Ranty McRant Thread 2

Post by **Ketraar** » Thu, 5. Jul 18, 17:24

Playing the devils advocate here I wonder if people can just pay their news sites for a add free subscription? That exists afaik. I wonder how much news can we get without actively fund it? Must be around zero I me thinks.

MFG

Ketraar

Hank001 · Post by **Hank001** » Thu, 5. Jul 18, 17:31

CBJ noted:

The worst thing about all this is that I'm not talking about "tabloid" news sites or low-budget local sites; it's the BBC!

Don't you know it too! When the @$!# did "Hard News" turn into something that didn't used to qualify as "Op-Ed" anyway?

Probably when every news organization that didn't break the story first ends up "re-tweeting" it and adding "fluff" is when.

Then WORSE is when I nail the source of the original story and post it THIS HAPPENS:

RegisterMe to Hank001:

Btw Hank when I (and presumably others?) try to use any of your NY Daily News links i always hit a splash screen that says "blah unavailable in Europe blah"....

GGGGHHHHHAAAAHHH!!!!

Post by **Alan Phipps** » Thu, 5. Jul 18, 17:33

@ Ketraar: We already do that in the UK - it's called the BBC and we pay a TV licence fee specifically to keep them free of advertising and commercial sponsors.

Hence why CBJ's complaint about the BBC news and tweet soundbites, etc is so poignant.

Hank001 · Post by **Hank001** » Thu, 5. Jul 18, 17:40

@ Alan Phipps

You just sold a subscription to the BBC. I HAVE subscriptions to
news like The Washington Post and New York Times and though not as much STILL have adds. (Guess it's a good ol USA thing)

Edit: Strike that. They have an app. Can't even find the word subscription on their page. ME LIKE

Alee Enn · Post by **Alee Enn** » Thu, 5. Jul 18, 17:50

Apparently today is #LGBTQ+STEM Day

At the risk of sounding trans/homo-phobic (I assure you I'm not) I am increasingly of the opinion, that having all these LGBT "Days" inc Pride, and the ever expanding acronym, is exactly what striving for equality and acceptance isn't about. The more you go "Look at me, aren't I special", the less accepted you are.

Post by **Ketraar** » Thu, 5. Jul 18, 17:52

Paying for TV Broadcast is one thing, paying for journalism is another I think, I doubt one would go to a kiosk and ask for a printed news paper for free because we pay taxes.

Also doubt that paying broadcast fees covers the cost of television not having adds, sure it helps but lets not kidd ourselves.

MFG

Ketraar

Hank001 · Post by **Hank001** » Thu, 5. Jul 18, 18:02

@ Ketraar

There's benefits with subscription service like a printout version, downloadabe pdf version etc. Ads on non-subscrption site is an example of TANSTASFL. (There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch) as sad as that might be. But, you get what you pay for.
(Except note the edit I did above. Could even find a mention of subscription on the BBC site.)

mrbadger · Post by **mrbadger** » Thu, 5. Jul 18, 18:17

I barely use the BBC myself, but I pay the licence fee, because it's worth paying just to keep the BBC alive. My wife uses it. We don't have a telly, but she uses iplayer. I don't know if it's compulsory yet. I started paying as soon as I realised my wife used iplayer, since before I moved in with her I never had. I still don't.

I buy DvDs and Blu-Ray, rip them to M4v and put them on my home media system.

It's costly, but convenient. I buy BBC programs too. They frustrate me by not having their entire back catalogue online, even though they could, or even a lot of it.

Hank001 · Post by **Hank001** » Thu, 5. Jul 18, 19:12

mrbadger stated:

I barely use the BBC myself, but I pay the licence fee.

Right after I loaded in the BBC News app I looked into their Vid app and it's subscription streaming so I'll pass on binge watching Dirk Gently and Doctor ? for now. (Dratted data caps!)

.

At lest the app loads up the news much faster that Chrome did.

mrbadger · Post by **mrbadger** » Thu, 5. Jul 18, 21:24

Dirk Gently's been Canned and I don't watch Doctor Who. The BBC haven't produced anything I like for a long time.

clakclak · Post by **clakclak** » Thu, 5. Jul 18, 21:28

mrbadger wrote:Dirk Gently's been Canned and I don't watch Doctor Who. The BBC haven't produced anything I like for a long time.

They have a few good Documentaries ever now and than as well as some great podcasts.

Hank001 · Post by **Hank001** » Thu, 5. Jul 18, 21:29

@ mrbadger

Didn't get two see season 2 of Dirk. As for Who...a female Doctor?
That going to be interesting.

Edit: Wish I had cable TV back.

Morkonan · Post by **Morkonan** » Fri, 6. Jul 18, 02:36

clakclak wrote:
mrbadger wrote:Dirk Gently's been Canned and I don't watch Doctor Who. The BBC haven't produced anything I like for a long time.
They have a few good Documentaries ever now and than as well as some great podcasts.

They did Planet Earth and Planet Earth 2, right? Those are wonderful!

What will the world do when the last Attenborough is gone?

Other than some classic National Geographic documentaries, I can't think of any really great documentary series coming out of the US. Sure, there are some solely focused on US history, but most are heavily commercialized products.

SepticTooth · Post by **SepticTooth** » Fri, 6. Jul 18, 04:03

Morkonan wrote:Other than some classic National Geographic documentaries, I can't think of any really great documentary series coming out of the US. Sure, there are some solely focused on US history, but most are heavily commercialized products.

There used to be a lot of great documentaries on television here in the states, but most of that has died out now in favor of the more profitable and incredibly fake "Reality" shows. Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey with Neil deGrasse Tyson is a great one that came out in 2014.

All you see on History and Discovery channel now though are fake reality tv shows. Deadliest Catch? Highly dramatized, one of their boat captains isn't even captain! the real captain is off camera, they just show him as the captain to further the bullcrap story they're trying to tell. Pawn Stars? How in the hell is a show about a pawn shop about history? Sure they tell brief stories about some baloney items but I can remember loving the History channel for their documentaries on Ancient Egypt, not Ancient Aliens...

This is why the only thing I even watch these days is Twitch streaming, it doesn't cost me any additional money I'm not already paying, for my unlimited bandwidth fiber optic internet connection, and I don't have to watch 10 minutes of commercials for medication and insurance companies, for a 20 minute long show.

Morkonan · Post by **Morkonan** » Sun, 8. Jul 18, 14:30

I don't know how the news coverage has been in other countries, but at least in the US and, in particular, CNN, well..

It seems five hundred billion cute little children have been trapped fifteen thousand meters below "da Earf" for at least 200 years and CNN wants you to know about it, so they're going to compress everything that could have ever possibly happened since someone went "whoops" and the Universe was created that, in turn, gave rise to birthing these poor children of misfortune.

And, of course, if one gets a bit tired of listening to yet another "I almost dug a hole once, so I'm an expert" testimonials or "I was once a child" consultants, then one is a jerk, an a-hole, and should not be breathing the same air as these boys are likely going to run out of...

I "get it." They're children. That draws a heck of a lot of attention. OK, sure, I am concerned and hopeful that they will all be rescued without further harm coming to anyone.

But... damn, stop filling the lack of information with information that isn't relevant to anything but mastabatory swagging.

"Yes, I am a professional rescue diver and this is a serious situation because people can't breathe water." (Thanks, scienceguy, finish your Cherios then go back to bed)

"I got trapped in a cave for almost half a day! I am a professional caver, too, so I'm telling you it's really easy to get lost!" (A professional...)

"It's dark in the ground." (On-scene Incident Commander commander of incidents)

"I'm sending rocket surgeons to halp!" (That'll be swell, headline-seeker... how 'bout donating some shovels?)

"OK, I'm a meteorologist, so lemme learn you about water." (Got wet, once, learned water goes down holes in third grade)

"These boys will be invited to the World Cup!" (Howabout inviting them to the "We Survived" party, first, and then the "Don't go into the friggin' ground without a plan" symposium, next?)

The absolute worst thing?

They're going to let the kids decide who is the first to go out.

The kids.

They're 11-16 year old kids. And, these morons think that "Hey, they don't have enough trauma, so let's subject them to the possibility that they will be directly responsible for choosing who dies first!"

Great idea, "Rescue People." Holy crap, what a cluster. I'm so sick of mandatory 24/7 coverage of anything that is even remotely possible to gain some random viewer's attention.

PS - And, there's a huge amount of BS being spewed by people amping up the damn drama. Every "survival" wacko is weighing in with overhyped crap, just turning up the volume on the drama as much as they can.

PPS - Three of the boys have been rescued, so far, so at least their "plan" works. I hope they all get out, quickly, very soon... very, very, soon.

Observe · Post by **Observe** » Sun, 8. Jul 18, 14:51

Morkonan wrote:But... damn, stop filling the lack of information with information that isn't relevant to anything but mastabatory swagging.

I hear you Mork. It's not just news. It's everything. Even science articles invariably portray the writer in favor of the actual topic.

Earlier I complained about YouTube video dominance of news, non-news, tutorials, opinions, and any brain fart that comes along. The same mentality pervades all media these days.

Got a degree in something? Well then, your half-baked opinion on everything must be heard, because you are a rising star to be reckoned with. Don't have a degree in anything? No matter, because lots of people without degrees have become famous, so why not you?

Morkonan · Post by **Morkonan** » Sun, 8. Jul 18, 15:07

Observe wrote:...Earlier I complained about YouTube video dominance of news, non-news, tutorials, opinions, and any brain fart that comes along. The same mentality pervades all media these days.

Makeup videos... as in "Look at me, I bought cheap makeup and I'm going to show you how bad it is." (ie: I couldn't get a cosmetic's manufacturer to underwrite me this week, so I'm going to criticize the ones that refused my blackmail offers.)

Got a degree in something? Well then, your half-baked opinion on everything must be heard, because you are a rising star to be reckoned with. Don't have a degree in anything? No matter, because lots of people without degrees have become famous, so why not you?

I watched one of those sciencey "ZOMGZ MIND BLOWN!" vids from a popular "ZOMGZ MIND BLOWN" vid channel the other day.

They were full of crap, spouting stuff that isn't widely held scientific opinion based on outdated crap they probably stumbled across on a "Yahoo Answers" page.

And then, there's the people offering "advice" as in "Here are life-lessons from someone who has yet to have to get a real job and move out of his parent's basement." Smooth...

And, the "I'm totally not putting up this vid of a scene in a popular movie in order to make advertising revenue from it but am, instead, putting it up for critical, learning, or demonstration purposes... with five ad inserts and a in-vid popup you can't click off because I've cleverly placed it so far up on the vid screen that the "close window" clickspot is blockd by the video frame because I am a grade-A jerk" guy.

Oh, oh, and the "Imma create some drama and then apologize for it because my subscription numbers suck this week" person.

Or, the "We broke up and I'm crying on camera" person, as if anyone knows whotf they are in the first place.

I bet if 99% of all youtube vids got deleted, we'd never friggin notice. According to the numbers I could find, there were an unconfirmed 7 billion videos on youtube.

We'd never notice. We are incapable of noticing if 99% of 7 billion vids were missing. We might notice if our favorite vids vanished, but that would be about it. As far as we were concerned, the rest of the content value would be the same.

Hank001 · Post by **Hank001** » Sun, 8. Jul 18, 15:35

Kids stuck in a watery cave. For the media it's the "perfect storm". They can milk it for ratings for as long as it lasts and then some.
Even the thought makes producers salivate! CNN was young when a toddler fell into a drainage pipe and got stuck. The 24/7 coverage really put CNN on the map. Harkens back to the ancient "Lassie" TV show and the "Johnny fell in the well" episode that was the highest rated TV episode for years. Instant drama.

Only it's not just CNN milking this for all it's worth. The BBC shoots out regular notifications and now that some kids crawled out it's almost a frenzy. Every news network and anyone that can send a reporter to Thailand in on the scene.

If they handed all the media a shovel they could of dug the boys out by now. But the thought would have horrified the media. It would to their minds be killing the goose that laid the golden egg.

Just watch. In far off third world countries there are people seeing all the media attention and eyeing kids and asking themselves "now where's a deep hole?"

red assassin · Post by **red assassin** » Sun, 8. Jul 18, 21:00

Morkonan wrote:The absolute worst thing?

They're going to let the kids decide who is the first to go out.

I don't disagree with you in the slightest on the rest, but the coverage I saw stated that the order was decided by the medics and the weakest were taken out first?

Morkonan · Post by **Morkonan** » Sun, 8. Jul 18, 23:53

red assassin wrote:I don't disagree with you in the slightest on the rest, but the coverage I saw stated that the order was decided by the medics and the weakest were taken out first?

That must be new information. The last I saw, they were still reporting that the kids were going to decide who went first and that was in the annoyingly constant news-cycle on the subject for a day or so without change.

I wouldn't doubt that someone could have been guilty of some sanity and forced the change, though. I have successfully avoided getting any new information of events since last night. Just can't take it anymore after I heard

"Here, you see a helicopter landing back at the scene after having taken one of the rescued children to the hospital."

I just couldn't take it anymore.

egosoft.com

egosoft.com

Ranty McRant Thread 2