Re: In other news

On 27.07.2023 15.32, Merlyne wrote:
> BeH <[email protected]> wrote in
> news:[email protected]: 
> 
>> On 22.07.2023 17.21, Merlyne wrote:
>>> BeH <[email protected]> wrote in
>>> news:[email protected]: 
>>>
>>>> On 18.07.2023 13.24, Merlyne wrote:
>>>>> BeH <[email protected]> wrote in
>>>>> news:[email protected]: 
>>>>>
>>>>>> On 12.07.2023 13.22, Merlyne wrote:
>>>>>>> BeH <[email protected]> wrote in
>>>>>>> news:[email protected]: 
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On 08.07.2023 17.01, Merlyne wrote:
>>>>>>>>> BeH <[email protected]> wrote in
>>>>>>>>> news:[email protected]: 
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> On 05.07.2023 14.14, Merlyne wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>> BeH <[email protected]> wrote in
>>>>>>>>>>> news:[email protected]: 
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> On 02.07.2023 16.29, Merlyne wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>> BeH <[email protected]> wrote in
>>>>>>>>>>>>> news:[email protected]: 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> On 28.06.2023 13.31, Merlyne wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I got a new phone and a better plan.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Why are cell plans so much more expensive in my country
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> vs the US? 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> CAPITALISM! It's always capitalism. We've been over this.
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Sure. Are you sure that it's not related to population
>>>>>>>>>>>>> base? 
>>>>>>>>>>>> If you pay the same country-wide and you the same coverage
>>>>>>>>>>>> in sparsely populated areas (I know you have some of those),
>>>>>>>>>>>> then maybe. But most likely capitalism.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Ugh!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I got a new S21 and 20GB of data for $47/month taxes in.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I pay a base fee of ~$4/month (deducted from consumption)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> with slightly higher per-minute charge and no free data.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> But then I only use data in emergency (which haven't
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> happened yet) and make maybe two calls and two
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> texts/month. 
>>>>>>>>>>>>> I used to have a prepaid cell for like $10 a month back in
>>>>>>>>>>>>> 2003 when it was my emergency phone.
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Once I started using it all the time, it was more
>>>>>>>>>>>>> cost-efficient to have a plan with unlimited talk and text.
>>>>>>>>>>>>> I would say that I am most frequently contacted by text
>>>>>>>>>>>>> than by other modes i.e. voice call or email. 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> On the other hand I still pay for a landline (IP) even
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> though it hasn't made a sound (or call) in several years.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> I also have a landline. My Dad calls it and a few places
>>>>>>>>>>>>> where I keep forgetting to change my contact info to my
>>>>>>>>>>>>> cell. I think the landline isn't VOIP it's whatever came
>>>>>>>>>>>>> before that but after rotary dial phones. 
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Analog... (rotary dials relied on counting the impulses -
>>>>>>>>>>>> one for each digit passed on return; pushbutton 'dialing'
>>>>>>>>>>>> relied on the frequency of the tone correspondig to each
>>>>>>>>>>>> digit/button) 
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> They will probably phase it out eventually.
>>>>>>>>>>>> Like they did with teevee signals, thus making everyone get
>>>>>>>>>>>> new teevees... 
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> I thought I got a new tv because the old one stopped working.
>>>>>>>>>> That may be, but lots of people got new tvs because their old
>>>>>>>>>> one couldn't receive/decode the digital signal.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> The cable company gave out digital conversion boxes to people.
>>>>>>>> Can you still get one of those. To use on an old teevee that you
>>>>>>>> buy at an antique shop?
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I doubt anything would work on a tv that old.
>>>>>> In theory it would. It would require a digital to analog
>>>>>> conversion and probably a granularity reduction from HD to PAL or
>>>>>> [whatever the American format is called]. An old cable converter
>>>>>> might just work if one could bypass the subscription bit.
>>>>>
>>>>> It could work from an antenna. Some channels are in the air. In HD
>>>>> even. 
>>>> That's what I meant, using the antenna as input for the box. A
>>>> really old TV will probably make a mess of an unaltered HD signal.
>>> I can imagine.
>>> It would probably make a mess of SD signals too.
>> And if by some miracle it could be made to work, there probably
>> wouldn't be anything good on anyway.
>>
> Nonsense! There are always quality programming available like those 
> reality shows were a farmer needs a wife.
Grrr! No matter when I look it seems to be all American 'Married at
first sight' or some survival show...
They do show Colombo (again) but late at night and I still remember all
the plots from last time.

> I have Acorn and BritBox now so I can catch up on all my British murder 
> mystery shows. I feel with the writer and actor strike that there may be 
> a long tv show drought.
I get BritBox as well (on that streaming service). They have Yes
Minister/Prime Minister.

I did see a Canadian police series in french. It had all the right
characters:
- a neuro-divergent sketch artist with 'amazing' abilities,
- a wheel-chair bound, female chief always wearing a baseball cap,
- a young arab gay forensic investigator,
- a semi-alcoholic older detective who broke all the rules (violently)
- a middle aged female researcher, who was a former elite hacker.
And that was just the Good Guys(tm).

> 
> And speaking of programming, I wrote a Python program today without 
> taking a course.
I had no idea you were a parseltongue.

One of these day I'm gonna install the ADA pre-compiler for gcc again
and think of something to code in it... Something with a lot of things
happening at the same time.

-- 
BeH

" We are trapped by language to such a degree that every attempt to
formulate insight is a play on words." - Niels Bohr