Britain - The Official Thread

[Clinton Ducks]

I might only have been born in 1991 which is young compared to some people here but these past few years have been the worst British governments in my life.

I think ever, and by quite a margin.

 

[MatskiMonk]

I'm prevented from expressing my feelings about the current government because of section 3 of the AUP.

 

[Clinton Ducks]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-67823805

Storm Gerrit is the seventh named storm of the current UK storm season, which started in September and runs until August next year.

So like… it’s storm season all year long, is it?

 

[MatskiMonk]

NSFW

Spoiler: Language

Language may offend

Spoiler

edit:

Labour seem to be preparing for a General Election in May. Perhaps time to reset the poll...

 

[HenrySwanson]

Only just seen this (it's a year old):

 

[Liquid]

You don't have to be pro-Labour to see how horrible and awful the Tories are.

Don't we deserve better?

 

[Clinton Ducks]

You don't have to be pro-Labour to see how horrible and awful the Tories are.

Don't we deserve better?

If “we” keep voting them in, no.

 

[UKMikey]

If “we” keep voting them in, no.

What we "deserve" is a voting system which more accurately represents the wishes of the electorate and doesn't flush so many of our votes down the loo like an unwanted pet.

Half of Britain wants voting system to change, with clear majority among Labour supporters | National Centre for Social Research

For the first time, more people in Britain favour introducing proportional representation than keeping the current voting system.

natcen.ac.uk

 

[MatskiMonk]

On the subject of PR

Join the Electoral Reform Society

Electoral Reform Society - ERS

We are campaigning for a democracy fit for the 21st century.

www.electoral-reform.org.uk

___


Getting the parties to take reform seriously is only part of the job, if the proposed system is useless, it'll go nowhere - just like 2011.

 

[Liquid]

Another fine day on normal island.

If you're poor, if you're using food banks, if you're unable to afford to save any money because you've just spent the last of your money getting the latch on your front door fixed, please remember to have Kate Middleton in your thoughts.

 

[Clinton Ducks]

Wait, what? Kate’s in hospital?? Oh god, oh no! Aaaaaaaaah!

 

[UKMikey]

We once had the Mersey poet Adrian Mitchell visit our English class. He was a really nice guy and told us about the time when the Daily Mail commissioned him to write a commemorative verse on the occasion of Princess Diana and the then Prince Charles's wedding on the theme of "Majestic Bliss". Here is an excerpt from his reply:

Majestic bliss, majestic bliss
I don't give a piss about majestic bliss

For some reason the Wail never replied and didn't print the poem.

 

[HenrySwanson]

There's some hope when even the DM's comment section is pointing out how ludicrous that "article" is.

 

[UKMikey]

There's some hope when even the DM's comment section is pointing out how ludicrous that "article" is.

I suspect a significant proportion of her target audience for this article wouldn't know how to turn on a computer, let alone read the article on the internet. She's been wannabeing the Duchess for a long time.

Help, I'm turning into Kate! She's 20 years older and prides herself on being at fashion's cutting edge. But now, even LIZ JONES has fallen victim to the Kate effect

I might have Kate’s morals and determination, but do we really look alike? Have I unwittingly aped her style: all low-heeled pumps, wrap dresses and long, Dallas-worthy locks?

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Liquid]

Liz, give it up. She's not gonna shag you.

 

[Keef]

I was just browsing Sky's website pretending I'm moving to Britain and am shopping for TV streaming services. Just this one single website is giving me V for Vendetta vibes, especially combined with all the Sky talk that F1 announcers give over here on ESPN. Gotta be honest, somehow the numerous apps we have in the US make more sense than whatever Sky's system(s) is. Just get a giant Roku TV for $400 and download your Disney and your HBO and Netflix, easy.

I am digging that Sky Glass TV but the design is more like a computer monitor than a TV. Weird. That thing seems just like a Roku/Amazon/Google TV except three times the price.

I still have no idea what Sky Q is. Is that a...DVR? Like we're still in 2005? I do know some people who love to record TV shows and sports games but I never got into it myself.

Are there even any competitors to Sky TV in the UK?

 

[TheCracker]

I was just browsing Sky's website pretending I'm moving to Britain and am shopping for TV streaming services. Just this one single website is giving me V for Vendetta vibes, especially combined with all the Sky talk that F1 announcers give over here on ESPN. Gotta be honest, somehow the numerous apps we have in the US make more sense than whatever Sky's system(s) is. Just get a giant Roku TV for $400 and download your Disney and your HBO and Netflix, easy.

I am digging that Sky Glass TV but the design is more like a computer monitor than a TV. Weird. That thing seems just like a Roku/Amazon/Google TV except three times the price.

I still have no idea what Sky Q is. Is that a...DVR? Like we're still in 2005? I do know some people who love to record TV shows and sports games but I never got into it myself.

Are there even any competitors to Sky TV in the UK?

We have Freeview and Freesat (free to air TV over TV aerial or similar over a sat dish) plus Virgin TV, BT TV and probably others, but its a dying concept now everyone is streaming. Sky are the biggest players and they've tried to keep up with the streaming services with Sky Glass and a similar box-based service you can use through a fibre connection without the Sky branded TV. To be fair, cost aside, their interface is miles better to use then any of the rivals i've tried. Being the big player they snap up a lot of the HBO stuff and exclusively broadcast it via their various packages.

We still have a Sky Q, which is a DVR, the DVR aspect is used for recording motorsport etc when i'm out doing other weekend activities. It does however work better than trying to find stuff through the various 'catch up' streaming services and fast forwarding/rewinding through stuff you are watching is much more adaptable and easy to use.

I'd imagine most UK TV viewers have smart TVs with built in apps for Netflix etc and probably watch the free-to-air channels through their TVs Freeview app.

 

[Keef]

We have Freeview and Freesat (free to air TV over TV aerial or similar over a sat dish) plus Virgin TV, BT TV and probably others, but its a dying concept now everyone is streaming. Sky are the biggest players and they've tried to keep up with the streaming services with Sky Glass and a similar box-based service you can use through a fibre connection without the Sky branded TV. To be fair, cost aside, their interface is miles better to use then any of the rivals i've tried. Being the big player they snap up a lot of the HBO stuff and exclusively broadcast it via their various packages.

We still have a Sky Q, which is a DVR, the DVR aspect is used for recording motorsport etc when i'm out doing other weekend activities. It does however work better than trying to find stuff through the various 'catch up' streaming services and fast forwarding/rewinding through stuff you are watching is much adapable and easy to use.

I'd imagine most UK TV viewers have smart TVs with built in apps for Netflix etc and probably watch the free-to-air channels through their TVs Freeview app.

Are Freeview and Freesat public services? We've got very limited aerial access but channels are based on locality, not any sort of state or national thing. I actually completely forgot that this existed until reading this - I haven't used a digital antenna to get local channels since 2019 and now I'm wondering if it would be worth it to try again. But sort of like the Sky ecosystem, I've chosen an ecosystem over here with cable, internet, and cellular all under one umbrella.

Given how Sky operates, I'm actually starting to think that our offerings are a lot more complicated than in the UK. 💩

 

[TheCracker]

Are Freeview and Freesat public services? We've got very limited aerial access but channels are based on locality, not any sort of state or national thing. I actually completely forgot that this existed until reading this - I haven't used a digital antenna to get local channels since 2019 and now I'm wondering if it would be worth it to try again. But sort of like the Sky ecosystem, I've chosen an ecosystem over here with cable, internet, and cellular all under one umbrella.

Given how Sky operates, I'm actually starting to think that our offerings are a lot more complicated than in the UK. 💩

Freeview and Freesat are private companies (i think) that offer free public services, you just need to either buy their own box or use the service via a smart TV app. They offer roughly the same channels, just under their own UI.

Public TV in the UK is always going to be more straight forward than the US as we only have the one time zone to deal with. Morning or primetime TV scheduling is the same whether you're in London or Glasgow. Unlike say, New York and LA which have at least 3 time zone differences and i imagine Hawaii and Alaska are further still.

 

[MatskiMonk]

Are there even any competitors to Sky TV in the UK?

Sky has always been the biggest competition to traditional broadcasters here, but it was always more of an aggregator of TV channels than anything else. With streaming, all the various 'networks' can just deliver the content straight to your screen now - so Sky seems less relevant unless you want Sky programming (such as F1 for example). Most of the traditional broadcasters have free streaming, BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub, 4OD (or whatever its called), My5, and probably UKTV... which is pretty much the bare minimum you would get in the UK on the TV without Sky.

It's now been about 15 years since I had either a TV Aerial or Satellite Dish, but at one point I was paying £125 ($160) per month for TV services via Sky.

 

[Sprite]

Personally I’ve never used Sky.

We’ve always had a TV License to watch normal broadcasts and that always did what we needed.

The Sky Glass is a weird solution to not really any problem. As noted above, most people will stream now for most things and have a separate box or Smart TV with apps anyway. Sky created Glass to try and keep people in their ecosystem but the truth is the TV tech is poor and basically a mediocre screen. I guess if you’re just a TV watcher then image quality isn’t a priority but for someone like myself it’s a big driver for me.

To be truthful, I could happily do away with the normal broadcast TV stuff and just watch UHD / Blu-ray stuff along with our paid for streaming services.

 

[TheCracker]

The Sky Glass is a weird solution to not really any problem. As noted above, most people will stream now for most things and have a separate box or Smart TV with apps anyway. Sky created Glass to try and keep people in their ecosystem but the truth is the TV tech is poor and basically a mediocre screen. I guess if you’re just a TV watcher then image quality isn’t a priority but for someone like myself it’s a big driver for me.

I see it as just an easy solution for Sky customers, of whom there are many, that may just be updating their TV to a smart one and this is just the most straight forward upgrade for them. It's like diesel Vauxhall Astra owners upgrading to a Mokka-e. They don't really care how good it is, they just want relatively up to date tech.

 

[Keef]

the TV tech is poor and basically a mediocre screen.

For that price this is surprising. Overall the design looks nice but it's literally three times the price of the TCL 55 inch I've got in my living room. Sure they're Chinese, but the TCL TVs I use run Roku software. It's got its flaws but it seems to work at least as well as LGs and Samsungs that I've used elsewhere, for much cheaper. I would've expected the Sky Glass to be a pretty premium product.

 

[Sprite]

For that price this is surprising. Overall the design looks nice but it's literally three times the price of the TCL 55 inch I've got in my living room. Sure they're Chinese, but the TCL TVs I use run Roku software. It's got its flaws but it seems to work at least as well as LGs and Samsungs that I've used elsewhere, for much cheaper. I would've expected the Sky Glass to be a pretty premium product.

From the reviews I’ve seen of TCL they’re not doing too bad now and certainly keeping their own on the budget screen end of the market even surpassing budget TVs from the bigger brands $ for $ wise.

I’m not sure who makes the underlying tech for Glass but the reviews I’ve seen are saying the same thing. They expected a much better product considering its price.

 

[Liquid]

I’m not sure who makes the underlying tech for Glass but the reviews I’ve seen are saying the same thing. They expected a much better product considering its price.

Do you think David Croft would really do that? Just go on the telly and tell lies?

 

[Sprite]

Do you think David Croft would really do that? Just go on the telly and tell lies?

Who’s David Croft?

I had to Google him and I’m still none the wiser (I don’t watch F1)

So guessing from your post he likes to tell porkies a bit?

 

[UKMikey]

Who’s David Croft?

I had to Google him and I’m still none the wiser (I don’t watch F1)

So guessing from your post he likes to tell porkies a bit?

Tell me you've never watched Dad's Army without telling me you've never watched Dad's Army.

 

[Keef]

Who’s David Croft?

I had to Google him and I’m still none the wiser (I don’t watch F1)

So guessing from your post he likes to tell porkies a bit?

I think he's talking about a different David Croft. The super rich TV producer dead guy.

 

[Sprite]

Tell me you've never watched Dad's Army without telling me you've never watched Dad's Army.

Yep, never watched that either

I think he's talking about a different David Croft. The super rich TV producer dead guy.

You can tell I don’t watch a lot of normal TV (sitcoms, sports etc) as I’ve got older too, I watch less and less.

I’m more of a cinema fan and it’s 90% of what I watch apart from documentary / factual TV which makes up the remainder. I do have to suffer the odd show the wife watches but I’m happy to do that.

 

[TheCracker]

I’m not sure who makes the underlying tech for Glass but the reviews I’ve seen are saying the same thing. They expected a much better product considering its price.

TP Vision. So Philips, essentially.

Although you can buy them outright, they end up cheaper over the 48 month contract if you pay for them alongside your Sky subscription. I imagine that very few customers don't just go the monthly subscription route with it for an easy life.