Wednesday, July 11, 2012

In the United Kingdom, radio personality Chris Moyles has announced his intention to stop presenting his breakfast show, The Chris Moyles Show, on BBC Radio 1 in September of this year, having presented it since January 2004. Nick Grimshaw, who is currently a late-night presenter at the radio station, has been appointed as his replacement.

Moyles, who presents Channel 4 game show Chris Moyles’ Quiz Night, broke the record for the longest-running breakfast show on Radio 1 in September 2009, surpassing Tony Blackburn’s record from September 1967 to June 1973. The Chris Moyles Show has also achieved two Sony Awards. Moyles hosted an edition of his show in March 2011, lasting for 52 hours, which raised £2.4 million for British charity Comic Relief. It was at the time the longest radio broadcast ever. From September of this year, Moyles is to portray the role of Herod in a UK tour of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Jesus Christ Superstar.

In July 2011, Moyles had signed a BBC contract, worth a million pounds, to allow him to continue presenting his show until January 2014. According to The Guardian, Greg James had been widely anticipated to take Moyles’ position after his departure. Moyles said his position was “his dream job” and one he had “wanted since I was a child … I know some kids want to be a professional footballer or a fireman but not me, I’m a geek and I wanted to be on the radio and I wanted the biggest radio show you could get and eventually I got it.”

Moyles, who has referred to himself as the ‘saviour of Radio 1’, wished to “give [the listeners] a heads up and tell [them] that we are going to wrap it up” on his show. In a speech, Moyles said he has had “the best time of [his] life” and spoke of his belief that “it’s almost time to go, and so we’re off. I just wanted to let you know. A couple more months of us and then it’s someone else’s turn to have a go, so thanks for listening and I hope you stay with us until the end because I promise it’s going to be brilliant.”

BBC Radio 1 controller Ben Cooper considered Moyles to be “the most successful breakfast show host in Radio 1 history” and described him as “fantastic”. Grimshaw said that he “love[s] Chris and have always looked up to him as one of the best broadcasters ever”.

In contrast, Daily Mail columnist Paul Connolly criticised Moyles, calling him a “cultural barbarian” who “assault[s] our eardrums with drivel” and describing him as “deliberately, determinedly yobbish”. There have been numerous occasions when Moyles has caused controversy, such as feeling the breasts of singer Melanie Brown live on air in June 2008 while providing a running commentary as he was doing so. After his appearance on BBC television programme Who Do You Think You Are? in January 2009, he remarked: “[U]nlike a lot of the Who Do You Think You Are? shows I didn’t go to Auschwitz. Pretty much everyone goes there whether or not they’re Jewish. They just seem to pass through there on their way to Florida.” This caused the BBC to state in response: “[W]e regret that on this occasion his comments were misjudged and we are speaking to Chris and his team about them.”

Moyles said in a May 2006 programme: “I don’t want that [ringtone], it’s gay”, prompting accusations of homophobia. In his defence, the corporation explained “the word ‘gay’, in addition to being used to mean ‘homosexual’ or ‘carefree’, was often now used to mean ‘lame’ or ‘rubbish’.” The LGBT charity Stonewall subsequently awarded Moyles ‘Bully of the Year’ at their award ceremony that year. The Guardian also quoted him as saying in November 2006: “Yeah, I’m homophobic, I don’t like the gays. Sorry, it just does my head in.”

Cooper has reportedly been placed under pressure to try and decrease the age demographic of the audience of Radio 1. Having been told that the station should attempt to broadcast primarily to individuals aged between 15 and 29 by a BBC Trust review in 2009, a separate review by the body in June 2012 found that too many of its listeners were over the age of 30.

Recent figures have suggested BBC Radio 2 breakfast show host Chris Evans is more popular than Moyles’ programme. RAJAR statistics for the latest period indicate that Evans’ programme received a peak of 9.2 million listeners every week on average while The Chris Moyles Show achieved a figure of 7.1 million at the same time. During the same period last year, Moyles’ show was getting an audience of approximately 7.5 million.

Grimshaw, who is one of the presenters of youth programming block T4 on Channel 4, commented he was “super-excited to be hosting the iconic Radio 1 Breakfast Show, it’s been a dream of mine since the age of 11 and to be honest it hasn’t really sunk in yet.” Cooper describes Grimshaw as a “great broadcaster with a passion for music and a mischievous sense of humour, which has made him a hit with our listeners” and believes he will be an “excellent” replacement for Moyles, “bringing a new generation of listeners with him.”

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Lloyd Helferty is running for the Green Party of Ontario in the Ontario provincial election, in the Thornhill riding. Wikinews’ Nick Moreau interviewed him regarding his values, his experience, and his campaign.

Stay tuned for further interviews; every candidate from every party is eligible, and will be contacted. Expect interviews from Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, New Democratic Party members, Ontario Greens, as well as members from the Family Coalition, Freedom, Communist, Libertarian, and Confederation of Regions parties, as well as independents.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

File:Bbcr2electricpromslogo.jpg

The BBC have announced they are to axe annual music festival Electric Proms from their schedule for financial reasons. The festival first took place in October 2006. The 2011 event will not go ahead, with last year’s festival being the last.

Bob Shennan, controller of BBC Radio 2, said he was “disappointed” with the decision to cancel the festival. He said “In the current climate, we are faced with making difficult decisions, including how best to deliver high-quality live music programming throughout the year in light of continuing efficiency savings. I feel that Radio 2 can achieve the same impact of the Electric Proms in an alternative, more cost-effective way. I’m disappointed that the lifetime of Electric Proms has come to an end, but very proud of its fantastically rewarding run of creating new moments in music for the past five years.”

During the festival’s five year run it has featured performances from stars such as Elton John, Neil Diamond, and Shirley Bassey.

The decision to axe the festival comes at a time when the BBC are planning a 20% savings cut. Last week BBC director general Mark Thompson announced 650 job losses after dropping five languages from the BBC World Service.

Sunday, August 28, 2005

A Tuesday service cutoff deadline in the United States for tens of thousands of VoIP customers who failed to reply to a service limitation notification from their provider was extended by 30 days, to September 28. In an FCC mandate, VoIP providers such as Time Warner Cable, Vonage and Verizon, were to send notice to customers asking them acknowledge the possible limitations of E911 access and to keep a record of their replies.

Specifically, the FCC mandated that VoIP providers must advise subscribers of the circumstances under which E911 service may not be available, and distribute stickers or other appropriate labels with a warning that E911 service may be limited or not available, and instruct the subscriber to place them on or near the equipment used in conjunction with the service. Lastly, the provider is to obtain and keep a record of affirmative acknowledgement by every subscriber, both new and existing.

A significant number of VoIP customers did not reply to the warning letter. This led the Voice on the Net Coalition, with House Representative Bart Gordon (D-TN) and Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) and other lawmakers to write FCC Chairman Kevin Martin with their concerns. For some customers, it was feared that if the VoIP service was ended, they would have no phone service.

The E911 system allows emergency operators to link a caller’s physical location with the phone used to dial for help. Conventional phones have had that capability for years, but not all VoIP providers have the technology for such a system in place. Cell phone companies are also struggling to upgrade their products for E911 capability.

VoIP use reported by the TeleGeography Research Group showed strong customer growth during the second quarter of this year. Subscribers increased nearly 40 percent over the first quarter, from roughly 1.9 million to 2.7 million.

Users of VoIP seem far from scared off by concerns over E911 connectivity despite findings that indicate the majority are interested in it as a primary phone line replacement. “To get [VoIP telephony], you’ve got to have a broadband connection, that means you’re a reasonably affluent consumer, you’ve got a cell phone, you’ve got some sort of backup plan in place,” said Stephan Beckert, an analyst for TeleGeography. “There was a group that said they would not get it because of the problems with E911. But there was a surprisingly large core group that really didn’t worry about it.”

April 9, 2005

A rise in flesh-eating staph infections has worried doctors about the possible spread of drug resistant bacteria.

Staphylococcus aureus, commonly known as staph, is a bacteria that commonly causes skin infections in otherwise healthy people. However, as a persistent threat in hospitals, it tends to infect patients who are already sick and whose systems are vulnerable due to IV lines that pierce the skin. Doctors have already battled for years against drug-resistant strains of the bacteria, but the struggle has generally been confined to hospitals.

Now, however, Methicillin Resistant Staph Aureus (MRSA) has been spreading in communities outside hospitals. Cases have multiplied by 25 times since 1998 at the University of Chicago. A Los Angeles hospital documented 14 cases of the flesh-eating infection, where patients required substantial time in intensive care and surgery. The infections are particularly problematic because nearly a quarter of people who get a staph infection require hospitalization.

Staph infections are spread much like other diseases, with crowded conditions, poor hygiene, and skin-to-skin contact most frequently to blame. At higher risk are prison inmates, homeless people, military personnel, and families with kids in day care. Athletes also have a higher risk, because sweating makes it easier for bacteria to infect the skin.