Grumble Thread

[LMcD]

That very thing has been a huge deterrent to watching the current Olympics, live at least. There have been a few events I’ve wanted to see and have accordingly set the appropriate slab of BBC coverage to record, then watched what I wanted, deploying the fast forward function to avoid all of the extraneous, hyperbolic blether.

Exactly the same tactic as for Radio 3 / TV Proms, in fact.Thank heavens for technology these days, enabling one to avoid the babble. Life’s too short

A thread entitled 'Olympics or Proms?' has just been started, on which I have offered an explanation of the BBC's limited coverage of the Games and the resultant increase in babble.

[Old Grumpy]

Why do sports commentators ALWAYS HAVE TO SHOUT? Annoying Olympics trail on BBC TV yesterday was full of shouty sound bites.

[smittims]

It's to convey the illusion that something exciting is happening. Radio 3 announcers do it too. 'An incredibly exciting performance of Faure's song cycle' shouted one above the applause. She clearly hadn't been listening to it. It was beautiful , moving even, but was not eciting , nor was it meant to be.

[oddoneout]

Why do sports commentators ALWAYS HAVE TO SHOUT? Annoying Olympics trail on BBC TV yesterday was full of shouty sound bites.

Even worse when they put shouty sports ads on R3 - even if the music it gatecrashes isn't quiet/reflective it still really jars as it's just noise.

[LMcD]

It's to convey the illusion that something exciting is happening. Radio 3 announcers do it too. 'An incredibly exciting performance of Faure's song cycle' shouted one above the applause. She clearly hadn't been listening to it. It was beautiful , moving even, but was not eciting , nor was it meant to be.

Yesterday we were informed that we were about to hear the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra conducted by 'the mighty Tom Koopman'. That's a mighty fine compliment, I guess.

[oddoneout]

Yesterday we were informed that we were about to hear the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra conducted by 'the mighty Tom Koopman'. That's a mighty fine compliment, I guess.

If a bit misleading - he isn't a big man and he is Ton(from Antonius) not Tom.

[Old Grumpy]

Yesterday we were informed that we were about to hear the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra conducted by 'the mighty Tom Koopman'. That's a mighty fine compliment, I guess.

Yes siree!

[Serial_Apologist]

It's to convey the illusion that something exciting is happening. Radio 3 announcers do it too. 'An incredibly exciting performance of Faure's song cycle' shouted one above the applause. She clearly hadn't been listening to it. It was beautiful , moving even, but was not exciting , nor was it meant to be.

Lyrical and full of fascinating harmonic twists, right from the early first violin sonata, but it's hard to imagine some performer "really giving it one" on any Fauré composition! I wonder what Gabriel would have made of such a description; mild amusement, I would think - he wasn't exactly a "raver", was he?

[eighthobstruction]

....just had a weekend in Staithes North Yorks coast....firstly if you have walking and stamina problems....steep hills everywhere and cars galore trying to get spaces in small carparks at the bottom of the hills....large car parks 300 feet higher....but completely digital payment with possibility that some smart alec might be scamming by sticking their QR code on top of official one....luckily I had a child with me (39yrs)...

[Old Grumpy]

I hate pay by phone with a vengeance. All car parks should accept contactless card and cash payments IMV.
If they can do it in the middle of the Lake District (which they can) then they can do it anywhere!

[teamsaint]

I hate pay by phone with a vengeance. All car parks should accept contactless card and cash payments IMV.
If they can do it in the middle of the Lake District (which they can) then they can do it anywhere!

You have to wonder what the benefit to the car park owners of app- based payment systems actually is, not least when so many machines have coin and app options but not card. There really can’t be many car drivers who don't have a payment card, although a choice of payment methods is always preferable of course.

[kernelbogey]

You have to wonder what the benefit to the car park owners of app- based payment systems actually is, not least when so many machines have coin and app options but not card. There really can’t be many car drivers who don't have a payment card, although a choice of payment methods is always preferable of course.

It's all part of a drift by car park owners, such as local authorities, to 'outsource' [ugh!] to agents the collection of fees, in which case the method seems to be in the control of the agency.

Down here, Ringgo seems to have a near-monopoly on the car parks for Southwestern Trains. Having paid by phone through their system for some years, I now find myself excluded from downloading their app, which would apparently make it easier for them and me. Unfortunately the machine-based system won't let me.

[eighthobstruction]

You have to wonder what the benefit to the car park owners of app- based payment systems actually is, not least when so many machines have coin and app options but not card. There really can’t be many car drivers who don't have a payment card, although a choice of payment methods is always preferable of course.

....just in the 10 minutes that I was paying I saw 5-6 other people driving off to look elsewhere....

[oddoneout]

It's all part of a drift by car park owners, such as local authorities, to 'outsource' [ugh!] to agents the collection of fees, in which case the method seems to be in the control of the agency.

Down here, Ringgo seems to have a near-monopoly on the car parks for Southwestern Trains. Having paid by phone through their system for some years, I now find myself excluded from downloading their app, which would apparently make it easier for them and me. Unfortunately the machine-based system won't let me.

This is something which will be foisted on us in this neck of the woods. The council has decided that a previous revoking of the free parking across the district which was thrown out a couple of years ago is to be revisited and overturned. Well, strictly speaking what they are saying is tat there will be a consultation in the autumn - but they took the decision to go ahead in July; we all know such things are a sham, but to be quite so blatant about it...
However, given that it is a move from no fees to fees in one go I cannot see that they will do other than go down the discriminatory route of phone payment only - the purchasing process will see them pushed that way by the salesmen, with the justification to the public that it wouldn't make sense to have to update ticket machines at a later date.
The companies supplying such machines will presumably keep quiet about the advantages to the operating companies of having all that data being given to them free, gratis, and for nothing* without even any benefits to the council.
*and potentially handed over to third parties for "enforcement". Theory and practice when it comes to data protection and controls are in different reality zones, and as ever it is the hapless member of the public who is supposed to try and sort it out.

[eighthobstruction]

....and if you feel aggrieved about a parking fine; should one be unfairly issued, you then have to have the technological knowhow to fight their QR codes/obscure notices/ poorly designed websites/ websites which promise to display decisions [and don't do so]......baa....ooooh look someones got a new BMW....They'll be pleased when we are all dead and they cannot bamboozle us any more....I'm anxious they will do this in my Local Town Centre, I ffind it hard enough to visit public spaces as it is....