gareth bouch :: stuff & things

The Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup is superb – well worth catching up on if you don’t know too much about it. It’s effectively a feeder series for the higher MotoGP classes, and always provides some cracking action featuring excellent Brit talent like Danny Kent (Check out this iTunes link for video podcasts of last season’s races) and although the 2010 season itself will be underway before too long, the organisers are already looking ahead towards the selection process for the 2011 championship, and applications are now open for the 2010 Selection Process.

As the level of the Rookies Cup has got higher and higher the organisers have had to make the selection process ever more stringent. The competition to get into the Rookies Cup has become as intense as the Cup itself so they are now giving it a well deserved title: “Road to Rookies Cup”.
The Road starts with the online application through the website at www.redbullrookiescup.com

Applicants will fill in a good deal of information about themselves and their motorcycle experience. Once accepted onto the Road they will send in their competition results through the 2010 season to further inform the Selection Panel about their progress during the year. The top performers on the Road to Rookies Cup will be featured in a special section on the Rookies Cup website so that everyone can see who is likely to be invited to the Selection Event, planned for early October.

The very best of the riders who take the Road to Rookies Cup will be invited to that crucially important Selection Event and this year the Selection Panel will have more information than ever before about the prospective Rookies to make sure that the future World Champions get a chance to prove themselves in the 2011 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup.

So if you have your heart set on Grand Prix stardom – or of course if you know someone who could be ideal material for this championship, then get on the case now…

A couple of days ago I got sent a link from an old colleague in newspapers which horrified me for a couple of reasons…
It was for a Facebook campaign to boycott the Hull Daily Mail, and the more I looked at what they were up to the more disgusted I was, because 1 – I used to work for the HDM and held it in high regard and look back on my time there with great affection, and 2 – because I’m a web designer who knows how hard it is to keep afloat these days.

The Hull Daily Mail is essentially campaigning against a guy called Paul Smith who runs a local community newspaper online called HU17.net and is – without actually making any kind of genuine charge or accusation – simply calling him unfit for this. He has a past in building websites in the ‘adult’ (that’s posh for ‘porn’) industry – though he apparently only owns some hundred or so domains, which seems slightly at odds with the Hull Daily Mail’s shrill accusation that he’s responsible for “thousands” of hardcore porn websites (which would surely make him a lot wealthier and busier). But, as I say, no actual charge of any actual wrongdoing or illegal activity. Just smear and innuendo.

Also they do something very very disturbing and very very distasteful. They mention as a complete non-sequitur that this news website about Beverley publishes pictures of… wait for it… “junior sports fixtures”… Can you see what they did there? Yep – they say he’s a porn monger and then they cannily throw in that phrase. They’re not insinuating anything of course. No, no, no… They’re just saying… “JUNIOR SPORTS FIXTURES”… nudge nudge.
I was genuinely gobsmacked when I read those words. That barely passes as innuendo, and surely can’t have been okayed by a lawyer.

Now it may be that this guy *has* done something wrong – but I for one cannot see any evidence of this and the Hull Daily Mail don’t seem willing to publish anything to that effect. They seem happy to pursue what appears to be a bullying policy of harassment against a competitor.
Oh yes – a competitor – that’s the other side to this story. The Hull Daily Mail doesn’t mention anywhere that it’s doing a smear campaign against someone who’s basically doing the same kind of business as them, and on the same turf. And that’s kind of important.
Comments on the Hull Daily Mail website and also on the Press Gazette website seem to be unanimous in seeing this hateful campaign as nothing more than a shitty, ill-judged and quite despicable vendetta for commercial reasons. Comments on the HDM site have today been suspended and the masses and masses of comments forming a backlash on the previous articles have been removed.

The paper claims – in Press Gazette – that it is acting in “the public interest” – whereas there’s nothing to suggest that it is doing that at all. If they have allegations about Paul Smith and his works or his past then they should make them, and/or speak with the police.
However if what the Hull Daily Mail are saying is that it is in the public interest that somebody who does work for sleazy adult/porno services has no right to be doing online sites (and online sites that contain pictures of “junior sports fixtures” ahem) then fair enough – so long as they close their websites until they cease running advertisements for euphemistic “massage” and “escort” services, which are simply adult and sleazy. The Hull Daily Mail is throwing stones from its own sewer of a glass house.

They seem to have no legal case or direction on this, and certainly they have no moral compass whatsoever, so one hopes that if there is no *legal* here that they will get off their high horse, apologise (in as prominent a size and position as their gutter-press vilifications) and back down.
If not, then I hope this is as massive a PR and commercial disaster for them as it looks like being.

Here is where you can find out more about this whole sad sorry saga… and more here…
Please find out more about this and make up your own mind.
And if you’re as sickened as me then make waves.

Frog malformed by pollution – lifted from The Guardian.

There’s a really good programme on Radio4 weekdays at 9.45am – “A History of the World in 100 Objects” – a superb series that’s following the development of civilization by analysing historical artefacts.
They reflect all kinds of aspects of humanity – intellectual, artistic, cultural, economic… and are done an object a day. Do listen.
Or of course you can catch up with what you’ve missed on the Radio4 website here, as part of the overall “History of the World” section of the site.
You can also catch up and follow the series by subscribing to the podcasts here on iTunes

Formula One car liveries haven’t been up to much in recent years. They’ve barely improved – if at all – since Motormouth’s 2006 review, and certainly the Brawn GP livery; last year’s championship winner let’s remember, was a shocker. Absolutely pitiful.

Some good signs as we head into 2010 however, with Red Bull (one of the honourable exceptions usually) and McLaren joined by a beautifully warm yellow Renault (nodding right back to their first days in F1 in the late 70s and early 80s – although it’s also strangely reminiscent of the Jordan B&H “Buzzin Hornets” livery), a definitely more attractive Ferrari, and a return to the grid for “British Racing Green” all over the bodywork of new entrants Lotus (although there’s a certain degree of irony here as the team’s Malaysian owned).
Have a look at the pics, they’re very reassuring… cleaner, leaner bodywork, simpler colour schemes, and more differeniated branding.

Let’s hope the racing is of the same quality…

I always knew that the allegations that James Cameron’s “Avatar” was lifted from some Russian sci-fi was a load of old tosh.
Now, as the attached image clearly shows, it is put beyond argument that those allegations are completely false.
Thanks to Rob for forwarding.

I could have written something on the day of the iPad launch but I couldn’t really be arsed.
I was busy, everyone was talking about it anyway, and most of the talk was either pro or anti hysteria.
My thoughts at the time haven’t really changed though, and reflecting on how things are gradually moving ahead with the iPad, I thought I should get round to writing them down…

The hype – there was a lot. Seriously. Rolling news channels, all kinds of online sites, newspapers and magazines. And offline. Someone was going to be disappointed. Lots of people actually. Mainly those who were either daft enough to expect something impossibly miraculous, or those who were cynical enough to want the launch to be an anti-climax.
Was there too much hype? Yep – certainly in terms of justifying the actual specific product as it stood on the day. HOWEVER, and it’s a very big however – I can’t help but think that in a few short years that hype *will* be felt to be justified. And everybody will have forgotten about the exact iPad on the launch day. The hype won’t be justified by what the iPad was on that day but by what it became over the following months and years.
And there’s a very good parallel / precedent.
Two in fact…

Say hello to the iPod and the iPhone.

It may be lost in the mists of time now, but these devices – and the impact they’ve made on the world sociologically and technologically (which is immense, let’s be honest) were both launched with a certain degree of hype (particularly the iPhone); and hype which was also criticised as being over the top.
The iPod didn’t have a huge amount of coverage when the very first model was launched – and not many people went moist over it (me aside, of course) and there was a definite vibe of “people only get excited cos it’s Apple – it just another MP3 player”.
And in a sense they were right. And in a sense that’s exactly what’s so important. The development of the iPod, its interface and specifications and capabilities – and most crucially iTunes *did* change everything. Okay so there’s still music piracy; only an idiot would expect that to magically cease – but there’s also shedloads of commerce, and movies and TV shows and games. And iTunes has probably done untold good (and damage limitation) to the record labels and the music industry.

The first iPhone was launched to far greater hype than the first iPod. And again there were naysayers and cynics – and a new line of “people only get excited cos it’s Apple – it just another smartphone”. And again – on day one, it wasn’t all that it could be. There was room for improvement. And there still is. But only an imbecile would still label it as “just another smartphone” or genuinely not understand the impact it’s had on the mobile industry.
Again, through hardware and software revisions, and through the associated iTunes ecosystem (now stretching to applications) the way they have changed the mobile industry, and have changed the world’s expectations of what happens next in the way of a convergence of different types of device, interface and functionality.

And that’s where I think the iPad will prove to be a third incarnation of the same kind of pattern. I reckon that in time – 2 or years? 2 or 3 generations of device on? – the hype *will* seem worth it. And it’ll be because not only will the device and its OS have been refined and developed, but there will be a vast ecosystem of content either available to or specifically for the iPad. I don’t think that it’s unreasonable for the device to end up revolutionising the position and potential of the publishing industry in the same way that the iPod (through iTunes) did for the music industry. There’s almost endless content out there, from books through magazines to newspapers that can be redefined for experiencing in a new way through such a new device; and much of publishing – particularly in news – is desperate to make money in a way that they have so far singularly failed to do online.

The iPad explicitly isn’t just another Kindle, and it explicitly isn’t just another tablet – the idea of bringing what they’ve learnt from the user interface of the iPhone rather than the desktop metaphor of OSX is exactly the place to start (note *START*). Much as I love OSX I don’t simply want it on another shaped device – I want Apple (and trust Apple) to deliver the right user experience for the right hardware. And they will.
I’m guessing that in a few years’ time the iPad will – like the iPod and iPhone before it – become a paradigm for a particular mode of content consumption. And creation – let’s not forget the tasty looking version of iWork already prepped.

So while some may have decried the hype as overdone, or suggested that the iPad “isn’t all that”, it’s not that they’re entirely wrong. They’re just missing the point. The launch is just the beginning and those who have an eye on the past of Apple’s previous ‘i’ devices know how the future is likely to pan out.

Something I was working on quite intensively throughout December has finally come to fruition, with the Teletext Holidays iPhone application becoming available in the iTunes App Store.

Working closely with software development gurus Vivorum.com I designed the interface and sorted all the graphic and branding elements, and have to say I’m mighty happy with the result.
The interface is a very cool purple glossy experience, totally square with the brand’s “art of less” philosophy and has beautiful slick usability touches, such as swiping from deal to deal with a flick of the finger and a nifty “Saved” function whereby you can store off holiday deals (from the daily updates) to review later. Each deal also contains a handy button that instantly uses the iPhone to call the travel agent.
And each time the user launches the application they get a different inspirational image and brand message.

It’s a really nice piece of work, and it was a great experience working closely with Teletext and Virorum on it. I reckon it’s a huge and healthy jump in Teletext’s delivery and continues to move them from ‘analogue’ to very very very ‘digital’. And for me, an enthusiastic iPhone user, it was a revelation to get deep and dirty into imagining and delivering a completely new kind of user experience for a famous UK brand about which people tend to have very firm preconceptions.

There’s an info page on the application here – and the iTunes App Store link is here.
It’s a free download, and a great way to scout around for your next holiday deal.

Fab news for anybody attending the Scott Redding Appeal Fundraiser Event. As the day approaches – this coming Saturday January 16th (see the Scott Redding 2010 Event page for full details) – It’s been announced that another young British star and close friend of Scott’s, Danny Webb (shown in the pic on the left, with Scott on the right), will be at the event – so you can actually meet both of the guys. Don’t miss out on a rare chance to say Hello to another great up and coming MotoGP talent.

Full details of the event, options for buying event tickets and making online donations, and updates on all work by the Scott Redding Supporters Club can be found at ScottRedding2010.com

Silicon Alley Insider has some choice snippets, apparently from someone who’s actually seen the forthcoming Apple ‘tablet’ / ’slate’ device – about one of its (many) great mysteries… what it’s Operating System is going to look like. Is it iPhone-ish? It is OSX-ish? Is it a hybrid? How do you use it? What’s the interface metaphor and control paradigm?
Well apparently the best we’re going to get for now are…
• “It’s pretty.”
• “The UI has a good bit of new sexy to it.”
• “It’s a big iPhone, but it’s not just a big iPhone.”
Helpful, eh…?

Oh, and here, if you’re interested in the device, are a few artists impressions drawn from across the interweb of what it MIGHT be like (according to the voices in their heads). Some nice bits of ideas in there, but you kind of know the real thing is still going to exceed pretty much any expectations.
Roll on the end of January.

Very cool and leftfield design puzzle thing by the excellent Londonist.
If you’re having trouble working out what the “elements” actually are, then there’s clues, discussions and answers here…
Enjoy.

artvinyl.com – a company specialising in display systems for album covers – has just announced the winner of the 2009 Best Cover award. Industry experts produce a liast of 50 nominations which are then voted on by the public. It’s good that the art of the album cover isn’t dead in the age of downloads, given that it’s such a tangible, physical thing – something currently on my mind with the recent post on the aesthetics of “Avatar” and the album artwork of Roger Dean – and a good choice for this year’s winner; “The Resistance” by Muse.
You can see all 50 nominations at artvinyl.com

I’ve just finished up a couple of wildly different books that have kept me occupied over the Christmas break.
The first is the autobiography of footballer Fernando Torres, “El Niño” – possibly a surprise choice for anyone who knows me pretty well given that soccer isn’t really the centre of my world. The reason I picked it was that I’d had a number of emails and messages sent to my El Canto Del Loco website from Liverpool supporters saying that they’d been checking out the band because of it being mentioned in the Torres book; not a surprise perhaps, given the friendship of Torres with ECDL’s singer Dani Martin (and his cameo appearance in the promo video for “Ya Nada Volvera A Ser Como Antes”).

It’s been a thoroughly good, if easy read. In fact, surprisingly easy – not too heavy on match stats and the like – stuff that’s a powerful anaesthetic for me when it comes to football I have to admit – but more a genuine autobiography in that it feels very much about the man himself. It’s a journey, geographical and emotional from Madrid to Liverpool – and also a seemingly heartfelt love letter to the fans of both Atletico Madrid and Liverpool; two tribes that he feels are from exactly the same mould in many ways.
Torres comes across as someone who’s perfectly aware of his gifts and yet admirably modest and genuine, and someone who values where he comes from and those who helped get him to where he is.
Also it has to be said that the book is beautifully designed for something so ‘mainstream’ – and for an autobiography. Lovely spreads, great use of space, typography, grids and image texturing. I could get into this soccer lark!

The other book couldn’t be more different: “The Suspicions of Mr Whicher” by Kate Summerscale, which is very much a documentary account of perhaps the definitive and original “country house murder”. It is an amazing account; extraordinary in its scope and detail, a work borne of incredibly deep research that could easily have turned out dry and drab, and yet comes over as nothing short of a page-turner.
Full of atmosphere like a Wilkie Collins novel – not surprising as the case of Road Hill House influenced him in writing “The Moonstone”, it’s a grim and disturbing mystery of child murder and a dysfunctional Victorian family with dark secrets, and also an account of the birth/emergence of the detective as the centre of an investigation and the centre of attention – of the genesis of criminal investigation as a science, and of the explosion of the media’s fascination with crime and trials.

It’s fascinating to see how things have changed – how crime scenes are investigated, how evidence is gathered and treated, the timescales over how events unfurl, and the politics of local and metropolitan forces in handling media interest and public appetite.
A genuinely interesting historical study, and at the same time a gripping and creepy murder story.
Brilliant for curling up with in the warm with a bottle of the red stuff…