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The NICAM Codec replacement project

bbc.co.uk

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Re: The NICAM Codec replacement project

#81

Post by lnanek2 »

dtf wrote: post #73
acheron wrote: post #17

Really interesting article, but terrible clickbaity title. I wouldn't have read it if there weren't so many positive comments on HN already. It could work if there were a subtitle. "35 million people didn’t notice a thing: BBC Radio's NICAM Codec replacement project". I dunno. But it is (or should be) very important that the title actually informs you as to what the article is about. "35M people didn't notice a thing…

Apologies for that, I submitted this and did actually go looking for the HN title guidelines, which seemed to say use the original title. I'll try to be a little braver with title editing in future.

Even if you post a more informative title, the mods of HN will change it back to the original site title. It has happened countless times and is pretty much the site policy. The claim is that is prevents posters from making click-bait titles to gain karma, although in this case the original is the click bait.

So anyway, no, you did the only thing you could do. Anything else would have been degraded to the current information value by mods anyway.

Re: The NICAM Codec replacement project

#82

Post by SilasX »

inanutshellus wrote: post #75
SilasX wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, the HN title should be more like "Changing the NICAM radio transmission protocol without 35 million people noticing."

I came here (directly to the comments section) to see what the clickbait-title actually meant. Thanks for fulfilling! ;-)

Yep. For me, at least half of the value of an article comes from the (external) internet discussions about it, which summarize key points and weaknesses much better than the author is able to.

Re: The NICAM Codec replacement project

#83

Post by rs999gti »

acheron wrote: post #17

Really interesting article, but terrible clickbaity title. I wouldn't have read it if there weren't so many positive comments on HN already. It could work if there were a subtitle. "35 million people didn’t notice a thing: BBC Radio's NICAM Codec replacement project". I dunno. But it is (or should be) very important that the title actually informs you as to what the article is about. "35M people didn't notice a thing…

> but terrible clickbaity title.

I don't know about that. The clickbait title did its job well and we all clicked on the link and read the article.

Re: The NICAM Codec replacement project

#84

Post by jsprogrammer »

SilasX wrote: post #68
acheron wrote: post #17

Really interesting article, but terrible clickbaity title. I wouldn't have read it if there weren't so many positive comments on HN already. It could work if there were a subtitle. "35 million people didn’t notice a thing: BBC Radio's NICAM Codec replacement project". I dunno. But it is (or should be) very important that the title actually informs you as to what the article is about. "35M people didn't notice a thing…

Yeah, the HN title should be more like "Changing the NICAM radio transmission protocol without 35 million people noticing."

I don't think the protocol was actually changed. The article just describes an equipment swap.

Re: The NICAM Codec replacement project

#85

Post by SilasX »

jsprogrammer wrote: post #84
SilasX wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, the HN title should be more like "Changing the NICAM radio transmission protocol without 35 million people noticing."

I don't think the protocol was actually changed. The article just describes an equipment swap.

I think you're right; when skimming, I read the following section, which made it sound like they were updating it to send additional metadata, based on their mentions of the "codecs" and how they "will" allow radios to do useful things with the metadata. Also, I'm used to codec meaning "software program", not "machine".

>>The NICAM distribution system also carries the RDS data. This will enable the radio in your car to automatically retune when you can get a better signal from a different transmitter. It will also display the station name (for example “Radio 1”) and the current song name (for example “Now Playing: Coming With You by Ne-Yo”). RDS will also indicate when a travel announcement is being made on BBC local radio so that a radio can switch to the travel announcement at the right time.

Re: The NICAM Codec replacement project

#86

Post by jameshart »

newjersey wrote: post #80
vidarh wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Both sides of the political spectrum regularly complains about the BBC being biased towards the other side. It's the best evidence that whatever bias there is either is minor or short-lived. In my eyes, the biggest problem with the BBC isn't bias, but that they're terrified of seeming too biased, and as a result they're wishy-washy in ways that ironically makes them seem biased. E.g. the left will accuse them of bein…

There was a comment here a few months ago which mentioned a term. I have forgotten the term since but it effectively described a situation where an expert in subject matter foo reads an article about foo in a well-regarded news source (like say the Economist) which is either pretty incorrect or pretty biased and then the subject matter expert goes "wow they know nothing about foo" and then turns the page and reads ab…

It's called the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect, a name coined by Michael Crichton: http://paul.kedrosky.com/archives/2011/07/the-gell-mann-amne...

Re: The NICAM Codec replacement project

#87

Post by dang »

dtf wrote: post #73
acheron wrote: post #17

Really interesting article, but terrible clickbaity title. I wouldn't have read it if there weren't so many positive comments on HN already. It could work if there were a subtitle. "35 million people didn’t notice a thing: BBC Radio's NICAM Codec replacement project". I dunno. But it is (or should be) very important that the title actually informs you as to what the article is about. "35M people didn't notice a thing…

Apologies for that, I submitted this and did actually go looking for the HN title guidelines, which seemed to say use the original title. I'll try to be a little braver with title editing in future.

The guidelines say to use the original title unless it is misleading or linkbait. In this case it was linkbait, so a change was in order.

We've changed it to what the article says it is about in the second sentence.

Re: The NICAM Codec replacement project

#89

Post by flapjackdan »

Piskvorrr wrote: post #76
jon-wood wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The smart metres that are being rolled out at the moment have a remote kill switch, although it couldn't really be used to implement rolling blackouts as you have to physically hit a button to reactivate it.

That's a DoS waiting to happen, IMNSHO. If it's easy to transmit on the frequency locally at low power and there's no auth, a drive around the neighborhood could create a blackout at anyone's demand.

At least in the UK, smart meters don't use radio-based time switching as they have their own clocks which are synchronized with their remote system. All commands to these smart meters (including the ability to remotely disconnect them) are cryptographically protected to ensure integrity and authenticity, and also have anti-replay protections.

Disclaimer: I've worked for a smart metering manufacturer.

Re: The NICAM Codec replacement project

#90

Post by msh »

elbigbad wrote: post #39
TeMPOraL wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It has been claimed that a literal radio silence of BBC could cause a nuclear strike. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Radio_4 (C-f nuclear)

Here's the article it links to, pretty interesting in and of itself: http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchest... "Secret orders to the captains [of the nuclear subs] say that these deadly instructions are to be opened and acted upon only if the submarine cannot tune in to Radio 4’s Today programme for a given number of consecutive days. That is a reliable sign that Britain has been hit by a nuclea…

Que new James Bond plot, the bad guy disables radio 4 to launch nuclear armageddon - Bond in race against time to find the spare parts needed to restore the radio.
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