Early Risers.

[AndyB]

3 hours ago, grandadbob said:

 

 

* It's one of these but at the lower price they were offering last week.:  https://railsofsheffield.com/search?searchTerm=6110

 

 

Alongside that M7 I sold you?

What's your layout thread called?

"50 Shades of Green"?

[Compound2632]

14 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

The auto-censor is indeed both stupid and annoying and I despair at whoever designed it as well as whichever cockwomble approved its use.

 

It doesn't understand context. That would require a much more complex piece of AI software (certainly to deal with this site) which would probably become intelligent enough to wander off and do something more interesting such as auto-scanning 19th century railway photos to identify obscure PO wagons. 

 

4 hours ago, TheQ said:

I see the semi naked pregnant ladies are back, but at least this time they are not occupying the bottom half of the screen in a pop up..

 

Same goes for the advertising software. But pop up is the word! (Or two words, before anyone else gets there.)

Edited October 21, 2020 by Compound2632

[simontaylor484]

Morning all

 

Still getting sawmill ads, no scantily clad ladies pregnant or not.

Churchill was good at polite insults too i cant remember who it was with but i shall paraphrase.

 

Wsc Madam you are ugly

 

Lady sir you are drunk

 

Wsc yes madam and when i wake up i wont be drunk.

 

Or the legendary Margot fontaine Jean Harlow exchange when Harlow kept pronouncing the silent t.

 

JH  MargoT

 

MF the T is silent like the T in Harlot

 

 

I thank you

[The Stationmaster]

Afternoon all,

 

We have rain although contrary to the claims of those in Exeter it (fortunately) doesn't look at all yellow but it is definitely descending in quantity and at a steady pace.  the river might well reach a more 'interesting' level in the next day or three as it was almost up to its occasional highest level last Friday.

 

So no G word but an awful lot of C word on here yet again having to correct errant nonsense posted by somebody.  Why. oh why, can't people try to think things through before they post their bumbling burblings and even get very easily checked dates wrong let alone managing to totally confuse other stuff which does more to confirm their ignorance than display what they might think of as their 'professional' competence - while blaming it all on somebody else.  What RMweb really needs is to get shot of the idiopt profanity filter and introduce a proper dumbo filter which automatically rejects nonsense on a sort of 'three strikes and you're out' (for ever)  basis but that would need an awful lot of AI to make the system do it instead of humans intervening.

 

Incidentally one of my favourite ways of dealing with somebody face-to-face talking nonsense is to say (truthfully) that I know a bit of both French and German plus a few  words in Welsh, Flemish, Polish, and Arabic but regrettably my native tongue is English and I can't understand what on earth you are saying.

 

Mushrooms for lunch proper today although I will admit to just having had a small sllce of pizza to keep the management and the Good Doctor company.  No other news of great, or even lesser import so -

 

Have a good day one and all and stay safe (especially if the virus might have moved in next door)

[The Stationmaster]

2 minutes ago, simontaylor484 said:

Morning all

 

Still getting sawmill ads, no scantily clad ladies pregnant or not.

Churchill was good at polite insults too i cant remember who it was with but i shall paraphrase.

 

Wsc Madam you are ugly

 

Lady sir you are drunk

 

Wsc yes madam and when i wake up i wont be drunk.

 

 

Allegedly it was Bessie Braddock - who had accused Churchill of being drunk and his final riposte was 'And tomorrow I will be sober but you will still be ugly'.   Some sources claim it was a conversation between Nancy Astor and Churchill but the most common attribution is that Bessie Braddock started it off by telling Churchill, somewhere in the Parliament building, that he was drunk.

[Tony_S]

6 hours ago, polybear said:

 

The software isn't clever enough to pick up words contained in attachments though, as I discovered when posting the attachment featuring a dog driving a car a few days ago.  Though I'm not sure how many of you noticed that part of the photo....

I just assumed you meant the dog was from a village in Bavaria.

I think “profanity filters” appeared in the 1990s. Before that someone had to generally remove offensive material from posts. When I was working at an educational facility I was given the job of making sure nothing went out on the centre’s bulletin board that would upset anyone (usually senior staff in schools or local government). There were very few people who knew how to corrupt the message system so it was an easy task. I got the task after the person who was supposed to do it didn’t notice all messages were from Herpes instead of Hermes (the board name). Sometime in the 90s concern in the USA caused websites to require age related access. Over 14 was quite common. Restricted word and website lists became part of bulletin board software. They do require someone to add to or remove words. Most of the software is from the US hence the inclusion of words that are deemed offensive there but not this side of the Atlantic. Hence why we have to write human being instead of our Latin name. Of course at the sixth form college I taught at once the naughty word filter was installed my computing students took about 30 seconds to work out how to send each other words on the banned list. 

[simontaylor484]

My Grandfathers couldn't be more different in character at times yet similar at others. My dads dad never swore but he could swear in Arabic and italian a result of being in the desert with Monty.

 

My mums dad wartime service in the Navy and being an iron founder/Master engineer was a different kettle of fish used to come out wth some brilliant  combinations of profanities that used to reduce my mates to tears of laughter

[Gwiwer]

16 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

... and a Zennor sparrow ...

You were lucky it wasn't a St. Ives Seagull.  OK I know there is no such bird - it's the Herring Gulls you have to look out for.  The (slightly larger) Great Black Back Gulls are as placid as you like and won't even think about stealing your pasty / chips / ice-cream / brightly-coloured toddler's toys.  

 

On the other hand there is a semi-mythical beast known to us as the Fierce Red Zennor Cat.  A friend who at the time resided down the road in Kelynack had a trio of felines of which the ginger tabby was by far the largest and most aggressive.  It was he who gave rise to the term.  Our Paws was unable to make the trip to Cornwall last week but has perfect FRZ Cat markings .....  

14 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

pub lock-ins - i wonder if they were still going on in recent years (pre Covid)?

They were a regular feature of a couple of the local pubs here until they were obliged by Boris to close earlier this year.  Not on Event Nights at Twickers, though   

 

9 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Am I the only one to think that the censoring software used on RMWeb is a bit overzealous and a tad absurd?

No.  It's pants.  I understand there may be a need to filter out certain terms for various reasons not least protection of the Esteemed Mr. York and his employers from the Men In Suits.  But we enjoy perfectly legitimate place-names such as Penistone, Clitheroe and Scunthorpe as examples.  There are many more.  The village of Upper Dicker in East Sussex will probably not be permitted and I wonder about Cockwells on the A30 between Penzance and St. Erth or the erstwhile Three Cocks Junction station too.  Body parts when correctly named ought to be permitted even if the words can be abused.  Artificial Intelligence seldom recognises context; that still requires human interaction or some very very smart (and expensive) software indeed.

 

If there are blanks or redactions in that paragraph it only reinforces my argument.  Upper D1cker and Three C0cks Junction are perfectly legitimate place names and are used in context.  

 

Today has been and continues to be unreasonably wet.  Not just a Misty Moisty Morning (much though I enjoy that song and with thanks to Polly I'll be dusting off the CD later) but a full-on London Borough of Issingdown special.  Speaking of profanity filters I wonder if Piddledown-in-Cessantly will be acceptable

 

 

 

[Tony_S]

The net filter has been tweaked in the past. At one time you couldn’t write guinea pig or the Vietnamese currency,

 

It appears you still can’t enter the Vietnamese currency but it isn’t hashed or asterisked, it is just blanked. 
 

Edited October 21, 2020 by Tony_S

[simontaylor484]

An interesting situation has just occoured. 

We ordered a track suit for the youngest from Jd sports online. It arrived quickly even though it came via Herpes.

Id didnt fit and was sent back for refund they had recieved it a week ago but we havent got a refund yet. Just chased refund to be told they have recieved it but cant check it for 2 weeks because everything has to be quarantined for 2 weeks and we cant have refund until then.

 

To me it sounds like another convid rip off 

[simontaylor484]

3 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

The net filter has been tweaked in the past. At one time you couldn’t write guinea pig or the Vietnamese currency,

In other words you could have a ding but no . 

You couldn't have ####### at one time either but it would accept kiddie fiddler.

I tried to use it in a discussion on the forgotten tv show thread regarding shows that will  never be repeated (just to give context to why i would want to use such words on this forum)

[Tony_S]

I wonder if the software has two systems working , one which hashes words and one which blanks them. 
Ding Bell,

I just entered the rest of the rhyme and it was allowed. At one time it probably would have hashed the cats name. 
 

Edited October 21, 2020 by Tony_S

[Tony_S]

Seriously, I know some of the odd censor software can be annoying but there really are people who without it would just post offensive stuff even if they got banned and the post deleted quickly, just because they could. 

[Compound2632]

As in, Edward Lear: The with the Luminous Nose.

 

But now I'm just being childish, proving your point.

[Tony_S]

18 minutes ago, simontaylor484 said:

To me it sounds like another convid rip off 

I did see a news report about shops allowing people to try on items of clothing but if they didn’t buy them the items had to go into quarantine for a while. Some retailers have always been really slow about refunds even without Covid. 

[iL Dottore]

Interestingly, if the Vietnamese currency unit is written correctly, i.e. the đồng, it should't get censored.

Yep. It does post. Just goes to show how an a diacritical mark and a circumflex can make all the difference.

iD

Edited October 21, 2020 by iL Dottore
To prove a point

[Tony_S]

2 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

Interestingly, if the Vietnamese currency unit is written correctly, i.e. the đồng, it should't get censored

When Matthew went to Vietnam everyone really preferred US dollars anyway. He used to get protein of the day, rice and a beer for $2 most evenings. 

[simontaylor484]

Ah the almighty dollar

 

Omly ever used them in Dominican republic . 

They prefered them over the Dominican peso.

 

[tetsudofan]

Just had bit of a surprise. Earlier this year, before the Covid stuff got going, I pre-ordered a Zoukei Mura Japanese Shinkansen Bullet Six-Car Set from Hattons and, bearing in mind what's been going on in the big world since then, I thought it would never materialise but, he ho, I was wrong.

 

Have just received an email from Hattons advising that the order has been processed including the fitting of a dcc decoder. For this to happen think it is a sign, in some way, that life is starting to return to normal.

 

Having lived in Japan for many years and made many journeys on the original Bullet Trains I've always wanted an HO model (there were plenty of N gauge models available but nothing in HO apart from some high-end brass models) but it now looks that one is finally on its way to me.

 

Keith

[Gwiwer]

2 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

An interesting situation has just occoured. 

We ordered a track suit for the youngest from Jd sports online. It arrived quickly even though it came via Herpes.

Id didnt fit and was sent back for refund they had recieved it a week ago but we havent got a refund yet. Just chased refund to be told they have recieved it but cant check it for 2 weeks because everything has to be quarantined for 2 weeks and we cant have refund until then.

 

To me it sounds like another convid rip off 

 

1 hour ago, Tony_S said:

I did see a news report about shops allowing people to try on items of clothing but if they didn’t buy them the items had to go into quarantine for a while. Some retailers have always been really slow about refunds even without Covid. 

 

Safety and security at work.  Covid safety and staff, customer and financial security.  In many places it is OK to try on a garment before purchasing but it cannot be replaced on sale for two weeks due to quarantine.  I see nothing amiss with a retailer holding funds for the two weeks period if an item purchased online is then returned likewise.  It may not be ideal but the item technically remains yours as I see things (and therefore the funds are theirs) until the item is released from quarantine.  

[Ian Abel]

HUMP day you are allowed to say that without the dreadful "filter" abusing you

 

7.5 inches of snow yesterday, and in Minnesotan style, it was "just a bit annoying"  only problem we had was the Mrs whilst driving home from work had one of the windshield wipers break. Since I had intended to get an oil change soon anyway, I popped up the local garage and had the oil change and wipers replaced first thing, while you wait - job done.

 

The ground is still too warm for the snow to hang around long, already shrinking in depth early today, and with some warmer weather and rain forecast it'll disappear soon.

 

The filter is still rather primitive in reality, you can't type -> <- as it gets redacted but you can type the same word -> bollocks or bollocks  etc <- provided you use some form of font enhancement within the text  all other expletives are possible, but I refrain out of decency (and the potential issue of getting banned by Andy  )

 

Tonight we're having a social distanced choir meeting to record the choir singing a few items for the All Souls virtual/video service. Somehow the church administration are reluctantly allowing us to gather and be recorded, provided we adhere to some very strict distancing and other guidelines - we'll see how well it turns out!

 

-1 first thing, overcast and headed for +3 with some rain expected.

 

Carry on.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Ian Abel

[iL Dottore]

11 hours ago, chrisf said:

...I agree with Flavio about the profanity filter.  For me its most irritating appearance is when the unsuspecting poster enters the three letter Latin word meaning "with", as in Chorlton-***-Hardy.  Let it be banished at the next software upgrade.  Please!...

I would agree that the software needs to be revisited and perhaps "tweaked" if they don't want to (or can't) bin it.

 

In the interim I think that the umlaut could well be your friend, let me have a try: Chorlton-cüm-Hardy

 

(later)

 

Yes, that works. It's amazing how easily geeks (and the inquiring mind) can subvert the best designed software....

Edited October 21, 2020 by iL Dottore
to prove a point

[jamie92208]

6 hours ago, tetsudofan said:

Good morning from a rather damp southeast corner.

 

Foxes have been a real pain this year:

 

 

Not much chance of sticking it back together..... 

 

Rain seems to have stopped for a few minutes so off to load the car and head off to the Council Tip.

 

Keith

 

 

Sorry to see that Keith. Maybe you'll have to rebuild it in steel.

2 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

Ah the almighty dollar

 

Omly ever used them in Dominican republic . 

They prefered them over the Dominican peso.

 

And the same in other Latin American countries. El Salvador abolished their currency and noe use the almighty dollar. Nicaragua uses dollars and in Costa Rica you paid in dollars but got change in Colones.

 

Anyway we're back from The Prefecture. Very efficient  and they cealtvwith all 3 of us together rather than making Beth and I wait for an hour. Then a lovely meal on the harbourside in thecsunshine, a nice walk round and a nice journey each way.

 

Jamie

[jamie92208]

I did think that it was appropriste to be sitting in a former French nsval base on Trafalgar Day. There was a statue to a French Admiral that mentioned his many victories over Les Anglais but only managed to name 1 in 1810.

 

Jamie

[Compound2632]

10 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

I would agree that the software needs to be revisited and perhaps "tweaked" if they don't want to (or can't) bin it.

 

In the interim I think that the umlaut could well be your friend, let me have a try: Chorlton-cüm-Hardy

 

 

I doubt even the most refined Mancunian pronounces it Chorlton-cuem-Hardy. It's not an accent I'm too well attuned to but I imagine Chorlton-coom-Hardy might be closer?