Early Risers.

[iL Dottore]

2 hours ago, polybear said:

 

Stand aside, Heidi - Bear's a comin' thru'........

 

Back in the real world, Heidi also has these to play with:

and quite a few other toys besides.

 

INTERESTING HISTORICAL FACTOID

 

The Swiss have never been completely neutral. Even after the the defeat of the Old Swiss Confederacy at the Battle of Marignano and the subsequent  declaration of neutrality in 1515, Switzerland was still providing plenty of mercenaries to European powers, though no longer pursuing an expansionistic foreign policy herself. The armed neutrality of today’s Switzerland was imposed on the country by the Treaty of Paris as a buffer zone between France, Italy, Germany and Austria - as the allies in the coalition that defeated Napoleon weren’t exactly all “lovey-dovey” with one another.

 

The Swiss were renowned as mercenaries well into the reign of George III and even served in the British Army (they had their own regiment: De Watteville's Regiment). Before the widespread adoption of gunpowder weapons, Swiss mercenary units were famed for their Pike warfare - which was particularly brutal. The Vatican’s Swiss Guard is the sole remaining (and legally permitted) Swiss mercenary unit.

 

Given the (justified) reputation the Swiss have for efficiency and organisation, perhaps it’s just as well that Switzerland’s foreign income is now based around banking, chemicals and pharmaceuticals rather than mercenary services.

[Coombe Barton]

... it ain’t over. What is also concerning is that the opposition parties are not challenging the government's position ...

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2022/11/27/sounds-of-the-season-2022-23-01-advent-sunday/

[polybear]

2 hours ago, grandadbob said:

Local garden centre visited on Thursday and they have lots of stuff but nothing bought as I kept saying "How Much??"  The good thing is that today I received an email detailing umpteen special offers from them which weren't there the other day so The Boss wants us to return.

 

Bear confused - how is the receipt of the email "A Good Thing"?  It means a second visit - with The Boss spending money.....

 

Bear here....

Up disgracefully late this morning (7.30am) as I watched both episodes of The Happy Valley last night (an excellent series - we could do with more).  General faffing around this morning, including packing up an ebay sale for collection tomorrow.  Tick.

 

Right, I can't put it off any longer.....time to sand walls.  Turdycurses,

Bear gone.

[Gwiwer]

1 hour ago, jjb1970 said:

Online payment here uses two step verification. We have to enter the usual details and then the bank sends an OTP to the mobile number on file and we have to enter the code within 60 seconds to complete the transaction. I don't know whether it really is much more secure but it is certainly comforting.

Same here most of the time when using any mobile / portable device. I generally don’t get the two-step process using the desktop other than from one or two specific retailers. 
 

Whilst it’s another measure of protection for the end-user it is in equal measure frustrating. 
 

In other news Dr. SWMBO has checked in. It appears she is enjoying a cream-tea for lunch a few metres from St. Ives lifeboat station. Cornwall is grey but drying out. 
 

We have also confirmed two weeks in our friend’s farmhouse during June. That’s the one she operates as a holiday let on her farm just up from Pendeen Watch lighthouse.  The planned trip to Italy has been declared too expensive so this will be the main holiday next year. 

[Gwiwer]

1 hour ago, PhilJ W said:

It says USA on the side but the uniforms appear to be Russian.

Possibly captured?  Either way it’s a pretty fearsome piece of kit. 

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, PhilJ W said:

It says USA on the side but the uniforms appear to be Russian.

USA on side and American WW1 uniforms. The US Navy version had USN on the sides. There are YouTube videos of the guns firing in France. 

[jjb1970]

1 minute ago, Gwiwer said:

Same here most of the time when using any mobile / portable device. I generally don’t get the two-step process using the desktop other than from one or two specific retailers. 
 

Whilst it’s another measure of protection for the end-user it is in equal measure frustrating. 

 

Here it is desktop as well as mobile. Initially I found it frustrating but now it is just another part of e-commerce and I no longer really notice it.

A major difference here is that banks seem pretty serious about opening accounts. To open an account I needed to go to the bank with my passport, ID card and utility statements. Because it's a joint account my wife had to go with me with her documents and we had to show our marriage certificate. But it doesn't end there, the Singapore government uses an ID database called Singpass which connects immigration, tax, health and all sorts of other systems. Opening an account you give permission via the Singpass app to allow the bank to verify your details in the database. A major part of that is it includes employment and tax records. Opening an account is a major task (it was about an hour with the lady serving us), though on the upside they issue ATM/debit cards on the spot and set up internet banking immediately with no mailing stuff out. And once you are in the bank all subsequent transactions are very painless and can be done via the app, such as requesting credit cards etc. I'm in two minds about Singpass, the libertarian in me doesn't like the 'big government' stuff, but once you've been in a system like that it can simplify an awful lot of things and at least all the different government departments communicate.

[Tony_S]

31 minutes ago, jjb1970 said:

Opening an account is a major task

It is getting that way here too, and as we found out recently for one particular bank just maintaining our account (they froze it as they said we hadn’t responded , we had they hadn’t saved the results). We had to show evidence that payments from teachers pensions matched a P60, explain why we transferred money to my bank account to pay the credit card we use, all very intrusive considering the income is from pensions and outgoings are utility bills! The other bank does not do this. Having two joint accounts at different banks seems to generate suspicion. 

Edited November 27, 2022 by Tony_S

[45156]

1 minute ago, jjb1970 said:

 

Here it is desktop as well as mobile.

 

I seem to be getting this almost every time I use my credit card online now since we were scammed- no objections really, provided the mobile call comew through in time - not always - but I also use a PINsentry device, which does work and only delays the transaction by a few seconds.  Barclaycard did advise that they would increase the security level after the scam, so really I can't complain as it shows that they are quite keen on making sure that it really is me.  Big problem was that we had to change my mobile number as well, and it took an actual telephone call to Barclaycard to effect the change in mobile number as the system for changing it online involved getting a text message!!!

 

Afternoon All

A bit chilly here at the mo - fire is about to be lit.

 

Swopmeet was a disaster, only about ten stands, and only model railway and die cast - even though it was billed as a model railway and toy fair, there were no toy stands at all to please 30747 who went off for a cuppa - but was quite assiduous in checking when I came back that there were no unauthorised carrier bags.  It was also dead - only a couple of dozen customers, and there was absolutely no publicity other than a very few roadside hand written boards - and only open 10.30 til 2.  Won't bother next time, I don't think

 

We also went to the Ludlow Christmas Market, and to the craft fair in the church - the market was only the usual one with a handful of Christmas stands, and the craft fair was just past mediocre.

 

Skipping has had to happen, as I had no broadband this morning, due to a problem at the cabinet - I know this, as I accosted the Openreach engineer when I saw him doing some knitting.  It was out for about three hours, but seems to be OK now.

 

Generic greetings and

Regards to All

Stewart

[Tony_S]

As an alternative to texts of six digit numbers to confirm my payments my bank has a confirm in app option that some online transactions use. It isn’t a problem but it does require a mobile phone with a signal. Though I suppose installing the app does at least indicate one has a phone. 

[jjb1970]

I am quite sceptical about a lot of technology and alleged improvements, but I must admit I think the banking apps on my phone are brilliant.

[DaveF]

At last, a few moments to relax and hopefully write about yesterday before some friends arrive.

 

I seem to have been busy yesterday.  It started badly when I woke early feeling as though I'd been awake all night - probably because I went to bed in a less than good mood on Friday night as I been thinking about the silly neighbour at the flat and how to deal with him.

 

I went for a very nice walk on the beach, the tide was out , the sea was fairly calm, it wasn't cold - but it was still the British seaside in November!  After that I checked the flat again and took photos of the guttering so I can make sure exactly what work has been done when it is completed.  Needless to say the man under Betty's flat came out to see what I was doing, he is now going to take photos too.  I cannot make him understand that it is none of his business.

 

I called at the estate agents to see of they could get the solicitors to speed up.  She rang the buyer who also wants to get it done soon and will tackle his solicitor on Monday morning.  I will do the same with mine.  The agant will also contact both solicitors.  I think the buyer and I should simply meet one evening somewhere quiet and he can give me a suitcase full of fivers and I'll give him the deeds.

 

I came home and cleaned the car, then had a coffee and looked at some of my photos on the TV.

 

I spent much of the afternoon catching up on my sleep and as usual spent the evening reading and watching TV with a bit of music as well.

 

David

[Tony_S]

42 minutes ago, jjb1970 said:

I am quite sceptical about a lot of technology and alleged improvements, but I must admit I think the banking apps on my phone are brilliant.

I really learned to appreciate it years ago when I found I could use it to get money out of cash machines when I had left my wallet at home. I also like the almost instant account updates. No more waiting for paper statements or queuing at cash machines for a printout. As the banks we used for years closed their local branches I don’t really want to drive to another town to get information. 

[Gwiwer]

1 hour ago, jjb1970 said:

I'm in two minds about Singpass

Back in my Australian days I worked with, among others, a Singaporean.  He told me all about Singpass as it then was (around 2000-2004) and that, as a Singaporean, he felt it was a part of life but that others found it hard to jump through the required hoops.  Singapore had its hold on him even though he had taken Australian citizenship; he still had to have his details on file there for re-entry and any other purpose whilst "home".  

 

He had joined us on the tramways from the airline industry and told many a story of how frustrating it was for non-Singaporean flight crew trying to do anything much on their stopovers.  Singapore Airlines only employ (or only at that time employed - things might have changed) resident Singaporean nationals.  Upon moving to Australia, which was directly linked to his wish to express his sexuality without fear of repression, he joined Ansett which promptly folded effectively forcing his hand and he joined us on the tramways.  

 

Whilst the Singaporean penal code seems to be less than enforceable in respect of activity between males in theory both parties can still be publicly flogged before imprisonment.  Australian major cities have been very much more accepting of such things though rural and bush communities remain of different mind in many areas despite current legislation.  

[simontaylor484]

Flying visit from me again 

Hope everyone is ok 

Had a carp weekend 

[New Haven Neil]

Titfield Thunderblot on TV.  I think it's the Rapido version,

[Gwiwer]

4 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

I assume its got one of those little doohickeys

Is that the same as your partner tries to hide on his / her neck after a night of ..... errrr ...... stuff 🤣

 

In other news you can go right off some people.  Dr. SWMBO had lunch in St. Ives and was going to take the bus back to her Penzance Airbnb.  Next thing I know she has sent me pictures from atop the partially-open double-decker bus used on the Lands End Coaster route.  That's my all-time favourite both to drive and as a passenger.  It takes in the stunning coastal road through Zennor and the mining towns around St. Just to Lands End before reaching Penzance via Porthcurno and the Lamorna valley.  

 

Then to rub it in she says "I'm just passing the farm now ....... " and sends a picture of the lane leading to our friend's farm mentioned in a post above.  

 

I know it's her weekend of rest and relaxation.  She asked me for the bus times which I duly gave her.  But I didn't think for a moment she would be interested in a 3-hour ride around in November weather so I didn't mention the Coaster buses.  She must have got lucky and found one waiting when she turned up at the bus station; they're every two hours.  Even on a Sunday in late Autumn in a remote and very thinly-populated area.  And it's only £5 to ride any bus anywhere in Cornwall all day.  Other areas might want to take note.  Dr. SWMBO had better bring me back a good present!!! 

[Tony_S]

9 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

Titfield Thunderblot on TV.  I think it's the Rapido version,

I meant to watch it and forgot. Just found it in iPlayer. Paused at the moment as Aditi wants to watch it  too. 

[TheQ]

Afternoon Awl,

Damp and soggy morning, as predicted wind didn't come out to play... The lack of wind reducing as the race went on.

It was supposed to be a passage race, but with a lack of wind, it was just round the buoys near the club.

 

So we started in 6th or 7th place but 3 boats were over the line, we ducked the stern of one of those, but that only slowed us slightly and we got the starboard end if the line just few seconds late. Most of the other boats were at the port end of the line.

 

We then tacked up river, at the first crossing, a port starboard, meant we got up to third.. continuing tacking and us 4 boats broke away from the rest of the fleet. After the first bend to the right, it was very close hauled generally up the right hand bank, though we tried to keep out, to get more of the tide in the light wind. But the more left you went the less wind you got, it was an interesting challenge finding the balance.

 

After the following left hand bend, there were less trees on the left hand bank, it was one very long tack on port followed by a short one on starboard. Did that twice before the top mark. (4)

On rounding it we dived down to port, to get out of the now against us tide. The fourth placed boat then started catching us at first, but made the mistake of staying out in the middle.

 

When we took the first bend to our right, they started loosing wind and really slowed down. As the trees slowed the lack of wind.

 

It was then follow the leader all the way down, to the bottom buoy, the first 4 all slowly getting further spread apart, we did get slightly worried as several boats behind put up their spinnakers and started catching up.

 

The wind was very light from the bottom buoy (1) to buoy (2) outside the club. We gained a lot on the first two boats, and then started tacking after the port tack round the buoy. We exchanged position with the second place boat several times as we tacked up the river. One particular tack favouring the other.

We looked back and the 4th  boat had had a terrible leg from buoy 1 to buoy 2 and was now 800 yards behind.

 

After the bend to the right it was back to the familiar 1,2,3 boat positions but we were on the heels of boat 2. On rounding the top buoy (4)

Our trip down to the first bend wasn't so good, we lost distance to boat 2 and boat 4 started catching us along with the rest of the fleet  that had caught them.

 

On rounding the bend we kept left out of the tide, but the fleet behind were busy fighting for positions and out in the middle of the river the tide slowing them.

 

At the optimum point we crossed the river balancing speed and tide, but the first two boats were fighting for position themselves, and took the corner wide slowing in the tide, we caught up massively as we rounded the corner tight to the bank out of the tide. Then the port rounding of the mark (1) in trying to keep the second place boat out, cut the bouy (1) too tightly, and hit the buoy, not just hit it they were held onto it by the tide. The second place boat went round, and we took a long safe way around the pinned boat.

 

So we finished second a few feet behind the previously second place boat.

The leader for almost all of the race was still trying to do his 360 degree penalty turn as we crossed the line.

We were tied up, sails down, when the last boats were trailing over the line.

 

So generally we had a slow but good race, once the race was over the drizzle / rain stopped..

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PhilJ W]

2 hours ago, 45156 said:

Swopmeet was a disaster, only about ten stands, and only model railway and die cast - even though it was billed as a model railway and toy fair, there were no toy stands at all to please 30747 who went off for a cuppa - but was quite assiduous in checking when I came back that there were no unauthorised carrier bags.  It was also dead - only a couple of dozen customers, and there was absolutely no publicity other than a very few roadside hand written boards - and only open 10.30 til 2. 

There was a character who used to run swapmeets locally. You could hardly call them swapmeets as if you bought in an item to offer to a trader he would want his share (10%) of whatever you received, despite you having paid the entry fee. Some of the traders were a bit iffy as well. There are two regular local swapmeets that are pretty good. Brentwood that has just restarted after lockdown, next one January 14th 2023 and Rayleigh, next one December 28th 2022.

[PhilJ W]

3 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

In other news Dr. SWMBO has checked in. It appears she is enjoying a cream-tea for lunch a few metres from St. Ives lifeboat station. Cornwall is grey but drying out. 
 

We have also confirmed two weeks in our friend’s farmhouse during June. That’s the one she operates as a holiday let on her farm just up from Pendeen Watch lighthouse.  The planned trip to Italy has been declared too expensive so this will be the main holiday next year. 

I found this on the net, https://www.travelzoo.com/uk/local-deals/Southwest/Getaway/398925/The-Old-Quay-House/?_v=9215&utm_source=localdeal_uk&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=3001108_text_southeast_deal%3a3001108&utm_content=3001108&deliveryName=DM44840&ec=0&dlinkId=3001108

If I visit Cornwall I would like to give it a try.

[zarniwhoop]

13 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Which base distribution are you using?

 

In my career I was a long-time UNIX user. (Before that I used a proprietary, UNIX-like OS.) I did at one point have a dual-boot Intel-processor machine with both Windows and Linux, but after that it was Windows only. In those days the Linux distribution was probably Red-Hat, but I don't actually remember what distribution it was. The software sold by the company I worked for was predominantly run on Linux machines. 

 

Linux presents an interesting conundrum for large corporate IT entities. One very large company I worked with actually purchased a Linux distribution from a company because they provided support. (Meaning the Linux provider tested the distribution and if there were issues they fixed them. Security was also a major concern.)

Nowadays, I normally build new systems from the  current development or current release of LFS (and my development builds usually only have a life of a few months, the release builds are kept semi-maintained for between a year and eighteen months.

 

My first distro was indeed Red Hat, 6.1 or 6.2 - nowadays their free version is fedora,and Red Hat provide paid-for long-term support (and there are also a couple of free forks of that without paid support). After that I moved to mandrake. From then on, I quickly switched to using LFS to build LFS.

 

The exceptions have been when I bought new machines on which I could not load a precompiled LFS to make a native build - first a ppc G3 apple laptop (used Yellow Dog, I actually paid for that!), then for a ppc64 I think I used ubuntu. More recently I had a UEFI acer laptop (not recommended, poor quality) and in the end used Mandriva to get started, and on my main desktop that was again UEFI and I used devuan.

 

For general issues, yes, move fast, break often is now the common form of development.

 

Security is a big concern. I like to think that we are more on top of this for the last couple of years. For a while before that two of us got a bit more involved in detailing things in 'errata', then with his help I spent time moving the current items to a new basis (accessible via the LFS and BLFS 'read online' pages at linuxfromscratch.org if anyone really cares).

 

Fortunately, we cover far fewer packages than the big distros (and only intel/amd) so many known vulnerabilities are not relevant to us.

[BoD]

2 hours ago, DaveF said:

I seem to have been busy yesterday.  It started badly when I woke early feeling as though I'd been awake all night - probably because I went to bed in a less than good mood on Friday night as I been thinking about the silly neighbour at the flat and how to deal with him.

 

I went for a very nice walk on the beach, the tide was out , the sea was fairly calm, it wasn't cold - but it was still the British seaside in November!  After that I checked the flat again and took photos of the guttering so I can make sure exactly what work has been done when it is completed.  Needless to say the man under Betty's flat came out to see what I was doing, he is now going to take photos too.  I cannot make him understand that it is none of his business.

Are the flats a block of four? Perhaps suggest that if he wants to be involved then he is responsible for 25% of the bill. If they are leasehold, he may well be anyway.

[Gwiwer]

20 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

I found this on the net

There are, unsurprisingly, several establishments named "Old Quay House" around Cornwall.  This one I don't know from first hand experience but the reviews seem good enough.  Fowey is a typical Cornish fishing village which has grown into a tourist honeypot.  The main streets are very narrow with daily traffic blockages as vans deliver essential supplies and - occasionally - find a corner or two a bit too tight for their liking.  Parking is normally in the main car park at the top of town though you can drop off and pick up luggage by arrangement.  The bus stop is also slightly uphill at the Safe Harbour Hotel which in itself is a remarkably tight spot requiring skilled reversing around a corner with steep hills involved.  The town centre occasionally floods on king tides if the river is also in full flow.

 

The only trains these days are the now-infrequent china-clay workings to Carne Point best viewed whilst sipping a pint at the Fisherman's Arms in nearby Golant. That's another spot requiring "Cornish driving" skills as it's at the bottom of a 1:4 hill with blind bends and the road past the pub always floods at high tide.  There are plenty of signs to warn you of that fact and a raised walkway for pedestrians.  

 

Go for it.  There's plenty to see and do.  Nearby Sam's at Polmear is a well-respected restaurant with bookings essential.   I always found the chippy in Tywardreath to be a good'un.  And the ferry, which runs all day every day, over to Polruan will take you to a quiet little village opposite which clings to its hillside with views over the estuary.  

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Arthur Itis gave a few twinges this afternoon but nothing serious. I've  just parked my car back on the drive. After getting home yesterday I deliberately parked it across my drive because the boyfriend of one of my neighbours daughters parks close to the side of my drive. I've mentioned it too him but to no avail as he doesn't actually park across my drive but so close to it I can't get out with some shunting.