Early Risers.

[Pacific231G]

16 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

Some cars seem to be quite complicated. My neighbour had a Lexus and it seemed to have a lot of buttons. My Evoque isn’t too bad. It does have a large central touchscreen with a small information repeater screen in between the traditional speedometer and revcounter dials.,..... What I haven’t ever used is the voice control option. Trying it on other cars didn’t encourage me to bother. 
Tony

The voice control isn't too bad on mine, If I press the button and say "destination" and then "home" or zoom in or out for the moving map display it does understand what I want. anything more complex than that and it just sulks. It also doesn't know where anything like hospitals are so you have to dig out the postcode. 

If AI systems are designed like this then lord help us. "Order baby wipes" "OK wiping out all babies- ICBMs all fired- have a nice day! " 

The trouble is that the designers want to include as many functions as possible without considering whether the people using the device will actually be able to use them. I have a DSLR that's a bit like that. I really want to preset the iso and then have separate physical controls for shutter speed, aperture and focus. Instead I seem to have to keep jabbing at the touch screen. I tend to just use my phone to take pictures instead but though that takes perfectly avarage pictures, it doesn't really give me the creative control I want and the focal length is fixed (zooming in just crops the image, it doesn't change the focal length)  

Edited June 15, 2023 by Pacific231G

[woodenhead]

1 minute ago, Pacific231G said:

If AI systems are designed like this then lord help us. "Order baby wipes" "OK wiping out all babies- ICBMs all fired- have a nice day! " 

Talking of AI systems, my company is investing in such tech so we get regular updates of things other companies and app developers are doing.

 

Today I read about an AI Dating app where you can interact with an AI generated persona of the person you like, so you can see if you are compatitable before you engage with the real person.   Unless that app has a LOT of information on the person it represents in AI form then it is going to make a lot of suppositions and the person they actually meet may not hold or represent the views of the AI version.

 

So on one level it could be that you think you like someone because the AI version responded to you in a manner you found attractive and then find they are nothing like that - so an innocent faux pas.  But more seriously there are idiots out there who might think the AI absolutely represents the thoughts of the real person and it might lead to disastrous outcomes.

 

It seems to me that people are hell bent on completely seperating humans from one another so that we have absolutely no idea how to interact or treat each other respectfully and our minds will be flooded with tribalistic claptrap (with me or you're my enemy type).

[polybear]

1 hour ago, railsquid said:

 

(delurks)

 

Just had the pleasure of meeting iL Dottore on a damp Tokyo evening in the environs of said station.

 

Pink Carnations under the Station Clock?

 

49 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

........ based on a love of  model railways, tasty crunchy fried things and abundant alcohol…

 

Has @iL Dottore finally discovered the joys of Curly Fries at long last?

 

34 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

Some cars seem to be quite complicated. My neighbour had a Lexus and it seemed to have a lot of buttons. My Evoque isn’t too bad. It does have a large central touchscreen with a small information repeater screen in between the traditional speedometer and revcounter dials. The audio stuff is on the touchscreen but there are also buttons on the steering wheel too. The heater/air con does have rotary knobs but the temp is displayed on the screen as well as  on a display next to the knob. It can be adjusted from their too, not sure why I would want to though. The steering wheel has paddles for gear selection if you wish to override the auto box. I have accidentally selected manual a couple of times but nothing drastic happens and it is easy to cancel. Lights and wipers are on stalks with rotary knobs on the end for various functions. 

 

The mere thought of how much such gadgets would cost to fix would give a certain Bear nightmares....

 

[railsquid]

49 minutes ago, The Lurker said:

good to hear about railsquid. I used to like his contributions to ERs, with news of the squidlet. Who is probably about 7 now!

 

8 and counting.

 

Sadly, or fortunately, the late nights in front of the internet cradling the little blighter as he just would not sleep by himself are long gone.

[railsquid]

15 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

Pink Carnations under the Station Clock?

 

 

Plastic baggie full of Toblerones in the station hotel lobby.

 

Talking of the station, I profess to know Tokyo pretty well, so was absolutely not surprised to discover a whole swathe of underground passages which were not on my mental map of the area, but that's Tokyo for you. Visit some place you haven't been for a while, or approach it from an unusual direction (as was the case today) and it's changed beyond recognition.

[Gwiwer]

Afternoon all from the Distant (Signal) West. 
 

Dr. SWMBO awoke after a bad night of anxiety attacks. Yesterday’s high notes had become the night’s worries. All is much better now. We have a conveyancer, a building inspection booked and we are working on the other Great Unknown which is her liability (if any) for Australian Capital Gains Tax. 
 

In a while we are off to the local pub for dinner and to meet a walking buddy of mine. He is on his fourth consecutive “through-hike” of the 630-mile SW coast path. Meaning by the time we meet tonight he will have walked around 2000 miles just for the enjoyment of it since he set off. 
 

Weather has remained ok with occasional foggy patches. We are threatened with a little sky-water into next week. Which is badly needed except by those of us who walk for fun and are enjoying a mostly-outdoors holiday. 

[DaveF]

The sun has stayed out all day, a very gentle sea breeze has sprung up so it is pleasant outside, though the sun makes indoors hot even with the blinds shut.

 

As I had planned I went to church and acted as server this morning, once again all went well.  I have now been asked to take photos of the church and events for the proposed new website, so I shall be spending a little while thinking about that.  The hard bit is probably getting the outside views in good light with the sun in the right place, I think it will require several visits at various times of day.  Fortunately it is only five minutes away and I go past several times a week. 

 

After the service I went to the beach and was able to park in the small car parkand had a good walk along the prom.  The beach huts which are locally quite famous and have appeared on TV and in adverts at various times are being refurbished and repainted so in due course I shall take (yet) another batch of photos of them.  There was either a school or University group on the beach practising surveying with poles and tapes, some managed to get in the water and they were enjoying themselves.

 

Then it was back home for lunch, since then I have been doing a bit of modelling involving pieces of wood to make flat surfaces and pottering about in the garden.

 

I had some good news about a friend who has had a spell in hospiotal, he is now back at home but not really up to talking on the phone yet.

 

David

[woodenhead]

@DaveF Taking the photos for the website sounds a lot less pressure than doing the website, so you've gotten the more enjoyable task.

 

[45156]

On 14/06/2023 at 16:32, Pacific231G said:

Does anyone else remember when "American Hamburger" restaurants were popular in Britain (or at least in London). They weren't fast food joints- more like steakhouses but with burgers rather than steak and were licensed. They were far more upmarket than McD or BurgerKing which hadn't really reached these shores yet but, when I first visited North America I was surprised to find that such restaurants were almost unknown there though and burgers were very much fast food.

 

Yes, the Crazy H in Croydon was one such, where 30747 and I did some of our courting - excellent burgers indeed.

 

Now fans of gypsy jazz here's about 7 minutes of sheer bliss - others who are not guitarists just skip to the next post.

 

This is still in my editor, and appears not to have posted yesterday - so I'll try again.

 

However, I will just add today's activities - 30747 visited the quack for blood tests and then we came home to clean the microwave - and found that the roof and back seams are almost penetrated through with rust - and we do wipe it out after use - a quick consultation, and we both decided to replace it - it is a couple of months over a year old so no need to even try for getting it replaced under guarantee!!

TURDYCURSES.

 

Then the G word was uttered - grass duly cut and strimmer not cutting properly - line which is new and went in the morning was so tangled on the spool that it just would not feed - new one on order now.

Then it was my turn to go to Dr to have my ears hoovered - the joy of hearing again is countered by the fact that I can no longer use the deafness as an excuse for not not hearing 30747's demands.  On the way back, picked up the new microwave which really is plug and play, as it is identical to the old one.

 

Regards to All

Stewart

[DaveF]

9 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

@DaveF Taking the photos for the website sounds a lot less pressure than doing the website, so you've gotten the more enjoyable task.

 

 

My only slight worry is that I may have to do a bit more of the planning/specification, but I think that at present the idea is to use the firm who do the local churches together web site by simply adding our pages to it.  Beyond that I'll run a mile!

 

David

Edited June 15, 2023 by DaveF

[Ian Abel]

BIN day...

 

Yesterday was a real excrement show here. We were the sad recipients of having the WORST Air Quality Index in the entire US, apparently!

Taking a lunchtime break to go with the Mrs to retrieve her newly frames pictures, we could barely see more than maybe 1/4 mile because of the haze, almost down to ground level.

Warnings of unhealthy air quality were frequent on the radio, and my lungs could feel it. That said, I remained inside the remainder of the day.

 

All the immediate - well almost out 60+ miles - Twin Cities area was on the extreme range, and most of Minnesota was bad overall.

 

Front page of the newspaper today

 

Today is scheduled to be the same and I could feel it simply putting the BINs out and getting the newspaper, inside again today for sure!

 

15c first thing, hazy sun, 24c the expected high and sh!!ty air quality a guarantee 😒

 

Onward.

[jamie92208]

5 hours ago, woodenhead said:

There is another one - just behind Warrington Bank Quay station, no-one's nicked that one yet.

There’s a nice one just south of Rochefort in our department.  It's been replaced by a High bridge but is preserved and I think that it's possible to ride on it. 

 

Here grandparenting  is tiring work. 

Jamie

 

 

Edited June 15, 2023 by jamie92208

[jamie92208]

I've just noticed that we're on to page 12000.   I thought they were ex LMS diesel shunters.

 

Jamie

[Ozexpatriate]

10 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

Lego left me very frustrated as a kid, I just had a big bucket of red and white stuff, I think that was all you could get then.  The inability to arrange things at other than 90 degrees left me cold.  Meccano however....now yer talkin'.

My schooldays were *mostly* the 1970s - (my k-12 actually spanned parts of three decades). By the early 1970s Meccano, while still around, had all but disappeared in Australia.

 

Anyone with Meccano had to deal with the rapid rusting in the sub-tropical climate. If kept pristine it was OK, but it could not stand up to 'normal' play environments, particularly if dirt or water was involved.

 

By then Fischertechnik had appeared - essentially a German, nylon Meccano alternative. It was eye-wateringly expensive (likely even more expensive than LEGO) - too much for my parents and too much for my pocket money. There were plenty of gearing and motorization options. At about ten or so, I would drool over it in display cases but never owned any.

[Ozexpatriate]

2 hours ago, DaveF said:

The hard bit is probably getting the outside views in good light with the sun in the right place, I think it will require several visits at various times of day.

Dave, I humbly suggest the 'golden hour' - just before sunset or after sunrise. Assuming the church is stone the longer wavelengths will work well with the stone and the shadows highlight details without being too harsh.

 

A keen photographer friend was at one time a freelance photographer for the one of the largest automobile magazines in the US. There was a mad dash to make sure they were set up before sunset - right location, right angles etc. They would turn on the lights (including the hazards) as well which would show in the fading light. The magazine usually published the 'golden hour' shots. Action shots would be taken earlier in the day.

 

Edited June 15, 2023 by Ozexpatriate
link

[Barry O]

Nanoblocks are the micro Lego.

 

 

Et voila  micro wally the wombat.

And here he is with a 50 pence piecec or size

 

Baz

 

Edited June 15, 2023 by Barry O
removed double image!

[Ozexpatriate]

1 hour ago, Ian Abel said:

We were the sad recipients of having the WORST Air Quality Index in the entire US, apparently!

Sorry to hear that. I had heard on the news that was coming.

 

There's only one thing to do: Blame Canada! (contains some naughty words)

 

It's going to be a long fire season. We have some rain forecast for the weekend. It will be welcome.

[Ozexpatriate]

6 hours ago, Pacific231G said:

We did have our own fast-food burger joints in the Wimpy chain before that but I can remember Mcdonald's arriving in the mid 1970s-1980s (1st restaurant in 1974, hundredth in Britain in 1983) and they did offer a  different experience from previous British fast food. KFC had arrived here a decade earlier.

Kentucky Fried Chicken was the first 'fast food' restaurant I remember in Australia.  Wimpy's did appear at one point. They were never really successful in Australia. (According to Wikipedia they tapped out at about 70 outlets.)

 

McDonalds and Hungry Jack's* were well established by the time I was in high school.

 

* Which is how "Burger King" is still marketed in Australia. There was some sort of trademark infringement issue. Hungry Jack's is the "Home of the Whopper" and had the "King" mascot all the same.

[iL Dottore]

3 hours ago, polybear said:

Has @iL Dottore finally discovered the joys of Curly Fries at long last?

Good God NO!
 

The crunchy things we had were Karaage (Japanese fried chicken – what KFC wants to be when it grows up), a deep fried sausage in a crunchy shell and deep fired battered squid, we also had some grilled meatballs and a little bit of shredded cabbage – just for nutritional balance you know.

[Barry O]

3 hours ago, railsquid said:

 

8 and counting.

 

Sadly, or fortunately, the late nights in front of the internet cradling the little blighter as he just would not sleep by himself are long gone.

8 years.. lummy! How time flies when you are having fun kids!

 

Baz

[roundhouse]

2 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Kentucky Fried Chicken was the first 'fast food' restaurant I remember in Australia.  Wimpy's did appear at one point. They were never really successful in Australia. (According to Wikipedia they tapped out at about 70 outlets.)

 

McDonalds and Hungry Jack's* were well established by the time I was in high school.

 

* Which is how "Burger King" is still marketed in Australia. There was some sort of trademark infringement issue. Hungry Jack's is the "Home of the Whopper" and had the "King" mascot all the same.

I remember having Hungry Jacks on a couple of visits to Oz. I also remember having the biggest ever Mc D's burger anywhere in the world, in Freemantle back in the early 90's. Not even in the USA have I seen anything as close in size.

Its making me hungry... sorry guys.

[Barry O]

So no interviews today 2 no shows.. one said I am stuck in the office.. erm he retired 5 years ago.. so he must be umpiting .. nothing from the other one!

 

PAH!!!

 

Baz

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. 23C. outside at the moment, though the humidity is down so its a lot comfortable. I'm feeling a lot better now and as a bonus the joints are not as stiff as usual. I was at a loose end this afternoon and found a station called *NHK World, one of the programs is Japan Railway Journal, looks interesting . *Virgin 625 also on Freesat.

[grandadbob]

Evenin' each.

I nearly melted today.  Went to The Shed about 11.00 and it was 26°C which is really too 'ot for an ageing GDB but I persevered and commenced track laying.   Had a break at 13.00 for lunch and to cool down a bit and then returned at 1.45 until 3.15.  By then it was then even 'otter and had reached 33°C. "Enough is enough" said I and came back to the house for a long cool shower and a cold beer.  Just been back down there and the thermometer is now reading 31°C.

I'm staying in the house.  No I'm not , there is some watering to be done in the garden.

Fish fingers and chip*snack enjoyed tonight along with a small glass of Shiraz.

There is still a Wimpy Bar just over 2 miles away in Morden but we haven't been there since we were teenagers in the 60s.

Tonight I'll probably watch a repeat episode of Vera but it wouldn't surprise me if some eyelid inspection occurred during the viewing.

Mate over the road's house purchaser has now pulled out because mate won't budge on the price.   He doesn't need to because if he doesn't get what he wants he's quite happy to stay put.  

 

*McCain's French Fries to be exact.

Edited June 15, 2023 by grandadbob

[Ozexpatriate]

11 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

i’ve always wondered how really useful or practical a touch screen. Star Trek command deck controls would be. I can’t think of anyone that I know of who has never, ever done something using a touch screen instrument, and then accidentally erased what they’ve done by an how inadvertent swipe..

Which "Star Trek"?

 

The Computer (voiced by Majel Barrett*) was voice activated.

 

* Also Nurse Chapel and for a while, Mrs. Roddenberry. 

 

As I understand it, the bridges of most modern shipping are all screens, keyboards and joysticks.