"The last hidden world... China."

An audacious opening line to the series, which epitomises the mystery that still surrounds China in much of the rest of the world. Having spent a long time with borders closed, China is still something 'unknown', which in part leads to some of the ignorance in foreign minds and media. Anyway...

This was a visual feast, and a real showcase for the great range of wondrous scenery China holds. This episode focused on South China (not much then!), from the trademark hills of Guilin to the reflective patchwork of Yunnan's water-filled paddy fields. And not forgetting the awe-inspiring pinnacles of Zhangjiajie (pictured above).

It's unusual to see a programme so well made, examining the Chinese landscape so closely - the slow-motion night-time shots of bats catching fish a particularly being fine example. This is a perfect example of CCTV and BBC working for mutual benefit, and the kind of coverage that should be coming out as the Olympics draw attention to China.

For anyone with access to the BBC iPlayer, you have 6 days to catch this episode, alternatively check out highlights.

- Logoease : Générateur de logo élégant -Via Accessoweb

- MagToo : Ensemble de service pour la Photo (A voir) -Via MagToo

- TimeTube : La ligne de temps pour les vidéos YouTube -Via TechCruch

- All Search Box : Moteur de recherche tout en un -Via Vendeesign

- Pageonce : Votre assistant personnel sur internet ! -Via Weezonaute

- Yoono : Le moteur qui trouve ses résultats chez les internautes -Via 01.net

- Divvaflip : Plugin (WP) d’albums virtuel d’images en Flash -Via Fran6art

- VeoSearch : Moteur de recherche solidaire - Via Infos du Net

- Accord Google & Yahoo : Publicité contextuelle -Via Web-2-geek

- La BBC met à mal la confidentialité sur Facebook -Via Le Monde

It’s truly quite surprising to see how, in difficult times, the world seems to unite, like it should at all times, and fight against the natural evils of this world. This actually came to me, as I reflected on the cyclone in Myanmar (Burma), which I’m sure everyone’s heard of. Whether it’s Google, the DEC, the radio (well, ads on it, anyway), or any other type of organization, media, etc., most countries are willing to help. And what is more stupid than a country which doesn’t want to help itself and its people? When the world is ready to give aid, why stop it?

On other matters, after some extent of thinking, a phrase popped up into my mind:

“Build your own tent, or when it collapses, you wont know how to rebuild it”

I think I invented it, or I might have heard it somewhere else, (I probably invented it), but basically, it was based on a friend, but she really shouldn’t know this. Thing is, when one doesn’t build one’s own, strong base, then, when you start adding things on top, which aren’t probably very strong either, the tower becomes wobbly, and everything falls everywhere. Now, add on top of that wobbly tower, a person who is constructing it of you. Say that person is guiding your every step- you couldn’t live without that person. Yep… if that person leaves, disappears from you life, then what are you going to do when that tower/tent collapses? Get another builder who is going to create ANOTHER wobbly tower, or have a go yourself, creating a strong base, so you can start adding height, AFTER you are sure the whole base is safe? I’ll say no more- my point is made…

I might add some more phrases like these I made up, some time

So were gonna have a party,

If your a frequent visitor of the site, comment saying your penguins name and i might add you if you make it too the party!

Heres the invite:

When: Saturday 17th May

Where: Tundra, Dock

What time: (PST on Tundra) 10 AM P.S.T.

Why: Bomber2 has 15,000 hits!

Cya There

Great tits cope well with warming

The daughter of US President George W Bush has got married in a private ceremony attended by 200 family and close friends at his Texas ranch. 

 

Really BBC?  "Has got"?  Is that a British writing style I'm not used to?  I'd like to think it's an error, so huzzah!

I give you this article from the BBC.  If you don't laugh as soon as you read the headline, the terrorists win.

Doris Lessing disagrees.

Nobel Prize-winning author Doris Lessing has said winning the prestigious award in 2007 had been a "bloody disaster". The increased media interest in her has meant that writing a full novel was next to impossible, she told Radio 4's Front Row. Lessing, 88, also said she would probably now be giving up writing novels altogether. [...] Since her Nobel win she has been constantly in demand, she said. "All I do is give interviews and spend time being photographed."

Admittedly, she also cites her age as contributing to her slowdown, but still, constant media attention is not conducive to sitting alone for long hours, staring at the computer screen.

Also, why the hell are they giving it to her for being an 'epicist of the female experience'? Why was Saul Bellow allowed to be awarded it for 'human understanding'? Oh, right, male experiene = universal. Grumble.

Two things--

• Facebook is an ad-supported business, and they boast on picking up cues on a person's profile and uses that as a selling point to advertisers--that by advertising on Facebook, they are ensured that their ads are seen by users in their target market. I am personally not surprised by this, and I take it as a natural movement of an online community as a means to sustain itself. Obviously, we pay to experience ad-free services, like blogs and photo sites. However, if it comes to a point that I will be coerced to spend just to use the basic services (which I am perfectly happy with), then that's where I draw the line and decide whether to fork out or jump off.
• The bit that I am more concerned with is this--an identity theft expert was interviewed and noted that Facebook has high potential for identity theft. If you post your address and contact number/s, and your profile is open for complete strangers to view, someone can use the information to open a bank accout or get a credit card. This is scary.

Friends, make sure you adjust your profile settings as appropriate. You can't control who might just stumble onto your profile once it's out there. As a rule of thumb, just don't post too much information.

There's not much on TV ithat nterests me theses days.

Reality shows are a turn off - even those which, like The Apprentice, I'm told are pretty good. I've never been one for soaps or British cop shows. Then I've lost track of the baffling number of comedy shows on offer and struggled to find one to really make me laugh (though the news series of Peep Show is getting rave reviews).

Meanwhile, the big dramas, like the recent ITV offering, Flood, are total gash. Thankfully, I didn't invest any time in watching it though it must have been grim for the TV critic Ally Ross and columnist Lorraine Kelly to each give it a hearty kicking in consecutive days in The Sun.

Nah. I've turned into a curmudgeonly old sod and only rarely pull my nose out of a book to switch on the telly. And then, it's usually to watch some nature or historical documentary. Give me Attenborough or Schama any day of the week.

Which brought me recently to an episode of the BBC's Coast. I've caught this before but this time I was struck by how visually impressive it is. Mibbes it was something to do with the new flat screen telly. Or mibbes it mostly caught me attention because windswept Dr Neil Oliver was striding across the landscapge.

TV is always more interesting when you know the person on screen and I have a passing acquaintance with Dr Neil, from his time in Scottish journalism. So I sat up straight and paid that bit more attention while he was on.

I was impressed. Even more so when I mentioned the subject next day to my business partner Raymond Notarangelo, who said that Dr Neil apparently writes most of the show and the accompanying book. Among his many other achievements is that he also wrote the book, Amazing Tales for Making Men Out of Boys.

Coast is obviously a success, since they seem to be making a new series. Earlier this week I picked up a copy of the Evening News to find an appeal for anyone with interesting stories about coastal life in East Lothian to contact the BBC (read it here).

Then in Saturday's Daily Record I read that Dr Neil has an even greater reason to celebrate - the birth of a third child. Wife Trudi gave birth to new son, Teddy this week. A wee brother for Evie and Archie.

Congratulations all round. Dr Neil likes wee boys to have decent role models - and certainly wee Teddy and older brother Archie are going to grow up with a successful dad they can really look up to.

2. Mişcarea de rezistenţă a francezilor aflaţi sub ocupaţie s-a îndreptat, în primul rând, împotriva trupelor hitleriste, dar şi împotriva guvernului-marionetă de la Vichy. Coordonată de la Londra de generalul Charles de Gaulle, aflat în exil, mişcarea era însufleţită de îndemnurile la luptă ale acestuia prin intermediul postului de radio BBC. Rezistenţa nu a cuprins mai mult de 2-3% din populaţie, însă a fost suficient pentru a crea probleme trupelor de ocupaţie. Principalele mijloace ale luptătorilor din Rezistenţă au fost culegerea de informaţii, sabotajul şi guerila. Astfel au fost produse întârzieri în aprovizionarea frontului cu armament, combustibil şi alimente. Rezistenţa nu ar fi putut să supravieţuiască fără un larg sprijin popular.

Citind în oglindă cele două texte, similitudinile sunt amuzante. Evident, Osama bin Laden, dacă mai trăieşte, este considerat un erou de către musulmanii fundamentalişti, nu de către Occident. Charles de Gaulle era creionat de presa controlată de Goebbels ca un personaj care, instigând la rezistenţă, îndemna de fapt la sinucidere. Forţa propagandei poate demoniza sau sanctifica un personaj, poate smulge din anonimat sau poate sparge o imagine consacrată.
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Notă: Nu sunt sigur că ordinea pozelor este corectă.

Naomi Campbell in Comic Africa

Uganda Modern Art describing contemporary world

End of story.

Kentucky - just about the same.

Obama is ahead in one story and two behind in another in the super-delegate race.

All this means is that the Clinton campaign gets more cash from her - because that campaign is broke and the race goes on another three weeks or so.

Obama is still the winner.

Enter to see Video.

O projeto está sendo desenvolvido em parceria com as associações de solidariedade Age Concern e Help the Aged, e de acordo com a BBC foi apenas um exemplo dos vários apresentados pela subsidiária britânica da Microsoft durante o evento.

Apesar de não revelar grandes detalhes sobre o PC para idosos, um responsável da Microsoft citado pela BBC adiantou que este estaria disponível dentro de cerca de um ano.

Esta não é contudo uma novidade para a multinacional, que tem vindo a desenvolver nos EUA iniciativas semelhantes em conjunto com a fabricante de hardware HP.

A apresentação deste tipo de soluções demonstra algum investimento por parte da empresa em tentar dividir o fosso digital que cada vez mais se nota, sobretudo entre os utilizadores de tecnologias mais novos e os mais velhos, que não nasceram na era dos gadgets que rodeiam os jovens de hoje em dia.

Um outro projeto apresentado em Londres foi um PC financiado com publicidade que vem pré-instalado com um currículo de literacia digital onde os utilizadores podem aprender a trabalhar com um computador ou a navegar na Internet de forma segura.

Para Stephen Uden responsável pela área de habilidades e temas econômicos da multinacional, o problema da inclusão digital não passa apenas pela disponibilização de PCs, uma vez que considera que "não é assim tão simples de utilizar ou barato para toda a gente".

Stephen Uden defende que no futuro não vão ser apenas os que não têm a acesso a um computador que serão excluídos digitalmente, mas também quem não souber utilizar telefones celulares (conhecidos em portugal como telemóveis), televisão digital ou consoles de jogos.

_______________________________________
Dercy Gonçalves jogando CS......
Silvio Santos jogando GTA.....
Cid Moreira jogando Need for Speed Carbon...

Não tem preço, pra todas as outras existem Blog do Dissidente, aceito desde bares e butiquins até dissidências árabes.

Being able to take rejection is one of the best skills you can have as a writer, because if there's one thing you can be guaranteed it is that you will be rejected a lot.

When ever I hear writers moaning about the rejection they just got I always have serious doubts over their future in the industry, because as much as anything becoming a successful writer is about getting through all the initial rejection without going insane or giving up. One of the best compliments I've ever been given is being told that I seemed like the kinda guy who would never get disheartened by rejection.

I guess that is somewhat of a disclaimer because the rest of this blog is about my latest rejection and how lame it seems. I just wanna make it clear that I'm not one to moan about rejection normally, but for some reason I felt compelled to blog about this one and get it off my chest. So given this is a bit of a rant I may well sound a bit bitter and like I am complaining over nothing.

OK, so it goes like this...

I applied for the BBC training scheme called North East Voices. The application process involved writing a short logline for an original TV drama and then writing a one page synopsis of the drama. In addition to this you then had to submit a writing sample of 30 to 60 pages.

The idea I had pitched was an ensemble drama featuring 8 principle characters as well as a whole community of other characters. Think something like Shameless where is has the central family and then also has the neighbours, and the people at the pub and the corner shop, and other families, and the police and and and.... My idea wasn't quite that big, but it was definitely an ensemble drama set in a certain large community.

So basically I had this problem of how on earth do I set that up with just one side of A4 to do it.

I'll be honest, having never pitched an ensemble TV drama before I was a bit at a loss as to which way to set up all these different people in a way that is both clear to read and still engaging, but to do it on one single page of A4? Ouch!! It would be hard enough if I had as many pages as I needed, but 1 was gunna be hard.

I decided that since my 8 characters were forced together by outside circumstances and forced to live together that the best option would be just to set up all the main character's and their one or two inherent flaws or quirks which would leave the reader wanting more (or so was the idea).

Eg. A had this super chavy character who was an academic genius to the bemusement of her chavy parents who can't understand how she ended up so smart, and despite being a genius this girl spends most of her time getting into fights and going shop lifting with the chavy friends she grew up with on her estate. I ended it by saying something like "Her problem is whether she will manage to stay out of trouble long enough to graduate".

I was kinda aware that I hadn't really gone into the specifics of how any of these stories might develop over the series, I was instead trying to set up 8 really interesting premises that interweaved with each other that you would want to know more about. I couldnt see any other way to do it on a single side of A4.

So off I sent my application, not entirely happy but quietly confident.

Alas, I ended up only making the "long short list". One of the perks however of being on this long short list is they gave you written feedback on your idea rather than a stock no thank you letter.

I got the feedback in a letter today and reading it gave me with no surprises over their main criticism...

The synopsis resembles a list of character bios, rather than an outline of how the series might be sustained by developing interviewing and resolving distinct character journeys.

So I guess the flaw I knew I had before I applied was what eventually screwed me??

Well, in the next paragraph of the letter it goes on to say...

If the writer shies from developing the drama inherent in such a colourful ensemble, the series may be steered toward a "sketchier" feel that is likely to run out of steam and be less gripping as a result. How might the odd co-dependence between Jenna and her priest evolve, for example? Does John's love for Frankie remain unexpressed? [edit - then it goes on to list a question for each of the characters I wrote about]

Bottom line then, I failed to give them what they wanted. What I wrote was too much setting up my really interesting characters and not enough of what then happens to those characters. I can't expect them to just take a leap of faith and assume that I can write all these stories in a lovely overlapping interesting way just because I can set up some interesting characters...

but at the end of the day I just can't see how I could have done all that on one side of A4! I filled the page just describing the characters, how am I expected to then tell you how each story progresses as well?

Sure I could have just bunged a sentance at the end of each character's paragraph that crudely sums up where they are are at the end of the series, but that isn't going to give you a sense of how the stories evolve either, plus some characters can't really be summed up like that.

This is where I hold my hands up and say I don't really know enough about TV show development. Maybe all TV shows are pitched on a single side of A4 and there is just a knack of getting an ensemble drama to fit? I just feel like had it been 2 pages rather than 1then I might have been able to explain some of the developments I have in mind for the things I set up.

Please BBC Writer's Room, make it at least 2 pages next year. OK?

I guess I'm a bit miffed that my idea seems to have been rejected as much as anything because of the restriction of having to fit an entire TV series and all its developing character arcs on a single side of A4. It seems to be that the application process for North East Voices with its one page synopsis being everything is inherently biased towards shows that have a small selection of characters and more similar content from episode to episode (like a cop show that has the same formula each week), because surely if I had set up a show with 3 characters doing the same thing each week then it would be based purely on its potential rather that what is or isn't shoehorned into the synopsis.

But then again, maybe I just plain suck and it is entirely possible to do all this on a single side of A4 but my suckyness prevents me? I'm totally open to the idea that maybe I just suck at this. Anyone out there is welcome to leave a comment saying I'm a synopsis writing retard, but if you do then please also tell me how I should have summed up a big ensemble drama on one page in a way that gets across all their individual character developments. I'm eager to learn!

That said, this was not the only reason my application failed. The other criticism was the fact my writing sample was a feature film aimed at the US Market and thus

it's difficult to tell whether the writer will make the adjustment to a series that specifically targets British mores and humour

Yeah because being a gruff Northerner I can only write stuff for people in California!

I wonder if the tone was really any different or whether it was more that my feature is set in a US High School which is such an intrinsically American thing that he or she assumed there was no way it could be similar to something shown on British TV.

But hey, even though I disagree with their assumption that despite being a British writer I can't write for a British audience, the point is the writing sample was different enough that it put doubts in their mind, and perhaps ultimately they would have given me the benefit of the doubt over my 1 page synopsis had my writing sample been a similar 60 minute TV show script to the one I was pitching.

I think in order to effectively pitch TV ideas I'm gunna have to develop some TV scripts to show people, because I can only see myself running into this problem again, even if the next feature film I use is set in England! So with this in mind I might actually continue developing this idea off my own back anyways.

Also, I guess if they run the scheme again next year I will be way more concious to make sure what ever I hand in gives some indication of how the stories will progress over time!

Anyways, rant over.

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Re: 1948: The State of Israel is founded

Dear Ms Boaden,

"Thousands of Palestinians had fled or had been driven out."

This is a shocking and despicable statement. The writer or writers of this potted history of Israel (though how you can be narrow minded enough to begin a history or the modern sate of Israel in 1948, I do not know) must know full well that this type of misinformation verges on the racist lies that have made up the Zionist narrative of Israel's history, and are an affront to the honest and balanced journalism that the BBC should be delivering.

The ethnic cleansing of Palestine that was a requirement for the founding of the State of Israel caused 750 000 people to be displaced, 400 000 before Israel declared its foundation, 95% of whom left because of violence or violent intimidation. (Kapeliouk, Amnon (1987): New Light on the Israeli-Arab Conflict and the Refugee Problem and Its Origins, p.21. Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 16, No. 3. (Spring, 1987). Over 400 villages (Abu Sitta, Salman (2001): From Refugees to Citizens at Home. London: Palestine Land Society and Palestinian Return Centre) and possibly 70 000 homes were destroyed. (Saleh, Abdul Jawad and Walid Mustafa (1987): Palestine: The Collective Destruction of Palestinian Villages and Zionist Colonisation 1882-1982. London: Jerusalem Centre for Development Studies)

But of course you know all this. Anyone writing a history of Israel will know this. Consider the following statement:

"Palestinians, in turn, designate the 15 May as the Day of al-Nakba, "the catastrophe", and they use it to commemorate the dispossession of hundreds of thousands of their people who were made homeless as Israel was born."

This is a quote from, of course, the BBC News online, Tuesday, 15 May, 2001

"Thousands of Palestinians had fled or had been driven out." 750 000 is "thousands", 6.5 billion is "thousands". To say "thousands" is to misinform your readers. To say "thousands" is to deny the history of the Palestinian people.

The catastrophe befell the Palestinian people, which was commemorated by "thousands" (perhaps five thousand) rallying today in central London, was the dispossession and massacres, the theft and destruction of homes, lands, belongings, livelihoods and lives, not "the declaration" as your article states, in a faint nod to balance.

Why, on the 60th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel, does the BBC now choose to blatantly ignore the crimes committed by Zionism in Israel's name?

The article doesn't even mention Zionism. To say 1948 was "the culmination of nearly 2,000 years of hopes by Jewish people that they would one day return to the land from which the Romans expelled them" is surely a slur on the Jewish people, branding them all with Zionism's racist ideology. As a statement of fact it is dubious, but it is an important part of the Zionist narrative, which this article seems content to present as fact.

History is history, but racist lies and misinformation and killing people today, killing Palestinian and killing Israelis. Killing fathers in Qassam rockets attacks and killing mothers in childbirth. Peace is not possible without justice, justice is not possible without truth. The BBC must be impartial, but this is only possible by a singular commitment to the truth. Lies, half-truths and misinformation are acts of violence, most of all against your readers.

Yours,

John Hill

Dear Ms Boaden,

This story is now a few days old, but after re-reading it I felt the need to complain.

This story is very misleading, and shows heavy bias in favour of the Santa Cruz autonomy movement.

Please consider the following section:

"Conscious that the autonomy debate is proving deeply divisive, Mr Morales has called for dialogue even though he declared the vote to be illegal after knowing the results."

This paragraph contains two untruths. 1, Evo Morales and the government has always stated the the vote would be illegal, before and after the vote. 2, No one knows the results, otherwise you would have published them.

Now take this quote from the corresponding story on the Al Jazeera English website:
"Local authorities say 86 per cent of voters backed autonomy, an unsurprising figure since the president, Evo Morales, had declared the referendum "illegal" and urged citizens not to vote so as to deny it legitimacy."

This gives a far clearer, truer, representation of the situation.

Your next paragraph states:
"The Organisation of American States and the Catholic Church also called unsuccessfully for dialogue in recent weeks."

This is also misleading, a half truth.

In his very balanced article for openDemocracy John Crabtree states:
"OAS members have pledged their support to the democratically-elected government of Bolivia. They have noted the government's willingness to negotiate and how this contrasts with the obduracy of the prefect and the president of the Comité Pro-Santa Cruz [Branko Marinkovic]."

If this is true, then your qualifying quote from Branko Marinkovic:
"We have always been willing to hold dialogue and we will always push for a national pact," is untrue. Yet his assertions are uncontested presented as fact by your article.

Further to this, your article contains quotes from the leader of Santa Cruz's pro-autonomy movement, and the leader of the national opposition, but has no place for a quote from president Morales.

Al Jazeera's quote from Morales shows clearly the Government's position and sheds greater light on the situation:
""The referendum failed completely," he said in a nationally televised address. But he ended his remarks with an invitation for more talks with autonomy leaders. "Let's work together tomorrow for a true autonomy," he added. "For the people, and not just certain groups - an autonomy that permits the people to decide their destiny."

Your article contains instead an almost irrelevant, decontextualised semi-quote from Venezuelan President Chavez. Why?

I hope you will agree that this article is completely unbefitting of an impartial news organisation and will endeavour to offer more complete, balanced reportage on this story as it continues through the coming weeks and months,

Yours,

John Hill

London bereiken we zonder noemenswaardige moeilijkheden. Maar dan in London zelf. De Tom Tom jaagt ons dwars door de stad. Als we muurvast zitten is onze enige troost de BBC radio die meldt dat het verkeer muurvastzit bij Sudbury Hill. Wat een meevaller. Daar zitten we dus. Hier komt dan een einde aan en niet heel London hoeft zo te zijn. We doen anderhalf uur over 5 kilometer.
De Tom Tom heeft het toch mooi gepland want we rijden langs Westminster Abbey en Houses of Parliament. Via Vauxhall Bridge komen we uiteindelijk aan op de Crystal Palace Club Site

Ook hier worden we vriendelijk ontvangen en krijgen uitleg waar kaartjes voor het openbaar vervoer te koop zijn en welke bus we het beste kunnen nemen. Bus 3 over dag, en N3 als nachtbus.
Nadat we de tent opgezet hebben gaan we in Crystal Palace buskaartjes kopen. Een buskaartje voor een dag kost 3,50 pond. Dat nemen we voor vandaag. Een dagkaart voor Metro en bus voor morgen, voor de zones 1234 kost 5,90 pond per persoon.
We hebben geluk met onze lokatie. De bus, lijn 3 komt om de zeven minuten en brengt ons langs Herne Hill, Brixton, Kennington, Lambeth Bridge, Westminster, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus en Oxford Circus. Met ander woorden, deze lijnbus is komplete sightseeing.
Wij bezoeken deze eerste dag Green Park, Hyde Park en de Apple Store in Regent Street.

Terug in Crystal Palace kopen we Fish and Chips om op de camping op te eten.
Als Bram en ik na het eten een rondje over en langs de camping maken komen we terecht op de oude fundamenten van Crystal Palace.
Jammer genoeg wordt het snel donker. Dit moeten we morgenvroeg Ria laten zien.

BBC 2 - Monday 12th May 9-10 p.m. - Teen Mum High

BBC 2 - Tuesday 13th May 9-10 p.m. - Abortion - The Choice

Already there is starting to be more in the media on teenage pregnancy and abortion, and I imagine it will continue over the next couple of weeks. The UK Parliament are looking at our abortion laws for the first time in 20 years...