Announcement

**spacer** · Feb 20, 2018, 03:38 AM

Lol. I like the BBC, too. I keep this bookmarked: http://www.bbc.com/

**Bings** · Feb 20, 2018, 06:10 AM

The BBC are on the whole good but it is not as impartial as it's stated to be. I think being impartial is technically impossible, so at least you know where you are with partisan media.

The BBC can make it site's nice because it's not funded by advertising, so doesn't pollute it's site with crap.

**TWPonKubuntu** · Feb 20, 2018, 06:24 AM

Woodsmoke,
I read the BBC article and found it fascinating. I'm not sure that I agree with the environmental twist to the story, but the webpage (IMO) was a masterpiece of design.

No, this certainly would not work on a tiny handheld screen. That means a great many people will not see the whole story. They wear blinders and don't recognize it. It's not a case of willful ignorance, because those who use "smart" phones or tablets will probably think of themselves as being very "cutting edge" kind of people...

RE the comparison of MSM (Main Stream Media) to the BBC, I have to agree with Woodsmoke, as I understand his OP. MSM is only interested in more eyes on ads and unconcerned with any desire to impart knowledge...

[edit] emoicons don't seem to be working today...

**Bings** · Feb 20, 2018, 07:04 AM

Advertising, despite being the proverbial stain on the face of the internet is a better funding model than the BBC, which uses the threat of criminal prosecution to attain it's money.

**TWPonKubuntu** · Feb 20, 2018, 07:14 AM

Bings:

RE BBC, without exposing yourself to libel, could you explain the "threat of criminal prosecution"? I'm not trying to hijack this thread, but I don't know the details.

**Bings** · Feb 20, 2018, 07:49 AM

There's no risk of libel explaining it. If you watch any channel on the TV (BBC or not), listen to any radio station (BBC or not) or use bbc.co.uk/iplayer (the BBC catch up service) you have to pay £145 for a license. Failure to do so results in prosecution if you get caught. If you don't buy a license, they will send you threatening letters and also people will knock on your door to check on you. For example, when one of my relatives died, they licensing people were contacted and told so. The house was then refurbished prior to sale and all during that time the licensing were sending threatening letters about what happens when you don't pay a license.

It would be much better if it was paid for out of general taxation but the BBC like the fact they get their money from a guaranteed ring fenced fund.

**TWPonKubuntu** · Feb 20, 2018, 09:13 AM

Wow, I'm glad the BBC iplayer is restricted to the UK. I can see where children (of all ages) would rapidly run up a bill that could not be paid.

Does the UK not have any free radio/TV broadcast channels?

**ianp5a** · Feb 20, 2018, 10:45 AM

On a smartphone, be sure to get the BBC News app. Which displays those interleaving page stories really well. A few of their videos do actually have ads.
Some of those stories have kept me spellbound in the past.
The BBC is a big budget operation. With the mandate to set a high standard in news as well as general entertainment and documentaries. They can afford all the top people too.

Sent from my SM-A310F using Tapatalk

**Snowhog** · Feb 20, 2018, 11:16 AM

See BBC.

**Bings** · Feb 20, 2018, 01:08 PM

Originally posted by TWPonKubuntu View Post

Wow, I'm glad the BBC iplayer is restricted to the UK. I can see where children (of all ages) would rapidly run up a bill that could not be paid.

Does the UK not have any free radio/TV broadcast channels?

You don't get charged per content on the iplayer. It's included in the license, which is £145 for a year,

There are free channels in that you don't pay them to watch them but you need the license to watch them. However, you can watch catch up of other channels without a license. So for example:

1: You want to watch popular quiz show "The Chase", it is on the channel ITV. It's not a BBC channel but you need a licence to watch it live. The money goes to the BBC, ITV makes it money by putting adverts in the show.

2: You've missed X Factor and you go to watch it on their catch up service, you don't need the license for that.

3: You want to watch the news show "This Week". It's on BBC One. You need a license to watch it however you do it. The money goes towards the program and there are no adverts.

4: You want to watch a live sports program on a subscription channel. You pay the license and the subscription. Plus there are probably adverts too.

**TWPonKubuntu** · Feb 20, 2018, 01:46 PM

Bings, thank you for the reply. I'm in the US, plus I don't watch TV anymore (vast wasteland, etc.). We have a similar pay-per-view situation here, but it is fragmented into many feed providers, not a single one-source licensing.

Glad I'm no longer addicted to TV, but the internet still has its hook in my wallet... We pay about $70/month, which is more expensive than the £145 / year in the UK, even considering the currency parity differences.

[edit] ok the emoticons are not working for me. I can see the correct image in the advanced editor, but the actual post does not show them...

ADDED BY SNOWHOG: I don't know why this has started happening; I've made no changes of late that would have this effect. But, if you click the Go Advanced button and uncheck Disable smilies in text, then your emoticons will show properly.

[edit] Emoticons working now

**GreyGeek** · Feb 20, 2018, 03:43 PM

I tripped over that emoticon thing too.

I canceled cable TV 5 years ago and made a coat hanger antenna to get the local stations. It worked great, giving me about 21 stations. It gave us what we wanted: local news and weather, and old TV shows.

Last September we got a 100Mbps fiber optic cable connection for $70/mo. So, I purchased a $25 Roku device and attached it to my TV. For NO monthly charge I get Pluto, a 100+ channel service, and several similar services, plus YT and other movie services. For Xmas my son bought my wife & I a 40" Roku TV, which is awesome. My favorite channel is the one showing what a GoPro sees riding in the engine on railroad in Norway. Beautiful landscape, sculptured villages and towns. Very relaxing. Reminds me of the death scene in Soylent Green where Edward G Robinson watches scenes of wildlife, rivers and geography as he slowly dies and subsequently is turned into Solylent Green crackers.

**TWPonKubuntu** · Feb 20, 2018, 04:23 PM

Testing...

Ah ha@ Thanks Snowhog, working now.

**TWPonKubuntu** · Feb 20, 2018, 04:32 PM

Greygeek, our cable 'net connection ($70/mo) gives me maximum of about 6Gb/s download speeds. That is more than fast enough for our needs. Of course it isn't always that fast, but I can live with the occasional slow periods. It depends on how many computers are trying to use the wireless here.

Did you see the recent food (for real) product being offered by https://www.soylent.com/... I guessing it is either very black humor or they haven't ever watched the movie...

Have we hijacked this thread enough?

Announcement

BBC news has left ALL as in ALL of U.S. lamestream media in the DUST not unexpected

BBC news has left ALL as in ALL of U.S. lamestream media in the DUST not unexpected

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