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View Full Version : The BBC is really starting to **** me off .



bigbrovar
July 27th, 2008, 03:02 PM
Ever since i was 14 (no 13) ok 15 year old .. i have been addicted to the BBC .. i think it started cause my country was always under on Military regimies.. and the only avenue for getting News about Nigeria that has not been tailored to follow the party ...i mean army line ... was the BBC .for about a decade The BBC became my source of information.. even when the Military left and we had some resemblance of What looks like Democracy .. i still stock to my BBC Radio .. even when when i had to choose between it and CNN .. i choose the BBC .. cause i see them as an example of the closet to being unbiased any human organization can archive.. but of recent i have started having a rethink .. first it was the iplayer debacle .. which has been settled (some how) but still left a bad taste in my mouth.. then this afternoon i noticed an icon on the BBC web-page that got me excited .. Desktop alerts .. hmm that could come in handy .. so i clicked on it expecting to scroll down to download the .deb version for Ubuntu (actually i use mint but that is btw) or worse a source package i would have to compile.. non .. it was a windows program
the fact that BBC was encouraging OS lock ins is bad enough .. but to generally assume that all their viewers use windows .. if the button had been "Desktop alert for windows" or XP Desktop alert .. i would have been angry but not very this :mad: angry .. .. a large percentage of BBC viewers us other OSes outside windows .and it needs to remember them when developing things like iplayer or Desktop alerts .. /or contracting third parties to develop them
for now its either u forget the program or get a freaking windows box .. that is just lame .. come on BBC where is the fairness ..

alright i have let it out .. thanks for reading my rant..
now i will go back to getting E17 to use my network proxy for update ..

billgoldberg
July 27th, 2008, 04:18 PM
I don't get upset by things like that.

You knew that you were going to come across things like that when you started using linux.

90% or more of the world uses windows, so it makes sense they focus on that group first.

How about you write them and ask for a linux installer.

silkstone
July 27th, 2008, 04:25 PM
You also needed RealPlayer for radio streams - not sure if they've changed that now - which was a nuisance because I really dislike RealPlayer, although the Linux version is not so invasive as the Windows one.

It's a cross we have to bear for being the 1% instead of the 92%.

fillintheblanks
July 27th, 2008, 04:48 PM
I like euronews better :p

ice60
July 27th, 2008, 04:54 PM
i've never like the bbc because of their biased reporting, i've said it loads of times before. but, as we, in the uk, have to pay for the bbc through tv tax, all their services should work for everyone. not that i've ever paid their moronic tax lol, but i don't mind complaining :D

they have tv dedector vans so they can find people who have tvs and haven't paid their tax lol (i'm not sure they really do anything though and i've never seen one!)
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=tv+detector+vans

bigbrovar
July 27th, 2008, 06:32 PM
I don't get upset by things like that.

You knew that you were going to come across things like that when you started using linux.

90% or more of the world uses windows, so it makes sense they focus on that group first.

How about you write them and ask for a linux installer.

of cause i do ... ans frankly i wont mind if CNN did this.. but the BBC .. i thougt they would have been more fairer in this .. anyway .. like sumone rightfully said it part of the cross we have to carry . and its sure a lighter cross compared to the ones carried by vista / xp users

bengamblin
July 27th, 2008, 06:57 PM
i've never like the bbc because of their biased reporting, i've said it loads of times before. but, as we, in the uk, have to pay for the bbc through tv tax, all their services should work for everyone. not that i've ever paid their moronic tax lol, but i don't mind complaining :D

they have tv dedector vans so they can find people who have tvs and haven't paid their tax lol (i'm not sure they really do anything though and i've never seen one!)
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=tv+detector+vans

I'm not one to get into arguments about the licence fee, but this really gets my goat.

Please don't spout mis-information about the TV licence fee being a tax. No-one is forced to have a TV and as such no-one is forced to pay the licence fee. You said it yourself that you do not pay. If it was a tax you would not have a choice - TV or not.

As for the BBC's reporting, well I'm sure it's true that there have been incidents of bias but the corporation strives to make it's reporting as unbiased as possible. Of course the human element does make that a little difficult. I'm sure the reporters have opinions about situations and sometimes those opinions may creep in. I genuinely believe however that the BBC is a fine example of the least biased news at least in the United Kingdom.

With regards to software, yes it would be nice if everything worked in Linux but with a minority market share, it's not unexpected that some things will not work. The situation is certainly better with the BBC than other broadcasters. Take ITV or Channel 4 - I cannot get either of their on-demand functions to work. Although we only have the Flash version of the iPlayer, it works beautifully.


How about you write them and ask for a linux installer.
An excellent idea. The more people that ask for Linux compatible software, the more likely it is that a solution will be found.

shad0w_walker
July 27th, 2008, 07:04 PM
I suggest you take a peak at what the list includes. People have little choice but to pay or live in the stone age:

http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/information/index.jsp

In particular, this little bit is the important part:



You need a TV Licence to use any television receiving equipment such as a TV set, digital box, DVD or video recorder, PC, laptop or mobile phone to watch or record television programmes as they're being shown on TV.


Please note that you can be forced to pay the license with out having to own a TV. I'm pretty sure that almost everyone in the country can fall into one of those categories, especially with the mobile phone part. It's not legally a tax, but it covers so damn much that it is basically the same thing. It covers everything that be used as a source of information other than land line phones and printed media.

bengamblin
July 27th, 2008, 07:15 PM
I suggest you take a peak at what the list includes. People have little choice but to pay or live in the stone age:

http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/information/index.jsp

In particular, this little bit is the important part:



You need a TV Licence to use any television receiving equipment such as a TV set, digital box, DVD or video recorder, PC, laptop or mobile phone to watch or record television programmes as they're being shown on TV.


Please note that you can be forced to pay the license with out having to own a TV. I'm pretty sure that almost everyone in the country can fall into one of those categories, especially with the mobile phone part. It's not legally a tax, but it covers so damn much that it is basically the same thing. It covers everything that be used as a source of information other than land line phones and printed media.

The key point in that extract is "to watch or record television programmes as they're being shown on TV".

If I decide to only have a computer capable of playing DVDs connected to a largish monitor with no TV tuner then a licence fee isn't required as I'm not watching television programmes as they're being shown.

I believe (although I stand to be corrected if the situation has changed) that one can even watch the iPlayer in this situation as the programmes are not being watched as they're being shown. Of course if I decided to watch the BBC News Channel live on the internet then there would be a case.

The same can be said with the mobile phone. My old mobile phone had no way of receiving a live television signal so it would not require a TV licence. My current phone can receive live television over 3G but a subscription is required. If I don't take out that subscription then I can prove I have not consumed television through that medium and will be exempt from the fee.

original_jamingrit
July 27th, 2008, 07:29 PM
For the desktop alerts thing, do they also use rss? If so, you could probably use conky to show the most recent rss headers, or simply use an rss reader (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=171291) to keep you up to date.

I know it does kind of suck, every once in a while there's a cool program, but it turns out to be windows only and doesn't work with wine.

dizee
July 27th, 2008, 08:00 PM
it is disappointing that the bbc doesn't fully support linux.

however on the other side of things i will say that it's still one of the best sources for news on the net. it's impossible to be unbiased but they are the closest in my opinion. their tv channels have some dross on them but at the same time something like planet earth would never have been made on a commercial station. and i know a lot of british people complain about the bbc and the licence fee etc but most of the rest of the world would give anything to have a service as good. you don't know how lucky you are (plus over here we pay a licence fee and have to watch ads :rolleyes:).

Sealbhach
July 27th, 2008, 08:11 PM
New head of IT at BBC, Erik Huggers, worked for Microsoft for nine years.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jul/15/bbc.digitalmedia?gusrc=rss&feed=media


.

saulgoode
July 27th, 2008, 08:52 PM
The public radio station in Boston, Massachusetts (WBUR) has recently added OGG Vorbis support to their online stream. They offer about ten hours each day of the BBC World Service (http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/). Details about the stream can be found on this webpage (http://www.wbur.org/listen/).

WBUR is one of the most listened-to public radio stations in the U.S. and it is only recently that the Free Software Foundation convinced them to offer a non-proprietary, non-patent-encumbered, OS-agnostic streaming format as part of their Advocate Play (http://www.fsf.org/resources/formats/playogg) campaign.

If it can be shown that listeners are interested in using non-proprietary formats, it will help to convince other media outlets (such as the BBC) to offer them. It should not be too difficult to set up your computer to record WBUR's BBC time slots and doing so will help the cause of having media provided in formats usable to everyone.

ice60
July 27th, 2008, 08:56 PM
I'm not one to get into arguments about the licence fee, but this really gets my goat.

Please don't spout mis-information about the TV licence fee being a tax. No-one is forced to have a TV and as such no-one is forced to pay the licence fee. You said it yourself that you do not pay. If it was a tax you would not have a choice - TV or not.

As for the BBC's reporting, well I'm sure it's true that there have been incidents of bias but the corporation strives to make it's reporting as unbiased as possible. Of course the human element does make that a little difficult. I'm sure the reporters have opinions about situations and sometimes those opinions may creep in. I genuinely believe however that the BBC is a fine example of the least biased news at least in the United Kingdom.

With regards to software, yes it would be nice if everything worked in Linux but with a minority market share, it's not unexpected that some things will not work. The situation is certainly better with the BBC than other broadcasters. Take ITV or Channel 4 - I cannot get either of their on-demand functions to work. Although we only have the Flash version of the iPlayer, it works beautifully.


An excellent idea. The more people that ask for Linux compatible software, the more likely it is that a solution will be found.
you're not one to get into arguments about the licence fee. give me a break you have been a member here for how long? if you said you're not one to join linux forums and post anything i'd believe you. but, as this is your only post in months i don't believe you at all, it seems you are only interested in starting an argument that's impossible to win, and that's all you've been waiting for.

anyway, you are totally wrong, if you have a tv you have to buy a tv licence whether you watch the bbc or not, that is a tv tax. it is also why they have to support all platforms in compliance with the BBC charter. the bbc is a public service, paid for by the public.

the bbc is so bias if you looked up the word, until very recently, the first result was about the bbc! look up "bbc bias" and you'll see lots of sites dedicated to it.

have you heard about the Hutton Inquiry? you can read what the report concluded here
http://www.the-hutton-inquiry.org.uk/
the wikipedia page sums it up and says -
"the BBC's editorial and management processes were "defective"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hutton_Inquiry

everyone involved in the media knows about how bias the bbc is, it's a fact and there's nothing to argue about. the only people who can't see it are the people who are bias!

EDIT: i didn't really bother reading all you're post, but i just read a bit more. you really don't seem to understand what the bbc is and how it works, you can't compare the bbc with channel 4 and itv lol. we don't need to ask them to provide a service for us, they have no other choice.

please don't quote my posts with things like "Please don't spout mis-information" in future when it's clear you don't know what you're talking about. thank you.

ice60
July 27th, 2008, 09:11 PM
here's a quote from the bbc blog stating how it can't be a two-tier system with regard to not supporting linux. it's a pulic service, they have to support linux.


Whilst targetting the majority of the customer base and ignoring a minority might be OK for a commercial enterprise, it's not in the spirit of the BBC charter for public service broadcasting. I'm not alone in that view - it appears to be shared by many people, including, it seems, the BBC Trust (which is "the sovereign body of the BBC" and amongst other things oversee the Charter compliance of the corporation) who have stated that "the entire service must be platform neutral".
it's down the page on this link -
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/2008/02/iplayer_choices.html

bengamblin
July 27th, 2008, 10:22 PM
you're not one to get into arguments about the licence fee. give me a break you have been a member here for how long? if you said you're not one to join linux forums and post anything i'd believe you. but, as this is your only post in months i don't believe you at all, it seems you are only interested in starting an argument that's impossible to win, and that's all you've been waiting for.

If you're going to start sounding off at me, the least you could do is get your facts straight. I might not post frequently here but I did so just the other day. Not months ago as you say.

I frequent this forum to learn about Linux. I don't post often because I'm not qualified to answer other peoples questions about the OS. Last I checked their wasn't a requirement to make x number of posts. Your post was factually incorrect and I corrected it. Especially on an international forum, I feel it's only right to ensure that non-UK residents understand exactly what we pay and why.


anyway, you are totally wrong, if you have a tv you have to buy a tv licence whether you watch the bbc or not, that is a tv tax. it is also why they have to support all platforms in compliance with the BBC charter. the bbc is a public service, paid for by the public.

Yes you are correct that if you have a television or equipment capable of receiving television programmes as they are broadcast then you need to be in possession of a TV licence. At no point did I state otherwise. I did state that it is not a tax since you have the option of not being in possession of such equipment and therefore not paying the fee. If it were a tax, you'd be paying whether you owned such equipment or not.

I do agree that the BBC should support all platforms


the bbc is so bias if you looked up the word, until very recently, the first result was about the bbc! look up "bbc bias" and you'll see lots of sites dedicated to it.

have you heard about the Hutton Inquiry? you can read what the report concluded here
http://www.the-hutton-inquiry.org.uk/
the wikipedia page sums it up and says -
"the BBC's editorial and management processes were "defective"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hutton_Inquiry

everyone involved in the media knows about how bias the bbc is, it's a fact and there's nothing to argue about. the only people who can't see it are the people who are bias!

I am aware of the Hutton report yes, and I also said that the BBC is not totally free of bias. I do maintain that it is the LEAST biased of news sources from what I have observed of its news outlets. However I'm happy to accept that I haven't read, heard or seen every single report made by the BBC and my impression could be wrong.


EDIT: i didn't really bother reading all you're post, but i just read a bit more. you really don't seem to understand what the bbc is and how it works, you can't compare the bbc with channel 4 and itv lol. we don't need to ask them to provide a service for us, they have no other choice.

I think it's just bad manners to sound off against someone without reading everything, but I'll let that go.

Actually I can compare the BBC to Channel 4 as the latter also has a public service remit. They don't make any effort to support all platforms. Yes, OK ITV is different and we can't ask them to provide support for the minority platforms due to it not making business sense. However I still think it's a valid point that the BBC is providing a better service than the commercial alternatives.


please don't quote my posts with things like "Please don't spout mis-information" in future when it's clear you don't know what you're talking about. thank you.

I think it's quite clear that you are the one who doesn't know what you're talking about. The TV licence is not a tax. Television is not a right. If you don't want to pay the fee then don't. Just get rid of your television receiving equipment.

Thank you.

Tom Mann
July 27th, 2008, 10:43 PM
<offtopic>
I see one of those detector vans down the road to me the other day... I took a picture.

http://www.iniva.org/images/chilavansideview_0.jpg

</offtopic>

gjoellee
July 27th, 2008, 10:49 PM
tell them about Linux....i think there is now approximately 100 000 000 Linux users out there today, but according to the users that have sent mail to me via http://www.polishubuntu.co.nr/ 1of3 doesn't change to Linux because Windows is more user-friendly, and most people think that Linux should get as much less reliable of the terminal as Windows is of CMD...this is a bit of challenge....

shifty2
July 27th, 2008, 10:52 PM
Meh the BBC kicks *** of all other channels, no adverts!

There are sites dedicated to whether or not they landed on the moon, whether JFK is still alive etc - does that mean that they are true? In the UK, if you want to get the closest thing to unbiased coverage, the BBC is your best bet. End of story.

rosswmcgee
July 27th, 2008, 10:56 PM
I tried it using using Opera and it worked just fine!.

ice60
July 27th, 2008, 11:18 PM
Meh the BBC kicks *** of all other channels, no adverts!

There are sites dedicated to whether or not they landed on the moon, whether JFK is still alive etc - does that mean that they are true? In the UK, if you want to get the closest thing to unbiased coverage, the BBC is your best bet. End of story.
you should stop telling stories and stick with facts.

ice60
July 27th, 2008, 11:28 PM
so it turns out this software has nothing to do with the bbc what-so-ever! it says so on the download page lol

Download notice The desktop alert software is provided to you by Skinkers Limited ("Skinkers") and not by the BBC. Any claim you have in respect of the software must be made against Skinkers and you agree not to involve the BBC in any dispute with Skinkers in connection with the software or otherwise. Your downloading, installation and use of the software is subject to additional terms in the form of the "Skinkers Licence Agreement" which will be presented to you during installation.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/help/3533099.stm

gn2
July 28th, 2008, 12:33 AM
Facts:

BBC iPlayer radio no longer requires Real player.

BBC has RSS feed service available.

BBC is adopting Linux and uses it for all it's current and future archiving.

BBC is one of the most impartial news agencies and produces very high quality programmes.

ice60
July 28th, 2008, 01:01 AM
Facts:

BBC iPlayer radio no longer requires Real player.

BBC has RSS feed service available.

BBC is adopting Linux and uses it for all it's current and future archiving.

BBC is one of the most impartial news agencies and produces very high quality programmes.
it looks like one of your 'facts' is a little off. never mind 3 out of 4 isn't too bad.

what's wrong with you all? just because you like to watch the bbc doesn't mean they're not bias. i bet none of you can go through most of the reporters and say what their political stances are? i can, and that's why i can't sit here and listen to you say things like the bbc is impartial, they are not impartial, they're a bunch of (i cencored that bit and found something straight from the horse's mouth!!!!)
We are biased, admit the stars of BBC News
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-411846/We-biased-admit-stars-BBC-News.html


BBC executives admitted the corporation is dominated by homosexuals and people from ethnic minorities, deliberately promotes multiculturalism, is anti-American, anti-countryside and more sensitive to the feelings of Muslims than Christians.

here's more from the bbc -

The BBC has frequently been accused of having a liberal bias.

But now the corporation's own staff appear to have confirmed this by revealing their political views on the networking website Facebook.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-490047/Facebook-reveals-BBC-liberal-hotbed.html

i haven't read this, but i'm going to post it anyway, from the wall street journal -
http://www.philcooke.com/BBC_Review

bigbrovar
July 28th, 2008, 01:03 AM
so it turns out this software has nothing to do with the bbc what-so-ever! it says so on the download page lol

Download notice The desktop alert software is provided to you by Skinkers Limited ("Skinkers") and not by the BBC. Any claim you have in respect of the software must be made against Skinkers and you agree not to involve the BBC in any dispute with Skinkers in connection with the software or otherwise. Your downloading, installation and use of the software is subject to additional terms in the form of the "Skinkers Licence Agreement" which will be presented to you during installation.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/help/3533099.stm

i read that part and i never thought for a mo that Desktop Alert was a 100 BBC developed product .. i just felt that to be fair they should have asked the company to provide a port for their non windows listeners /viewers am sure Skinkers would have done that.. but after the up roar that followed the iplayer debacle .. notice like the above is their own way of ... hey its not me its that guy so blame him ..

well not good enough ...

ice60
July 28th, 2008, 01:21 AM
i read that part and i never thought for a mo that Desktop Alert was a 100 BBC developed product .. i just felt that to be fair they should have asked the company to provide a port for their non windows listeners /viewers am sure Skinkers would have done that.. but after the up roar that followed the iplayer debacle .. notice like the above is their own way of ... hey its not me its that guy so blame him ..

well not good enough ...

i would agree, but i've know idea who Skinkers are, if they're not very well known then it looks like the bbc is trying to get out of supporting linux.

i found one more link about the bbc, i noticed the others had the daily mail links, and even though they use direct quotes in the article, it won't be good enough for some.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article1433753.ece

ice60
July 28th, 2008, 01:37 AM
i challenge everyone who thinks the bbc isn't bias to find just one article in the mainstream news media that says the bbc is bias to the right. to every one you find i will find 10 saying they are left-wing liberals.

cardinals_fan
July 28th, 2008, 02:08 AM
You also needed RealPlayer for radio streams - not sure if they've changed that now - which was a nuisance because I really dislike RealPlayer, although the Linux version is not so invasive as the Windows one.

It's a cross we have to bear for being the 1% instead of the 92%.
RealPlayer 11 for Linux is actually quite good. I use it for all my media.

gn2
July 28th, 2008, 02:16 AM
i challenge everyone who thinks the bbc isn't bias to find just one article in the mainstream news media that says the bbc is bias to the right.

The BBC is mainstream media.

If you don't like the BBC, then feel free to choose another broadcaster.

clash
July 28th, 2008, 02:36 AM
The BBC are the least biased news service in the world by a long way.

I'm not saying they are not biased at all, of course they are. Every individual is and every organisation is going to be biased no matter how hard they try not to be. Its human nature.

But to call them biased in comparison to someone like CNN is madness.

So on wikipedia some of the main points against them.

- At a discussion about a possible comedy tv show they said that it was ok to throw a bible into the bin but not a koran.

- Problem ? Throwing the koran in the bin will obviously offend a lot of Muslims. Throwing the bible in the bin and the vast majority of Christians couldn't care less. Muslims had violent protests over a cartoon depicting Ala, Jesus gets made fun of every day and Christians don't.

Its a simple fact that throwing the bible into the bin is not going to result in violence, throwing the koran into the bin might.

- Racism.

- Not even going to comment on this one. The British PC brigade are worse then the Americans and I hate this issue with a passion. If the BBC are racist then every single organisation in the world is.

- Israel

- Yes they have had their problems here but again to my first point, comparatively speaking, when you consider anyone elses coverage, the bbc coverage is the definition of impartiality.

ice60
July 28th, 2008, 03:19 AM
thanks clash and gn2, i have read your posts, and i have no idea what you're both talking about. i'm leaving this thread now, i've just remembered i've got to go and kill myself. goodbye. :)

clash
July 28th, 2008, 07:07 AM
thanks clash and gn2, i have read your posts, and i have no idea what you're both talking about. i'm leaving this thread now, i've just remembered i've got to go and kill myself. goodbye. :)

I'd say something but I don't want to waste bandwidth. :)

According to you, who is a reliable news source ?

gn2
July 28th, 2008, 10:11 AM
i've just remembered i've got to go and kill myself. goodbye. :)

Please don't do that, we've not finished yet.

Where do you live and where were you brought up?

sanderella
July 28th, 2008, 11:59 AM
I don't like the beeb either. Their news reporting is biased to concur with popular opinion. Makes me angry when I hear distorted news. The problem is the other broadcasters are even worse.:|

LTFC2020
July 28th, 2008, 12:05 PM
shame you already left

"i challenge everyone who thinks the bbc isn't bias to find just one article in the mainstream news media that says the bbc is bias to the right. to every one you find i will find 10 saying they are left-wing liberals."

pesky liberals

how can they be biased to the left and less so to the right, at the same time?!

I have had the misfortune to view several other news media organisations and the BBC is definately the least biased

to the original OP the BBC is catching up to linux but as you are outside the UK (and therefore do not pay the license fee) you will be restricted on what you can use anyway

clash
July 28th, 2008, 12:57 PM
I don't like the beeb either. Their news reporting is biased to concur with popular opinion. Makes me angry when I hear distorted news. The problem is the other broadcasters are even worse.:|

Thats the whole point.

The beeb aren't perfect. They're just the best of a bad bunch.

geekygirl
July 28th, 2008, 01:02 PM
I like the BBC...they make Doctor Who....

:lolflag:

ice60
July 28th, 2008, 02:12 PM
I'd say something but I don't want to waste bandwidth. :)

According to you, who is a reliable news source ?
sky news was good a few years a go, i don't know about now. i'm not really interested in these things so much any more, i'm just like everyone else, i watch the bbc and don't really question it lol

ice60
July 28th, 2008, 02:16 PM
Please don't do that, we've not finished yet.

Where do you live and where were you brought up?
i live in london and was brought up in london.

clash
July 28th, 2008, 02:37 PM
sky news was good a few years a go, i don't know about now. i'm not really interested in these things so much any more, i'm just like everyone else, i watch the bbc and don't really question it lol

Sky news ? Your calling the beeb bias in comparison to Mr Murdochs personal propaganda machine ?

As quoted by the man himself.



However, News Corp newspapers had taken a stand on US foreign policy, he said.

"With our newspapers, we have indeed supported Bush's foreign policy and we remain that way." - Murdoch

Congratulations for the self defeat.

dhughes
July 28th, 2008, 03:50 PM
I didn't read all the above but my point of view is if a company or any organization puts something on the World Wide Web, note the 'world wide' part, they should expect many different system will be used to view their website.

The point of the World Wide Web and the point of putting anything on it would be to show it to a large audience. Restricting viewers to a single OS even though it is the most common (and no I don't mean popular) doesn't make sense if you want to have your website viewed. Sometimes even the OS is restricted because it doesn't have the latest browser for that OS. Or the website can be viewed but it wasn't designed according to WC3 standards, so it ends up being an unintelligible mess.

It would be like a company spent millions of dollars on a TV advertisement but restricting who can view it. It's flawed logic to go to all that effort only to spend more effort to restrict many people from viewing, or listening (wma, wmv, aac).

It takes more effort to restrict than it does to include.

ice60
July 28th, 2008, 04:45 PM
Sky news ? Your calling the beeb bias in comparison to Mr Murdochs personal propaganda machine ?

As quoted by the man himself.



Congratulations for the self defeat.
no, i really do know what i'm talking about, so it's not possible for me to be defeated. all that can happen is some people may be enlightened. UK tv is nothing like US TV, the channels are bound by the rules of Ofcom, they can't be a right-wing, or left-wing news channel and have to be impartial. that's very different to how things are in the US!

the most that can happen, as with the BBC, is a channel can have an institutionally bias to one point of view. the bbc is full of guardian reading liberals. it's a known fact and not something that's hidden. incase you missed these links i'll give them again, and i think you should read them before you reply, they show the bbc admits to the problem.

We are biased, admit the stars of BBC News
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-411846/We-biased-admit-stars-BBC-News.html


BBC executives admitted the corporation is dominated by homosexuals and people from ethnic minorities, deliberately promotes multiculturalism, is anti-American, anti-countryside and more sensitive to the feelings of Muslims than Christians.

here's more from the bbc -

The BBC has frequently been accused of having a liberal bias.

But now the corporation's own staff appear to have confirmed this by revealing their political views on the networking website Facebook.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-490047/Facebook-reveals-BBC-liberal-hotbed.html

i haven't read this, but i'm going to post it anyway, from the wall street journal -
http://www.philcooke.com/BBC_Review

shifty2
July 28th, 2008, 05:23 PM
no, i really do know what i'm talking about, so it's not possible for me to be defeated.

Hmm, quoting the daily mail in an argument about bias...

ice60
July 28th, 2008, 06:13 PM
i really can't be bothered carrying on with this thread, i have more important things to think about.

clash
July 28th, 2008, 07:22 PM
no, i really do know what i'm talking about, so it's not possible for me to be defeated.

Wow, so your like two turtles strapped together ?


all that can happen is some people may be enlightened. UK tv is nothing like US TV, the channels are bound by the rules of Ofcom, they can't be a right-wing, or left-wing news channel and have to be impartial. that's very different to how things are in the US!

Since when am I American ?



the most that can happen, as with the BBC, is a channel can have an institutionally bias to one point of view. the bbc is full of guardian reading liberals. it's a known fact and not something that's hidden.

You know, this is really getting funny at this stage because you don't seem capable of reading what anyone here has said. Let me try again.

Yes the BBC are biased. Of course they are, its impossible not to be biased in some way. No one has stated otherwise.

But of all the media organisations in the world, the BBC is the least biased of them all.

Its absolutely laughable that you suggest Sky News as less biased then the beeb. Murdoch literally stated that his media outlets were going to support George's foreign policies. He didn't even say the world "bias" he said "support".

The BBC are bias yes. Because they are a publicly ran company, very multi-ethnic and constantly trying to please everyone. That has led to a bit of a liberal viewpoint.

But to suggest that they are more biased then a privately owned company whose owner literally stated his media mediums will "support" one side is out of this world ignorant.

ice60
July 28th, 2008, 07:56 PM
But to call them biased in comparison to someone like CNN is madness.



Since when am I American ?

i never mentioned CNN you brought them up, which CNN were you talking about? the top quote was made a few posts before the second one!

Of course they are, its impossible not to be biased in some way. No one has stated otherwise.
in case you hadn't noticed 3 or 4 other people have been saying the bbc is impartial, or doesn't have a liberal bias etc so it looks like you don't read everything too.

that's as much as i'm going to quote in one post, i'm not lying when i say i can't be bothered with this, so if something gets said about the general tone of the thread under one of your quotes, tough lol.

i said everything i wanted to say in my first post, you're right i don't read the whole post if it goes on past 3 lines, it's just not that important to me, i've never bothered reading long posts and i'm not going to start now because people keep quoting stuff i say.

i promise i lost the will to live because of this thread yesterday and things aren't getting better, maybe some time next week i'll get my second-wind, but i doubt it.

this is all i have to say -

i don't much like the bbc.

kaiju
July 28th, 2008, 08:40 PM
hehe, i wish we here had the luxury of media just as biased as the bbc...

if unsatisfied with their choice of formats, why don't you british linux users flood them with complaints? they'll have no choice but to please you since you are paying them.

nothingspecial
July 28th, 2008, 11:17 PM
To throw my 2 penneth in, as a british, ubuntu only user. I love the bbc. I don`t care wether they`re all Guardian reading liberals or not.
I can watch any tv program from the last 7 days on my linux laptop which I cannot do with the other british channels ( itv + channel 4 ), yes I have e-mailed them.
Plus I can stream any radio program from any BBC station (even a local station not in my area.....I love celtic connections from BBC Radio Scotland) right round my house.
I can`t imagine anything worse than only having commercial radio stations available in the uk. I care nothing for TV but BBC radio is worth the license fee alone

gn2
July 29th, 2008, 12:06 AM
i live in london and was brought up in london.

You have my deepest sympathy.

ice60
July 29th, 2008, 09:32 AM
You have my deepest sympathy.
i'd probably feel the same if scotland had ruled england for so long, edward the first conquered scotland in 1290??, you can read about it here, i can't be bothered it's not that important to me lol,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_I_of_England#Scottish_Wars
so that has been a long time for scotland to build up resentment, and as london is the seat of power too, that's a long way from scotland! then of course there's the scotish football team lol.

gn2
July 29th, 2008, 09:43 AM
then of course there's the scotish football team lol.

Lol indeed. I'm old enough to remember 1967.

The lion roared (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtC1pByt-os).