BBC Internet Blog homepage

Something Special: Out and About released

Comments

Share this page

Post categories: , 

Phil Buckley Phil Buckley | 11:44 UK time, Wednesday, 19 October 2011

Justin on a web page introducing options

Something Special: the Out and About game

I remember extremely clearly when the first series of Something Special came out in 2005. We accompanied the series with a website, and as the TV show was aimed at children with special needs we made the site as simple and usable as possible.

 

Screenshot of old web page.

 

I liked the site, but didn’t think too much about it until some feedback was sent round following broadcast of the TV show: pages and pages of emails from parents saying how deeply their children had been affected. Some said that that the whole family appreciated the support in learning the signs; some that their children were so happy to see people like themselves on TV; and others their children had started to communicate with them for the first time using the signs from the show. Tears poured down my face. Even thinking about it now, I still feel the pride in working here which I felt then.

Read the rest of this entry

So long and thanks for all the fish

Comments

Share this page

Post categories: , 

Nick Reynolds Nick Reynolds | 13:22 UK time, Monday, 17 October 2011

Dolphin leaping from an ocean
Today the new version of community site h2g2 opened at www.h2g2.com.

Two weeks ago, after more than ten years of life at the BBC, the h2g2 site on BBC Online was closed.

Much of what the BBC now does in social media, both editorially and technically (in particular in moderation and hosting) was learned with or developed from the original h2g2 team (which included the likes of Mark Moxon, Peta Haigh, Ashley Stuart Noble and Jim Lynn). The BBC is keeping the technical platform named after Douglas Adams (DNA) which came with the community and DNA will still underpin the BBC's moderation and commenting service in the future.

During its time at the BBC, many people were in charge of h2g2, including myself. Although whether I was ever really "in charge" of something that depended to a large extent on the passion and dedication of its community is open to question.

Marvin the paranoid android waving.

h2g2 is the most civilised, delightful and best behaved online community it's ever been my pleasure to encounter. I'm pleased that a way has been found for h2g2 to live on and hopefully prosper in the capable hands of the Community Consortium (Not Panicking Ltd), Robbie Stamp and technical partner Noesis.

Moving h2g2 to a new home has been a rollercoaster ride. It's the first time to my knowledge that BBC Online has ever done anything like this and to say the least, it was complex. So I'd like to thank some of the BBC people who made this happen: Joey Haasbroek, Paul Wakely, Marcus Parnwell and the User Publishing Services Team (formerly the DNA team) in particular Mark Neves and Steve Francis who lead on the technical work, and last but by no means least the h2g2 editors Sam and Natalie.

You can join the new community at www.h2g2.com and follow the Consortium on twitter at @h2g2c2.

Nick Reynolds is Accountability Executive, BBC Online

What's On BBC Red Button 15th - 23rd October

Comments

Share this page

Post categories:

Iain Hoare Iain Hoare | 06:00 UK time, Saturday, 15 October 2011

What's On Red Button banner

Autumnwatch

Autumnwatch Live are tracking the very best wildlife action from the beginning to the end of this dramatic season, finding unique insights into some of our best loved animals.

Michaela Strachan, Chris Packham and Martin Hughes-Games

Michaela Strachan, Chris Packham and Martin Hughes-Games

For the first time, Autumnwatch Live's webcams are available on BBC Red Button. We begin deep inside a badger sett in Devon, then we're off to Slimbridge to follow the lives of a bevy of Bewick's swans, one of autumn's key species.

Also on Red Button, we have a special seasonal selection of photos. The images are chosen by the Autumnwatch web team from pictures viewers have uploaded to the Autumnwatch Flickr group.

Get involved on the Autumnwatch website

Available on all platforms

Freesat/Sky/Virgin Media
Sat 15th October, 8:00am-12:40am
Sun 16th October, 9:45am-6:00am
Mon 17th October, 6:00am-6:00am
Tue 18th October, 6:00am-6:00am
Wed 19th October, 6:00am-6:00am
Thu 20th October, 6:00am-6:00am
Fri 21st October, 6:00am-6:00am
Sat 22nd October, 6:00am-6:00am
Sun 23rd October, 6:00am-6:00am

Freeview:
Sat 15th October, 8:25pm-11:00pm
Sun 16th October, 5:00pm-6:00am
Mon 17th October, 6:00am-6:50am, 5:00pm-6:00am
Tue 18th October, 6:00am-6:50am, 5:00pm-7:20pm
Tue 18th October, 10:10pm-6:00am
Wed 19th October, 6:00am-6:50am, 5:00pm-6:00am
Thu 20th October, 6:00am-6:50am, 5:00pm-6:00am
Fri 21st October, 6:00am-6:50am, 5:00pm-5:40am
Sat 22nd October, 8:25pm-12:35am
Sun 23rd October, 5:00pm-11:00pm

Read the rest of this entry

Jump to more content from this blog

About this blog

Staff from the BBC's online and technology teams talk about BBC Online, BBC iPlayer, and the BBC's digital and mobile services. The blog is reactively moderated. Posts are normally closed for comment after three months. Your host is Ian McDonald (IM).

For the latest updates across BBC blogs,
visit the Blogs homepage.

Subscribe to BBC Internet Blog

You can stay up to date with BBC Internet Blog via these feeds.

BBC Internet Blog Feed(RSS)

BBC Internet Blog Feed(ATOM)

If you aren't sure what RSS is you'll find our beginner's guide to RSS useful.

BBC Online in the news and blogs

Links to conversations and stories about the BBC's online activities. The links on this blog and its delicious stream are chosen by Ian McDonald and Nick Reynolds. Follow @bbccouk_blogged on Twitter.

Follow on Twitter


About The BBC

BBC Internet Blog

bbc.co.uk blogged

BBC iPlayer

BBC Red Button

BBC Blue Room

BBC R&D;

Ralph Rivera

BBC Blogs and Boards

Find all BBC bloggers on the blog homepage

Other posts from this blog

Digital Public Space: Turning a big idea into a big thing

by Jake Berger on 11:00 UK time, Friday, 14 October 2011 | Comments

In summary, our ambition is to create an online space in which much of the UK's publicly-held cultural and heritage media assets and data could be found - connected together, searchable, machine-readable, open, accessible, visible and usable ...

Read more...

What's On BBC Red Button 10th - 17th October

by Iain Hoare on 12:04 UK time, Tuesday, 11 October 2011 | Comments

Autumnwatch Autumnwatch Live will be tracking the very best wildlife action from the beginning to the end of this dramatic season. The team are planning to get unique insights into some of our best loved animals. Fans will be...

Read more...

BBC iPlayer Performance Packs are now at the Press Office

by Ian McDonald on 10:52 UK time, Tuesday, 11 October 2011 | Comments

Until recently, we posted the BBC iPlayer Performance Packs along with some highlights selected by the Communications team. A couple of readers have asked where they went to. Starting with the August 2011 figures, the BBC iPlayer Performance packs are...

Read more...

Partnerships and the Digital Public Space

by Bill Thompson on 12:10 UK time, Monday, 10 October 2011 | Comments

The Digital Public Space isn't a monolithic product like an operating system, or a single-purpose service like GPS

Read more...

BBC iD

Sign in

bbc.co.uk navigation

BBC © 2011

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.