Thursday, July 06, 2006

 
2005-07-14 003Has anyone else tried watching Wimbledon via the BBC's website? It's great fun, as when ever the ball goes fast, it becomes invisible, so you end up predicting where you think it ought to have gone (and only very occasionally losing it). I've only tried following a bit of dirt on the screen once. But fortunately the Hawkeye recaps can fill in the gaps. And the onscreen graphics can be a bit hard to decipher, such as that which flashed up "FASTEST SERVE: 1GB".

And apologies to those who can't get it, but it's a UK only thing, due to broadcast rights (as the blurb explains, shortly after dropping in a line about needing a Television Licence, which I'll pretend I didn't see as I've been watching stuff on the BBC's website for ages and nothing else has mentioned, and surely they must know that there are people with internet connections but no television, hence no licence, and surely if they were serious they'd ask for the license number plus a few other confirmatory details before letting people watch? A Guardian piece today also brings up the licence fee thing [look, if they don't say it before I use it, then it's their own silly fault], while mentioning that Channel 4 stream their broadcasts as they go out. A. Why did I not know about this? B. Woohoo! C. Oh, it's not all the programmes on the channel, as I've picked a black screen time to watch. D. It's a trial service, which sounds like once it works properly, they'll charge for it).

Of course, blogging with the tennis on in the background means I get occasional deuces, ripples of applause and not the foggiest idea what's going on. I ought to be doing work anyway.

While checking which spelling of "licence" applies, even though I think it's just me being odd and applying different meanings to UK and US spellings, I found this page which says how much of the fee goes on each aspect. Typically, the one I watch least (when I have a television), is the one that takes about a third of the total. So for what I currently use, I should be paying £2.93 a month, and that includes £1.50 for BBC Two, when I can't get most of the output.

Oh, and I think Clusters* is about to lose. Maybe not: tie break.

* IJ in sans serif thin line capitals.

Anyhoo,

PS. JHH won. And it's bit late for pretending it's still lunchtime.

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