JJGraphics

Yes, seeing it in Safari and Firefox on Mac. John

The first time on each day when I forward an e-mail to report@phishing.gov.uk I get an almost instantaneous response like the one below. Subsequent forwarding on the same day doesn't get a response. (I have left off the bottom of the message as it is irrelevant to this discussion). John

Someone needs to give Virgin a serious ear-bashing about that. Its quite ridiculous to block a genuinely useful way to report spam. John

Make sure you forward any dodgy e-mails to: report@phishing.gov.uk John

I recently acquired a loco from a friend with a steam sound project on an ESU V5 – the first one in my collection. The loco drove well and sounded good but the Random Sounds setup was obviously muddled. The safety valve sound only played for a fraction of a second; the coal shovelling and injector sounds were a little better but were much shorter than I would have expected. I read the CVs into JMRI Decoder Pro and made an discovery which I thought others might find useful . . . unlike a V4 which has limited adjustment for the Random Sounds on CV61 and CV62, the V5 has a different approach (and offers more flexibility) as the duration and interval for each Random Sound can be adjusted separately. Each sound has to be selected by CV and then specified for interval and duration under a new section in JMRI Decoder Pro called Random Functions:

Absolutely agree with that. I started out in DCC with a GaugeMaster Prodigy. Although that controller initially met my needs and performed very well I found, like others have commented, that the latching/non-latching keys which that system and other American-based systems have got in the way of some of the functions on some decoders or prevented me from doing what I wanted to. I changed to an ECoS with which I am very pleased and use it with JMRI and also TouchCab on an iPhone but a big powerful system is not for everyone and possibly not for a newbie. I echo what most people have already said: go and speak to specialist retailers both in shops and at shows and also ask exhibitors what their experiences are with the various systems. Try some out for yourself if possible and you will find what suits you. John

You are right that the 30 mph limit is a good way back from where the end of the queue was . . . but speed limits don't apply if you have an Audi or a BMW! I travel that stretch of road fairly often and drive as close to the 40 mph limit as I safely can but am often overtaken by aforementioned makes of cars. John

It certainly was not going in a straight line when it nearly hit me, more crab-wise as the driver tried to get back on to the correct side of the road. John

It was a very shiny new one driven by someone who could barely see over the steering wheel. Don't know about the ABS but I think the vehicle was probably still doing about 50-55 mph after recovering from the loss of control and the driver was taken by surprise by the (quite usual) stationary queue of traffic going into the village. John

That still sounds like a staggering sum of money for two pairs of glasses to me, but perhaps I'm just used to what that optician "you should have gone to" charge me for three pairs of glasses, one for reading, one for computer work and one for driving. John

Know that section of road well and whilst the cyclists can be a real PITA, mostly at the weekend, the "we own the road" Audi and BMW drivers are much more of a danger. Last Sunday my wife and I were on the way to Henley when we were confronted by an Audi tank three-quarters of the way across on the wrong side of the road on the way out of Wargrave. He had mis-judged the bend and nearly lost control. I took to the verge and I don't think there was much more than the thickness of a coat of paint between his vehicle and mine as we passed. There was a great screech of tyres and a cloud of smoke as he managed to stop some way behind us before rear-ending the queue of vehicles waiting to go into Wargrave. John

Spaced several years apart, I've had two good experiences with Ron Lines in Southampton when selling surplus items, recently getting a better offer than two of the big outfits deemed the items were worth. No connection other than a satisfied customer. On the most recent occasion when I wanted to sell some surplus items I sent an e-mail clearly listing what I had to sell and the condition of the items and their boxes to over a dozen places that advertise wanting to buy stuff. As well as a couple of rather derisory offers, I found it irritating when almost half of those I contacted did not even bother to reply. John

I fitted an older 03 with a decoder from Charlie and a stay-alive. It drives really well and sounds good: The decoder sits on the cab floor with the stay-alive black-tacked to the cab ceiling. It is possible to see the electronics if you look closely but from a normal viewing distance they cannot be seen. John

Apple have been removing many Apps from the App Store which had not been updated for a long time and TouchCab seems to have been removed. It was still at version 1.8.4 (which still works for me on iOS 15.4.1) when it was last there. Great shame if this has bitten the dust as it seemed to be one of the best on Apple devices. It moved into new ownership with KMS Railtech in 2016 but since then little has happened and the web site appears to be unattended. Anyone know anything about the current owners and whether they intend to continue with it? John

If you are using an iPhone or iPad to take photos, have the button at the Right for Landscape orientation ones. John

Things with "smart" in their name, which are often anything but.

Track at 50mm centres (00 gauge) works for me. I have fairly small fingers but in reality I hardly ever handle stock on the traverser. John

Like most people I'm well-aware of the myth that smart meters save you money. I have had several "interesting" conversations in the past with the brainwashed telemarketers from two energy companies who insisted that they could. In both conversations they claimed that I could save £xx on my bill, but had no answer when I pointed out that my bill was already considerably below the average for the type of property we occupy and that their suggested "savings" would mean that they would almost be paying us to use their energy! Many people are quite capable of reading their own meters and to submit the readings as we do. We have not had an estimated bill in many years. John

Until it fails or the batteries run out or it gets knocked on the floor and broken. It also seems that after any initial interest they soon get forgotten about as life goes on. I know that at least two of my neighbours had smart meters installed a while ago and have lost interest and thrown displays out. They have both said that they saw no difference in their fuel bills after the meters were installed . . . but that is possibly because our neighbourhood is mostly of a generation that grew up not wasting power as well as many other things that are treated as "disposable" these days. There is a very big bin at our local recycling centre which is for "small electrical items" which always contains quite a few of those displays along with the usual old routers, wireless phones and similar items. John

It's definitely getting back to the point where it takes a significant time to move from page to page rather than the almost instant reaction of the last few weeks. Such a shame as it had become really pleasant to use again after the previous weeks of problems. John

The amount of the Direct debit is notified to you before it is taken so you should be aware and challenge it before it is taken. On one occasion when I had a Direct Debit taken erroneously for a large amount (which put me well overdrawn and affected other payments) the money was back in my account within an hour of me raising the complaint and no charges were made by the bank regarding the overdrawn funds. It took me about ten minutes on the phone to the bank to get it dealt with and they wrote to me almost immediately to confirm what had been done. They also rapped the knuckles of the offending company. John

Other than the old-style meter readers (who were definitely not qualified electricians or gas fitters capable of inspecting meters) no-one came anywhere near our previous meters in the over thirty years we have lived in our house. Nor were the meters ever previously changed. Just under ten years ago our gas meter was replaced when we had it moved due to some building work we were carrying out and a few months later the electricity meter was replaced after an electrician who was completing the installation of a new distribution board dropped a tool of some kind and cracked its case. Since then NO-ONE and I mean NO-ONE has been near the meters to check them or read them. We have changed suppliers a number of times and our readings have simply been accepted by the new supplier. My wife submits the meter readings on the supplier's web site when asked and the bill is always correct and is paid by Direct Debit. For those who worry about using Direct Debit, don't forget that they can be challenged and the money returned almost immediately to your account if anything is done incorrectly by the company calling the payment. See: https://www.directdebit.co.uk/DirectDebitExplained/Pages/Incorrectpayments.aspx We are currently with E-on and continue to get their whiny letters stating that our meters are old and need to be replaced which go straight though the shredder. As and when it is to our benefit we'll consider having smart meters, but as far as I'm concerned that will not happen until SMETS3 meters are available and proved to be satisfactory. Even then, I'm not sure that we will get smart meters as the electricity meter which is the "master" which transmits the readings is located deep inside the property where I cannot get a mobile phone signal so it's unlikely that a smart meter would work. John

Nice bit of video of a peaceful area! My wife and I regularly enjoy walking sections of the Basingstoke Canal. When you visit Mytchett it is worth taking a walk Northwards on the West bank of the canal as you will come to the Frimley Miniature Railway (https://www.flmr.org) which is well worth a look when operation is underway. If you walk a little further you will come to the point where the canal crosses the South Western main line on an aqueduct. John

Suggest you clear the cache and web site data in iOS. 1. Tap Settings and scroll down to Safari and tap it. 2. Scroll down and tap Clear History and Website Data. 3. Close Settings and continue with Safari browsing. Depending on your laptop OS and browser, clearing the caches may also help. John

Hope the server is not listening!