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**Serial_Apologist** · 25-02-24, 20:06

Originally posted by oddoneout View Post

That's something I dread having to do - the process invariably gets stuck at '42% complete' and it takes an awful lot of faffing to deal with the subsequent complete blockage of any viewing, and even when finally unbunged I am still left with channels that can't be accessed. However the digibox is ancient - a forced purchase when the supposedly "switchover ready" earlier box turned out not to be, in 2011. The TV is prehistoric, so between them it is a continuing surprise that I get to watch anything.
That the box hasn't been on this weekend has nothing to do with the hardware and control systems though, ironically, but the lack of anything I even vaguely felt I wanted to watch.

My flat screen, obtained 4 years ago secondhand, came complete with remote controller, which worked for about a week, so for changing channel etc I have to use the buttons on the side of the screen. This takes about 5 minutes to click through the entire range of channels, many of which are non-existent and some of them putting out pornography, which it appears one needs some special dispensation to watch!!!!!

Going through the procedure of updating for accessible channels using these buttons is like yours a complex and stressful procedure, involving so many variables I would not be sure in which order I managed it. Having been told (by several people) that flat screens are not designed to last as long as the old, smaller TVs, I have hung onto my previous telly along with the box top, even though I realise that resort to it would exclude areas to the left and right of the screen.

**oddoneout** · 25-02-24, 21:29

Originally posted by Serial_Apologist View Post

My flat screen, obtained 4 years ago secondhand, came complete with remote controller, which worked for about a week, so for changing channel etc I have to use the buttons on the side of the screen. This takes about 5 minutes to click through the entire range of channels, many of which are non-existent and some of them putting out pornography, which it appears one needs some special dispensation to watch!!!!!

Going through the procedure of updating for accessible channels using these buttons is like yours a complex and stressful procedure, involving so many variables I would not be sure in which order I managed it. Having been told (by several people) that flat screens are not designed to last as long as the old, smaller TVs, I have hung onto my previous telly along with the box top, even though I realise that resort to it would exclude areas to the left and right of the screen.

It wasn't a dead battery in the controller was it? I ask because last week my car key fob stopped working so I couldn't lock/unlock the car and I panicked until I used the spare and realised, when that worked OK, that the problem was a dead battery - which I now need to replace.
Yes, the decision about which bits of the picture to sacrifice took quite a while, as what seemed OK for one type of programme wasn't for another. In the end I went for the option where the black strip bothered me the least(top and bottom) and accepted that at times text disappears off the sides of the screen.

**Old Grumpy** · 25-02-24, 21:50

Originally posted by Serial_Apologist View Post

My flat screen, obtained 4 years ago secondhand, came complete with remote controller, which worked for about a week, so for changing channel etc I have to use the buttons on the side of the screen. This takes about 5 minutes to click through the entire range of channels, many of which are non-existent and some of them putting out pornography, which it appears one needs some special dispensation to watch!!!!!

Going through the procedure of updating for accessible channels using these buttons is like yours a complex and stressful procedure, involving so many variables I would not be sure in which order I managed it. Having been told (by several people) that flat screens are not designed to last as long as the old, smaller TVs, I have hung onto my previous telly along with the box top, even though I realise that resort to it would exclude areas to the left and right of the screen.

If the answer is not new batteries in the controller, then it might be a new controller. We inherited our flatscreen from my dad when he died. The controller did not work as the keypad was coated in layers of (let's say) grease.

A quick Internet search for controllers for that make and model of TV revealed several options for no more than £20. We've not looked back...

...cos we're too busy watching the box!

**Cockney Sparrow** · 26-02-24, 11:36

Originally posted by Old Grumpy View Post

...............If the answer is not new batteries in the controller, then it might be a new controller..........

Strong agreement. On more than one occasion new batteries have solved the problem. When testing for the remedy, always make sure they are new ones. Similarly, check the fuse in a power supply (again, I overlooked that possibility at least once!).

**oddoneout** · 26-02-24, 11:58

Originally posted by Old Grumpy View Post

If the answer is not new batteries in the controller, then it might be a new controller. We inherited our flatscreen from my dad when he died. The controller did not work as the keypad was coated in layers of (let's say) grease.

A quick Internet search for controllers for that make and model of TV revealed several options for no more than £20. We've not looked back...

...cos we're too busy watching the box!

So long as it isn't Sam Jackson...

**Old Grumpy** · 26-02-24, 12:02

Originally posted by oddoneout View Post

So long as it isn't Sam Jackson...

I was waiting for that

**oddoneout** · 26-02-24, 12:09

Originally posted by Old Grumpy View Post

I was waiting for that

"Thank you for your patience"

**ucanseetheend** · 26-02-24, 14:50

well guys I hope you seen what Butcher Jackson is doing to weekends.The only part of schedule worth listening to..now this.Eventually doing to the weekend schedule what has been done to the weekdays. Saturday mornings 3 hours of Tom Service followed by Jools Holland ? Hope it's a massive flop!

**oddoneout** · 02-03-24, 10:10

In one respect a small thing in the scheme of things, but also indicative of the relentless demand for personal details as part of using a service. For quite some time now I get a message coming up when I attempt to login to my Gmail account, perhaps 1 out of 3 uses, that says "Your date of birth is missing", and then a bit of blurb about needing it to comply with legal requirements. I managed to find a way to continue without supplying my dob which has worked so far but I am under no illusion that at some stage that will be blocked.
It irritates on two levels, the immediate one being the somewhat pedantic matter of my dob being "missing" - no it isn't, I still have it thank you - but Google doesn't, which isn't the same thing. Secondly is the vagueness of the legal justification. I know that there are some things I could access that are age limited, but given my (very boring) email and browsing history, that has never been an issue, so it's just a front for wanting yet more of my valuable personal data. My cynicism about the extent to which such businesses are genuinely committed to "protecting" their users, ie would they do it if there wasn't a legal imperative(one with teeth and fines), doesn't help.

**LMcD** · 02-03-24, 10:25

Originally posted by ucanseetheend View Post

well guys I hope you seen what Butcher Jackson is doing to weekends.The only part of schedule worth listening to..now this.Eventually doing to the weekend schedule what has been done to the weekdays. Saturday mornings 3 hours of Tom Service followed by Jools Holland ? Hope it's a massive flop!

I suspect that they've already drafted a press release confirming that's it been a huge success.

**oddoneout** · 02-03-24, 13:28

Originally posted by LMcD View Post

I suspect that they've already drafted a press release confirming that's it been a huge success.

Having added up all the online comments and counted all responses as positive?

**LMcD** · 03-03-24, 12:05

Originally posted by oddoneout View Post

Having added up all the online comments and counted all responses as positive?

.... or after a quick chat with their chosen ''advisors', pollsters and focus groups?

**oddoneout** · 03-03-24, 14:21

Originally posted by LMcD View Post

.... or after a quick chat with their chosen ''advisors', pollsters and focus groups?

The methods may differ but the end result is the same - create the numbers that are wanted, and don't risk the facts getting in the way of a good story.
Thing is, if they could produce credible data to show that the majority of listeners are happy(or at least not unhappy enough to leave) with the offer and that the audience, if not increasing is at least not declining unduly, then I would just have to accept that times have changed but I haven't.

**LMcD** · 10-03-24, 20:37

I wasn't sure whether to post this here or under Pedants' Paradise, but a BBC News story accompanying a clip showing a murmuration of starlings over Great Yarmouth seafront helpfully informs us that '... the phenomena happens ...'

**Old Grumpy** · 10-03-24, 23:17

Originally posted by LMcD View Post

I wasn't sure whether to post this here or under Pedants' Paradise, but a BBC News story accompanying a clip showing a murmuration of starlings over Great Yarmouth seafront helpfully informs us that '... the phenomena happens ...'

Well, depends on which single criteria (

) you are making the judgement...

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