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Television Software Media Linux Technology

BBC Launches Linux Powered Weather Format 214

Posted by Zonk from the penguins-in-the-sky-with-diamonds dept.
nzkaha writes "BBC launches new weather format using Weatherscape XT. This may be one of the higher profile deployments of Linux based systems. Weatherscape XT supplies weather graphics for all UK BBC channels plus the BBC World Service. The system relies completely on openGL graphics and there are demonstration clips of the system in use at Metra.info . Developed in NZ by MetService as a cross platform system for Linux, OS X and Windows, the BBC solution has been deployed on Linux with MySQL DB. Data is replicated to remote studios and displayed live by the Weatherscape application using Nvidia Graphics and drivers. Future deployment options will depend on customer choice and platform support."
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BBC Launches Linux Powered Weather Format More

BBC Launches Linux Powered Weather Format

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  • news credits (Score:5, Interesting)

    by maharg ( 182366 ) on Sunday May 29, 2005 @02:44AM (#12668527) Homepage Journal
    a linux system also renders the red+black graphical intro to bbc news. there are many linux systems in use at the beeb. why so surprised ?
    • Because thats what slashdot does? Some times it's nice to just hear the DIN of linux acceptance.
      • Sure, I was just a bit irked by the assertion that This may be one of the higher profile deployments of Linux based systems - it's surely not ! google, anyone ?

    • Re:news credits (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Oen_Seneg ( 673357 )
      In the good old days BBC news intros/studios were totally rendered by SGI machines, we had the proper BBC crest at the start of news, a decent news fanfare and not an apocalyptic remix of the Greenwich Time Signal (see the Apocalypse BBC video here from Bill Bailey here [bill-bailey.co.uk]) and we had a VR studio and not the pathetic "we have our newsroom in the background with people yelling at each other/their computers/their office chairs to distract your attention from the real news." studio layout.

      The new weather is an a
      • I loved that VR-studio. The design was very clean and there was nu clutter to distract your eyes from the news. The studio seemed very big (all in VR offcourse) which made it look very prestegious. This virtual space also allowed dramatic camera-movements.
        The one thing I hate about most "modern" studio"s is the abundant use of plasma-sceens. These things are NEVER aligned properly with the rest of the design. I hate it. It's just more distracting clutter. Especially when they do live-interventions on these
    • "The Gnoth-eastern cold front is pushing this Kloud front into our area... it's gonna be Kold enough for the penguins folks! Be sure to wear your Red Hats tomorrow."

      "Have a Sun-ny day! I'm Richard Stallman, and now for Mac Sports... take it away, Steve!"

  • not all that great... (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 29, 2005 @02:46AM (#12668531)
    ... even the BBC have admitted that they have had hundreds of complaints about the look of the new service already. They had to tweak it once already because the north of England, and Scotland, were disproportionately small.

    People preferred the old format because it was clearer, didn't swoop around, and conveyed all the relevant information quickly and effectively. This new system is unnecessarily complicated and confusing.
    • The system was originally developed for One News here in NZ (as I recall), we've had it on that news for many years now. I've never liked it because it's mostly pointless pretty graphics that don't present the weather information in as nice nor concise a format as simple 2D maps. It all boils down to stupid 3D animations of little clouds moving across 3D maps of cities and countries as the day progresses.
      • When Google Weather (beta) finally goes live, they will present it it four dimensions. For a lot of folks, the internet is actually a vast improvement over cable "local on the 8's" and the 3D stuff will die its own death if it does not actually add info. I agree that the floating clouds are not instructive. Pointless must be a Kiwi euphonism for useless...
        • Pointless must be a Kiwi euphonism for useless...

          No, pointless is standard English for without purpose. No Kiwi about it, and no euphony [princeton.edu] either, although the idea is amusing.

          Surely you have heard, or asked, "What is the point of...?"

          PS The word is euphemism.
        • When Google Weather (beta) finally goes live, they will present it it four dimensions.

          That should be terribly useful for people planning to picnic in tesseracts.

    • Re:not all that great... (Score:3, Interesting)

      by call ( 185833 )
      Agreed on all fronts (ha!), but I'll also raise the somewhat embarrassing point that on the few times I've actually seen the new style forecast, the frame rate of the display has been apalling, appearing incredibly jerky. That can't possibly have been more than 12 frames per second.

      This is _not_ going to be good press for Linux...
    • Great, now we'll all hear that Linux thinks Scotland is smaller than it really is.

    • Re:not all that great... (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Ronald Dumsfeld ( 723277 ) on Sunday May 29, 2005 @05:30AM (#12668861)
      ... even the BBC have admitted that they have had hundreds of complaints...
      No surprise there.

      The new "service" has been introduced on BBC World as well as in the UK. It looks horrible. It might be good if you're a climate scientist and want to watch animations of weather patterns. As far as I'm concerned, it's absolutely bloody useless for delivering information about the weather.

      I really couldn't care less what they're running it on, the end result is that the Beeb is presenting something that emulates CNN Weather [cnn.com].

      Oh, and the Forecast Cafe [bbc.co.uk] has some entertaining discussion.
      • No surprise there.

        Unless things stay exactly the same forever someone will complain (especially retired colnels in the Home Counties). Of course if they stay the same, someone will complain.

    • Isn't part of the reason Scotland looks so small to viewers because they're used to the traditional Mercator projection, which makes things further north look bigger?

      Now that they've switched to a 3D globe representation, that distortion has been lost.
    • ... the online aviation forecasts. Proper maps, and more detail - just pick the TAF for your nearest airfield.
    • People preferred the old format because it was clearer

      To be fair, a cloud with raindrops beneath it and the sun edging round from the side which sat over most of central Scotland was never entirely clear either. What it said was: "Anything could happen." This was more representative of weather forecasting of days gone by, but it's constantly improving.

      I've seen the new style, and I've watched with interest as the rain moves across the landscape. Yes, it still says anything could happen ;) But it says i
    • Not at all! The old system was completely rubbish! A small picture of the country that always had a couple of suns and a couple of clouds planted over it at odd places no-where useful.

      The new system shows the areas where rain is expected.

      It would be greatly improved by better use of colour though, instead of making the entire country beige. Perhaps they were complaining about how PAL and NTSC have lower resolution in chroma than luma, but the relief can still be done in luma so I think it could be made t

      • Agreed - you can actually properly visualise where the different weather areas are, and it shows how it changes throughout the day with patches of rain moving and changing shape etc. Much better than some vague cloud symbol that covers almost the area of wales leaving you guessing about which symbol applies to what area you're in.
    • Statisticians invent convenient graphical representations of data such as pie charts and column charts. Technologists "improve" on them by adding drop shadows and perspective views that dont' carry any data, but make things harder to read if you're actually interested in the data. Users enthusisatically embrace the new, inferior versions, and add do them by commiting aesthetic atrocities with color.

      Cartographers spend centuries creating a vast toolbox of methods for representing the surface of the Earth

    • Re:not all that great... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by draevil ( 598113 ) on Sunday May 29, 2005 @09:39AM (#12669554)
      "People preferred the old format because it [...] didn't swoop around"

      This is a crtical point that I think sheds some light on the whole fiasco. Far be it from /. to burst the ego of the BBC weather presenting team but I feel that an awful lot of people got their weather information without actually listening all that much to the presenter.

      In the old system people would focus on the informative map in the background and pick up on the weather in their area. They'd tune in and out of what the presenter was saying as they talked about the UK weather, maybe picking up on something if they mentioned a place name near them or they said something of general importance. For the most part though, people would study the wind speed, temperature, front position and cloud cover for their area.

      With the new style system, they've basically forced everyone to pay attention to them as they take the map on a stomach churning ride around the UK at a speed that doesn't allow most people to get any appreciation of the weather in their area. If you tune in too late to the report you'll have missed your chance to hear about the weather in your area at all.

      Most disconcertingly, the camera only seems to stay still for a couple of seconds. For those that haven't seen it yet, imagine that the camera was on a piece of elastic. As it reaches its maximum extension near, say, Cornwall it slows...comes to a stop...then accelerates away.

      That's pretty much the way they've set it up so far.

      The astonishingly London-centric decision to set the camera angle such that viewers have to strain to even read the temperature in the north of the UK was just profoundly stupid. I think what was most disturbing was the way that they didn't seem to even understand what people were complaining about. I used to feel sorry for the BBC being shipped up in some numbers to Manchester (and I still think it'll all end in tears/yet more wasted license payers money) but now I'm not so sure that it isn't the right thing to do.

      That's just a small overview of a few of the problems with the approach. Makes you worry about where the Beeb is really heading....

  • DIY Weather Channel (Score:5, Interesting)

    by CommanderNacho ( 887836 ) on Sunday May 29, 2005 @02:46AM (#12668534)
    Why use web based Weather feeds when you can pick the data off the satellite's directly???

    Connect a 137-138MHz FM communications receiver or scanner to your soundcard and get colour images directly from overhead weather satellites. You can either build your own like I did or just buy a receiver.

    For an explanation try:
    http://www.emgola.cz/www_fa/meteosat_englisch_how [emgola.cz]. html

    and for a great tool: http://www.wxtoimg.com/ [wxtoimg.com]
    • How long is this still going to work?
      Everywhere around us we see the old-fashioned analog communication services being shut down and replaced by new digital systems with access control. Even in situations where there is no real need, encryption is used because it is easy in a digital system.

      • Re:DIY Weather Channel (Score:4, Informative)

        by ColaMan ( 37550 ) on Sunday May 29, 2005 @04:11AM (#12668718) Journal
        The 137MHz transmissions are due to be phased out after the next NOAA satellite launch. So, it'll probably be good until 2010-2015 when the satellite being launched now gets phased out (or it's APT system fails).
        Note that while there are only 2 active NOAA satellites, there's normally two older satellites still transmitting in backup duty.

        After 2010 or so the HRPT (High resolution picture transmission) digital system will be the only system in use, which requires a tracking antenna and a digital reciever at 1700MHz. The HRPT signal is not encrypted though, and does give better resolution (1x1km vs 4x4km) and more image channels (5 instead of 2)
    • Why use web based Weather feeds when you can pick the data off the satellite's directly???

      Why spend time on all that when you can use a web based weather feed? ;)
    • Because a real full weather feed has data and images from multiple satellites, over a large footprint and requires more than a 1MHz (or 1Mbps) of bandwidth.

      Since I am not located in the Meteosat's footprint, I don't know off-hand what it provides, but I strongly suspect that it's best products are not avilable via 137-138MHz downlink. You most likely only get the poor quality WEFAX (WEather FAX) images.

      Needless to say, you can DIY a simple downlink if you want to directly get weather data but it is not a

  • Controversial (Score:5, Interesting)

    by rokzy ( 687636 ) on Sunday May 29, 2005 @02:47AM (#12668536)
    the beeb's new weather graphics have been controversial. a lot of people don't like the dark muddy colours. plus Scotland was really pissed because the way the map was angled meant you could hardly see it. this has now been changed, but the new map still doesn't show wind direcion or isobars.

    from the few times I've seen it I haven't been impressed. it looks like a nice virtual atlas, but I never seem to come away with any actual info from it.

    never mind, nowadays I get my weather from the OSX Dashboard widget.
    • This 'dumbed-down' format is quite popular elsewhere. However many of us still like our isobars, and feel that the fancy graphics is displaing real information.
      • Auntie said she'll be bringing the isobars back in once people are used to the new format. Most of the debate is just people having to get used to a new way of visualising the information.
        • Personally, I was brought up on old style charts and found them quite useful. Having followed a number of outdoor activities such as sailing, hiking and now MTBing, weather was always of extreme practical interest.

          The problem is that the newer charts are good, but almost to realistic leading you to think that a rain storm will cross overhead at 15:00. Even now weather is about probabilities and too much precision can be misleading.

          The only good thing about the format is that it does mix well with some

  • Oh great, Linux weather. I was quite pleased with Microsoft's pleasant Blue Sky of Death.

  • Two questions. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by djdanlib ( 732853 ) on Sunday May 29, 2005 @02:51AM (#12668546) Homepage
    Why is 2D insufficient? I much prefer the non-distorted 2D weather map, even if it means I don't get to see as much area. That's usually ok.

    2D seems much more precise. Where are all those raindrops falling? You can't tell from a still image.

    • There have been a lot of complaints about this (Score:5, Informative)

      by Master Of Ninja ( 521917 ) on Sunday May 29, 2005 @03:37AM (#12668647)
      The BBC have got a lot of complaints about this. They recently had to tilt the map some more as the angle was such that northern England and Scotland were too small. The shadows and falling rain are quite difficult to exactly pin point, and apparently can't be distinguished by the colour blind. And the fishermen are complaining that the old wind directions and what not aren't replicated on this. So while it looks good it hasn't replicated the functionality of the old 2D maps, which IMHO are better.

      See here on the BBC News site for more comments [bbc.co.uk].

      (PS - Go Liverpool for the cup)

    • Re:Two questions. (Score:2, Insightful)

      by t_allardyce ( 48447 )
      Because the the lowest common denominator can't understand anything thats not in 3D, I think they should have 2 separate forecasts, one would be the classic decent forecast and the other would be the totally dumbed down forecast with bikini weather girls and the 3D map would be on the virtual floor so they would have to bend over to point, the 3D rain would be replaced by real rain from carefully controlled nozels so that if it was going to rain you would still have the consolation of seeing the weather gir
    • Where are all those raindrops falling?

      You think the forecasters know? I've lost count of the number of times recently that the forecast has said rain and it's held off, or vice versa...
    • Why is 2D insufficient? I much prefer the non-distorted 2D weather map, even if it means I don't get to see as much area. That's usually ok.

      It's an extra "D", man. You gotta crank it up to 3! Doesn't your area have a TV station with the graphical "weather car" that "drives" you across the state? I hear their competitors are working on 5D.

      Just think of it as the PowerPoint generation coming of age. Yes, it is a total waste of time, and, yes, 2D makes a clearer graphic. But hey.....
  • If they put it out on the internet, is that considered piracy because the US wants private industry to charge for the same service?
  • It's always 72 degrees, humid, partly cloudy fluorescent and (perhaps) stinky in said ecosystem.

  • That's MetService... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Snad ( 719864 ) <mspaceNO@SPAMbigfoot.com> on Sunday May 29, 2005 @02:59AM (#12668562)

    ... not MetaService.

    You know, met as in meteorological, as in that wet stuff we tend to call weather in New Zealand.

    There were a lot of complaints when they started using it on TV in New Zealand too, but now everybody's pretty much used to it. Really it was just an attempt to make the "boring weather bit" on the nightly news into something a bit more interesting from a visual point of view.

  • The new graphics sure are pretty and I love to see Linux deployed, but it's now not possible to enterpret the map.

    The graphics move constantly, so by the time you've looked in the corner to see that the map is talking about mid-day on tuesday, the map has moved again. Also, the forecasts no longer include important information like isobars or wind speeds.

  • a cross platform system for Linux, OSX and Windows

    I'm so glad there is finally some software out there that caters to everyone! I'm very happy with my Windows 3.1, and now that Trumpet Winsock is out the Internet is finally easy to access!

  • For a moment I thought it said: "Linux Powered Weather Front". I didn't know that Linux was capable of running the World Wide Weather. :)
  • Weatherscape application using Nvidia Graphics and drivers.

    This could encourage ATI to get off their ass and release some decent drivers for Linux.
    • ATI doesn't have a thing to worry about. the NVidia drivers may be superior, but they are a royal pain in the ass to install, especially on Debian based distributions.

      Spending two days trying to hunt down the kernel sources, kernel patches etc. just so the installer can compile a kernel module that still won't be recognised by the system, is not my idea of a smooth install.
      • Don't know what trouble you're having there. I've installed the nvidia drivers on several different machines with different distributions. All you have to do is download the .run file, and run it as root. As long as you have the kernel source or headers in /usr/src/linux it usually works fine. You shouldn't need any patches as long as you aren't running 2.6.9 with that nasty kswapd bug.
      • NVidia drivers on Debian aren't so bad once you know the dance steps. Just go by the following recipe.

        If you are running Ubuntu then:

        apt-get install linux-restricted-modules-(your running kernel) nvidia-glx

        will also take care of you with no need to compile the kernel driver. Otherwise do the following:

        apt-get install (kernel-headers that match your running kernel) nvidia-kernel-common debhelper dh-make

        apt-cache search `uname -r` will spit out the header package you need.

        If you are running a custom ke
        • Thanks for that. I'm running a knoppix (cebit ed.) HD install, so getting the exact kernel source has proved to be difficult.

          Turns out that the kernel module had the wrong kernel version name (2.6.11.1 instead of 2.6.11).

          Editing version.h in the kernel source did the trick . (bit of a dirty hack, I know, but it seems to be running fine.)

  • Waiting for .ogg (Score:3, Interesting)

    by bogaboga ( 793279 ) on Sunday May 29, 2005 @04:33AM (#12668757)
    This development is good for Linux and the BBC but I am waiting for the BBC to put up broadcast streams in the ogg theora format. How can we put some kind of pressure on them?

    For those in the know; is it true that for a company like the BBC, adding another format like OGG considerably takes resources and time? If this is the case, slashdotters in the UK could volunteer valuable time and intellectual capital.

    • The problem is legal, not technical.
      They ran ogg streams of a few radio shows and stations for quite sometime, but had to pull them in the end.
      It's not their fault, because unlike their news coverage (for example), the music they broadcast isn't their property. There is also the fact that the beeb doesn't work as one big company, different "divisions" have to pay other "divisions" for services.
    • Well they already use Real Player format which now supports Vorbis and, I think, Theroa on the server side. I guess they would face the following issues...

      1) Speex isn't implemented by Real Producer/Server/Player yet so it is only good for broadband where the Vorbis codec can be used. The narrow-band streams need 8kbps audio streams.

      2) Users need to have a recent version of Real Player. They probably have enough problems trying to get people to use Real Player at all with Microsoft constantly trying to cu
      • 4) They are about to make thousands of employees redundant. This is probably not a good time to ask for more resources.

        I'm not sure this is a valid point... one of the reasons given is so that they focus on more modern services... such as online streaming I guess.
    • They won't, because Theora is too patented. They're developing their own open format called Dirac, it's up on sourceforge [sf.net] if you want to help out

      • They won't, because Theora is too patented.

        Haven't the VP3 patents that cover Theora been licensed for free use for any purpose by any person as a condition of getting the tech into Theora?

  • NHK [nhk.or.jp] (Japanese public TV) tried using a 3D weather map something like this--not spherical, but an angled view of the archipelago--on their nightly news program for about a year, then it disappeared. They didn't give any explanation, at least as far as I know, but from personal experience I assume it was because (1) it was harder to read/interpret than the regular 2D map and (2) the camera shook like crazy whenever they panned across it (it looked like they were panning across some sort of bluefield and putt
  • You must remember that this solution searching for a use has come out of the country which has turned the business of dumbing-down TV into a supreme art form. This is animation is just one of the symptoms of pandering to the supposed needs of that sector of the population which is thought to be unable to differentiate an isobar from an icecream.

  • NZ Version (Score:5, Informative)

    by kumachan ( 618013 ) on Sunday May 29, 2005 @05:02AM (#12668810)
    The NZ version is used on TV 1 and TV 3 here.

    People have mentioned a lack of isobars, wind direction, strength, muddy colours etc.

    On our version we get an isobar map first, which shows the bars changing, fronts coming through etc. Then a broad sweep over the country showing weather effects like cloud/rain + temperature/wind info overlayed by town.
    Then a close up on the major centres (6 are shown).
    The weather is very nice showing what the temperature will go down to tonight, in the morning, and afternoon.

    Perhaps the BBC is doing something different and leaving out some of the info we see here. That would be their decision.

    As for the muddy colour of the map. Perhaps the British should wake up and realise that their green-and-pleasant land isn't a vibrant shade of green any more. AFAIK it uses true colour satillite images of the landscape. So that mud colour is what your country looks like.
    • AFAIK it uses true colour satillite images of the landscape. So that mud colour is what your country looks like.

      Maybe on your version it does, but this [epsaweb.org] is a satellite image of the UK. OK, so its not all green, but the majority is.

      The brown colour was apparently chosen for clarity, as it provides more contrast for the overlay of the graphics. This is necessary because they show cloud just by a shadow on the map (no cloud pictures).

    • Not Quite the same (Score:3, Informative)

      by sgidude ( 538156 )
      Same Name maybe, everything else is totally differrent, TVNZ's was running on an IndigoII MaxImpact until last week, when it switched to Linux also.
      The big difference is the code base & design philosophy.
      The TVNZ one is the original & alot older ( '96 written ), based on a web UI, using perl scripts to start up & trigger events ( unix signals ) & hand drawn regions for clouds, able to be tweaked every hour, generally every 6, then interpolated in real time. It also is tightly coupled data

  • Pity it's shit (Score:3, Informative)

    by nagora ( 177841 ) on Sunday May 29, 2005 @05:26AM (#12668851)
    A weather map with no wind or isobars? For an island nation? What moron thought of that?

    TWW

  • Great Technology - badly implemented (Score:3, Informative)

    by SHiFTY1000 ( 522432 ) on Sunday May 29, 2005 @05:32AM (#12668869) Homepage
    The 3D animated weather map has been hugely successful in New Zeland, it is very clear and shows what the weather will be like as the day goes on, complete with cloud, rain and wind (and sun!). It is far, far more useful than a static map.

    It is also very reliable, I can only remember a few times when it failed to work properly, mainly due to poor operators rather than a machine crashing.

    The BBC has done a terrible job of it- they have made Britain a dull brown colour, (its is quite a green and pleasant land outside London!) the animation is hard to follow and they don't show clouds- just their shadows.

    They are about to fine tune it tomorrow from the feedback they have received, so we'll see what they come up with. In any case its a vast improvement from the "sunny, with some rain" forecasts of old...
  • I'm quite under the weather about it. Just because technology makes something possible, does not always mean it is a good idea. 1) It looks ugly 2) I find it less informative 3) It distracts from the weatherman's tie - or the weathergirl's dress - those traditionally being the most interesting features of the forecast.

    In my case, I fly hang gliders and I sail. The BBC has said that "isobars will still be shown where helpful to viewers". Which viewers? I need the isobars shown every time. I feel like paradi
    • If you fly (I fly power planes and gliders) the TV weather has *never* been adequate. Use the Met Office's web site instead, it's free and it has proper aviation weather (METAR/TAFs, rainfall radar etc.) Also, for gliding, look at NOAA's READY website (http://www.arl.noaa.gov/ready/cmet.html [noaa.gov]) which has soundings for the entire world (I find the Skew-T diagrams very useful for determining what kind of soaring day we'll have).

      TV weather doesn't even tell you where the cloud bases are going to be or what the

  • Heh (Score:5, Funny)

    by NanoGator ( 522640 ) on Sunday May 29, 2005 @06:11AM (#12668951) Homepage Journal
    "BBC Launches Linux Powered Weather Format"

    Linux users rejoice at finally knowing what the weather's like outside!
  • In its never-ending drive for improved "efficiency", the BBC Television weather service has just drastically cut the quality of presentation by deciding to drop the standard weather symbols they have used for ages.

    Now instead of that they are using cheap-looking fly-over views of Britain generated from a weirdly chosen vantage point somewhere over North Africa(!) which has the effect of making Scotland look tiny in the view compared to the south of England.

    Even worse, they now use animated rain drops w

    • making Scotland look tiny in the view compared to the south of England.

      But it is tiny, in terms of number of viewers. There must be four times as many viewers in the south of england as in scotland, why should scots get more of the screenspace (or more of the tax money, or more of the members of parliament) than those in the south?

      :ducks:

  • Not a project to trumpet involvement with (Score:3, Informative)

    by Ferrolux ( 700657 ) on Sunday May 29, 2005 @06:47AM (#12669010)
    The recasting of the weather forecast has been a deeply disheartening experience. For those not familiar with the problems of the new (linux powered! I would keep quiet about that if I were an linux advocate) forecast -

    (1) Even by its own criteria it does not work well. In terms of presenting information it is a disaster. Masterfully clear and concise icons evolved over decades have been ditched for a series of children's animations that manage to be both impenetrable and suggestive of absurd accuracy at the same time.

    (2) Worse though is the BBC's retreat from providing an informative and educational forecast. Over decades skilled forecaster-presenters subtlety explained synoptic charts and the large scale weather story so that the UK weather - and the uncertainty in that forecast - was skillfully conveyed. This meant that you were never in dark - rain not arrived by lunchtime? the front must have slowed, it will be along later.

    Now there is no structure or intelligence to the forecast - it is a goldfish view of the weather. One result of this was that, regardless of education, many could make a basic interpretation of isobars, etc: quite possibly the only scientific chart they would encounter. I am not sure that losing this literacy is a good thing.

    And why have they done all this? It is a puzzle: the bbc web page condenses the rationale to "Today's media industry is like a shark, either you keep moving forward or you are dead in the water.". Perhaps the weather forecast, previously a high point of the BBC's output - has been handed over those who design programme idents and trailers.
  • This may be one of the higher profile deployments of Linux based systems.

    Good lord, I thought we'd made more progress than that!

    (In truth, we have. Linux is running lots of critical systems, and people know this.)

    • Just because linux is running lots of critical systems doesn't make it high profile. High profile means that people are aware of it. Most people don't care to know the specifics behind critical systems, usually such things become high profile only after something has gone wrong.
  • There has been a similar trend here in Kansas to try to make the weather "sexier" by having meaningless 3D animations.

    Let's face it - weather is usually BORING, and can usually be summed up in very few words: "It was sunny and hot today. Tomorrow will be sunny and hot at first, with the possibility of storms in the evening. Over the next week it will probably be sunny and hot, with possible storms in the evenings, until midweek, when it may rain."

    However, since "news" is no longer news but infotainment, t
    • Let's face it - weather is usually BORING, and can usually be summed up in very few words: "It was sunny and hot today. Tomorrow will be sunny and hot at first, with the possibility of storms in the evening. Over the next week it will probably be sunny and hot, with possible storms in the evenings, until midweek, when it may rain."

      In Kansas, maybe that's true... in the UK, you really can't expect the weather to stay the same for more than a few hours at a time.

      Of course over there you get the occasion

      • Actually, the saying around here is "If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes" - the weather can change from 35C and sunny to 10C and storming like hell in 30 minutes.

        However, *normally* the weather is such that the average Kansas is just as able to predict it as the meteorologists on TV for all that matters - what will happen in the next couple of hours.
        And as for our signature piece - again, any Kansas can look at the skys and say either "No immediate threat" or "Uhhhh....", and most of us have s [google.com]
    • Let's face it - weather is usually BORING ... It was sunny and hot today
      Where I live, the weather is sometimes described as "sultry with a chance of a shower".
  • ... I will switch back to Windows immediately!

    Seriously, I have not met a single person with a single good thing to say about the new-look weather at the BBC.

    For a couple of years, I've been silently congratulating the BBC for their clear, no-nonsense style when all around (ITV, yes, I'm talking about you) were changing to stupid, over-detailed, animated rubbish.

    Looks like I should have been less silent about it.

    As far as I can tell, the new maps are the product of someone at the BBC graphics department

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