Early Risers.

[BoD]

1 minute ago, JohnDMJ said:

 

I guess if we don't subscribe to RMWeb Gold then we're stuck with the ads to finance the site and its operation.

 

I hadn't thought of that as an explanation as to why I'm not seeing the ads.  Has it been specifically stated that that is the case?

[JohnDMJ]

2 minutes ago, BoD said:

 

I hadn't thought of that as an explanation as to why I'm not seeing the ads.  Has it been specifically stated that that is the case?

 

The site, its server(s) and the admins all cost money; it has to be raised one way or the other!

[Gwiwer]

9 minutes ago, BoD said:

 

I hadn't thought of that as an explanation as to why I'm not seeing the ads.  Has it been specifically stated that that is the case?

It is, I believe one of the benefits of Gold membership that one only sees railway-modelling adverts, or possibly none at all.  

As John says the site - which is large and very busy - costs a decent amount of money to run and the Esteemed Mr. York wishes to be paid for his efforts as well.  

I have no problem with seeing adverts on the basis that I choose not to take out Gold membership.  I might even find one of them useful one day, but not so far.  

 

SWMBO has retired to bed earlier than normal tonight on the very sensible grounds that she feels tired.  A wise man follows a good woman and I must therefore tread in her footsteps.  G'night all.  

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. I am not a 'Gold' member but I do not see many if any ads, just a blank space to the right. Like many I ignore the ads anyway. When I left the club this evening there appeared to be a dusting of snow, it doesn't appear to be settling though. Final muggatee of the day to be drunk, be back later.

[Tony_S]

Aditi has just arrived back from Leigh on Sea. No snow spotted but she said the car reported a temperature of 3C. 
 

[AndrewC]

3 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

Evening.

 

I get an empty white box on the right of my laptop screen - irritating.

 

Actually I have never gelled with the software since it changed last year, usually you get used to these things but not this time, I use less of its functions than previously, and visit less threads as I find it very frustrating.  The activity stuff boils my...well you can guess, its a bit Andrew C.

Oh yea. I share your boiled pis5 feeling. Nice to know I have a reputation. The more they fork with the site the less useful it becomes. 

 

[tigerburnie]

G'night all

[BSW01]

The iPad seems to be the same as my phone, an advert below the first post of the page and one at the bottom. However, at the moment there are huuuuuuuge blank spaces where the adverts usually are. 

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

We managed to get to The Christie in plenty of time, but we did end up parking on the top floor of the car park it was that busy! We were seen pretty much on time and were in and out in just over an hour. The good news is that my PSA count hasn’t risen as much as we were expecting, going from 7.46 in November to 8.69 today. Both Sheila and I were half expecting it to be somewhere between 10 and 11 going from the amount it had gone up the last couple of times. Needless to say we are both delighted, but still cautious, as it’s only a snap shot of what’s going on! So, it was a case of a pat on the back and told to come back in another 3 months. So on my way out, I booked my next blood test and consultation for the 18 and 27 of May respectively. 

 

After that we headed for home and like yesterday, we were back in time for a mid-morning brew. After dinner I sat and drew up a couple more circuit diagrams, but these were derivatives of the main relay board, in the form of a board with just 1 relay on and another with only 2 relays on. These will only be built if I need them, as I’ve not really finalised the scenic side of the layout fully. 

 

Goodnight all  

[The Stationmaster]

Evening all,

 

Interesting to find that I am not the only member of ERs who met Milvina Dean although by the time I met her she was a lot older by the sound of things and her brother had already died.

 

The cold hangeth about, yesterday I bought some stuff from the Tesco pharmacy - on the advice of the pharamacist - to deal with my sore/catarrh inhabited throat.  Incredible stuff and never again.   I took one 10mil dose in the afternoon and nearly fell over about 10 minutes later, completely poleaxed.  Very sensibly a note on the bottle advised those taking it not to drive - first time I've ever found it to be valid advice as I was left finding it none too easy to stay awake.

 

Little else of note to report and it looks as if the water level in our stretch of the Thames has dropped a little.

[southern42]

Ah! dinghy sailing memories...mirror, fireball, GP14, topper...

We had a scorpion...jump a season or two and we entered an inter-club class race on home waters...

One by one more seasoned (better) sailors dropped out but we were determined to maintain home club presence, whatever our position.  Two of us home club scorpions were left.  Boat one came a cropper taking a chance with the spinnaker - we dropped ours early but nearly came a cropper ourselves...someone shouted from the shore to keep going...and we crossed the line (some way down the pack) to the delight of fellow club sailors.  As novices, it taught us a big lesson...and applicable to building/exhibiting a model railway (among other things) - just keep going...

 

Thanks for the memories...

and goodnight.

 

Polly

Edited February 27, 2020 by southern42

[Ozexpatriate]

RE: RMweb Gold and no external advertising (AdChoices by Google)

2 hours ago, BoD said:

Has it been specifically stated that that is the case?

Yes. I think it is fair.

Edited February 27, 2020 by Ozexpatriate

[AndyID]

Ah yes, Mardi Gras! That would explain why some people on the ski hill were sporting strings of those cheap beads that are customarily dispensed to the revelers in New Orleans from those on the balconies above.

 

There is a tradition among skiers in the US that while ascending on a chair-lift the beads are removed and tossed so that they adorn an adjacent tree. That attracts further enbeading and ultimately it becomes a "bead tree". From my experience practically every ski mountain in the US has one of these trees.

 

But it's not just strings of beads. There's a similar tradition that requires skiers to whip off their brassier and festoon the bead tree with it. Thereafter it becomes known as the "bra tree".

[Ozexpatriate]

2 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

As John says the site - which is large and very busy - costs a decent amount of money to run and the Esteemed Mr. York wishes to be paid for his efforts as well.  

I have no problem with seeing adverts on the basis that I choose not to take out Gold membership.

I concur. I was quite willing to accept the horizontal banner advertisements as part of the cost of participation.

 

It does feel like the camel's nose under the tent however as with the most recent update the screen real estate dedicated to advertising (or newly blank to accommodate advertising near the top of a page) has increased by a considerable multiple.

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all

[AndyID]

Very pleasant here today. So pleasant in fact that I took the wee car for a bit of a spin -  just to exercise the oil seals and bearings, and prevent flats forming in the tires, you understand.

 

While I was gone Fed-Ex delivered some op-amps I had ordered. These ones are a bit unusual and (in theory) they should let me test a "current rather than voltage" controller idea.

 

It's all very odd. The controller only controls the current supplied to the track. The "locomotive" senses the current and uses it to determine what voltage to apply to the loco's motor.

 

The whole thing is probably nonsense but there are a few reasons why you might want to do something like that. There are probably a lot more reasons why you wouldn't want to bother, but what the heck!

 

[laurenceb]

Night awl

[AndyID]

1 hour ago, Ozexpatriate said:

I concur. I was quite willing to accept the horizontal banner advertisements as part of the cost of participation.

 

It does feel like the camel's nose under the tent however as with the most recent update the screen real estate dedicated to advertising (or newly blank to accommodate advertising near the top of a page) has increased by a considerable multiple.

 

I seem to be able to shrink my window from the right and not see anything different.

 

But it's inevitable that we will either have to pay to eliminate advertising or put up with advertising. There is no "free lunch".

[BR60103]

I'm not sure about the ads. I increased the type size and that may have blown the post width up to push the ads off. I do get an ad (magazine) at the bottom of the unread topics list.

 

Risking it awl, Jason Shron was in the newspaper today.

https://www.thestar.com/business/2020/02/24/almost-a-quarter-of-small-businesses-have-been-hurt-by-the-rail-blockades-including-one-that-ironically-sells-model-trains.html

 

If it's not readable, talking about his stock being stuck on a train out west, and his factories not reopening after Chinese New Year. 

 

When I read about pancakes yesterday  woke up SWMBO but she declined to make any at 11:45. She also declines to have them the rest of the year.

 

[J. S. Bach]

Well, good night from the Piedmont.

[Ozexpatriate]

2 hours ago, AndyID said:

I seem to be able to shrink my window from the right

That appears to have the same effect as what Ian suggested. It's a handy work around.

 

I shut everything down and restarted. The wide column on the right is now gone, replaced by a large banner after the first post on a thread page. This is superior to the wide column on the right.

Edited February 27, 2020 by Ozexpatriate

[chrisf]

Good morning one and all

 

I am in Stevenage today with Poorly Pal.  We will have stir fried prawns for lunch with a not particularly bold selection of vegetables.  The principal purpose of my visit is, of course, to do some m*d*ll*ng in the shed where the l*y**t lives.  After seeing the exquisite signals made by David Elwyn for his l*y**t last night I am feeling particularly clumsy this morning but this is nothing new and should pass.  This evening PP and I will enjoy a show by John Hunt at Stevenage Loco Society after some sort of repast at the local ‘Spoons.  I hope this time the staff remember to provide ketchup bottles with ketchup in them.  There is a first time for everything.

 

As I type this the meteorologist on the radio is talking about snow and the risk thereof.  When I was contemplating the bleakness of the crematorium grounds a week ago it did occur to me that there was none.  It usually snows on or near my birthday so like other things it will catch up with me sooner or later.  Although it looks very nice in its unspoiled form it is a ruddy nuisance when it is on the ground and does tend to impede mobility.  There was not much of it in Switzerland over the festive season, much to the relief of my friend Tom who had gone base over apex on some the previous year.  Mind you, he managed to do that in Aachen this year in perfectly dry conditions.

 

I am trying not to be alarmed about something I heard on the radio yesterday.  The Irish Minister of Health considers that a rugby match between Ireland and Italy should not take place because of the risk that visiting Italian fans will bring with them something infectious other than enthusiasm for the oval ball.  The game is now off.  I will be in Dublin in only four months’ time for Pride.  However far the virus named after a soft drink has spread by then it would be a very brave government that calls for such an event to be called off given that the outgoing Taoiseach has marched in the parade three times.  A lot can happen in four months.  Tell me I am fretting unnecessarily.

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris

[Robert]

Morning All,

 

I am back in the office this morning having had a trip to the UK over the past week and a half. 

 

It wasn't much of a holiday, but then it wasn't supposed to be.  I spent most of it tidying out Dad's stuff and helping my Mum with the jobs that she couldn't do on her own.  The weather was "interesting" as anyone in the UK will testify.  Fortunately, flooding isn't an issue where my Mum lives - but the wind certainly made jobs like re-roofing the shed interesting!

 

Have a good day everyone...

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl, Inner Temple Hare,  1011/631

A reasonable night sleep of around 6.5 hours in two pieces..

 

The company here has long since gone to wide screen Monitors, the space on the right is only about a 1/5 of the screen and this morning has just one advert on it. It appears to be advertising omelettes but has some sort of cages in the picture and it's right at the top so soon as I start reading down it disappears..

 

Not that I want an omelette anyway, I had the delayed pancakes last night, very nice too..

 

Oh an advert has appeared at the bottom advertising a RIB that will drive into the water..

 

The weather womble on TV last night said, "expect frost," 1 to 2 cm of snow and traffic disruption"... No frost.. No Snow .. and I got in here early the roads were quiet.. The local council has taken it into account though, even the first two way road I reached had grit on it, and the corners by the cremated Swan pub I had to slow a lot, because I was worried I'd slide off on the amount of grit on it .. it looked like a desert..

The water levels in Wroxham are high, I could see the day boat's boot top antifouling above the quay heading so not surprisingly there was water on the carpark and a small amount on the road.. That was about middle tide..

 

I managed to measure all the  resistors yesterday, but I have not finished the computer histories nor labelled them all up yet..

Once the above is done I'll start the less important major system.

 

Time to check the company spam, and head to the lab..