I think it's pertinent that Virgin Media is a cable company first and foremost - it used to be NTL, renowned for its rubbish customer service.

Cable TV companies are used to being paid twice for their pipes - once by the TV channel to be carried on their service, and again by the subscriber to get access to them. I suppose they're just struggling to understand why they can't use the same business model here - it's the same wires, right? So why can't they charge in the same fashion?

Has anyone ever attempted to make the analytical engine? Were enough notes left for us even to know whether it would have worked?

@Antinous: You're actually using the search method there. In Firefox if you type something that isn't a URL into the address bar, it does a Google "I'm Feeling Lucky" search and sends you to the first link - so you're doing a search for boingboing each time!

I must admit, I do find this a bit funny - it is a castle, after all - but this guy's blatantly trying to find a way to get around a law that's there for the rest of us. He knew his land's in the greenbelt, designated as not-for-building-on so that the UK doesn't just become one big town.

Those who say he should've been allowed to build there - what if I wanted to build a 45-storey casino opposite your place? I'm being facetious, but that's the same argument used here.