BBC iPlayer comes to Xbox

Finally I never need to use a laptop to catch up on television that I have missed ever again because iPlayer is now on my Xbox.

I never thought that I would be a person who would like the option to watch television on demand on my Xbox. When living alone I was quite happy with watching the television and if I needed to catch up on television then my laptop would suffice.

However, I then realised that maybe watching television would be something for everyone, not just when you are watching television on your own. I first realised this when my family where regularly using iPlayer on the Playstation to watch programmes that had clashed with other events. And it all seemed so simple.

Now I live with my boyfriend and we tend to watch television together. This alongside the fact that television of late is a bit hit and miss. Instead we just switch on the Xbox and log onto Netflix and pretend that television is watchable. So far we have got most of the way through Futurama and Scrubs and that is just the beginning.

And now we have iPlayer at our fingertips too, and it is easy to use and a fun application. The only thing now is I am beginning to feel very lazy when I think about the fuss of moving back to normal television from watching shows on demand forgetting that I am using a television.

Yes, I know I should get out more.

Photo: ChipperMist via Flickr

Personal news

Today marks two years since I started going out with my boyfriend Jon. Now before this starts getting too personal and romantic here is a link to all the characters in Monty Python and the Holy Grail made 8bit.

To pay or not to pay?

Recently big companies, like Burger King and Tesco, got themselves into trouble for being part of government campaign which involved people working for them for nothing more then jobseeker's allowance. This sparked a lot of debate about whether people in these situations should be paid or glad for a job, and so I thought I haven't ranted about the job market for a while.

I can understand not paying people as part of work experience - and in my eyes that is one or two weeks shadowing people in the work place. Whilst I was a journalism student I did work experience stints like this regularly and fully appreciated the experience. In some places I got a few bylines, and although not paid they went out of their way to say thanks with a free lunch and a glowing reference.

But when you start finding unpaid internships for a month or three months then that is rude. Yes I understand that times are tough but you can't get round that by having a free dispensable worker. You don't get the quality of work you want, and more importantly, nobody feels particularly valued. Sitting at a desk, working in a shop for over 30 hours a week constitutes as a full time job and that means payment with money. Even if the money is just minimum wage, or a little over it that is better than nothing.

Not only can these huge companies afford it, it makes people feel like they are doing something in return for something. It feels crap to know that you went out all day to sit in an office to know that at the end of the day you can't afford to pay your way, let alone go to the pub to relax. 

As we having a bad time economically this is the time to change the system and make people feel valued, rather than see it as an opportunity to screw more people over and achieve nothing.

Photo: Guudmorning! via Flickr

Clarkson cleared

So Jeremy Clarkson was cleared by Ofcom for what he said on The One Show. Yes, unbelievably, it turns out that what Clarkson said was stupid but nothing more than that. Ofcom cleared him because viewers should know by now that the presenter has a "provocative and outspoken nature". I think that is a technical way of sighing and then saying "Who cares? It is Jeremy Clarkson, ignore it".

The Top Gear presenter does like to say a lot of things to cause a reaction, but I don't think he expected over 30,000 people to complain when he said that protesters should be shot in front of their families. Especially when that wasn't really what he said. It was a joke. Perhaps in poor taste, but again the words were coming out of Clarkson's mouth.

So the next time that people decide to have a hissy fit make sure you understand what you are complaining about. Or the best piece of advice I can think of just before midnight is - stop watching The One Show.

Surprise news, always the best kind of news

I was going to do a piece about how Twitter is made out to be important, and have a general rant about those articles going on about people reading the news about celebrities dying on Twitter before the usual mediums.

But then I got distracted by something fun.

I, along with my friend Emma, run a little television blog called TV Talk. It gets a fair amount of readers each month even though we don't publicise it a great deal. Turns out if you write about Gino D'Acampo and Timmy Time there is always an audience.

The amount of content we put up goes up and down depending on our schedules, and recently the quality of television. This is why we were pleasantly surprised to see that an article Emma had written about the recent return of Top Gear had been highlighted on the BBC Top Gear site.

It may only be fleeting fame, but it feels great to be appreciated. Hopefully it could lead to something good.

Is this the real life?

After weeks of Denise Welch hitting the papers because of various indiscretions, she decided to announce on live television that she and her husband have separated.

She decided to use the daytime television programme she works on, Loose Women, that talk of her having an affair was false. She then cried as she announced to the audience that her and her husband Tim Healy had broken up. This was all live on the television whilst most people were just about to tuck into their lunch.

So not only was that sad but it seems to have become a selling point for Loose Women now. The show's host, Andrea McLean, announced in the papers and in her autobiography that her second marriage had broken down.

The entire show does revolve around the honesty of the women as they dissect their lives so the viewers can identify with them and know that someone else feels the same as them. So I suppose when something happens in their relationship they have more of an obligation to let people know. I mean it is nothing like when David van Day used Channel 5's The Wright Stuff to dump his girlfriend.

But at the same time, the show now feels the need to use this to their advantage. If they can have a discussion where both Denise and Andrea look sad and reflect on their current emotional state, then they sure as will.

This feels slightly weird, and maybe should be something for people, and celebrities, to take note of. When you are fawning and gushing about your latest partner and talk about nothing else, then realise that first of all it is unbearable for everyone around you. Secondly, it could all go wrong and then you will have to announce this too.

Admittedly, it is unlikely that in a normal job you would have to disclaimer that you are getting a divorce in a meeting at work.

Photo: ITV

The lack of snow this year has made me tetchy. Last year I had several inches of snow and this year so far all I have seen is a flurry.

Even the news is getting tetchy as it reports that Europe is gripped by the cold. The news is practically begging for a snow drift to come to the UK. Then we can have news about how the country has stopped because of the snow rather than what the banks have done now. But the weather refuses to play along.

Last night the weather predicted for Lincoln to have some snow overnight and then some more in the morning. So we went to sleep in the hope that the next day would be a winter wonderland. Whenever we woke up in the night we hovered by the window to see if it had snowed, saw nothing and then hid our disappointment.

When the morning came there was still nothing apart from a bleak, grey sky. However, on the walk to work there was an attempt at snow mixed with sleet which was enough to keep me happy for the time being.

Although I am not expecting anything on the scale of the snowmageddon from last year's winter but something would be nice especially because it is so cold. I would like something in return for my shivering.

Jobs a good'un

Well there is never any good news it seems. The latest figures show that 2.68 million people are now jobless. And that figure could be higher based on my own experience of the job seekers system.

It is daunting news when you are trying to find a job, no matter what age. Trying to get a job is hard enough without have to think of the pressure that you are just a number and worrying if you don't get this job then when will the next vacancy come around.

So to help guide people through this horrible part of life there are all sorts of people handing out advice. A quick browse of the internet reveals how to write a CV, a covering letter and what to do in the actual interview. All this is helpful advice and the more that people know about it the better.

However, there is a small group of people who have seen this as an opportunity to get out some joyless and patronising television shows. My particular favourite was Up For Hire, a BBC Three show that was supposed to help conquer mass youth unemployment by giving out four jobs. Undeniable helpful.

It also adopted a wonderful tone telling young people they had only themselves to blame because all they had to their name was a degree and a Facebook page filled with drunken photos. Why should they be deserving of a job?

ITV2 have jumped on board and decided that this a wonderful format too. They are due to show The Exclusives, which is being called The Apprentice for journalists. Again it seems to be working on the premise that 1.04 million people will be solved by one television show giving away one job. In this case the lucky person will get a 12 month contract with Bauer Media and get a chance to work on titles like Heat, Kerrang and Empire.

So I have decided that these shows telling people how to find a job are just like property shows. Most people on these shows aren't experts in these fields. So instead of being helpful they just end up being annoying, repetitive and patronising.

So the people out there doing good - keep doing it. If you are thinking of making a programme where thousands of applicants fight it out on a crappy, digital channel for just the one job, then stop right there and forget you ever had the idea.


Photo: jacobchristensen via Flickr

High street closing down bingo

Barratts, La Senza, Peacocks - BINGO.

Yes the fun new game to play during the news is high street closing down bingo. And frankly it is quite a depressing game. Every time I hear that another shop has gone into administration then I think about the great empty hole that will create in shopping centres or high streets.

None of the shops that have announced that they are closing down are ones that I regularly visit, which is the whole problem really. The worrying thing is that it seems no shop can really hide from this economic downturn. Even Tesco made a loss over the Christmas period and that is Tesco.

And then what will replace those shops when they are gone? Those really naff boards about how your town is doing really well and here are all the things it has to offer?

One situation that I am quite angry about is in my home town of Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, is getting rid of all its independent retailers in the Cloisters underground market. It has seen better times - when the games shop closed it did mark the beginning of the end - but it is a lovely place. Instead it the retailers have been told to move out to allow the place to become a store room for the clothes shop H&M. The actual shop floor will be where La Senza is currently (so a good space not going to waste) but also the local bowling alley is being closed down to help create this huge sounding clothes shop.

Aylesbury has changed many times, but the biggest change for me has been when Woolworths closed down. I imagine most people felt this when Woolworths was the first shop to close down way back in 2008/2009. I still miss the shop even though it does still exist online but the idea of buying pic 'n' mix from the internet is not as appealing.

Speaking of which this leads nicely onto one of my favourite ever videos of one of old university tutors doing a piece about the last every bag of Woolworths pic 'n' mix being sold for £14,500.

Photo: osde8info via Flickr

Scottish independence?

So we have finally got to the point where Scottish people are going to vote on independence. Not bad going seeing as it is seen as the SNP's only real policy and they have been in power in the Scottish parliament since 2007. But finally they will ask people their opinion on independence in 2014.

On the matter of independence I do think it would be ridiculous for Scotland to be separate - it is so small, and there are some parts of the country really suffering so it is not a time to leave. Plus it does get quite a sweet deal out of being devolved - a chance to have a say on Scottish matters and British matters and still get more affordable university tuition fees.

No, the thing I am amazed by is the amount people do not understand a country that is only a few hours away.

Listening to radio phone ins and conversations with friends it is also remarkable that people in England have never even thought about daring to cross the border in case they catch a lurgie or might start getting a taste for Irn Bru.

Being half Scottish I have been going up to Scotland twice a year all my life to see relatives, but by being in a different country they aren't aliens.

Some Scottish people do still have issues about the English repressing them 700 years, Alex Salmond being one of them, but I think it is a case that Scotland and England have never really tried to understand one another and are now more like awkward siblings.

I mean people like Wales now - it gives us Doctor Who and other great dramas but still people only see that the only thing that Scotland can offer is Irn Bru.

Photo: Rev Stan via Flickr.

The very long countdown begins

So this is my first newsy blog - I was tempted to write about the horrendous weather at the moment which buggered up my train journey no end today. However, I had already decided upon the American elections.

Although academically me and politics never got along (I did the subject at A level and wasn't fond of the teacher) I always have a nerdish excitement about elections.

I mean my last day at university I got drunk and watched the local election and AV referendum votes.

And I am in luck as the US elections begin in Iowa today and then finish on the 6th November.

Today voters in Iowa start to choose who will be the Republican candidate to run against Barack Obama.

At the moment there are six contenders and after today's results this number will become smaller as candidates start to realise they have no chance.

Most of the time the winner is obvious, but I still find something enjoyable about it.

Even if America does take the best part of a year to come to a conclusion.

Granted I haven't paid too much attention to the candidates so far - although I think everyone is aware of Herman Cain, who suspended his campaign for president in December 2011 after a number of allegations about sexual harassment.

America has also managed to avoid having Sarah Palin for president who decided not to run for the position back in October 2011.

One way to get up to speed is with Google's election trends site. I get annoyed when sites think that the data is enough to give readers the full story - but by integrating the results, trends and daily news articles including the issues important to American voters, it is gives amazing background filling in the gaps.

The results from the first state in this long procession of an election are due in about 1am here, and if I didn't have to start work again after the Christmas holidays tomorrow I would be staying up.

Anyway as it runs almost across the whole year I am bound to bring it up again here sometime.

Photo: Flickr via mrsdkrebs