The Tennis

[rf]

Wimbledon is on, as I'm sure those of you in the Mother Country know.

<rant>

We Need to know when our local .au hero Hewitt is going to play. Checks the
official web site and notice that he is on after Ms Williams has devoured
her latest opponent. Click on the Williams vs whoever match. Notice a "WATCH
MATCH LIVE" (their shouting) link. Clickety click.

They want me to provide them with my email address and all sorts of things
like my *name* and they want me to actually *pay* to look at their video
feed. It's nice that they don't allow sponsorship advertising of any kind
cluttering up their pretty green venu but bloody hell, they are pushing the
almighty $ envelope here. Obviously drezigned by those idiots over in
marketing.

Bah humbug. I'll go back to my TV. Why should I pay to watch some little
bloody tiny mpeg on my computer when I can watch my TV projecting a 10 foot
wide image onto my lounge room wall?

I wonder what they were thinking about when they did this and I wonder how
many suckers they actually caught? Good way to piss off users of their web
site IMHO.

</rant>

Addendum: My tennis partner has just informed me she simply cannot get this
to even work on a MAC

 

[Toby A Inkster]

Bah humbug. I'll go back to my TV. Why should I pay to watch some little
bloody tiny mpeg on my computer when I can watch my TV projecting a 10 foot
wide image onto my lounge room wall?

IP Geolocating: The BBC have superb data on which IP addresses are UK
based and which are not -- British ISPs are only too eager to let the
Beeb know their IP address ranges, because otherwise their customers
lose out and the ISP loses customers.

They use geolocating to supply this stuff free to the UK, and sometimes
charge for it elsewhere. This is because the whole shebang is funded by
the British licence-payer. (Yes, I know you have the ABC, but the BBC
licence fee is an order of magnitude more.)

Addendum: My tennis partner has just informed me she simply cannot
get this to even work on a MAC

Yes, the BBC has been hauled in front of the Office of Communications
(government regulation body) about this matter. They are apparently
working on it.

--
Toby A Inkster BSc (Hons) ARCS
[Geek of HTML/SQL/Perl/PHP/Python/Apache/Linux]
[OS: Linux 2.6.12-12mdksmp, up 7 days, 18:11.]

Long-Awaited Zeldman Article
http://tobyinkster.co.uk/blog/2007/06/27/zeldman-in-time/

 

[Neredbojias]

Bah humbug. I'll go back to my TV. Why should I pay to watch some
little bloody tiny mpeg on my computer when I can watch my TV
projecting a 10 foot wide image onto my lounge room wall?

I wonder what they were thinking about when they did this and I wonder
how many suckers they actually caught? Good way to piss off users of
their web site IMHO.

</rant>

Addendum: My tennis partner has just informed me she simply cannot get
this to even work on a MAC

The good part being tennis is so boring, anyhow, that half the people
wouldn't care if it works or not.

--
Neredbojias

Once I had a little dog
Who wagged its tail spritely.
But it walked by the harvestor
And now is shorter slightly.

 

[rf]

[Wimbledon]

They use geolocating to supply this stuff free to the UK, and sometimes
charge for it elsewhere. This is because the whole shebang is funded by
the British licence-payer.

Oh. I see. A government web site?

(Yes, I know you have the ABC, but the BBC
licence fee is an order of magnitude more.)

You pay a licence fee to watch free to air TV? Bloody hell. At least they
hide the cost of our ABC in taxes

Yes, the BBC has been hauled in front of the Office of Communications
(government regulation body) about this matter. They are apparently
working on it.

Yeah, right Just like bigpond is working on their news servers?

 

[Chaddy2222]

Wimbledon is on, as I'm sure those of you in the Mother Country know.

<rant>

We Need to know when our local .au hero Hewitt is going to play. Checks the
official web site and notice that he is on after Ms Williams has devoured
her latest opponent. Click on the Williams vs whoever match. Notice a "WATCH
MATCH LIVE" (their shouting) link. Clickety click.

They want me to provide them with my email address and all sorts of things
like my *name* and they want me to actually *pay* to look at their video
feed. It's nice that they don't allow sponsorship advertising of any kind
cluttering up their pretty green venu but bloody hell, they are pushing the
almighty $ envelope here. Obviously drezigned by those idiots over in
marketing.

Bah humbug. I'll go back to my TV. Why should I pay to watch some little
bloody tiny mpeg on my computer when I can watch my TV projecting a 10 foot
wide image onto my lounge room wall?

I wonder what they were thinking about when they did this and I wonder how
many suckers they actually caught? Good way to piss off users of their web
site IMHO.

</rant>

Addendum: My tennis partner has just informed me she simply cannot get this
to even work on a MAC

All I can say on that site is, if is the type of crap that will be
forced on the web with WCAG 2.0 then I reckon i'll need too right my
own guidelines. Actually on that subject a lot of groups have. Based
on the WCAG 1.0 but still, better then the shite that 2.0 will be.

 

[dorayme]

You pay a licence fee to watch free to air TV?

It is el cheapo Pay TV. There is a new book, quite interesting
argument in it, called "Scrap the BBC" where... well, you can
read about it or better, hear the author being interviewed:

<http://abc.net.au/rn/counterpoint/stories/2007/1952031.htm#transc
ript>

 

[patrick j]

You pay a licence fee to watch free to air TV? Bloody hell. At least they
hide the cost of our ABC in taxes

At least it means that if you don't have a TV you don't have to pay for it

 

[patrick j]

The good part being tennis is so boring, anyhow, that half the people
wouldn't care if it works or not.

It's not a boring as cricket. There is nothing as boring as cricket. I live
very close to a very big and famous cricket ground but I never ever go
there.

 

[Neredbojias]

It's not a boring as cricket. There is nothing as boring as cricket.

So I would surmise from a game composed of or emulating little insects that
go "Click, click." However, tennis is not only boring, it's dangerous. It
can give you Ying-Yang Eye, a condition where you may, for instance, be
walking straight ahead down the sidewalk but your eyeballs are constantly
pivoting to the left and right in an involuntary and pathological fashion.
Ying-Yang Eye can also embarrass the older gentleman who finds himself in
an area populated by much younger women.

I
live very close to a very big and famous cricket ground but I never
ever go there.

Well, perhaps the stadia are good places to "rub a leg"...

--
Neredbojias

Never doubt
The path you've chosen.
If others mock,
Just thumb your nos'n.
- Burma Shave

 

[patrick j]

Well, perhaps the stadia are good places to "rub a leg"...

You're beginning to make cricket sound a bit more interesting.