Early Risers.

[Winslow Boy]

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

A belated happy birthday to you, good sir!

As I am a bit sketchy on the various types of bass guitar produced by Fender, can you tell me if the model above is a Precision or a Jazz bass.

I have to confess that, and I don’t know why, a rosewood fretboard neck on a Fender Electric guitar or bass looks totally wrong to me (rosewood fretboards are definitely a Gibson feature), it has to be maple. Equally odd is my feeling that the only great electric guitars made by Fender are the Tele and the Strat; the others (Jaguar, Mustang....) all seem like something from a 1960s Sears catalogue, back when Sears was trying to break into the youth market.

Leo Fender definitely got it right when he came up with the Telecaster and Stratocaster and how can you improve on perfection?

Allegedly...

Although I’d be intrigued to learn what CB means by “ruthless in the bedroom” 

I didn’t know that you’re into “easy listening”

Monorails are so yesterday for the trendy, with-it supervillain. Captain Cynical has a Maglev for getting around his extensive underground lair (the Alpine Redoubt (tm) is but a small part of the sprawling CC empire).
 

As for the comment about Nuclear Weapons and “Space Lasers”, Captain Cynical finds such things to be totally passé. Viruses (or is that virii?) - both computer and biological - are the way ahead for the ambitious supervillain eager to hold the world to ransom (in fact Captain Cynical has two that are “ready to go”: the first [computer] will completely erase Farcebook after 48 hours unless neutralised by a key that only Captain Cynical has*; the second [biological] very nastily ensures that anti-vaxxers do come down with the diseases they refuse to be vaccinated against).

 

And on that happy note, I bid you all a happy hump day!

 

iD

* but with this virus, there may be a risk that the world’s governments might reply “yeah, whatever”

 

May have shot yourself in the foot with the second one as well Mein Capitaine.

[New Haven Neil]

Morning, 6c 'feels like' 1c according to app-o-weather inc.  Looks sunny, feels bloomin freezing.

 

A friend I haven't seen for a couple of years is coming around this morning, having just being allowed back on rock after retiring (again) from running one of those little things in Wales that we can't mention.  He's out of his self-isolation period now and tested OK, so is allowed out with no remand.  A lot of coffee to be drunk and rubbish to be talked about.  Oh and planning his garden, er, 'developments'.  

[AndrewC]

Good moaning all from the boring borough. 

 

A belated Happy trip round the sun day for Andrew P. 

 

I'm a big fan of online banking, apps, and things like Apple Pay. As Tony mentioned you can see exactly what you've spent, where, and when. At any given time I know the balance of my current, savings, mortgage, credit cards, and pension(s) to the penny. The Natwest app now has a spending synopsis. It uses AI (really machine learning) to identify the types of spending. That sure opened my eyes to the amount of takeaway we were purchasing every month. From a security standpoint, the only time I've had any fraud was when a card was cloned in a cashpoint. My only security recommendation is to never ever let a site store your card details. That is the weakest point. A co-worker of SWMBO had that happen to her when a site's security failed to be compliant and several thousand card numbers were stolen. Lucky for her the bank's fraud detection software spotted the attempt to buy jewellery in Dubai on her card. Unlike having a wallet nicked, she lost nothing apart from having to get the card replaced. 

To each their own though. I can understand the preference for cash, whereby once it is gone from your wallet, it's been spent. No chance of an over spend. 

 

Home wifi is a viper's nest of differing opinions. Personally, I've never been a fan of the power line adaptors. They work reasonably well if both ends are on the same ring but can be problematic if the signal has to pass through an RCD. I went with an Asus AI mesh system. This gives me coverage from the alley at the back to the bus stop across the street. At the moment these are using a 5ghz channel to communicate which drops the speed from the most remote point to about 1/4 of the main node. Plans are afoot to run cat6a between the nodes and into the office meaning I can get my personal and work laptops off wifi and onto a proper 1gbit backbone. 

 

Time for coffee and another waste of time meeting. Enjoy the day. 

[The Lurker]

Greetings all from Sidcup where it is grey and cloudy but dry. Like Tony we did not have a frost this morning, although Louise Lear was promising us more frosts on the BBC weather last night.

 

Not a lot to report here. Erichill's mention of Anti-Nowhere League reminds me of a fellow student who had an album of theirs. Two tracks stand out in my memory; their version of Streets of London that had lyrcis along the lines of "Let me drag you by the hair....I'll show you something that will make you really sick"; and another song that if I recall correctly ended with the lyrics "Oh, woman, f**k off".  I seem to recall they were from Tunbridge Wells.

 

 

[jonny777]

Cloudy here in North Somerset, and it's raining. Saints be praised. Almost 3mm so far which will have half filled the most convenient water butt. 

 

Last evening I allowed a software update on my laptop. I wish I hadn't now as my bookmarks have reverted to a list which was the regular this time last year. All the new ones I added have vanished. I may have a recent backup but not sure. I don't backup bookmarks that much. How can computers make mistakes and get away with it? 

 

 

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. A bit warmer this morning but a bit overcast. Forecast is for possible showers, the car needs a good clean. I don't do internet banking, I don't trust the internet and I don't have a mobile phone which seems to be a requirement. More worrying though is that vaccination passports will be in the form of an app on your mobile phone, no mention of those who don't have a mobile. The hay fever is starting up again this morning so tissues at the ready but breakfast first, be back later.

[Compound2632]

33 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

I don't do internet banking, [...] I don't have a mobile phone which seems to be a requirement. 

 

Not so, I have internet banking via my PC. As to security, for many years I have been sending through the post to all sorts of people pieces of paper with my bank details and signature written on them and receiving through the post pieces of paper not only details of my accounts but my balance and payee history too.

 

36 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

 More worrying though is that vaccination passports will be in the form of an app on your mobile phone, no mention of those who don't have a mobile. 

 

This will, I think, quite rapidly be found to be discriminatory and alternatives will have to be found. Alternatively, you would have to be provided with the equipment by the state. Otherwise you are being taxed by a private corporation, effectively. (Like the television licence.)

[jonny777]

49 minutes ago, jonny777 said:

Cloudy here in North Somerset, and it's raining. Saints be praised. Almost 3mm so far which will have half filled the most convenient water butt. 

 

Last evening I allowed a software update on my laptop. I wish I hadn't now as my bookmarks have reverted to a list which was the regular this time last year. All the new ones I added have vanished. I may have a recent backup but not sure. I don't backup bookmarks that much. How can computers make mistakes and get away with it? 

 

 

 

After an hour's worth of frustrated searching for a bookmark file more recent than 12 months old, I accidentally discovered the problem. On listing the current bookmarks, I discovered the software update (in its infinite wisdom) had pasted an older version above the most recent set, and was using them in that order. 

 

All the recent ones were still there when I scrolled further down the page. After deleting numerous lines at the top, my recent bookmarks were restored to their rightful place. Phew! Relief!

 

Why do the arrogance at Apple have to change everything which wasn't broke in the first place? I see my latest iPhone has noe ditched jpeg files for photos, and substituted something called .heic images. Apparently, to the Apple supremos, these are much better than jpegs, but I couldn't post any to RMWeb because it is not a supported file type. 

 

One step forward, three steps back - yet again. 

 

Ok, rant over.

[tigerburnie]

16 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

 

This will, I think, quite rapidly be found to be discriminatory and alternatives will have to be found. Alternatively, you would have to be provided with the equipment by the state. Otherwise you are being taxed by a private corporation, effectively. (Like the television licence.)

Didn't know you could discriminate against selfish stupidity.............................who knew.

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl, Inner Temple Hare,

7 hours sleep much interrupted by wake up and turn overs, but much better than yesterday..

 

Ben the unhappy Collie, was not enthusiastic about going out this morning.. why was he unhappy?... He's done his thumb in again, as usual running around like a lunatic on his long walk.. So his paw is now bandaged up, we'll inspect it again this afternoon to see if he needs to go to the vet...

 

I'm just re running part of the the overnight cross check, The One ohm is failing, but not the calibrator , it's the stand alone 1 ohm resistor. so I've just taken off all the connections cleaned them and reconnected them we'll see if that works..

 

The Norfolk Covid figures are looking good, just 7 in hospital now 1/100th of the figures at the start of this lockdown / vaccination programme.

 

I got an email last night saying my road tax had not been paid, please click on this link... The email address at the top of the page being "devo then a lot of numbers" gave a lot of clue this was not quite genuine...

 

As for Online banking, I've twice had attempted banking changes on cards I have.. Both according to the bank done online. Hence I've informed the bank, I don't want online banking and to block any attempts to do so..

 

Ha... duff lead on the 1 Ohm, borrowed a lead to get them going..

Meanwhile we've also lent them a calibrator instead of the Duff one they've had, they've ordered a new one but thanks to the Orange one there's a shortage of parts from China..

 A new calibrator how much?. I don't know but the old model, well used is around £50,000 secondhand..

 

This means the lent calibrator has to be calibrated..

 

Time to get on with it..

[Compound2632]

1 minute ago, tigerburnie said:

Didn't know you could discriminate against selfish stupidity.............................who knew.

 

Is non-possession of a mobile phone - of the smartphone variety able to read QR codes - an instance of selfish stupidity?

 

If so, count me in among the stupidly selfish!

[Joseph_Pestell]

 

1 minute ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Is non-possession of a mobile phone - of the smartphone variety able to read QR codes - an instance of selfish stupidity?

 

If so, count me in among the stupidly selfish!

I'm just stupidly stupid when it comes to mobile phones. Mine can read QR codes, or it would if I knew how to load the appropriate app.

One of the many downsides to divorce is no longer having a teenage nephew to deal with these things for me.

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

Another dull, but dry start to the day, the overnight rain has stopped and patio is dry, so it must have stopped a while ago but the ground still looks damp. Still, that should keep the dust down once I start filling the skip. Speaking of the skip, it’s due this morning between 10 and 12, so the car has been moved off the drive in readiness. In the meantime I’ll just potter about in the cellar until the door bell rings. 

 

Stay safe, stay sane, enjoy whatever you have planned for the day, back later. 

 

Brian

[PeterBB]

Had to skim through - pleased to see that Dave H's Dad has improved and will be moving out of hospital.

 

MCD's do have them on arriving home after a long trip to save cooking etc. - but of course for me only a specific menu item - no idea what the rest are like.

 

Builders etc. yes, things are on a delay.

 

Andrew C information - useful but mobile banking itself - no thanks - what's the point if you know where you are anyway?

 

Other things that came up have been forgotten. - apologies if I've missed something important.

 

[jamie92208]

Good moaning from a cloudy and slightly damp Charente. Not late out of bed but I had to go to The Danglies to book Beth's car in for it's first CT (MOT) and annual service.  When I got there I discovered  that the CT was due at the end of March.  The car has now been booked in for tomorrow  morning to have everything done. One drawback we have to be there at 09.00. No problem for me.  Beth is not enamoured with the idea of getting up at 07.00.  Anyway it is sorted.

 

Great news about Mr Hunt Senior.

 

Anyway the day now has to be seized. Firdt iff is a second muggacoffee. Then a Whats App chat to a friend near Holmfirth. This will be followed by lunch then an afternoon trainspotting.

 

Jamie

 

 

[Tony_S]

I assume people who don’t like mobile banking absolutely avoid PayPal too.

[Tony_S]

37 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

he car has now been booked in for tomorrow 

Aditi’s car normally has its annual service in May and MoT in October. I was wondering as it has had exceptionally little use this year if perhaps we could stretch the service until a date in September and combine it with the MoT. I do know about reasons why even with low mileages you shouldn’t miss a service but Aditi checked and last year it didn’t get a service until August due to garage closures for lockdown. So extending from August to September should be ok. 
Tony

 

[Tony_S]

I can recall what we have paid cash for this last year. Window cleaning, newspaper bill (until Christmas, now cancelled), chimney cowl installation, hanging baskets, car parking at hospital and finally dental charges. The dentist would have accepted a cheque though. 

[Joseph_Pestell]

11 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

Aditi’s car normally has its annual service in May and MoT in October. I was wondering as it has had exceptionally little use this year if perhaps we could stretch the service until a date in September and combine it with the MoT. I do know about reasons why even with low mileages you shouldn’t miss a service but Aditi checked and last year it didn’t get a service until August due to garage closures for lockdown. So extending from August to September should be ok. 
Tony

 

Is it still under guarantee? If it is, missing a service date could invalidate the guarantee.

 

Otherwise, it should be no problem so long as you regularly check all the critical fluids levels.

[petethemole]

1 hour ago, tigerburnie said:

Didn't know you could discriminate against selfish stupidity.............................who knew.

In what way is not having a smartphone selfish stupidity?  I freely admit to being both at times, but I neither want nor need one. 

[Tony_S]

14 minutes ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

Is it still under guarantee? If it is, missing a service date could invalidate the guarantee.

 

Otherwise, it should be no problem so long as you regularly check all the critical fluids levels.

It isn’t under any kind of warranty. I run it regularly to prevent aircon fluid loss. Compared to older cars we had the Fiesta is a very neat little car and doesn’t leak and drip at all (but I still check).The Land Rover now seems to have an hibernation or sleep mode but it will get woken up today. The engine needs to be run  and the map software needs updating (requires engine to be on) so I can combine the two. I suppose I could go for a short drive now without having to show my journey is necessary. The 32Gb of map data took a couple of hours to download to a USB stick last night. Fortunately it doesn’t take that long (about 15 minutes) to load from the stick into the car sat nav.

[PupCam]

1 hour ago, jonny777 said:

Apparently, to the Apple supremos, these are much better than jpegs,

I too have been frustrated about this and, when searching for a free converter (I don't like to waste money!) it appeared that this new format "is the way the industry" (not just Apple) will be going and if so, sobeit.  

 

BUT I think Apple and their buddies in industry should also  include the option and/or utilities to enable the user to use what became and has been the standard format for many years.  

 

I find myself Emailing the images from my phone to myself because the Email App converts them to jpgs.   It's OK if you just have a few, but a right PITA if you've got many photographs.

 

[TheSignalEngineer]

Was going to report last night but the footie on TV sent me to sleep.

 

Had our first trip to the sea since last September with a ride round the Sefton Circular cycle route. A long section of it follows the CLC Southport line which was closed in 1952. Hard work coming back along the beach from Crosby as there was a brisk NE wind blowing and the temperature felt like sub-zero. Considerably less lorry traffic on the M60/M62 since our last visit pre- Covid/Brexit times. 

Avoided all of th

e showers that were about but was raining from Sale on the way back so kit cleaning and stowing had to be done this morning. Although it was nice and sunny the wind chill was about -2c.

 

3 hours ago, AndrewC said:

Home wifi is a viper's nest of differing opinions.

I got so fed up with mine that I put a hard-wired network switch direct from the main hub located where it could be connected to all entertainment gizmos plus a spare connection for a laptop. That also seemed to improve the performance of remining items which rely on the wifi.

 

1 hour ago, TheQ said:

I got an email last night saying my road tax had not been paid, please click on this link...

Had several of those lately, usually originating from .be addresses.

 

Bikes now cleaned from yesterday and dried off. The one I used was an old Orange P7 hardtail from the days when they still had steel frames. Actually because of the strength of a good steel frame they are no heavier than alloy and less prone to cracks etc. I fitted it with gravel tyres for use on the smoother trails and it goes really fast. It needs a new rear mech but fortunately with the current supply situation I have one in the spares box which I think is the correct size. Investigation and fitting will have to wait for a warmer day.

[Tony_S]

3 hours ago, AndrewC said:

 

Home wifi is a viper's nest

I suspect a network professional would have words to say about my wired network topology. It has turned into “just bung another switch on the end of the cable” as more devices appear.   My excuse is that it works. 

[PupCam]

2 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

Is non-possession of a mobile phone - of the smartphone variety able to read QR codes - an instance of selfish stupidity?

No it's not selfish stupidity and indeed, if I maybe so bold, quite rude to suggest that it is!   

 

The thing that really irritates me about this tendency in the modern world to assume that everybody has a) internet access  b) mobile  phones / computers and c) is able to use the technology is clearly and demonstrably incorrect even though modern technology and the benefits it brings have actually saved a lot of people particularly in this last, troubled,  year. 

 

For instance my 90+ year old mother is still living independently, the closest family member to her (i.e. me) lives over a 100 miles away and yet we have been able to sort out many things remotely that has enabled her to get by during the months of self-isolation e.g. online supermarket shopping, Amazon stuff etc all delivered to her door.

 

Recently her milk deliveries were by "Milk and More" which was working brilliantly.  When she needed stuff, she just had to phone up and speak to a human and the next time the milkman turned up so did the perishable stuff.   She even managed to get by with the "We no longer accept cheques so you'll have to set up a direct debit with your bank" a while ago.  But recently they've had a policy change and so everything has to be done online and if you can't do it online "perhaps a friend or family member could do it for you?" - blxxdy patronising cheek of it!   Anyway, I found out when attempting to set up an account on her behalf that their website was incompatible with my PC security configuration and no, I'm not changing my PC to suit their website anytime soon!

 

But no matter, Mr Google revealed an alternative little, local family farm dairy not 4 miles away.   A quick phone call to speak to a human (Mr Dairy Owner as it happened) revealed that yes they deliverer to mother's road, you can pay by cheque cash, card, bank transfer and probably even gold sovereigns (if the bill was big enough), they deliver other stuff if required like eggs, bread and even bags of compost for the garden!!!    Whilst talking to the chap it appeared they have recently picked up a number of new, elderly customers for exactly the same reason.      Anyway, the new plan has been in operation for a few weeks now and is working well so three cheers to the friendly little local man and a big   (where is the big "swivel on that" Emoticon when you need it?) to Milk and More  and all the other companies intent on penalising those that can't or won't use modern technology just to make it easy for them.

Edited April 28, 2021 by PupCam
Author incompetence ....