And by September! At least, according to the Telegraph, who says that the company is working out the terms of a deal that will open up streaming for over 3,000 hours of American content, as well as content from Channel 4 and ITV. That the Hulu content wall will come down is obviously great news, but that ITV and 4 will finally be moving to a decent VOD solution is exciting in its own right. [Telegraph]

(Via Gizmodo.)

Sensational Alex Harvey Band – Boston Tea Party

No, it is not April Fools day – yet. The British government is proposing that Twitter be taught in elementary schools as part of a wider push to make online communication and social media a permanent part of the UK’s education system.

And that’s not all. Kids will be taught blogging, podcasting and how to use Wikipedia alongside Maths, English and Science. The draft plans were due to be published next month, but have leaked early.

Children will also learn ‘fluency’ in keyboard skills, and how to use a spellchecker. Luckily they will still be taught how to spell themselves, rather than rely on Mr Clippy.

(Via TechCrunch.)

YouTube’s previous license with PRS for Music has expired, and the video-sharing site has been unable to reach a new agreement. YouTube has begun blocking access to music videos in the United Kingdom, citing prohibitive licensing terms demanded by PRS for Music, a group that collects music licensing fees on behalf of record labels.YouTube’s previous license with PRS for Music has expired, and the video-sharing site has been unable to reach an agreement with PRS for Music about appropriate licensing fees.

“We value the creativity of musicians and songwriters and have worked hard with rights-holders to generate significant online revenue for them and to respect copyright,” said Patrick Walker, YouTube’s director of video partnerships in Europe, Middle East, and Africa, in a blog post Monday. “But PRS is now asking us to pay many, many times more for our license than before.

“The costs are simply prohibitive for us — under PRS’s proposed terms we would lose significant amounts of money with every playback,” Walker continued. “In addition, PRS is unwilling to tell us what songs are included in the license they can provide so that we can identify those works on YouTube — that’s like asking a consumer to buy an unmarked CD without knowing what musicians are on it.”

PRS for Music expressed outrage at Google’s action, saying it had not requested that Google start blocking videos from the publishers it represents. It characterized Google’s actions as a desire to pay less than it used to pay rather than, as Google describes it, an objection to a price increase.

“Google has told us they are taking this step because they wish to pay significantly less than at present to the writers of the music on which their service relies, despite the massive increase in YouTube viewing,” the company said in a statement.

“We were shocked and disappointed to receive a call late this afternoon informing us of Google’s drastic action, which we believe only punishes British consumers and the songwriters whose interests we protect and represent,” said Steve Porter, the company’s CEO, in a statement.

Walker said that YouTube continues to work with PRS for Music to reach mutually agreeable terms for a new license. But until that happens, YouTube’s viewers in the United Kingdom won’t have access to videos claimed by major record labels.

(via InformationWeek)

“Our USA is known around the world as the most creative and productive of the 20th Century.  I am convinced that it has been our heritage of individual liberty that has made it possible for us to show the world how to provide abundant prosperity for all.

If each of us can just see the future as positive and act accordingly, we’ll be fine.  It is not helpful to dwell on the dire aspects of today’s “Hard Times”.

Think about how much better things are now compared to the way they were described by Charles Dickens in the 19th Century.”

God Bless,

Keith Burk
AKA: ‘AncientFool’
Website: keithburk.com

There’s nothing like a breaking news event to show off the usefulness of Twitter. Today large swathes of the UK were blanketed in snow, including London for the first time in 18 years (that’s global warming for ya folks). But the Twitter feeds and mashups came to the rescue of anyone wanting real-time updates about what was happening. One of the most useful was that provided by Ben Smith who built UK Trains Disruption Alerts which Tweets alerts for 25 UK train operators via travel news feeds provided by a project from the BBC called BBC Backstage). The more fanciful but interesting Twitter mashup came from Ben Marsh who coded the #UKsnow Mashup, pictured. This is a Google map which maps reports of snow from UK Twitterers. They simply Tweeted the #UKsnow hashtag, the first half of their postcode and a score out of 10 for their local snow cover. The resulting map did what a billion-dollar weather satellite, hampered by cloud cover, couldn’t – actually portray a reasonably accurate picture of what was happening on the ground.

(Via TechCrunch.)

Alex Harvey To Release Unreleased Album: “

The Sensational Alex Harvey Band are to release the album ‘Hot City’, 35 years after work finished on the album!

The record was to be released when the band finished work on it in 1974 but the group pulled the plug on the record after they didn’t like the production work from The Who and The Kinks knob-twiddler, Shel Talmy.

Most of the songs on ‘Hot City’ were reworked to make up The Impossible Dream in 1974.

‘Hot City’ will see release on March 30th.

(Via Classic Rock.)

Tornado Steam Train To Carry First Passengers From York to Newcastle In Maiden Voyage

Tornado Steam Train To Carry First Passengers From York In Newcastle In Maiden Voyage | Sky News — What a weird idea!
The Tornado is a new Peppercorn class A1 Pacific locomotive – a type scrapped in the 1960s when diesel trains were introduced. It has been built by the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust in Darlington

(Via Dvorak Uncensored.)

For those who don’t frequent watering holes, here’s news for you. A beer tube is a simple device that harnesses the power of gravity so that your brew will be dispensed in a jiffy. Fast pouring beer equals to fast drinking, and fast drinking normally translates to you being unable to walk in a straight line shortly thereafter. With the Beer Siren around, it makes sure the local bartender will remain sensitive to your thirst as it will alert the bar and everybody else in the room, as they start to whisper among themselves regarding the job you’re in which is so stressful that you need non-stop alcohol to cope with the situation. The Beer Siren will retail for $19 a pop.

(Via Ubergizmo.)