I know I'm being a pain in the arse, but we always seem to have to wait for the en-GB builds (there wasn't an RC3 of en-GB just RC2). I know it is free (speech/beer) and I shouldn't whinge, but it is in my genes;-)
Yep...all the jobless limping chavs who somehow are able to afford a timeshare in Magaluf will all be give a bloody digibox, whilst the rest of us have to fork out ourselves!:-( That said, most of the chavs around here already have digisat, so maybe it won 't be so bad;-)
BTW...take the above with a pinch of salt:-) JohnT
I'd love to be in the situation where I could consider sitting down in a coffee shop for an eight hour stint with my laptop. However, because I live in the medieval UK (i.e. outside London) this is never going to happen:-(
The BBC produces very high quality television and radio. Have you ever seen the crap that comes out of the States (no offence to our American cousins)?
Sure, BBC1 might have lost its way a bit in recent years, but the quality of the programs on BBC2 and BBC4 (as well as Radio 2, Radio 4, 6Music and BBC7) is very high indeed.
If you feel the need to bash the BBC, watch Sky1 for a few nights and you'll soon be taking your comments back.
I've just spent the past two weeks leaning how to program in FORTRAN77 (hereafter F77). Why you might ask? Well, I'm a PhD student and most of the code that my supervisor has 'gifted' to me is in F77.
What do I think of F77? Well, I was very surprised how quickly you can get stuff done. Sure, sticking to the fixed format (a relic of punchcards) is a bit of a pain, but you quickly get used to it. I'm currently using a mix of g77 and the Intel F77 compilers (depending of the processor), and the compile time on reasonably complicated programs doesn't leave me twiddling my thunbs for too long.
I think that as long as you comment your code, and make sure that you have thought about what you want to do before you do it (!), then you can write very efficient code in F77.
The best (smallest) live distro that I have tried is Slax (http://slax.linux-live.org/). They have now produced version with Wine etc to smooth the transition...give it a go:-)
True, but you'll have to be digital in a few years! Also, your 125 GBP funds the radio even though you don't need a license to listen to it...exactly the same with BBCi! The only radio station that isn't funded by the license fee is the world service (but that wasn't intended for UK residents anyway).
Just bite the bullet and get a digibox (they are only 30 GBP or so)!:-)
8 channels of television 11 radio stations (not including local radio) BBCi (http://www.bbc.co.uk) including live streams of all of the radio content and 'listen again' facilities BBC research labs contributing to the open source community.
I would say that the license fee is a bit of a bargain!
Slashdot Mirror
I know I'm being a pain in the arse, but we always seem to have to wait for the en-GB builds (there wasn't an RC3 of en-GB just RC2). I know it is free (speech/beer) and I shouldn't whinge, but it is in my genes ;-)
JohnT
http://physics.open.ac.uk/~jdtanner
Yep...all the jobless limping chavs who somehow are able to afford a timeshare in Magaluf will all be give a bloody digibox, whilst the rest of us have to fork out ourselves! :-( That said, most of the chavs around here already have digisat, so maybe it won 't be so bad ;-)
:-)
BTW...take the above with a pinch of salt
JohnT
Actually, the switchover will start in 2008 (http://www.dvb.org/index.php?id=229) and will finish in 2012. Have a look the the map of the switchover times at http://www.dtg.org.uk/consumer/switchover_map.html
:-)
BTW, I've already got digital television, as have about 66% of the rest of us Brits
Cheers,
JohnT
Oi, I'm very offended! Milton Keynes doesn't have any industry ;-)
John
I'd love to be in the situation where I could consider sitting down in a coffee shop for an eight hour stint with my laptop. However, because I live in the medieval UK (i.e. outside London) this is never going to happen :-(
Rubbish!
The BBC produces very high quality television and radio. Have you ever seen the crap that comes out of the States (no offence to our American cousins)?
Sure, BBC1 might have lost its way a bit in recent years, but the quality of the programs on BBC2 and BBC4 (as well as Radio 2, Radio 4, 6Music and BBC7) is very high indeed.
If you feel the need to bash the BBC, watch Sky1 for a few nights and you'll soon be taking your comments back.
J
If those single mums would just stop smoking they'd be able to afford a TV license ;-)
I've just spent the past two weeks leaning how to program in FORTRAN77 (hereafter F77). Why you might ask? Well, I'm a PhD student and most of the code that my supervisor has 'gifted' to me is in F77.
What do I think of F77? Well, I was very surprised how quickly you can get stuff done. Sure, sticking to the fixed format (a relic of punchcards) is a bit of a pain, but you quickly get used to it. I'm currently using a mix of g77 and the Intel F77 compilers (depending of the processor), and the compile time on reasonably complicated programs doesn't leave me twiddling my thunbs for too long.
I think that as long as you comment your code, and make sure that you have thought about what you want to do before you do it (!), then you can write very efficient code in F77.
Cheers,
John
UK VAT is 17.5% so we are about even...
:-(
I was shocked how expensive it was when I was in Dublin about five years ago...I can only imagine what it is like now.
John
Ooops...
Even so...10% is still a fair difference.
John
...is there such a difference in price across the Atlantic?
$399 for the basic Mac Mini in the US and $636 (GBP339) in the UK! The Irish have it even worse for a change with $680 (EURO519).
Anyone care to have a go at explaining the price difference?
...somebody would copy the Rotunda in Birmingham (http://www.birminghamuk.com/wikipedia/rotunda.htm ).
John
...is 'suggestified' as well
http://www.google.co.uk/webhp?complete=1&hl=en
John
The best (smallest) live distro that I have tried is Slax (http://slax.linux-live.org/). They have now produced version with Wine etc to smooth the transition...give it a go :-)
John
So, could they do this to spot the remnants of Beagle2?
John
Erm...there is a plane to provide it to the whole of the UK. Just because you weren't first doesn't mean you aren't going to get it!
John
He's probably watching 'when insects attact magicians uncovered uncut'!!!
;-)
Damn, I've just given ITV another idea
John
Ooops...that last link should have been to
http://tinyurl.com/3z982
Sorry!
I think they are funded by the license fee...
c ia l_statements_review.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/licencefee/
and
http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/report2004/text/finan
True, but you'll have to be digital in a few years! Also, your 125 GBP funds the radio even though you don't need a license to listen to it...exactly the same with BBCi! The only radio station that isn't funded by the license fee is the world service (but that wasn't intended for UK residents anyway).
:-)
Just bite the bullet and get a digibox (they are only 30 GBP or so)!
Nice comment! For 125 GBP you get...
8 channels of television
11 radio stations (not including local radio)
BBCi (http://www.bbc.co.uk) including live streams of all of the radio content and 'listen again' facilities
BBC research labs contributing to the open source community.
I would say that the license fee is a bit of a bargain!
John
It just proves that you get a hell of a lot for your 125 GBP license fee!
John
...and all I got was this lousy t-shirt? :-)
Hop along to http://wiredx.net/ for a browser based (Java) X server...very cool.
John
...I just checked my washing label and I'm not a 'U.S. Person' :-(