Early Risers.

[JohnDMJ]

3 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

I recall that many seemed convinced that, when railways first hit the scene, people would surely die when they went over a certain speed.  I wonder what they'd make of a ride on the TGV or Bullet Train?

 

 

Puppers might like to take a look at the "sold" prices of such gadgets on a certain auction site first....

 

IIRC, 30MPH was the 'magical' speed!

 

It is recorder that Queen Victoria was the first person worthy of membership top the Railway Performance Society! She used to travel, stopwatch in hand, timing the transit between the mileposts beside the track to ensure that she never exceeded 30MPH.

 

There was one noticeable exception: her funeral trains from Whippingham to London!

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. A bit late this evening, been chatting to my niece for a good hour. As I mentioned a few weeks ago I'm doing my will and I mentioned to my niece my collection of old maps. She asked if she could have them and I said of course she can. After all she is joint beneficiary with her brother to my estate. I don't do internet banking but I do use PayPal, the other day I was looking for an item, I found what I was looking for from two different traders, same item, similar price but one didn't do PayPal so the one who did got my business. Time to put the kettle on, be back later.

[PhilJ W]

Oops, forgot this, brown trouser time.

 

[Ozexpatriate]

I concur with @iL Dottore with the inevitability of ubiquitous e-commerce.

 

It is problematic in many ways - primarily because there is always someone nefarious out there who is keen to remove opportunistic targets from their hard-earned. Once upon a time these targets were people who dangled a purse before pickpockets but today, targets include people with insufficient prophylactic IT solutions installed on their devices, a barrier that nations and corporations invest vast sums of treasure and expertise to develop.

 

In person and online I tend to use credit cards. I rarely use my telephone. For bills I prefer to write paper cheques rather than online banking. I do this for a couple of reasons:

1. I've always done it this way
2. I don't trust the security of my online connection - not helped when my IT software would often warn me that my computer was being actively attacked - which happened back when RMweb was unsecured (ie not a https:// connection)
3. I have a greater sense of what I am actually spending when I write out the amount

I do use a commercial financial tool in offline mode to record my expenses.

 

My pet peeve is the current trend of providers to send paper bills with the barest minimum lead time to enable a paper cheque to be posted and received by the due date. This is a deliberate tactic to drive customers into automatic billing or online payment.

 

My mobile telephone provider is the worst offender. It is a monthly bill and the amount hardly changes, yet I receive the bill only a week prior to the due date. Only the efficiency of the USPS has my payment arrive in time.

 

My insurance company tried this too. My car insurance premiums are due semi-yearly. They send out a summary at least a month before the policy renews and then started sending the bill (along with dire warnings about being late) barely a week before the renewal date. This royally ticked me off. The agent tried to blame the pandemic. They literally had six months to schedule payment and no humans were involved.

[polybear]

1 hour ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Yes. It also has the advantage that you don't touch anything that isn't yours, especially the buttons on the card reader, which have been poked at by innumerable covideous fingers.

 

Sorry, I wasn't very clear - I did mean a pin-less card transaction - just a swipe on the reader, so no risk of the dreaded lurgy.

 

Bear is off to take a look at a sick Toyota Aygo tomorrow - it starts and then cuts out after about a second.  It did this once before, just over four years ago - the AA clown reckoned it was the key/security system (so why would it start, Bozo?) and said a trip to the main dealer was required.  Bear's internet research indicated either the Crank or Cam Position Sensor was favourite - a quick test with a meter & Haynes manual agreed and - fifty quid later - the car was fixed.  LDC points earnt.

 

Now it's doing it again, but this time it went to a garage (not a main dealer) before Bear could take a look.  Past History was relayed to the garage boss in the hope that they'd have the common sense to test the sensors (about 10 minutes) as the fault often doesn't appear as a fault code on those f.useless diagnostics gadgets.  Three hundred-odd quid later, and a diagnosis of "a dry joint on the immobiliser" (what's that I can smell...Moooooo.....) and one drive later it's doing it again.  So Bear is off to check them before the garage can collect the car.  If it does turn out to be the fault then I don't fancy the garage's chances of hanging onto the 300 quid......and perhaps their nuts if they start arguing with the owner....

[Ozexpatriate]

13 minutes ago, JohnDMJ said:

IIRC, a certain pairing from Harvard Uni co-founded microsoft - some guy called Gates and another, Steve Jobs?

Bill Gates and Paul Allen - Microsoft

 

Gates dropped out of Harvard. Allen dropped out of Washington State.

 

Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak - Apple

 

Jobs dropped out of Reed College (a liberal arts college here in Portland). Woz was expelled from Boulder and graduated from Berkeley.

[polybear]

10 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Oops, forgot this, brown trouser time.

 

 

Articulated Ship.  Interesting concept.....

[Ozexpatriate]

1 hour ago, Erichill16 said:

I have a friend who’s father was a builder and has buried his money in the large garden and not told anyone where it is. 

Likely nothing that ground penetrating radar could not detect - or a simple metal detector if he used a metal box.

 

Reminds me of this recent story: CNN: Treasure hunter finds $46,000 hidden under floorboards

 

Edited April 28, 2021 by Ozexpatriate

[Tony_S]

5 minutes ago, polybear said:

Bear's internet research indicated either the Crank or Cam Position Sensor was favourite -

That happened on Aditi’s Clio one Saturday. She had been at a Saturday morning student enrolment session and was the last car in the car park when it wouldn’t start. She had called the AA but said she wasn’t happy about hanging about by herself. I said I would drive up. I arrived just before the AA van.  He diagnosed the crankshaft sensor. He took it off, put it back and it worked. He said that sometimes did the trick but recommended having it properly checked. Aditi didn’t as it turned out need to worry about being alone in a car park. One of the college outbuildings was being used for a bible study meeting for a local church. The two greeters/security on the door had seen her and told her not to worry they would make sure she was safe. As I approached she called out to the men that it was ok, I was her husband. They were big lads so fortunately they believed her!

[Coombe Barton]

... and BBC subtitles about NHS singing ...

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2021/04/28/theyve-sent-in-the-clown/

[tigerburnie]

G'night all

[monkeysarefun]

7 hours ago, tigerburnie said:

I don't have a mobile connected to the internet either, so unless they come up with another form of passport, no pub or other such venue will be getting any of my money either. I have a travel passport and a drivers licence with my photo on it, I have a bus pass with my photo on it, all of which I am happy to carry as it shows I am who I am and that I am prepared to accept the legal requirements for the use of said documents, I see no difference in having another form of document to establish that I have had an inoculation, be it for exotic diseases in far flung places that require to had or to save lives and protect others from this current crisis.

Why not carry a photo of yourself giving a big thumbs up as they  are sticking the needle in your arm?

 

That's how it'll be done here I reckon.

Edited April 28, 2021 by monkeysarefun

[leopardml2341]

Goodnight folks, sorry not been able to read/rate many posts.

[Barry O]

Goodnight all!

Baz

[monkeysarefun]

6 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

The second thing to consider is that in the post-CoVID world is that "doing it my way", "rugged individualism", "sheer bloody mindedness" (or whatever soubriquet you wish to use) will be increasingly frowned upon. I think that it’s no accident that there were/are incredibly high CoVID infection and mortality rates in those countries (like the US and the UK) where individualism is prized over social cohesion.

Hey we are rugged good-looking individualists down here too and yet we've done alright.

 

I think the  key to success is clear honest concise and unwavering information and action  from the top down from right at the start of the pandemic  and maybe a lower clown-to-normal-person ratio than seems to occur in other European and western countries.  We did have a few clowns but they were largely mocked.

 

Plus although it might sound s bit mawkish there does seem to be an actual ANZAC spirity thing of "You don't let your mates down" which trumps our concern for individual "rights" and  meant people as a whole caring for others and so not risking the vulnerable just because our "rights" to not wear a mask were impinged on.

Edited April 28, 2021 by monkeysarefun

[Winslow Boy]

There has certainly been a very logical and erodite discussion about technology and its impact. One point made was about speed in relation to railways however I think what is more relevant is the speed and ubiquiness of the change.

 

So staying with railways- as its a good example, whilst the technological progress was relatively quick from the 1800's it was in a matter of around 80 years  it reached its peak however its presence was limited - not every village/town and even city had a railway

 

. But when you look at something like the internet the timeframe is down to about a decade after its invention but its presence is universal. It is this combination that scares people. As it doesn't allow for people to integrate the technology into their lives at an easy pace and since then it has got even quicker.

 

I appreciate that this is a rather sweeping statement but it is the scale in terms of the size and the shortness of time that I want to convey.

Edited April 29, 2021 by Winslow Boy

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

When the skip was dropped off, I paid cash to the driver, the first time I’ve used cash for quite some time, but it did give me the opportunity to get rid of some old £20 notes that I’d had in my wallet for probably over a year!

 

The weather had remained dull and cool all day, which was rather nice to work in, as it kept me from getting over heated. In fact, during the last couple of wheelbarrow loads it was trying to rain, but the rain never actually materialised. 

 

Considering I only walked from the back of the house to the front, although to be fair, I have to go past the back and front of 3 of our neighbours, I’ve walked over 4 miles today!

 

Well, after this morning’s skip activities and a slightly later than normal dinner. I decamped to the living after dinner and completed a spell of eyelid inspection. 

 

Later in the afternoon, I added a few more items into my ‘trunk’ at Hatton's, to the equivalent of the cash I’d parted with this morning for the skip. My excuse is that it’s only money I’d have spent if I’d been able to attend a few shows!

 

I do internet banking and PayPal, but only on ‘home devices’. I haven’t downloaded any money apps on my phone, other than barclaycard, but that is mainly for the text confirmation when buying high price goods with the card. As for passwords, everyone is different and none of them are birthdays or family names etc, although they all do have a person link to me. I have so many I’ve had to write them down and there are a few prompts, but it’s all written in a code that only I understand. 

Edited April 28, 2021 by BSW01

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[The Stationmaster]

4 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Yes. It also has the advantage that you don't touch anything that isn't yours, especially the buttons on the card reader, which have been poked at by innumerable covideous fingers.

Yes it's a right nuisance if you have to do the chip & pin nonsense as I did in WHS the other day.  Fortunately I was already wearing a disposable glove one hand so could do the pin bit but I also had to santitise the card after removing it from the machine because it had obviously touched surfaces which had previously been touched by cards people had been handling.

 

It's rather like the nonsensical sanitising hand gel dispensers in umpteen places - you have to use your fingers to get the gel out so you are touching something that everyone else has touched with unsanitised fingers - the logic of that one really defeats me.

 

3 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Bond did viruses as the evil plot too:

 

Pathogenic: Moonraker

Computer: Skyfall

Mere amateurism compared with the two 'Kingsman' films which although more than a little over the top show two different types of virus in the two films.  in the first everything is done by giving everybody in the world (who wants it) free mobile 'phone access and when the right switch is flicked it sends everyone murderously fighting mad,  In the second film the virus is included in soft drugs so all the junkies in the world get it leaving an interesting moral question about whether or not to pay the massive sums demanded for the antidote.

[PhilJ W]

Another comment on new technology.

[Ozexpatriate]

1 minute ago, The Stationmaster said:

... you have to use your fingers to get the gel out so you are touching something that everyone else has touched with unsanitised fingers

True, but surely you then use the sanitizer on all your fingers which would resolve the concern?  There are of course 'touchless' dispensers, though I suspect most places wouldn't invest in them. More worrisome would be surfaces someone right before you coughed or sneezed on, than touched.

 

According to the US CDC, Covid-19 transmission via surfaces is much less likely* than breathing in droplets and aerosols. There's no harm in good hygiene of course and it is good practice.

 

* Orders of magnitude. They cite 1:10,000, but I find that a bit meaningless.

 

For the duration of the pandemic, I have kept a pump bottle of sanitizer in my car to use before I get in and touch everything inside.

[The Stationmaster]

2 hours ago, polybear said:

 

Articulated Ship.  Interesting concept.....

I don't think the poor s*ds on board saw it in quite that way.  The Mayday calls sounded rather panicky which is hardly surprising because if that ship was a loaded dry bulker it wasn't going to be on the surface for very long once it had started to break up like that and there wouldn't be much time to get off it.

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all

[southern42]

‘ night all and nos da.