Some of us poor souls in the UK actually think that about America and Americans......
Taxes is one of our downsides, we have upsides too. Being able to drive from one side of the country to the other in 6 or 7 hours is one. 
Being able to drive from one side of the country to the other in 6 or 7 hours is one.
My guess is you would never get from one side to the other if you were to drive on the right side ... 
There is the old adage that while an English man thinks 100 miles is a long way and American thinks 100 years is a long time.
The left is the right side.......
WoW! a license to watch television! Long Live the Indian Democracy!
Guess What! The government has been giving free televisions off!
The irony is the brits in uk have to pay to watch the bbc and the indians get to watch it for free its time we had a open source broadcasting system where jsut about anything can be modified!
The Beeb dates back to the days before they thought of using advertising to fund programme making, its sort a of subscription service you can't opt out of.
On the upside, it is relatively unbiased because it doesn't have any advertisers to keep happy, its one of the most respected news services on the planet. Because its income is stable, its programmes are usually better quality than our commercial televison who these days are showing a lot of cheap reality TV and tacky game shows. Dilution of advertising revenue and all that. Pros and cons......
I'm a fan of the BBC, it isn't universally liked here because of the Licence fee but alongside the likes of Sky TV who want a fortune a month to watch their 200 channels of largely dribble, its a bargain.
its time we had a open source broadcasting system where jsut about anything can be modified
I guess YouTube hasn't made it to the Sub-Continent yet.
I guess YouTube hasn't made it to the Sub-Continent yet.
Well it has... but then internet penetration is less.. i would love to telecast content to all those not connected to the internet... those with a TV would amount to a huge audience base! Jus wondering is there some kind of a HAM television?
Apparently there is !
its time we had a open source broadcasting system where jsut about anything can be modified!
And who will pay for it all.
In the UK the BBC has no adverts at all. Think about that people in the US. A one hour program only lasts 50 mins!
Jus wondering is there some kind of a HAM television?
I first transmitted ham TV back in 1980.
I first transmitted ham TV back in 1980
I think it was called SSTV back then, no?
I think it was called SSTV back then, no?
No I did SSTV back in 1975. SSTV is slow scan TV, that is used for sending still pictures with an 8 second frame transmit time. In those pre computer days you displayed them on a long persistence phosphor CRT.
This was real fast scan TV at 450MHz ish, using a TV camera I built myself mainly from parts available in the stores at University. It had a 1" vidicon tube and a lens from an old SLR camera, and a digital time base built in a tabico tin to shield it. It worked entirely off 12V so I could run in from my car. I had to have a separate TV call sign on top of by existing ham license call sign. And yes I had to pay for the license to transmit.
And who will pay for it all.
Not sure... but i think the idea will help...
Think about that people in the US. A one hour program only lasts 50 mins!
well thats better in india it will be about 35mins... I used to work in a company that had a few channels and they used to have a ratio of 7:3 for content:ad and it was worse in case of good programs... I dont know if its true elesewhere.. here we have news channels showing adverts...
WoW! a license to watch television! Long Live the Indian Democracy!
Guess What! The government has been giving free televisions off!
Really? Well I guess first it's free, and then when you are all hooked and pacified, it will cost!
And to the non-norwegians here, you have it easy 
Our license is kind of similar to the UK license, except you have to pay regardless of which channels you watch. Even if all you have is a VCR which contains a tuner, you should pay as if you have a colour TV! (it's cheaper to have a black/white TV lol). You don't need a TV, but of course it would be kind of pointless with a VCR without a TV. Not that they care about that.
Even after they went with digital broadcasting, which requires an additional digital decoder, you must pay if you got a TV even if you don't have any digital decoder. The legal mumbo is that its not a license to watch TV, but rather a license to have a TV (even if borrowed). It is an additional tax that coincidentally also is collected by the NRK (Norwegian national broadcasting cooperation).
On the other hand, there are up-sides too like with the UK license. I guess it's also nice to watch without being interrupted by commercials every 15 minutes or so. But it's not like they are entirely without commercials anyway. Not that I've watched them for years, i don't have a TV anymore (or a VCR for that matter :P).
Still, I thought Norway was bad. Denmark is worse! They have a "media license" (if memory serves, but same same thing at least) on the internet. I guess just in case you happened to surfe on the Danish broadcasting servers to watch something.. (They could't think to make it a paysite like most others?). How they managed that is beyond me.
For us uni students in the UK it can get strange:
Live BBC iplayer = not good
BBC iplayer = only good if the day after - i.e. midnight has passed (I dont find this a problem!
because we're technically in "houses of multiple occupance" the licensing people aren't actually allowed in :o
If it's like my place, I have many addresses for my room! - flat/house/room/appartment... so we get tons of letters...
We have to pay no matter which channels we watch, it funds the BBC, but its to 'keep' a TV. Sounds very much like the Norwegian system.
In Germany you also have to pay for a TV. Or a radio. Or any device being able to connect to the internet (mobile phones, PCs and the like). As soon as you have one of these you get ripped off (at least there's a maximum fee of 15 ? or so/month).
You don't have to use the devices nor do they have to prove you use it, as long as you have it in your household you pay for it.
The GEZ (the fee collecting central) also has some very nice inspectors which kinda spy on you and are even said to impersonate someone else just to get a quick peek into your home...
I heard it's qite difficult to unsubscribe if you for example sell all your media-receiving devices.
At least if you get public support (money) as a student you don't have to pay the license fees.
Well there's a very simple solution to this intended problem. As analog TV will vanish and you'll need a set top box anyway, just switch to encrypted 'state owned' TV/radio stations. If you want to watch, get a keycard. End of problem. No need for those pesky visitors anymore. But of course that is way too simple.
For the web content it may be more difficult, as you may not want them to know what type of programs you watch. And I'm pretty sure they'd create a profile if you get an account. Youtube does the same thing, but it's still a difference if you're profiled by just one company or a government agency. Just like this darn ELENA business. Total state control... how many days you were away from work due to illness, how much money you earned, union memberships... you name it. The little man must disclose everything, but dare ask a politician how much they earned in 'other jobs'... the outcry.
As analog TV will vanish and you'll need a set top box anyway, just switch to encrypted 'state owned' TV/radio stations.
Problem with that is that not all set top boxes contain a conditional access module (I know I designed some). So it's all free to air and so no way of controlling what channels you watch.
Well, state TV should be encrypted. Want to watch, get the proper gear. Crypto boxes don't have to be expensive, as long as they don't run with windows CE or something.
Personally I'd prefer the encryption method instead of having to constantly pay for TV programs I don't really watch and having to deal with the 'visitors'. Heck, they'd even make you pay if you lived in an RF tight faraday cage.
I'd also prefer if they'd quit transmitting soccer matches on state TV. Watching unmotivated and over-payed ball pushers unsuccessfully trying to get a round object into a goal using their feet... that's got to be among the most inefficient ways of doing that. Not having to pay the outrageous FIFA fees would probably cut the monthly fees in half.
What else... tennis, table tennis, ice skating, synchronized swimming, golf, horseback riding of all flavours... magnificent crap funded by state TV fees.
Oh, did I mention the 'European Song Contest' ?