BBC play Cold - in High Definition

You have probably been abroad or been working in a bunker if you haven’t heard about Coldplay on the BBC – If it isn’t “Radio 1 Presents... Coldplay live from the Brixton Academy in London” then it’s an “exclusive free gig at BBC TV Centre for 600 people” – broadcast live last night (Wednesday 18 June 2008) simultaneously on BBC2 and BBCHD for around 45 minutes.

The setting of the latter was always going to be (stage managed to be?) unusual/unique – I cannot recall any other bands performing in front of the BBC Television Centre in White City – and that’s part of the charm, and indeed brand, of Coldplay – however that was most likely the main problem when it came to kicking off the event, as the sound engineering, specifically the mixing, wasn’t up to scratch and belied the point of broadcasting in HD. Not that live mixing is easy – as my brother keeps telling me – but one would have thought the BBC, if anyone should, would be able to get it right. The other problem appeared to be that the band looked shattered.

After a few songs Chris’ voice warmed up, which combined with a couple of carefully disguised gestures to the sound desk meant the sound engineer(s) got the levels sorted out and although Jonny Buckland (lead guitarist) looked distinctively bored throughout, the band excelled in usual fashion – becoming a habit – and the crowd select revelled in their wonder. Even Alan Yentob (Creative Director for the BBC) managed to put in a smiling appearance, although neither Ricky Gervais nor Jay-Z could let their carefully controlled demeanour show much more than the odd head nod, which is a pity because on the whole it was an engaging gig.

Chris was as interactive and amenable to his audience as ever, and one simply warms to him, especially when he expels little crowd pleasers such as “A helicopter’s filming my friends with me... I turned and said... Don’t film the bald spot on top of my head” in place of the usual lyrics to Trouble from their Parachutes album as the director changes camera to show a helicopter filming the event from on high. Chris later comments on his own body gesticulations as “I can’t dance, but I’m enthusiastic”.

And enthusiasm exudes from the whole band (with the notable exception is Buckland), deep passion about playing their music, such that it is easy to become envious of that passion. In all honesty, the band, specifically Chris isn’t a great looker (which he freely admits, "as you can see, we are more of a band with faces for radio") nor the world’s best voice, and he self proclaims he cannot dance, but who cares when a front man can deliver such great lyrics and music to accompany them with such energy?

I wasn’t sure whether to take Chris’ comments about how Coldplay fly around in helicopters all the time now (“that’s how it is these days for Coldplay; it’s helicopters and crazy stuff like that”) as that’s just the way it is for a hugely successful band or whether it was the first sign a smugness that might have descended upon the nice people of Coldplay – I think I prefer to believe the former, after all, it must be difficult be that politically-correct and generally decent (even apologising for a bum note) in a world that isn’t!

It was otherwise a well directed intimate affair and a memorable occasion that I will retain my Shy HD box (I cannot export it in HD format, only SD – shame on you Sky) and it wasn’t available on the (excellent) BBC’s iPlayer at the original time of post - but is now, here...

It just a shame the sound, whilst encoded in perfect digital stereo, falls short of what it should have been.

Amazon “Prime” time – father’s day irony!

Yesterday afternoon the postman delivered my belated father’s day present, ordered by my wife on behalf of my daughter, who being only 20 months old is too young to order stuff, even from Amazon.

The present, a book called “Dad Rules” (published by Fig Tree) is by Andrew Clover, the same person who regularly makes both my wife and I chuckle at his canny observations detailed in his column, of the same title, “Dad Rules”, on the last page of “style” magazine in the Sunday Times (and online).

Andrew's column had obviously prompted my wife to purchase the book for me – a little late thinking me thinks – but anyway my wife hops onto Amazon (.co.uk), finds the book and is about to order when I realise she could benefit from my Amazon Prime membership! So I nudge her out of the way, sign into my account, invite her (you are allowed up to four family members on your Prime membership) then let her get back to her important task - ordering my present!

After accepting my invitation to join my Prime membership, my wife then completes the order and ‘Bob’s your uncle’ the book gets delivered by Amazon the next day, postage free!

Amazon Prime costs £49, per annum, so if you use Amazon a lot (which I do –see Calling International Rescue – Amazon family saver), then it makes perfect sense as it will not just save you money, but also your family members.

I am however, not immune to the irony, that ultimately I paid the postage for my own present!

Alerted to disinformation – Experian’s CreditExpert woes

In my Inbox this morning is an e-mail “Alert” from CreditExpert - the brand name for a membership based credit reference services from Experian (one of the UK’s leading credit referencing and scoring companies).

The reason this alert is pants is because it doesn’t actually alert me to anything useful, it just makes me alerted to fact that Experian, for whatever reason, have chosen not to be helpful. Let me explain; the e-mail states the following:

“CreditExpert has detected one or more of the following changes to your Experian® credit report for the week ending 15/06/2008:

• The addition or deletion of an account
• A change in the payment history of a credit account
• The addition or deletion of a judgment, voluntary arrangement or bankruptcy
• A search of your credit report
• The addition or deletion of a Notice of Correction
• The settlement of an account
• A significant balance change on an active account"

So basically, I am being alerted to the fact that something has changed on my credit file and it could be as insignificant as “balance change on an active account” which will happen every time a payment gets paid by direct debit to a credit card, or it could be as life changing as “The addition... of a... bankruptcy”.

In my opinion, Experian should either send a simple e-mail stating a change to your account has taken place or give a detailed and insightful explanation of what specifically has changed on your account – which is what their main competition, Equifax do.

Equifax provide me with an alert to a change of my account, then when I log into my account I get a summary page that within one click provides me with the exact detail of what has changed and why, whereas, when logging into my Experian CreditExpert account I am provided with the same useless information. It is almost as though they are scaremongering.

Both Equifax and Experian have recently updated their service tools to the end user (you and me), such that your credit file is now easier to read and credit scoring is more intelligible.

One thing that is to Experian’s credit (pun intended) is that they only charge £5.99 for a credit scoring whereas Equifax still charge a (competitively exorbitant for a single-use service) £14.99.

e-zine perfection iGIZMO – avoids Gadget indigestion

In my Inbox this morning is an e-mail promoting the eighth edition of iGIZMO a truly digital and indeed interactive e-zine from Dennis Publishing (the same house that punts PC Pro – a great professional PC magazine pedigree). iGIZMO describes itself as “The latest issue of the world’s first interactive gadget magazine is now here.” What’s great about iGIZMO is that unlike its rivals, i.e. the printed versions of T3 (Future Publishing) and Stuff (Haymarket Media Group), iGIZMO uses Ceros Media – who refer to their technology as an “online magazine publishing platform” – however I think that sells it short, as one could misconstrue that message as meaning “web site”, when this stuff is so much more.

I first came across this engaging publishing technology when Computer Weekly (Reed Business Information Limited) first starting using it to deliver their e-zine (note that CW also have a web-only version). What’s great about Ceros’ delivery is that their e-zines have the entire glossy look and feel to it that the printed version (or if it were to be printed, for in the case of iGIZMO it has no printed version). In the Computer Weekly Ceros’ edition, even the adverts look like they do in the printed version, same page layout, same colour, same text, etc. – it all goes to providing a very polished look & feel, such that you want to engage – you want to read it. This is aided by the fact that you electronically turn each page by clicking your mouse on the top right hand corner, and then the page starts to curl as though your wetted forefinger was gently lifting it, as per a printed version.

So, iGIZMO is great because it utilises a technology that is spot on in its execution and delivery, but also because iGIZMO is concise (this edition is only 28 pages), which means I can flick through it quickly if I want, yet it has all the necessary seductively lit and expertly presented images of the gadgets and technology together with the hard and fast facts one desires, and because it’s “on-line”, by following the embedded hyperlink, you are only a click away from more detail as desired, which makes it interactive. There are also video vox boxes (podcasts if you will), such as the “News in 90 seconds”. It also resists the temptation of scantily clad women on the cover and throughout to allure men, but best of all, it is completely free – no more £4 on T3 and Stuff?

Amazon family saver – all wrapped up!

If, like me, you sometimes forget when your family, and extended family members birthdays are, then you may have already discovered that a smartly wrapped present delivered on time is appreciated a lot more than a “sorry I forgot” or even a present that arrives not just late, but bruised and battered having been hastily wrapped and dispatched through the now dishevelled Royal Mail.

Enter Amazon, the family saver!

Like most people I discovered the virtues of Amazon’s business model some time ago; however its “gift wrap” service, although comparatively expensive to wrapping it yourself, is a godsend, especially when you have neither the time nor locale with which to source and fit wrapping to odd shapes; moreover you have to find a present in the first place!

Just this week, my niece’s 9th birthday, commanded prompt action, so I found a wonderful set of Sylvanian Families - to be percise the "Hedgehog Family".

Now I just surf Amazon’s well-healed categories of niceties then placing myself in the mind of my chosen recipient (so to speak) I select the object of (their) desire, hit gift wrap options, select their address (meaning I don’t have to remember it) from my address book on Amazon, type out the personal message and complete the order - safe in the knowledge that Amazon team members will do a far better job of wrapping the present than I would and equally safe in the knowledge that it will arrive in good order, even though it might use the very same Royal Mail, but that’s because Amazon have special parcels and boxes for stuff that I don’t.

My family initially were a little, dare I say snobby, about the lack of personal touch, i.e. I didn’t chose the wrapping paper and I didn’t hand write the message in blue Bic Biro ink, but now I think they understand the process they accept it as part of efficient modern life, that is to say they have started using Amazon for my birthday presents too!

Calling International Rescue – Amazon tax saver

Recently my sister emigrated to Canada (apparently for a better lifestyle), so the first of her family birthdays and their first Christmas there were obviously going to need much “home” pleasures sent to remind them all of great Britain, however I hadn’t reckoned on the draconian Canadian import and tax system spoiling their and my fun!

My poor (not so much impoverished as unfortunate) sister has to pay import tax on items sent to her from abroad, even birthday and Christmas gifts – why am I alarmed by this fact when Britain reciprocates this for inbound items through our borders? – So it was painful sending her small luxuries like Cadbury Dairy Milk or CDs and DVDs you can only seem to get in the UK, as they all got hammered with import tax that exceed the original value of the item in the first place; and worst of all, my sister had to pay this before the Canadian postal service would relinquish the gift to her!

Sadly, it got to the point where, weeks before a birthday was due, my sister would call and simply ask for us to send a card as that wouldn’t cost her anything - oh what a martyr!

Then I discovered that Amazon had a Canadian site (Amazon.ca), which presumably because it was based in and trading from Canada meant no import tax was due and that I, the giver of present, could be safe in the knowledge that all costs associated with sending a present would be borne by me and not the receiver of the gift.

Although Amazon.ca has a much restricted range of items for sale, and most of it is local (Canadian), which kind of defeats my desire for giving my sister a tasty reminder of her homeland, I still routinely use it for Christmas gifts that can be bundled up into one shipment, thus saving time and money, but most importantly, as with all Amazon sites, guarantee safe and timely delivery!

For a more British affair, such as Twinings tea, Cadbury chocolate and Trebor Bassett sweets (or candy as the site refers to it) I use a small boutique company called “English Tea Store”. They are based in the US and because of a trade agreement with Canada don’t suffer from Canadian import tax duties either, so my sister and her family can rot their teeth in true British style even whilst abroad.