Sometimes, the ad-banner database has no heart.

CBC.ca’s banner ads are dropped on the page by a database, not a human. Sometimes, I think the computer should have been mandated to the internal Respect workshops.

Hat tip to Truro NS web designer Daniel MacDonald who spotted this and took a screenshot.

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  Bloopers, CBC.ca web site Posted at 1:15 pm (03 Jan 2008)



At least it wasn’t you: TV News Bloopers

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  Bloopers Posted at 2:30 am (31 Oct 2007)



The Case of the Unfortunate Art Placement

Is it just me, or does anyone else find it odd that the artwork hanging outside CBC Vancouver’s Regional Operations Centre (note the expensive signage) is of a hand unplugging some kind of connection? (Or, I suppose, if you’re not an under-caffeinated grouch like me, perhaps it’s plugging it in…)

     

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  Bloopers, Vancouver Posted at 12:03 pm (29 Oct 2007)



Teh Catpioning Errers

Would someone please tell the live closed-captioning people that Susan Bonner’s surname has two Ns in it. CC spelled it with only one N throughout the lead-up to the Throne Speech the other day. Amusing as it was…. (Think about it…)  ;-)

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  Asides, Bloopers Posted at 3:44 pm (18 Oct 2007)



The Perils of Clipart

Nope, those aren’t CBC employees on the CBC’s human resources intranet page…

Unless, of course, Microsoft hired them right after the CBC shoot was done…

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  Bloopers, Human Resources, The Odd File Posted at 1:07 pm (21 Aug 2007)



“He’s running… running… and!…” {click}

Scott Moore, CBC’s relatively new head of CBC sports, ate a bit of Saskatchewan humble pie yesterday, after after football fans outside Saskatchewan were not shown the conclusion of Saturday’s Roughriders-Edmonton Eskimos game.

Looks like a comedy of errors had it in for the broadcast.

First, it was delayed nearly an hour after a lightning strike knocked out power and phone lines to Mosaic Stadium and the CBC’s broadcast truck. Edmonton was ahead 32-27 when the lights went out.

That’s when goof #2 happened: Someone in the CBC programming department decided to switched to a Nick Nolte [ed: of all actors] movie. When the power finally came back on, only viewers in Saskatchewan got to see the final 13 minutes when the Riders scored 12 points.

And finally, Moore said he turned his cell phone off that night (and, having recently moved, nobody at CBC had his landline number) so technicians couldn’t reach him to make a decision on broadcasting.

CBC will rebroadcast the final quarter of the game across Canada early Monday morning — starting at 12:30 a.m. local time.

(Some newspaper commentators said the incident was reminiscent of 1968′s so-called Heidi Bowl. U.S. football fans were outraged that year when they missed the last 65 seconds of a New York Jets-Oakland Raiders NFL game after NBC switched to a made-for-TV Heidi movie.)

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  Bloopers, CFL on CBC Posted at 10:53 pm (20 Aug 2007)



“Do not apply for this job.”

There was a funny job posting on the CBC job board Friday:

National Reporter / Reporter national (not a real job – don’t apply) -CAL00120

On a continuing and regular basis, performs reporting and editorial assignments for radio, television, or other media which involve the gathering, writing and presentation of information related to national and international issues, the Parliament of Canada, and regional issues judged to be of national import. Work adheres to CBC journalistic and programming policies, standards and practices. General direction is provided but there is a high expectation for initiative and independent judgement. Work regularly requires the co-ordination of the activities of others.

I guess they were testing the system?

Anyway, the listing has been taken down. In case, you know, you wanted to not apply for it. :-)

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  Bloopers, Getting a Job, The Odd File Posted at 2:16 pm (11 Aug 2007)



Maybe DaletPlus needs some annual leave?

One of my first jobs as a journalist was working for a small newspaper on the Sunshine Coast of B.C. (Just up the road from The Beachcombers’ famous Molly’s Reach, actually.) Computer layout software had just been invented and was quite buggy. Every couple of hours or so, it would pop up a blank dialog box — the only thing in the box was an “OK” button.

We called it the Sanity Checker. It was like the program was concerned about us — “Are you okay?”  “Yes, thank you for checking in again. I’m ok.” Click. Then we could go back to work.

Seems DaletPlus has a funny little bug that’s similar. You probably won’t see it unless you’re an administrator, since it’s not in the regular users’

Pierre-Hugues Pelletier in Desktop Radio Support in Montreal noticed it this morning:

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  Bloopers, Workstations and Desktops Posted at 11:20 am (03 Aug 2007)



Spider spins web… on CBC web cam!

A spider has taken up residence outside the CBC.ca webcam this week. A spider has spun a web smack-dab in front of the CBC.ca webcam in St. John’s.

The spider, which has been on the scene since at least this weekend, has spun a web that measures about a metre long, outside the window where the webcam is anchored.

The webcam is pointed at the Prince Philip Parkway and the north side of Memorial University’s campus.

On Tuesday, a second, smaller spider spun its web nearby. A number of flies — which look like specks of dust on the webcam screen — dot the two webs.

The larger spider has attracted enough interest for CBC Radio’s Ted Blades to solicit possible names from his listeners. Early suggestions include famous spiders like Charlotte, the heroine of E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web, and Boris, the subject of the rumbling 1966 Who song Boris the Spider.

Text from cbc.ca

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  Bloopers, Maritimes & Nwfld. Posted at 2:42 pm (24 Jul 2007)



Unfortunate screen cap of the week

On the front page of CBC.ca, you can see a screen capture from the online video being featured. This screencap is automated; the site just picks a frame from the video and throws it up there.

Usually, the video is of a talking head so it’s fine.

Every once in a while, though, something like this shadow-puppet scene happens.

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  Bloopers, CBC.ca web site, The Odd File Posted at 7:53 am (12 Jun 2007)



Freestyle extended — What should the replacement show be called

CBC Radio’s new daily arts show, hosted by Jian Ghomeshi, will launch on April 16, according to radio veep Jane Chalmers. (In the meantime, Freestyle will be extended.)

Mark O’Neill has been hired as Executive Producer of the show. Mark has had a distinguished career at CBC Radio and was most recently Executive Producer of Radio One on Sirius, and prior to this he led the Toronto afternoon show, Here and Now. Mark also has a long history in the arts as an arts reporter and producer.

Problem is, the Jian show still doesn’t have a name. It’s a daily show that covers the arts in Canada. So, any ideas for a name for the show?

The Arts Tonight, Freestyle and Between the Covers will remain on the air until April 16. All of the other changes to Radio One that were announced, including the launch of the one-hour version of Dispatches, will happen March 19.

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  , Bloopers Posted at 4:03 pm (22 Feb 2007)



The Case of the Duelling Billboard Logos

This is what happens when a big media company has a division that sells billboard ads. Oops.
     What’s especially ironic about that is that the creation of CBC came out of CBS moving into Canada back in the 30s. Thus the formation of the CRBC. And now history’s repeating itself. [More on the CBC's beginnings.] Thanks to Don Adams from the CBC Museum for tipping me off to this!

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  Bloopers, Marketing/Promotion Posted at 5:01 pm (18 Dec 2006)



Reporter body-checks drunk bystander during live hit

Can anyone identify? What’s your worst experience with members of the public while doing a live report?

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  Bloopers Posted at 1:45 pm (20 Nov 2006)



CBC.ca web site scaled back because of technical glitch

Trivia time! Select the right reason that the CBC.ca web site is currently down.

a. George Stroumboulopoulos’ skit on the Geminis this weekend generated an enormous amount of traffic from curious Welsh people and furious Greek people.
b. The Prime Minister’s office has a “Kill It” switch installed to bring down the site any time Stephen Harper is mentioned on the site.
c. The system is having a difficult time reading from a network drive.
d. The site isn’t actually down. It just failed to reach an audience share of one million visitors and has been, er, postponed.

Answer: c

Blog reaction so far:

  • R. Ouimet (the real one) : “Actually, the ’scaled back’ version of CBC.CA is delightfully easier to use than the real thing. I say if this is broken, don’t fix it!”

  • A. Ouimet (the fake one): “Let’s all work together to get CBC.ca back online. In this spirit here are the instructions from my CBC.ca Troubleshooting Guide.”

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  Bloopers, CBC.ca web site, How Shows Work Posted at 12:01 pm (06 Nov 2006)



Host Training Tip #61

In the event your guests go off-topic, best to pull control back much, much quicker than when this guy (video) eventually tried to.

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  Asides, Bloopers Posted at 10:11 am (11 Aug 2006)

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