Early Risers.

[iL Dottore]

It’s amazing to note how many of my fellow ER posters are – how can I put it diplomatically? – technologically “recalcitrant“.

 

One would have thought that in 2021 such common or garden well established technologies such as Bluetooth, USB, ad-blockers, programmable domestic appliances, etc., etc. would have been well and truly mastered by my fellow ER denizens. But apparently not.

Perhaps I am an anomaly: but I have not had any of the problems fellow ER members have reported about RMWeb advertising banners, or difficulties in getting my dishwasher or washing machine to do what I wanted them to do or even (dare I say it) mastering the intricacies of setting up a DCC layout.

 

Could it be that like a horse or dog whisperer there are individuals who could be referred to as “technology whisperers“ and like the aforementioned animal  specialists with dogs and horses, can get technology to do things others can’t. If so, although I wouldn’t claim to be “a technology whisperer“ as such, I could probably lay claim to being a “technology mumbler”.

 

Or could it be that some of those who claim to be unable to master such technology are actually individuals that generate a neurological electrical field that in practice acts as a low level EMP device -  disrupting all the technology around them?

 

I might just do an experiment to test my hypothesis (test subjects would have to use a bluetooth enabled dongle, plugged in to a USB port in a laptop to open an electrified cage door to permit them access to a large slice of LDC. Those with abnormal neurological electrical fields would obviously go Cake-less!)

[J. S. Bach]

4 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

I bought my car new over thirteen years ago, it has a CD player but I've never used it.

Mine is a 2005 and I have, maybe, about 24 hours total on the CD and even less on the radio.

[J. S. Bach]

4 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Apparently it cost them £10,000 a minute in lost revenue.

Breaks my heart! 

[The Lurker]

Well I am here in LBG having been disrupted on the way in by a broken down train which meant I had to go the long way round (via Woolwich and Greenwich). So commuting is back with a vengeance.

 

The I managed to lose a whole morning's work when excel crashed (and for some reason the autosave did not keep my work). 

 

And then some one put a meeting in for 1 o'clock so I had better sign off again and prepare.

[Tony_S]

2 hours ago, PupCam said:

 

Given the context of Chris's post am I the only one to spot a bit of irony in the title of this new CD?

I didn’t notice the irony but it is appropriate. I don’t know if Chris follows Grace Petrie on Twitter but she had posted a very amusing comment about the Facebook “outage’ this morning. 

[simontaylor484]

Talking of Mitsubishi Outlanders 

https://www.wakefieldexpress.co.uk/news/crime/thieves-used-ps20000-game-boy-device-to-unlock-and-steal-cars-in-wakefield-and-leeds-3406864

[Tony_S]

53 minutes ago, J. S. Bach said:

Mine is a 2005 and I have, maybe, about 24 hours total on the CD and even less on the radio.

My car is a 2018 model and does have a CD player. I don’t think I have used it. It also plays DVDs and I certainly haven’t used it for that. On the only long journeys we have made in that car I did put a couple of cds in the glove box but didn’t use them. I also had an old iPod in the central console between the front seats with all the music I have and don’t recall using that either. We tend to chat.

[AndrewC]

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

It’s amazing to note how many of my fellow ER posters are – how can I put it diplomatically? – technologically “recalcitrant“.

 

One would have thought that in 2021 such common or garden well established technologies such as Bluetooth, USB, ad-blockers, programmable domestic appliances, etc., etc. would have been well and truly mastered by my fellow ER denizens. But apparently not.

Perhaps I am an anomaly: but I have not had any of the problems fellow ER members have reported about RMWeb advertising banners, or difficulties in getting my dishwasher or washing machine to do what I wanted them to do or even (dare I say it) mastering the intricacies of setting up a DCC layout.

 

Could it be that like a horse or dog whisperer there are individuals who could be referred to as “technology whisperers“ and like the aforementioned animal  specialists with dogs and horses, can get technology to do things others can’t. If so, although I wouldn’t claim to be “a technology whisperer“ as such, I could probably lay claim to being a “technology mumbler”.

 

Or could it be that some of those who claim to be unable to master such technology are actually individuals that generate a neurological electrical field that in practice acts as a low level EMP device -  disrupting all the technology around them?

 

I might just do an experiment to test my hypothesis (test subjects would have to use a bluetooth enabled dongle, plugged in to a USB port in a laptop to open an electrified cage door to permit them access to a large slice of LDC. Those with abnormal neurological electrical fields would obviously go Cake-less!)

I'm (as usual) a bit of an anomaly. The house is filled with tech. I work with tech. My layouts and modules are all DCC with wifi control. Music is in every room via Sonos with the music stored on a NAS drive. My home network is more advanced and secure than many businesses. Driving music is via bluetooth and my phone. Can't beat having 12k plus tracks on random shuffle. Sorry Chris, but this way I don't risk my CD collection to some D-bag with a brick. The phone and the music never leaves my pocket.

 

However, I'm not what would be called an early adopter. I adopt tech where I see a use for it, not for the sake of it. I see no need for my fridge to email me whenever the egg tray is low. On the other hand having an app that controls the house's heat and shed's aircon/heat means I can see how hot/cold it is and when I want to do some work out there a simple tap tap on the phone lets me turn the heat on. Even my BBQ has connectivity to let me monitor & control the temp of the pit and monitor the cooking of the meat. Saves me spending 8-12 hours being chained to the patio during a long cook.

Normally I keep things like bluetooth switched off to save battery. I don't have anything in the house that is voice operated. (throw back to when my home office had to meet certain gov levels of security) Even my SIRI and Cortana have been muted. Like Tony, I have switched off all the voice controls in the Disco. 

 

On another note, if you wake up feeling like crap to the point where your phone's faceID doesn't recognise you, the correct solution is to go back to bed. 

 

[Pacific231G]

Afternoon all

Quick one before a Zoom committee meeting (Oh what joy!)

Did the weekly Tesco shop this AM and this PM I walked to the surgery and back for my flu jab - all very efficient and so far no side effects. 

 

My newish Focus (well newish for me it was built in 2016) does have a CD player but I've not used it as yet it also has a USB port and I can put all my favourite audio (inc. every episode of my favourite radio comedy Cabin Pressure) on a single stick. I've also discovered its voice command system but it does have an annoying habit of not understanding what I'm telling it. It thinks "four" means "phone"  so I often have to tell it to go to three (radio three) then use the control on the steering wheel to change channels.  The Satnav is also a bit more stupid than the Google one in my phone and tends to demand precise addresses rather that just the name of the place I'm visiting that Google does know. On the plus side It isn't quite as fond as Google is of sending me down miles of single track country roads.   

[Two_sugars]

A wishy-washy sort of day here . . . Wish it would stop THRASHING DOWN  , 'cos' the day 's a total wash out . . .

 

In other news . . I've got to go shopping for a dark suit, within the next couple of days . . . in the midst of life, .  .etc.

 

The sky has sprung a major leak again . . Oh well . . .

 

I'm stopper nin where it's warm and cozy . . 

 

Keep smiling, all.

 

 

John

[Tony_S]

One thing where I suppose I have gone back in time with technology is to is my vinyl record collection. I suppose when vinyl was all that was about I suspect I couldn’t afford or justify the expense on something more than a fairly basic record playing system. CDs sounded so much better to me than my vinyl system. I dug out all the lps and my old record deck and enjoyed listening to some stuff I didn’t have on cd or digital download. I decided I would buy a new record deck and cartridge, still probably not one the audiophiles would consider as being worthy but I can at least appreciate what I was missing for years. 
Tony

[AndrewC]

7 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

One thing where I suppose I have gone back in time with technology is to is my vinyl record collection. I suppose when vinyl was all that was about I suspect I couldn’t afford or justify the expense on something more than a fairly basic record playing system. CDs sounded so much better to me than my vinyl system. I dug out all the lps and my old record deck and enjoyed listening to some stuff I didn’t have on cd or digital download. I decided I would buy a new record deck and cartridge, still probably not one the audiophiles would consider as being worthy but I can at least appreciate what I was missing for years. 
Tony

You aren't the only one. I have the Sonos connected to my ancient Kenwood amp and often play our ever growing vinyl collection through the house. I can also push the digital library through the amp when I feel like it. However, I still prefer a pure analogue listening experience. A decent table (Rega) and some of the remastered 180g albums are just beautiful to listen to. Even the old Sony dubbing cassette deck gets the occasional outing. 

[New Haven Neil]

I do draw the line at cassettes!  I have a decent record deck (Thorens) and Arcam CD player, which get used a lot.  My Musical Fidelity amp died though  but I have reasonable Denon and a Kenwood surround amp for films.  I use a Sony digital Walkman too, a quality one, but that is mostly in the garage where another Denon amp lives.  The price of vinyl surprised me while we were away last week, both new and pre-owned, it seems our modest collection is quite valuable!

 

Computers though, drive me nuts, as the three we have work or react differently with the 'same' software, or won't do the same things, or otherwise annoy and frustrate both of us.....you're welcome to them, Andrew!  

[pH]

6 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

My car has voice control I struggled with it because i don't have a Swedish accent 

 

28 minutes ago, Pacific231G said:

I've also discovered its voice command system but it does have an annoying habit of not understanding what I'm telling it. 

 

 

[tigerburnie]

I have my original Technics record turntable from 1984, I managed to get a new drive belt for it from ebay, not that I have a huge vinyl collection, but there are some items that never made it to cassette (yes I still have those too) never mind to digital, I have a few old Lp's that are mono that get an airing from time to time.

[Tony_S]

16 minutes ago, tigerburnie said:

managed to get a new drive belt for it from ebay,

For years it was really difficult to get belts but did get easier as vinyl  resurged in popularity.. My new turntable doesn’t have a belt. 

Edited October 5, 2021 by Tony_S

[pgcroc]

You took the biggest slice of cake!

Anybody you know?

 

 

[Barry O]

I have a lot of vinyl recordings from way back when.. used to be on my Apple app.. when  that was junked I have not got round to re-recording it all.  Pah!

 

I need to get some music onto a memory stick for the car - radio works well but I sometimes yearn for other music.

 

Blowing a hooley with occasional cloudbursts here..but the forecast chuckintdarn has not happened.. yet!

 

Baz

[polybear]

9 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

The Farcebook outage caused consternation  in the chateau.  Beth was due to have her usual hour long natter with a friend in Morley.  Whatsapp wouldn't work and Messenger wouldn't either. My suggestion that she picked up the landline phone and rang the friend was not well received.
 

 

A guy on the radio this morning said he was unable to contact his wife so ended up having to use the old-fashioned way of using a telephone.  He was somewhat surprised to learn that she no longer worked at Woolworths

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Went down to Tess Coes this afternoon and much to my surprise there were no queues at the filling station. Although I had more than half a tank left which would normally last me into next week I filled up as I intend to go to Chappell and Wakes Colne this Sunday. Tea has brewed, be back later.

[New Haven Neil]

As a for instance of y relationship with computers, my lappy has now started showing 'an application has blocked this' when I click on thread titles in this forum - second attempt works OK.  Suspect its something to do with the video clip thing.

[polybear]

8 hours ago, PupCam said:

My own view (and with no political intent at all) is that as soon as some little scrotes go on an "outing"   all bets are off and they are fair game for any reasonable tactics to be employed to stop them.     If they end up in a "sub-optimal" condition sobeit.

 

Agreed.....I do recall that in certain circumstances the Police are actually allowed to "punt 'em off" - I think it may be called a "Tactical Stop".  One was shown on the TV once - the look on the scooter riders' face after he'd just been punted off by a Patrol Car was a real picture....

 

8 hours ago, PupCam said:

Mine isn't and I'm not

 

Bitch

 

8 hours ago, PupCam said:

Having seen, read and maybe even written a few in my time - the good ones are those that have the qualifying warnings and cautions immediately before the action to which they apply.      Who ever reads through all of the W's & C's at the beginning or end of a document?

 

Certainly not the Bozo at WHL who thought he'd do a Carrier Test on a Lynx on the weekend shift - obviously the line in the book which reads "Warning:  No Stores are to be loaded on the Carriers" didn't compute.  Bear came in on Monday morning to discover that something very expensive and very heavy was saved by the ground safety pin doing it's job.....

 

8 hours ago, PupCam said:

In other news;

Cutting more mitres on skirting boards today then - deep joy.        I found when attaching the architrave with "No More Nails"  the other day that I needed to hold it in place with a couple of nails until the "No More Nails" had gone off.   See, it is "Irony Tuesday".   Told you so.

 

 

Gripfill - the full-fat solvent version in the green tube.  You'll need proper safety equipment though, namely ear defenders.  That's to protect Puppers' delicate lug 'oles from Mrs. P's moanin' about the smell for the next week.....

 

In other news:

Kitchen now declared squeaky clean - final "finish" tasks now postponed until tomorrow.....

Also Bear met up with college buddies - much non-pc discussion over a sossie & egg baguette with chips carried out

Also I risked life n' limb (ok a queue) getting fuel at the local Tesco; they had a reasonable queuing system which snaked around the car park - I was about No. 10 still waiting to actually get onto the forecourt, but within 5 minutes I was pumpin' gas.  Full tank now

Edited October 5, 2021 by polybear

[Ian Abel]

Missed a lot - various AWOL excuses including, but not limited to;

 

A misspent weekend involving sorting a new roof for the shed at the lake cabin. We thought we had it all sussed, measurements taken, requirements and replacement products determined, THEN, supply-chain shattered the well-thought-out plans. Looks like we will have to start out with replacing the sheathing (plywood) and the tar paper barrier, BUT, the roofing product will have to wait as it's unavailable  We can "make do" until the spring as no-one uses the cabin after late October. The spring hopefully will see availability of what we want/need.

 

Misspent couple of days working, access issues together with a lot of reporting changes kept me far too busy...

 

Far as technology goes - haven't read all the relevant messages but get the gist;

I'm not an early adopter but embrace as much tech as I can get away with from the Mrs. Much of the house is "smart" including lighting, sound, security cameras smart-TVs and vacuuming

My other hobby flight-sim has me using several computers and 5 screens to handle it all, via internet connections to join others who are wasting their time similarly blah, blah...

 

The car has the top-of-the-line sound system, which strangely is the ONLY one that includes a CD player. That'll never get used as I have (as others have) all my music on a 128GB card in my phone, and stream that to the car sound system. Also make abundant use of both the phone and built-in GPS (SATNAV)!

Mrs loves vinyl, we've an extensive collection, and has a turntable connected to the in-house for when she wishes to play them 

 

DCC runs the <shhh> and I use a laptop equipped with JMRI for route control and to run old cell-phone additional/guest controllers.

 

Enough for now

 

10 first thing, sunny and expected to reach 32 later.

 

Tally ho.

Edited October 5, 2021 by Ian Abel

[simontaylor484]

I only use gripfil solvent or pink grip both reasonably priced 2.50 ish and work well 

[Coombe Barton]

Swedish?