Early Risers.

[NGT6 1315]

Morning all. Dreich abounds on t'ootside. More coffee required. Continued best wishes to everyone under the weather!

[DDolfelin]

I was very cross that I didnt see it stright off.

 

Morning all

 

Its sunny Surrey this morning. Leaves tuerning brown and a little chilly so definitely needed a coat htis morning.

 

T-2 till BIF. More work last night and htis morning on Dobris but still plenty to do tonight before laoding it into the car ready for the long haul up to Barrow tomorrow.

 

Memories of 'Allo, Allo'.

[AndrewC]

(first paragraph to be read in a Hercule Poirot accent, mon ami) Good Morning all from zat borough most boring. Zee little grey cells, they seem to take the day off. Poirot needs a long vacation.

 

A belated happy BoD day. We used to go to a Japanese Teppan restaurant for SWMBO's b'day. They had a tradition of putting a silly wig on the victim and singing happy birthday in Japanese. We never did tell them it was hers. She always threatened revenge. So we'd eat, and enjoy watching others get humiliated, and secretly feel smug about her stealth birthday.

 

Outlook is as good or as risky as any other locally stored file on a computer. If used properly there is no risk of losing anything. First, if you are using Yahoo, Hotmail, etc you can set Outlook's retrieval to leave the original message on the server. That alone creates a backup. Second, if you aren't backing up your user profile folder in Windows regularly you get what you deserve. Outlook's pst files are no different than any other file you want to preserve. Back them up. End of.

 

Enough ranting. Busy day today as I've been drafted into producing 'stuff' for the corporate demo at a software forum next week. Tomorrow is my first interim performance review with my "new" manager.

 

That's about all the drivel I can muster this morning, so have a good day one and all.

[sixoh8sixoh]

Morning all from a beautifully sunny Edinburgh! (I can't say Scottish HQ this morning as I'm not in the office!)  Looks like a perfect day for a steam train ride down the Borders Railway.  My friend Aileen and I have bought cans of G&T to have a civilised trip down (well, if the First Class folks can get prosecco, why shouldn't we have G&T?).

 

This evening is a trip with GF to the local catering college for a Masterchef style menu by 3rd year students - 3 courses, plus amuse bouche, coffee and chocolates, for £10 each.

 

Took the words out of my mouth!  Upgraded to Yosemite last week following input from several guys on another thread.  Buoyed with that success I also went the next step to El Capitan!  Worst thing I ever did...

 

For some reason it didn't transfer my connections to BT Internet and like you it took me ages to get that sorted.  The Apple help line was closed so had to do it all myself.  An hour or so later and much tweaking got my mails but a whole year was missing out of my sent items...

 

Sorted that out, but then tried to send a mail via a group I had set up to 24 of my golfing pals.  Mailing groups are not recognised and it seems there are many other problems if the web is to be believed.  What a crock of sh1t......

 

Currently with just over an hour to go to restore everything back to Oct 6th.  Of course I'll then have to catch up mails etc from the last 24 hours, but my faith and belief in Apple has been severely dented.

 

Seemless upgrades my a*rse.....

 

Gordon, I was hoping I could spare you the problems I'd had by posting that as I knew you (and others on here) were Mac users.  I'm back to Yosemite now, and all is working fine.  I need to speak to Piotr at the Apple Care line tomorrow evening (before 7) about what to do with btinternet mail - I understand it's something to do with POP3 accounts being a problem but IMAP ones not.  Once I'm told what to do, I'll post it here.

 

If you use Outlook or a similar application, it downloads your email from the server and stores it on your computer. That's convenient because it allows you to access your email even when you are off-line. The downside is that the server may no longer have a copy of your email after it downloads it. If your computer crashes, you can lose all the emails that were stored on your computer.

 

 

I've always had my btinternet mail set to keep a copy on the server after it's downloaded, plus I regularly back up the computer, so I'm not concerned about losing emails.

 

I could only shake my head in astonishment over DDolfelin's tale of lack of joined up thinking in the health services. Without getting political, wouldn't it be simpler and more cost effective for the NHS to standardise equipment specs across all NHS areas (divisions? trusts?, what's the correct term?) so that the ambulance crews from Area 1 can plug into the iv cannula in the patient's arm the i.v. line provided in the ER of a hospital in Area 2. Looking from the outside, it does seem that the NHS fails to use its massive purchasing power in the right areas. Take Drugs, for example, given that the NHS accretes copious records on drug usage across all therapeutic areas it would make sense for the NHS to go to a big pharma company (like BMS) and say "last year we used X hundred thousand doses of your medication Y. If we guarantee you that we will definitely purchase 90% of X hundred thousand doses of your drug Y. What preferred customer price will you give us per dose?". Instead, it would seem centralised purchasing is frequently applied to items that would be faster and cheaper (and possibly better quality) to pick up locally at a Ryeman's or a DIY superstore...

 

BoD's ordeal of wearing a sombrero in an Italian restaurant fills me with horror (although I am pleased that he enjoyed himself at his celebration). Apart from a sombrero not being usually seen in Italy, I feel that a celebratory meal should be about the food, the drink and the company. "Obligatory Fun" mandated by strangers is, I would hazard, a fate worse than being rolled in thumb tacks and then being dipped into a vat of isopropyl alcohol. I confess to being a purist about food and I try to eat as authentically as possible when I eat out at "non native cuisine" restaurants. The Swiss are particularly bad at "non native" food, be it Thai, Chinese (well cod-Cantonese) Indian or even Italian (they serve "Italian" food here that not only my dear old Nonna wouldn't recognise in a month of Sundays but also has never been seen south of the Gotthard tunnel). Anything remotely spicy is watered down to utter blandness (I am convinced that many of the Thai curries served here in Swiss Thai restaurants are just shown a picture of a chilli before being served). As I am a pretty good cook the other thing I do when I eat out is to eat things that either I don't have the culinary skills to make (such as a chocolate fondant) or I don't have the equipment needed (e.g. deep fat fryer for tempura).

 

We're hoping that NICE changes its mind at some point about the availability of sapropterin dihydrochloride (Kuvan) on the NHS.  At the moment this isn't available in Britain, as they can manage PKU by diet far cheaper.

 

And GF spent a few months in Switzerland and confirms that the food there is appalling, and that the Swiss aren't good cooks!

 

Have a good day all!

[DDolfelin]

 

"I need to speak to Piotr at the Apple Care line tomorrow evening (before 7) about what to do with btinternet mail - I understand it's something to do with POP3 accounts being a problem but IMAP ones not.  Once I'm told what to do, I'll post it here."

 

That would be of great interest I think!

[big jim]

put my big coat on today and now its glorious heading over to derby on the train!

 

wife phoned me last night to say the laguna wouldnt start, been having trouble with the key card and i kind of fixed it yesterday but it gave up the ghost last night, anyway got an espace on the drive that is u/s since she put petrol in it (its a diesel) so i took a chance on taking the card reader out of that and putting it in the laguna, started 1st time which was brilliant, however when i came back to fit the unit properly the car immobiliser wouldnt let me do anything, start button not working but unit was live as radio/depash etc all came to life but anable to lock the doors etc

 

so this morning i went back to it to see if i could fix it before work, took the original laguna starter unit back out of the broken espace and put it back in the laguna and low and behold i managed to lock the doors but still immobilised, so there was life, then i spotted the problem, the plastic housing on the broken starter was missing 2 tiny plastic tabs that when the key is inserted push 2 microswitches down, one to activate the dash and the other to open the start circuit, looked at the espace starter housing and spotted the tabs were still on that one so i swapped the pcb's over, fitted the now complete starter unit to the laguna and low and behold it started good as gold, so basically the old pcb (which is obviously car specific) in the complete housing, that leaves me with a broken one in the laguna, but its probaly going for scrap anyway as we dont use it

 

as a bonus with the complete starter in the laguna i can now lock the drivers door on the button which ive never been able to do with the old starter, it appears that with tabs missing the car will lock but not the drivers door but now it will lock completly, also its not possible to remove the key card with the engine running as i could do with the old starter

 

a happy bunny now, was dreading having to get the car de-immobilised or a new key coded up

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Nothing from Jock this morning? hopefully its because he's getting a nights undisturbed sleep, talking of which I overslept this morning. Last night was club night and our treasurer has been dismantling his layout, that has remained unused in his garage for several years and I was able to acquire some model buildings and other items, some of the buildings I had made for him. Another building that I had made is now going onto a club layout now under construction, this was made almost entirely from bits 'rescued' from odds and ends and offcuts left over from other projects. The building was intended to represent a timber processing plant and the 'dust extractors' were the caps from tubes of glue.

[Tony_S]

Morning all.

A nice day seems to be forecast.

My car came back from its service yesterday. The first service was included in the purchase price and the one non routine item was covered by warranty so I didn't need to make use of the credit card! Also the car was very clean so hopefully that will last until next year too.

Tony

[AndyB]

Morning all and it's a sunny one here. Looks like it'll be the same tomorrow.

 

Good to read about Jock's grandson's progress and the scars. A close relative of mine used to be a surgeon and once told me that when doing heart surgery he tended to start off at the groin. I was never sure whether this was common practice or just a fetish. Personally I think he missed his vocation and should have been either a chimney sweep, or a plumber. I believe he also took a plumbing qualification to make some real money.  

[Tony_S]

I had a Google search for cross in sky in Devon and a similar photo was posted in August on the Devonlife website. That was an evening photo with clouds too.

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

Like that Tony, when I first had the 407 that had a service contract for 3 years so was cleaned regularly as a result.  Fortunately the local garage I use now for service and the MoT also chucks in a free full clean including interior so the car still gets its annual clean.

 

Nice and sunny out there today but Mrs Stationmaster has been having the usual 'I'm trying to make an appointment this century' fun and games with the surgery after her initial diabetes check.  But lo and behold after she'd spent several minutes trying to get sense out of them they called 90 minutes later - completely in ignorance of her efforts - to make an appointment.  Left hand & right hand don't seem to come into it with that lot.

 

Oh, and I received an email from ACD yesterday - advising that they had available a suitable upgrade patch which would enable their software to continue working on Macs which have been upgraded to El Capitan - seems 'compatability issues' might be rather widespread

 

Have a good day one & all.

[The Lurker]

Morning all, there are beautiful clear blue skies above Borough Market Junction and just a hint of cloud further away.

 

Work continues on the new up Charing Cross line on the new bridge over said market. A 66 is ensconced again.

 

Work here seems to be a mix of fighting fires and preparing for year end onslaught. Other than that, not too much to report

 

Have a good day all

[NGT6 1315]

Re the tram crash in Frankfurt on Tuesday night, I understand preliminary findings indicate the root cause to have been driver error in that the driver in question appears to have followed a preceding tram too closely. This apparently resulted in a point previously set to Left and Locked not unlocking and setting itself in time, so that the tram collided with another tram coming the other way. This would also have been in violation of a regulation in effect on the Frankfurt tram system which states that trams may not cross while passing left-hand points under any circumstances and that the tram which would be performing a facing point movement must wait for the oncoming tram to clear the points.

 

On the other hand, our regulations in Leipzig do allow for crossings through points, except if 1) the point which would be passed in a facing movement is electrically powered but has failed, or 2) the point is non-powered, i.e. manually set. The former case applies when the point signal (or "register", as we usually call it) is completely unlit or provides an ambiguous aspect, in which case we must also contact Control to obtain permission for passing said point.

[Tony_S]

Please ignore if you don't have a Mac!

El Capitan does have a couple of issues that will delay any upgrades in this house for a few more days (weeks). I wouldn't be bothered by the email problem as I have other computers that I use for that anyway. The Microsoft Office problems are those that will delay implementation. Aditi has renewed her Office 365 and installed Office 2016 so won't be upgrading from Yosemite yet.

End of please ignore!

 

Outlook's Android version works very well on my Hudl2.

Tony

[Smiffy2]

I must say I haven't had any El Capitan issues on 3 machines, and Photos is greatly improved. I haven't seen much difference in Mail or Safari.

[DDolfelin]

So - not worth me spending £ks on new kit in order to upgrade the OS.

Everything else works OK on Safari except BT e-mail.

BUT, I can't upgrade the OS without buying new!

 

I don't have to ask you to ignore - I get used to it

[NGT6 1315]

I must say I haven't had any El Capitan issues on 3 machines, and Photos is greatly improved. I haven't seen much difference in Mail or Safari.

 

Neither have I, though I did prefer to do a clean El Capitan install plus restore of back-upped personal files. This was because I had been running the EC public betas for the past few months and wanted to ensure no superfluous content to remain behind.

[trisonic]

I’m still using Mavericks - but then I’m so two years ago (or whenever). Maybe I should get Yosemite particularly as it is free....

 

Best, Pete.

[Tony_S]

I must say I haven't had any El Capitan issues on 3 machines, and Photos is greatly improved. I haven't seen much difference in Mail or Safari.

Have you got Microsoft Office 2016 working? I'm not upgrading the OS until a few days after it is confirmed by public acclaim that Office is stable (as it is on Yosemite).

Tony

[Tony_S]

I’m still using Mavericks - but then I’m so two years ago (or whenever). Maybe I should get Yosemite particularly as it is free....

 

Best, Pete.

In your case my advice would be to see what those who use their Macs with music software say. You must in your field have people you trust. A lot of the advice on the internet is "flawed". I have found this to be particularly so with advice concerning Android devices.

[Jock67B]

Afternoon all,

Just a quick visit before I try to catch up to say that, amazingly, I finally got off to sleep at 1.40am and heard nothing more until the alarm rang at 8am! Still quite a lot of pain but I think it might have lessened slightly although I'll wait to see what happens tomorrow. Feel more human now as I've done Archie's bits, dropped granddaughter to school, and done a little shopping. It will be nice to function again to a degree!

Off to read the input since last night,

Kind regards,

Jock.

[Gwiwer]

The subject of tramway mishaps has cropped up.  As my city of abode hosts the World's largest system a few comments might not be amiss.

 

"Lonely Planet" has this to say on the subject: "Trams weigh half as much as an ocean liner and seldom come off second best in a collision".  That's about right but what if the other vehicle is also a tram?

 

There are various scenarios:-

 

1.  Stationary tram ahead is struck by moving tram behind.  Known as a "Car-ahead collision" and the most common incident where only trams are involved.  Perhaps one a month on a network of 500 tramcars and 250 kilometres though that includes nudges in depots.

 

2.  Stationary tram behind is struck by moving tram ahead (i.e. rolling back).  Known as a "Rear-on collision" and extremely unusual now.  Was more common before most trams featured electronic control and could physically roll back if the brakes were released before power was applied.

 

3.  Moving tram in collision with moving or stationary motor vehicle.  Known as a "Wayside collision" because it has occurred along the side of the tram way.  In theory.  Some are definitely fair and square across the tramway such as motorists who make turns into the path of a moving tram.  Several minor incidents take place most days.  Major incidents involving injury or worse are very rare indeed.  In almost all cases the tram suffers little more than scratched paint or a slightly dented panel and can continue after details are exchanged between drivers.  The car isn't always so lucky and often requires towing.

 

4.  Stationary tram struck by moving motor vehicle.  Also known as a "Wayside collision".  

 

5.  Moving tram in collision with pedestrian or cyclist.  Known as a "Knock-down" for obvious reasons and irrespective of the severity which may range from no injury to fatal.  

 

Our trams have marked lanes in many inner suburban and city-centre streets but share the road with all traffic elsewhere.  In some places it is permitted to drive on the reserved tramway either at all hours or in designated hours as signposted.  In other places tram lanes are sacred.  Australia-wide driving law states that trams have right of way over absolutely everything else on the road except for (1) Emergency vehicles displaying warning lights / using sirens; (2) Funeral corteges and (3) State motorcades / processions when the vehicles used display National or International flags.  State or Royal visits would be the only such occasions.  

Edited October 8, 2015 by Gwiwer

[The Lurker]

Well done, Jock, it certainly sounds like the pain is taking longer to come back, which seems like a very good thing

[Smiffy2]

Have you got Microsoft Office 2016 working? I'm not upgrading the OS until a few days after it is confirmed by public acclaim that Office is stable (as it is on Yosemite).

Tony

No, I use Pages and Numbers. Works better, and can export to xls and docx. Pages outstrips Word by a mile,in my opinion. And it's a lot cheaper. I've also used Libre Office, and that's good, too.

[Smiffy2]

So - not worth me spending £ks on new kit in order to upgrade the OS.

Everything else works OK on Safari except BT e-mail.

BUT, I can't upgrade the OS without buying new!

 

I don't have to ask you to ignore - I get used to it

How old is your kit? I've just updated a 2010 Macbook.