This is interesting. We are used to the idea of Easter eggs (hidden extras) in DVDs and the like. But how could there be an Easter egg on television?

Unless you are like me, it is probably not very exciting. But if you miss those late nights in the company of Carole Hersee and Bubbles the Clown, then this is a treat. It is accessible in the vast majority of DTT / Freeview boxes, but some older ones won’t cope.

Here are the instructions:

• Turn to the BBCi channel (i.e. channel 105)
• Once the BBCi menu has loaded up, press YELLOW
• Turn to a different channel (any channel will do)
• Turn back to BBCi on 105
• Once the BBCi menu has loaded up, press GREEN. The word “secret” should now display in the top-right of the screen
• Wait for the “Status” page to appear
• Press 3 3 5 8 2 RED GREEN YELLOW BLUE (33582 spells ‘delta’ on a phone keypad)
• Wait a short while

Ta-da!

It is probably used for engineering purposes, although it seems a bit odd that it has to be hidden away behind a code quite as convoluted as this. The “status” page is also tantalising and intriguing. The borders around the edge are ’safe areas’ and it is possible to change your region. But the rest is a bit puzzling to me. But I suppose it would be given that it’s not designed to be seen by the like of me.

The full details are at Digital Spy.

Via deeteetee.

There is a little discussion going on in another thread about Jenson Button. Does he have an ego greater than his driving skills?

Well, as for his driving skills, Button is fairly quick, but usually unspectacular. He has the ability to impress sometimes though. His performances at Hungary and China this year are beginning to mark him out as a wet weather specialist, which is good going.

But his ego? The entire Honda team is well known for talking up its chances. When you think back to the roots, with BAR’s first season, they were telling everybody how they were going to win a race in their first season and all of that shit. They were actually one of the worst teams on the grid, mixing it with the Minardis.

Thing got even worse when it looked like the team had the potential to win a race, but could never quite do it. They had to go around convincing everybody that they were bound to win a race sooner or later. Nick Fry even pretty much said just before the start of the Japanese Grand Prix that he thought they were going to win that very race! Of course they came nowhere near to winning.

For a while, Jenson Button held the dubious honor of being the most experienced F1 driver not to have won a race. He was taunted about it during interviews for years. The media got a bit pissed off at him because British fans aren’t interested unless a Brit is winning a race — never mind the ‘plucky Brit’ image. F1 isn’t for plucky Brits, it’s for people with fucking humongous balls.

So Button had to always say he was capable of winning a race sooner or later, even when it seemed about as likely as Nick Heidfeld winning a race. It’s not a good thing to be really; patently lying about your talent. Let’s face it, a bit of skill was involved in his belated victory, but a great deal was down to luck.

So yes, Button maybe does have a bit of an ego. But here is the real reason why I think Button is an insuffrably smug scrotum.

Those BBCi adverts!

Oh man! How awful were they? Unfortunately (fortunately) I can’t find a video of it on the internet, but I have found the press release. It gives just a hint of what the advert contained:

As Britain’s youngest Grand Prix driver, Button travels at more than 200 mph mastering racing circuits around the world, so he knows the value of control.

In the latest BBCi television trails he will be using a different kind of control, the remote control, to navigate the BBC’s digital version of CEEFAX, gaining access to the latest news, travel, weather and sport on demand.

“I enjoy being up to date but I’m always on the go. When I’m racing I need to be completely focused, but when I’m out of the car I enjoy getting the latest news, sport and entertainment news, whenever I want it. BBCi on TV is the perfect solution,” said Button.

…

The BBC expects Jenson to push all the right Buttons for BBCi.

AAaaarghghgh! And we haven’t even got on to the advert yet. Button’s performance is truly wooden and stilted. But he was probably just embarassed by the horrendous script. If you thought it was bad enough that Gillette persist on trying to convince you that their new Mach Eine Million razor is just like a fighter jet, wait until you see what the BBC thinks BBCi is like.

Yes, BBCi is just like a Formula 1 car! So there sits Jenson Button, with a seedy grin on his face, pretending he’s having the time of his life on BBCi. “I always like to be in control… Great gear changes,” Button whimpers. Except he’s not holding a gear lever. Jenson, it’s a bloody remote control you tool! People trust this guy to race around circuits at 200mph yet he is confusing a remote control for a gearstick.

Not a very action-packed race. For a period about two thirds of the way through it looked like it was going to be one of those rare races that actually get closer towards the end, but it was not to be. I didn’t fall asleep though, so I’m becoming expert at surviving these races that are on at funny times.

I think the biggest thing to point out is how confusing qualifying is these days. Qualifying in Bahrain may have been a success, but yesterday’s session was a bit of a shambles. We had Steve Rider and Mark Blundell standing there on ITV’s coverage going on about how Michael Schumacher had been knocked out when he actually hadn’t. You could actually see the moment when Mark Blundell was told through his earpiece that Schumacher was actually still in; his face fell!

But the confusion wasn’t to end there, because there were several engine penalties. I really think this is the most idiotic rule in Formula 1 at the moment. They say that if a car breaks down 50 yards after the finish line then the car has done its job perfectly. Well, not any more. David Coulthard was given an engine penalty after his engine expired after the race. But if it blew before the chequered flag he wouldn’t have got a penalty.

Massa’s engine problems were confusing as well. We were told that he wasn’t even going to take part in qualifying because of his engine penalties. Then he did, but only in stage one — he qualified for stage two but didn’t take part in it. Why? And then there was the issue of Michael Schumacher. ITV and BBCi were both reporting that he would start 10^th because of his engine penalty. I didn’t understand that. Today Martin Brundle said he asked three different Ferrari people and got three different answers — none of which ended up being correct!

Bernie and chums go on about how important it is to entertain fans during qualifying. But what is the point when nobody knows what the grid is actually going to be like until just before the race? Formula1.com has this to say:

The official provisional grid, as released by the FIA on Sunday morning, follows below. Further changes are still possible prior to the race

Ridiculous! They almost may as well determine the grid order by plucking names out of a hat. And the FIA want to have engines lasting for six races! This engine rule is meant to be a cost-cutting exercise, but at this rate everybody will be starting at the “back” of the grid, and just making as many engine changes as they want anyway. And the grid will probably end up be determined by the fastest times.

So here’s a bright idea. Why not just forget the whole engines business — and the race fuel loads while you’re at it — and let’s have the fastest drivers at the front of the grid. What a novel idea!

I can’t help wondering if some teams are actually taking advantage of the engine rules. If you’re starting from the back of the grid you can fuel heavily and have fewer pit stops. This is how the somewhat average Felipe Massa beat his seven-times World Champion team-mate from further back on the grid today. Unusually, Ferrari opted not to swap the drivers around — but it’s only a point, eh? That could come back to bite them!

It doesn’t help that with the new V8s, engines are most teams’ achille’s heel at the moment. The Ferraris seem particularly bad. I know nothing about engines, but that Ferrari engine sounds seriously rough. It cackles away. Sometimes it sounds like Michael Schumacher’s dragging along a tub that’s scraping along the ground. Both Cosworths also blew, which was a particular shame for Nico Rosberg. Nick Heidfeld was also looking good when his BMW went.

Apparently Juan Pablo Montoya’s engine wasn’t in too great nick either. That’s just as well recently, because he was looking seriously mediocre. 4^th might be a respectable result, but we’ve seen what Kimi Räikkönen can do with a McLaren and he ends up making the “fiery” Montoya look quite mundane. Sometimes I wonder if Montoya has enough drive. He often seems to settle for finishing fourth or fifth rather than making that effort for a podium finish.

Rubens Barrichello was once again a disappointment. He is used to driving a car that does all the work for him, and he’s finding his new Honda hard work. Meanwhile Button is racking up the points. For the second race in a row Button has said that he could not get anything more out of the car. Clearly the Honda is not quite up there with the very best cars. And looking at the huge gap between Button and Barrichello, maybe Button is better than we thought all along? Apparently no driver who has yet to win has started so many races. That surprises me, but it just goes to show that a win from Button is overdue.

Fisichella was brilliant today though. Alonso’s qualifying fuel mishap may have gifted him the clear winning opportunity, but you don’t win a race from pole by accident. As for Alonso, my favourite moment was his move at the very start of the race. It’s one of those overtaking manoeuvres that looks like it simply should not be possible — an effortless move from nowhere around the outside of the two Williams cars. Brilliant.

Alonso’s already opened up quite a wide gap at the top of the championship standings though. I hope we don’t end up having a Renault-dominated season. The next race is another tough one for the body clock. It’s properly in the middle of the night, not merely early in the morning like today’s race was. Hopefully it will be worth getting up for.

BBC to add interactive service to DTT radio. Yet another welcome addition to the Freeview service!