Video: Killed Radio Star?

I'm in two minds about online video. On the one hand, watching people make bombs from Pepsi and Mentos is great. On the other hand, watching grainy recycled coverage of the day's news happenings is incredibly dull.

Amanda Powell showed us how BBC News Online gives you the option of hiding the video on the front page, as some users apparently didn't like it. That seems a bit redundant to me; either make the video good enough or get rid of it.

Pete Clifton (Head of BBC Interactive) has the right idea. He says online video needs to be a short, compelling moment from a story. Something a bit leftfield or weird that people will want to email to their friends. He recognizes that BBCi aren't there yet - right now their Vodcasts are little more than aggregations of the past week's Newsnights - but at least they're paddling in the right direction. I say they need to show more clips like this one: a crazed bull running after a policeman on a busy road. Now that's more like it.

Mmm... Smells Like Oily Machinery

If BBC Magazines did decide to add subtle consumption-inducing smells to their newsprint, they might want to enlist the services of ScentAndrea. They're an American company dedicated to adding olfactory dimensions to the retail experience, and their site makes for interesting reading (if you can sift through all the exclamation marks).

Their latest gadget is the 'scent mouse' which can recreate odours to enhance your online shopping experience this Christmas. Smells on offer include Gingerbread, Cheddar Cheese, Siberian Fir Forest and, er, Oily Machinery.

* Blogging: The Debate Polarizes

Two contrasting approaches to the dissemination of information could be found in the approaches of our last two Online Journalism guest lecturers.

In the Red Corner we have Iain Dale, blogger extraordinaire and Online Broadcasting pioneer, whose approach can be encapsulated in the phrase "I don't think, therefore I blog". He posts updates to his blog several times a day, which apparently takes him less than an hour to write. His approach is immediate, reactionary, interactive.

In the Blue Corner is Richard Burton, erstwhile editor of the Online Telegraph. He too believes in the power of Blogging and user-generated content. The Telegraph was a pioneer in web journalism, as well as one of the first news sites to turn a profit. But he thinks that people should refrain from comment on matters they know nothing about, emphasised the importance of subject matter expertise, and - if I may read between the lines of his argument a little - seemed to view much of the Blogosphere as a morass of impotent opinions being ejaculated into cyberspace.

Perhaps that was reading between the lines a bit too much. But his comments resonate with Will Self's view that in a world where writers outnumber readers, not everyone can or should be allowed a platform. Burton gave the example of his Paris correspondent as an example of what a Blog should be: well-written articles about lives less ordinary.

The future according to Auntie

Local TV, user-generated content and integration across platforms; that's where BBC News is going. So says Amanda Powell, Online Editor at BBC Wales. It's refreshing to see the Corporation embracing new technologies rather than shying away from them. Still, with Wales Today's audience hurtling towards OAPdom (half of the audience are over 50), the chance to appeal to the 18-35 demographic must seem too good to miss.