBC, Mr Stuart Young, called yesterday for government action to get DBS, the proposed direct-to-home satellite television system, off the ground. Mr Young, a City accountant said that there would be no market for DBS unless British television set manufacturers were given financial incentives. Further talks took place yesterday. Mr Young refused to give details about the BBC's bargaining position but implied that the Government's plan of giving two channels to the BBC and two to the IBA had been discounted. "There could be two or three DBS channels, but four would not be viable," he said. There would have to be a non-competitive market until enough homes had DBS receivers, and this would depend on price. At present, the BBC estimates that a DBS kit would cost £500 on top of the price of the television set, and this would push rental costs too high. "It's got to cost less than £20 per month for the subscriber. So the cost of the set rental must be even lower," said Mr Young. Peter Fiddick Apple Computing BBC Television industry guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Read more from the original source:
From the archive: Macintosh launched by Apple