BBC - You & Yours

New Ways to Play Videogames Announced in California

2012-06-06T11:13:53Z

The overall theme of this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo was the fight back of the console in response to the rapidly rising popularity of games on smartphones and tablet devices. Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony all competed for attention with a range of announcements that aimed to win back consumer's interest in videogame consoles.

Microsoft was the first to take to the stage in Los Angeles on Monday. Among a wide range of announcements, its new SmartGlass concept stood out. It's a new way to use smart phones and tablets to control the Xbox 360 and promises to make it easier to find content using the touch screen before "sending" it to the TV.

Once the content has started playing, complementary information is displayed on the touch screen devices. For example a map that depicts the location of a current scene, or information about the cast. There isn't a firm date yet for this to come to market. It'll be interesting to see how close to concept SmartGlass is by the time it reaches consumers. There are still a number of technical and commercial barriers to sort out between now and when the service launches.

At Sony's press conference on Monday afternoon, a range of new features for their PlayStation 3 and PS Vita games consoles were announced. Most striking is the Wonderbook accessory that creates a new way to play a videogame using the metaphor of a traditional book.

Players are invited to place a blank story book in-front of the PlayStation Eye camera which is then transformed into a virtual pop-up book on your TV screen. Players can interact with the story using the PlayStation's Move controller - the equivalent to Nintendo's motion sensitive remote control.

When it launches in the autumn a number of books will be available, including a title called Book of Spells from J K Rowling. In addition to delivering great content, the reliability of the experience will be key for consumers - something underlined by demonstration difficulties in the press conference.

Nintendo held their press conference last, on Tuesday morning. Having announced the Wii U last year, Nintendo's task was to persuade consumers why they should invest in what is essentially the Wii mark 2.0.

The answer revolves around its new Wii U Controller. This adds a tablet-style screen to the traditional game controls to offer new ways to play. One player can use the Wii U Controller with extra information from the screen in a different role to other players who use the old style Wii Remote.

Enhanced HD graphics and new style Wii U games are the other key incentive and mean it can compete for enthusiast gamers who have previously migrated towards Microsoft and Sony. Unlike Microsoft's Kinect accessory, the Wii U Controller requires a new console and replaces the original Wii. Again a firm date and price has not yet been announced for release.

Despite the glitz and the glamour, it remains to be seen whether these gaming console products and experiences will attract public attention away from cheaper, shorter games on phones and tablets. Watch this space.

Andy Robertson is a Family Gaming expert and presents the Family Gamer TV show

Avoid Overspending on Skylanders

2012-02-10T11:18:43Z

If you've not come across it already Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure is a videogame that launched last year. In it players explore a fantasy cartoon world to earn points and unlock new levels. It's unusual because it uses toy action figures to access characters in the game.

The game is designed for children 7yrs and older. It comes with a set of three toy figures that are placed on a Portal peripheral (a small grey box connected to the videogame console) to access the related character in the game. Progress made in the game is then automatically recorded on the toy with no wires or pressing of buttons.

Children can take the toy figure to a friend's house and play the game on their console to access the progress they made with their character. This works across different types of videogame console and greatly simplifies switching characters in the game and saving progress.

However, some parents have been critical of the videos that play in the game to advertise the other toy figures in the range. Skylanders supports 30 of these characters that are purchased separately for £6.99 or in packs of three for £19.99.

It is this method of restricting access to characters in the game that is both revolutionary and controversial. Videogames have traditionally granted new characters and levels as a reward for good play and in-game achievements. Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure is different because it only grants access to new characters once a player has purchased the related toy. To access everything in the game would require you to purchase every character at a cost of hundreds of pounds.

Frustrations have been exasperated by the popularity of the toy figures that has made them hard to find in stores or online. This has also led to the most desirable figures being sold second hand for many times their recommended retail value.
This week in New York, publisher Activision announced the next game in the series: Skylanders Giants. This adds larger toy figures to the range as well characters that light up when placed on the Portal peripheral.

Skylanders Giants will be available at the end of the year and will support all the toy figures (and portal) from the first game while introducing various new characters and special edition models. This leads to further questions about how the new game will be priced and packaged, and for fans of the series whether availability issues will be resolved.

For parents the key to this problem is in understanding what you do and don't need to purchase to play the game. While there is an inescapable desire from children to collect the toy figures they can actually play through to the end of the game using just the three figures that come with the starter pack (£49.99).

This offers an adventure that will take most players a good 20 hours. The experience is extended with a range of battle modes and challenges where players can pit their starter pack characters against each other.

In terms of value for money, younger players are best placed to benefit. They can find value in both the videogame and the toys themselves. The Skylanders starter pack is priced a little higher than other games, but does include three starter figures and the Portal peripheral. The action figures' £6.99 price is on a par with other toy characters of a similar style and quality.

While we are used to seeing adverts and product placement in other entertainment aimed at children, such a hard sell in a videogame can be a little surprising. Parents should play the game with their children to gain a full picture of how commercial (and enjoyable) the experience is.

Andy Robertson is a Family Gaming expert and presents the Family Gamer TV show.

What Nintendo's Wii U Offers Families

2012-01-27T16:48:52Z

The financial outlook isn't currently rosy for Nintendo. They have just reported a net loss of 48.4bn Yen (£400 million) in the nine months up to the end of December - the first time in 30 years they have reported a loss instead of a profit.

Beyond the difficulties Nintendo have from the Yen, which has seen 53bn Yen lost from its balance sheet, sales of both the Wii and DS have declined while the 3DS hasn't yet performed as well as hoped. While the 3DS's sluggish start was improved by a substantial price cut and the addition of more first party games (starting Nintendo's popular Mario character), it is now under pressure with the release of Sony's more powerful PS Vita portable.

The transition to the next generation of Wii and DS consoles was always going to be a difficult period. The rise of Smartphones means that very cheap and accessible games are now available to a much wider audience -- just the sort of people Nintendo had been winning over to the Wii and DS.

The 3DS addressed this issue with its own app store (the eShop) where you can download new games as well as re-releases of classic Nintendo titles. Recent announcements for the Wii U have promised an expanded delivery of downloadable games.

The Wii U aims to be the next generation of console for those who have enjoyed the Wii. It offers a tablet-like controller that incorporates a large screen. This creates new ways to play games together as a family and will offer fresh opportunities for game developers to innovate. The Wii U controller can be used as a standalone portable gaming device around the home, or in conjunction with a TV for multi-player multi-screen experiences.
The Wii U, which comprises both a new console and controller, is due to be launched later in 2012. The challenge it faces is winning over consumers who already have similar technology in their Smartphone and Tablet computers. In particular some of its novel features announced last June have been encroached on by the iPad and PS Vita, both of which enable you to play games across multiple screens as well as away from the main TV.

Additionally, there is growing competition from XBox 360 Kinect (that enables you to play games by moving your body in front of a camera) and PlayStation 3's motion control Move system (that offers a HD Wii-like experience). This is a much more crowded space than when the Wii first came to market.

Nintendo still have a number of cards to play though. Although much of the Wii U functionality exists on other systems, the promise of playing classic Nintendo franchises with better graphics and new controls will persuade many of the Wii's existing users to upgrade. Nintendo's is good at supporting its hardware with tailor made experiences from a wide stable of first party games. Wii-Sports and a series of related titles on the Wii ensured that that console offered good value.

The Wii U also makes use of the existing Wii controllers, which are used in conjunction with the new screen based version, to offer more ways to play together. It can also offer high definition graphics in a way that the original Wii was slightly lacking. This will court more avid gamers who were previously left a little cold by the Wii's less impressive visuals.

Providing these innovations can be delivered in an accessible way for consumers the Wii U will be an interesting proposition when it launches later in 2012.

Andy Robertson is a Family Gaming expert and presents the Family Gamer TV show.

Getting the Most Out of Family Gaming on a Budget

2011-12-22T10:32:00Z

In excess of 63 million videogames will be bought this year but just how family friendly are they? Family gaming expert Andy Robertson puts together the Family Gamer TV online videos which teach parents more about videogames without hype or jargon. We asked him how families can make the most of the games they play.

Although they can seem much more complex and intimidating, videogames aren't hugely different from other activities we do in our homes. Watching a film, playing cards, baking a cake or sharing a meal are most enjoyable when we do them together. Similarly, videogames work best for a family when they are shared, particularly when younger children are involved.

With so many games on offer it can be hard to find the games that best suit your family's individual make up. A game that suits a 5 year old won't necessarily suit an 8 year old for instance, and some games are better at involving a range of different abilities than others. It can be a hurdle that results in parents washing their hands of these choices, meaning it's the children who take the lead. But it doesn't have to be like that.

Talking to other families with children of similar ages is a great way to find recommendations. If you don't have anyone like that at hand you can also consult age-related game recommendations online, like the Family Gamer Awards I run, that are a good way to discover games that will suit your particular family setup.

Of course not everyone finds videogames interesting, or wants to spend time playing them. For young families though it is important that, where games are being played, parents get involved in some way or other. This might be watching and advising rather than playing, but it is critical to ensure that videogames don't become annexed in bedrooms as children get older.

This isn't just about monitoring the sorts of experiences your family is having with videogames, but about getting the most out of them together. Games are much more fun when they are shared, and many parents find a valuable connection with their children during this sort of play time -- and a great way to engage with a whole range of interesting and unusual topics.

Once you have identified the sort of games that might work for your family, you need to make a choice about which console you will play them on. The popularity of the Wii's simple controls have been joined by Sony's more accurate Move motion controller and Microsoft's Xbox Kinect system, where you control the game by just moving around in front of a camera. Each of these options has different benefits and limitations and should be tried out before purchasing.

Handheld systems like the Nintendo DS and Playstation Portable offer the greatest challenge to playing games together as they can only be used by one player at a time. In spite of their popularity families are often rightly cautious about bringing these into the home as they need to be handled with care.

Newer handhelds like the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita (released in Feb 2012) do help here by offering different ways to play together. As well as the 3D screen the 3DS enables you to interact via its built-in cameras and motion sensors like the Wii which makes it a much more shareable experience. The PlayStation Vita, like the iPhone and iPad, can be used in conjunction with your TV screen to get more people involved in the action. Completing this picture is the WiiU, Nintendo's new console launching in 2012, which will combine a screen on the controller with your Television to invent new ways to play together.

This Christmas has also seen a new trend in using toys to interact with videogames. Skylanders Spyro's Adventure, for example, enables players to access characters in the game by using toy figures they purchase separately. Cars AppMates is an example on the iPad where players steer vehicles in the game by placing special toy cars on the screen and moving them around.

Making the most of these different options isn't about having the latest technology or understanding how all this works in great detail. Rather, it is about taking advantage of the one or two games that are the best fit for your family. A bit of research before making these purchases can make all the difference.

Many families will find that the best games for them are actually older titles, or something they have enjoyed when visiting friends and family. This can be a great way to also save money, particularly because videogames often come down in price more rapidly than other entertainment products.

Once you have made your purchases and have your videogame system back at home it is worth spending some time setting it up before letting the family loose on it. This gives you a chance to choose the best room of the house to play in -- ideally a shared family space. It also means you can take advantage of the parental settings. For example, on the Xbox these enable you to control which age ratings are accessible, how long you play for and limits how you interact with other players online.

Like most good things in life, a bit of effort up front can make videogames much more engaging and enjoyable. Whether you choose videogame that get you dancing, adventuring, racing, exploring or strategising, doing it as a family will make it much more fun.

Andy Robertson is a Family Gaming expert.

What we spend on our pets?

2011-12-14T11:12:11Z

I am not a doggy person but I now have a dog - thanks to my son Tony aged 12 whose pester power stretched to a six year war of attrition. He won.

So now we have William a golden Labrador. I'm deeply in love with him of course. My resistance lasted for only 12 hours or so, until I came down the first morning and was greeted by his full body wag. It's irresistible and my reaction was a bit like that scene in the Snow Queen when the cruel child's heart begins to melt.

William has opened the door to a whole new world of expense - vets bills, insurance, accessories, toys and treats. I decided to take a look at the pet industry for You and Yours and wasn't surprised to find that it's worth more than £4 billion pounds a year. To put that into context, we spend more on our pets in the UK than we do on bakery - cakes, bread, biscuits that sort of thing.

The industry is having a good recession: sales growing slowly but steadily in value year on year. We're shifting from wet to dry pet food for convenience and in the downturn moving to cheaper brands. One area of surprise growth though is pet treats - up five percent this year on last year with 150 new products introduced in the UK alone.

It seems that treating our pets with small things - doggie chocolate drops, chews and toys - is boosting our morale and buoying up the industry. The treats are healthy - the chocolate drops are made with carob because human-type chocolate is poisonous to dogs. Other treats include dental chews.

It seems the demographic is going the pet's way. We are having our children later now and many couples get a pet first instead, we have fewer children and treat our animals like one of the family, more of us live alone and rely for company on pets.

In the industry they talk about the 'humanisation of pets'. You'll notice it everywhere once you start to look - with Christmas toys, stockings, even advent calendars for dogs and cats. I've discussed it with William and he's in favour of being treated like a human some of the time. He'd like to sit in a chair but just don't ask him to swap his meaty bone for a doggie dental chew.

Winifred Robinson presents You and Yours on BBC Radio 4

A Tale of Two Sleepers

2011-10-27T13:50:05Z

Matthew Nelson was on the maiden voyage of a new coach sleeper service from Glasgow to London - here's what he thought of it:

I'm sure I'm not the only one who harbours romantic notions of sleeper trains and the idea of drifting off to a gentle lullaby of choochoos and humming engines. Think of spending a night on a bus and the mind tends to conjure up far less appealing images. We seem to associate these journeys with cramped seats, aching limbs and the kind of sleeping positions that would make a chiropractor weep. But that could all be about to change.

On Friday's show we are running a story on Scottish coach firm Megabus' new sleeper service between London and Glasgow -a venture that hopes to transfer all of the comforts of the rail carriage onto four wheels. Passengers are each allocated a seat on the bus as well as their own bunk where, alongside their bedding, they will find an overnight pack containing a toothbrush, toothpaste, a bottle of water, an eye mask and a luggage label.

Megabus have often been described as the Easyjet of the road, and it's easy to see why here - with fares ranging between £1 and £40 their overnight service is being sold as an affordable way to travel. Scotrail's Caledonian Sleeper train makes the same run, but to pick up their cheapest fare of £19 you will have to book well in advance. Easyjet also fly the Glasgow to London route and you can grab a ticket with them for as low as £21.99, but anyone choosing to go that way will also have to stump up for an additional rail or bus connection to get into the city centre. There is always the option of driving the distance yourself - but the petrol costs of covering the 400 odd miles will weigh in at around £60 in an average car.

So, with the chance of a £1 fare, the Megabus does seem like the most affordable way to make the journey. But does the old adage "you get what you pay for" ring true here? While covering this story I got the chance to find out for myself when I boarded the Megabus sleeper's maiden voyage from Glasgow to London.

When it pulled into the bus station, the first thing that I noticed about the sleeper bus was its sheer size. The company have converted articulated bendy buses to complete the run so they are, essentially, two standard coaches joined together. And they need all of the space they can get because each of the 24 passengers on-board is allocated both a seat and a bed. After I'd climbed aboard and gotten myself seated on this tarmac megalodon I was struck by just how excited my fellow passengers were to get to bed - they couldn't wait to ditch their seats and get stretched out in the bunks.

And as soon as we hit the motorway that's exactly what most people did. Getting into bed on a bus isn't as easy as it sounds though. Many of my fellow passengers found that, with the narrowness of the gangway and the bus' intermittent jerking from side to side, climbing into a middle or top bunk required the balance and dexterity of an Olympic gymnast.

Sadly, I'm not an Olympic gymnast. And as I was lumbered with a microphone and recording equipment I found it particularly difficult to turn in. It seemed that the only practical solution to the problem was to enter by lunging in headfirst before wriggling forward on my stomach with my legs, an afterthought, dangling out behind me. Once inside I was impressed though - I'm over 6 feet tall and I was still able to stretch out from head to toe. Still, there wasn't an excess of room. Should any passengers have brought a cat on board they definitely wouldn't have had room to swing it in here.

The next day, after pulling into London, we all filed off the bus and, much to the sleeper's credit, the scene didn't resemble a scene from a zombie movie too closely. While most of us admitted that it wasn't the best night of sleep we've ever had, it seemed like everyone did manage to get at least a few hours of slumber in. And, with tickets starting from as low as £1, a little sleep deprivation seems like a small price to pay.

Matthew Nelson is a freelance reporter for You & Yours

In Touch 50th Anniversary Programme

2011-09-13T09:32:37Z

In Touch, Radio Four's regular weekly programme for visually impaired people, is 50 next month. It hardly seems possible, or indeed that I've been presenting it for almost 40 of those years, but we intend to give the old dear a really good party.

On Tuesday 4th October we are recording an hour-long programme in Broadcasting House, London. The idea is not just to celebrate the programme, but the achievements of blind and partially sighted people during its lifetime. We'll be featuring some of the startling changes which have occurred over the past half-century; two people will be comparing experiences; one who lost her sight in the early 60s, just as the programme was starting out and another who has only recently become blind

We'll be looking back at the controversy surrounding the start of the programme, and the arguments at the time about what it should be called, and indeed whether it was needed at all. We'll also be welcoming a range of guests who've made their marks in a number of fields: writer and creator of Adrian Mole, Sue Townsend, humorist Denis Norden, Ryan Kelly, probably better known to you as Jazzer in the Archers, with music from opera singer Denise Leigh. And we hope to have a few more surprises up our sleeves come the day itself.

I'll be presenting the show, which should be great fun and we hope the audience will play a full part in the festivities. There are still some tickets left for the event. To get them you can click here or call the BBC Action line on 0800 044 044. Please let us know if you plan to bring a guide dog or if have any mobility requirements. Doors will be open at 1800 and recording starts at 1930. Hope to meet you there.

Peter White presents In Touch and You and Yours on BBC Radio 4

Avoiding Pitfalls of In-App Purchases

2011-09-02T08:26:06Z

Family gaming expert Andy Robertson explains the issues around the new trend in videogames in-app purchases: free games that encourage you to pay as you go.

Many of us have become used to buying things online for our families. Whether this is the weekly shopping, electronics or birthday presents we know what to expect when purchasing from a website.

A newer innovation is purchasing games and software for our handheld games consoles and mobile phones directly on the device -- the iPhone, iPad, Android phones, 3DS or PSP for example. This lets you buy new games via a Wi-Fi Internet connection without even being connected to a computer.

The purchasing process on each device can be quite different. Firstly, whereas on the traditional gaming devices like the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PSP or 3DS you are asked to enter a password or credit card details for each transaction, on Smartphones a single log-in can be enough to grant multiple purchases within a particular timeframe.

Secondly, Smartphones are leading the way with in-game purchases, the ability to progress in a game by spending real money to buy in-game currency. This is another way to spend money on the device, and there has been a rise of games that are initially free but then encourage you to pay for items during play.

Avoiding multiple password requests in this way enables Smartphones to offer a smoother purchasing experience. On the iPhone and iPad (prior to their March update) for instance once you have entered your password you don't have to do it again for 15 minutes.

This doesn't sound like a problem until you come across free iPhone games like Pet Hotel or Smurf Village. These are free to download and require a password to do so. If you then hand the device to your son or daughter they can make in-game purchases for as much as £69.99, without a need for a password in the first 15 minutes.

These games do state that the game shop uses real money, but of course it is easy to miss this particularly if you are an excited young player. They can also ask you to login before you start playing, but again this opens up the danger of the grace period.

To their credit, Apple has provided an update to the iPhone operating system (the March 4.3 iOS update) that adds an extra password request for in-app purchases (although not for general purchases). This greatly reduces the risk of children generating alarming bills on their parents phone, but it does require that you update your device -- something that users can be dissuaded from doing as it can take in the region of 20 minutes.

In addition to the update, there are also a range of other things you can do to alleviate the problem. Probably the best advice though is to play games with your children rather than let them play on their own. It means they will get more out of the experience, and you'll understand what they are getting so excited about.

Where your children are likely to play these games unsupervised, you can avoid the problem as follows:

Update iPhone/iPad Operating System
To update the operating system on your device:
1. Plug your iPhone/iPad into a PC via the white USB cable.
2. If it doesn't open automatically open your iTunes software.
3. You will be automatically prompted to update your device.
4. Ensure you have transferred any purchases and backed up the device by right clicking it in the Devices list and selecting Backup and Transfer Purchases in turn.
5. With the Device selected in the list click the Update button.
6. Do not disconnect your device until prompted to do so.
Separate iTunes Account for Children
Create a separate account on the device for your children that isn't linked to your credit card:
7. Tap Settings, scroll down and select Store.
8. Tap Sign Out.
9. Tap Create New Account.
10. Follow the on-screen instructions.

If you need credit on this account use an iTunes gift card or setup an iTunes allowance. You can then log into this account before your children use the iPhone:
1. Tap Settings, scroll down and select Store.
2. Tap Sign Out.
3. Tap Sign In and enter the children's iTunes account details.

Disable In-App Purchases For Everyone
Turn off in-app purchases for all users of the iPhone:
1. Tap Settings, then select General.
2. Scroll down and select Restrictions.
3. Tap Enable Restrictions and enter (and confirm) a pass code for the iPhone.
4. Tap the In-App Purchases slider so it switched to Off.
You have now disabled In-app purchases. Reverse this process to enable it should you require it in the future.

Log Out of iTunes After Purchasing
You can avoid the 15 minute password period by logging out of iTunes after making a purchase:
1. Tap Settings, scroll down and select Store.
2. Tap Sign Out.
You will now be prompted to login next time you make a purchase.

Andy Robertson is a Family Gaming expert and presents the Family Gamer TV show.

No-Frills Weddings

2011-06-24T13:28:41Z

We'd love to hear your tips for saving money on what can be the most expensive day of your life - your wedding day. After all not everyone is working on a budget like Prince William and Kate Middleton.

On the face of it the story about the Church of England setting standard charges for performing marriage ceremonies (and in so doing raising the price) seemed like one of those which, how can I put this, one which would just come and go.

Not a bit of it. Hardly had the item finished than Jenny Gerrard had told us about her wedding which she felt had been a perfectly lovely and had barely cost anything at all - then again she was a Sunday schoolteacher at the church in question. Could she send us photos? Yes she could. Hardly had Jenny's story gone out than we'd heard from Judith Livingston with the story of her austerity wedding. Could she send photos too? Yes she could. They're here. We'd be delighted to receive more - by e-mail only please!

We also detected in our inbox that some of our church organists feel very under-appreciated and we're planning a piece on that soon.

Our piece on the trend of showing films outside the fixed cinema - in museums, zoos at festivals etc - also prompted a big response. We asked where you'd like to see your favourite film and we were deluged with responses including Top Gun in an aircraft carrier, Roman Holiday on the Spanish Steps, The Jungle Book in the rainforest and the original Star Wars trilogy at Penultimate Picture Palace in Oxford, shouting out the lines along with everyone. Keep those coming in too!

Peter White presents You and Yours and In Touch on BBC Radio 4

Call You & Yours and the Volcanic Ash Cloud

2011-05-25T09:52:28Z

A rare newspaper review for Call You and Yours this week. It was a rather different kind of programme - we tried to capture the problems caused, mainly in Scotland, by another of those volcano ash plumes which wafted over the UK from Iceland. All our preparations had been for a phone-in on Mary Portas' brief to breathe new life into the High Street but with the ash making its way south and a backlog of cancelled flights building up, we decided to throw out our plans and go for the moving story - literally in this case. Our previous "volcano special" in April 2010 won a Travel Press Award so we know the subject and BBC Scotland promised us help with coverage and we decided to go for it. Producer Sally Abrahams did a brilliant job of holding things together even though we got far fewer telephone calls than for a phone-in reflecting a national debate. As Elisabeth Mahoney points out in her review, Julian Worricker is the perfect anchor to tackle an emerging story where the devil is in the detail. So were we right to follow our journalistic instincts? Or would you have preferred the debate on the High Street? I'd be interested to hear listeners' views - and just to say we are intending to run the shop debate now on Tuesday June 7. Get you comments on that to us now.

Andrew Smith is the Editor of You and Yours and The Media Show on BBC Radio 4.

Listen to the Call You & Yours Ash Cloud
Read Elisabeth Mahone's Radio Review on guardian.co.uk

Howard Schultz

2011-05-16T08:43:37Z

Howard Schultz - the man who built Starbucks from a single Seattle coffee shop to an international chain - has been on a brief tour of the UK. He's promoting his new book, 'Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without losing Its Soul'.You and Yours were offered the chance to interview him and we jumped at it.

'Onward' is a brisk 300 plus pages beginning with the story of how Howard Schultz, a boy from a poor background, wanted to build the kind of company his father never had a chance to work in. He is proud that Starbucks in the States offers health insurance to all its employees, even those who work part time. He describes how his father, who never earned more than $20,000 a year all his life, was sacked one winter after falling on ice and breaking his hip. The family was destitute. He was inspired to set up Starbucks to recreate the experience of drinking coffee in bars in Italy where people meet and socialise and the staff are friends. He quickly moves on to his main subject, how in 2008 - after eight years away from the helm - he re-took control of the company, convinced that it was losing its romance and magic in a relentless drive for growth.

What to ask? As a journalist interviewing Howard Schultz, you have to be aware that millions of people love Starbucks and wouldn't buy their coffee anywhere else. But because of the rapid expansion of the company - the very thing he returned to curtail - Starbucks to some is as insidious and the McDonalds Golden Arches, ubiquitous, uniform, unwanted. A couple of years ago on You and Yours we featured cases where the company had opened on small high streets, applied for planning permission retrospectively and met with sustained resistance from local people.

I really enjoyed the book. It provides - for a business outsider - a fascinating analysis of how a company can appear on paper to be doing everything right, increasing share price and growing profits and sales, and yet at the same time be undermining the very thing that made it a success; in Howard Schultz's terms, the romance of a custom-built coffee shop.

What I found hard to swallow though was the almost religious fervour with which Howard Schultz describes his work. The book is on sale in Starbucks branches with proceeds going to charity, so please have a read and let me know what you think. I decided to rib him gently about it (or so I thought) careful to point out that his lack of any trace of irony is probably what makes him a multi millionaire while I am not. I asked him to read what for me was a particularly schmaltzy bit, a collapsed into laughter as he finished reading it and it observed that the tone felt 'un-British' to me. I had eight emails telling me off for being so rude. I replied to them all in person. Tone is a very hard thing to judge in these encounters. I don't always get it right...The book is on sale in Starbucks branches with proceeds going to charity, so please have a read, have a listen and let me know what you think.

Winifred Robinson presents You and Yours on BBC Radio 4

Does your holiday begin at the airport?

2011-04-21T15:20:23Z

On the day that Heathrow Terminal 5 opened, I landed at Heathrow Terminal 4. I was on a flight from Bangkok, and remember how quiet the terminal seemed and how smooth it was to get from plane to baggage hall to main concourse. It was only when I got into a taxi that my attention was drawn to events nearby. "Terminal Four seems very quiet today," I remarked to the driver. "Yes," he said, "but you should see the chaos that's going on just around the corner".

No-one currently working at Terminal 5 denies that the first few weeks were shambolic. But on a visit there this week to record material for our Easter Monday programme it was hard to find anyone with a bad word to say for the place. Even when I interrupted passengers in the middle of their meals they remained good-humoured. Two Australian women liked it, so did a family heading off to the United States, and so did a regular British business traveller.

Of course we were there on one of those days when everything was running smoothly. The airport was busy, but not too busy. Flights were landing and taking off on time. The queues at security were manageable. Lessons have been learned, I was told, after last year's Icelandic ash cloud debacle so that airports are better prepared for the bad days as well as the good ones.

But how typical is Terminal 5? Part of the reason for going there was to assess whether people can regard the holiday as starting at check-in or when the plane lands at its final destination. As travel writer, Alison Rice, says during the programme...Terminal 5 is one thing, Gatwick on a busy Saturday afternoon is quite another. You can hear an interview with Emma Gilthorpe, director of regulation at Heathrow, on Easter Monday's programme.

We'll also run a series of what we're calling 'hidden gems'...places in the UK, picked by celebrities, that are way off the usual tourist trail. What makes these places special as far as our guests are concerned? And by all means tell us about some 'hidden gems' of your own. Add them to this blog, and see how they compare with the choices of our celebrity guests.

Julian Worricker presents You and Yours on BBC Radio 4

Porridge - how do you do it?

2011-03-31T14:19:17Z

Not so long ago the best thing most people had to say about porridge was that it was cheap, but on Wednesday we learnt that Pret a Manger is selling 50,000 pots of it a week.

Of course it's not the only place to sell it but it is, they claim, a big part of their growing profits.

So what's the attraction? And which is the best way to make it: should you use sugar or salt, water or milk . . . ?

In search of answers Winifred spoke to Neal Robertson - of the Tannochbrae Tearoom in Auchtermuchty in Fife. He's the current world porridge making champion, the holder of the Golden Spurtle.

"Eat it standing up" was his most surprising piece of advice as it's "much better for your digestion". Oatmeal, water, sea salt and defiantly not made in microwave were his other tips.

We asked you for your recipes, and here they are:

Lyn Brown serves Luke warm with grated nutmeg and mixed dried fruit. Just put oats in a bowl add milk or dried milk and water and cook uncovered for about 4mins.

For Ghanaian style oats Joseph Hammond-Hagan uses oats, water, pinch of salt. Add sugar and evaporated milk to serve.

Andy Quarrie's method is one measure of oats, one measure of water and one measure of milk. Put cold into pan and bring to simmer until nice and thick. Add salt to taste. Eat with milk and Demerara sugar.

Theresa Reilly suggests one small cup of organic oats, 1 - 2 cups of apple juice and cook over stove. Add a few brazil nuts when serving.

Thom Axon's secret is adding chai spices (add a chai tea bag) and flaked almonds.

And Sheila Mitchell takes a more straight forward approach - she avoids the microwave but simply "follows the instructions on the pack."

David Blunkett on DAB

2011-03-29T12:13:19Z

David Blunkett, MP for Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough and former Home Secretary, asked us to pass this comment about DAB on to Laurence Harrison of Digital Radio UK - AS

I just caught the end of your interview in relation to digital.

It is simply not true that 90% of the country have what normal people would describe as 'coverage'.

I can get digital in north Derbyshire if I hold the radio up to the ceiling or I find the exact slot on the kitchen windowsill! In the rest of the house it won't work.

Other experiences (including in London) lead to what I can only describe as 'overload' so that the much vaunted 'higher quality' can only be obtained if the volume is turned right down!

Coupled with the idea that Radio 4 Extra is something brand new and not simply rebadged Radio 7, and we are all getting the impression that the listener is being treated as a fool!

Honesty, openness and a degree of humility - and patience in terms of getting this right - might win us over a little more than technical assertion or evangelical fervour.

Best wishes,

David Blunkett

Listen again to the You & Yours item about digital radio in cars and leave a comment about your own experience.

Getting digital radio

2011-03-29T09:27:47Z

Do you get it? Digital radio that is. At You and Yours we'd love to hear your experience of digital reception - especially if you have a digital radio in the car. The question arises after our piece which arose after the news that Ford is planning to offer the digital radio as an option on all its cars and on some models as standard from next year. And all new cars should have a digital radio as standard by 2013 - two years earlier than was required of them.

But do consumers want DAB radios in their cars? Martin wrote to tell us he had a DAB radio fitted to his old car - but quickly went back to FM. "I didn't want 80 stations to choose from," he says.

Assuming you would like that choice, is it really available? Not according to Simon, who recommends a trip along the A470 from Cardiff to north Wales. "The radio works well at first," he says, but after less than 30 miles from Cardiff, the radio dies. "Then there is no signal until the north Wales coast - nearly 150 miles away."

Geoff says he drives four miles to the nearest town in Sussex and the digital radio gives up altogether - and Andrew complains that he can't even get an FM signal in Argyll and Bute let alone DAB. Simon says his DAB signal in Cumbria "frequently drops out altogether."

And Robert complains his car often suffers total signal loss in London - when he drives past buildings. "Analogue interference is tolerable as you can still hear something... but with digital you get nothing at all," he says.

Only Steve from Anglesey felt he could recommend a DAB car radio. Sceptics tried to stop him but he says:"Since having it, the only place it hasn't worked was the Conwy Tunnel."

New masts are going up to improve coverage - not sure they'll help in the Conwy Tunnel though - at the moment a DAB signal reaches around 90 per cent of the population - though, significantly for motorists that's not 90 per cent of the geographical area.

So let us know where your DAB coverage starts and ends - maybe we'll even draw up an informal, unscientific map. In the meantime the BBC does offer help with reception problems.

Andrew Smith is editor of You & Yours

Picture by Doc Searls. Some rights reserved.