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When the news goes wrong

After the giggling fit suffered by one of radio's most trusted voices, we round up a collection of moments broadcasters would prefer to forget.

A message for Radio 4 newsreader Charlotte Green, who lost her composure on the Today programme this morning: You are not alone.

Never preen in front of the autocue

The BBC Breakfast Show goes on . . . and on. Keep shuffling those papers

Jon Snow's wishful thinking on Channel 4 News

Blame it on the make-up girl

24/7 news coverage makes you hungry...

(no sound)

...and desperate for a little boogie

2008: Sir Arthur's final orbit

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So farewell Arthur C Clarke, the pioneering and prolific writer and futurist who has died at his home in Colombo aged 90. He was the last of Sci Fi's Big Three after Isaac Asimov and Bob Heinlein.

The Times obituary is here.

In a video message to mark his "90th orbit" last year, Sir Arthur said that he had no regrets and no more ambitions. His three final wishes were left unfulfilled: for peace in his adopted homeland, for mankind to kick its oil habit and for ET to pick up the phone.

As a writer, he was most famous for 2001: A Space Odyssey, both the novel and the 1968 film. He continued writing until the end, finishing his final book only a few days ago.

As a thinker, Clarke was credited with transforming the world telecommuniciations through his proposal back in 1945 that man should use geosynchronous satellites, satellites orbiting above a single spot on earth, as relay stations. It was an idea before its time.

Myriad weblogs are posting tributes today. "His name will be remembered as long as ply the lanes of space," says the Bad Astronomy blog.

The BBC website has a fine obituary: "He wrote story-lines for the comic-book hero, Dan Dare, inspired Gene Roddenberry to create Star Trek and posited Clarke's Law: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." The Times obituarist recalls the three things of which Clarke was most proud: the anticipation of the satellite age, the 2001 book and film and the fact that he helped inspire Gene Roddenberry to create Star Trek.

Also worth a look are Clarke's own predictions for this century (until "history begins in 2100"), published by Reader's Digest in 2001. Among them: "2013 Prince Harry becomes the first member of the British royal family to fly in space."

And for a taste of his prose, a short story from 1949.

Poll: Should the international community boycott the Beijing Olympics?

Up to 100 Tibetan protesters are thought to have been killed as Chinese troops attempt to crush the biggest uprising against Beijing's rule in two decades, evoking fears of another Tiananmen Square as what began as a peaceful protest by monks spills over into violence.

Tibetan exile groups have written to the International Olympic Committee asking them to intervene with China, which is keen to use the Beijing Olympic Games in five months' time to enhance its international reputation. Some believe a boycott would embarrass the Chinese government into relaxing its grip on the territory and changing its stance on other issues such as the Burmese military junta and the crisis in Darfur, over which Steven Spielberg recently resigned as the Games' artistic director. Others, including the US and European governments, say such a move would only further isolate China and undermine international efforts to encourage human rights and democratic reforms.

Tell us what you think in our online poll, and come back soon to check for the final results.

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