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  Whitchurch21.com 

Adam Shaw The many thanks idiot

 

Ever changing.

22nd January 2012

 I guess I have not been finding much I wanted to comment on recently. It's the 22 days into 2012 and I haven't added a thing this year. The internet like life is ever changing. Social networking sites are taking over from personal web sites, but I am a bit of a stick in the mud, and so I still keep my personal web sites and I am avoiding twitter, facebook etc. Windows improved right up to XP and since then has become full of gimmicks. Instead of nice dropdown menus with written indications of what it does, we now have lots of little icons without writing so we have to guess what they mean. I don't spend as much time reading as I use to, preferring to get my entertainment from the TV. I tend to send the odd email, read a few news items, and chat to my friends on Skype, and that's about it.

4ODear.

5th December 2011

 If you miss an episode of say "The Big Bang Theory" and you try using 4OD then prepare to be disappointed. It didn't offer the last episode. It offered the next one (not yet televised) and trying to play it made it respond with not available. Its no wonder people resort to file sharing.

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OK so a football manager topped himself.

28th November 2011

 I have had to rely on getting the news from the internet the last couple of days because the TV new has been dominated with the news of this prat who killed himself. You would think they would spend maybe 5 minutes telling us about it and then move to the important new going on in the world, but no. They go to a reporter at some football stadium who starts saying what a good man he was in various ways. Maybe if someone had told him how much they appreciated him he may not have committed suicide.

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Kate Bush Stop.

19th November 2011

 I have just previewed the new Kate Bush Album. What a load of rubbish. Each of the tracks contain a few notes on a piano followed by what is supposed to be singing followed by the same sequence of notes. It is hard to find a great difference between each of the slow boring dirges.

Had someone played any of the tracks and asked me to say who the Artist was, I would not of had a clue, and I loved her 70's music.

 

Quantitative easing.

7th September 2011

 I heard on the news the other day that the bank of England are going to do that quantitive easing trick again. All this really means is they are going to print more money, increasing the amount of money in circulation. When you consider that the amount UK money that is in circulation is increased. As the total value of the money remains the same they are effectively decreasing the value of the money in circulation. This reduces the value of any savings you may have. To me that is the bank stealing from us all.

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Doctor What?.

30th August 2011

 I have not added anything to my page for over a month so I thought I would add this thought.

If Dr Who had not been written when the police box was found on our streets but was written today, the only similar thing commonly seen on the streets would have been the portable loo. So instead of this.

it would be this

So I guess we would call it the Turdis flown though time and space by Dr Poo.

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Amy Winehouse.

24th July 2011

 I Just read that Amy Winehouse has been found dead after overdosing on various drugs. All that fame and money and she couldn't get herself off drugs. How stupid can you get?

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Lidl reopens with higher prices.

21st July 2011

 I just walked into the refurbished Lidl after it had been closed for 5 weeks only to discover that the biscuits I usually buy from them had increased in price by 56%. that is one massive increase.

I am not going to pay extra to cover their shop refurbishment, so I walked out without buying anything.

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The mobile phone cancer debate goes on.

4th July 2011

 I just read two articles about the risk of using mobile phones. The first one refers to research confirming that using them can cause brain tumours and the second one assures us there is no danger. Well, when they first came out I said there is no way I will use one as I did not fancy holding something against my head that transmits on a frequency similar to to that used in a Microwave Oven! so I have never been tempted to get one. The good side is that when I am out people cannot call me. If there is a bad side then I would not be able to call for help in an accident or breakdown, but I managed before mobile phones so I think I can manage now.

Mobile phones cause 'five-fold increase in brain cancer risk' - Telegraph

BBC News - Mobile phones 'unlikely' to cause cancer

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British Telecom far from green!

2nd July 2011

 Like most internet providers BT supply a router when you sign up to use them as your provider, but if in the future (After the contract time) you decide to change providers you will have to get a router for/from your new provider because BT routers are made not to accept other providers settings. A search on line found a site claiming to unlock the BT router, but it was very long winded and despite very patiently reading through it many times I failed to find a way to unlock the router.  Providing a router that cannot be used with anyone else is definitely not green as that router will probably just get thrown away, and if like me you would like a backup router in the cupboard in case the one in use fails, a new one would have to be purchased.

The above goes for any other provider of hardware that builds in such restrictions.

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Avoid the Post Office instant saver!

22nd June 2011

 A couple of years ago I opened at the local Post Office an account called an instant Saver. It turned out to be most unsatisfactory in that you could not set up a standing order on it and could not use it to have your state pension paid into it so I withdrew the money I had opened it with and said I would like to close it. I was told I would have to ring them to close it. If I go into a bank to open an account, I can go in and close it there too. There was 94 pence left in it so I didn't bother as the phone call would probably have cost more than that. Nothing happened until last week when I received a statement showing that some interest had been added to the account. Presumably on the money I had in it before I withdrew it, so after a search for my card and its pin number I withdrew the amount and when I asked was told to ring them to close it. This time I went on line and found a free-phone number and rang them and was told I needed a security number. Today I received by post a new security number. Having got the security number I rang again saying I now had the number, and was told to close the account I had to write to them. Well the balance is now zero, so I am dammed if I am going to waste postage writing to them. Let them waste their money sending me statements showing the £0.00 balance until eternity.

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Whatever you do, don't buy a Chromebook

21st June 2011 Google have actually had the nerve to put their Chromebook on the market!! Having read many reviews of this computer I can only say Save your money. It isn't even a standard notebook that you could replace the operating system with another such as Windows or Linux. It is an experimental computer that uses the cloud to do all of its work rather than save anything in its own hard drive. For more details read my next item or go to

http://www.infoworld.com/d/mobile-technology/whatever-you-do-dont-buy-chromebook-377

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The Cloud

19th June 2011

I see that Googles new operating system insists on using the cloud to save data and not the computers hard drive. While this does mean you will have access to your files from any machine on line, it also means your data is out there for the people running these on line storage facilities to spy on. People also can have a go at hacking into your data at any time even though your computer may be turned off. I will stick to storing my files on a hard drive in my own premises. Yes, in theory someone may be able to get at my data when I am on line but in practice they will find it much more difficult due to the hardware firewall in my router and the software firewall and antivirus applications running on my computers. Plus the fact you can store your most sensitive files on a USB drive and disconnect it when not in use.
Google,your search engine is excellent, but I wouldn't touch your cloud computing with a barge pole.

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NHS redefine URGENT.

17th June 2011

I was told by a doctor to go into my local hospital and have an X-ray, saying it was urgent. I had the X-ray today. 10 DAYS later. Maybe the Oxford English Dictionary should add an extra definition to the word URGENT when applied the NHS. I notice the X-ray dept is only open for 4 hours 4 days a week. That is pathetic!

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in Whitchurch Closes.

15th June 2011

I have just been told at our local Lidl store that they close at 8PM tonight for 5 weeks while they alter the store. That would not be surprising if they didn't have a large sign stating that they remain open during the improvements. I know Lidl is a German company, but you would think they would find someone fluent in English to compose their signs.

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The Next Windows Version.

3rd June 2011

I have just viewed a video about the next version of Windows and it looked awful. I guess the youngsters will go for it, but I will stay away from it if I possibly can. If you want to judge for yourself then Click here.

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Welcome to England, but bring your own water.

24th May 2011

What ever next. According to the Daily Telegraph the American president has been warned not to drink our tap water! I can just see him while dining with the Queen, pulling a small container of water from his pocket labelled "All American H2O".

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Planning permission fiasco

22nd May 2011

I have never taken an interest in local politics, and therefore did not realise how difficult and long winded it is for people to object to development plans put in by big companies. When I first heard that Tesco wanted to build an out of town supermarket just outside my home town of Whitchurch in Shropshire I thought "Oh No that will take most of the shoppers away from the town centre and it won't be long before I will live in a ghost town" so I wanted to object. I heard there was a group forming to fight it and eventually was able to sign a petition against it. My wife got involved in this group and became a board member and a friend of mine became chairman, and so I ended up running a website. Because I run the Whitchurch21 web site I get reports sent to me to add to the site, so I learnt some of the many hoops we have to jump through in an attempt to stop this development going ahead. It looks like it will be a long time before it all comes to a head and Tesco are not about to give up even if the application is rejected. I guess they will keep putting forward proposals hoping the general public will tire of the whole thing and stop objecting. It looks like it will be up to the Whitchurch21 committee to ensure this doesn't happen.

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Lottery Company greed

4th May 2011

I have spent £2.00 a week on the Euro lottery since the UK Lotto was ruined by
going twice a week reducing the prize money.

I hear the Euro lottery is going down the same path. Well I am not spending
£4 a week so I will stop doing the lottery altogether.

If someone will start selling Boston Creams in the UK like the ones they sell at Tim Hortons in Canada and the USA, I will buy one of those each week instead.

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May the 5th is AV referendum day

18th April 2011

I Notice that the main two parties are running down the Alterative voting system. It is about the only thing they have agreed upon for years, while all the lesser parties are promoting it.

The safe seats in the main parties have had it too easy for far too long and the AV system would mean they would have to work to retain their seats, so I will be voting in favour of the alternative voting system. They have had it too easy for far too long.

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The BBC name change game

30th March 2011

In the last few days I have heard that BBC radio 7 is to change its name to BBC Radio 4 Extra, and today on the BBC World Service I discovered a radio programme called Digital Planet is now called Click. There is already TV programme called Click so that will cause some confusion. Click used to be called Click On Line. What is the point of changing channel and programme names? Maybe they are short of something to give their employees to do, so rather than make them redundant and save the licence fee for something useful, they introduce them to the new Name Changing Game.

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How Come

17th March 2011

How come man is clever enough to design and build nuclear power stations and stupid enough to build them near a coast next, right next to to a seismic fault line.

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Whitchurch 21

4th March 2011

 Whitchurch Rallies Against Tesco Proposals

There was standing room only in the Chester Suite at the Dodington Lodge on Thursday, 3rd March as residents and traders opposed to the development of a 40,000 square foot supermarket on Edgeley Park gathered to elect a committee to campaign against proposals that will rip the heart out of the centre and destroy the character of this traditional market town.

The mood of the meeting was buoyant as it was stressed that the Tesco proposals were not a done deal and examples of successes against large supermarket developments were rolled out for everyone to see.

The name of the group, formerly WH21, was changed to Whitchurch 21, the better to identify with the town, and a committee was elected with a clear mandate to campaign against a new large retail development on Edgeley Park and for the sustainable development of Whitchurch. It was felt that the committee, as well as fighting to stop the proposed out of town development, should continue to look for ways to encourage and promote sustainable growth and the regeneration of the town centre. The gathering was cheered to hear that the petition to keep Tesco on its present site on White Lion Meadow had neared 2,000 signatures.

The organisation was at pains to make it clear that it was not anti-Tesco; the concerns are that the nature and position of the proposed development will have a devastating effect on the sustainability of the small shops which give Whitchurch its unique character and make it so attractive to visitors who seek variety and individuality in their shopping experience. There is room for development, but it must be in scale and in the right place. A monopoly is no choice at all.

The Committee was elected as follows:

Chairman Malcolm Donley
Deputy Chairman Pat Davies
Secretary Geoff Handley
Treasurer To be elected at a later date
Committee Members were elected as follows:

Andy Allen, Jason Chadwick, Lynda Foster, Julie Haycocks, Simon Lyon, Roger McMinn, Les Morris, Daphne Smewing, Jason Thelwell

Consultant
Margaret Hollins

 

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Trouble with Tesco in Whitchurch Shropshire

3rd March 2011
 
Whitchurch 21 is trying to collect data on people's shopping habits in order to have some ammunition to fight Tesco's development bid.

Tesco wants to build a superstore of 40,000 square feet on the rugby club on the outskirts of Whitchurch, Shropshire, in addition to keeping its town centre store.  In the opinion of many residents and traders, this will destroy the viability of the town centre and leave shoppers with no choice owing to Tesco's monopoly. Those opposed to the Tesco development will be forming a committee at a meeting at the Dodington Lodge, Whitchurch, at 7.00pm on Thursday, 3rd March 2011 to stop Tesco destroying the heart of the town.  All those who support this opposition are welcome to join us to give the committee a mandate to act on your behalf.  There is a petition with over 1,400 signatures to keep Tesco in the town centre rather than on an out-of-town site.  Please sign up if you have not already done so.  In addition to the negative effect on the town centre, there are serious misgivings about Tesco's conduct as detailed below:

John Waite, who investigated the supermarket for Radio 4's Face the Facts, said Tesco "stand accused of dragging out the planning process, challenging enforcement orders, manipulating the planning laws, bending them, if you like, and breaking them on occasion."

Just a few examples of Tesco twisting or flouting planning regulations, reneging on promises, and having no respect for the local community:

 

2/2011 Moreton Cross, Wirral Tesco apply retrospectively to sell alcohol until 11pm, in a well-known crime hotspot.

1/2011 Barnstaple, N Devon The chairman of North Devon Council’s planning committee has accused a major supermarket retailer of attempting to “ride roughshod” over local council planning rules. Cllr Jasmine Chesters spoke as Tesco sought retrospective permission for a raft of “minor changes” they had already made to a brand new superstore being built at Seven Brethren in Barnstaple. The company diverted from the original plans approved in March last year, making some 35 changes including the removal of the petrol station car wash and relocation of kiosk and pumps, as well as alterations to the car parking layout, service yard, doors, fire escapes and roof “windcatchers”. Tesco has also made a number of aesthetic changes to the outside appearance of the building, while inside, a mezzanine floor area has been increased to make room for some of the external plant machinery. “That these changes are retrospect, meaning the work has already been carried out, I find appalling,” she said.

11/2010 Harlescott, Shrewsbury Tesco was in violation of planning rules from the moment the store was built. Tesco stocked an extra 152 sq metres more of goods including clothing, DIY, household and recreational items after it broke planning rules on how much non-grocery space it can have. The store called the transgression “a blunder”.

12/2010 Callington, Cornwall Cornwall Council's planning department said it was in preliminary stages of investigating an alleged breach of planning regulations involving the store's car park.

11/2010 Oldham Local councillors have warned that Tesco cannot open its new store in Chew Valley Road unless it builds industrial units at the site — a condition of planning permission imposed in 2005. But with under a month to go and the units only half built, councillors are doubtful that they will be available for use before the planned opening date of December 6. Saddleworth South councillor Richard Knowles, said: “All Tesco has done is put the steel frame in place. The store will be opening illegally and in breach of planning laws. Tesco are not a law unto themselves.”

4/2009 Luisson Grove, Marlyebone Lorries making deliveries to the Tesco Express are blocking up Lisson Grove during the morning rush hour, despite planning approval for the new shop explicitly banning deliveries on the busy street. And a delivery bay in Hayes Place it was told to widen has actually been filled in.

7/2010 Wavertree, Liverpool Council bosses will take action against Tesco who allowed a mobile phone mast disguised as a flag pole to be put up on the building in breach of planning  laws. It emerged at yesterday’s planning committee that despite not appealing against the decision, the applicants put up the mast anyway.

7/2010 Unthank, Norwich Contractors working for Tesco were found to be in breach of the planning permission by Norwich City Council. The council served a temporary stop notice early yesterday morning. The notice required all work affecting a mature horse chestnut tree on the site to cease to protect it from harm. All further work must be completed in line with the site’s original planning permission. It would be a criminal offence for the terms of the notice to be breached. The notice followed a site visit by planning officers.

6/2010 Kilbirnie After recent complaints regarding the breach of planning consent at the Tesco store, the petrol station is no longer operating 24hrs. The problem regarding the curfew and the breach of planning conditions only came to light when local residents raised objections to the erection of a wind turbine in the Tesco car park.

4/2010 Lerwick, Shetland Laurence Smith of the Town Centre Association said Tesco’s plans went beyond an agreement that the existing 185 sq metres for non-food, or “comparison” goods, would not be increased when the extension was built. “The plans show a serious deviation into the sale of comparison goods,” Mr Smith said. “This is contrary to our understanding of the planning application and the basis on which planning approval was granted.”

12/2009 Northside, Allerdale From the Carlisle news & Star: Tesco vow to open Workington store without planning permission. Work was halted yesterday after it emerged that the supermarket giant did not have Allerdale council’s permission to build the new store opposite Dunmail Park Shopping Centre and it would not be treated as an emergency application and fast-tracked. But after submitting a retrospective application and attending a meeting with Allerdale council, which ended ‘amicably’, Tesco bosses say they will open the store early next week and are hopeful they will get permission.

7/ 2009 Mill Road, Cambridge Tesco has been warned by the Highways Authority, the Planning Inspectorate and Cambridge City Council not to deliver to the front of the store. And 'No Mill Road Tesco' campaigners claim the company will be breaking the law and could face fines of up to £1,000 a day if it goes ahead with the plan. But Tesco confirmed the company would make deliveries in the street.

10/2008 Braunton, North Devon Tesco in Braunton has opened "illegally", despite not coming close to meeting the housing quota on the 106 agreement before opening the store. Cllr Chugg said: "When the store opened last week there were only 17 houses built, three of which are affordable, which is nowhere near what they were supposed to build — but they opened up regardless.

2/2008 Heswall, Wirral Tesco apply for an extension to the hours they are allowed to deliver, asking for lorries to arrive between 6am-11pm, Monday to Saturday and 7am-11pm on Sundays and Bank Holidays.

8/2007 Bury St Edmunds Councillors have refused to grant Tesco retrospective approval for a store extension which was built without planning permission. The council could now force the leading supermarket chain to demolish the extension.

10/2006 Ruthin, Denbighshire Tesco applied to increase its store size by 50% a week after the store had opened. Despite promising to create 300 jobs, it only created 180, many of which were part time.

7/2006  Gerrards Cross Tesco building works collapsed on to a main railway commuter line. 27,000 tonnes of waste from that collapse remains, and it is situated in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It has been there a year, despite an order from the council.

 

11/2004 Portwood, Stockport, Tesco breached planning regulations by building their store 20% larger than stated. Following pressure from local businesses, the Council demanded in September 2005 that Tesco submit a full retrospective planning application, which it did in December 2005. When it did so, Tesco argued that there were “no sustainable reasons for the refusal of planning permission,” despite the 2003 conditions and Council’s position that the store was “unauthorised.”

Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk Tesco built a bulk storage facility without planning permission.

 

Gunness, Lincolnshire Tesco been trading against the conditions imposed by its planning permission since it opened in 2001, by selling more non-food goods than the 25% it was allowed.

 

The Wirral, Merseyside Tesco was convicted of repeatedly breaking conditions that had been imposed on it by its planning permission decision notice concerning delivery vehicles.

Carlisle, Cumbria Tesco applied to increase the floorspace of the store by 78% before building had even started.

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What a waste.

17th February 2011

Oh for the old days when the bin men stopped outside your house, walked up to the bin which was usually by the back door, carried it to the waste cart emptied it and then returned to the back door. Now we have around 5 different containers for various types of waste which we have take to the street, where if you are lucky they will empty. You then have to go to the street and collect the various waste containers. Our house has access to the rear of the house and up until this week we have been able to put our bins there rather than at the front of the house. We have just been told that if we want the bins emptied we must put them at the front. We have the front gate padlocked to stop folk leaving the gate open letting our dogs get onto the road. For the above pathetic 'service' we have to pay massive council tax. When I was young I used to hear older people say how much better something's were when they were young, but never took them seriously. Now I understand. We may have amazing new things like mobile phone and the internet, but personal service has gone. The doctors do their best to keep us alive for as long as possible, with little regard to our quality of life. Assisted suicide is frowned upon, no matter how much pain someone is in. If things get much worse I will assist myself.

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Net intelligence.

7th February 2011

Because I know a little more than the average computer user, I am occasionally asked to sort out a friend's machine. The laptop I have just been working on was in a poor state so, having checked with the owner there was nothing on the machine they wanted to keep,  I used the recovery system that puts the machine back to the new state. When I went to go on line with the new installation it came up with a page wanting me to register with netintelligence to get a page on line. When I tried to uninstall this application it wanted me to register with them to get a password before it could be removed, so I emailed them and this was the reply.

Dear Mr Weaver,

What you have is a laptop under the former government's Home Access scheme,
which was run by the body called Becta. One requirement of this scheme was that
all computers issued to children through the scheme had to have parental
controls software installed, and our company was selected as the provider of
this software for all participating hardware providers.

If you have obtained this machine through the Home Access scheme, then please
contact the provider from whom you obtained the machine for any support queries
you may have. If this machine is second hand or not obtained through this
scheme, then we are unable to provide any further assistance on this.

I hope this helps to clarify matters for you.

--
Kind regards,

Gavin Murray
Netintelligence Support Team Manager.
 

As this was an old machine it meant I could not get the machine to work on line, making the recovery partition a waste of time. I had no choice but to install afresh a new operating system. The only way I can do this without infringing copyright is to install a free operating system such as Linux, which for someone used to Windows makes the machine difficult to use.

This is a disgusting state of affairs, caused by government acting without thinking it through. When I think what these politicians and their advisors get paid I get sick to my stomach.

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