Once they dropped Paul Morley things looked up. (I dislike Paul Morely intensely. I refrain from libel...)
The whole '80s thing seemed to be a reflex - end of the '70s == Hurrah! and finally there was money around for all and we all par-tayed. Until Sir Bob pointed out that, well, the money we had tended to be made directly or indirectly at the expense of Africa, and people were dying because of it.
If you remember anything about the '80s remember Live Aid. The world woke up to it's global conscience that day.
I have the entire set on VHS (PAL). Taped "live" about 15 years ago.
Christ - it seems like yesterday.
I can recall word for word a few of his celebrity interviews.
It introduced me to more excellent avenues of music than any single source I can quote. Cabaret Voltaire stands out - Sensoria was astounding.
Whoops - this'll get modded down for offtopic... [PS I was at the Art of Noise concert where Max appeared "live"]
Graham --------
Re:Max Headroom world is closer than you think...
on
Back on TV: Max Headroom
·
· Score: 0, Offtopic
Maybe It's not all overt. Consider that subliminal ads are Really just as, if not more, effective Over a period of time. Surely One should look out For any sort of subliminal advertising Thesedays.
My point was the un-thinking use of "England". Being English, it is irksome to be labelled so when the meaning called for "British". I am sure other Brits (e.g. Scots, or Welsh) feel similarly.
Having MS take over a UK channel, I can see theater, color and favorite creeping into everyday use. Football will become soccer, and news programs will have Local News (rich old lady dies in Windsor) and World News (Lakers beat Nicks, film at 11).
Oh! for another US election, when Channel 5 wasn't the only one to broadcast too much gore and bush.
Bad example - they had to change their name due to contractual obligations after an MBO. They had to remove all reference to Andersen from their business.
Consignia - I'll give you that one. A complete arse of a name change, if you ask me. Doesn't Consignia, in Spanish, mean "Left Luggage"?
Digital terrestrial includes many new non-analogue including BBC3 and BBC4.
Not quite. BBC4 is up and running (actually, they just renamed BBC Knowledge), but BBC3 is still in the pipeline [The consultation papers can be found here]
ITV Digital faced an uphill struggle since the beginning. They actually started out life as "ON Digital", but no-one knew who they were, or really what they did. Bad marketing saw this "faceless" TV company (for whom very few Brits even saw it in action) struggle. So they renamed, and rebranded after a bright spark thought "The two shareholders are Carlton and Granada - everyone knows who they are!". Hence ITV Digital. A bad start, but perhaps a better future after Monkey and Johnny Vegas (listed in order of merit) might help turn things around, and if they could get the rights to the Nation's Passion (football) they might be in with a chance!
So they bid for the rights to show Nationwide League games. [details of exact amounts here] Everyone thought that the bean counters at ITV Digital had done their homework, and could afford the legally binding amounts to be paid to the League.
Alas, no. They came up short in the money stakes: Dear Mr Digital, your account is overdrawn to the amount of a squillion pounds. Please advise us how you intend to rectify this matter. Until you contact this branch, I have cancelled your cash card. You have been charge 25 quid for this letter..."
Because of ITV Digital's bad management at all points, they are in trouble. Or dead - depends who you believe. Maybe Microsoft can inject the cash and management required to make it work.
One thing (OK the only thing, apart from Futurama) I admire about Sky, is their ability to make a business plan and stick to it. They sunk a whole load of money, investing in the infrastructure to make Satellite work - and it now pays. They are now doing the same to Sky Digital. Good on them - they made it work.
It's a shame that the prat at ITV Digital who signed the contract is now causing a number of football clubs around England to suffer because ITV are refusing to pay what they legally bound themselves to.
Re:Is it smart enough to know about schedule chang
on
TiVo Series 2 Review
·
· Score: 1
Maybe that's how it works now, but it's not how it should work. The way TiVo life should run, is that when you ask it to record, say, City v United - you get exactly that, because in a perfect world, broadcasters should throw out PDC-like codes at the start of their programs.
Having a code that's readable by TiVo-like boxes, which says "This program has ended, you can stop recording now" only benefits the consumer^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H user, and we all know that aint enough to get into production. [The advertisers will complain]. So have a code that goes out saying "This program is starting", so that the boxes recording the previous prog will stop, having recorded more ads, keeping the corporate machine running.
I have a VCR with PDC, but I always turn it off, as there have been instances that PDC codes go out during breaks - screwing my preferences. Maybe if more people used TiVo-like boxes, there'd be a demand for better broadcast codes, and we'd all win. [Though the advertisers would win less than the great unwashed].
Oh, hang on - that would require corporate co-operation...
So store the Hiroshima type bombs in the oven, and put the Nagasaki type bombs in the bath (but use a non-slip rubber mat, we don't want any slipups, do we?).
Every home should have one - it's in the second amendment.
Show me one person in the UK who did not watch a BBC channel or listen to a BBC radio station in the past 12 months. If they did, they are required to have a licence - and that pays for the BBC. Try bbc.co.uk (no ads), or news.bbc.co.uk (no ads).
If you wanna skip paying the licence, go ahead - you'll get caught and fined a grand. You can pay in monthly installments - less than a tenner a month, which is good value, in my view. My wife is North American, and was apalled that you had to pay for the right to watch TV here in the UK. Now she's seen the quality of the programming, and the lack of ads, she misses the BBC when she goes back "home".
You are wrong about the commercial support for the BBC - I worked in advertising for 10 years. Perhaps you mean ASBOF, which is 0.1% surcharge on ALL commerical advertising in the UK.
Here in the UK, the BBC carries no ads, and is globally regarded as one of the best broadcasters on the planet. How so?
Well, not by being free, 'cos it aint. In the UK, if you want to own a TV, you have to have a licence for it. Approaching US$200 per year, and that goes for any TV whether you watch the BBC or not. The government fines you over US$1,500 if they catch you with a TV and no licence.
The govt collects the revenue, passes (most of) it to the BBC, who make half decent programmes. At least they're better than most of the crap you get on other channels, with a few exceptions. (Channel 4 turn out high quality stuff too).
No doubt you'll get a million replies to your comment, some flame, some not. However, I was once in your shoes, wondering what on earth the fuss was about - surely it's just a set of kids books.
Well, once I had read the first book, I had to read the second, which led to the third and I'm one chapter into the fourth. It's gripping, compelling, and incredibly well written. Who cares if it's a kids book? JK Rowling could write about ancient sanskrit and I'd find it enthralling. Have you ever read an author that dragged you into their pages?
I'm a pretty intelligent guy, but the stories are twisty enough for me to get lost in, and I never manage to work out "who-dunnit" though I sometimes get halfway there.
Here in the UK, you can get the Harry Potter books in two covers - kids and adult. The kids version is cartoony, the adult covers are black/white and suggest a darker, more sinister book. Both sell well.
What do you expect from a book? To be entertained? You'll certainly get that from Harry Potter. To forget about the "real world" for a while? Easily done while reading Harry Potter. How about not being talked-down to? Again, Harry Potter books are by no means condescending. (That means talks down to... [joke]) They assume the kids reading it are switched on.
Try reading the first chapter of the first book, and then try putting it down. I dare you:)
Re:The reach of the internet ... How this started
on
Bert Is Evil
·
· Score: 1
What's even more interesting is how did they download it from the internet, when the internet is banned there?
Jacques Villeneuve (Formula One champion) attributes some of his reaction speed and mental quickness to playing video games. He is know as being one of the best starters in Formula One.
Shame he's not known as one of the best finishers, which is, after all, more important...
Slashdot Mirror
Whole new meaining to "Don't call us, we'll call you"
AoN lucked out with the Max bandwagon.
...)
Once they dropped Paul Morley things looked up. (I dislike Paul Morely intensely. I refrain from libel
The whole '80s thing seemed to be a reflex - end of the '70s == Hurrah! and finally there was money around for all and we all par-tayed. Until Sir Bob pointed out that, well, the money we had tended to be made directly or indirectly at the expense of Africa, and people were dying because of it.
If you remember anything about the '80s remember Live Aid. The world woke up to it's global conscience that day.
Graham
--------
Max + videos (zoolookology anyone?)
I have the entire set on VHS (PAL). Taped "live" about 15 years ago.
Christ - it seems like yesterday.
I can recall word for word a few of his celebrity interviews.
It introduced me to more excellent avenues of music than any single source I can quote. Cabaret Voltaire stands out - Sensoria was astounding.
Whoops - this'll get modded down for offtopic...
[PS I was at the Art of Noise concert where Max appeared "live"]
Graham
--------
Maybe
It's not all overt.
Consider that subliminal ads are
Really just as, if not more, effective
Over a period of time.
Surely
One should look out
For any sort of subliminal advertising
Thesedays.
Graham
-------
It's a shame (Manny! put that down) that they don't (drinkies...) get Black Books...
My point was the un-thinking use of "England". Being English, it is irksome to be labelled so when the meaning called for "British". I am sure other Brits (e.g. Scots, or Welsh) feel similarly.
Having MS take over a UK channel, I can see theater, color and favorite creeping into everyday use. Football will become soccer, and news programs will have Local News (rich old lady dies in Windsor) and World News (Lakers beat Nicks, film at 11).
Oh! for another US election, when Channel 5 wasn't the only one to broadcast too much gore and bush.
Graham
--------
Andersen Consulting is now "Accenture"
Bad example - they had to change their name due to contractual obligations after an MBO. They had to remove all reference to Andersen from their business.
Consignia - I'll give you that one. A complete arse of a name change, if you ask me. Doesn't Consignia, in Spanish, mean "Left Luggage"?
Graham
--------
What is MSNBC if not a form of TV?
Graham
--------
Digital terrestrial includes many new non-analogue including BBC3 and BBC4.
Not quite. BBC4 is up and running (actually, they just renamed BBC Knowledge), but BBC3 is still in the pipeline [The consultation papers can be found here]
ITV Digital faced an uphill struggle since the beginning. They actually started out life as "ON Digital", but no-one knew who they were, or really what they did. Bad marketing saw this "faceless" TV company (for whom very few Brits even saw it in action) struggle. So they renamed, and rebranded after a bright spark thought "The two shareholders are Carlton and Granada - everyone knows who they are!". Hence ITV Digital. A bad start, but perhaps a better future after Monkey and Johnny Vegas (listed in order of merit) might help turn things around, and if they could get the rights to the Nation's Passion (football) they might be in with a chance!
So they bid for the rights to show Nationwide League games. [details of exact amounts here] Everyone thought that the bean counters at ITV Digital had done their homework, and could afford the legally binding amounts to be paid to the League.
Alas, no. They came up short in the money stakes: Dear Mr Digital, your account is overdrawn to the amount of a squillion pounds. Please advise us how you intend to rectify this matter. Until you contact this branch, I have cancelled your cash card. You have been charge 25 quid for this letter..."
Because of ITV Digital's bad management at all points, they are in trouble. Or dead - depends who you believe. Maybe Microsoft can inject the cash and management required to make it work.
One thing (OK the only thing, apart from Futurama) I admire about Sky, is their ability to make a business plan and stick to it. They sunk a whole load of money, investing in the infrastructure to make Satellite work - and it now pays. They are now doing the same to Sky Digital. Good on them - they made it work.
It's a shame that the prat at ITV Digital who signed the contract is now causing a number of football clubs around England to suffer because ITV are refusing to pay what they legally bound themselves to.
Graham
--------
In England, there really is a monopoly on TV.
But not in Scotland or Wales?
Maybe that's how it works now, but it's not how it should work. The way TiVo life should run, is that when you ask it to record, say, City v United - you get exactly that, because in a perfect world, broadcasters should throw out PDC-like codes at the start of their programs.
...
Having a code that's readable by TiVo-like boxes, which says "This program has ended, you can stop recording now" only benefits the consumer^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H user, and we all know that aint enough to get into production. [The advertisers will complain]. So have a code that goes out saying "This program is starting", so that the boxes recording the previous prog will stop, having recorded more ads, keeping the corporate machine running.
I have a VCR with PDC, but I always turn it off, as there have been instances that PDC codes go out during breaks - screwing my preferences. Maybe if more people used TiVo-like boxes, there'd be a demand for better broadcast codes, and we'd all win. [Though the advertisers would win less than the great unwashed].
Oh, hang on - that would require corporate co-operation
Gr
----------
And while you're at it, get a drunk driver to run the country.
Put brain in gear before releasing mouth.
P.J. Feynman
Every home should have one - it's in the second amendment.
There's a fire! Quick, someone text 911!
------
Graham
[Russian/Connery accent] Vasily, verify number of hops to our target - one ping only ...
--
Graham
If you wanna skip paying the licence, go ahead - you'll get caught and fined a grand. You can pay in monthly installments - less than a tenner a month, which is good value, in my view. My wife is North American, and was apalled that you had to pay for the right to watch TV here in the UK. Now she's seen the quality of the programming, and the lack of ads, she misses the BBC when she goes back "home".
You are wrong about the commercial support for the BBC - I worked in advertising for 10 years. Perhaps you mean ASBOF, which is 0.1% surcharge on ALL commerical advertising in the UK.
Well, not by being free, 'cos it aint. In the UK, if you want to own a TV, you have to have a licence for it. Approaching US$200 per year, and that goes for any TV whether you watch the BBC or not. The government fines you over US$1,500 if they catch you with a TV and no licence.
The govt collects the revenue, passes (most of) it to the BBC, who make half decent programmes. At least they're better than most of the crap you get on other channels, with a few exceptions. (Channel 4 turn out high quality stuff too).
Well, once I had read the first book, I had to read the second, which led to the third and I'm one chapter into the fourth. It's gripping, compelling, and incredibly well written. Who cares if it's a kids book? JK Rowling could write about ancient sanskrit and I'd find it enthralling. Have you ever read an author that dragged you into their pages?
I'm a pretty intelligent guy, but the stories are twisty enough for me to get lost in, and I never manage to work out "who-dunnit" though I sometimes get halfway there.
Here in the UK, you can get the Harry Potter books in two covers - kids and adult. The kids version is cartoony, the adult covers are black/white and suggest a darker, more sinister book. Both sell well.
What do you expect from a book? To be entertained? You'll certainly get that from Harry Potter. To forget about the "real world" for a while? Easily done while reading Harry Potter. How about not being talked-down to? Again, Harry Potter books are by no means condescending. (That means talks down to... [joke]) They assume the kids reading it are switched on.
Try reading the first chapter of the first book, and then try putting it down. I dare you
[fx:Twilight Zone music]
The 1st amendment does not apply outside of the USA.
They still do it.
The media are, in general, scaremongers.
More power to Chris Morris and Brass Eye.
(BBC News Article)
Shame he's not known as one of the best finishers, which is, after all, more important...
Graham
Safe as houses.
Gr