h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

should i be able to hear something? cos i can't

er... I'm trying to figgure this out... it used to work, I *swear*. Just a few hours ago, when I left, it worked for me. Now it doesn't. One of the reasons that it says "please ignore", I suppose

~Irving

Wow... it appears to work for me in Netscape, but not Internet Explorer... This is weird.

~Irving

Try it now, though be prepared to be annoyed as I haven't figgured out how to let people turn it on and off themselves

~Irving

Are you going for reverse psychology, with the heading "please ignore"? Because there was absolutely no way I could... sorry...

No, honestly I just didn't want people coming over here expecting something that would work, and getting something that didn't. Did the sound file work for you?

~Irving

It says it's, "Loading audio file..." But I don't believe it one little bit. This was in Netscape 4.7...
In IE five it works fine, however... it did get stuck for a second, but thats probably my computer being itself even more than usual.. but it sounds cool
BTW I use windoze, for my sins.

I have not yet been able to test it in Windows. As far as Netscape v. IE, it SHOULD still work, I'm using 4.7 and it works for me. Hmmmm.... maybe it has to do with windows as the file seems to show up in Quicktime on my computer...

~Irving

IE shows it with the quicktime style scroll bar, but it doesn't for some reason show that intensly irritating "upgrade to Quicktime Pro" thing that I mostly get with quicktime plugins... unless apple descided that I don't need to see them anymore.... *says she hopefully*

Hmmm...

~Irving

This morning it works in netscape too, I'd test in in IE but I don't think my mother would be best pleased with me running up the phonebill still more

That's right, phone bills are by the minute, even for local calls in the UK... Any idea why that is?

~Irving, who has established topic drift

I think that ours is billed by the second... with the condition that the minimum call price is 5p (last time I paid attention, there was $1.60 to £1.00 (ish)... I'm looking vaguely into second phonelines (so that I can internet in peace, this is a bad idea for our phonebill, however) and cable 'phone companies, with the added benefit that I may even be able to get my mum to subscribe to cable tv... unlikely, but worth a go, I think

Local daytime calls are too expensive.

Joanna

Only mobile phones and pay phones have to pay for local calls here. I'm sorry your phone bill is so steep! Now, if $1.60 = £1.00, how many p's in a £?

~Irving

100 we went decimal in the early '70s..... my mobile phone is 35p per min daytime, 5p evenings, 2p all weekend. But thats expensive because its prepay.... it would be cheaper if it was on a contract, but I'd then run the risk of getting into debt.... and spending my life on the phone...

Oh, alright. It all makes more sense now

~irving

And you don't have to pay local calls at all? Apparently British Telecom, probably the biggest telecommunications company over here, its what was left over of the nationalised state run company, are planning to give us free local calls sometime because of fighting the competition in the communications market

We might have to pay something just for the service of having a phone line hooked up to our house. A connection fee. But we don't pay by the call, or by the minute, or anything

There's a big deal going on over here because right now local phone calls are thought of as a "Natural Monopoly", meaning that one company can offer all the service in an area witout competition -- normally an illegal practice -- because it would be confusing to have phone lines from several different companies going into a neighborhood... messes of wires all over the place. Some people want to break up the monopoly, which would probably lower the connection fee, but would add the problems of the wires... and the Government does regulate Natural Monopolies by making sure that they aren't making us pay through the nose.

~Irving

There are various groups providing telephone services... other companies offer cable telephone connection, and cable tvs with it.. but I'm not sure how it all works..... I don't pay too much attention, mostly.

Neither do I, honestly...

~Irving