Moving to England

[nightshade]

Well, I'll be moving to Liverpool next month for my higher education.
I personally have never traveled outside India before, so this is going to be the first time ever (and that too alone....for a good few years).
Hence, I wanted to ask about the basic/necessary things that I should know before leaving for England. I'll be joining the University of Liverpool and pursuing Bsc. in Computer Science, so I'd also like to know what you guys (British people) think of this particular university and city as well.

P.S.[Sometimes I start thinking that its simply not worth all the hassle & money for something like Under-graduation & I should just pursue B.E. Computer Science from a university here in my country....lol, such a complicated decision to make]

 

[Jawed]

 

[Davros]

When entering a pub (not a wine bar as they have a large percentage of female customers) you must shout the shout of male solidarity
"Man United Forever"

scouse alphabet

 

[Jawed]

 

[Simon F]

That was brilliant

 

[Mariner]

Try to avoid the particularly dodgy parts of Liverpool. There are quite a few.

However, a couple of my friends went to University there and had a great time so I'm sure you'll do the same. That was before quite a bit of the regeneration to the city had been carried out as well.

Good luck in understanding what some of the scallies are saying though - plenty of them have rather incomprehensible accents, to say the least!

 

[nightshade]

Thanks...good to hear about your friends.
Btw there's one something else that I'd like to know, I'm concerned about this TV license thingy in England..can someone tell me anything about it ? The thing is I'll be carrying my PS3 along with me and will buy a new 360 S and PC there, so will I require to have a license if I get an HDTV/computer monitor to hook up the consoles & PC ?


@ videos...funny, though had a fairly hard time understanding the dialect during a lot of parts in the ones from The Scousers lol

 

[Jawed]

Btw there's one something else that I'd like to know, I'm concerned about this TV license thingy in England..can someone tell me anything about it ? The thing is I'll be carrying my PS3 along with me and will buy a new 360 S and PC there, so will I require to have a license if I get an HDTV/computer monitor to hook up the consoles & PC ?

If you don't connect any of your equipment to an aerial or to a cable television connection, you don't need a licence.

http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/

When you find somewhere to live, if you end up sharing with other people, you'll probably find there's someone who'll want to have TV. Then you have to agree amongst yourselves how you'll share payment. If there's no shared room in the house where anyone can watch TV then only the person/people with TV in their room(s) should be paying.

Sadly, if your address has no licence, the TV Licensing people will send multiple letters to your address demanding that you pay. They're notorious for their stubborness. They have a habit of visiting, randomly, to check if you have a TV set connected.

You don't have to let them in if they visit randomly. You don't have to answer the door. Nor do you have to speak with them (they would need to get a court order to enter your premises on suspicion of TV use):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_licensing_in_the_United_Kingdom

So if you have no intention of watching or recording any TV that is being broadcast (or transmitted through a cable TV system), you can stick your head in the sand quite safely :smile:

@ Videos funny, though had a fairly hard time understanding the dialect during some of the parts lol

The irony being that there is good telly here in the UK - just have to be careful about picking and choosing as there's plenty of shite to drown in.

I don't have TV or a licence but I watch plenty legally:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/tv/bbc_four?sort=dateavailable

(not sure what you'll see at that link, if you're not in the UK).

 

[nightshade]

Ok...so its all fine if I watch it from the Internet (or is it specifically BBC's iplayer) ?
I'll be living in the student Hall for the first year atleast.

Anyways I am not really a TV junkie, the only BBC show which I love watching is Top Gear

 

[Jawed]

Ok...so its all fine if I watch it from the Internet (or is it specifically BBC's iplayer) ?

Yes everything that isn't being broadcast live across the internet is free of licensing restrictions.

Technically, iPlayer allows stuff to be watched live, and watching that requires a licence. But little content on iPlayer is actually available live (sports, usually).

Any website with a live stream from a UK broadcaster also counts as a broadcast (e.g. news), but no-one's forcing you to watch live. Watching archived content is fine.

I'll be living in the student Hall for the first year atleast.

So you can safely ignore this as you won't be watching broadcasts and don't have to worry about a shared TV being unlicensed, that's someone else's problem.

Anyways I am not really a TV junkie, the only BBC show which I love watching is Top Gear

Plenty of that on iPlayer! It's the most popular programme on there.

 

[Mize]

You have to have a license to tune into RF broadcasts? Are you serious?
What kind of money are we talking for such a license?

NVM, just followed the link.
That's nuts.

 

[cjo]

You have to have a license to tune into RF broadcasts? Are you serious?
What kind of money are we talking for such a license?

NVM, just followed the link.
That's nuts.

It isn't for all RF broadcasts, only TV. And the fee mainly goes to the BBC to fund their programs / upkeep of the transmitters. The BBC do (on occasion) make some of the best, most widely broadcast material in the world. £10/month or so for access to ad-free TV is pretty good going (compared to, say, £15/month for sky player, which doesn't even have all of their programs and had adverts).

 

[Jawed]

some ads are good

 

[Davros]

if you buy a tv you do need a license, because its capable of receiving broadcasts, same with a vcr even if you don't have an aerial connected however if you buy a monitor your ok

scousers congregate outside nightshade's flat to steal his xbox


you will also need a scouse keyboard

 

[cjo]

if you buy a tv you do need a license, because its capable of receiving broadcasts, same with a vcr even if you don't have an aerial connected however if you buy a monitor your ok

I'm not convinced that this is correct. The TV License website states that you only require a license to watch live broadcasts, not own a TV. However, you may have fun trying to prove that you aren't watching live tv if you have a tv in the house.

 

[London Geezer]

If you don't connect any of your equipment to an aerial or to a cable television connection, you don't need a licence.

http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/

WHAT. I've been paying my license for a decade, even though i watch 0 TV on my TV.


EDIT:

if you buy a tv you do need a license, because its capable of receiving broadcasts, same with a vcr even if you don't have an aerial connected however if you buy a monitor your ok

oh ok then.

 

[London Geezer]

It isn't for all RF broadcasts, only TV. And the fee mainly goes to the BBC to fund their programs / upkeep of the transmitters. The BBC do (on occasion) make some of the best, most widely broadcast material in the world. £10/month or so for access to ad-free TV is pretty good going (compared to, say, £15/month for sky player, which doesn't even have all of their programs and had adverts).

Ad-free?? If only that were the case! They have just as many commercial breaks as everyone else. Ok maybe not as many as ITV or other channels, but the BBC is most definitely not ad-free.

 

[Jawed]

Wikipedia page says

"The BBC have stated that a licence is not needed simply because a television receiver is owned."

http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/foi/clas...i20080234_tv_licence_requirement_question.pdf

 

[Grall]

compared to, say, £15/month for sky player, which doesn't even have all of their programs and had adverts

Sky is AFAIK also owned by intercontinental greedy fat shitbag, freedom-and-democracy-hater Rupert Murdoch. You don't want to give him any more money, that's for sure.

 

[Davros]

I remember their faq used to say

"if I own a tv and video recorder do and only watch pre recorded films do I need a license"
"yes..."

It must of changed