Steve44

I had their Tivo box until a couple of years ago when the forced an "upgrade". The new box has uch better hardware but the software was a leap backwards.

Regarding ads, on recorded programmes I can fast forward through them. It's not a direct skip but can jump +30 seconds at a time.

When viewing through any of the channel apps most of them used to allow skipping, but over the past few months it's now blocked on all of them I think. They do tell you how many adverts there are in each block and how long the one is, such as "2/10 29 seconds to go". Unfortunately they don't tell you the total length of the break, some sections are just a few seconds.

I also have a set I curate and put in with the family & household papers. That doesn't have any of my personal crap, just documents, photos, and family history etc.

Reportedly it intercepted a USAF RB-57F[1] at 80,000ft and also did a zoom climb to just under 88,000ft.

https://theaviationgeekclub.com/raf-lightning-pilot-recalls-...

[1] A reconnaissance aircraft based on the English Electric Canberra. NASA still flies a couple of them for high altitude research.

Had a Miele about 30 years ago and it was very good. It died when someone tried to hoover up a spilt glass of water and the motor was going to cost as much as a new cleaner.

We've had a couple of Dysons. They are great; they clean very well, the variety of tools is great, and the connectors for the tubes & tools is easy and very secure. Mine were all mains powered.

Downsides to the Dyson is it needed emptying very often and that could also be quite messy. Possibly a combination being good at sucking up, and a comparatively small hopper/"bag". I stripped it down once as it seemed to be struggling to clean as well, the cyclone/jet engine was full of "dust" and some of it was caked on but after a good clean was as good as new.

Now got a Henry. The bag hardly ever needs changing, the cable is very long, and the tube is long. I don't think it picks up as well as the Dyson and the tools are fiddlier to use as they are all just push fit and also don't feel as good quality.

Yes Henry is very robust, can be easily repaired/maintained, and they just work; that is probably why they are used commercially and so well loved. I don't think it cleans anything like as well as the Dyson though.

Generally I would use it on smaller / unfamiliar websites; I may be more hesitant about entering my credit card numbers but also it's quicker and easier as I can do it without getting my card out of my bag.

I also use it exclusively for eBay purchases.

Although we are a B2B business, most of our card transactions are from business owners personal cards so it's not really an issue. We occasionally monitor the split and if it became significant we'd need to look at addressing it, probably by increasing prices for those customers.

We're a business in the UK and the charges for accepting Business credit cards is much higher.

I don't have current charges to hand, but in 2023 Personal Credit Cards were 1.97% whilst for Business Credit Cards we were charged 3.43%. That's probably how they afford such high cashback/loyalty schemes.

I think we're paying about half those rates now. I know Amex is somewhere between Personal and Business charges.

My memory is very hazy, it was well over 40 years ago, but I think keeping the timing under control was was one a big hurdle. Because it was single threaded and there was effectively only one interrupt, screen refresh/flyback, so you had to intersperse the music code into the main code and juggle it to even out the note timing.

I remember one game I wrote for the 16K Spectrum, and thanks to an incredibly clever & musical friend we got something like 30 seconds of a tune that had a passable resemblance to Bach's Toccata in about 20 -30 bytes of code.[1]. Every last byte mattered on that machine.

[1] Not 100% on the details but it was about that. We used a combination of base notes and mathematical progression rather than just playing a score as we could get that smaller. I think I've a dot-matrix printout of the games source code somewhere, assuming the ink hasn't faded.

If you do get one, investigate that before attempting to power it up.

Have a flick through these links listing losses or two RAF types, it's quite sobering.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_accidents_and_incident...

https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/europe/harrier...

There were a few crashes where the cockpit crew ejected, this being one at London Heathrow.

https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1956/dec/...

> It would be unjust to the pilot and co-pilot were I not to make it clear, in conclusion, that it was their duty to eject from the aircraft when they did. I am satisfied that there could have been no hope of controlling the aircraft after the initial impact. In these circumstances, it was the duty of the captain to give the order to abandon the aircraft and of all those who were on board to obey it if they were able to do so. Both the pilot and co-pilot realised when they gave their orders that, owing to the low altitude, the other occupants had no chance of escape, and they considered that their own chances were negligible

If it looses either the lift or main engine the resulting pitch change would be too rapid for a human to react to so the system triggers ejection.

It doesn't look like a fancy manoeuvrer, just slow repositioning and they drifted into each other.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QlJrUX1Ags is probably a better link to the clip.

Tower of London is good, there is so much history in there and a number of exhibitions well worth seeing.

I've done most of the "tourist traps"[1] and really enjoyed them. The London Eye gives you great views, especially at sunset; The Shard (cocktail bar, not done the viewing platform) is a bit expensive and style over substance but still worth doing once; Buckingham Palace is a world class historical living building; The South Bank has a lot going on and also gives great views of London; The Royal Albert Hall is a stunning concert venue; most of the big museums are free.

The one place I've not done as it really doesn't appeal to me is Madame Tussauds.

[1] Compared to other cites apart from the pedal rickshaws and the find-the-lady on Westminster bridge I don't think London is inundated with rip-off tourist traps like many other cities appear to be.

I've been a happy user of Tabula[1] for a few years and it works really well, for my needs anyway.

I just import, auto-detect tables, select "Stream", and then export to a CSV.

[1] https://tabula.technology/ [1] https://github.com/tabulapdf/tabula

> N

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(sorry about formatting)

What has helped a LOT is we've developed a double sided sheet we print out with the basic game mechanics, tiles, and scoring. It still needs some tweaking but means our rules[1] are clear and we can quickly refer to them as we're playing.

We've a second sheet which shows the winds, once that's been decided we just just orientate it with the players.

[1] We're very aware there are lots of sets of rules, we've just decided on the ones we consistently play.

We can also add Whiff Waff to the alternative names!

One is basically a self centring sprung up/off/down switch. That would be similar to a car indicator stalk and simple left/right arrow keys.

Another would be rotary with a stop but it sent a physical position, presumably it was something like a variable resistor or very fine resolution rotary switch. With these you could instantly position your character by the position on the ring/slider. This could be interpreted as position 1, 2, 3 etc etc.

The third was a free spinning which moved the character faster the faster you spun it. This would be how I remember Tempest playing, you could slowly nudge it or just do a fast spin & stop to quickly move around. This would produce a signal such as clockwise+very slow or anti-clockwise+very fast.

Same here. I've been using them at home and work for years and they are absolutely fantastic; we've probably got well over 100 and it's rare for one a year to break and even then it's usually just the lid.

I think they've been very clever in how they manage their range. I generally use the 12L and 18L boxes, but I don't need to remember any dimensions because a different profile box would say be 11L or 19L. All you need to do is remember the capacity and it'll be the right matching box.

https://www.diamineinks.co.uk/products/diamine-30ml-archival...

> Waterproof archival quality fountain pen ink in Blue-Black. Initially writes Blue, then oxidises to Black over time as it bonds to the paper. Traditionally used to record births, deaths & marriages.

And from another source :-

> Permanent archival blue-black ink based on an iron-gall formulation, as used by registrars and the clergy for official documents.

> Iron gall ink formulations have been used for around 1,500 years, and many of the world's most historic documents have been written using it. This ink will remain legible for hundreds of years.

> Please Note: This is an iron-gall ink, which contains particles that can clog fountain pen feeds. It's also acidic, which can damage steel nibs. Use with caution, and at your own risk. Not for use in valuable pens.

I've put a lengthier response to the parent post, but look at https://classicfinefoods.co.uk/dairy/5713-french-gruyere-pgi... as that may solve our quandary.

TIL that Gruyere from France is different to Swiss and it must have holes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gruy%C3%A8re_cheese > The PGI documentation also requires that French Gruyère has holes "ranging in size from that of a pea to a cherry", a significant departure from the Swiss original. Peter Ungphakorn, a Swiss local and an international trade expert, comments that the French Comté cheese could be a closer match to the Swiss version.

And there is a good image of Gruyere with holes here, https://classicfinefoods.co.uk/dairy/5713-french-gruyere-pgi...

Although they are not the same cheese, they are quite close in texture and flavour and are fairly interchangeable to the point where I don't think a significant number of people could tell you which was which.

There is also the Swiss Cheese Model which is when several unfortunate events all line up to cause a major incident.

If you think that looks dicey, search for the video of when another Blue Peter presenter,John Noakes, cleaned Nelsons Column in Trafalgar Square. Note the overhanging wooden ladder and the entire safety equipment was a pair of flared jeans and platform boots!

He also climbed the mast of HMS Ganges which is possibly even more heart stopping.

She arrived at work one day in a state of panic because her water bottle spilt in the car and she was terrified of becoming dehydrated during her 15 minute commute.

And no, there wasn't anything medically wrong with her.

When my wife was ill a few years ago the doctor suggested Angel Delight[1] to help maintain fluids. Until then it hadn't occurred to me you're still effectively drinking half a pint of milk when you eat a bowl.

[1] It's an instant dessert / mousse that you mix up with milk. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_Delight

It's running Win7 and I only use it for RDP onto work. The battery is screwed, perhaps lasts 10 seconds so just enough to cover quickly moving it.

[1] 1920 x 1200 and very matt. It's just stunningly clear and easy on the eyes with great colour rendition.