- 
TAG | BBC hackers get mashed |
|
|
| by Davey Winder | |
| Saturday, 28 June 2008 | |
|
Page 1 of 3 Once a year the BBC hosts an event called Mashed which is put together by the programmers and developers within the aptly named BBC Backstage team. Following a mantra of 'use our stuff to build your stuff' the Backstage boys and girls have been an integral part of the UK mashing scene for many years now. They call themselves hackers, but don't spend their nights in a bedroom trying to crack network passwords or steal your data. This is a more contemporary definition of the hacker as someone who simply uses their skills to extract more functionality than was ever intended from a piece of original software or hardware. Call them what you will, they had one thing in common: they were all here to get mashed. Sticking with the English lesson for a moment, this is not the kind of getting mashed that happens most Friday and Saturday nights at the local bar. In fact, you are far more likely to see these people drinking Jolt Cola and Red Bull than a pint of lager followed by a whiskey chaser. Mashing in this context involves taking a number of existing web applications and services, throwing in a handful of development tools, and trying to come up with something new using them. Think mixing BBC traffic news data with Google Maps to create a live map showing traffic jam hot spots and you've got your head around a mashup. Make something cool, they said. Make something cool, they did. And then some. So what did they make? Find out on the next page... CONTINUED |
| < Next story in category | Previous story in the category > |
|---|
