The DJ Alan “Fluff” Freeman has died at the age of 79. Alan was known and loved by many for his BBC Radio 1 show “Pick of the Pops” which was broadcast from the launch of Radio 1 in 1967 until 1972. Alan relaunched the show with an oldies chart format in 1989. His catchphrases included “greetings pop pickers”, “alright” and “not arf”. I'm not normally a fan of catchphrases but Alan's lack of ego and that he seemed to be a genuinely nice bloke meant that they never became annoying.

My fondest memories of Fluff are on Radio 1's “Saturday Rock Show”, which he hosted from 1973 until 1978. This show's mix of progressive and heavy rock was so important in helping to define my musical tastes. We've now lost the three DJs who were most important to me: Tommy Vance, another host of the Saturday Rock Show; the great John Peel; and now Fluff. Thanks for the music guys.

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Alan Freeman, Radio 1, Saturday Rock Show, DJ

I'm back in the UK for a couple of days and on turning on my DAB radio this evening, I was pleasantly surprised to hear that BBC Radio 3 is being broadcast at 192 kbps again. A few months ago, the BBC dropped Radio 3 to 160 kbps to make room for a 24/7 looping trail
for Radio 5 Sports Extra.

While 160 kbps was just about bearable, I really enjoyed listening to this evening's edition of Mixing It. So much so that I just purchased some music from the wonderful Joanna Newsom on iTunes which was played on the show.

Of course, even at 192 kbps, UK DAB, which uses MP2 encoding, is not hi-fi and much worse than a strong FM signal received by a good tuner. Apparently some limited UK trials of DAB with AAC+ encoding have taken place. AAC+ based DAB at 128 kbps would provide very acceptable, audio quality – similar to CD quality for most listeners. Unfortunately, it is not yet clear when AAC+ will be rolled out in the UK, if ever.

BBC News: “Vehicles causing the most pollution in central London are to face huge increases in the congestion charge, mayor Ken Livingstone has announced.
The daily charge for vehicles in carbon emissions band G – which includes 4x4s – is to rise from £8 to £25 from 2009.

In 2008, the charge will be removed for cars in Bands A and B which produce the lowest emissions, Mr Livingstone said.”

Nice one Ken.

How do we get these monstrosities off other roads as well? Personally I would favour a complete ban on 4x4s except for those who can demonstrate a clear need.

Whenever I see “tonite” it grates. For me it's the visual equivalent of hearing chalk scraping on a blackboard.

Until recently I thought that “tonite” was an acceptable albeit annoying American spelling of “tonight”. In fact it isn't. Even though “tonite” seems to be in fairly common usage amongst Americans, it is incorrect.

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spelling, tonite, tonight

Dave Winer: “Doc's here, we're watching CNN before going out to breakfast. We're playing a neat game called Spot the Republican. When we see a Republican on CNN, I decide what form of punishment we're going to give them. Usually it's the death penalty of some form. Hanging, firing squad, dismemberment. “

I remember a similar feeling in 1997 as the UK election results came in. Of course, Dave has been consistently against capital punishment in all circumstances (as am I).

Let's hope that these terrible results for the Republicans force Bush to reexamine his dangerous policies.