BBC Backstage 2009 Rain Ashford, technologist BBC Research & development

1. BBC Backstage 2009Rain Ashford, technologistBBC Research & development

2. Backstage is run by… Ian Forrester in Manchester Rain Ashford in London

3. What is Backstage and what go we get up to? • the BBC’s developer network • encourage & support UK developers • a license similar to CC non-commercial • champion ‘open culture’ around the BBC, releasing data, feeds & APIs • a community

4. We’ve a new and improved Backstage website/blog: http://welcomebackstage.com Blog now allows comments – we’d love to hear your feedback!

5. Idea Store http://ideas.welcomebackstage.com/ideatorrent/ If you’ve got a great idea for re-using BBC content – share it! You can: vote, comment comment, get help and watch ideas grow!

6. Open Lab – a sister site for Backstagehttp://backstage.bbc.co.uk/openlab/ For teachers, learners, students, developers - anyone with an idea for a learning resource wanting to develop it into a prototype.

7. BBC Micro for the 21st Century The recent 25th anniversary of the BBC Micro set us thinking about what it would take to create something as amazing today.

8. BBC Micro: a bit of background… • in the 80's BBC Education the "BBC Computer Literacy Project” was started in response to a BBC documentary called "The Mighty Micro” • BBC approached Sinclair, Dragon, Acorn & others, but the Acorn Proton came out as best • although the BBC Micro was quite expensive compared to the Spectrum and the Commodore 64, 1.5 million Micros were sold and also 400,000 books • Appeared in schools all over the UK from 1982 • 4 ‘BBC’ models (Model A, B, B+64 and B+128) 8 later (Master & Archemedies • built-in ROM-resident BBC BASIC programming language

9. BBC Micro: fast forward to the twentyfirstcentury • recent 25th anniversary of the BBC Micro • stats indicate CompSci course applications are dwindling • UK is becoming a services nation rather than building products for its consumers • how we can and should handle vast amounts of data if we don’t own, understand or have access to the systems that control it? • How do we get people to become interested in the fundamentals of computing and hardware rather than just accepting the consumer goods?

10. BBC Micro: stuff to get excited about! • better time than ever to get access to free resources and tutorials • culture of throwaway tech means lots to pull apart & play with • mash-up culture means getting into electronics /coding much more *ahem* socially acceptable • Arduinos, motors, sensors and other kit are easily availble • Homebrew gaming: Pandora, GP2x, etc • groups like dorkbot & events such as Maker Faire taking off

11. Maker Faire UK, Newcastlehttp://bbcweatherbot.blogspot.com/ The first Maker Faire came to the UK in March, we took demos to show & did some hardware hacking of our own.

12. So what did we get up to at Maker Faire UK?http://bbcweatherbot.blogspot.com/ • we built an RFID Weatherbot • ran workshops on the work of Backstage & talked around idead for a BBC Micro for the 21st Century • put on demos of our Virtual Steadycam, audio visualisation & open source multitouch • we filmed the event • made new friends in the hardware hacking community

13. How and why did we build the Weatherbot?http://bbcweatherbot.blogspot.com/ • created a system that moves around a large map, identifies locations and checks the weather in real world locations • wanted to demonstrate rapid prototyping power of arduino • fun for kids to play with • enthuse young & not so young to get tinkering with microcontrollers

14. R&DTVhttp://ftp.kw.bbc.co.uk/backstage/index.whtml A monthly technology programme pilot made up of interviews from BBC project experts & experts from around the world.

15. What’s R&DTV?http://ftp.kw.bbc.co.uk/backstage/index.whtml • a pilot programme , looking at interesting technology stories from people working inside and outside the BBC • collaboration between Backstage & RAD teams • designed to be sharable, remixable and redistributable - released under a Creative Commons Attribution (Non-Commercial) license • we’re looking at various codecs & releasing video in lots of different formats: OggTheora, Matroska, AVI, Flash, MOV and more to come • looking at distribution methods • we want this to help shape how the BBC makes and encodes content This is my camera kit ^^^ 

16. So what do you get with R&DTV?http://ftp.kw.bbc.co.uk/backstage/index.whtml • a brief 5 minute video, containing all the very best bits • a longer 30 minute video, containing deeper conversations • the Asset Bundle, containing (nearly) everything we used and didn't use to make the videos • for you to remix, use in your own edits or just experiment with • they’re also on Blip, YouTube, Pirate Bay & BitTorrent • Please let us know what you use them for 

17. R&DTVhttp://ftp.kw.bbc.co.uk/backstage/index.whtml We’ve had a few hiccups as part of the learning process, but some good feedback – look out for the next one at the end of May!

18. Homura Games Development Tool & Frameworkhttp://java.cms.livjm.ac.uk/homura/index.php BBC R&D Have been working with John Moores University on Homura, an open source games engine – the code is now available!

19. What is Homura?http://java.cms.livjm.ac.uk/homura/index.php • a suite of Java-based software and assets specifically for developing high-end 3D games & playful media apps • provides all the necessary tools to develop 3D game-like applications that the user downloads and plays/runs by clicking on a url on a web page • consists of: an Integrated Development Environment (IDE); a set of middleware libraries, collectively known as a `game engine'; and additional software and content that implement example applications

20. Why use Homura?http://java.cms.livjm.ac.uk/homura/index.php • free • simple and fast to useg • uses a graphical interface for may tasks • interesting features such as shading plus scope to add features such as streaming • licenced under LGPL3 (Lesser General Public License) & Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0 for distributed artwork and media assets

21. Feeds Hubhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/radiolabs/2009/04/introducing_bbc_feeds_hub.shtml • Feeds Hub is one of the BBC’s new projects focusing on registering, reusing and reversioning data feeds • It is an open-source project that aims to share its solutions publicly. BBC Audio & Music Interactive will be working with our FM&T colleagues, an independent development company called LShift, and the wider Open Source community to create this new technology • Watch Backstage & BBC blogs for news

22. Backstage sponsorship of events Backstage are not putting on any large events this year, but instead sponsoring many smaller events around the country such as Makers and Hackers, Thinking Digital, Futuresonic and more.

23. Backstage Developer focused podcastshttp://welcomebackstage.com/ We’re looking at cross company podcasts and will soon be looking for people who’d like to be part of it!

24. Open Hack 2009 rough n ready feeds for you to play with!http://mammoth.welcomebackstage.com/exist/rest/feeds/twitter.com/usershttp://mammoth.welcomebackstage.com/exist/rest/ws/ http://mammoth.welcomebackstage.com/exist/rest/ws/persian/story/2009/01/090111_shr_princeharry.xml • access to a database • World Service stories • use URL bar to navigate • BBC 300 official Twitter profiles & status • it’s not finished yet, but we’re building it as we go along • it’s not too neat & tidy  • there’s not search option just copy & paste to find stuff • all RESTful • explore and have fun!

25. Thanks! To find out more or get in touch: http://welcomebackstage.com/ Follow us on Twitter: @bbc_backstage rain.ashford@bbc.co.uk