bbc

"Copper," the new BBC America crime drama, is set in NYC in 1864, while the Civil War was still raging. I was intrigued because the 10-part series was created by Tom Fontana, who did "Homicide: Life on the Street" and "Oz," and on a more personal level, my old friend Frank Morrone is a sound mixer for the show. We met in 1999 when I was writing a feature story on mixing sound for Ron Howard's film "Edtv," and more recently, Morrone shared some of his experiences about mixing sound for … Read more

As I watch the Olympics, I imagine myself in the competition. I'm swimming for a medal, rocketing through the 100-meter dash, and rowing my heart out.

There are some problems with my flights of fancy. I don't have a swimmer's build, a runner's height, or a rower's stamina. To find my best Olympic sport match, I have to turn to the BBC's Olympic athlete body matcher.

Enter your height and weight and it will show you where you are on a plot of Olympic athletes and which Olympian you are closest to in size. The athletes range from a tiny gymnast to a hulking shot putter.… Read more

The U.K. public probably had its first encounter with 8K display technology thanks to recent screenings of the London Olympics at BBC's Broadcasting House. Engadget described the overall positive experience as akin to "looking through a window directly onto the Olympic Stadium."

The article added that even the tiniest figures in the larger-than-life projection appeared totally vivid and sharp, while the 60-frame-per-second footage was both artifact- and flicker-free. … Read more

Looking at the Stig Chair for the first time, you'd almost think this thing originated from Batman's flight simulator.

The exotic $11,000 seat by Veraseri Designs sits at 52x23x39 inches, and consists of stainless steel, yellow pine, and deer leather for the ultimate in "high-performance sport luxury furniture," according to designer Adam Krehbiel. Additionally, the supporting frame contains recycled steel pipe from the frames of previously crashed Nascar stock cars.

For protection, the Stig sports Line-X protective coating, somewhat similar to the type one would see in the bed of a pickup truck. Krehbiel notes that someone can "hose down" the coating if needed, and that it "resists 9mm small-arms fire." … Read more

Just days after watchdog group Reporters Without Borders named Iran as one of the "Enemies of the Internet," the BBC is now claiming to be the victim of a cyber-attack possibly perpetrated by the Iranian authorities.

The news source says that two of its satellite feeds into Iran were jammed earlier this month coinciding with a denial-of-service attack in which some parts of the BBC's e-mail and Internet services were unavailable. The director-general of the BBC Mark Thompson will be giving a speech to the Royal Television Society shortly, in which he plans to explain how the … Read more

This is one way to settle the endless Star Wars vs. Star Trek arguments.

If you've never seen "The Graham Norton Show" on BBC, this is definitely one good way to get acquainted with it. With two major movie stars, Liam Neeson and Patrick Stewart, in one room, the outspoken comedian compares each actor's sci-fi action figure to see which franchise he likes best. I never thought I'd see a duel between Jedi Master Qui-Gon Quin and Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

I won't ruin the outcome, but if you think the Picard face-palm meme is hilarious, just wait until you see this. … Read more

What goes through the mind of someone who trolls Facebook's RIP pages in order to leave messages like "Rot in Piss?"

What sort of person does that? What do they really look like? What do they sound like?

The BBC took it upon itself to try and meet one of these people, just to measure their charm level and the cut of their jib.

In a piece of footage unearthed by The Next Web, a BBC reporter tracked down a troll in Cardiff, Wales, who goes by the handle Nimrod Severen. Astoundingly, his real name is a … Read more

Amazon's Lovefilm has inked two important deals as it prepares to wage a streaming-video war with Netflix in the U.K.

BBC Worldwide will bring its programming, including "Doctor Who" and "Life On Mars," to Lovefilm's streaming service. In addition, Lovefilm, which operates solely in Europe, announced today that it has signed a deal with the U.K.'s largest commercial broadcaster, iTV, to stream its shows, including "Marchlands" and "Above Suspicion" among many others.

Lovefilm's BBC deal is especially important. Just last month, Netflix announced that it signed a deal with the BBC … Read more

Less than three months on the market and the Fisker Karma is already getting high praise for being "green" and luxurious. Just last month, the near $100,000 plug-in hybrid was named "Luxury Car of the Year" by BBC Top Gear magazine.

Part of what makes the Karma so luxurious is the used interior material from Bridge of Weir. The EcoStandard and EcoSport models' seat, steering wheel, dash, door casings and center console trim are all wrapped in the Scottish company's locally produced "low carbon leather," Bridge of Weir said in a press … Read more