back to article Beeb reinstates teaboy in Pestogate scandal

Its fair play to the Beeb this morning as it appears to have brought the Pestogate image scandal to an end by giving El Reg a two-finger salute*: The BBC finally sticks its own photo on the piece Splendid. That's a BBC photo of a BBC building all right, and here for the record are some other photos of BBC buildings not by …

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  1. irish donkey
    FAIL

    Another Pisspoor story from the people

    That refuse to publish stories about ACTA in case their own prejudices gets exposed.

    1. Jerome 2
      Stop

      Woah, steady on there,,,

      ... let's not bring the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority into this.

      1. Witty username
        Coat

        hang on

        what have the Association of Cardiothoracic Anaesthetists ever done to you?

    2. It'sa Mea... Mario

      El Reg or the Beeb?

      Who are you reffering to?

    3. Loki23

      Reply to irish donkey

      They posted this recent column about ACTA here : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8011895.stm

      As a simple google would show (and a few more) - why don't you try their comments board instead of the Reg?

      1. irish donkey
        FAIL

        Sorry should have been clearer

        I was referring to el Reg not Auntie.

        Other IT website have been talking about the latest criticisms of the ACTA forum by non Freetards.

        Of which there hasn't been a mention of on El Reg. So its not that there hasn't been important news to talk about more El Reg doesn't want to talk about that news.

        The last article el Reg posted about ACTA was titled 'Software freetard demand axing of ACTA' and was clearly biased. A point which was picked up in the many comments.

        El Reg has obviously decided to stay away from controversial stories

        1. Trevor_Pott Gold badge
          Pint

          @Irish Donkey

          You know, I have to agree with you. I too wish there was more ACTA coverage around here. Andrew O writes the odd article, but I hardly consider him unbiased. It would be nice to have a few different viewpoints offered about what I personally think is one of the single most important topics not only as regards intellectual property (and thus IT,) but sovereignty issues, the nature of democracy and international politics.

          I’ll have to join in here and moan a bit about the lack of ACTA coverage ‘round these parts.

          In the meantime, I would like to direct you at Dr Michael Geist’s absolutely excellent blog (http://www.michaelgeist.ca/) which covers ACTA (amongst other copyright issues) in extraordinary depth.

          It should be pointed out that Ars Technica (http://arstechnica.com/) also has fantastic ACTA coverage. With the addition of Mary Jo Foley’s (http://www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft) excellent Microsoft Blog, you have Trevor Pott’s personal list of IT related “morning newspapers.”

          El Reg has the best all around and overall tech coverage; they most especially fantastic offer gadget, HPC and startup coverage in a balanced, critical and sometimes cynical view that I simply can’t find elsewhere on the net. Let us not also forget that bootnotes are grand; mocking stupid people can sometimes be a bit of a pick me up after a long day of dealing with users. (Does that make me a bad person?)

          Ars Technica offers a more balanced view on intellectual property issues, often attacking it from all points of any debate, though they are for all intents and purposes Apple apologists. I find their technical coverage a little lacking, but they make up for it in the absolutely phenomenal science coverage. The Nobel Intent section is heads and shoulders above anything found anywhere else on the net.

          Dr Geist’s blog is the most in dept source of intellectual property information I have found on the net that isn’t a legal website. So much so that even Ars often uses him as a source. He is fastidious about linking to his sources, and I consider him one of the premier researchers and authorities on the subject in the world.

          Mary Jo Foley is just plain all out awesome, her coverage of Microsoft is something I find critical to my job, as it helps me anticipate the great beast’s movements months if not years ahead of time. Since I still have a lot of Microsoft software deployed, this is great information. So good in fact that El Reg uses her for a source on a number of things.

          So there you have it; while I would love to say that my beloved Vulture Central covers everything, there is no tech website I have yet found that manages to do so. Certainly there is none that manages to cover every topic from a number of different angles and viewpoints so as to offer totally well rounded coverage. (The amount of wetware that would take is probably obscene.) Overall I think El Reg is probably the best out there…

          …but even this tech news multivitamin requires additional daily supplements.

          Hope that helps source some additional coverage!

    4. madferret
      Pint

      Who cares?

      'nuff said.

  2. Gianni Straniero
    Unhappy

    yeah, but no, but yeah

    Not wanting to piss on your fireworks or anything, Lester, but the image flip-flopping might have more to do with the comments on Peston's blog than your excellent, timely coverage of this saga.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/robertpeston/2010/06/bbc_removes_gold_plate_from_pe.html#P97766479

    1. Jolyon

      Bite my blue touchpaper

      It does link back to The Register from that image so . . .

      1. Gianni Straniero

        Ah...

        Hadn't spotted that. And the "two fingered salute" didn't have a footnote when I read the article.

  3. Code Monkey

    BBC changes photo on website

    Slow news day?

    This stopped being funny 2 stories ago.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    link back

    I love the fact the image on the bbc article now links back to el reg.

  5. Lionel Baden

    Lols had all round

    No ???

  6. hi_robb
    WTF?

    Why!!!

    When I goto the very article on the BBC and hover my pointer over the pic does it show a link back to el reg?

    This is using Chrome.

    Am I missing something here, or perhaps just being thick?

    D

    1. dogged

      Being thick

      Clearly, at least one of the Beeb's webmonkeys reads the Register.

      This is called "webmaster humour".

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    How not to save money

    Wouldn't they have had to pay for the publication of each photograph used irrespective of how long it appeared for? So instead of sticking with the original they had to pay three more times, once to PA, again to Getty and I suppose the BBC photo library has a different cost centre so once to them but nothing for the teaboy.

    1. Andrew_F

      How not to not save money

      No they wouldn't. As the BBC's "two-finger salute" alt text states, they don't pay per use; they have annual agreements with the agencies.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    How is that free?

    How is that a "free image" that you "found" on the internet? It's obvious that google holds the copyright to that image. This story has been a piss poor effort from the start.

  9. harryhedgehog
    FAIL

    a title

    What the hell has ACTA - Association of Cardiothoracic Anaesthetists got to do with it?

  10. LuMan
    Joke

    Hey!

    Look at the Thursday lunchtime pic. Have the BBC REALLY got a Bush House?? If so I wanna work there.

    Although I'd probably just fanny about all day while my co-workers beaver away on projects...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Troll

      Ho Ho

      I bet no one has thought of that one in the 70 years the beeb have been there!

      It's named after Irving T Bush of the Bush Terminal Company of New York, who opened a trade centre there in the 1920s.

    2. KayKay
      Happy

      Yes they do have a Bush House

      My Dad worked there for a while in the 70's. They ran the Foreign Service from there (ie shortwave broadcasts aimed at Iron Curtain countries). It was a hotbed of dissident emigres at the time. I don't know what they use it for now, apart from photo-ops.

  11. Lamont Cranston
    Unhappy

    The alt text is priceless:

    "The BBC's news and current affairs programmes and news website have annual agreements with AP, PA, AFP, Allsport and Getty Images for image use. This image has been changed six times at a cost to the licence-fee payer of a few pence in terms of man-hours, which will be made up for in overtime."

    So, thanks to El Reg, the teaboy has had to stay late.

    All in all, this wasn't a great story, was it?

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    <img alt = LOLS

    <img alt="The BBC's news and current affairs programmes and news website have annual agreements with AP, PA, AFP, Allsport and Getty Images for image use. This image has been changed six times at a cost to the licence-fee payer of a few pence in terms of man-hours, which will be made up for in overtime."

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: img alt = LOLS

      Aw shucks, can I be so immodest as to claim they did that in response to my earlier comment.

      I suspected they'd have a flat fee agreement but why let that get in the way of a comment. Anyway, the teaboy still needs paying, he didn't even get a credit.

  13. CraigP
    WTF?

    Why the link to Spanish Google?

    ¿qué carajo

  14. Ben Oldham
    Pint

    A few pence

    Go on, give us a paypal account to contribute to...

  15. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    Hmm

    You have to wonder how many meetings this bit of silliness has involved, and how many cross-departmental memos.

    Anon as I'm 'public sector' too and know of these things....

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Dead Vulture

    Ahem...using street view images

    Google T&C's

    Photographic Imagery

    "......... You may not use the imagery in any commercial or business environment or for any commercial or business purposes for yourself or any third parties."

  17. Alastair McFarlane
    Paris Hilton

    The BBC

    Somehow, despite not having watched any TV for the last few days, the BBC have entertained me almost every day this week. Thanks, BBC, and El Reg, for this tremendously funny saga. I have no doubt that "Pestongate: The Costume Drama" will be coming to BBC2 before the end of the year.

    (I'll bet Paris has let a few teaboys take pictures...)

  18. Jimmy Floyd

    Free image of TV Centre

    You found it on Google España?!?

  19. Jim 59
    Thumb Up

    Pesto banged to rights

    - and no mistake

  20. Jolyon Ralph

    Bush House and the new photo

    Yes, BBC have really got a Bush house, it's the home of BBC World Service.

    That new bbc panorama photo seems like something they created using the 'autostitch' application on the iphone (which is actually a very clever little toy)

  21. wiser mouse
    FAIL

    read the alt tag, idiots

    <img alt="The BBC's news and current affairs programmes and news website have annual agreements with AP, PA, AFP, Allsport and Getty Images for image use. This image has been changed six times at a cost to the licence-fee payer of a few pence in terms of man-hours, which will be made up for in overtime." src="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/robertpeston/wood_lane595.jpg" width="595" height="187" class="mt-image-center" style="text-align: center; display: block; margin: 0 auto 20px;">

  22. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    The BEEB is still missing the point

    There is a golden principle in anything you do - EAT YOUR OWN DOGFOOD.

    A journalistic organisation which is not competent enough to take a decent picture of their own building does not deserve to exist.

    1. Lamont Cranston

      So,

      should ignore anything that comes their way from Reuters, on the grounds that it's not from their own reporters?

  23. T.F. The Magnificent, Flying Trapeze Gumby Brothers and Furniture Removals.
    Dead Vulture

    All this BBC baiting...

    All this BBC baiting puts El Reg on the same side of the coin as all of Murdoch's outlets and The Daily Mail.

    A strange Ménage à trois. I think we'd know who be the submissive in that arrangement.

    1. Shades
      Stop

      Moderatrix

      With a certain Ms Bee buzzing around it certainly wouldn't be the Reg!

      Eww, I've got an awful image of Murdoch in some weird fetish outfit cowering at the feet of the Moderatrix now. Anyone got any mind-bleach?

  24. Shades
    Grenade

    Miserable sods on El Reg...

    It may not be the greatest news story in the world but it is a mildly amusing tale of a BBC webmaster/editor having a bit of a larf with the Register. As far as costing tax payers money if you think a couple of pence in man-hours is wasting money (the BBC apparently has an all-you-can-eat agreement with Getty and PA so it didn't cost them anything extra for flip-flopping between images), compared to some of the absolute tosh the BBC output (and huge expense), then you are quite clearly stark raving bonkers!

    Lighten up guys, its just a bit of harmless* fun, sheesh!

    * Except for the tea-boy, but he's back now so its okay.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      re: miserable sods

      Lets not forget, this started as a flawed article slating the BBC's profligacy.

      Backtracking by saying "only joking" is a cop-out.

      BBC Techies 1 - Reg 0.

  25. Kubla Cant
    IT Angle

    Teaboy?

    The last time I worked anywhere with a tea person was about 30 years ago. The last time I saw such a functionary was in a DWP office about five years ago.

    If the BBC really has a teaboy it confirms all my prejudices about the public sector. If El Reg has one, I'm profoundly shocked.

    I think we should be told.

  26. Russ Tarbox
    Go

    What a bunch of miserable c*nts

    I'm guessing so many Reg readers are bitter, social outcasts who long to lose their virginity that they can't laugh a light hearted story like this.

    Go spend some of your salary on a haircut and some acne cream instead of Star Wars life size replica figures and cheer up.

  27. Rob
    Go

    Great story...

    ... well done El Reg, as usual the BOOTNOTE stories do provide some good amusement.

    (Thought I'd emphasis the that this is the bootnotes section as some commentards seem a little riled about the quality of these articles on the Beeb photo).

  28. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    Two fingers

    Well, if you squint your eyes and look at the shape the road makes with the wide angle lens it could look like two fingers in the shape of a V.

  29. Anonymous Coward
    Pint

    We don't have a tea boy...

    But we do have a collection of rather attractive - and for some reason, mostly South American[1] - young ladies who do the rounds three times a day with a trolley full of goodies.

    No tea though...

    But then, the BBC sold us some years ago. It's probably different over there in White City.

    [1] Colombian, this week.

    (AC - I'd hate to lose this privilege!)

  30. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Stop thief! The El Reg freetards have stolen a Google Street View photo

    Lock them all up! Right now! And disconnect their ISP while you're at it.

  31. skellious
    Go

    MORE LIKE THIS PLEASE!

    "The BBC's news and current affairs programmes and news website have annual agreements with AP, PA, AFP, Allsport and Getty Images for image use. This image has been changed six times at a cost to the licence-fee payer of a few pence in terms of man-hours, which will be made up for in overtime." - the alt. text

    Excellant. Here's to the good Ship El Reg, long may she wind up the establishment!

  32. heyrick Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    Nice one, Beeb!

    I like the linkback, the pointless but amusing changing of images, and that even The Corporation has been shown to have a sense of humour.

    So maybe it's a slow news day. Better than hearing what the Supreme Court cocks up this time, or the <yawn>ongoing saga</yawn> of the iFans loss of love for the leftie-unfriendly new iGizmo that sheep flocked to buy even before a decent independent review hit The Wired. [oops, gratuitous Apple-dig (iDig?), downvotes ahoy!]

  33. Mr Young
    Go

    There really is only one way to sort this I think?

    FIGHT!!!!!! Please prepare your handbags for sunrise!

  34. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    Peston writes his own blog (shock)

    He pastes the pics in as well.

    He reads El Reg too, the only difference being he is paid to read it whilst we all read it whilst being paid (supposedly to do something else)

    I imagine he read the comment and nipped outside and took the second photo on his own phone, he probably has to fetch his own tea from the machine in the corridor like everyone else.

  35. miknik
    Thumb Up

    That's hilarious

    you got pwnd!

  36. Dave 62
    Troll

    beeb victorious

    I have to agree that the BBC have done rather well and made you look like rank amateurs.

    El Reg should know that sometimes stock photos are good and El Reg should have made the educated guess, as I did, that a large organisation like the BBC might have some..er.. time-based deal with the big stock-photo provider.. people.

    Cheaper and easier to go to http://www.gettyimages.co.uk and search for "bbc building" than to go out and take a picture. Seriously, that took me about a minute. As it happens, lighting for me, here and now, would be piss poor for photos, so if I wanted a picture of my house, I'd sooner use a good one off Getty, of which I'm sure there are many.

    I'm surprised more of you didn't go troll the comments on the BBC, I think there was only one other besides me.

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