Removal of Web Apps and review of the Travels section
I’ve taken the tough decision to retire the two long-running Web Apps from this site. At the same time I’ve done a full review of all my travel reports. Details below:
Train Times for iGoogle
Although I know there is a core fanbase using the app on a regular basis, I have closed the live training running times app designed for the iGoogle home page. This sapped bandwidth on my server to the extreme, as it was constantly checking station departure boards all around the country. With at the end of the month and with no obvious place to relocate the app, it has now gone. All data will be deleted by Christmas Day or earlier.
BBC Correspondents Map
This well-respected website showed the locations and biographical information of the BBC’s network of foreign correspondents, plotted on a Google Map and listing each correspondent’s recent published stories on the BBC News website. Or, more accurately, it showed the location and correspondents from two years ago. The Correspondents Map was saved from closure in 2008 when I left the department at the BBC which looked after all the correspondent’s incoming lines, but I made a promise to myself to meet up with my former colleagues every 6 months or so with the purpose of keeping the map up to date. Although this has happened on a number of occasions since then (normally with gaps of about 18 months in between!) it hadn’t been updated for at least two years. To avoid further embarrassment, this has also been closed.
Travels section review
I have been though all of my travel reviews, updating web-links, noting out-of-date or inaccurate information, and adding a map and advertising throughout articles. Why not take a look?
