Down the Bog

One of the things I miss about the UK since moving here is the large selection of magazines and newspapers. They have them here but I don’t find the selection as comprehensive or as enjoyable to read. In particular I’m thinking of computer magazines. I’ve been very disappointed with what I’ve bought here and although it’s better than nothing they aren’t up to the standard of the mags that I used to buy back home. (I still call the UK home I’m afraid.)

My two favoured magazines were PC Format and PC Zone which use to entertain me and kept me informed of the stuff I felt that I needed to know. I’d buy them most months and I had a subscription for PC Zone for quite a while. Since I moved to Canada I’ve had various friends and family pick up random copies for me when they’ve been visiting from the UK and I’ve tried to make the best of that.
I think that the bookstore “Chapters” in Montreal used to have imported copies of PC Format but they were around $22 (canadian) to buy and that was just too expensive. I’ve occasionally considered an international subscription and so far not made the decision to go with it although after I finish this blog entry I think I’ll take another look.

In the absence of having the magazines I’ve resorted to frequent visits to their websites and that’s satisfied me a little although I find that the PC Format website not to be that great. It does have a good forum though and an Ask Luis section (taken from the magazine) which is always worth a visit for Luis’s caustic wit although it doesn’t seem to be updated all that much anymore.

The PC Zone website does a much better job and in general is more entertaining.

For my fix of daily UK newspapers I go to the Daily Mail site along with the Daily Telegraph. The Mail doesn’t have the best reputation because of it’s perceived “scaremongering” stories but I still find it a good light read and I visit the site daily. I’ll often cross reference stories there with the Telegraph to get a different slant on things.

Both of these newspapers offer a daily electronic edition of their newspaper on a paid subscription basis which means that the subscriber gets to see the newspaper in it’s actual format on their computer screen just as if they are reading the paper but I find that the website’s satisfy my needs.

But I really wish that my two favourite magazines offered a full electronic version of their monthly publication that I could download because I really would be tempted to subscribe to that. The only trouble with that as a plan is not being able to avail myself of a quick read while in the washroom.

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