Sidepodcast

Introducing the Factbyte Factbox

Sidepodcast is today turning its F1 coverage up to eleven, with the release of the all new Factbyte Factbox. The interactive web panel enables us to provide real-time updates on any live event, be it an F1 session, another motorsport event or live streaming podcast.

Factbyte Factbox (FBFB) was first proposed back in April 2009 and has been something we've been keen to see launched for a very long time. Back in April, we described it thus:

Designed to take live shows and live racing to the next level, the FBFB will provide a secondary stream of information, highlighting any relevant data depending on circumstance. For example, offering up-to-date scoring during a panel show, or listing the closest battles during a race.

Almost one year on and that is exactly what we're launching today. Additionally, we're planning on using the tool to augment future live streaming podcasts, providing real-time show notes and enabling interaction via live voting, results of which will be fed back into recordings.

We should point out that what we're launching today isn't the final iteration of the web panel. It carries a "beta" tag because it is a service that's still undergoing heavy development. However, we felt that this was something that should be available from the very start of the F1 season, and thus we're opening the doors today. We're expecting teething troubles coupled with rapid development for the next few months.

If you're interested in seeing what all the fuss is about, the live commenting page currently houses the FBFB. The plan is to make it available via other pages in due course. Furthermore, we'll be running a live beta test at 21:45 GMT, should anyone be available to offer feedback.

Updated: The live test has now finished, but you can view the full list of updates below:

A Live Aside

I like to judge the success of an evening by how long it takes one to recover, and given that Christine and I were still feeling the after effects of Friday's inaugural Evening with Joe on Monday, I'd consider it a blinding success.

Joe tackles Formula 1's big questions with a microphone and a glass of wine.

Friday 26th was a busy day for us. We arrived in London uncharacteristically early, which gave us plenty of time to look around the designated venue, The Engine Group, just off Oxford Street. It's a great place, in an ideal location and Joe had booked the entire upper floor for the evening, bar included.

Wifi was provided, which was a great boon for Christine who was planning to live blog the whole evening, providing text and picture updates throughout the night for those unable to attend.

Before the doors opened, a quick soundcheck revealed the only major headache of the day - the building offers a fully integrated audio/video system to feed satellite TV to various speakers and screens, but there was no means of obtaining a direct audio feed of Joe's talk.

Let us not discuss the unfortunate incident with the locked door.

Joe took his seat just after 7pm to an almost full house, and from that point the night turned into something of a blur. Questions came from the floor thick and fast, and Joe tackled each one with candour. Every question was a good one, every answer detailed, insightful and often humorous. Still the questions came.

Although the original plan was for a Q&A session followed by a meet and mingle, the never-ending quest for knowledge meant questions continued past the enforced break, and kept on coming until event organisers eventually shut the bar and threw us out... well almost. I have no idea how Joe managed to talk for a whole evening and make it feel like five minutes had passed, we all wanted more and the night came to a close far too soon.

If we had a complaint it was only that there wasn't quite enough time at the end of the evening to meet everyone present. Being in the company of so many dedicated and intelligent Formula 1 fans must be a very rare thing, and I wish we could've spoken to everyone and for longer.

Eventually we really did get thrown out, packed up our recording equipment and headed to the nearest pub for yet more F1 chat. Sometime around 3am, we found our way home.

If you didn't manage to make the inaugural Evening with Joe, you really missed out. There is a second event planned for March 29th in Melbourne, and further talks around the world throughout 2010. Don't miss them.

We did eventually manage to record the whole evening using a room mic, but we've ended up with something like 3+ hours of content, so it might take an extra day or two for the podcast to see the light of day. Lou was designated official photographer for the evening, so watch out for plenty more pictures coming soon as well.

In conclusion, I think Joe's onto a winning idea, and I'm hoping that more F1 journalists give some thought to reaching out and meeting fans. F1 may be becoming more open than ever this year, but it could do with getting a bit more personal too.

A big thank you to Joe for putting together a fabulous evening's entertainment, to everyone who came over and said "hi", and to those who bought us drinks. I wonder how we can get to Melbourne?

Enhancing F1 Conversation in 2010

Just prior to the start of the new year, we discussed site performance improvements and plans for the future, specifically those related to the start of the 2010 F1 season. Today, with less than 12 days to go before action gets underway, we're adding significant enhancements to commenting functionality.

This morning we released updates to the site that make every single post across the whole of Sidepodcast "live enabled". That means whenever you read a post, or browse through comments relating to it, you'll be notified when anything new is added to the conversation. You no longer need to refresh the page to pick up new comments, the site does all the hard work for you.

Click to view pending.

Keeping It Real-time

In practice, whenever new information is posted, a pop-up notification will appear near the top of the window to let you know there are unread comments. Clicking on the notification will take you directly to the relevant information. Similarly, when contributing to the conversation, comments are added to the thread without the need for a page refresh. If you don't interact with the page for a period of time, updates will pause until you return.

In an ideal world, this is the system we would loved to have in place two or maybe more years ago, it's how the internet should work. Feel free to try out the process by leaving a comment below.

So Last Year

Ever since we started live blogging races back in March 2008, we've been looking for better and better means of commenting on events. Originally, we and many others, spent our days endlessly hitting the Refresh Page button, before the introduction of bespoke solutions such as the Live Commenting, Live... Thing and the Realtime Doohickey.

We now have the ideal means to further the F1 conversation. It is open, accessible and, most importantly, on by default to everyone who browses Sidepodcast. It just works.

Hover and click to share on Twitter.

One or Two More Things

In addition to the live updates, we've also made commenting easier and more social. Much like individual posts on the site, you can now share comments using Twitter. Hover over any comment and select the "share this" link to post to your microblog.

Not only that, we've added shortcut key combinations to speed things up. Shortcuts work in two modes. When you are typing a comment, the "Ctrl" modifier key provides the usual shortcuts you'd expect from a word processor. When the comment box is not in focus, single key presses perform various navigation actions.

Please note, that we're still working through the best use of key combinations and the above are subject to change. Finding memorable combinations of useful shortcuts that work across all browsers and operating systems can be tricky. Feedback in this area, is greatly appreciated.

More Than Words

It should be noted that, as with anything online, the more recent your browser the better your commenting experience will be. We're still testing, tweaking and improving as we go, and we're aware there are plenty of issues still to overcome. Mobile browser support can be, at best, considered experimental, and we're still working through various issues with older desktop browsers. It is also questionable whether the new functionality isn't an overkill on archived posts, again we'll adjust as we learn.

We are very pleased to have rolled out this new functionality before the F1 season begins. We're now able to create any number of threads for live events, sit back and join in the fun. Live commenting for every F1 session this year will begin in less than two weeks, just as it did in '08 and '09. This time around, though, joining in could not be easier and there is no excuse for not taking part.

We will see you in the comments.

The Best Gift is the One You Give

I didn't mention Janna's birthday in the daily post today, because I knew we had a guest post stored up and waiting. Here, Janna tells us what she would like for her birthday.

It’s my birthday today and I keep being asked what I would like or what I’m getting. I like birthdays and I like being given presents but, even more than that, I like giving to someone else something I know they will really enjoy.

With that in mind, and because Christine & Mr C are too nice to ask themselves, I wanted to remind everyone about supporting Sidepodcast.

This site, and all of the podcasts, are the product of Mr & Mrs C’s “spare” time and dedication. They do this because they want to but it takes up a lot of their time and a considerable amount of money. They provide us with an amazing amount of F1 news and a site where we can share our views on all things F1 (and not) supported by their hard work.

You can support Sidepodcast from the home page. You can donate any amount for as a UK supermarket says “Every little helps”.

So, if you love listening to the podcasts, if you enjoy lurking in the comments to catch up on the latest panda news, or if you comment constantly, Sidepodcast supports us all and we need to give something back.

Finally, I started lurking on Sidepodcast around this time last year and de-lurked in July. I want to thank Christine, Mr C and all of the commenters for making the last year much better than it would otherwise have been. If you are lurking, they’re a really welcoming bunch, come and say hello, and don’t forget to donate.

Sunday Afternoon Giggles

Since Christmas, we have stepped back from live streaming the podcast recordings on a Sunday night. Most of the issues are down to server and technical bits and pieces, but it also takes the pressure off us on a weekend. We want to make the live streaming as good as it can be, and putting a halt to proceedings is the easiest way to evaluate what we're doing.

To keep you all in the loop, we're not planning to bring back live streaming over the next few weeks, but it is our aim to return to the world of live before the season gets underway. Either way, we'll definitely be back for the first race.

You're not missing anything, as when we do off-line shows, it isn't half as much fun as it is when we're watching the comments. I do promise to keep finding the outtakes for you, though, because it's only fair you get to see us mess up, even if we're not streaming the process.

But wait! It's not all bad news. We do have some live streaming to bring to you. Parade Lap host Alex Andronov managed to acquire a PRS licence and began a weekend radio show, bringing a couple of hours of music, live streamed into your ears. Proper music as well! It's brilliant.

As our first ever guest broadcast, one in which we are not involved at all, we are opening up a thread for the Giggles Radio phenomenon, allowing listeners to watch and comment right here on Sidepodcast. The show isn't really F1 related, other than the fact that, erm, Giggles is an F1 fan, and sometimes he plays songs that mention cars. I think that is tenuous enough for us.

Giggles Radio takes a different letter of the alphabet each episode, and plays songs surrounding that letter. We've already seen A, B and C, and in case you missed them, we have posted the replays in a dedicated category. You can find them here:

• Giggles Radio - A
• Giggles Radio - B
• Giggles Radio - C

I've also entered the latest Giggles Radio show into the Calendar, and it just so happens it will take place today, starting at 4pm UK time. Alex is much better at sticking to a schedule than we are here at Sidepodcast, so make sure you checkout the Giggles Radio thread later this afternoon.

Apple to Unveil New Product Today, We'll Take Three Please

Sidepodcast has not jumped the shark, I promise. There's a tenuous F1 connection here somewhere.

As we've mentioned several times in the past, the entire Sidepodcast project is built upon the product foundations that Apple have built and we've long since come to the conclusion that it wouldn't be possible to do what we do with anything else.

Later on Wednesday, the entire of the technology world will be looking in the direction of San Francisco, where Apple are holding a media event to launch a new product. The sensible money says it will be a tablet shaped product.

Proceedings kick off at 6pm GMT and we'll be specifically looking for announcements that directly affect what we do including:

• Improvements to video quality - Currently the size and quality of our F1 video podcasts are tied directly to what the iPhone will support. Might we see improvements in this area?
• Podcasts in the cloud - Will the iTunes eco-system see personal content made available online, and if so will that change how media is consumed?
• Tablets everywhere - How portable and affordable will the rumoured device be, and can we make use of one or more of them in a live streaming environment?

Admittedly very little of this is specifically F1 related, but any hardware or software improvements will likely reflect on the kind of Formula 1 coverage Sidepodcast is able to provide this year.

We'll be following the launch via words and pictures on the Endgadget's Live Blog and will keep this post up-to-date with any relevant announcements. If you're interested in joining the fun, we'll be ticking off the rumours with this handy Prediction Score Card and posting updates in the comments too.

Welcome to My Wiki World

We've had a couple of new people pop up and say hi in the comments recently (hi!), and I noticed some attempts to persuade them to join the wiki. We talk about the wiki a lot, I know, but it is a great way to make Sidepodcast even more collaborative and even more of a community. I wanted to take a minute to talk about the wiki and encourage you to join.

What is the wiki for?

Originally, the wiki was a place to host some of the fun games we shared in the comments, plus plan some of the upcoming shows. When we're in the midst of a run of Sidepodpanels, it's invaluable for guests to sign up, and the scores to be recorded.

Since than it has ballooned into the best place for the community to share and plan together. We've got a dictionary of words born out of the comments, we have guides on everything from how to sleep better to making a microwave chocolate cake. There is information about past Batracer leagues, plus a roundup of both the Fantasy Racer competitions we've participated in, and top five league positions for each race.

There's documentation on how this website is taking shape, plus space for requests and bugs to be tracked. Live Commenting instructions live on the wiki, in case anyone is struggling with the doohickey or LCLT, and there are lots and lots of links. From teams, to drivers, to bloggers, to journalists, we're compiling the best of the web.

What can I do?

If you're not sure where to start, the best place is the SPC Regulars page. Registration for the wiki is free, and then you can create a sub-page of the Regulars page for yourself. Your own little home on the Sidepodwiki. You can put as many or as few facts about yourself as you'd like, but make sure to update the birthdays section, so I can add you to our calendar. Also, don't forget the Listener Map to pinpoint your country with a pretty red pin.

Why not help us fill in some of our F1 information pages? We've got plenty of missing info on the links pages - both drivers and teams. We're trying to keep track of who is going to be in which team for 2010, and who is being left on the sidelines, so if you hear something we don't, then please fill it in.

We also have some of the games that start in the comments, such as the Numbers Game page - where we list F1 facts by ever increasing numbers. We're up to 80, but there must be more, I'm sure we can get to 100. Or perhaps you would prefer the ideal three sectors game, where you select your perfect circuit with the best bits from the entire calendar.

Ultimately, the wiki is huge, and there's a lot to take in, but the best way is to sign up, start browsing, and then just hit that edit button. It's super easy to do, you don't need to learn any new codes or languages, it's a pretty simple editor. If you're looking for a particular page, don't use the search on the wiki, it's not very good. Either use the super Sidepodsearch on the top right of this site, or visit the Sidepodsitemap to find what you're looking for.

Where do I start?

Here are a couple of the pages mentioned above to help you get started:

• SPC Regulars
• Listener Map
• Driver Links
• Team Links
• Numbers Game
• Ideal 3 Sectors
• Sidepodsitemap

Once you've dived in and had a go, come back and tell us how you got on. We love the wiki and we want you to love it too.

Taking a Cue From Apple

Almost since the day Sidepodcast started creating videos, you'll have heard Christine bemoan the lack of a teleprompter. Remembering reams of text, under the pressure of hot studio lights while the cameras are rolling is no-one's idea of fun. Having something to fall back on is often a necessity.

Credit: Sidepodcast

Behind the scenes of the Sidepodcast Christmas special, Christine eyes up the shot. The ProPrompter can be seen above the camera and the GorillaPod legs wrap around the body.

The problem with most teleprompters, is that being somewhat specialist by nature, they have a habit of costing a pretty penny. By way of example, the small model we were looking longingly at was set to cost us £1,800. You can see why we've been putting it off for a while.

Reusing Existing Hardware

Thankfully there's an app for that, and when Bodelin Technologies released ProPrompter (iTunes link) for the iPhone / iPod Touch our quest for an affordable autocue system was over. Coming in at a far more reasonable £5.99, the application allows the iPod to act as a tiny teleprompting system.

True, the screen is a little on the small side for this role, but playback speed is variable, colours are customisable and loading content is straightforward. If nothing else, it's a considerable improvement on holding up sheets of A4 paper and manually swapping them as required. The iPod is mounted atop the camera via a Joby GorillaPod with suction pad attachment and will happily sit there for hours.

Lacking Presentation

It's little improvements such as this gem that make us motivated to create more video content this year. Incidentally, having looked into what other sites are offering in terms of F1 video, a trend we've noticed wherever we look, is the distinct lack of presenters hosting shows.

Neither Autosport TV nor GPUpdate TV seem to offer anything beyond stock footage and a voiceover track (which is almost exclusively male). Can finding an onscreen presenter be that difficult in this day and age? Maybe having a person in front of camera is something else we should be giving USF1 more credit for.

If you're doing any form of podcasting, be it video or audio, we highly recommend the ProPrompter solution. It reuses our existing hardware and the application has already paid for itself in time and effort saved.

Your Thoughts on This Year's Circuits

With an extra couple of races on the calendar this year, Mr C and I are rethinking the way we watch and discuss Formula 1. Free Practice has to take a back seat as there are only so many hours in the day, and we don't intend to free up all 19 Fridays through the year.

Less Conversation, More Action

A lack of Friday information means F1 Digest has to change, but hopefully it will be for the better. The first noticeable difference will be the reduction in show numbers. For the past two years, there have been four "digest" shows during a race weekend, but in 2010 we'll release only three. Free practice information will be bundled into a better qualifying show on Saturday.

The running order for F1 Digest will now look as follows:

• Thursday - Race preview in audio
• Saturday - Free practice and qualifying round-up
• Sunday - Race round-up

If you need more detail, all of this information can be found in our brand new 2010 F1 Calendar. Please subscribe to keep up-to-date.

Living for the Weekend

The weekend preview show will remain, but there is one addition to the show that I want to introduce, and that's your cue to get involved. As an introduction to the race, I want to get your thoughts on the circuits. Whether you love or hate them, favourite sections, thoughts on the atmosphere, and any other notes you'd like to make. If you've ever been to a race, first hand information is also a bonus.

I'm looking for opinions via text here, no need to pick up the phone for this one. The emphasis should be on concise thoughts, short sentences and catchy snippets, but I want to hear what you think about every circuit on the calendar (although Korea might pose a challenge).

I will read them out, mix them up and make the preview podcasts a great start to the weekend. I've set up a wiki page for the purposes - multiple entries per circuit are actively encouraged! There are a few examples on there already, so it just takes a moment of thought to add your own. You can also leave them in the comments here, or fill in the contact form below.

After submitting your ideas, all you need do is stay tuned and listen out in the first show of the year - the Bahrain Preview!

If you have any other opinions about F1 Digest, things you would like to see included, or anything that would make the coverage better for you, please let us know in the comments.

Video Nearly Killed the Radio Star

Somewhere between the time we started Sidepodcast and present day, we manage to attract some fantastically creative individuals to the community here, and those people never cease to come up with endless amounts of brilliant ideas and together solve all sorts of unimaginably complicated problems. Those same people also ask a lot of questions.

Credit: Sidepodcast

Christine... on the Internet

Last week Christine and I, under the guise of F1 Minute, launched a short video trial, investigating into how the current F1 Minute audio podcast might translate to the small screen. It's a challenging problem to solve, because video production typically takes considerably more effort than audio production and Christine already manages to fill every waking hour with audio work. How in the world can an order of magnitude more work be squeezed into that same timeframe too?

The simple answer is, it can't.

This didn't come as a massive surprise, given we attempted to bring F1 Minute video to life at the beginning of 2008 before the real world got the better of us. Last week's trial almost slipped through our fingers too, had mother nature not kindly intervened and given us a couple of snow days to catch up with ourselves. We're ambitious, but ultimately held to account by the same invisible force as everyone else.

In a typically Sidepodcast fashion, we made and launched our video trial without any preconceptions or expectations. The shows could've been a worldwide smash hit, or they could've vanished without a trace. We were only really interested in figuring out how long each one took to make, assuming it was possible at all.

Then questions came from the smart people and we couldn't answer them. We didn't know how long we were planning to make them for. We didn't know when they would be available. We didn't even have a logo prepared should someone wish to plug the show.

You'd never guess we'd been doing this for three years already.

Now though, we are slightly smarter after the fact. We know roughly where we are, what we can do, and where we might be going... sort of. We know that making a daily 60 second video on the subject of F1 is possible, and that given the right finances they can be made mostly by one person on a part time basis. We also know we have most of the right equipment, but that a laptop really isn't the correct machine for the job.

Clearly we now know the initial run of shows would only last for five days although we probably assumed it would be more. We also know that there are other options to explore and that we're not done experimenting yet.

As discussed on the F1 Minute blog HD video is a priority, so to is optimising a tardy workflow. It's been requested that Christine feature more throughout each show, and while we originally filmed just the top and tail of the programme, a better model would likely look similar to F1 Rewind from days of yore (except in shorter form).

Looking around for the competition, only Autosport's autoplaying video channel appears to offer anything of a similar nature, and you'll need a magnifying glass to see that. GP Update have the occasional stab at video production, and Eurosport appear to occasionally put some F1 news content online. There really isn't anyone else out there doing something along these lines, and that's the main reason we wanted to have a go.

At it's current level the series isn't sustainable without an income. How we find an income stream for it is a problem for another day, in the meantime we have more to do and more to learn. Expect more F1 Minute video before the season begins.

If you had any thoughts, ideas, suggestions and questions this past week, now is a good time to throw them out there.