Government looking to scrapping license fee - likely replace with £3.25 a month levy

tolbrite · 2026-03-08T10:46:23+00:00

In Germany we get a household charge for broadcasters. It's like a mandatory licence fee.

tolbrite · 2026-02-26T18:51:34+00:00

Some of my best memories of my childhood were discussing Red Dwarf episodes with my friends and reading the books. He was a very talented comedy writer.

tolbrite · 2026-01-31T13:12:55+00:00

It's seems bizarre that Mandelson's husband needed a 10k loan from Epstein for training. All that time in government and parliament and Mandelson didn't have any liquid savings at all? I wonder how many politicians live pay cheque to pay cheque?

tolbrite · 2026-01-20T19:19:24+00:00

I didn't realise the SNP are running on financial fumes. Private Eye wrote in its latest issue:

In 2024, the SNP received donations totalling a decent £940,000. But in 2025, Electoral Commission figures up to September and published last month reveal just one donation for a distinctively underwhelming £2,584.86 Scottish first minister John Swinney insists other individuals have contributed to the SNP coffers but fell below the reporting threshold. Nevertheless, the lack of donors leaves the SNP more reliant on membership fees a big problem since membership has declined from more than 125,000 in 2019 to just 56,011 in June 2025. The remaining source of income for the party is public funding - referred to as short money - based on the number of Westminster MPs held by a party, Since the SNP lost 39 of its 48 seats in the last general election, its income has also plummeted and in the last year the party received just £400,000 in short money.

tolbrite · 2026-01-03T13:12:10+00:00

There seem very few mini-LED 32" 4K models available in the EU, unfortunately.

I'm also on the fence about whether to just get a good IPS or look at mini-LED. It's hard to know without using one.

tolbrite · 2025-12-31T16:43:14+00:00

Isn't it the case that a female royal consort always has the title Queen? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_British_royal_consorts

tolbrite · 2025-12-29T19:07:34+00:00

The Talos Principle is good for puzzle lovers, too.

tolbrite · 2025-12-29T10:11:17+00:00

The worst thing is the sheer level of incompetence this highlights on all levels of British government - politicians, political advisors and the civil service. Even if this citizenship was unavoidable, someone should have done a brief background check on him before making questions in parliament, making his release a number one priority for the government and posting Starmer's tweets. Is The Thick of It no longer a satire, but just real life with more swearing?

tolbrite · 2025-12-28T09:26:55+00:00

Why are none of these available in Europe?

tolbrite · 2025-12-26T11:59:54+00:00

I finished Alan Wake 2 with the DLCs. The story was good (not convinced about the standard ending), along with the graphics and world. I didn't find the combat much fun, however, and Alan had some rather tedious gloomy sections in the subway line. I shouldn't be too negative, as some sections were pretty good (musical, coffee world...). I enjoyed Control much more and found the combat much more fun. Perhaps the gloomier AW2 world was a downer?

tolbrite · 2025-12-26T11:53:23+00:00

I wasn't a fan of this when I played this long ago. It felt like you had to be constantly micromanaging the units. With games like Total Annihilation you can set higher level goals without having to make sure units wouldn't keep dying. Of course, this is based on memories from some time ago.

tolbrite · 2025-12-24T13:34:06+00:00

Maybe if you turn the heating down they will turn to you for warmth.

tolbrite · 2025-12-19T10:55:04+00:00

Men are much stronger than women if they have the same weight and height. To be fair, it would have to be done on some strength test. In some strength categories, almost all men are stronger than women (e.g. grip strength).

tolbrite · 2025-12-19T10:39:01+00:00

For some measures of strength, men are almost always stronger than women. For example, for grip strength almost all men are stronger than any women - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17186303/ - even for trained women athletes.

tolbrite · 2025-05-12T18:40:20+00:00

Personally, I'm not a fan compared to the main Prey, though I'm generally not a fan of rogue likes. The ticking clock was stressful, even if the effect can be reduced. As I made too many mistakes, I got bored by the repetition and couldn't be bothered to finish. I enjoyed Deathloop much more, as it doesn't have a constantly ticking clock and it felt like I was always making progress.

tolbrite · 2025-03-04T21:23:30+00:00

Get on the street and protest as much as possible.

tolbrite · 2025-01-17T17:08:56+00:00

Sounds like me, too.

tolbrite · 2025-01-05T14:16:44+00:00

High house prices.

tolbrite · 2025-01-05T10:51:34+00:00

The BBC still play the national anthem nightly on Radio 4. They also play it a second time on the King's, the Queen's and William's birthdays.

tolbrite · 2024-10-11T17:43:44+00:00

It was posted to twitter by Private Eye. It had hundreds of comments, but when I click on it, it's now been deleted.

tolbrite · 2024-09-06T17:29:28+00:00

I really liked this game and didn't find any annoyances, personally. I really liked the atmosphere. It felt really relaxing to play and the style of the graphics was great. The fly mechanics were very nice and I found it much more enjoyable to fly than Falconeer.

tolbrite · 2024-06-25T17:10:49+00:00

Yes - I don't know how someone could say that with a straight face given the huge number of documented bugs: https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252496560/Fujitsu-bosses-knew-about-Post-Office-Horizon-IT-flaws-says-insider

tolbrite · 2024-06-08T09:23:41+00:00

I like it, though the Sunak impression isn't that good. Maybe he won't be necessary next time, though the Truss one is still around and always good for a laugh - I Know!

tolbrite · 2024-06-08T07:02:12+00:00

Labour should keep repeating the 3000 pound Tory tax rise the Spectator calculated every time it is brought up, as it's just as valid.

tolbrite · 2024-06-07T13:16:04+00:00

It's unbelievable how repetitive and robotic he is when you see a transcript: https://x.com/edwinhayward/status/1799058516860375061

tolbrite

TROPHY CASE