Two bits of BBC trouble to deal with…

Firstly, the weather. They’ve come along with a flashy new 3D system, and people don’t like it. Notably, The Times continued its downhill slide by dedicating half of its front page to the story, and launching one if it’s much-advertised debates on the subject. The Guardian have a more balanced, but nevertheless critical piece.

Personally, I feel that I can see what the Beeb have tried to do, but the system seems poorly thought through. It is very difficult to see the progression of the weather for more northerly parts of the UK, and that is simply undeniable. The different shades of colour on the map are sometimes quite confusing, too, particularly when they decide that they’ll use a darker shade to represent cloud but then insist on making the whole map darker to represent night time. That said, it’s clearly a more accurate forecast than the old system, as I can actually see what the weather will be doing where I am, as opposed to where the symbols happen to be. With a little more thought, it could be a fantastic system, but I think somebody needs to do some tweaking.

Secondly, the strike. It’s looking like there will be no Newsnight on Monday, which is disappointing. Goodness only knows what’ll happen to News 24, if they can’t even manage to put out a 50 minute analysis programme. It’s certainly going to make for an interesting day.