Jack is back!

[Danny]

Anyone into the Fox '24' series or watch the return of 24 last night?

[Big and Bashful]

I watched the first series, started watching the second series and rapidly lost interest, too like the first series and also featured a scheming overly loud, intensely annoying female charactor. I haven't watched it since. At the moment I am totally hooked on various HBO products, Deadwood, Game of Thrones and The Sopranos. I find the writing, the standard of the acting and casting and the general production values leave just about anything else I have seen looking lame in comparison. (As long as you don't mind sweary words and bits of uncovered body (attached or not!)).
Don't know what I will do when I get to the end of The Sopranos, probably have to turn back to my DVD collection to keep me going.

[Danny]

I've always enjoyed 24, but I do understand where you're coming from... and there were times when the events/plots got a bit ridiculous.. I mean, considering everything is happening in "Real Time". But overall, I still really enjoyed it. Another series I recently got into isThe Blacklist. James Spader is phenomenal in this show. Without him, honestly, the show would be nothing. lol

I don't get HBO, so I don't get to watch those ones you mentioned, unless I youtube it. But I seldom get time for youtube with my work schedule. As it is, I have to DVR the shows I already want to see. lol

[Big and Bashful]

We don't get HBO in the UK, however Sky broadcast certain HBO series here, I don't know anything about HBO other than the fact that everything about Game of Thrones and Deadwood is of a fantasticaly high standard, far better than I would ever expect to see on a "made for TV" type series. They must be doing something right because they don't seem to have to work to a budget, the team on Game of Thrones is something like 700 people in three countries, however the results seem to make it worthwhile! I am hooked! The Sopranos seems equally popular but hasn't drawn me in to the same extent, but I do like it and am working my way through the final series at the moment. I haven't heard of The Blacklist,, and at the moment I don't want to discover another series to watch, I am spending far too much time in front of the TV, still the bug I have can't last forever, once I start to feel better I will have to drag myself away from the Sopranos and get my boat ready for the sailing season, if the rain ever stops!

[crfriend]

[...] I don't know anything about HBO other than the fact that everything about Game of Thrones and Deadwood is of a fantasticaly high standard, far better than I would ever expect to see on a "made for TV" type series. They must be doing something right because they don't seem to have to work to a budget [...]

HBO is one of those companies that I will have absolutely no business dealing with voluntarily -- ever. This is the company that first succeeded in abrogating the old "free airwaves" standard that the USA had enjoyed since the days of Nicola Tesla and Marconi.

In effect, the "open airwaves" rule put forth, "If radio energy passes over your property, you are free to do with it whatever you like". This was then first narrowed to include copyright, then later, with the "HBO Decision" (the bribe for which I hope cost them a bundle, even though it was a very astute investment), which outlawed decryption of radio signals.

In short, this radiation is not just passing over my property, it is penetrating my body -- and I'm not allowed to do anything with it! Given this, I'd think I'd have the right to demand that the source be shut off -- but no, this is the land of "Free Enterprise" (like the "Herald" of same) so that's not allowed. Money first, last, and everything.

Sapphire watches quite a lot of HBO-produced stuff (like The Sopranos) which was one of the drivers for me to move my computing kit into a separate room and why the 40" projector was never repaired after its failure. I'd had a bellyful of 4th-rate cop-shows which are pitched at such a pace as to make me want to -- quite literally -- "shoot the television". A 12-guage shotgun blast into the device would certainly have made the point clear. And violated any number of laws.

So, if it's even remotely related to HBO -- or its subsidiaries -- I switch the channel or put it back on the shelf.

Another point I find humourous is the advertising aspect. One of the original claims of the "pay-for-service" cable networks would be no adverts. Guess how quickly that notion evaporated? Why I should I pay to have crud pushed at me that I have no interest in? (Actually, I have a negative interest in advertising and that makes me less likely to buy things that are advertised than those I hear of through other channels.)

[Big and Bashful]

[...] I don't know anything about HBO other than the fact that everything about Game of Thrones and Deadwood is of a fantasticaly high standard, far better than I would ever expect to see on a "made for TV" type series. They must be doing something right because they don't seem to have to work to a budget [...]

HBO is one of those companies that I will have absolutely no business dealing with voluntarily -- ever. This is the company that first succeeded in abrogating the old "free airwaves" standard that the USA had enjoyed since the days of Nicola Tesla and Marconi.

In effect, the "open airwaves" rule put forth, "If radio energy passes over your property, you are free to do with it whatever you like". This was then first narrowed to include copyright, then later, with the "HBO Decision" (the bribe for which I hope cost them a bundle, even though it was a very astute investment), which outlawed decryption of radio signals.

In short, this radiation is not just passing over my property, it is penetrating my body -- and I'm not allowed to do anything with it! Given this, I'd think I'd have the right to demand that the source be shut off -- but no, this is the land of "Free Enterprise" (like the "Herald" of same) so that's not allowed. Money first, last, and everything.

Sapphire watches quite a lot of HBO-produced stuff (like The Sopranos) which was one of the drivers for me to move my computing kit into a separate room and why the 40" projector was never repaired after its failure. I'd had a bellyful of 4th-rate cop-shows which are pitched at such a pace as to make me want to -- quite literally -- "shoot the television". A 12-guage shotgun blast into the device would certainly have made the point clear. And violated any number of laws.

So, if it's even remotely related to HBO -- or its subsidiaries -- I switch the channel or put it back on the shelf.

Another point I find humourous is the advertising aspect. One of the original claims of the "pay-for-service" cable networks would be no adverts. Guess how quickly that notion evaporated? Why I should I pay to have crud pushed at me that I have no interest in? (Actually, I have a negative interest in advertising and that makes me less likely to buy things that are advertised than those I hear of through other channels.)

No idea of what you are talking about re airwaves, it seems similar to the Law here in the UK, the need for TV licences whether you watch TV or not, as long as you have recieving equipment you must have a licence, even if there is no useable signal in your area and you only watch satellite, which you pay for direct to Sky. The law is never fair!
I also agree with you over advertising, I hate it with a passion, I have been watching most HBO stuff from the Sky On Demand service, which comes eiher without adverts which is best, or at worst you download it and then just fast forward over the adverts. I very rarely watch programmes direct from air, I record them so that I can skip the commercial breaks. On the computer I use Chrome with add-ons which strip out all commercials and adverts from YouTube and Facebook, Bliss!

[BobM]

... (Actually, I have a negative interest in advertising and that makes me less likely to buy things that are advertised than those I hear of through other channels.)

Hello! You are a man after my own heart. TV ads are annoying, but there are some radio ads that I find intolerable. One is Heritage for the Blind. They are supposed to be a charity, but have the money to run their bloody jingle reminding me to be kind three times an hour seven days a week on every local station with more than a dozen listeners. I can't imagine what their national advertising bill is. Another one is that blatantly false ad, "I remember when my son Jeremy told me that he hated me..." that offers its product for free, but which very much is not "free". When either of those pop up I snap the radio off and usually leave it that way. Many years ago I did news, weather and sports for WELP AM/FM ( I had a 1st phone ticket in those days and also filled in as station engineer). All ads were read live, and there was considerable ad-libbing allowed as long as I was somewhere near the intended content. That was much more fun.

[crfriend]

No idea of what you are talking about re airwaves, it seems similar to the Law here in the UK, the need for TV licences whether you watch TV or not, as long as you have recieving equipment you must have a licence, even if there is no useable signal in your area and you only watch satellite, which you pay for direct to Sky. The law is never fair!

The "TV license" is an anathema concept to us US types, and one we'd likely laugh at if anybody mooted it. What I was driving at is the philosophy that the electromagnetic spectrum was originally communal property -- we all "own" it because it impinges on our property -- and which notion was later usurped by for-profit types. Things are not going in a positive direction, and HBO was the first for-profit entity that made a successful grab for the privatization of the airwaves.

I also agree with you over advertising, I hate it with a passion, I have been watching most HBO stuff from the Sky On Demand service, which comes eiher without adverts [...]

Look more closely at the "content". You will find plenty of "product placement" in said "content" which is as good as -- if not better than -- the explicit advert.

As far as online adverts go, I've identified the worst offenders and hijacked their DNS space locally so all that happens is a "cannot display this web page" as they all point to 127.0.0.1.

Advertisers: Go Away. Your message is not wanted. Full stop.

[skirted_in_SF]

As far as online adverts go, I've identified the worst offenders and hijacked their DNS space locally so all that happens is a "cannot display this web page" as they all point to 127.0.0.1.

I have done that in the past using the hosts (?) file in WinXP. I especially used it to block Doubleclick. Now that I think about it, you are generally not a windows user but must do something similar in your favorite OSs. I'm not sure if I've used the hosts trick in Win7. Adblock Plus in Firefox keeps ads to a manageable amount for me.

[Sinned]

In England in the early 1960's you even had to have a licence for a radio until the saturation of the airwaves with pop music and the Japanese flooding the country with cheap transistor radios. So many people ( mainly young teenagers with very little disposable money ) now had very small portable pocket tranny's that it became impossible to take them all to court for not having a licence so the radio licence was scrapped. I know - I lived through that era.

[crfriend]

I have [blocked domain] in the past using the hosts (?) file in WinXP. I especially used it to block Doubleclick.

I think that's "lmhosts" in one of the "drivers" directory, but may be mistaken, or my knowledge may be out of date. In my case, I block them at the DNS layer so every host on my LAN gets the benefit. Here's the list I currently blackhole:

Code: Select all

"anti-virus-secure-scanner.com"
"advertising.com"
"doubleclick.net"
"adsonar.com"
"doubleclick.speedera.net"
"pointroll.com"
"yieldmanager.com"
"ads.cnn.com"
"metrics.cnn.com"
"at.atwola.com"
"yldmgrimg.net"

and likely that list can only grow as the cancer spreads. Doubleclick and yieldmanager are by far and away the worst, and Sapphire picked up a nasty virus by way of ads.cnn.com once that took me two days to get rid of which is why they're in there.

The sad part is that some of the more obnoxious sites are starting to demand that you accept adverts from third-party sites before delivering content. The question then becomes, "Are those sites worth putting up with the hassle -- and risk -- for what they provide?"

Now that I think about it, you are generally not a windows user but must do something similar in your favorite OSs. I'm not sure if I've used the hosts trick in Win7. Adblock Plus in Firefox keeps ads to a manageable amount for me.

I just looked at an XP system (it was powered up to download the pictures for another thread yesterday and is still running) and the file is, indeed, C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts. The chap I bought the machine from a number of years ago was kind enough to leave his hosts-based blacklist there -- and it's big, but, likely out of date as the scum keep moving around.