Then he gave the world's first public demonstration of a working television system to members of the Royal Institution and a newspaper reporter on January 26, 1926 at his laboratory in London. Unlike later electronic systems with several hundred lines of resolution, Baird's vertically scanned image, using a scanning disk embedded with a double spiral of lenses, had only 30 lines, just enough to reproduce a recognizable human face.

In 1932 he demonstrated ultra-short wave television. Baird's electromechanical system reached a peak of 240 lines of resolution on BBC television broadcasts in 1936, before being discontinued in favor of a 405-line all-electronic system developed by Marconi-EMI.

John Logie Baird had given the first public demonstration of low-definition television back in 1925.
There had been experimental transmissions from a studio in Broadcasting House since 1932. On 2
November 1936 the BBC opened the world’s first regular service of high-definition television from
Alexandra Palace in North London, known affectionately as Ally Pally.

I did say on the show this week that I'd post more details on a couple of stories we ran out of time for so here they are:

Dexter visiting Oz

Michael C. Hall, who plays the notorious Dexter will visit Australia this month.

Hall, previously in Six Feet Under, plays the serial killer who kills serial killers in the acclaimed Showtime drama.

He will participate in a cinema preview screening and Q+A in Melbourne and Sydney.

The series premieres on the new Showcase channel in December.

Based on Darkly Dreaming Dexter, a novel by Jeff Lindsay, Dexter is one of the most complicated characters ever to grace the small screen. He has a steady girlfriend who adores him, he's the main support for his sister, and a respected member of the Miami Police Department, but he is also a vigilante serial killer who hunts down people who've escaped justice, and ensures they never commit another crime.

Every once and a while a show comes along that is so creepy and so intriguing that you feel compelled to watch. Dexter is one of those shows. The serial killer part will no doubt make some of you squirm, but those who enjoy characters that aren't bad, but aren't totally that good either, will completely (and morbidly) love this new series.

This program includes a screening of the Pilot and second episode from Dexter, and features an on-stage discussion with Actor Michael C. Hall, about his title role.

Melbourne Oct 29. Kino Cinema

Sydney Oct 31. Greater Union Bondi

Supernanny's kids 'forced to cry'

MAKERS of the parenting reality show Supernanny badgered toddlers into crying on camera in a desperate attempt to win ratings, it has been claimed.


Production staff were said to be up in arms after being told to push youngsters to the point of tears to make the program more compelling.

Scenes from the show were doctored and manipulated, it was also alleged.

The program, starring nanny Jo Frost, was a ratings hit in the UK and became similarly successful in the US and Australia.

However, a British TV veteran yesterday claimed the program was one of many reality shows taking liberties with the truth.

Roger Graef, 71, one of Britain's leading film-makers and broadcasters, has revealed a litany of dishonour among reality shows.

"In some reality programs I have had producers come to me and say 'I can't do this any more, I have been told to change the ending to conform to the script'," Mr Graef said.

"They were told to force children to cry on Supernanny. They were told to change things on Wife Swap.

"If what you are producing is entertainment and you are using real people to do it then, the truth is, there is a long tradition of illusions. That is the reality behind it."

Mr Graef, who was awarded a BAFTA fellowship in 2004 and received an OBE in 2006 for services to the film industry, made the claims this week in front of a packed audience of students and prominent media figures at the London School of Economics during a debate entitled TV On Trial.

He cited the "culture of rating wars" for the increased pressure on producers to deliver.

w00t!

Thanks so much to Crumpler for their generosity (more than bags - it's a lifestyle *grin*) and many thanks to the wonderful readers of RYWHM for clicking through to Boxcutters - I hope a few of you have stuck around.

Hey Guys, could you retry your iTunes feeds? Mine was a little sluggish and then I updated through the Boxcutters subscribe page, which wasn't affected, but now I can't check if it's working.

The in-browser player up in the post shouldn't have affected anything but it's the only thing that's changed this week that may be breaking the iTunes feed. Perhaps there's something up with the Feedburner conversion.

The browser player was added with no fanfare this week, in case it complicated things. We'll have to discover and splat out any bugs.