Early Risers.

[Ian Abel]

Monday morning... hello all.

 

Weekend events were simple and enjoyable.

Friday - car "search": Car seen is exactly what we, well ME, the Mrs considers a car simply something to get from A to B, totally uninterested in what it looks like or what features it may have or be missing, so long as it's reliable and comfortable in her opinion!

They had scheduled the car to be serviced so other than drive it around the lot we will have to wait until probably tomorrow before we can take it for a 24-hour test drive.

 

Saturday: various errands, walking Whitney etc., then Trevor and Meagan came over for a small family dinner/celebration of my birthday from earlier in the week.
Since we've all, except Jemma had our shots, and she was tested negative 3 days earlier (they do regular testing at the Univ where she's instructing since flight instruction is in EXTREME close quarters!!) all deemed it OK for a family get-together. Went very well and I used our barbecue for the first time this year - actually able to GET TO IT as most of the snow has now gone

 

Sunday: Took Jemma to the airport, picked up a rental car for transport the next few days, and that's about "it".

 

Lovely weather all weekend here, hit 16C yesterday and sunny helping the snow disappear.

 

Today, working and running the Mrs to/from her physiotherapy. She's not inclined to figure out how to drive the rental car so I'll be the taxi driver until we finally get a permanent replacement that she then HAS to learn the features of  

 

Zero first thing, sunny and rapidly heading for 12 for the high.

 

Tally ho.

[Gwiwer]

1 minute ago, polybear said:

Would a slice of LDC be suitable substitute?

Depends upon whether it is a slice of the Local District Convenor of our trade union or of Bear's Lemon Drizzle Cake.   

[The Stationmaster]

3 hours ago, jonny777 said:

 

That is a nice try, but you will still be able to watch it after those two programmes by switching over; unless, like me, you have an interest in cooking and wish to see the second week of contestants in Masterchef. 

There are also a variety of attractions on other channels to claim my attention = apart from a book or three I happen to have handy - so I definitely won't be wasting my time watching that pair of whingers.

 

1 hour ago, PhilJ W said:

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. I will not be watching the Meg and Harry show tonight, I don't like whining noises. Some of us still hold doubts as to whether he (H) is a royal or came from the other side of the blanket. Perhaps their sprog not getting any titles is telling us something.

Thanks for that Bear, it will be handy as I am using a will service rather than a solicitor.

 

As far as any title is concerned that is 100% down to the monarch to decide as she would have to issue Letters Patent in order to contravene Letters Patent e established by King George V in 1917 that no title could be handed to great grand children of the monarch or even to grand children if  their parent is not in the direct male line of succession to the throne.   Thus Letters Patent were issued by King George VI in 1948 to enable children of Princess Elisabeth to be titled Prince or Princess.  Similarly Letters Patent were issued in by the Queen in respect of  Prince William's children entitling them to be Prince or Princess as appropriate because he is in the direct line of succession and  his first born would similarly be in the direct line of succession.

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, simontaylor484 said:

Looks more like Ian Wright in drag to me

I wish there was a “this comment is not funny” button. I thought perhaps ERs was a kinder place than one comparing a 67 year old woman to a retired footballer. 

[jonny777]

1 hour ago, J. S. Bach said:

8", 5¼" or 3½" floppies?

 

An 8" floppy? Isn't that just bragging? 

 

[Tony_S]

37 minutes ago, jonny777 said:

 

An 8" floppy? Isn't that just bragging? 

 

Hopefully BoD will be able to confirm but 8” floppies were available for some of the first school microcomputers from Research Machines. The slightly later BBC micro used 5.25”  assuming you had managed to avoid using audio cassettes for program storage. 

[Ozexpatriate]

1 minute ago, Tony_S said:

8” floppies were available for some of the first school microcomputers from Research Machines

8" floppy disks / discs (invented by IBM in the 1960s) were the standard size for many years. I was still using them in the 1980s with DEC equipment. The purchase of a "Winchester" hard drive in one of the university labs (probably around 1983 or 1984) was a transformative experience. 

[Danemouth]

9 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

8" floppy disks / discs (invented by IBM in the 1960s) were the standard size for many years. I was still using them in the 1980s with DEC equipment. The purchase of a "Winchester" hard drive in one of the university labs (probably around 1983 or 1984) was a transformative experience. 

 

ICL also used them on their Front End processors for data comms on the 2900 series mainframes.

 

Dave

[Ozexpatriate]

8 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

The ... BBC micro used 5.25”  assuming you had managed to avoid using audio cassettes for program storage. 

There is quite the array of magnetic tape storage for computers.

 

10½" reel magnetic tape was the standard for many commercial offline-storage applications well into the late 1980s. It persists in the semiconductor design business in the term "tape-out" where the design data was stored on a reel tape and hand-carried to the photomask shop for the first step in the manufacturing process.

 

¼" cartridge tape was common well into the 1990s for offline storage from professional workstation computing. While larger, these had a similar form factor to the compact audio cassette, with the exception of a sturdy aluminum base plate.

[br2975]

11 hours ago, BoD said:

I recorded the two Dave Allen compilation programs on Saturday night.

I’m sure they will be much more interesting and entertaining.

I saw Dave Allen live, at the Cardiff, New Theatre, 1978.

.

He never 'told' a single 'joke' - but, I can safely say he was the best comedian I ever saw live.....my sides did ache.

[simontaylor484]

Sorry if my sense of humour has caused offence

 

We had a Winchester hard drive at School well into the 90s

 

When I worked in transport we used to collect magnetic tapes for secure destruction from various locations to take to Sheffield to be disposed of this was 2009/2010. I don't know what form these tapes took wether they were reel to reel or something more modern

[J. S. Bach]

37 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

8" floppy disks / discs (invented by IBM in the 1960s) were the standard size for many years. I was still using them in the 1980s with DEC equipment. The purchase of a "Winchester" hard drive in one of the university labs (probably around 1983 or 1984) was a transformative experience. 

 I have a new, never-used 8" floppy drive and controller, it is just about as large as a present day laptop.

 

26 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

 ...snip... ¼" cartridge tape was common well into the 1990s for offline storage from professional workstation computing. While larger, these had a similar form factor to the compact audio cassette, with the exception of a sturdy aluminum base plate.

I have many tapes and a drive for them very similar to your description except that the tape is about 3/8" and the cart is approximately the dimensions of a Sony Beta video cassette.

[tetsudofan]

Its interesting reading reports of of daffodils and other spring flowers are now making an appearance up north whereas down here in the far south east corner there is one daffodil that always makes an appearance before Christmas:

 

 

It's the only one in the garden that appears before Christmas but it does it every  year.  Just before the recent arrival from the Beast from the East the lonely daffodil (in the distance in the following pic) was still flowering but certainly on its way out just as the first snowdrops were appearing:

 

 

Within the last couple of weeks the daffodils have appeared with a vengeance and are now taking over parts of the garden as can be seen in the next couple of pics:

 

 

 

In other parts of the garden tulips and hyacinths are starting to make an appearance but think it will be a few weeks before the azaleas will start flowering.

 

Just noticed in the last picture you can just see the snowdrops right at the end of the garden but the first daffodil seems to have disappeared.

 

Keith

 

 

[Erichill16]

Evening All,

Some jobs were done, household and business but the time taken was disproportionate to what was achieved but at least progress was made. Went for a short walk before tea and then fell asleep. Just woken up so making my daily report as I may as well call it a day.

Goodnight,

Robert

[polybear]

1 hour ago, Ozexpatriate said:

There is quite the array of magnetic tape storage for computers.

 

10½" reel magnetic tape was the standard for many commercial offline-storage applications well into the late 1980s. It persists in the semiconductor design business in the term "tape-out" where the design data was stored on a reel tape and hand-carried to the photomask shop for the first step in the manufacturing process.

 

¼" cartridge tape was common well into the 1990s for offline storage from professional workstation computing. While larger, these had a similar form factor to the compact audio cassette, with the exception of a sturdy aluminum base plate.

 

Bear used to use a Racal Storehorse Tape recorder (£60K in the early 90's, from memory) and a couple of Enertec Airborne Tape Recorders (£100k each, in the mid 1980's).  All used Ampex 1" wide mag tapes (16" reels?) and Bear used to run them at 120 inches per second, so munched thru' tape in 30 minutes flat.  A box of tapes was a grand in the mid 90's, with five tapes in a box.  The Racal went back to HMG (and will probably end up as scrap) and Bear scrapped 200K's worth of Enertec's in the 2019 (I did try to rescue the very nice motors from within first, but they were buried so deep it wasn't worth the aggro.  The tapes sat in the cupboard for years, eventually being degaussed (bulk erased) and then dumped; I lost count of the cost of that lot).

 

Incidentally, the mess a tape recorder going at full chat can make when the tape gets knotted up provides hours of fun sorting it out.....

One of the Enertecs needed a new pair of Record/Replay Heads in the mid 90's.  Bye-bye 50K - Project Manager not happy; Bear did well to conceal his glee at seeing him squirm.....  He wasn't known as "the oxygen thief" for nothing; he used to spend the morning doing the crossword....

[Mike Bellamy]

6 hours ago, polybear said:

 

1. Decide when to dump it, but don't.

2. Wait 15   days   years then, if you haven't needed it, it will be safe to dump it.

 

. . . .  a system whereby the player can decide where they would like their money to go, for example (and I'm making these up as I go along):

Option 1:  NHS

Option 2:  Cancer Research

 

 

I think you made a mistake in the proposed plan for deciding what to keep so I have corrected the statement above - although I must admit that I'm in a similar situation as I tried to squeeze the contents of a double garage into a single after we moved - three years later I can at least see a bit of the floor now.

 

Regarding Charities, my Dad always gave to the Salvation Army - when he was born in 1927, he suffered from Pyloric Stenosis which is a narrowing or blockage from the stomach to the intestine and in those days often resulted in the death of the baby. For some reason the doctors thought he was worth saving so Dad and my Grandmother were packed off from rural Lincolnshire to St Thomas's Hospital in London for a pioneering and life saving operation. As she was needed to feed her son, my Grandmother was looked after by the Salvation Army at one of their hostels. Dad made a full recovery and lived a full and healthy life for another 92 years!

.

[Mike Bellamy]

21 minutes ago, polybear said:

Incidentally, the mess a tape recorder going at full chat can make when the tape gets knotted up provides hours of fun sorting it out.....

 

Sorry Poly, I seem to be replying again to one of your quotes . . . . . . . 

 

I left School in 1972 and joined the Bank of the Black Horse - within a few months I was sent on a five week training course at the Bank's Training Centre at Hindhead in Surrey. One day we went by train up to London where the Bank's Computer Centre was above Cannon Street Station. At the age of 18, from a small town in rural Lincolnshire, I had no idea what a computer was and as we were only there for about half a day, and half of that time was a nice lunch, we all went away again none the wiser about what part did what.

 

However about the only thing I do remember was being in a room where thousands of cheques were whizzing around through machines that read the magnetic encoding along the bottom - the amount was added when the cheque was paid in and then Securicor (as it was then) collected the Head Office bag each evening for overnight delivery to the Clearing Centre. Suddenly lights flashed and alarms sounded and it all came to a stop - a guy in a white coat came over with a small brush and cleared a load of dust out of one of the machines. Apparently that had been caused by a cheque going through with a staple or paper clip attached and as they travelled so fast it had ripped to shreds about another 20 cheques behind it before it stopped. We then knew why all work was filmed as it went though as they had to try and work out which cheques had been destroyed so that they could submit manual claims for reimbursement. We all had to promise that when we became cashiers we would always remove all staples and paper clips from anything paid in.

.

 

[laurenceb]

Night awl

[monkeysarefun]

51 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

 

Incidentally, the mess a tape recorder going at full chat can make when the tape gets knotted up provides hours of fun sorting it out.....

 

 

 

Music recording progress  can be charted via the recording mediums people chuck out of their cars when they fail . Once upon a time when walking along a roadside  you'd often come upon a  cassette tape with an attached  tangled mess of tape that had obviously got caught in someone's car cassette player  and been thrown out  the window in disgust. 

 

Then in the '90's it was CDR,s  usually with the album or band name misspelled  in thick black texta.  It had probably started doing that annoying  skipping thing that CD's did in cars, and was frisbeed out the window - which can be  very satisfying.

 

Currently it seems to be  ear buds and USB leads... 

Edited March 8, 2021 by monkeysarefun

[PeterBB]

4 hours ago, jonny777 said:

 

An 8" floppy? Isn't that just bragging? 

 

Thanks for the reminder ... forgotten about but now located and discarded.

 

I think the 'show' is on at the moment but ER is better by far.

[sixoh8sixoh]

Evening all from the wilds beyond the Wall. 
 

The OH is busy “upcycling” a table. The legs have already had 3 different shades of green on them, so hopefully this will be the shade that meets with approval. 
 

Had a pretty hectic day at work, followed by a drive over to Glasgow and back to drop Jamie back at her mum’s. 
 

About ready to collapse in a little heap now, then start all over again tomorrow. Working 3 days this week, then off till next Wednesday but during my “long weekend” (ha ha) I’m moving my mum up to Edinburgh. 
 

Not planning on watching the interview. I’ve nothing against either of them, but it doesn’t particularly float my boat. I watch very little tv as it is!

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. When I went into Tess Coes today there was the smell of bread pudding wafting through the store. Only thing was it had just been removed from the ovens and it would have been a few hours before it went on sale. Just as well as it would play havoc with my blood glucose which I have managed to keep out of T2 territory so far. Now back to Farcebook.

[Coombe Barton]

... “All rot, m’boy” ...

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2021/03/08/research-and-discovery/

 

 

[Winslow Boy]

2 hours ago, tetsudofan said:

Its interesting reading reports of of daffodils and other spring flowers are now making an appearance up north whereas down here in the far south east corner there is one daffodil that always makes an appearance before Christmas:

 

 

It's the only one in the garden that appears before Christmas but it does it every  year.  Just before the recent arrival from the Beast from the East the lonely daffodil (in the distance in the following pic) was still flowering but certainly on its way out just as the first snowdrops were appearing:

 

 

Within the last couple of weeks the daffodils have appeared with a vengeance and are now taking over parts of the garden as can be seen in the next couple of pics:

 

 

 

In other parts of the garden tulips and hyacinths are starting to make an appearance but think it will be a few weeks before the azaleas will start flowering.

 

Just noticed in the last picture you can just see the snowdrops right at the end of the garden but the first daffodil seems to have disappeared.

 

Keith

 

 

If you get an opportunity go to the isles of Scilly in the spring and you'll be blown away by the narcissus in flower. The colour is unbelievable.

[tigerburnie]

G'night all