#digital switchover

[texscan]

[cyanbyte]

digit al

[354bunny]

[thedreadvampy]

Every so often I rewatch Ways of Seeing and I get towards the end of the first episode and I'm going hmmm yes juxtaposition context yes good point good point. then he hits me with the 'if you were to switch to either of the other two channels' and I am immediately wiped out in a wave of OH YEAH IT WAS THE 70S

which is a shame because he's making a very good and impactful point in that segment.

but one of the other two channels gets me every time

[insurguitor]

Google. Google you realize how concerning this looks without context, right???

Right????

[liulith]

Sooo about Vox and Alastor...

The Radio Demon controls radio waves. Guess what?

Over-the-air television: Television broadcasting through radio waves, from a transmitter (TV station) to a receiver (TV antennae)

Satellite television: A TV signal transmitted by radio waves from a satellite.

Cable television: Radio frequency signals transmitted via cables

Until the early 2000s, TV signals were entirely transmitted through analogue signals: for decades, the original television technology only worked thanks to RADIO technology.

Those antennae on Vox's head? They're 'rabbit ears'!! Dipole receivers, meant to intercept radio waves broadcasted by TV stations, convert them to radio frequency electric currents, and send those to the TV via a radio currents transmission line, to be converted and processed to produce pictures and sounds.

It makes perfect sense for Vox and Alastor to have been "pals". Alastor calls him an " old pal" mockingly, but there's no way Vox would have been able to implement any kind of TV technology in Hell without the help of radio technology - technology that Alastor had control over. For decades, TV was literally radio with pictures. Alastor used to tolerate him (despite Vox encroaching on his territory) at worst, but might have supported him at best!

In my opinion, the beef between them comes from Vox's transition from Analogue to Digital, aka the digital switchover.

When Vox asked Alastor to join his team, it's possible he suggested Alastor switches to digital radio broadcasting (better sound quality, less transmission power required, a compressed digitized signal that allows for more radio programs in the same radio spectrum...). Of course, Alastor didn't care for that.

Was Vox's transition (partly) motivated by a desire to be more independent from Alastor? In any case, he's certainly not that much more independent now: streaming television and the streaming platforms & other services available on digital TVs depend on internet connectivity. And Wi-Fi uses radio waves.

In other words: Alastor's radio waves still live in Vox's TV head rent free, in the most literal way possible :3

[freshbaked-bread]

digit al, the mascot the uk used for the switchover from analogue to digital, that nobody has heard of but me and my best friend are obsessed with

[vinluco]

What headcanons do you have for the main 4 in max headroom 20 minutes into the future? :)

HELLO HI OHMYGOSH OKAY sorry if this list isnt that expansive!! i cant think of all of mine, might update later djsjsjsjs-

My headcannons for 20 Minutes into the Future (below cut!!)

Max!!

Asexual, but I think he'd also be on the aromantic spectrum too?

Only knows a lot of things because of Edison's memory, and acts like he's a hot-shot know-it-all because of it. Mans has never played golf a DAY in his life.

I completely agree with the headcanmon that he blows tv fuses when he gets mad, but I think if he were to sleep, his background would only show up as a kind of "screensaver." Y'know?

Has a toothgap due to Edison's accident. He doesn't mind it, personally! :3

Cannot physically age unless he chooses to. I stress this because of the Channel 4 Digital Switchover commercial, in which Max is shown to be aged. I, for one, A.) Do not count that as canon, and B.) Don't believe Max can age physically. Though, yes, he is old in our world.

Hates his stutter. Tries not to show that he's insecure (macho, masculine, 80s persona type shit,) but in reality he can't help it and genuinely despises how he talks.

If!! If ever given a body (Bryce prolly built it), he would be taller than Edison. Max would be ECSTATIC.

Doesn't listen to a lot of music, normally. He might put on like, pop or disco sometimes, but its not like he gets too much into it.

AuDHD

Edison !!

I think he'd have a secret soft spot for country. Like, country or jazz, y'know?

Closet Bi. C'monnnnnn, you can't tell me that man isn't the biggest repressed bicon ever.

Doesn't have a tooth gap, unlike Max, but does have a scar from the accident. Doesn't like to talk about it.

Isn't mad at Bryce for the accident, he knows Bryce didn't mean any real harm.

Iced coffee bitch. Embarrased about it.

I think he had a normal childhood,, he feels like he did. Maybe some elements of religious trauma, coming from the related episode,,, Something something,,, Vanna Smith's relationship with Edison is meant to represent his past beliefs and how they still have a grip on him,,,, something something their one night stand was a metaphor for reliving your trauma and coming out of it changed/with a new lens,,,, something something,,,,

,,,I have mixed feelings about him and Theora,,,,

One one hand, yeah! Cool! They have good chemistry, and they have their motives to be in a relationship!

On the other hand, it would do Theora's character a misjustice to simply make her get into a relationship with Edison just cus,,,, i dunno,,,

Edison would HATE that Max would be taller than him. Matt Frewer/Edison is already a tall dude, but,,,, make Max 7'6 you cowards. /hj

Always breaks his vidicams, hides them from Murray and Cheviot but knows they'll eventually find out. Time out for Mr. Digital Sherlock >:P

Hangs out with Blank Reg when he's not covering stories, I think Eddy and the Big Time Television crew would have a great friendship!!

Do not call him Eddy.

Theora!!

Also Bi, but leans towards women :) Maybe like, Biromantic Asexual?

Her and Edison do hang out, like, outside of work, but the thought of "romance in the workplace" icks her out (valid, honestly.)

Sometimes plays into Max's antics, I think they'd have a great dynamic (shame it wasn't explored more.)

Completely meant to slap Murray in "Security Systems." No, she didn't need to sell the bit. No, she didn't need to warn him. Fuck Murray. All my homies hate Murray 😤

I see her liking glam rock,,, or like, some kind of rock (70s and 80s, ofc). She's giving me like, Sweet or The Ramones kinda vibes,,,

I think her childhood was a bit rough, but thata just vibes. We never get specifics, I think, but maybe I'll write a fanfic someday and explore it. (do y'all want Max Headroom fics I'll fuckin DELIVER.)

(( she is so fuckin pretty oh my godddd :O ))

Bryce !!

Aromantic. Not to fall into the trope that like "haha, smart character aro/ace!!" but, seriously. Do you think he wants anything to do with that? Nah, science #1, and y'know? Thats valid, you funky little dude.

Funky Little Dude™️

More of a gremlin than the show lets on. I know if he were around modern-day, dude would be slamming back monsters and talking about The Fog and The Rot.

Troubled childhood. Sent off to a tech school at an early age, didn't grow up woth his family around, or many friends. It's canon, what the f u c k.

iPad baby. Enough said.

Feels guilty about Edison's accident.

Literally says that he "felt fear for the first time" when he was /freezing to death./

Bryce???? Do you need a therapist??? Buddy?????

The only adults in his life want to use his genius to get more ratings. Bryce is but a toy to them. I need to psychoanalyze him. Puts him in a salad spinner.

On a lighter note!! Listens to classical music unironically!! Weirdo!! /pos

You literally can't tell me he isn't autistic. As someone on the spectrum, I bestow him this headcanon. Can't read social queues, doesn't understand figures of speech, flat tone of voice, ect. He's on the spectrum 😤

[ptbf2002]

Here's My Top 30 Favorite Female Characters

#30 Molly McGee (The Ghost And Molly McGee)

#29 Libby Stein-Torres (The Ghost And Molly McGee)

#28 Mabel Pines (Gravity Falls)

#27 Anne Boonchuy (Amphibia)

#26 Annie Bramley (It's Pony!)

#25 Billie (Magiki)

#24 Lana Loud (The Loud House)

#23 Lucy Loud (The Loud House)

#22 Luna Loud (The Loud House)

#21 Lori Loud (The Loud House)

#20 Luan Loud (The Loud House)

#19 Lily Loud (The Loud House)

#18 Girl Jordan (The Loud House)

#17 Yumi Yoshimura (Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi)

#16 Ami Onuki (Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi)

#15 Audrey Smith (Harvey Street Kids/Harvey Girls Forever!)

#14 Dot (Harvey Street Kids/Harvey Girls Forever!)

#13 Lotta (Harvey Street Kids/Harvey Girls Forever!)

#12 FruFru (Harvey Street Kids/Harvey Girls Forever!)

#11 Lucretia (Harvey Street Kids/Harvey Girls Forever!)

#10 Buttercup (The Powerpuff Girls)

#9 Bubbles (The Powerpuff Girls)

#8 Blossom (The Powerpuff Girls)

#7 Princess Unikitty (Unikitty!)

#6 Starfire (Teen Titans 2003)

#5 Dot Warner (Animaniacs)

#4 Babs Bunny (Tiny Toon Adventures)

#3 Amy Rose (Sonic Prime)

#2 Yin (Yin Yang Yo)

#1 Jenny Wakeman XJ-9 (My Life as a Teenage Robot)

Honorable Mentions: Cleo (Ollie's Pack), Wendy Testaburger (South Park), Heidi Turner (South Park), Frankie Foster (Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends), Lola (Angelo Rules), Lola Mbola (Robotboy), Lois Griffin (Family Guy), Meg Griffin (Family Guy), Lisa Simpson (The Simpsons), Isabella Garcia Shapiro (Phineas And Ferb), Ronnie Anne Santiago (The Casagrandes), Sid Chang (The Casagrandes).

Original Template: https://www.deviantart.com/amychen803/art/Top-30-Most-Favorite-Female-Characters-Meme-651275449

The Ghost and Molly McGee Belongs To Bill Motz, Bob Roth, Mercury Filmworks, Disney Television Animation, Disney Channel, Disney+ Disney Branded Television, Disney–ABC Home Entertainment and Television Distribution, Disney General Entertainment Content, Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution, Disney Entertainment, Disney Enterprises, Inc. And The Walt Disney Company

Gravity Falls Belongs To Alex Hirsch, Digital eMation, Inc. Rough Draft Korea Co., Ltd. Disney Television Animation, Disney Channel, Disney XD, Disney Branded Television, Disney–ABC Home Entertainment and Television Distribution, Disney General Entertainment Content, Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution, Disney Entertainment, Disney Enterprises, Inc. And The Walt Disney Company

Amphibia Belongs To Matt Braly, Saerom Animation, Inc. Sunmin Image Pictures Co., Ltd. Sugarcube Animation Studio, Rough Draft Korea Co., Ltd. Disney Television Animation, Disney Channel, Disney Branded Television, Disney–ABC Home Entertainment and Television Distribution, Disney General Entertainment Content, Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution, Disney Entertainment, Disney Enterprises, Inc. And The Walt Disney Company

It's Pony Belongs To Ant Blades, Boulder Media Limited, Blue Zoo Animation Studio, Nickelodeon Animation Studios, Nickelodeon Productions, Nickelodeon, Nicktoons, Nickelodeon Group, Paramount Global Content Distribution, Paramount International Networks, Paramount Domestic Media Networks, Paramount Media Networks, Inc. And Paramount Global

Magiki Belongs To Eryk Casemiro, Cyril Deydier, Pegbar Animation, Animasia Studio, Rainbow S.P.A. Paramount Media Networks, Inc. Paramount Global, DeAgostini Publishing Italy S.P.A. DeAgostini Editore S.P.A. DeAKids, DeA Junior, DeAgostini S.P.A. DeAPlaneta Kids And Family, DeAPlaneta Entertainment, Télé Images Productions, Zodiak Kids Studios France, Banijay S.A. Ketchup TV, KidsMe S.R.L. Gulli, TiJi, Metropole Télévision S.A. Groupe M6, Frisbee, Switchover Media, Discovery Italia S.R.L. Discovery Networks Italia, Discovery Networks EMEA, Discovery Networks International, Discovery, Inc. And Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.

The Loud House Belongs To Chris Savino, Jam Filled Entertainment, Boat Rocker Media Inc. Nickelodeon Animation Studios, Nickelodeon Productions, Nickelodeon, Nicktoons, Nickelodeon Group, Paramount Global Content Distribution, Paramount International Networks, Paramount Domestic Media Networks, Paramount Media Networks, Inc. And Paramount Global

Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi Belongs To Sam Register, Renegade Animation, Cartoon Network Studios, Cartoon Network, The Cartoon Network, Inc. Warner Bros. Discovery Networks, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution Warner Bros. Television Studios, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. WarnerMedia And Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.

Harvey Street Kids/Harvey Girls Forever! Belongs To Alfred Harvey, Emily Brundige, Dave Enterprises, Digital Emation, Inc. NE4U, Inc. The Harvey Entertainment Company, Classic Media, LLC, DreamWorks Classics, DreamWorks Animation Television, DreamWorks Animation LLC, Universal Pictures, Universal City Studios LLC, NBCUniversal Film and Entertainment, NBCUniversal Syndication Studios, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, Comcast Corporation, NBCUniversal Media, LLC And Netflix Inc.

The Powerpuff Girls Belongs To Craig McCracken, Rough Draft Korea Co., Ltd. Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. Cartoon Network Studios, Cartoon Network, The Cartoon Network, Inc. Warner Bros. Discovery Networks, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution Warner Bros. Television Studios, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. WarnerMedia And Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.

Unikitty! Belongs To Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Ed Skudder, Lynn Wang, Renegade Animation, Snipple Animation Studios, Rideback, Lord Miller Productions, The LEGO Group, VERTIGO Entertainment, Warner Bros. Animation Inc. Cartoon Network, The Cartoon Network, Inc. Warner Bros. Discovery Networks, HBO Max, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution Warner Bros. Television Studios, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. WarnerMedia And Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.

Teen Titans Belongs To Bob Haney, Bruno Premiani, Glen Murakami, David Slack, Sam Register, MOI Animation Co., Ltd. Lotto Animation, Inc. DongWoo Animation Co. Ltd. DC Comics, Inc. DC Entertainment, Warner Bros. Animation Inc. Kids' WB! The WB, The WB Television Network, Inc. Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC. Tribune Media Company, Nexstar Media Group, Inc. Cartoon Network, The Cartoon Network, Inc. Warner Bros. Discovery Networks, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution Warner Bros. Television Studios, Warner Bros. Television Group, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. WarnerMedia, And Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.

Animaniacs Belongs To Tom Ruegger, Steven Spielberg, AKOM Production, Ltd. Far Eastern Animation, Freelance Animators New Zealand, CNK International, Philippine Animation Studio Inc. Shanghai Morning Sun Animation Co., Ltd. Sichuan Top Animation, TMS Entertainment, Ltd. Varga Studio, Ltd. Wang Film Productions Co., Ltd. Amblin Entertainment, Inc. Amblin Partners, LLC. Warner Bros. Animation Inc. FOX KIDS, FOX Family Worldwide Inc. FOX Broadcasting Company, FOX Entertainment, FOX Corporation, Kids' WB, The WB Television Network, The WB Television Network, Inc. Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC, Tribune Media Company, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution Warner Bros. Television Studios, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. WarnerMedia And Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.

Tiny Toon Adventures Belongs To Tom Ruegger, Steven Spielberg, AKOM Production, Ltd. Wang Film Productions Co., Ltd. Encore Cartoons, Freelance Animators New Zealand, Island Animation, Kennedy Cartoons Inc. Mook Animation Inc. StarToons International, LLC. TMS Entertainment, Ltd. Amblin Entertainment, Inc. Amblin Partners, LLC. Warner Bros. Animation Inc. CBS, CBS Broadcasting Inc. CBS Entertainment Group, Paramount Global, FOX Broadcasting Company, FOX Entertainment, FOX Corporation, Kids' WB, The WB Television Network, The WB Television Network, Inc. Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC, Tribune Media Company, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution Warner Bros. Television Studios, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. WarnerMedia And Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.

Sonic Prime Belongs To Yuji Naka, Naoto Ohshima, Hirokazu Yasuhara, Joe Kelly, Joe Casey, Duncan Rouleau, Steven T. Seagle, Jam Filled Entertainment, Boat Rocker Media Inc. Flixzilla Aura, Sonic Team, SEGA of America, SEGA Corporation, SEGA Sammy Holdings Inc. Man of Action Entertainment, WildBrain Studios, WildBrain Ltd. Netflix Animation Studios, Netflix Worldwide Entertainment, LLC, And Netflix, Inc.

Yin Yang Yo! Belongs To Bob Boyle Elliott Animation Inc. Jetix Animation Concepts, Disney Television Animation, Jetix, Toon Disney, Disney XD, Disney Branded Television, Disney–ABC Home Entertainment and Television Distribution, Disney General Entertainment Content, Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution, Disney Entertainment, Disney Enterprises, Inc. And The Walt Disney Company

My Life as a Teenage Robot Belongs To Rob Renzetti, Rough Draft Studios, Inc. Frederator Studios, Frederator Networks, Inc. Wow Unlimited Media Inc. Nelvana Enterprises Inc. Corus Entertainment Inc. Nickelodeon Animation Studios, Nickelodeon Productions, Nickelodeon, Nicktoons, Nickelodeon Group, Paramount Global Content Distribution, Paramount International Networks, Paramount Domestic Media Networks, Paramount Media Networks, Inc. And Paramount Global

[redladydeath]

Wait I have more name ideas

Bit rot/Disc rot

H.120 (first video compression standard, very shitty)

Monotone

Circuit bending

White noise

Shot noise

Transmission loss

White space/empty channel (radio frequencies allocated to broadcast services but not actually used. The switchover to digital television especially led to a large chunk of abandoned tv frequencies)

Incidentally, snow or noise translates to 'war of the ants' in Indonesian, and 'ants on the screen' in Turkish!

"War of the ants" should be Vox and Niffty's ship name in the main verse /j

I think I've settled on "Randomly Accessed Memories"/RAM as the name for this AU! "Liquid Crystal Daze" can be the name of the fanfic that I'm not going to write and all of these recs can be the imaginary chapter titles!

[doggirldick]

i was writing tags on that last post and had a childhood nostalgia moment so here's a little storytime about my childhood and early games i played. ehem

imagine you are a little child. you have a ps2 that your dad left behind when he fucked off. your exposure to video games is shitty ps2 movie tie-in games.

your primary school is in a tiny village out in the english countryside.

they had an afterschool 'club' that was really just 2 mothers of kids at the school babysitting kids whose parents couldn't pick them up immediately. image you are there every single school day bc school finishes at 3pm and you are growing up with a working class single mum whose always working long hours to keep a roof over your head because your shitty father doesn't pay child support.

the club's in the school assembly hall so there's a lot of room to run round. they have a table with paper and pencils and felt tips so kids can sit and draw. they have a table with a box full of a mix of lego and mega blocks. there is one empty table just for whatever. in one corner, there is a little crt with a built-in vcr on the floor with some shitty old kids movies on vhs next to it, there are a few beanbags borrowed from the school library (a tiny room that can hardly be called a library but whatever) in front of the tv.

you're an undiagnosed autistic 5 year old that just moved to this school so you just sit in silence playing with lego by yourself and pissing yourself cause you're too autistic to ask to go to the bathroom.

one day. they get an old ps1 for the tv. 3 whole games and no memory card yippeeeee.

the games?

Action Man: Destruction X (anyone remember action man? i had this one doll that came with a snowmobile he could ride that fired giant snowballs out the sides and he had a hole in the back of his head so you could see through the visor on his helmet, it was the COOLEST toy when i got it).

Tweenies: Game Time (if you were a british kid in the early 2000s too poor for cable or whatever, chances are you grew up watching cbeebies and cbbc, maybe citv. my memory is vague but back before the digital switchover and the reign of freeview, when all we had was like 5 analogue channels, when i was young enough to watch cbeebies, i'm pretty sure they had like a cbeebies block and a cbbc block on bbc two in the morning before school)

RAYMAN. finally. a game that wasn't a tie-in, and not only that but it offered passwords in addition to saving so even though we didn't have a memory card, we could write a password down.

rayman was magical. beautifully drawn and animated. to my little child eyes it was just like a cartoon. it was also hard as balls so even with our passwords, we never got very far at all but i was obsessed. whiling away the hours after school fumbling around the first few levels every day. one time an older kid who was actually good at video games was at the club and made some actual progress while i watched mesmerised, had my mind blown when he got the helicopter hair powerup thing.

i later got a ds lite and the first game i got was rayman ds which was a ds port of rayman 2. fucking awesome. got stuck for a while until someone told me that if you let the walking shell chase you in a circle, it gets tired and you can ride it. COOLEST SHIT EVER. got stuck again cause i always got lost in the fire temple place and then on time i got jumpscared by one of those fucking scary bastards popping out from behind a rock and i didn't want finish it until years later when i got an action replay lol.

i stopped playing rayman bc someone let me play new super mario bros on their ds and then i got obsessed with mario until pokemon entered my life and platinum released here may 22nd 2009, the day before my 10th birthday and guess what my dad got me in one of his many attempts to make me not grow up hating him.

there. i'm done. i did make friends with other regulars at the club eventually, that's how i got into pokemon. we'd pretend to be pokemon and i had a sonic oc in like 2007 i would pretend to be sometimes. my exposure to sonic was sonic gems collection for ps2 but in 2007 my dad got me a psp and sonic rivals. sonic gems collection had a museum with unlockable art and sonic rivals had unlockable cards with art so i learned about other sonic games through these images until i got internet and watched the cutscenes on youtube lmao.

[texscan]

[fandommemequeen]

see sometimes ya have the popular interests [ut/dr, tadc, fnaf]

and then the "obscureish but i can still find ppl interested in them" interests [siivagunner, mpdsap, tja, wdy]

and THEN the "what the frick was i thinking why am i fixating on this" interests [dtv transition/digital tv switchover/analog shutdown/whatever u wanna call it]

[bergeronprocess]

Recently, YouTube recommended to me a bunch of collections of footage from when analog television broadcasting ended and switched to digital. This is definitely a weird little interest of mine - I've read the Wikipedia page about it a few times. (When the switchover happened, we used satellite, so we were totally unaffected.)

I found collections of American and international footage, and I've seen enough of it to create a tier list of Different Kinds of Analog/Digital Switchover Moments

S tier is when they cut over to the transmitter tower in Wherever Town just outside the main city and the anchor introduces some long-since-retired engineers to press the big button that ends analog service. I am not just saying this because that's how WSB did it here in Atlanta, though that certainly helps lol

A tier is when they make reference to old school broadcasting things like test patterns, the recitation of their FCC info, showing old pictures of their studios and personalities, talking about their history, etc. This is also what the BBC stations did, usually with a faceless continuity announcer.

B tier is the Japanese station I saw that appeared to be having a big ole party at the studio during a variety show and counted down to the switchover. さすが Japan making a party out of it 🤣

There's no real C or D tier here because I've covered p much all the scenarios EXCEPT...

F tier is for all the stations that just up and shut down out of nowhere with no final warning, like during a commercial for Oprah or right at the end of the credits for The Simpsons. Like what are y'all even doing here lol

I've seen the start of the National Association of Broadcasters "how to get digital television" video so many times in these montages too, but a station in Cincinnati took it one step further and had two of their news anchors record a custom version of it instead. That's a nice touch.

[ihatetaxes99]

The Digit-Al Rant (Because I am insane)

 Well, since I'm a Lovecraftian being who feeds off of ranting about things literally nobody else cares about, tonight I'm going to go for broke and make my most obscure rant yet. A rant about a certain character. Not just any character, mind you; A character that hasn't been relevant in over a decade and arguably, wasn't even relevant back when he was still being used. In spite of this, the character still holds a special spot in my weird, black heart.

 We all know corporate mascots. Cute little characters designed to entice you towards forgetting that the company they represent burned down a factory with eight hundred children inside for insurance, and buy their products again. We've had a lot of mascots over the years. Super Mario, Tony the Tiger, some others that I can't be bothered to recall right now. Mascots are a staple of modern culture. And in 2006, the UK government, and particularly the BBC, was facing a crisis that only a cuddly little mascot could solve.

 They had to… Convince boomers to make a minor change in their lives. This is where you can place the Dracula sting in your head.

 Yes, how many of you have heard of digital switchover? How many of you care about digital switchover? Well, come the mid-2000s, it had become clear to the British government that the old analogue television was not really going to cut it anymore, now that those dastardly Yanks were making films and television series with high-quality equipment. Analogue was quickly becoming outdated and they needed to make the switch to the far faster digital switchover sooner rather than later.

 And so, began the creatively titled UK Digital Switchover scheme. The plan was thus: From 2008 until 2012, the entirety of Britain would undergo a switch to digital television. This meant higher quality images, 1080p, support for modern TVs, things of that nature. During that time, they needed to make the general public aware of this, lest riots break out over Coronation Street being interrupted by the switchover. So they initiated their campaign as early as 2006. And at the head of it was the mascot of the event, one Digit Al (geddit?)

 Digit Al was a little robot fella, who initially had glowing blue eyes, although this was altered in later promotional material to remove the glow. His very first outing was a very charming little commercial where Al would interrupt the show that was on at the time, directly addressing the viewer and informing them of the Switchover. In this appearance, he was voiced by comedian Matt Lucas, who gave a certain awkward charm to Al, making him a bit of a klutz, albeit an incredibly friendly one. Lucas would voice Al in at least two more adverts.

 However, after these three ads, things would change. Around the time that Al's eye glow was removed, Lucas stopped voicing the character; In fact, Al would never again, for the duration of the campaign, speak. He was relegated to a background character while the narration was provided by some random fella doing a voiceover. As the Switchover went underway, Al would be used less and less, as promotion moved from informing the public of its existence towards explaining how to set up your television for the switch. From 2008 to 2011, Al's roles were sparse.

 Until, interestingly, 2012, the very end of the Switchover. By that point, Wales, England and Scotland had fully switched over. And this left just one nation in the UK that was yet to do so. The ugly little brother of the group that no one really likes and, coincidentally, my own home country. Northern Ireland. By October of 2012, NI would be the last British nation to still have analogue television, as the stations had been shut down entirely everywhere else. And then, in October, the sword fell. From the tenth to the twenty-third, the Switchover began. And this is when Al made one last appearance.

 On the closure of both BBC 1 NI Analogue and BBC 2 NI Analogue, Al appeared on the final message screen and, in the case of the former, made a brief cameo in plushie form in the final seconds of analogue television's existence in Britain. One last goodbye to nearly forty-nine years of British television. 

 So, why did he suddenly come back for Northern Ireland of all places? Was he an ardent Unionist? Well, I can't actually find any reason behind this. Each channel was basically allowed to do whatever they wanted, with some giving cute little goodbye messages and others cutting to static in the middle of a news broadcast about dead bodies being found (I am not joking, by the way. Imagine that being the last thing you see before your telly cuts out). If I had to make a wild conspiracy theory, then maybe the NI staff decided to use Al since this was the final stage of the Switchover. Once Northern Ireland was done, then the entire scheme was completed. Might as well give him one final wave.

 When all was said and done, the UK successfully transitioned over to digital television without any major issues and Al faded away into nothingness. The obvious reason for this is that he was created for one sole purpose. He was not a BBC mascot, he was a mascot for the Switchover specifically. What are you supposed to do with him once it's all done? He had outlived his usefulness, so to speak and so, the cheeky little bugger was taken out and sentenced to an eternity of wink-and-nod cameos during various other BBC promotions over the years. Of course, it probably didn't help that they stripped all of his personality out of him after Lucas left the project and resigned him to a kind of ugly-looking CGI robot, but still. I like Al for what he was, what he represented. As someone who grew up in the 2000s and early 2010s, Al is almost a symbol of my childhood, a bygone memory of simpler times. For that, I'll always have a soft spot for the little fella.

 A few interesting links:

 https://youtu.be/cerk8CDG8BE - The first advert with Digit Al

https://youtu.be/mWM3KuXidrA - An example of a post-Lucas advert

https://youtu.be/qecN3kmH9Hw - The hilariously unsettling example of the Switchover interrupting a rather morbid news report (it's the first section, BBC Two Scotland)

https://youtu.be/1p8d2Uo8pJk - The Switchover message from BBC 1 NI, the final few minutes of analogue television in all of Britain. Includes the Al plushie cameo.

[learnmystuff]

Data Guard

Data Guard, A Non Negotiable Duty #learnmystuff #dataguard #oracle #switchover #failover #duty

To care about information you value the most has become very crucial to the present time due to the abondance of information you have available around you. In today’s fast paced digital economy , data has become one of the most crucial asset to be protected whether it may be personal, financial , wellness or business related. It’s protection has become so crucial because of the value it holds for…