Three things that are now gone

There were 3 things that ended this year that I think it's too bad about.

CSVU.net
This used to be a place where I read Coronation Street. "visual updates". Mike Plowman supplied a plot summary along with screencaps. He did a great job - I was able to follow along for about 3 years when I did not have a television. I started reading his updates around 1999 or 2000. Granada eventually had him work for them, and his updates appeared on their site.

I have a television and a PVR now, so I don't read them anymore, only when my PVR didn't tape the shows, CBC Television feels free to move them to different times and my PVR can't catch up, at least the way I have it programmed.

So I had a peek I think in September, and the main page of the site was gone, though some of the material was still on the server.

From what I have been able to glean from the internet, Granada was cutting back and cut Mike Plowman. So no more updates, which is a shame.

Atlantic Ceilidh
This was a radio show on CIUT Community Radio in Toronto that focused on traditional Irish types of music, and like its title suggests, it spanned music from parts of Ireland, Canada, Australia, and other parts of the world.

I checked the schedule one day to listen to it, and it was gone. I called the station and asked about it and was told the host left because he no longer had the time, and that "no one stepped up with a similar show so we gave it to someone else" ie a staff member, I saw the name on the contact emails page.

I regret not listening every week, because I would have known about it and perhaps had the chance to step up and possibly become a host.

However I have had my fill of volunteering from my 2 years at CHRY in North York. Just the navigation of the system to get a show would suck. If I went now to propose a show, I'd have to start with a crappy overnight time and work my way up the food chain to a better time. This is best left to someone who is a grad student with a flexible schedule. I couldn't have assumed responsibility for Atlantic Ceilidh's existing 2pm Thursdays timeslot anyhow.

Apparently the host has gone to work for CBC. I'm not hearing his good work because all they play on Metro Morning is R&B or Latin music.

Ask A Nurse
The other thing that recently died is ask_a_nurse.
It was a Livejournal community that answered health questions. They had issues with people commenting with possibly inaccurate advice, so maybe this finally had them give up and shut down the comm altogether. It's too bad there was no explanation posted anywhere, it's just been deleted.